"A Walk Down Abbey Road’ was a definitive all-star concert": This week's newspaper column

[Willie G. Moseley]

 ‘A Walk Down Abbey Road’ was a definitive all-star concert

The concept of rock musicians performing as temporary all-star aggregations isn’t anything new. Ringo Starr began his family-oriented “All-Starr Band” venture 30 years ago, and it’s still going strong.

Other musicians who aren’t necessarily at the forefront of contemporary musical entertainment anymore are staying active in bands that play the casino/summer stock tours or maybe corporate events that cater to Baby Boomer nostalgia. Some “classic rock” bands like Styx sound as good as ever as they purvey their music to audiences that came of age listening to their hits decades ago.

However, some of the all-star revue groups have members that weren’t with their respective iconic bands all that long; i.e., some guy who replaced an original lead singer for an album or two before the original lead singer returned can still proclaim that he is “formerly with ______.” It’s up to music fans to determine how legitimate such a designation and performance are.

That said, the only “all-star” concert I’ve ever attended turned out to be one of the most dynamic shows I’ve ever experienced. It was presented at the historic Saenger Theater in downtown Mobile on June 27, 2001.

A tribute to the Beatles, the “A Walk Down Abbey Road” tour was the brainchild of legendary producer/keyboard player Alan Parsons, who first came to notice as the recording engineer for Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album, for which he received his first Grammy nomination.  The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, where Parsons worked for a number of years. His tenure also included recording projects with the Beatles.

Parsons would go on to front his own studio assemblage known as the Alan Parsons Project. He would garner numerous hits and other Grammy nominations.

The concert tour was promoted with a citation of four iconic members of the short-term band. In addition to Parsons, John Entwistle of the Who played bass, Heart’s Ann Wilson handled vocals, and Todd Rundgren was the primary guitarist. Other participants included Ambrosia’s David Pack on guitar as well as musicians from Entwistle’s solo band.

It’s fair to say that the ad hoc assemblage was comprised of individuals who were music veterans who still had viable careers; no one was in the “formerly with”/time-warp category.

The two halves of the show were appropriately divided. While the band opened with a rousing version of “Magical Mystery Tour,” the rest of the first set featured songs from the careers of the primary musicians. To their credit, the combo bounced around from artist to artist instead of doing several songs in a row by the same player onstage.

Ann Wilson demonstrated why she was still one of the best vocalists in popular music, blasting through rockers like “Barracuda” and “Crazy On You.” However, she also handled the lush “Dog and Butterfly” in an appropriate manner, demonstrating her prowess on flute.

Entwistle’s portion of Who material included a rollicking interpretation of his wacky “My Wife.”

Rundgren reached way back to his pre-solo career band the Nazz with “Open My Eyes,” and also proffered “Band on the Drum” and “Hello It’s Me,” which had been a single for the Nazz as well as Rundgren as a solo artist.

Abetted by Pack on vocals, Parsons presented “Eye in the Sky” and “Don’t Answer Me,” among others. Pack also sang a couple of Ambrosia songs.

However, the second half of the show was what the audience had come to see and hear, as the entire song list consisted of Beatles songs. 

Highlights included Wilson’s passionate singing on “Hey Jude” as well as Rundgren’s blistering guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

One commendable surprise saw Parsons in a solo role, fingerpicking an acoustic guitar and crooning a respectable version of “Blackbird.”

The evening concluded with several of the last songs on Side Two of the ‘Abbey Road’ album, and by the time the band got to the line that stated “and in the end, the love you take…” the audience was already on its feet, roaring in approval.

As it turned out, Entwistle died a year to the day after the Saenger concert.

It’s apparent that more and more entertainers who first garnered acclaim decades ago are now gigging in all-star revues. That said, it’s hard to imagine there’ll be a concert by veterans that was more dynamic and professional than the “A Walk Down Abbey Road” presentation.

 

 

[Jakeboy]

WGM, we LOVE when you share stories and articles like this here! 

Thank you!

[killerteddybear]

Is the performance available on media somewhere? Sounds like a good one to see.

[Willie G. Moseley]

^^^^not to my knowledge. There was another similar tour the next year w/ different musicians, but the '01 tour DVD/CD would, IMO, be worth the price of admission for Rundgren's solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". He got a standing ovation for it before he was through, and rightly so.

[Hamer_SS_guy]

I saw Ringo's All Starr Band last year. He always had an interesting mix of musicians in the past. It was quite entertaining. Also saw Alan Parsons last year who has a good band performing all those 70's songs. Funny, as there is always quite an audience for those 60's/70's songs (and it's not a little amount of "younger" people). When it comes to local musicians in the cover bands, many do not know any of those songs. No matter what age, they all play the same 40-50 tunes over and over as if there are no other songs to be played.

[Jakeboy]

2 hours ago, Hamer_SS_guy said:

I saw Ringo's All Starr Band last year. He always had an interesting mix of musicians in the past. It was quite entertaining. Also saw Alan Parsons last year who has a good band performing all those 70's songs. Funny, as there is always quite an audience for those 60's/70's songs (and it's not a little amount of "younger" people). When it comes to local musicians in the cover bands, many do not know any of those songs. No matter what age, they all play the same 40-50 tunes over and over as if there are no other songs to be played.

This is too true. I was at a local club a few years back and some band got up at jam night and busted out the Beatles Don’t Let Me Down....I went nuts cause they were playing it very well but the whole place acted like they had never heard it. The only Beatles tune covered here is Come Together. It is weird.

[SSII x 2]

On 4/20/2019 at 9:19 AM, Jakeboy said:

WGM, we LOVE when you share stories and articles like this here! 

Thank you!

+ 1!  Always look forward to your posts!