Rod Stewart And The Changing Faces by John Pidgeon

Author:John Pidgeon [Pidgeon, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 1976-08-10T23:00:00+00:00

FOUR: I WAS A FACES ROADIE … AND LIVED

It was at this point that I first met the Faces. I’d dreamed up an idea for a feature about life on the road, the angle, as editors like to put it, being that I’d tell it from the roadies’ point of view rather than the bands. And I’d managed to sell it.

Around the time I wanted to start, Ten Years After were about to hit the road, but when I asked their tour manager if he could use an extra crew member he told me importantly that it would take at least a month to learn to pull weight. I was confused by this snub since I thought I’d seen enough between acts at the Rainbow to know that the job would not be so hard to learn, but I wasn’t disappointed that I wouldn’t be listening to TYA every night for the next three weeks.

My next try was Cat Stevens. A friend who worked for his manager said yes, then shortly before the opening night Cat said no. He was, I learned, an extremely sensitive artist, whose equilibrium might easily be unbalanced by the proximity of a stranger. Once again I was not heartbroken.

Then I got lucky. I saw in a music paper that the Faces were due to tour in December. I rang their publicist, Mike Gill, who laughed down the telephone at my plan, but when I went to the office to discuss it with their tour manager and head roadie, Pete Buckland, he’d already booked my hotel rooms for the entire tour. I felt well enough qualified for the job, being taller than six foot, a few pounds over twelve stone and reasonably fit, but I was still surprised by Buckland’s willingness to take me on without an interview. (Much later I found out that his intention had been to drive this foolhardy reporter to a state of physical and mental collapse, and thus avenge the Faces for every unkind word that had been printed about the group.)

The moment I passed through the office’s splintered doors - my first experience of the road crew’s capacity for demolition -1 should’ve read the clues, but even the hidden smiles and double takes that followed the announcement of my name in reception induced no more than mild unease in me. I didn’t feel like the victim of a practical joke.

Buckland was busy throughout most of our meeting swapping the hotel reservations in Dundee. ‘Saves being thrown out,’ he guffawed; so did I, but less confidently. I dismissed my second thoughts and asked earnestly about clothing and equipment. By the time Gill offered this ominous piece of advice, ‘Don’t ever leave your room unlocked, and tell the desk clerk at every hotel that no one - but no one - has permission to take a pass key,’ I was ready to back out, but Buckland’s friendly enthusiasm and the fact that I’d told too many people how I was spending December trapped me tight.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.