Towards the end of his life, when Phil was very ill, we were paid a surprise visit at Colvestone Crescent from Pam Howard, Pip Pyle’s one-time wife, and Ali McLewin, née Head, both of whom had been at school with me in the late 1950’s at the Simon Langton Grammar School for Girls in Canterbury (although I was 2 years ahead of them, being older).
Phil was delighted to see them as he had been extremely fond of them both and had known them from the time when Pam had left Robert Wyatt and gone to live with Pip Pyle in East Sheen, where Phil also lived. These were the days of Delivery – the blues based band in which Phil and Pip began their musical careers.
Pam and Ali knew Phil did not have long to live, and had come to see him in a kind of farewell visit. Phil had not seen either of them for a very long time and his joy was palpable. They were both soaking wet and had arrived via public transport – as far as I can remember they had travelled from Canterbury by train, underground and bus. They put Phil in a very good mood. You can imagine how low in spirits Phil was at this time, knowing that death stared him in the face, but seeing these two old friends lifted him out of his low spirits. They talked about many things in the conversations that followed, but this is the story I want to share:
Phil recounted the time Delivery were backing B.B. King at Ronnie Scott’s in 1970. B.B. King sat in with Delivery and said some very nice things about the band. Afterwards, there was a really good review about the gig in Melody Maker.
I had known this story featuring B.B. King from way back as it had been quite a famous event. Delivery played multiple times at Ronnie Scott’s, backing visiting bands. Phil recorded in his diary. (I still have this diary. I have put photos of the relevant pages below).
Pip often told the story about it, but I had never heard Phil speak about it before. Not being there I assume that Delivery, being the warm-up band, went on first. (In my day, this was always so, but nowadays this is sometimes reversed when a famous band is playing and a large part of the audience have travelled some considerable distance and need to catch the last train home.)
The story Pip used to tell so well was about the Delivery set, but the tale that Phil amused us with came after that during the main event.
According to Phil, who was watching the main band play, said B.B. King broke a string on his guitar. Nobody from his team rushed to help him and Phil, who was watching the event from very close by, immediately offered his guitar to B.B. King who accepted it and carried on playing while Phil put a new string on B.B. King’s guitar. After accepting his guitar back, B.B. invited Phil to sit in with the band. Phil accepted this invitation – you bet he did! – and sat in and played with B.B. King for the rest of the set. A couple of older guitar players tried to oust Phil from his position, saying things like “I’ll take it from here, sonny” but Phil, who was particulary large, young and fit, was relishing this fantastic opportunity and refused to relinguish his guitar or move and carried on playing to the end of the set!
CORRECTION! Aymeric has just sent me a correction. It was the 100 Club – not Ronnie Scott’s! And it was 1969, not 1970, Sorry about that. (Don’t know where I’d be without Aymeric to keep me on the straight and narrow – thanks Aymeric.)
I have Phil’s diary from 1970. It is a little pocket diary that his father must have given him. His father was a stockbroker who dealt in coffee. The front cover of the diary bears the title: “State Cocoa Marketing Board- Pocket Diary 1970”. Phil only put entries in for the first 6 months, and these stop after June 29th. It only has entries for gigs and recording dates. I am showing them here for your amusement: Tucked inside it is the calling card that B.B. King gave to Phil. It reads:
“BLUES IS KING – KING IS SOUL
OFFICE
Personal Representative
ASSOCIATED BOOKING CORP
NEW YORK – 212/431/421.5200
B.B. King
A.B.C. RECORDING ARTIST
B-B PRODUCTIONS INC
189 SO. DANNY THOMAS BLVD
MEMPHIS , TENN 38126″
Here are the entries in Phil’s diary: (Click to enlarge)
