CD1
Back Door
1.Vienna Breakdown
2. Plantagenet
3. Lieutenant Loose
4. Askin’ the Way
5. Turning Point
6. Slivadiv
7. Jive Grind
8. Human Bed
9. Catcote Rag
10. Waltz for a Wollum
11. Folksong
12. Back Door
8th Street Nites
13. Linin’ Track
14. Forget Me Daisy
15. His Old Boots (Sein Alter Stiefel)
16. Blue Country Blues
17. Dancin’ in the Van
18. 32-20 Blues
19. Roberta
20. It’s Nice When It’s Up
21. One Day You’re Down, The Next Day You’re Down
22. Walkin’ Blues
23. The Bed Creaks Louder
24. Adolphus Beal
CD2
Another Fine Mess
1. I’m Gonna Stay a Long, Long Time
2. Blakey Jones
3. T. B. Blues
4. Candles Round Your Hat
5. Detroit Blues
6. The Spoiler
7. Shaken by Love
8. Streamline Guitar
9. Manager’s Shirt
10. The Dashing White Sergeant
Colin Hodgkinson – Fender bass, vocals, 12-string guitar
Ron Asprey – Alto sax, soprano sax, C Melody sax, flute, electric piano
Tony Hicks – Drums, percussion
Felix Pappalardi – Piano, tambourine, percussion (tracks CDI/13, 14, 20, 22)
Dave McRae – Fender piano, piano (all tracks CDII)
Bernie Holland – Guitar (tracks CDII/6, 7)
Peter Thorup – Vocals (tracks CDII/1, 8, 9)
It must have been the early seventies when I first heard Back Door in concert, and I was knocked out. They combined jazz with rock and the blues and even
some hints of folk music. Remarkably, the trio produced a rich sound which might normally have needed twice as many musicians to produce. Colin Hodgkinson
used the bass to fill in the accompaniments on its own, as well as playing some powerful solos. Drummer Tony Hicks supplied a robust beat, while frontman
Colin Asprey played searing solos and melodies.
This double CD contains the first three albums that the group recorded. The trio had first got together at a pub in the North York Moors, where they played
every Tuesday. It is depicted on the front cover of the band’s first album. They sent demo tapes to record companies but their unusual line-up didn’t
appeal to promoters. So they made an LP themselves in 1973 and sold it at the pub to the increasingly enthusiastic audience. Eventually the LP fell into
the hands of reviewers on a music magazine, who competed to review it. The second album was recorded in 1974 at Electric Lady studios in New York.
All three musicians are virtuosi, making an opulent mixture. In a way Colin Hodgkinson is the backbone of the group, playing chords as well as phrases and
single notes on his Fender bass. He often plays in unison with Ron Aspery’s saxophone. Adolphus Beal shows how Colin gives his guitar a
stretched-out feeling which fills in the background behind the saxophone. Aspery’s style is sometimes abrasive and certainly outspoken, giving the music an
avant-garde mood. But a track like Askin’ the Way proves that the group can be restrained and often sensitive. Aspery’s flute provides moments of
placidity. Most of the tracks are short, avoiding self-indulgence. Colin adds bluesy vocals to some of the later tracks.
The third album, Another Fine Mess, added some extra instruments which changed the group’s sound – possibly not for the best. The addition of
keyboards forfeits some of the group’s vigour, and loses the feeling that one is listening to three virtuosi.
Back Door broke up in 1977 because of a lack of commercial success. The trio assembled again in 1986 and 2003, but Aspery died in December 2003 and Hicks
in 2006, both in their fifties. The group was short-lived but it presented listeners with a unique sound which has never been surpassed.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
BGO BGOCD 1170
