Live at Ronnie Scott's Club 1983

This is one of those albums that is significant, not just because of the quality of the music but for its role as a landmark in a narrative that has a resonance beyond the recording itself, bringing together strands of a story involving some of the central figures in British blues. The core of Mainsqueeze were musicians that had played together in the great blues combos of the ‘60s – Dick Heckstall-Smith (John Mayall’s Bluesebreakers, Graham Bond Organisation, Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum) John O’Leary (Savoy Brown Blues Band, John Dummer Blues Band), Victor Brox and Keith Tillman (both from Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation and John Mayall) - and were on the marvellous “Sweet Pain Session” in 1969. They reunited ten years later with an expanded line-up, including Eric Bell (Them and Thin Lizzy) with the aim of creating a larger-than-life blues/rock revue. They succeeded, despite operating in an unhelpful market alongside post-punk, disco and emerging electronica, and entertained audiences around Europe for several years. Only intermittently available since then, this live set recorded at Ronnie Scott’s is presented here in its original form. ERIC BELL: vocals & guitar VICTOR BROX: vocals & trumpet DICK HECKSTALL-SMITH: tenor, alto and soprano saxophones DAVE “MUNCH” MOORE: Fender Rhodes piano, clavinet, Moog, Roland organ JOHN O’LEARY: harmonica & congas KEITH TILLMAN: Fender bass STRETCH: drums & percussion. Additional players: DIANA WOOD: vocals & alto saxophone; ROD COOMBES: percussion; MIRANDA HAMPTON, NOELLE HOUGHTON, CLARE JENKINS: Dancers. Recorded ‘live’ at Ronnie Scott’s Club, Frith Street, London WC2, 15th January 1983