Alex Harvey

Yesterday I finally received Alex Harvey's 'Roman Wall Blues' album on CD from Germany and it's been well worth the wait. Alex was shaking up a storm with his first band before I was born and his first records are from the early '60s but I came across him in the early '70s when he set up The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and released a string of excellent hard rock albums. SAHB was the first band I ever saw, supporting SLADE in 1973. I've blogged about Alex and SAHB before but here I go again since over the last year or so I've been tracking down Alex's solo work and 'Roman Wall Blues' takes me that much closer to a complete set (or as complete as I'm likely to get).

I have a collection of his earliest recordings on 'Alex Harvey And His Soul Band' which is full of rock and blues and soul songs given the inimitable Alex Harvey treatment, with his unique phrasing and sound. The odd thing is that some of those songs sound like they could well have been recorded in the early '70s which suggests that Alex's vision and sound remained intact during his ups and downs in the '60s, teetering on stardom only to become part of the 'Hair' houseband in the late '60s. That's a powerful vision.

A record I have yet to track down is the 'Hair Rave Up' album from the late '60s which features some original Harvey songs and he provides vocals and guitar to most of the tracks. The Hairband sounds a lot of fun ('Hair' and The Beatles 'Birthday' by the Hairband are on the 'Considering' compilation). I've seen one copy for sale on eBay which went for silly money. I'll keep my eyes open.

'Roman Wall Blues' is from 1969 and opens with a no-holds-barred 'Midnight Moses', horn fuelled rock that must be played loud. SAHB recorded that song a few years later. The album is full of great songs and sounds fresh and alive. The song 'Roman Wall Blues' is an atmospheric poem set to music and makes me think of walking along Hadrian's Wall when I was younger with a howling wind blowing over the bleak landscape. There's also a fabulous verison of 'Jumping Jack Flash', again with horns blaring in the background, a sound you don't hear at all these days.

Alex went on to co-found the Rock Workshop and released an album that is now available as 'Ice Cold' under his name even though he only sings on a few of the tracks. He then went off to record the hard rocking 'The Joker Is Wild' with a backing band that, a few months later, became SAHB and greatness followed.

After SAHB split, or rather Alex left, he recorded 'The Mafia Stole My Guitar' under the title of Alex Harvey - The New Band. There are some nice tracks on this album but it's the least satisfactory for me, almost Alex-by-numbers in places. His final album is 'The Soldier On The Wall' (a line from 'Roman Wall Blues), recorded shortly before he died in 1982 and not issued for years, but I think this was a return to form and all the sadder because of that. 'Billy Bolero' is one of my favourite Alex songs. If he hadn't died he'd probably still be on the circuit even though he'd be in his 70s now - I can quite see him having a week's residency at somewhere like Ronnie Scott's.

My Alex collection is rounded off with two compilations. 'Teenage A Go Go' is a great collection of rare recordings from the '60s which took 10 years to put together and 'Considering The Situation' is a double album with one CD full of '60s material and the second CD a 'best of SAHB'. There are some excellent tracks on both these records that aren't available elsewhere which makes me think there must be more Alex gems in the vaults somewhere.

I don't think I could properly explain why I like Alex Harvey. His voice is in the mix and his phrasing, his consistent rock and blues credentials, his willingness to write and perform unusual and challenging material, his wild man image in stripy shirt - the whole package is what I like and admire. His songs and performances mix theatre and rock, unafraid and determined to be heard, a passionate cry for life.