August 2014
The
Kevin Ayers:
August 16th 2013 Deià
On August 16th 2013, fans of Kevin Ayers gathered in Deià to celebrate Kevin's life and music with his family and friends.
In this book Susan Lomas captures the atmosphere of the celebration in words and pictures.
The weekend in Deià also sparked a quest to find out more about Kevin by talking to to his friends and visiting other places where he lived.
Available from Amazon here
September
2013
Newly discovered CinemasPop video
Top marks to Jorge Souto Bartolomé and drummer Manolo Jimenez for sourcing and uploading these remarkable performances from 1984.
August
2013
Kevin Ayers Memorial
On 16 August 2013 Kevin was reunited with Ollie when a plaque by Sunna Wathen was laid in the churchyard at Deia
. . . more
August
2013
Guitar Techniques
TThe September edition of Guitar Techniques magazine featues a two page appraisal of 'Patto's Ollie Halsall'
Available now at all good newsagents or online here
June
2013
The
Rutles Tour Dates!
The
Tragic History Tour rolls on: 'Admiral' John Halsey,
together with former Bonzo Dog and the 'Seventh' Monty Python member
Neil Innes and 'Rutling' Ken Thornton, will be recreating
the magic of the Prefab Four in London, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Edinburgh
and Bristol this summer.
June
2013
June
1st 1974: Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Nico, Eno, Mike Oldfield and Robert
Wyatt: The Greatest Supergroup of the Seventies
[Paperback
and Kindle editions]
On
June 1st 1974, the Rainbow Theatre in London hosted the first ever
performance by what was (at least by those folk who’d heard of
the artists) described as the greatest supergroup of the era. In the
frontline: Kevin Ayers, the Soft Machine co-founder who had been winding
an ever more idiosyncratic solo career through the first half of the
1970s (and would continue to do so thereafter) . . . more
June
2013
Kevin
Ayers
News
of Kevin's funeral from daughter, Galen.
Thank you for all your love and support these last three months. Dad's final
resting place will be in Deia, Mallorca Spain. He will be buried next to his
musical collaborator and best friend Ollie Halsall. The private funeral will
take place at sunset this 16th of August and will be followed by a public musical
celebration of Kevin's life. We all hope you will join us in this final dance.
The musical acts are yet to be confirmed but the love being present is a surety.
See you in August. Thank you. Gx
November
2012
Ayers
TV
Some
great new live Kevin Ayers TV performances with Ollie in excellent
form.
These
four songs were recorded for the ABC TV [Spain] show 'Tal Cual' broadcast
14 April 1988.
Watch
them on the Ayers Live page here
Many
thanks to Jorge Souto for finding them.
October
2012
Roll
'em, Smoke 'em - 40 years on
The
Patto's third album was released on 27 October 1972.
Not
only one of the best albums titles of all time, the record included
some of Mike Patto and Ollie Hlsall's finest collaborations. Including
the also superbly titled Loud Green Song, now widely cited as the Halsall
guitar piece and a stunning inyroduction to his playing.
Roll
'em Retrospective
October
2012
Kevin
Ayers interview
Ian
Carprenter came accross this very interesting interview with
Kevin in a 2007 edition of the now defunct Stylus magazine.
August
2012
OFFICIAL
Boxer Re-Releases
The
two classic Boxer albums, Below The Belt [1975]
and Bloodletting [1976]
are available from MONDAY 27 AUGUST from Esoteric
Records.
The
label distributes through respected Cherry Red Records so
these are bona fide products.
Below The Belt includes
the elusive track Don't Wait, which was the B-side of the
group's misguided single choice, of All The Time in The World.
One
can only sumise how differently things might have turned out had
they have gone for the blindingly obvious Shooting Star instead.
July
2012
Guitar
Techniques
The
August edition [207] distinguishes itself by including a brief acknowledgement
of Ollie's 'style' [or, rather, one of them, since there can scarcely
have been a more eclectic player].
The
article includes a short transcription and tab together with an audio
file on the accompanying CD.
July
2012
Guitar
Player
Conversely,
the latest edition of Guitar Player disgraces itself by publishing
an uforgivably incomplete article entitled '10 Things You Gotta Do
to Play Like Four Unsung Brit-Rock Heroes'
Not
having access to the full article yet, I have no idea who the chosen
few are. The usual suspects, I imagine. But the editor then has the
gall to apologise for the omissions of Chrs Dreja, Miller Anderson.
Zal Cleminson, Chris Spedding and . . . Ollie Halsall.
July
2012
StoneWatch
Here's
a great little story from Jerry Hart about Ollie's memorial in Deia:
"The first time I visited Ollie's
resting place I noticed that the tone control was missing, so I took
a photo and went to my local music shop when I got back to the UK.
"I asked them for a set of tone
controls for a Fender Twin Reverb, so they asked me which year the
amp was made. I said 'it doesn't matter' to which they responded
'oh yes it does' and proceeded to give me an account of the evolution
of Fender control knobs up to the present date.
"I then produced the photo (bit
like the one above) to which they said 'Ah'.
"The guy's next comment was 'this
is the sort of thing that makes this job worthwhile' so he got me
a set of knobs which I posted to Tomás, who fitted them.
"As I think of it, I may try to
get another set to take with me, as they do erode in the weather."
Jerry Hart
April 2012
Pete Kelly's Solution
An interesting artefact from March 1968 pointed out by Steve 'Fag Ash Lil' Norris. Ollie doing a session with Pete Kelly's Solution, a Southport outfit which evolved from R&B Incorporated [which included Halsall on drums].
This track features a fairly rudimentary but perfectly competent guitar solo from Ollie [on his white Telecaster?] March 2012
Marchl 2012
Horden Pavillion, Sydney 1972
"I went to see Joe Cocker on the opening night of his stint at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. The Hordern is a huge hall in the Royal Agricultural Showgrounds in Sydney. At that time it had been fitted with a flat seating arrangement and a raised stage to cater for touring rock bands like Cocker's . . . more
February 2012
The Ollie Halsall Song Book
To mark the 20th anniversary of Ollie's death, we are compiling an online album featuring demo versions of his songs.
Listen to the latest contributions . . . here
February 2012
'Leppo' - Putting the Record Straight
Despite providing much of the music and vocals for The Rutles 1978 movie and subsequent albums albums, Ollie Halsall's only mention at the time was for a brief 'cameo' appearance [in a still shot] as 'Leppo', the 'Stuart Sutcliffe' role.
Here, 'Barry Wom' [John Halsey] and 'Ron Nasty' [Neil Innes ] reflect on his largely uncredited contribution:
VIEW VIDEO HERE
December 2011
Roll 'em, Smoke 'em, Put Another BOOTLEG Out
You may be tempted by a forthcoming reissue of Patto's 1972 album, Roll 'em, Smoke 'em, Put Another Line Out.
Please don't - It is a blatant bootleg.
The 'album', which has been cobbled together by rogue 'label' Flawed Gems, offers versions of the original tracks, simply ripped off from an old CD, plus seven 'bonus' BBC session recordings lifted from The Archive.
Needless to say, neither producer Muff Winwood nor surviving Pattos, John Halsey and Clive Griffiths will see any of the ill-gotten gains from this venture.
The Archive is still working towards a legitimate release of this material. In the meantime, you can listen to online versions of this material on the OH website:
Roll'em, Smoke 'em, Put Another Line Out
Live at The Beeb
October 2011
Traveling Show Part III
We are delighted to have been given permission to reproduce the concluding part of Ralph Heibutzki's extensive Serendipitous & Surreal Six-Stringed Life & Times Of Ollie Halsall from Issue # 31 of US magazine Ugly Things.
You can read the online version here but, even better, please buy a real analogue copy! Both the back issue and the latest volume are available by mail order. It doesn't cost much more than a UK muso mag - the difference is it's far better than anything you'll get over here!
October 2011
Neil Innes Video
Two live sessions from Neil Innes with Ollie on guitar
October 2011
Tempest Video
Remarkable footage of Tempest miming [unfortunately] to three Living in Fear tracks, plus a great little interview
October 2011
Rey Lui
Two live in concert videos from 1992 plus an unbelievable scat guitar/vocal solo from Ollie on the title track of 'Veloidad' from 1990
May 2011
Tempest
Some remarkable images of Tempest in concert at Fano, Italy 1973.
Here
March 2011
Traveling Show Part II
We are delighted to have been given permission to reproduce part two of Ralph Heibutzki's extensive Serendipitous & Surreal Six-Stringed Life & Times Of Ollie Halsall from Issue # 30 of US magazine Ugly Things.
You can read the online version here but, even better, please buy a real analogue copy! Both the back issue and the latest volume are available by mail order. It doesn't cost much more than a UK muso mag - the difference is it's far better than anything you'll get over here!
March 2011
Ugly Things #31
The latest issue of Ugly Things is out NOW.
This mammoth 224 page magazine features the final part of Ralph Heibutzki's Ollie Halsall trilogy
Also in this issue: Billy Harrison, guitarist and founder member of Van Morrison’s seminal R&B group Them; The Norton Records and Kicks magazine story; The Pleasure Seekers starring Detroit’s girl garage queens the Quatro sisters;. James Williamson in the Coba Seas and the Stooges; A listeners’ guide to Wreckless Eric; Jimi Hendrix: The Dead Hendrix albums; Cleveland ‘60s punks the Missing Lynx; the 40 Fingers, surfin’ with the Sentinals; The Masters Apprentices and lots more.
Order online now at
www.ugly-things.com
$8.95 [approx £4.50]
arch 2011
Timebox poster
Original Timebox keyboard wizard, 'Professor' Chris Holmes found this remarkably rare poster at the recent Queen [band, not monarch] Exhibition at The Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London.
Smile were, of course, the predecessor to Queen and one has to wonder whether Brian May knew or was aware of Halsall. [Bugger. I actually met BM once and, unbelievably omitted to ask him - Ed]
March 2011
Pete Moss
Pete moss was Viv Stanshall's MD from the demise of the Bonzos until his death, and was at the Bloomsbury theatre in his role as shouter, fixer, sorter-outer of Viv's often chaotic arrangement ideas, duet vocalist and various instruments.
Here he recounts the legendary concerts.
February 2011
Guy Mann-Dude
Guy Mann-Dude is a respected, American-born musician who was best known in the late 1980s and early 1990s after his self-named band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988.
In this article he talks about the influence of Ollie Halsall on his music.
Timebox TV
Unbelievably, some 42 years after it was recorded, a video of Timebox at the height of their brief moment of fame has been discovered by Roger Houdaille.
The three-song session was recorded live in July 1968 for French television and has never been seen since.
The most startling revelation is Ollie playing his white Fender Telecaster on the final offering, Come On Up.
We are, therefore, delighted to be able to featre this on the Timebox page.
October 2010
Hollywood Bowl
The recent Ugly Things magazine article included some never before seen photos of the Pattos at the Hollywood Bowl, which they played as part of the infamous 1972 tour with Joe Cocker.
The photographer, John Greenleigh of www.flipsidestudios.com, has been kind enough to allow us to reproduce some high-quality versions on this site.
Some others from the same photo-shoot have been on Ken Thornton's Timebox and Patto Fan Site for years, so we have put them altogether on this fantastic photo-album page.
October 2010
John Cale
Joerg Reinicke has managed to source a complete John Cale radio concert recorded in Hamburg, 1985 featuring Ollie on guitar. It's a very good quality recording, so, once we've had a chance to give it a good listen we'll report back and try and get some of it uploaded.
Details here
October 2010
Live Gigs That Rocked NZ
Photographer, Lloyd Godman, who was responsible for the remarkable pictures of Ollie from Patto's 1972 New Zealnd tour with Joe Cocker has contrivuted to a new pictorial chronice of the New Zealand rock scene over the past 50 years. Full details here
btw Here's cool little video thing from Lloyd which you might enjoy.
September 2010
A new entry at #12
In a 'Readers' Poll' on the Gibson website, Patto's 1971 album Hold Your Fire is placed at number 12.
This astounding result, which places The Pattos' masterpiece above Physical Graffiti [quite rightly] and even the Bluesbreakers album, is in no small part due to a superbly orchestrated online campaign organised by Paul Janisch.
Full results here [Readers' Poll is half way down the page]
Playing The Band
Playing the Band' - The Musical Life of Jon Hiseman (and lots more besides!) by Martyn Hanson. Published by Temple Music.
Over 450 pages with over 100 colour and B&W photos from J&B's private collection.
No preview copy available, but sure to include some interesting reading about Ollie Halsall's time with and Tempest in 1973/4.
Order from 20 October via the TM online shop and on Amazon and ebay. Cover price £16.95.
Pre-order it exclusively here at special price of £12.95 inc. p&p.
After 20th Oct. price will increase to £13.95 plus p&p . Copies signed by the author and JH & BT (the perfect xmas gift) are available for ordering now at £14.95. Offer closes 30th November.
September 2010
Filey Bay
Mark Gardiner worked at Butlins Holiday Camp at Filey, West Yorkshire, in 1966, where Timebox where Timebox worked a summer season.
Mark was the cinema projectionist and has kindly provided some remarkable photographs here
Many thanks to both 'Professor' Chris Holmes and Paul Janisch, who directed Mark in the direction of The Archive.
August 2010
Traveling Show
We are delighted to have been given permission to reproduce part one of Ralph Heibutzki's extensive Serendipitous & Surreal Six-Stringed Life & Times Of Ollie Halsall from US magazine Ugly Things.
You can read the online version here but, even better, please buy a real analogue copy! Both the back issue and the latest volume are available by mail order. It doesn't cost much more than a UK muso mag - the difference is it's far better than anything you'll get over here!
See details below:
July 2010
Ugly Things #30
Summer’s here and the time is right for… Ugly Things #30. This mammoth 224 page magazine features the second part of Ralph Heibutzki's extensive and long-awaited fully illustrated Ollie Halsall and Patto article.
Also in this issue: a Kinks special featuring an extensive, no holds barred interview with Ray Davies by Kinks biographer Jon Savage; The Masters Apprentices, ‘60s garage punks The Hysterics, girl garage rockers The Bittersweet, Dutch beat icons Q65, ‘70s Texas punks The Nervebreakers, Perth County Conspiracy, The New Nadir, and lots more.
Order online now at
www.ugly-things.com
$8.95 [approx £4.50]
April 2010
Ronni Urini
Ronni 'Rocket' Urini's rare 1983 7" Single A-Side Sailship is finally making its debut in gloriously remastered form on a new Austrian 2-CD compilation Neonbeats - Austrian New Wave and Postpunk
This is a limited edition of just 700 copies on the Austrian Klanggalerie label.
Ollie (together with Kevin Ayers) gets a full credit in the booklet for playing guitar on the track.
Our correspondent, Christian Loebenstein, reports that a big release party is taking place in Vienna on Saturday and he will certainly ask Ronnie if he remembers the session and particularly Ollie.
March 2010
Vivian Stanshall
We have received not only some truly superb photos from Viv's legendary 1991 Bloomsbury Theatre concerts, but also a remarkable 20 minute audio interview with Ollie.
The content of the recording, made by Viv's friend Dean Cole, portrays Ollie as an enthusiastic, optimistic and hard-working musician, clearly at the pinnacle of his profession. It is almost inconceivable that, less than a month later, he should fall victim to the evils of drug abuse.
Audio interview, photos and full story here
February 2010
Don't You Rock Me [Daddy-O] !
An elusive recording of The Pattos in Italy, 1972 has been circulating on these strange 'torrent' sites [which are beyond me - why make it so complicated? Just give us a download link!].
Anyway, good friend of The Archive, Roger Houdaille, who clearly understands these things has provided a copy, and it's pretty damn good.
The sound quality [portable cassette] is not up to much, but it is better than many, with a good overall balance. There is some seriously good widdling from Mr H and a brilliant skiffle session, featuring The Admiral on washboard.
You can download it here. if you're quick. Otherwise, email us and we'll see what we can do ;-)
See the Patto Antholliegy page for set list and more details
December 2009
The Mucky Duck
Some time ago, Bob Beecher unearthed some remarkable photographs of Ollie in full bee regalia. There was some confusion regarding the source of these images, but it is now clear that they were from the Patto reunion gig at The Black Swan [aka The Mucky Duck], Sheffield in 1975.
Amazingly, Bob has discovered some more from the same concert and we are delighted to display them here
Many thanks to Mr Beecher for these contributions.
December 2009
Rusty Strings
Perhaps the most bizarre artefact of Ollie's entire career, these multi-track instrumental recordings were made in early 1973, around the time of Patto's final, unreleased album Monkey's Bum.
Ollie had experimented with the layered speeded-up guitar tracks on the song I Need You [from the aforementioned album] and had also used the technique with devastating effect on Singing The Blues on Reds from Roll 'em, Smoke 'em . . . However, the 'Rusty Strings' tracks are a world away from such masterpieces.
Quite why he chose to do them is a mystery. Apparently, he planned a whole album under the pseudonym and there are reports of other tracks, such as covers of Elvis Presley classics either completed or in the pipeline.
Equally unaccountable is why anyone would want to release them, but RCA did just that in early 1974 with a single coupling the Jerome Kern tune with a Halsall original [which does have some redeeming features].
'Admiral' John Halsey describes these efforts as "Horrible".
We are still waiting for a chart entry ;o)
Many thanks to 'Rutling' Ken Thornton of the Patto Fan Site for finding and researching these recordings.
Many thanks to 'Rutling' Ken Thornton of the Patto Fan Site for finding and reseraching these recordings.
October 2009
The Next Big Thing
Ugly Things #29 features an extensive and excellent article on Ollie Halsall and Timebox by Ollie-freak, Ralph Heibutzki [aka the artiste, Chairman Raplh].
At least two further installment pf the Halsall story are planned for future editions of the magazine. This weighty tome is also jam-packed with loads of other great material.
Order your copy now from:
www.ugly-things.com
October 2009
Hinkley's Cancelled
Unfortunately, the Hinkley's Heroes reunion and memorial benefit at The Electric Ballroom in Camden has been canceled due to poor ticket sales.
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER
The Electric Ballroom
184 Camden High Street
London NW1 8QP
Peter Conway Management presents:
HINKLEYS HEROES - A MEMORIAL CONCERT FOR MITCH MITCHELL, BOZ BURRELL, MIKE PATTO
Featuring: Tim Hinkley, Henry McCullough, Mel Collins, John "The Admiral" Halsey, Bobby Tench, Steve Simpson, Jimmy Karstein, Neil Hubbard, Poli Palmer ........ plus some special surprise guests!
Tickets £15.00adv. £20.00 on the door
ticketweb
 |
September 2009
We are delighted to announce the release of an MP3 Download version of the live Patto album, recorded at The 
For many years, the Archive has held a really poor quality recording of Patto on a BBC Radio 1 John Peel: In Concert show from 1971.
Andy Lloyd has discovered some remarkable photographs of Timebox in concert in the sleepy English town of Kidderminster in 1968.
None other than Saxon guitarist, Graham Oliver, has kindly contributed some memories of his first encounter with Ollie at an unlikely venue.
We have, literally, just a few copies of the Patto live abum left. These are the last remaining from 'Admiral' John Halsey's personal stock. 
A couple of photographic additions to the 
The Rutles may be re-uniting to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their cult movie All You Need is Cash.
))
A very interesting insight into the Bohemiam world of Deia, Mallorca in the late 80's is given by Mike Shefrin's account of the jazz combo, 
Armand Serra has kindly sent a remarkable photo of none other than Cheap Trick guitarist and long-time Ollie-freak 
Rutles musical director and arranger John Altman has kindly contributed some stories about Ollie and an 
Armand Serra's quest for The Holy Grail has finally been realised by his discovery and rennovation of what is almost certanly Ollie's most 
Francesco Malfatti recalls Patto's memorable appearance at 
US Guitar Player magazine February 2007 issue [cover picture: Tommy Bolin] features '101 forgotten greats & unsung heroes' [Page 83] - which includes the following brief acknowledgment of Ollie Halsall:
Boz Burrell sadly died of heart failure at his home in Spain on 21 September. Probably best known as the bass player for Bad Company and King Crimson, Boz was also a member of Dick and The Fireman [the 'occasional' post-Patto band], Hinkley's Heroes, Centipede, and Steve York's Camelo Pardalis. He remained a close friend of both Mike Patto and John Halsey.
Ace guitarist Bernie Holland is one of the few people to have played with The Pattos - and lived to tell the tale!
I just found out some news about Ollie's white Gibson SG Custom guitar.
Please avoid this Akarma release which is yet another unauthorised bootleg. This time cobbling together the bonus tracks from A Sense of The Absurd plus, perversely, Teachers from the later Boxer album Bloodletting?! 
Don't buy the Arkama cassette masquerading as a CD and even vinyl album. The complete and nearest to original quality version is now available for download 
I'm new to this 'blog' [web log] thing, but Ollie-freak The Maz has found an amazing one called 
Former Blossom Toes guitarist Brian Godding has kindly contributed some fascinating recollections of his work and friendship with Ollie. 
Declan Barron has unearthed a cassette of The Rockin' Pattos live at The Wake Arms, Epping, Essex 1972. This features some insane Halsall guitar, with bass you can actually hear and some rare examples of The Admiral's 'doo wop' classics [and a hitherto vaguely remembered but long-lost version of Little Jimmy Brown!]. 
Respected rock magazine Mojo has commissioned a feature length article on the life & times of the Pattos. This follows the astouding result of the readers' 'cult-heroes' poll - which placed Patto second only to
Alex Harvey.
At long last the Deram Anthology has been released. Whilst missing an opportunity to present simply the 'lost' album (Moose on the Loose), all the tracks are included together with all the Timebox A & B-sides