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News archive
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November 2008 Olliecaster Brian Godding's Fender Telecaster - loaned to Halsall for a few months in the late 70s still bears the signs of use and abuse to the neck.
November 2008 Joe Cocker Buda, from Australia, sent this rather disturbing photo of Joe Cocker under arrest in Melbourne during the 1972 tour with Patto.
November 2008 Offenburg A new version of a Patto gig in Germany has been discovered. The performance was previously documented as being from Italy because Mike Patto says "Buon Giorno!" at one point. Of course, as Andy Bassford points out, this almost categorically proves it was not Italy!. Marc Bouhier suggests that the exact venue was probably the Oberrheinhalle in Offenburg. The original version of the recording was truly appalling. Now, thanks to a discovery by David Osbiston, we now have a far better example. The overall sound is still poor but Ollie's guitar is quite distinct and quite stunning in places. Try this excerpt from Route 66. August 2008 Photo Genie A couple of photographic additions to the Tempest and Blossom pages, from Marty Zucker who got these rare pictures at a 'swap meet' filed under 'Misc'. "The guy had no idea who Ollie was!"
August 2008 To Bee or not to Bee Bob Beecher [no pun intended!] has kindly contributed an xtraordinary photograph of Ollie wearing a bee costume! See full details here
August 2008 Beggin' It's been a bit quiet lately but, as they say: "No news is, er, no news!?" Anyway, Cherry Red/RPM have released a Timebox compilation Beggin - The Sound Of London's Mod/Club Scene. This expands the now-deleted Deram Anthology with the two early singles: Soul Sauce/I Wish I Could Jerk like my Uncle Cyril and I'll Always Love You/Save Your Love, although, sadly, omits Misty. Having abandoned my subscriptions to Mojo and Record Collector I was only made aware of this album by Timebox keyboard wizard Professor Chris Holmes himself, who wins the Any news is better than nothing award. Details and ordering from Cherry Red Records here
May 2008 Fuzz Swedish rock magazine Fuzz recently published a short Halsall restrospective. Although comprising mostly information they got from this site, the article does include some great new input from both Steve Yorks and Zanna Gregmar. Many thanks to Anders Öhman - not only for spotting it in the first place, but also for translating it into English.
May 2008 It was 20 years ago today . . Well, very nearly. Joerg Reinicke has found a remarkable live recording of Kevin and Ollie in Holland from 1988. It's a complete concert from Club LVC, Leiden, Holland in the Spring of 1988. It's quite remarkable how these things suddenly turn up after almost exactly 20 years. The set includes a rare complete Am I Really Marcel together with and the only known version of Cocaine Blues. Elsewhere, Ollie throws the Superstition riff into Didn't Feel Lonely.
April 2008 Johnny Guitar! Armand Serra recently visited 'Admral' John Halsey to show him Ollie's famous Gibson SG Custom. John happily posed with the instrument which has been lovingly restored by Armand.
March 2008 Rutles DO Get Back! contactmusic.com confirms that the rumoured Rutles reunion did take place at the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood on Monday 17 March 2008. Following a question-and-answer session, Eric Idle, Neil Innes, John Halsey and Ricky Fataar took to the stage - bizarrely, for the first time ever. "This is the first that a band has reunited before they have actually united in the first place!" quipped Idle. Celebrities present included Andy Summers, Jeff Lynne, Peter Asher and The Simpsons regular Dan Castellaneta A message from Sir Mick Jagger (who appeared in the Rutles 1978 film All You Need Is Cash) said "I can't believe you have decided to recreate your magnificent past. I wish I could be there. If only to laugh!"
March 2008 Record Collector The March 2008 issue actually included The Archive's following response to an earlier article: Barry Winton's excellent evaluation of the Island Records catalogue (RC 346) manages to name-check guitarist Ollie Halsall no less than six times (seven, if he had included the Kevin Ayers' June 1st 1974 contribution). It is surely time for a substantial feature on this extraordinary musician, who played on at least 70 albums between 1970 and his untimely death in 1992. Halsall is often damned with the faint praise 'under-rated' but I would suggest that 'ignored' or 'overlooked' would be more accurate. I am increasingly convinced that some sort of conspiracy exists to maintain the hierarchy of rock guitar guitar and suppress any re-evaluation. It is, perhaps, inconvenient that the finest player we ever had ended his career playing small European clubs with an ageing hippy singer-songwriter. March 2008 Rutles Get Back? The Rutles may be re-uniting to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their cult movie All You Need is Cash. According to contactmusic.com, This is, of course, stretching credulity a bit, considering that Eric neither played nor sung on the original recordings. Further cold water may be poured on the idea by Admiral John Halsey, who says that "this Rutle is not to keen on spending money on flights transfers hotels etc to see a thirty year old film. "What I am interested in" adds John, "is the Neil Innes and Fatso tour in October"
February 2008
Tempesta! A quite superb [considering it's age] recording of Tempest has surfaced. The concert at The Alcione Theatre, Genoa, Italy, March 1974, courtesy of Joerg Reinicke from Germany, includes a complete set including the elusive Dream Train. There is some deterioration of the original tape but we have fixed the worst of this.
February 2008
Radio Patto Patto are the 'house band' for Eddie Gaines' Egyptian Tomb programme on 10radio Sunday 10 February 2-4pm. You can receive 10Radio on 105.3 FM in the Wiveliscombe|Taunton|Wellington area of Somerset. Otherwise, listen online at www.10Radio.org
January 2008
Treasured Island Barry Winton's excellent evaluation of the Island Records catalogue in the February 2008 issue of Record Collector magazine, manages to namecheck Ollie Halsall no less than six times [and it would have been seven, but for the omission of his spectacular contribution to Kevin Ayers' June 1st 1974 album].
January 2008 Sound and Vision If you haven't visited for some time you may be pleasantly surprised by the wealth of media clips now available. Although video is, of course, near-impossible to find, I shall continue to add audio samples as often as possible. If anyone has a particular favourite, I will be pleased to include it.
January 2008
Grave News: On the case Tomás Graves [no pun intended] - who has the good fortune to reside in Deia - writes "Although knob attrition is one of the lesser known processes of nature, I do have a couple of spare knobs somewhere. It's not the first time one has fallen (or been prised) off." January 2008 Grave News [sorry!] Not the best way to start the new year, but Reijo Lainela from Helsinki has just visited Ollie's memorial stone in the graveyard at Deia and reports that one of the guitar knobs is missing. I only hope this is not vandalism or the work of some sick souvenir hunter. Reijo says "If I only knew this beforehand, I could have taken a replacement and some good glue!" So, if anyone is planning a trip to Mallorca in the near future, please restore the memorial to its former condition [see photo] - Do ask permission beforehand, though. I'll give a prize to anyone who fixes it!
December 2007 New Ayers video Some previously unseen footage of Kevin and Ollie from 1982 in Spain. The concert also features Zanna Gregmar [keys], Miguel Figuerola [drums] and Pere Colom [bass] and four of the songs are available on the Kevin Ayers page. Many thanks to Ian Carpenter for this remarkable video
November 2007
Site maintenance Many days inside the computer with a hammer and a pair of pliers to produce a totally revised 'interface' [as they say]. Loads of new things to find, including remarkable footage of Kevin and Ollie from their very last shows together at the Shaw Theatre, London, April 1992 November 2007
Abbots Langley The new album of previously unreleased recordings by Ollie Halsall is now set for release on 14 January 2008 by Market Square Records [MSMCD 145] but is available online NOW! The material, which includes nine Halsall originals, dates from a 1980 colaboration with drummer John Halsey and is completed by some very unusual extra recordings. Full details here
October 2007 All that glisters . . [Beat Club DVD] This from Roger Houdaille: "So, I just got in a copy of that Progressive Times Vol. 4 1970/71, which is nothing more than a fancy packaged bootleg. What's worst is they used the exact same source as my copy of the Patto clip!, which means, either it came from my trading (which hasn't been many at all) or this release is related to the guy I got the copy from . . . who does have virtually every Beat Club performance. The menus are also very basic, and the label called Orange DVD is based in Switzerland. The packaging was real nice though . . . sure had me fooled!" Well, there you go. And I'm seething about it because I believe the bootleggers had the damn nerve to complain about the YouTube version and have it removed. Unbelievable. Anyway it's back up again and you can still watch it here
October 2007 Abbots Langley A new album of previously unreleased recordings by Ollie Halsall is finally set for release shortly by Market Square Records [MSMCD 145]. The material, which includes nine Halsall originals, dates from a 1980 colaboration with drummer John Halsey and is completed by some very unusual extra recordings. Email here for latest details and availability. October 2007 Tempest I was kindly sent what I assumed to be three and a half minutes of missing guitar from the intro to Living In Fear [Tempest, Teatro Nuovo, Torini, 1974]. Having laboriously cobbled this onto the existing track, I then realised that it was merely a clip 7 minutes into the original recording [doh!] Never mind. It's slightly better quality than I had, so here is a quite remarkable compilation of solo guitar [minus some rather irritating monophonic synthesiser] August 2007 15 Love Erik Amkoff has kindly contributed a remarkable recording of the Pattos at the Royal Tennis Courts[!], Stocholm, from February 1972. The gig was one of the dates of on a tour supporting Ten Years After - Alvin Lee had the unenviable task of trying to follow that every night! Not only did Erik mange to capture the event on his portable cassette player, but his friend, Anders Öhman took a couple of photos and has documented the event
August 2007 Beat Club Progressive Times Vol.4 1970 DVD, £13.00 (Orange - 28204) Having been removed from YouTube, this Patto performance is now available on DVD. Rather a lot to pay for one appalling video, but it does comprise one of only two items of footage remaining. Appears to be NTSC only, unfortunately. Thanks to Roger Houdaille and Chris Dupre who, unlike me, must actually read the Freak Emporium emails!
August 2007 Duffy Power US Ollie-freak, John McCarthy has kindly brought to our attention a previously unknown session by Ollie with 60's rock 'n roll star, Duffy Power. The album, Just Say Blue [1995] comprises recordings from the 1966-67 and a shelved LP recorded with Rod Argent in the early 1970s. Although Ollie plays on only one of the later tracks [Lawdy Miss Clawdy] this, nevertheless, represents an valuable addition to the antholliegy.
July 2007 Callejones Well, it's been a long time but, at last, something new. Juan Javier Martínez, drummer with Spanish group Callejones has kindly contributed his own 'recording diary of the sessions Ollie produced and played on, for their 1991 album, Al Pie Del Cañón.
July 2007 Otway The inimitable John Otway reads an extract from his autobiography :o)
March 2007 Tattoo for Patto Swedish guitarist and serious Ollie-freak Kee Marcello, of Easy Action and Europe, plays a heartfelt and convincing tribute with a recording entitled Tattoo for Patto
March 2007 Carl Berry All accepted theories concerning the origins of Rock & Roll are effectively overturned by this 1945 [yes, 1945!] recording by Louis Jordan [and his Timpani 5]. The intro features Carl Hogan playing THE guitar riff 10 years before Mr Berry March 2007 Mainstream Machine 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, Mainstream Machine
March 2007 Rick Nielsen Armand Serra has kindly sent a remarkable photo of none other than Cheap Trick guitarist and long-time Ollie-freak Rick Nielsen with the rennovated 'Blue Traff' guitar
March 2007 Ollievision John Cale's OGWT performance of Dying on The Vine was shown as part of a BBC4 production New York Rock at the The BBC. If anyone managed to record this, please get in touch, because it would be good to upgrade our our ancient VHS transcription March 2007 Ollie and Ali Rutles musical director and arranger John Altman has kindly contributed some stories about Ollie and an account of a truly remarkable gig
March 2007 Blue Traff 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 famous guitar
March 2007 Piper 2000 Francesco Malfatti recalls Patto's memorable appearance at The Piper 2000 club in Viareggio, Italy in July 1972
March 2007 Petition If you are a UK resident, please spare, literally, a few seconds to sign Dominic Cronin's online petition against the absurd situation now threatening live music. February 2007 Unsung Hero US Guitar Player magazine includes the following entry in a list of 101 Gutar Greats an Unsung Heroes: Although Halsall's most famous work is on the ultimate Beatles send-up, The Rutles, the British underground legend was also capable of expansive improvisations, unparalleled musicality, and blinding technique. "His playing on the first two Patto albums is it," says XTC's Andy Partridge of Halsall's early '70s fusion outfit. "His solos would explode into the ionosphere like a John Coltrane improvisation."
February 2007 Warts & All John Halsey's superb recording of Patto LIVE at The Black Swan, Sheffield in 1971, is available again through this site. This is the ONLY live Patto album and, in The Admiral's own words "The solo on Let It Rock alone is worth the purchase price!" Full details here
January 2007 Sausages! "While the pie was in the oven, we went back to the studio to complete the painting" Part two of Bernie Holland's recollections covers various dinner menus and the creation of a painting - 'La Vogheur Lough''
January 2007 Caves A limited edition of the album, which has been completely sold out for some time, is now available again - with revamped artwork. Full details here
January 2007 Under the Blossom The full extent of Ollie's involvement with Tempest is revealed in this excerpt from David Wells' album sleeve notes
January 2007 The Patto & Timebox Fan Site Our 'sister' site in the US now has a new address: www.pattofan.com January 2007 Paris Amazingly, a couple more photos of Patto - This time from Paris in 1972, courtesy of Armand Serra. They were taken at the time of the remarkable French TV session which featured Bernie Holland on bass in place of the indisposed Clive Griffiths. January 2007 Stockholm A couple of remarkably rare photos of Patto in Sweden, 1972, kindly contributed by Anders Öhman - who also gives a fascinating account of the impact the band had there.
January 2007 PhoneTuner It is a little-known fact that the UK ringtone [i.e the one you hear in your earpiece - NOT the one the phone makes] and engaged signal are pitched to G. This, of course, provides a cheap and widely accessible tuning device :-) Thanks to Adam Croft for this invaluable tip. January 2007 Tom's First Hit! January 2007 Guitar Player 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: Although Halsall's most famous work is on the ultimate Beatles send-up, The Rutles, the British underground legend was also capable of expansive improvisations, unparalleled musicality and blinding technique. "His playing on the first two Patto albums is IT," says XTC's Andy Partridge of Halsall's early '70s fusion outfit". His solos would explode into the ionosphere like a John Coltrane improvisation."
December 2006 Caves reissue Market Square Records have arranged for a new pressing of Ollie's remarkable solo album from 1979. A limited edition of the album, which has been completely sold out for some time, will be available again - with revamped artwork - early in the New Year Email here and ask to reserve your copy December 2006 The Time Machine Martyn Hanson has contacted the site regarding Ollie's time with Tempest for The Time Machine - a new book about John Hiseman. Martyn has written several earlier rock biographies, including works on Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Nice and The Groundhogs and this project - which has the full backing of Hiseman - is due for publication in the Autumn of 2007 December 2006 It's That Man Again! The interpid globe-trotting author John Engel is now also on National Public Radio getting another well-deserved plug for his gargantuan tome, 'Uncommon Sound' December 2006 Moose on the Loose The Deram Anthology included most of the Timebox singles and b-sides plus tracks recorded for the unreleased album. Whilst it forms a comprehensive document of the band's recording career, it misses the golden opportunity to finally present the missing album 'Moose on the Loose'. You can now listen online to what the album probably would have comprised here:
October 2006 Uncommon Radio John Engel, author of Uncommon Sound, [the definitive work on left-handed guitarists] was on Robyn Johnston's special on left-handed musicians, On the Other Hand, on Saturday October 28th on Australian national radio. This show promises to be quite interesting as John is the only guest. There are several Aussie southpaw musicians on hand, as well as a neuro-psychologist [!]. The program can be heard online here until Saturday 4 November.
October 2006 'Boz' Burrell 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.
October 2006 'Berns' Ace guitarist Bernie Holland is one of the few people to have played with The Pattos - and lived to tell the tale! Read all about it in this extraordinary interview
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October 2006 Geetar I just found out some news about Ollie's white Gibson SG Custom guitar. Ace session guitarist Martin Jenner [Everly Brothers, Barbara Dickson, Cliff Richard etc] bought the guitar in the 'late 70's' from Orange Music, London - who must have acquired it after Boxer's manager, Nigel Thomas, took all the band's gear against debts. It is exquisitely ironic that, in a 1974 New Musical Express interview, Ollie offered the advice: "Don't go to Orange Music for your guitars." Martin had the guitar 'for a few years' and removed the Vibrola [tremolo arm]. We know that Patto's roadie had converted the [originally] right-handed guitar and repositioned the controls accordingly [although foregoing the relatively simple job of converting the Vibrola] but Martin says that the cutaway 'horns' had actually been chopped off and swapped over to complete the conversion! Armand Serra states, however, that the longer horn was simply reduced to correct the aesthetics. Martin Jenner sadly died in Australia a few years ago, so we have no idea what he did with the guitar or where it is now.
September 2006 Pattovision Roger Houdaille [USA] receives the coveted Golden Moose award for finding this The complete video comprises the whole of Time to Die and Money Bag plus a short interview. After that, the remainder of the half hour show [which I fear we will never see] was erased and used to record the excellent, but unwelcome in these circumstances, Ralph McTell. It will cost you a mere 6 Euros to get the whole thing, but it's quite a protracted process - involving acquisition of the [free] DivX player. You will also need to learn French, or work in conjunction with BabelFish translator. I did it, so it's not that difficult and, by crikey it's worth it! August 2006 Timebox BBC Session Top Sounds Records have released a complilation CD [and vinyl version] called Shapes and Sounds - Orange and red beams from the BBC archives 1967 - 1969 It includes four excellent tracks by Timebox: 'A Girl Like You [never recorded elsewhere], 'Beggin', 'Stay There' and and 'Yellow Van' [both with clear evidence of embryonic Halsall guitar]
£12.99
July 2006 Roll 'em, Smoke 'em, Put Another Line Out The Archive has received numerous enquiries recently regarding the The Pattos' notorious 3rd and final authorised album Roll 'em, Smoke 'em, Put Another Line Out. An exhaustive search of the web concludes that this essential album is not currently available anywhere. If anyone knows otherwise, please let us know. The Archive takes the view that it is not, therefore, putting anyone's nose out of joint by making .mp3 versions temporarily available here
July 2006 Van der Graf Generator Phil Smart of the VdGG site has informed us of their new book about Van der Graaf Generator, called "The Book". Ollie is only mentioned in passing but there's quite a lot about Keith Ellis.
July 2006 Caves | Warts and All Special Offer Buy one album - get the other half-price! July 2006 World Cup special download Patto - Live at The Piper Club, This has long been doing the rounds as part of an awful bootleg CD called Straight to the Tempest. So, as a tribute to Italy's soccer victory, decent versions of the concert tracks are now available. Thanks to Francesco [Franceschino] Malfatti, who recorded the concert and to his friend Massimiliano [Max] Garre' for passing them on to the Archive. Listen [at least] to the version of Hold Me Back for a truly stunning example of Ollie's guitar: Hold Me Back
Incidentally, I cannot recommend highly enough the remarkable application called Audacity [used to master these .mp3's]. If you're into audio editing, forget the rest, this is the best. June 2006
SPECIAL OFFER BOGOHP
Total £16.49
Please email for alternative payment methods June 2006 'Lost Jazz Album' - my arse! The respected joutnal Record Collector magazine appears to have suffered a severe lapse in editorial standards resulting in the publication of a review of the dreaded Arkama bootleg album. A response has been fired off to them and you can read both this and the offending article here May 2006 Galliery Some high resolution [300dpi] pics now available to view | download from the Halsall photo Galliery May 2006 Patto down-under Nice poster from the Australian leg of Patto's 1972 world tour with Joe Cocker. Kindly supplied by Vezetek
Boxer Andrea Penessi's has kindly allowed his recording of Boxer at The Roundhouse, London, 1976 to be made available for download. So, here it is!
Photo: Andrea Pennesi April 2006 olliEshop The only official live Patto album, Warts & All is now available directly from the OH Archive site. Initially, this will be via PayPal or mail order only, but a full online shopping facility will be established shortly. The current 'shop window' also includes Ollie's solo album Caves
April 2006 Abbots Langley Plans are afoot for Market Square Records [who did the Caves album] to release an album of demos which Ollie made with John Halsey in 1980. Recorded at Ollie's house [in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire] and at The Barge Studios in London, these remarkable tracks include a series of commisioned advertising jingles. The album also include Ollie and Johns 'song' Bum Love [!] recorded during the same period for Morgan Fisher's 1979 Miniatures album. The former Otway keyboardist has also contributed some photos from the 1979 Otway tour. More details soon.
March 2006 New York, New York What is really interesting about this photo is that it clearly shows him playing a Gibson Les Paul Junior guitar. Now, I always thought his sound on the New York recordings was distinctly different and now, it seems, we know why. Read the New York recollections here
March 2006 Uncommon Sound John Engel's definitive, long-awaited book about left-handed guitar players and lefty guitars is finally available. This is a lavishly packaged limied edition which promises to become a collector's item. A certain southpaw Southport lad is featured amongst this wealth of painstaking text and rare photographs. Full details are available here
February 2006 The Outertunes Tomás Graves has very kindly contributed this absolutely splendid little Latin instrumental piece he did with Ollie on acoustic guitar and marimba [as sort of ethnic xylophone!]
February 2006 BabelFish For our overseas visitors we have now installed the amazing BabelFish page translator on the home page. Try it!
Whilst on the subject of online translators, those with nothing better to do will find hours of amusement at:
February 2006
February 2006 Monkeys Bum 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 here
Whilst we're on the subject . . .
February 2006 Sonic Pollutions I'm new to this 'blog' [web log] thing, but Ollie-freak The Maz has found an amazing one called Sonic Pollutions. As well as being itself a veritable goldmine of 60's videos, it has endless links to other like-minded sites. Ollie is featured in one of the recent postings. Seriously worth checking out.
January 2006 Shit, Muck, Err & Grolly! Boxer drummer, Tony Newman, first worked with Ollie in the Kevin Ayers' backing band The Soporifics. His career before and since has encompassed such diverse associations as: Sound Incorporated , Jeff Beck [Beck-Ola album], David Bowie [Diamond Dogs], May Blitz, The Baker-Gurvitz Army, Marc Bolan, Joe Brown, Whitesnake, Chris Spedding and The Everly Brothers. Tony kindly contributed this piece following his latest outing with the Evs.
January 2006 Akarma Chameleons The cowboy outfit Arkama records - previously responsible for the appalling quality Monkey's Bum CD - appear to have cobbled together yet another Patto bootleg - lifting the bonus tracks from A Sense of the Absurd plus, perversely, Boxer's live version of Teachers from the Bloodletting album. This has been packaged under the title Ducks in Flight: The Lost Jazz Album. Please don't even think about buying this insult to the group's memory. All the tracks are available on existing albums. If anyone knows an address | phone number | website for Arkama, please let us know. December 2005 Caves illustrations Finally got round to uploading Ollie's pen and ink illustrations for Caves [possibly the world's shortest book!]
November 2005 CinemasPop Rare interview now online
November 2005 Sense of the Absurd Double CD reissue of the first two Patto albums appears to be available again at Amazon, but you'll have to be quick!
October 2005 Brian Godding Former Blossom Toes guitarist Brian Godding has kindly contributed some fascinating recollections of his work and friendship with Ollie. Click here
October 2005 John Cale A superb set of live concert recordings from 1985 [radio?] now available here. Many thanks to David Sandilands for hosting this material October 2005 Kevin Ayers Friendly BBC archivists Hux Records are reissuing Kevin Ayers' 'Singing The Bruise' and 'First Show In The Appearance Business' BBC Radio session collections on October 17. There are 5 previously unissued tracks including a version of 'Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes' from late 1974 with Ollie that has not seen the light of day before. visit Hux Records for advance orders
October 2005 Downloads 9 x Cale/Halsall tracks of unknown source [any ideas?] found on SoulSeek. October 2005 Downloads Archive recordings now available for download via Soulseek peer-to-peer file-sharing. See Media page
August 2005 Downloads Two complete archive tracks are now available for download. More soon. August 2005 Record Collector The September edition has considerable mention of the first 2 Patto albums in a feature on the Vertigo label releases. Luke warm and poorly researched: Appraisal of 1st album mispells both Ollie and Mike's surnames and 2nd omits any reference to Ollie whatsoever. Odd August 2005 New Live Patto 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!]. Highlight is an unknown 25 minute epic with Mike on piano. The Archive audio-gnomes are currently employed round the clock restoring this remarkable document. Recording not available for trade
August 2005 Under the Blossom - Tempest anthology is now available:
Not entirely sure whether the the Holdsworth | Halsall session is the version supplied by the Archive but certainly sounds better than the quality suggested by Jon's original source. Worth buying for the previously unreleased Dream Train alone which is an absolute gem - almost impossible to believe it was recorded 32 years ago! Any contemporary rock band would be delighted with a sound as good as this.
July 2005 Under the Blossom Jon Hiseman calls regarding the whereabouts of Ollie's family and is amazed tht the archive holds a copy the BBC transcription of the 1973 Halsal|Holdsworth session. He was about to use a crappy cassette version on the album. Jon Hiseman's Temple Music site July 2005 Under the Blossom Tempest antholliegy is released at the end of July. This 2 x CD set will include the 1973 Halsall | Holdsworth BBC sessions and 3 unreleased tracks from the aborted third album from the trio of Hiseman | Clarke | Halsall. More details soon! May 2005 A few bits of maintenance plus 'Lovers Leaping' - the story behind the Caves tapes. February 2005 olliehalsall.co.uk - site update New 800 pixel wide format [which is how people do things these days] more pics and many corrections. November 2004 'Tuning Up at Dawn' [Fourth Estate/HarperCollins] Tomás Graves' new book promises to be a fascinating read and includes a lengthy chapter featuring Ollie and his association with The Pa Amb Oli Band. BBC Radio 4 has chosen this as their "Book of the Week": Monday 22nd - Friday 26th November . Available from Amazon here: August 2004 olliehalsall.co.uk - site update. Both Video [thanks Marty] and audio clips now available. Audio clips are currently .wma format since they seem to come out smaller. I'd prefer to use .mp3 but I'm still experimenting [anyone got any ideas?]. Tore Wildhauer from the Patto website gave me some useful info re Real Audio [which he uses] so may try that [If it's good enough for the BBC . . .] July 2004 Bootlace Johnny A new album by Terry Stamp, 'Bootlace Johnnie and the Ninety-Nines', is set for release in early summer 2004 on Burning Shed Records. The new album is produced by Alistair Murphy of Cromerzone, and features 11 songs written by Terry Stamp and Jim Avery. Nearly 30 years after 'Fatsticks', these eleven songs tell of Terry's time playing bass in his teens at the Wimbledon Palais, fronting Third World War in his twenties, and his adventures ever since in the New World. More info at: http://www.stardomroad.com
Not him again! July 2004 olliehalsall.co.uk - site update Revamped non-frames format with updated content, audio clips and many new photos including rare shots of Ollie with Spanish band Rey Lui, and Claudia Puyo/Kevin Ayers 1992 tour pictures. March 2004 Terry Stamp - 'Fatsticks' Terry has put pen to paper and come up with some fascinating recollections of the Fatsticks sessions with Ollie and Tony Newman -see the new Fatsticks page.
February 2004 olliehalsall.co.uk - site update January 2004 olliehalsall.co.uk New home of Caves - The Ollie Halsall Archive website August 2003 John Otway 'Scraps' New album of unreleased tracks, demos & rarities now available: This superbly pacakged TRIPLE album includes the 1979 demos Otway did featuring Ollie Halsall on guitar, bass, vocals, very likely drums and, quite possibly, violin. January 2003 Terry Stamp - 'Fatsticks' Plans are afoot to re-release this classic 1975 album (featuring Ollie on guitar). More news expected soon. For more info on Terry, Fatsticks and Third World War, visit
July 2002 Michael d'Albuquerque Michael d'Albuquerue, bass player with ELO (The Electric Light Orchestra), made two superb solo albums: We May All Be Cattle But We've All Got Names (RCA SF 8383, 1973) and Stalking The Sleeper (WEA K56276, 1976). Guest appearances included Brian Bennett, B J Cole, Gerry Conway & Frank Ricoti (drums/percussion), Gordon Beck (keyboards) & Alan Skidmore (saxophones) and Ollie Halsall who contributed some absolutely stunning guitar. Click here to read Michael's fascinating recollections
August 2001 Mojo 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 The piece has been written by Harry Shapiro (with a little help from The Archive) and appears in the September 2001 issue (no. 94)
January 2000 Warts and All Nearly 30 years on you can experience the Pattos live as nature intended. This superbly packaged 11-track CD has been lovingly restored from drummer John Halsey's archive with an 8-page colour booklet - including rare It features John, Griff, Mike & Ollie at their peak, live at one of their favourite venues. Ollie's guitar work is absolutely astounding throughout. (The solo on 'Let it Rock' alone is worth the admission price!) Warts and All is available ONLY by mail order (see below) and stocks are limited. So, go on, treat yourself to a real bit of history from the UK's finest-ever rock band.
January 1999 Caves When working with John Otway, Ollie gave him a cassette of some songs they might want to do. Amazingly, John kept the tape and more than 20 years later you can hear the full remastered version on this budget-priced CD. Far from being merely rough sketches, these are complete multi-track performances (with Ollie on vocals and all instruments!) demonstrating the lighter side of Halsall's talent - as a singer-songwriter. The colour booklet icludes notes by John Otway and extraordinary line-drawings by Ollie himself and this remarkable document can now only be considered as the great lost solo album.
July 1998 TIMEBOX - The Deram Anthology 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 Available at all good stockists! |
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