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Alan: Where do you come from and where did you grow up?
Chris: It’s been 67
years, wowee, I’ve been living in the same place where I was
born, just outside Rochdale but within the boundaries, and
that’s where I’ve been living ever since. I’m a 'Roots Person'
basically, I do like to get around but I always like to have a
base to come back to.
Alan: Did you come from a musical family?
Chris: No, not at all.
When I was about 6 years old, yeah I reckon it would be about
then, I did enjoy listening to music, especially piano music but
modern piano music bearing in mind that was about 1950. So I
went to piano lessons for 3 years, but I didn’t have any natural
talent like some people who are just gifted and don’t need to
read music. So the natural aspect just wasn’t there and when it
came to the lessons, the fundamental scales etc to read music, I
just didn’t get it and so I closed the lid on the piano after my
Mum and Dad had saved up and paid for expensive lessons. This
was the early to mid 50s, it was hard and I’m not saying they
thought I'd squandered this money but I just didn’t have the
talent so that got put aside, but music was always with me.
Alan: Did you always want to be involved in the music
business?
Chris: Yes, I suppose
I did, like most lads in the mid 50s who took up a tennis bat
and a cricket bat and thought they were in a skiffle group. My
Dad always had Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Sammy Davis Jr.,
Louis Armstrong records, it was sort of, as some people would
call it 'cabaret', 'black pop', it wasn’t true black music as we
know it today but it was still black music. All I could hear
was what we call swing now, so I suppose that’s what was on the
record player in about 55 or something like that, and I enjoyed
it, really enjoyed it. It was that style of stuff that my Dad
had on his LPs and from that I suppose I had a love of rhythm
music rather than individual musical instrument music. I got in
that sort of a groove, I loved that stuff that had rhythm at an
early age. So I enjoyed music all the time and started buying
records in 1957 or 58. My first record was Reet Petite by
Jackie Wilson on a 78, and I’ve still got it.
I was in a few groups
when I was at school, in the late 50s. I used to shout a bit
and play maracas I did a bit more of that sort of thing, and
then in about '62 or '63 I was friendly with this lass, I
suppose she was a bit more than a friend and she said, why are
you listening to all this Beatles stuff. You want to get hold
of some stuff by Alexis Korner and Bob Dylan. Bear in mind this
is '63, the Beatles are just breaking commercially, this lass is
younger than me and she know about this in Rochdale (which is
hard to believe, but she did). So I couldn’t get to grips with
Dylan because there was no rhythm there and it was just talking
stuff with the guitars but this Alexis Korner stuff I thought
was incredible. An album, on Ace of Clubs, was the start of it
for me, which I still have. It was a budget price, LPs then
were 37/6d and I think this was 21shillings so I could afford
that. There were all sorts of LPs on a budget label called
Summitt, and I got a Memphis Slim LP on that which was basically
piano stuff again and I enjoyed that and so I was sort of sucked
in. But where do you go to hear it where we were in Rochdale;
there was a bit going on but not too much.
So, we’re now about
1964 and I’d started really getting involved and interested in
this R&B stuff, of which the Rolling Stones were the most
commercial guys on that scene, covering a lot of the stuff of
all the great blues and rhythm & blues artists. I got into
another band and that’s the sort of stuff we were doing. And
like everything these things have a shelf life and come about
1965 going into 1966 the 2-3 year R&B hard edged stuff that the
likes of the Stones and Alexis Korner had introduced to us
started to drift into something else and soul music came in from
the States and I just couldn’t get enough of that, because it
had rhythm. So, then the tours started coming. I didn’t manage
to see the Stax tour in ’67 but my record collection was
increasing because that's what I used to spend most of my money
on, especially 45s, occasionally LPs. Occasionally I Dee-Jay'd
but I was only playing at it. I started then, about '67 / '68,
two or three local things, nothing heavy. That carried on, just
collecting records, loving the music, going to gigs through to
the early '70s. I especially went to see Booker T & the MGs in
1970 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester; still got the
programme. It wasn't the Stax tour, there were different artist
on, Booker T & the MGs were there, couldn't get enough of that!
I did start Dee-Jaying actually in 1973 big style playing funk
and jazz funk at clubs, bit of old soul, still stuff that had
rhythm. It has to have rhythm for me, I’m a bum shaker not a
head bobber. Then about '80 or '81 it had faded and I faded off
the scene too. I got fed up with the styles of music but still
enjoyed it at home.
Alan: As a DJ you
are renowned for spinning purely vinyl records, why is this?
Chris: A good
question. The number one reason is that having been collecting
blues, black music, R&B, 45s since the early '60s I’ve amassed a
hell of a collection. So, they take a lot of lugging about but
to have that piece of kit in your hands and the needle then just
gets bounced down into the groove and to feel it, and watch it
happening is just a buzz. The authenticity. That is how Dee-Jaying
started off, the essence of Dee-Jaying is how it began and
lasted for 30 years before the advent of CDs and then it went
all…whatever’s happening now. Somebody from around the corner
can do a wedding if they want because they can just put
everything in a computer and whenever somebody asks for a tune
they can press a button. That’s not Dee-Jaying. So, I prefer
to just have the feel of the vinyl, banging the arm down,
letting it happen is one of the reasons why, and why should I
then spend a lot more money on buying CDs or other equipment
when I’ve got it all and it doesn’t need to change. I’m doing
all right, thank you very much!
Alan: You have
been MC at the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, Colne for
many years. How did you first get involved in being the 'Master
of Ceremonies'?
Chris: Well, here we
go…. as far as the R&B and the current scene I’m on now, this
all coincided with the demise of my first marriage. I split up
in 1995, I was just itching to do what I wanted to do and in
1995 two things happened besides me being a free agent: The
opening of Rochdale Jazz & Blues Club, and the simultaneous
opening of the Blues Shack at Oldham. The Blues Shack was the
sister club of the Blues Club at Glossop, and I got the job of
Dee-Jaying at both of these so they were just wanting a DJ to
play that sort of music and I had boxes of it. Woof -
fantastic! Away I went! Then in the summer of 1996 I wanted
to get involved at Colne so I got in touch with Gary Hood who
obviously didn’t know me from Adam, explained what I did, which
was just Dee-Jayng, and he said that he’d put on at the British
Stage at the August bank holiday festival in 1996 so I’d really
picked up from where I’d left off 20-odd years ago and found I
was straight in at these different clubs. And then Gary said,
yeah, come and DJ on the British Stage which is in-between the
bands, usual thing. I wasn’t M-Ceeing. So I did that for about
3 years at Colne and then Gary asked me if I’d double up and DJ
and MC at the British Stage as long as I could work out a
procedure, a way of doing it. So I said, yeah, okay, let’s go
for that. In the meantime in 1997 I became the Band Booker at
Rochdale Jazz & Blues Club so I was then booking blues and R&B
bands for that club so I was becoming more and more on the scene
during that period. Then in 1998 I had done 12 to 18 months at
the Blues Shack at Oldham and I was then asked to DJ at the
Blues Club at Glossop which I did for 18 months but then it
closed. Just a little aside, that used to be called The House
of Blues when it first opened because the owner, Kevin Harty,
had been over to America, this music was his love or his
passion, and he’d visited the House of Blues in one or two
cities and thought, “Oh, that’s what I’ll call my club”, but
they found out and gave him a right seeing-to as far as a verbal
threat and so it wasn't long before he had to change it to The
Blues Club. So I started Dee-Jaying there which was moving up a
bit because the quality of the artists at the Glossop Club was
pretty damn good. I did various things for 2 or 3 years with
lots of little venues cropping up I did gigs at and in 2002 I
was asked to MC at the International Stage and then in 2003
there was a real landmark aspect, only one gig, but it’s all
about getting on the big stage and working in front of a big
audience in a theatre rather than a small club. The intimate
club is great for the informal aspect that it creates but you
get on a big stage in a big theatre, wow, different! Connie
Lush and Blues Shouter were doing a big tour about 10 years ago
and it climaxed at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, a big
venue, and they asked me to do the M-Ceeing. That really gave
me, wow, this is really just that bit different, bit bigger.
It’s about landmarks and that was a landmark, as was being asked
to MC on the big stage at Colne. With all due respects to every
other venues that I’ve worked at, the Phil and Colne were real
landmarks. It’s the big leaps, the big steps that can make the
difference. Whilst on about Connie Lush and Blues Shouter,
they, that's Val and Terry Harris, pushed my name strongly
towards Monica Madgwick at Boogaloo (Warner's Blues Weekends)
and mainly due to their efforts I started doing the weekenders
at various venues in the North - and still am. It will be 10
years of Warner's when I do Alvaston Hall in March 2013.
It was about this time
coinciding with doing the gig at the Phil and then the permanent
aspect of the big stage at Colne and other ones that were coming
through, I started to do a festival in Bury and I was doing
Burnley, so it was pretty good as far as biggish type events. I
felt that maybe I needed to do something that got me through it
and was going to have just a little different edge to the usual
style of MCs that are around. I’d read in some sleeve notes of
a 60s live LP from some gig in Philadelphia or Detroit of Stax
and Atlantic stuff and it said in the sleeve notes that the MC
wore a different outfit to bring on all the different artists
that you hear on his LP. That stuck with me and I thought,
“That's what I'm going to do. That’s how I’m going to be that
bit different.” Like everything, nothing’s new or different,
but it ended up a trademark and now it’s like a millstone around
my neck!
Alan: How do you
select each outfit to match the artist/band you are introducing?
Chris: This is where
my soul-mate, Sarah, comes in. Because we have a lot of fun
shortly before each festival and, say there’s going to be 20
bands that means 20 outfits, and I have lists of what I wore
each time at each different venue so that I don’t double-up too
often. Then we have this session of matching up certain outfits
and which will go well with this particular artist, for example,
if it’s a female artist or a crazy band that’s coming on. So,
Sarah does it with me and we have a lot of fun. That’s what
part of the whole exercise is, you’ve got to enjoy it. When I
talk to bands before they go on stage, especially bands which
are young and aren’t as seasoned, I tell them one of the tricks
is that you must enjoy yourself, must be happy at what you’re
doing but must also be professional. That's what I try to tell
the bands that are treading the boards in the early part of
their career.
Alan: You have
recently begun Dee-Jaying in Europe, how did that come about?
Chris: I suppose you
can put this down to a continuation of landmark happenings
during this last 17 or 18 years. It was back in 2005 when the
Norwegian due, Big Moe and Jolly Jumper (Jan Erik Moe and Kjell
Inge Brovoll), were on at Colne and we got on real good. So
much so that Kjell had shown interest in booking me, and getting
me over to Norway but things just didn’t develop. However back
in 2011 they were on at Colne again and so our friendship
continued. There were certainly no hard feelings when he
couldn't fix anything up, but this time he was adamant he was
going to get me over there so I did a gig in 2011 with Angela
Brown, Big Moe and Jolly Jumper and I was Dee-Jaying. I took a
box of records over on the plane and they enjoyed it so much
that I did the Blues in Hell Festival, again Dee-Jaying not M-Ceeing
at this stage. I did Christmas 2012 again near Trondheim and in
April 2013 I’ll be Dee-Jaying again at the Nidaros Blues
Festival. At these two festivals the artists as a whole are of
a standard that’s stopped happening in the UK for some reason.
Things have gone a little bit lax in the UK recently but this
has really done good.
Alan: Given the
wide range of artists you’ve introduced, you must have some
amusing moments to tell.
Chris: Yes, there are,
here's one. It’s about 6 or 7 years ago at the Burnley Blues
Festival and a blind blues pianist from New Orleans called Henry
Butler was appearing. He was blind as a bat and he had an
assistant with him who just had to help him around everywhere.
He’d been put in a dressing room quite some distance from the
stage and it used to be a hell’ova rabbit warren back stage at
Burnley. Even somebody with normal sight would find it a
struggle, it was such a maze. So I decided I’d give him a lift
and guide him to the stage. So we got out of the dressing room
and he puts his right hand on my left shoulder and I start
leading the way. As I’m going through I said, “Henry, there’s
two steps down", then “Take a left now” in a strong tone and
loud pitched voice. "Another step down, now". Still in a loud
voice. Henry then taps me on the shoulder, and said, “Chris, I
may be blind but I ain’t deaf!!”.
Alan: My initial
memory of Henry Butler at that festival was when you escorted
him going onto the stage he walked up to the piano, felt for the
seat, sat down, touched the keyboard, stretched his arms to
touch each end of the keyboard, then went straight into playing
superb music - awesome!
Chris: Another one,
not funny, just a memorable moment that's worth it I think.
Since the mid 60s I’ve always been a big lover of Stax music and
it came to a head in 2012 when I was Dee-Jaying at the Blues in
Hell Festival and Steve Cropper was there as part of the
original Blues Brothers band. I’m Dee-Jaying and Cropper came
up and asked if I’d got anything by Otis. Fortunately I had and
he chose something, and I got my photo taken with him by my
decks and he went back to the bar. Then the night after he came
into the Green Room where the artists were and complimented me
on what I’d played and how I've kept the Stax flag flying by
playing these 45s, so I was made up and I thought, well, what an
accolade that the main man whose been one of my heroes for a
long time who said something like that unprompted. Being a DJ
to have that said is quite important.
Alan: What’s the
main attraction in being an MC. Why do you do it?
Chris: Well I suppose
I’m like a groupie! I just love being with the artists
providing that they behave and aren’t arseholes, but because I
wanted to be a musician and it didn’t happen I still wanted to
be involved and this is the way I’m involved. So I get a buzz,
although I’m not overwhelmed by being in their company, I just
treat them like any other bloke or bird in the pub and I’m just
quite normal with them, But just to be around them and
experience what I would have liked to have done 50 years ago is
part of the buzz. Being on stage, having the lights on me, to
do what I do you’ve got to have an ego and yes, I’ve got an
ego. But so what!
Alan: What do you
believe are the main factors for a successful festival?
Chris: I’ve got to
wear 2 or 3 different hats on this because you’ve got what I do
as an aspect of how successful a festival will be and you’ve got
the promoters and organisers roles and their side of it. It’s
all geared up to the punters and what they will expect. So
besides what the organisers want to make sure happens on the
peripheral and the facilities, my involvement is pretty straight
forward. If it was straightforward my job M-Ceeing would be
quite easy. Professionalism is number 1. People have paid
money to come and see these acts and they’ve come to see a
particular person or a particular group and they should give a
show and behave in a professional way. I’m a stickler for
sticking to time, making sure they’re off when they are supposed
to come off to give the programming a chance so that the punters
know that at, say 8pm, so-and-so will be on. If they don’t come
on until 8.20pm and they over-run then the festival won’t finish
at 12 as expected but it might be 1am or even later and it’s
just nonsense. Sometimes it’s not easy to stick to time but the
image of how things are done on stage should be seamless, and I
have a little saying that the continuity is only noticed when
it’s not there. In other words, if it just flows, starting and
finishing when it's supposed to then people should go away
without noticing it and that means a job has been well done and
to me is a very important part of running a successful
festival.
Alan: If you had
the choice of Dee-Jaying or M-Ceeing which would you prefer and
why?
Chris: Another good
question Alan. It would be Dee-Jaying. It gives me the
opportunity to play the music I have a passion for but more
importantly to have members of the audience enjoy what I'm
playing and (if I'm lucky) go home with a smile on their faces.
Alan: Thank you
Chris.
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