Andy Fairweather Low

I'll be heading off to see Andy Fairweather Low perform at The Ferry in Glasgow tomorrow night. He counts as one of the forgotten men in rock (and I do fear this might be proven in the attendance although I'll more than pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong) although he has been more than gainfully employed in the service of others for more than the last 20 years.

As lead singer in Amen Corner, I recall his somewhat static singing style and how he appeared to sing out of the corner of his mouth. He was the epitome of the uncomfortable young man on Top Of The Pops. Although they had a number of good to excellent singles, it seems that Andy had always wanted to be a guitarist and that this was perhaps the source of his discomfort.

After Amen Corner split, Fairweather emerged from the ashes (albeit this was effectively the same band but without the horn section) and had another fine hit with Natural Sinner. This didn't last any more than an album and Andy disappeared for three years before released a fine trilogy of albums in Spider Jiving, La Booga Rooga and Be Bop N'Holla. The latter was notably less successful both critically and commercially than the previous two and Andy's profile dropped for a few years until 1980 when he released Mega-Shebang which unfortunately didn't live up to its' title.

Since then, he had concentrated on being a hired hand and has served in the bands of Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison amongst others and was also present at the tribute concert for George Harrison.

I first saw Andy perform a brief set of blues in support of Man at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff in December 2001. To be honest, it was only there that I appreciated what a wonderfully emotive guitarist he was.

So I was delighted when he issued an excellent new album last year called Sweet Soul Music. There's nothing earth shatteringly original on there - it's just great songs by a great musician with a great voice. What more can you ask for?

I saw him last year in Edinburgh at the Queen's Hall when he did a brief tour when the album came out and I'm hoping for more of the same tomorrow. So that'll be a mix of blues and gospel songs alongside songs from his seventies albums plus a healthy chunk of the new album as well.

And he did give a nod to his sixties legacy performing Bend Me, Shape Me and (If Paradise Was) Half As Nice as an encore.

I will be driving so I can tell you that I won't be wide eyed and legless!