The ‘Wheelin’N’Dealin” tour
Terry Bennett (vocals) / Dai Shell (lead guitar) / Ralph Evans (lead guitar) / Steve Finn (bass) / Chris Sharley (drums)
Sassafras were back in town, and on a Wednesday night too; strange! Anyway, we were there (as expected) to see one of our favourite Welsh bands because we knew that they would be good.
Sassafras incorporated superb dual guitar, close harmony vocals, and a country/prog rock style, but sadly they were a band not so well known outside of their Welsh homeland. It has been said that they produced just the kind of songs that John Peel might have played on his late night show. The band has also been described as a sort-of Welsh Fleetwood Mac/Eagles hybrid, with soaring west-coast melodies and a real “road-trip rock” feel. In the early 1970s they held the record for highest number of gigs in a single year, with their 332 beating Slade by one.
We had seen the band only five months previously in January so I assume that we got pretty much the same set with them plugging the then current ‘Wheelin’N’Dealin” album. Just over three weeks later (28th June) the band would appear on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test programme playing ‘Moonshine‘ and ‘Highway Skies‘ so it seems pretty certain that they were still plugging that album (although, unfortunately, there seems to be no footage of this appearance).
As I’ve said so many times before on this blog, my memory ain’t what it used to be, so I really can’t remember this gig, although I do know for certain that I was there. I suspect that this was the occasion when I pinched both a poster and an album sleeve from the walls of the Penthouse as we descended the stairs at the end; or had that been the January gig? Either way I know that I had a big record shop poster advertising the album because I still have photographs of it on my wall at college. This would have been another enjoyable, satisfying Friday night at a time when you could get sloshed and take in a quality live band, all for under £2.00 – happy days! 🙂
Sadly this was the last time that I saw the band at this particular venue, although I would get to see them once more, many years hence…
Setlist: unknown
I have an unused sticker from around this time too…
Then in 2022 I commissioned a 1″ tin pin-badge of the band…
The Spanish version of the single had a picture sleeve…
Gigs'n'Stuff 