The music of the 1960s is alive and well, with many of the bands from that decade still touring (albeit minus a few original band members).
These days, there are quite a few package tours that gather together, on one bill, a number of artists from that magical time.
One such tour is heading north this week.
The 50th Anniversary Tour has a veritable handful of such music legends.
Headliners Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Searchers will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first hits, as they both had their chart debuts in 1963. They were responsible for memorable songs such as I Like It, Ferry Cross the Mersey and You’ll Never Walk Alone (from Gerry), plus Sweets for my Sweet, Needles and Pins and Don’t Throw Your Love Away from their fellow-Liverpudlians.
The Fortunes first hit the charts in 1965, and went on to have hits with You’ve Got Your Troubles, Storm in a Teacup and Here it Comes Again. Former Tremeloes Brian Poole and Chip Hawkes will appear together on stage (subject to Chip’s health as he has been undergoing treatment recently). P.J. Proby will complete the bill.
P.J., whose trousers split on stage, which led to him being banned from performing in many theatres, won the Melody Maker Teen Idol award in 1964.
His rendition of Somewhere, from the musical West Side Story, is rightly regarded as a classic and he went on to enjoy no fewer than 91 weeks on the charts. Hits like Hold Me, Maria and I Apologise (released in answer to his theatre ban) cemented his place in music history.
He even returned to the charts in 1996, with Yesterday Has Gone.
Real name James Marcus Smith, P.J. is now 74 and the voice is still as magnificent as ever, but he had his problems.
Alcohol was his downfall and, for a while, he lived in places like Bolton and Bury.
“I used to fall asleep in the pub and the landlord had to carry me home, but once I woke up in a flowerbed.”
But that’s all behind him now, as he tells me.
“I feel fantastic nowadays,” he said in his distinctive Texan drawl.
“Basically, I dropped dead in ’92 through alcohol, but I’m OK now – I haven’t had a drink for 21 years.”
“I had to learn to walk and talk again, but I could always shuffle about and sing a bit.”
“Then Bill Kenwright hired me, even though I was still in therapy, and I appeared in the show Good Rockin’ Tonight. On the first night, Somewhere got a standing ovation.”
Things improved dramatically for the singer after that.
“That’s right,” he agrees.
“I used my audience as therapy.”
“I stayed with the show for a year and all my functions returned – then Bill put me in the Roy Orbison show, Only the Lonely.”
Of all his songs, he picks out Somewhere as the song that gives him the most pleasure.
“I was in Hollywood when they made the West Side Story film. I knew all the actor and dancers and that song takes me back to those times. They were really good days.”
Being around as long as he has, P.J. has worked with all the artists in the 50th Anniversary show.
“Oh, yeah,” he says, “I’ve worked with all of them.
“The Searchers used to open for me and they’d recorded one of my songs, Ain’t Gonna Kiss Ya, and I’m going to do that one in the show the way I wrote it.”
Speaking of the show, with there being so many artists, time is sure to be a bit limited.
“That’s right,” he said.
“I’ll be doing about 15 or 20 minutes, and The Pacemakers will be backing me.
“I’m also going into the studio soon to record a CD of everything I do on stage and hopefully it’ll be ready for the tour.”
With so many great artists on the bill, it certainly looks like being a good night.
“I reckon we’re all gonna have a great night,” said the veteran singer.
The 50th Anniversary Tour, starring Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Searchers, P.J. Proby, The Fortunes and Brian Poole and Chip Hawkes, is at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, tonight, with shows at 6pm and 8.45pm (01463 234234), and at Aberdeen’s Music Hall tomorrow (01224 641122). Tickets are available from the Box Office and all the usual agencies.