Legends of Corby Rock 'n' Roll - Rick Dodd

Rick Dodd (Taken from 'No Occupation Road') Corby's nomadic sax man Ricky Dodd was back in town after a two year stint with the Kevin Coyne Band, the highlight arguably a Free Hyde Park Concert with a host of other big name bands in the summer of 1974. Coyne, formerly a therapist in a psychiatric hospital, had a reputation for being 'an uncompromising and unorthodox artist blessed with one of the most individual voices in rock'. His 1973 album Marjory Razorblade won critical acclaim for its variety of ‘disturbingly accurate character studies, delivered with a voice of astonishing range and volume.’ Rick joined the band after Coyne had advertised in the music press for a sax player to fill out his sound for a forthcoming European tour with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. In 2002 Rick recalled his initiation; “I turned up at a rehearsal room in Chelsea which was booked from 8pm till 1am to find that no one was around, except the roadie. 'Where is everybody?' I asked. 'In the pub' came the reply. That was my introduction to Kevin Coyne. I went over, and found the rest of the band well into a drinking session. Kevin greeted me and bought me a pint, then introduced me to the rest of the band and that was it. We concentrated on getting blotto before managing to get in about an hour of rehearsal at the end of the night. John Mayall was a renowned hard taskmaster but the tour did have its lighter moments. My main memory of Mayall is that he couldn’t speak a word of French, and watching him trying to order some food when we were in Paris was very funny. John was very articulate and thought the locals would understand his efforts with both tongue and sign language no bother. He eventually gave up and asked me if I could help him out.” Life on the road with Coyne and Dodd was often lively, as keyboard player Tim Penn revealed during a conversation following Ricky Dodd's demise in 2007; 'I played with Kevin from about May 1974 - Sept 74 and then again Nov 74-Dec 74, at which point Rick, Terry Slade, and Tony Cousins were unceremoneously sacked as Virgin (Coyne's Record Label) wanted to 'commercialise' the band. Rick was a really good sax player and had a bizarre dsense of humour. I remember two things in particular. On a tour of Holland or Belgium, sitting in a restaurant eating pizza and Rick placing the pizza on his head like a beret, litterally with one little olive sitting in the middle. Had us in stitches. I also remember him telling a story about the soul band he used to play in. How all the musicians had invented a catheter like apparatus, using a condom and plastic tubing, going down to a bag strapped to the leg, so that they could drink and piss without having to leave the stage - whether that was true or just a musician's 'urban tale' I'm not sure. Rick was a heavy stoner in those days and he would nearly always be rolling one in the back of the touring van - a box top transit with a row of aircraft seats in. It never affected his playing which was always passionate and full of fire. The Coyne fan club page on the web contains a list of the sessions etc that Rick played on, and there are bootlegs floating around of Hyde Park and various BBC sessions. I completely lost contact after Dec 74. I sort of understand that Rick gave up the life of the professional musician after Coyne - I think he was quite a bit older than some of us (I was 22) he was about 30 and the break up of the band was pretty upsetting to him - but I'm not sure." Bass player Tony Cousins; 'Rick took that Virgin rebuff worse than everyone else, and as far as I know quit the music business in disgust. In a way it was understandable because he was bitter about the way he had been treated before he joined the band. You probably know more of the details than I do but it would have consisted of the usual hazards involved in trying to be a musician - failed promises, rip offs and sordid living conditions. I considered myself reasonably close to Kevin Coyne partly because I had worked for Virgin before joining the band and consequently had a bit of insider knowledge. I cannot remember how or when Rick came to join the band. I suspect it was because he had been to the Manor to make a solo album and met some of the people who had been involved in the making of the Coyne records which were also done there. I always thought the combination of sax and slide guitar was very effective. Rick could be very inspiring to play with. My main memories are to do with his extraordinary appetite for drink and drugs, on the bus or van he was constantly rolling up, at the gig he always had a drink in his hand. I saw him, more than once, vomit before he went on stage and then play as if nothing had happened. He was not a big man but his constitution must have been iron. I suppose he was more used to it than anyone else because of being schooled from an early age, playing in Germany etc. I also think that these excesses were the only way he could deal with his own sense of isolation. When his wife came on the road or just to local gigs he would never leave her side, hold her continuously. Rick used to call Kevin 'Ken' which he did not like. Kevin tried very hard to like Rick and welcome him into the band, he did this with everybody for the reasons you might expect but always found it difficult with Rick. I do not mean to say that he gave up but that there was a competitiveness between them which Rick would not let lie. Because Kevin was the leader he granted himself certain airs. For example if he should say something outrageous or behave badly he did not expect everyone else to immediately do the same, however Rick often rose to the apparent challenge. Initially this might have aroused Kevin's curiosity but eventually it became tiring and then downright annoying to the point where it appeared that he did not know when to stop. Rick would probably have said in his own defence that Kevin encouraged this which was true but one had to learn the boundaries. For example it was Rick who got us thrown off the bus on the John Mayall tour because he was winding up their bass player Larry Taylor. I cannot remember the exact circumstances but Rick just did not know when to stop and Taylor who was a well respected musician refused to put up with it. The Mayall tour was not very long, possibly ten days or even a week but it was certainly eventful. In Rome we got booed because the audience could not hear properly, this was in the days before everything was fed through a mixing desk. In Naples there was a riot and the glassfront of the club was demolished. I remember sitting in the dressing room after our set, three guys walked in, turned a table upside down, broke off the legs and went off to battle. The worst gig was Bari, in the Opera House, where we were all so drunk we could not tune up let alone play and were booed off the stage, very ignominious. Even though Kevin had obviously quaffed a few he always managed to hold himself together, so he was livid and rightly so. The Coyne band played quite a lot in Europe, always short tours of a week or two. Outside of the gigging life of that band we did not socialise that much, possibly because our encounters were intense but I am only guessing. The band was for a while quite busy so it would be normal to recuperate and see friends etc. Kevin had a huge appetite for life and was as demanding as he was compassionate, he had his demons too. Gordon Smith was in some ways as bad as Rick except that he kept quiet, he says he has virtually no memory of any of it because he was perpetually drunk.' "Gordon Smith was something of an oddball", Rick recalled. "He was a familiar face around the jaunts of London as a busker. At times he would go two days without speaking to anyone. He was all right though, it wasn't because he'd fell out with someone or he was in a mood. You would ask him if he was okay and he would just nod his head as he sat there grinning! I think a lot of it was the boredom when we were driving miles sitting in the back of a bus - that used to get to me too. People think the life is glamorous and to a certain extent it is but when you consider that a lot of the time is spent traveling miles in the back of a van and hanging about, it does your head in." In April 1975 Rick teamed up with some old buddies from his Roy Young days to play a benefit gig at the Marquee for the Average White Band's deceased drummer Ronnie McIntosh. Rick, who declined the opportunity to join the fledgling blues band, "I'd had enough of the road" recalled meeting Elton John there. "I was surprised how small he was! and I'm only a wee feller. I was talking to him in the dressing room, which was tiny, and jam packed with musicians. I asked him if he'd give me a hand to get my horn out, which with hindsight wasn't the brightest thing to say!"