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Hard Upon The Road
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My first pro travelling band incessantly toured the Scottish Highlands in a beat-up Ford Transit. At nights we'd camp out - half of us in the van, the others in a tent. It was hard upon the back never mind the road!
rock songwriter harmony soul country americana singersongwriter melody alt country rhythm sahb alex harvey
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Multi-talented Scottish singer-songwriter performs his own take on Americana. Original tunes with beautiful guitar work: laugh with Her Father Called Me Franken
Bob Leslie is the unknown soldier of the Scottish songwriting scene. Out of full-time professional action for fifteen years (due to family commitments), he never stopped writing and has recently returned with a 12-song CD of self-penned Americana with a touch of Tom Waits about it. In A Different World (release August 2010) employs top musical talent from the Central Scotland scene: Bernadette Collier & Alice Leslie - backing vox; Fraser Speirs - harmonica; Jim Keilt - lead guitar, Alex Mack - banjo, mandolin, and lead guitar; Craig Nelson - alto sax; and Carl Esprit Bridgeman - bass guitar. Apple, Chrysalis Records, and the Kinks' managers showed interest in Bob's early work and his later songs have elicited high commendation from the the prestigious Billboard Song Contest. Top players Bob has worked with include: Andy Hamilton (sax player for multi-million-selling Canadian songwriter Corey Hart) Chris Glen and Ted McKenna (bass and drums, respectively, with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band) Colin Bass (bass player of seminal prog-rockers Camel) Dave Vasco (guitarist for Warner Brothers artists Clancy) Fraser Speirs (harmonica maestro with Paolo Nutini and Scots blues legend Tam White) Jim Keilt (virtuoso lead guitarist with John Otway and the London production of Tommy - the Musical) Kathy O'Donoghue (vocalist with, amongst others, Roger Chapman and Hank Wangford) Zeke Manyika (drummer for Scots chart-toppers Orange Juice)
Song Info
Genre
Rock Classic Rock
Charts
Peak #381
Peak in subgenre #29
Author
Bob Leslie
Rights
2004
Uploaded
May 02, 2004
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.6 MB 128 kbps 0:00
Story behind the song
The usual story: the first line and half the chorus were whispered in my ear by the Muses who then kindly left the rest for me to work out at three in the morning! The band's longest-term personnel were: yours truly on main vocals and bass; on drums, John McGlynn (a.k.a. Nicholson), who subsequently was the Scottish vet in "All Creatures Great and Small" and now appears frequently on British T.V. - usually playing "heavies"; Stan Wolarz on lead guitar - now based in Prague fronting "Stan the Man and the Bohemian Blues Band"; and, also on lead, Johnny "Fats" Sutherland - still apparently leading the Great Northern Dope Rebellion (not a band!) in Thurso. When Johnny left to start a commune (with himself as head guru), we got in Stan's old friend Rudy Orkicz who knew more chords than the rest of us put together - haven't heard of Rudy in years, nice guy.
Lyrics
Living in a tent and the back of a beat-up van Me, my Fender, and my friends in a West Coast jammin’ band John McGlynn hit the drums with his hands on fire While Stan the Man and Johnny Fats Turned the beat up higher And it was Hard upon the road Hard upon the road From Skye to Aberdeen and every little town between We would go Outlaws Hard upon the road I had to shout all the words ‘cos the rig was a little rough And the boys wouldn’t play the damn tunes low enough McGlynn and me sweating up a storm While Stan and Johnny making it look easy Maybe got a little warm When Johnny went to Marakkesh we got in Rudy O Had more guitar chops than a man had a right to know By now we had paid our dues and learned to play like stars But we kept on doing the circuit Of town halls and smoky bars Then Patty had the baby and I had to settle down Three years working for my agent, did a country cabaret in town One day the house was empty, she’d found her Romeo I broke my heart, called Stan the Man We went back on the road
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