DIARY

2004 On 8th April played at The Royal Albert Hall. Slim Chance, Ronnie Lane’s old band appeared with a number of guest musicians including Ronnie Wood, Kenney Jones, Pete Townshend,Paul Weller,Mick Jones (Clash), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) and others.

Above : Ronnie Wood signed my Zemaitis 12 string for me. His signature can be seen on

the concert photos.

I performed in the second half of the show, singing Anniversay, playing my Zemaitis 12 string acoustic. The evening was to celebrate the music of Ronnie Lane and help out his family. All 6000 tickets were sold. The event was recorded for a CD/DVD/video release. I shared a dressing room with Mick Jones and Glen Matlock. We had our own little sing song back stage. Francine took lots of photos of the day. It was a fabulous day and wonderful tribute to the late great Ronnie Lane. The after show party was a gas and carried on until the early hours of the morning. Francine and I do not drink so we were knocking back the sparkling water. Prior to the concert rehearsals were arranged at Music bank rehearsal studios near Tower Bridge in London. The BBC filmed rehearsals for a forthcoming documentary on Ronnie Lane.

Above : Henry McCulloch has a strum of my guitar at Music bank.

Above : On stage at The Royal Albert Hall. The shirt is by Duchamps.

I have played at the annual Small Faces convention quite a few times. It was there I met Stan Lane. Stan asked me to perform a set of Ronnie Lane songs at his birthday party. Over the years an interesting mix of artists have appeared at the convention but the jewel in the crown for a Small Faces fan had to be the appearance of Stanley Unwin at the 2000 convention. Stanley’s narration on the Small Faces OGDEN’S NUTGONE FLAKE album is pure genius!

Above : Stan Lane has a strum of my guitar at Music bank studio.

2004 24th May. Francine and I were invited to Christies party to celebrate the second auction of ERIC CLAPTON's guitars. Eric does a lot for charity and not always with the public's knowledge. He gave up some amazing instruments to raise money for the CROSSROADS CENTRE. One of the guitars was built by Tony Zemaitis and called IVAN THE TERRIBLE. It eventually sold for a huge amount of money. I contributed to the pages in the catalogue about the guitar. Out of the blue a package arrived from Eric, it was a signed and dedicated copy of the auction catalogue. What a lovely thought.

Above : The huge 12 string that Tony Zemaitis built for Eric, nick named IVAN THE TERRIBLE.

2004 August. Francine and I flew out to Spain. I was playing guitar and singing with Nirvana (60’s psychedelic band) at a festival in Northern Spain. Francine supplied backing vocals. The group rehearsed in a London basement during a VERY hot summer in 2004.

Above : On stage with Nirvana at FELIPOP (Francine on backing vocals) festival 13th August 2004

Below : On stage with Nirvana at FELIPOP festival 13th August 2004

2005 : May 8th. Guitar magazine visited to photograph my collection. I dragged them all back from the studio and bought guitar stands for each guitar. Jenny Knight interviewed me and Claire took some fab photographs.

Above : Claire gets her camera gear ready (note my soft focus photograph).

Below : Jenny prepares to ask the questions.

2005 7th June Asked by GUITARIST magazine to write an article about the Gibson Flying V from my collection that belonged to Noel Gallagher (OASIS).

2005 27th June I took the Zemaitis (Japan) Pearl front to Guitarist magazine for a photo shoot. The photograph appeared over two pages in a later copy of the magazine.

2005 12th June I was interviewed by GUITAR magazine from Japan.

I met up with Kei Tasaka Assistant Editor and photographer Takashi Hoshino at a hotel in London. I brought along a few of my guitars. We sat in the hotel garden and spoke for two and a half hours about Zemaitis guitars and Tony Zemaitis. I hope I managed to convey (with the help of an interpreter) just what an amazing man Tony was. They had not heard that as well as building guitars; Tony had also built two aircraft in his back garden! I was asked what I thought about Kanda Shokai, a Japanese company, buying the name of Zemaitis. I told them I was very happy that the name of Zemaitis would continue. I also pointed out that the company spent a long time researching the guitars until they were happy with them. They really have produced superb instruments based on Tony’s designs. When I brought the Zemaitis pearl front (made by Kanda) out of the case, I saw heads popping up from behind the wall. The attention to detail is incredible. The pearl has been applied just like Tony would have done. GUITAR magazine is the largest in Japan and the photography in each issue is wonderful. I have a few copies and have always admired the way the guitars are pictured, I can’t tell you how good the writing is, as I don’t read Japanese!

Above : Kei with my Zemaitis Pearl front.

This guitar was a gift to me from Mr Suzuki the President of Kanda Shokai.

2006 January. In the studio. I played my Zemaitis resonator (made for Ronnie Lane in 1971) on OOH LA LA. I played a solo in standard tuning, then added a slide guitar solo. When they mix the track the producer will be able to blend the two together.This was a session for a CD coming out featuring songs by Ronnie Wood (he co-wrote OOH LA LA with Ronnie Lane). Players from all over the world are featured on the album including the country player Albert Lee. The CD is due out soon.

2006 April.

I recorded with Patrick (from Nirvana). For the session I used my Hayman 50/50 for the bass part. I played my Zemaitis 12 string acoustic and it sounded really crisp miked up. I also used my Zemaitis Pearl front (made by Kanda), I played lead guitar on the song and also some slide guitar. Patrick tunes his guitar to his own tuning, so I had to spend some time adjusting all of my instruments. I have played on Patrick's solo albums as well as Nirvana albums. He always knows how he wants things to sound.

2006 September 18th. Played at the UNION CHAPEL in Islington at the WHAT COLOUR IS SOUND concert. The night was a tribute to SYD BARRETT. An interesting mix of bands played Syd's songs (plus a few of their Own). Dev from BABYSHAMBLES and Carl from DIRTY PRETTY THINGS took the stage to pay tribute to Syd. It was an amazing venue complete with light show. Patrick acted as MC and also performed two songs, LOVE SONG (written by Syd) and CAMBRIDGE ROAD, a song Patrick wrote concerning the time Syd walked from Chelsea to Cambridge in 1978. I used my Danelectro guitar, as Syd played one too. An enjoyable night and good to hear the various versions of Syd's songs. I hope the photographs give you a taste of the special evening. The ticket sales helped raise some money for charity.

Above : A quick run through in the Ladies toilet! Who has the loudest shirt? Photograph by Tobie.

Below : Waiting to go on stage. Photograph by Tobie.

Below : Onstage playing LOVE SONG by Syd Barrett. Photograph by Tobie.

2006 October 16th. I played a set of Ronnie Lane songs at the 10th Small Faces convention. It was held at the Carling Academy in Islington (I played in Islington last month too!). A freind of mine, John, helped out on guitar. I used the guitar that Tony Zemaitis made for Ronnie Lane. I met up with Stan (Ronnie Lane's brother) and he introduced the set. The place was packed out with Small Faces fans, what a brilliant atmosphere. Thanks to John Hellier and Dean Powell for putting on the show.

Above : Stan looks very dapper, I am wearing my birds muck shirt. Photograph by Tobie.

Above : On stage with John helping out on guitar. Photograph courtesy Tobie.

2006 October . GUITARIST magazine published with free calendar. My Zemaitis (Japan) Pearl front is featured in it.

2007 February . The March issue of GUITARIST ran an article on my  ex-Ronnie Lane Zemaitis resonator.

2007 March 9th . Eye to Eye Played at the VIBE in Epsom. They have a good taste in music there, you can tell by the Juke box. I used my Zemaitis Disc front and Rickenbacker V64 360 12 string. The amp I took kept buzzing, I had to keep going up to it and punch it every now and then! I think the audience thought it was part of the show.

Below: On stage at the Vibe in Epsom, Surrey. Photograph by Tobie.

Below : On stage at the Vibe, slide on this! Photograph by Tobie.

Below : The Rickenbacker appears for the Jingle Jangle songs. Photograph by Tobie.

2007 March CD released "We've got our own best of to do" by Kurious Kurt. The album is a tribute to Ronnie Wood and features versions of songs written by Woody. All the musicians on the album have met him and the accompanying booklet details the stories. There are a number of CD's that make up the set. I appear on one track "OOH LA LA" See www.kuriouskurt.com for more details.

2007 September 9th Played at the Carling Academy with STONE COLD SOBER (Rod Stewart and the Faces tribute band). It was a great night and a good time was had by all. It's always a brilliant crowd and John Hellier does a fab job of putting it all together. Chris  Farlowe closed the show backed by 17 Black.

Russ and I kept our jackets on even though it was boiling! Photograph by Tobie.