Power Play

On a ship that’s made of paper
Oh yeah, I will sail the seven seas
Fight a shark with a toothpick
Crawled home to you on my knees
There isn’t nothing baby I wouldn’t do

Double bonus here with fabulous blues harp from Steve Williams and great vocals from John Power on this ‘B’ side cracking cover of a blues classic. Steve informs HRR of the origins of Highrise Hilton and the tune in question. “Between the Rock Doctors first fortnight of holiday gigs in 1980 and the formation of the real version in 1981, Joe Camilleri launched his record label Mighty Records. He recorded John Power as High Rise Hilton. I think John’s middle name was Hylton (with a Y). The band was Gary Young, me, Chris Stockley, and Jeff Burstin. Joe Camilleri produced and played baritone sax.

We did the song on the same day we did Rocket 88, other than the baritone sax which was overdubbed we all played at once and in one take. John’s version is Butterfield’s. You only realize what a limited singer Butterfield was when you hear the songs side by side…jeez John could sing.”

I wholeheartedly agree with Steve’s final sentiment, “jeez John could sing.” The band only recorded two songs, Rocket 88 and Just To Be With You live in studio one at Armstrong’s AAV and they would never play any gigs.

The songwriter of Muddy Waters’ Just To Be With You was Indiana’s Bernie Roth, who was a butcher by trade. Bernie also penned Forty Nights & Forty Days for Muddy.

Play along in cross (second) position with a ‘A’ harp (tunes in ‘E’). Here’s Steve’s recollections of his contribution on the recording.

“I’m using a Special 20 played through a fender 40 watt bass master amp (borrowed from Stockley) and a plastic microphone from the Two Dollar Shop, no pedals. Only the sax was overdubbed.  

Listening back 44 years later I think the first part of the solo is messy and I play the lick at the end of the introductory 4/5 shake too often. It’s a lick I pinched from Al Wilson’s ‘Five Owls’. There’s also an out of tune bend on 3: But the second half gets more structured and I’d forgotten all about the great ending riff with every instrument playing it. Heavy! The final note is a bend 3”.

I just had to follow up with why the plastic microphone?

“I’d only ever played through the PA in the country bands and had no gear. The Rock Dox was my first rock band and John Power wanted the amplified sound, so in the first Rock Dox, (the 10 day holiday band) I used Stockley’s spare amp and bought the cheapest mic I could find for the distortion…same mic on rocket 88…The High Rise Hilton songs were done just a few weeks after that 10 day period, then later in the year Jo Jo Zep broke up and the Rock Dox (with Wayne Burt) went full time….by then I was borrowing a Shure 57 to play through. It was lent to me by a bass player called Spiro who died very young from stomach cancer. I’ve still got the 57 (I’ve had it for 44 years) and even though I don’t use it I’ve carried it in my gig bag ever since Spiro died as a reminder of life’s vagaries . It’s been all round the world.”

John Power was a seasoned and well respected muso who is best known as the bass player for Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons. They had chart success in the late seventies and early eighties. In the late eighties he formed The Hippos with Les Karski producing a couple of albums and a cracker single Dark Age, which the author purchased at the time – this might have been my last 45?

Sadly we lost John in 2018.

“My dear pal is glory bound today. Loved his company his wit and musicality…walked into each other’s lives not too much was said. John played bass and could sing in that world…he was the business.

I can hear him now…it’s 1976..singing Just To be With You…as all who knew him…I will raise a glass and play The Shape I’m In like we used to…with vigour and who’s up who and who’s paying the rent…my dear pal Johnny”

Joe Camilleri

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