Live and Kicking Album

Heart Made Of Stone * Reyrolle Days * Mean Hearted Woman * Lovers Make You Cry * Remember * Everyone's A Star * Don't You Worry About Me * Sounds Like Good Advice * Leave Me Alone * Empty Promises * Jumble Of Pearls * You Got The Blues * Dream On * Downbeat and Broken

Jumble Of Pearls

Download available from

From an acoustic set recorded in December 1970 at Newcastle Mayfair Ballroom with Lindisfarne. This was just following the release of their debut album Nicely Out Of Tune so the lads we're definitely on the way up but hadn't yet had the commercial success that Meet Me On The Corner and Fog On The Tyne would bring the following year. Being local to the North East, we'd seen the guys in their previous bands (Downtown Faction, Brethren) and seen Alan Hull performing in local folk clubs.

It was obvious even then that they were something special and their songwriting was second to none. They have left a huge legacy of music and have rightly earned their place in 'Geordie' folklore.

In contrast, our song Jumble Of Pearls will appear a bit surreal, but anyone who knew us at the time will understand the story in the lyrics. It would take far too long to explain here, but although we sing about dreams, devils and white elephants, it wasn't drug induced. Honestly.

You got no gears, Woody, got no throttle

Cos the heat of the hand

Takes the cold off the bottle

You lose one game and it don't make sense

So you put it all down to experience

And you play out Dreams in the restaurants

And the Devil is there doin’ what he wants

But the moon is high and the mood is mellow

The elephant's white and the van is yellow

Well, I guess you’ve all seen my face before

I've travelled this world from shore to shore

Been on TV, been on the screen

Been on the radio

I'm a real old timer who's able and willin'

I'm the Easy Rider, I'm Mr. Bob Dylan

I'm a Right Insider who knows Leonard Cohen

And I'm one of the Rollin' Stones

I'm a dream world rambler

An astral plane, eighth-time traveller

Cryin' in the rain sayin' tears of laughter

Just drenched me to the bone

I'm a daytime gambler

Who never, ever had a life of his own

You got no gears, Woody, got no throttle

Cos the heat of the hand

Takes the cold off the bottle

You lose one game and it don't make sense

So you put it all down to experience

And you play out Dreams in the restaurants

And the Devil is there doin’ what he wants

But the moon is high and the mood is mellow

The elephant's white and the van is yellow

I was locked in jail down in Birmingham

A victim of life, that's what I am

I got shot in the back out in Vietnam

And was left to die alone

I'm the Great Train Robber

Who's never been caught

I'm a nuclear bomber, gonna blow you all

I'm Edward Heath, the astronaut

Headin' on his way back home

I'm a real-life fantasy toucher

A lonely, drownin' straw-clutcher

I'm the Mad Movie watcher

Livin' his life alone

I'm a dream-far-too-mucher

Who never, ever had a life of his own

Mayfair Ballroom

The story of the Mayfair Ballroom has become a real legend in the rock history of Newcastle. The Mayfair opened in 1961 and spanned four decades as the countries longest running rock venue. Just about every major band played there. What a great feeling when you came around on the revolving stage to see and hear an audience of thousands cheering in anticipation as you started playing your music. Sadly, after much protest from fans, the Mayfair was demolished in the 1990's to make way for a new, modern leisure complex. How times change.