Listen: You Know Could Be Right / Chicken Shack
You Know Could Be Right / Chicken Shack

June 26, 1973. Arrive in England that morning, Chicken Shack that night at The Marquee. Also my first time stepping into the club, the one I had waited what seemed like a lifetime to visit.

Having booked them at college the previous year as part of a three band bill with Savoy Brown and Atomic Rooster, it was during this, their period on Deram, that my infatuation peaked. Had they been signed to say, RCA, most likely the interest level would have been less. Given the added bonus of in-house producer Neil Slaven, with his unmistakable cardboard packing box drum sound, Chicken Shack’s new found bent toward blues rock sludge became rather appealing.

Of all the Blue Horizon releases, ACCEPT, the last, topped my list of the band’s post Chris Perfect lineup. It was followed pretty quickly by the ’72 Deram debut, IMMAGINATION LADY. Keeping track of London band member’s musical chairs the late 60′s/early 70′s would leave your head swirling. I’d seen John Glascock play with Toe Fat just a year or so prior to his joining Chicken Shack for IMMAGINATION LADY. Meanwhile, the guys on ACCEPT, Dave Bidwell, Andy Silverster and Paul Raymond, all moved on to Savoy Brown debuting on STREET CORNER TALKING.

Must have been humbling for Stan Webb, career long Chicken Shack leader, to be 3rd on the bill that December ’72 to headliners Savoy Brown, whose lineup basically consisted of his old employees. Clearly, it doesn’t always pay to be the boss.