Friday 5 February - There being a bit of a dearth of live music at the moment, we opted to go for something off the beaten-track and ended up in The Spread Eagle in Walmgate to listen to Sheffield four-piece R&B outfit The Hummingbirds. Now, it's been a while since I was last in this particular pub. I seem to remember having a meal there and eating a bucket of prawns for my starter. Anyway, I do recall that their range and quality of beers was pretty good and tonight that memory proved correct as I supped on pints of Marston’s Pedigree whilst Andy partook of Jennings Cross Buttock Ale, mmm.
Anyway, back to the music, and The Hummingbirds took to the 'stage' about 21:15. Actually the band; Bob "Saxbob" Swift (tenor and soprano saxophone), John "the Revelator" Houghton(five-string bass and vox), Stu "Steelman" Arfield (lead guitar), and John Scott(drums), were positioned behind some tables and playing to the front door. No worries though as we could position ourselves to see them easily enough. They were good, very good. Bob's sax playing was a tad too loud, and Stu's guitar was a bit muted, but he played like a demon whilst remaining almost perfectly still, resplendent in what looked like a Crombie coat. What style! I'm not fantastic at classic R&B tracks so I've little idea of what they were playing. For sure there was T Bone Shuffle by T Bone Walker, Double Trouble by Otis Rush, and Let's Work Together By Wilbert Harrison which was later a hit for Canned Heat and The Kentucky Headhunters for the soundtrack to the movie, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. Lynn and I thought that Roxy Music also covered it, but after a bit of digging I found that this was a slightly modified re-cut of Wilbert's 1962 single Let's Stick Together (same tune?) that was later a hit for Bryan Ferry in 1976. I live and learn.
Highly recommended.
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