The Jess Roden Band - A Recording, Concert & Radio / TV Sessions schedule

(NB - this is very much a work-in-progress page)

1974

August
27th – BBC Session - Langham 1 (studio); produced by Tony Wilson - four songs, three of which were taken from JR's first solo record; What The Hell, Reason To Change, Feelin' Easy and Live, Love And Learn. The BBC session notes show that the session was listed as Jess Roden with Iguana (henceforth to be known as The Jess Roden Band)

September
10th – The first JRB BBC session is transmitted on the John Peel Show
13th – Portsmouth - Guildhall (opening for Procul Harum)
18th – Lyceum Ballroom, London - the show was recorded on the Island Mobile with Brian Humphroes engineering, assisted by Bryan Pickering and Rod Thear
19th – Oxford - New Theatre (opening for Procul Harum)
20th – Bristol - Colston Hall (opening for Procul Harum)
27th – Stoke - Trentham Gardens (opening for Roxy Music)
28th – Birmingham - The Odeon (opening for Roxy Music)
29th – Birmingham - The Odeon (opening for Roxy Music)
30th – London - The Marquee

October
12th – JR's first solo album is released.
23rd – Glasgow - The Apollo (opening for Roxy Music)
24th – Glasgow - The Apollo (opening for Roxy Music)
25th – Glasgow - The Apollo (opening for Roxy Music). Roxy Music's drummer, Paul Tompson, trashed his kit the previous night and used Pete Hunt's for this second show in Scotland
26th – Glasgow - The Apollo (opening for Roxy Music). The Glasgow Apollo is (or rather was) one of Britain's legendary concert halls - one of the very few venues worthy of that nom de plume. It was named after the equally legenday building on Harlem's 125th Street and, having originally opened in 1927 as Green's Playhouse, was the biggest cinema in Europe with a capacity of 4,000. However, on June 12th, 1967 everything changed when one of the seminal package tours reached Glasgow's Playhouse - on stage that night were: Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, Amen Corner and The Nice. Before too long, projectors were replaced with amps, speaker-stacks and sweating roadies yelling 'one, two; one, two' at soundcheck from atop the highest stage in the UK - it was a sixteen foot drop into the stalls. The first act to play there under its new name was Johnny Cash - the final one was the mod-meister in one of his mid-period incarnations as The Stle Council, dateline 16th June '85… legend has it, that after that gig, fans stayed behind removed anything they could lay their hands on which wasn't bolted down (including radiators).
27th – The transmission date for the BBC's Sounds On Sunday - during which the JRB played Sad Story, I'm On Your Siide, Feelin' Easy, Live Love And Learn as well as Get Ta Steppin - the latter being a highpoint of their live set at the time. The set was recorded at the Hippodrome in London (precise date unknown - tho', in all probability, the 22nd - since, generally speaking BBC pre-records were undertaken a week in advance). This set is available via streaming (not downloadable) at Wolfgang's Vault http://www.wolfgangsvault.com

November
3rd – Basing St - sessions with Rhett Davies engineering and Dick Cuthell as tape-op laying down band versions of two tracks from JR's first solo album, Sad Story and What The Hell

December
8th – London - The Roundhouse with The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver and Tim Rose
10th – London - The Marquee

1975

January
12th – Recording sessions at Island Hammersmith studios - The Fallout Shelter - with Diga (Richard Digby-Smith) engineering and Dick Cuthell as tape-op. Dick, of course, would - in time - go on to become an integrap part of Specials as well as adding his trumpet / cornet and flugelhorn skills to inumerable other recordings. Songs laid down included Send It To You and Don't Let It Die
21st – Recording at The Fall Out Shelter again - with a number of new tunes being worked on including Don't Let It Die and Love Is All I Have

February
2nd – Sessions at Mayfair Studios with Geoff Haslam producing - songs include Honey Don't Worry and a version of Desperado

March
8th – The first takes of Rat Race are put down at The Fall Out Shelter
10th – Back to The Fall Out Shelter with Diga and Dick Cuthell
14th – The JRB release Under Suspicion / Ferry Cross

April
4th - Recording date for the JRB's second BBC session - this time at the BBC's Maida Vale Studio 4 but, once again with Tony Wilson producing. The band played four songs - Lies, Honey Don't Worry, Under Suspicion and What Took Me So Long. By this point, Billy Livesey was an integral part of the JRB
7th – The Fall Out Shelter once more and Work Out and Spanish Eyes are demo'd

May
1st - Transmission date for the second JRB session on the John Peel Show

June
7th - Geleen (Holland) - The Pink Pop Festival with Little Feat, Uriah Heep, The Outlaws, Streetwalker and The Chieftains

July
3rd – Live Love And Learn is recorded at The Fall Out Shelter

August
15th - Orange (France) - while the JRB are in Europe, strings are added to Honey Don't Worry at Basing St - Steve Smith producing with Phil Brown engineering and Barry Sage as tape-op
25th - London - The Roundhouse with The Edgar Broughton Band and Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers
27th – Theale - still unhappy with the results (thus far) for Honey Don't Worry, the Island Mobile sets up shop at Woolwich Green Farm (Chris Blackwell's home) and the track is cut once again.

September
27th – The Fall Out Shelter once more and... another four takes of Honey Don't Worry are in the can

October
13th – At The Fall Out Shelter and Raise Your Hand, Can't Stand The Rain, Let It Roll, are all mixed by Geoff Haslam
16th – Every Time A Man Gets Lonely is demo'd at The Fall Out Shelter and Desperado is laid down
22nd – You Can Leave Your Hat On is completed at The Fall Out Shelter

November
2nd – Basing

December
10th – Mixing is underway and Mama Roux, Too Far Gone, and This Wheels On Fire are all completed - the latter won't make it onto the first JRB album
21st – Aylesbury - Friars