There was a lot more sitting around for me in studios during this year while Steve and the band recorded the new album 'Love's A Prima Donna' at Abbey Road. Steve was changing management too.
So I did some freelance work with Harvey Goldsmith and things started to change in my life.
You will see that on my datesheet across the page, I have Hemel Hempstead written down on 29th July.It was a one day gig that Harvey Goldsmith asked me to do, looking after an Eric Clapton show.
I recall quite a lot of drinks being requested in the dressing room, but the gig itself was fantastic and here above this text is a recording of the same show 3 days later down in Plymouth. I think it was one of just half a dozen he did before going to the US on a very long tour.
On the 8th September, I flew with Steve to LA for a couple of weeks. He had business to do with Capitol Records and his new manager, Ed Leffler.
Around this time I was working for Harvey Goldsmith off and on, on a freelance basis. Harvey was very kind to me, and in some ways took me under his wing.
He was looking after the affairs of Van Morrison at the time and asked me to drive Van home, near Reading, after studio recordings for a couple of weeks.
Harvey asked me to co-manage Van, but I kindly declined, I couldn't see it lasting. I tell a little about it in an audio clip here.
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Well this place is infamous. The Rainbow Bar and Grill. The second home to any traveling roadcrew with a night off in Los Angeles.
I don't know how many hours we spent drinking and joking around after hours here.
You can see in my diary entries, I went to the Rainbow quite a bit, including a night out with Dick Hansen, Dick having worked with us in the UK before going back home to the States. He worked for a time for a sound company called IES in the UK and was a monitor engineer. I recall he had the longest hair of any guy I knew - it was way down past his armpits! Back in the US he was working by then with Aerosmith and he gave me passes to go see them in Anneheim Stadium, with Jeff Beck in support.
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So on the 21st of September we went along to see Manhatten Transfer at the Roxy, pictured below
The Roxy has to be one of the coolest places to do a gig. The atmoshere is great, it is very intimate and the audience is so close to the stage.
I have seen many great acts here and it was the second venue that Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel ever played in LA.
We went down a storm.
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