SALT

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SALT

So who else thought that Salt was one of the best bands to play the Bridge. Who remembers little Stevie Smith onstage with Mick Clarke, Colin Nash, Stewart McDonald and Malcome Hine.

For those who can't seem to remember here's a short clip to refresh your memory.

www.users.qwest.net/~rogerlane/salt3snip.mp3

[TerryMurphy]

Yes Colin,little Stevie on harp and vocals were terrific.
It hurts me to ,there track on the live a week at the Bridge Album is sensational.The web page you gave me to contact Mick Clarke ,I opened and sent him a E.mail,    i await his reply,the last i heard of Stevie,he was playing in the Ruthless blues band,he was ruthless in the old days i remember when he was jamming with the Blues band, it was Paul call ,Stevie pushed him off the Mike,to carry singing. Contacted Stevie Lang`a, she want to come to the book launch, and jam a couple numbers.
Thanks also for the Video links.

[rappo]

The album track It Hurts Me Too was one of the best...... I've got 10 tracks here that I've started to mess around with. It sounds as if it is a recording of a complete set.         

[TerryMurphy]

sounds good Colin lets have a copy ,i am still awaiting RDBs,i sent my Address to you .keep well.
Terry M

[Dave]

sounds good Colin lets have a copy ,i am still awaiting RDBs,i sent my Address to you .keep well.
Terry M

Yer, me too

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You guys still haven't received the CD's ?? I mailed them out on the 28th February.............. I know Royal Mail takes it's time over there, but not this long ?

Let me know if you don't get them in the next day or two and I'll burn another couple of copies and mail them again..............

I was wondering why you had not posted any comments on them 

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Mick Clarke with a brief history of SALT..

SALT was an excellent hard hitting rock blues band which was a big success in London and on the UK college circuit in the 70s. We played at the Reading Festival in 1977, opened for Muddy Waters in London and had long residencies at the top London clubs. It was a four piece lineup which featured singer /harp player Stevie Smith with Stuart (Mac) McDonald on bass.

The band came together around 1974 when I walked into the Two Brewers pub in Clapham and found the usual Wednesday night jam going on. It was, I think, Steve Waller on vocals/guitar, Mick Hawksworth on bass and Steve Smith on drums..that's Steve (Arthur Wilson) Smith so you're not confused.. Anyway, after a while Steve Smith the singer / harp player got up to play. I'd met him before briefly and got up to jam. We played "Going Down" and it was great! Steve is a great musician with a dynamic approach to the job. There was definitely something happening here.

So SALT was formed with Arthur (Steve Smith) Wilson on drums , Stevie, and my friend and ex-Killing Floor man Stuart (Mac) McDonald on bass. Immediately every gig we played was an event and we started to attract a following. Before long we were approached by management (aaagggh!) and found ourselves with a professional booking agent. College gigs followed and we progressed to the better clubs around London town.

We played at London's Marquee Club on a regular basis and always had great nights there. We had a strong regular following and the Marquee gigs were always a buzz. We also played regularly at Dingwalls and at the Music Machine, which was a large converted theatre in Camden. We continued to play the pubs as well, and had a long residency at the famous Bridgehouse in Canning Town, appearing on the album "A Week at the Bridge".

Between club dates we travelled up and down the country playing at colleges and universities. Certain areas had stronger support than others..at Braintree or Farnborough Tech we could be assured of a packed house and a frenzied reception. In 1977, now with Alan Platt on drums, we secured the opening spot for Muddy Waters at his big London concert at the New Victoria. Playing to what we assumed would be a "purist" blues audience we were delighted with the enthusiastic response and ended by encoring with "Johnny B Goode!". Lou Martin joined us on piano, and the gig received an excellent review in The Times newspaper.

The same year we appeared on the Reading Festival, at the time the biggest annual rock event in Britain. Headliners that night were Thin Lizzy. We played in the afternoon and got a tremendous reception. However, John Peel's Melody Maker review read something like "As I arrived I could hear some blues being played which reminded me of being back in a pub in the Midlands". Thanks John.

The one thing that SALT could not achieve was a decent record deal, despite the best efforts of our management. The A&R people would come and see us and report that they'd had their best night out for years, but no, they weren't interested in signing the band. Eventually we got an offer to record an E.P. (a four track vinyl single for you youngsters) with Raw Records. No I don't know who Raw Records were or where they are now. The record was recorded at Pathway Studio, (where most of Elvis Costello's hits were recorded), with "Slash" on drums and Matt Ervin guesting on piano on "Key to the Highway". The result was a raucous bit of rock blues which still sounds good today. However by the time the record was released most of the steam had gone out of SALT's short career.

 It was punk time, and although SALT had more energy and was more exciting than most punk bands, we didn't fit the category. On one memorable night we co-headlined at the 100 Club in Oxford St with the Sex Pistols. We played first to our audience of denim clad longhairs, and then a whole new audience of strangely attired punks took over for the Sex Pistols slot. It was an historic and symbolic evening as punk took over from bands such as ourselves. As one fan told Steve.."we really like SALT but we can't pogo to it!"

 Around this time our friends Lou Martin and Rod DeAth finished their spell working with the Rory Gallagher Band, and were once again available. We decided to form up as RAMROD, with Steve, myself and Mac. The original plan was to take the band to the States but it didn't work out that way. RAMROD played some great gigs in and around London including a second appearance with Muddy, this time at The Rainbow. We also toured Ireland. Following a lot of hard work by Rod, where he flew all over America in a weekend to set up record company interest we had a major showcase at the Music Machine. It was a great night, but no deal was forthcoming.

I decided to go to the States anyway, and ended up living in Los Angeles for the whole of 1979, while the band carried on with Dave Edwards on guitar before finally splitting. When I returned to England the following year I found that the music scene had changed considerably. Whereas in America I'd been listening to bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allmans, British radio and television was dominated by acts like Madness and the Police. It felt very strange.

However, Stevie was still gigging around London and after a while we decided to reform SALT with a local bass player, Geoff Brown, and Steve Sinclair on drums. Once again the gigs became events, and we soon had two regular residencies pulling in good crowds.. one at the Star in Croydon, the other at the Kings Head in Fulham. However the band never took off again in the way that it had, and eventually we drifted in to new ventures. The band, now with Len Davies on bass and Ron Berg on drums was finally over. 

Stevie Smith has had great success with the band Ruthless Blues, becoming one of the strongest acts on the London scene, while I've been busy with the Mick Clarke Band. Mac settled back in his native mid-Wales and is featured on the new Killing Floor album. SALT is stll remembered by many as one of the highlights of the London scene of the 70's.

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Hey ..................

I've just got hold of an interview vid of Ruthless Blues.

Stevie Smith, Tony Fernandez, Andy Herbert and Martin Taylor.

It was recorded down at The Boom Boom Club in Sutton a few months ago.

There is even a mention of the Bridge House.

If anyone wants to view it let me know and I'll get it up on line.

Here's a write up of Little Stevie Smiths career :-

Stevie’s involvement with Ruthless Blues began in 1985, (whilst he was working with Bad Manners) when he began covering the odd absence of then Ruthless front man, Johnny Mars. 

As the months went by, Stevie covered for John more and more often, until by the end of the year Stevie had joined the band full time. The change in feel of the band was enormous with Stevie’s powerful vocals and "cheeky chappy" Cockney banter replacing the cool drawl of Chicago-born Mars. Stevie’s influence on the direction Ruthless took was considerable and the level of commitment within the band increased significantly with the result that the band’s live performances went from strength to strength. Stevie was also responsible for writing most of the original material that Ruthless now started to add to their set.

Stevie’s musical career began when he started playing harmonica at the age of twelve. But by the time he joined his first tentative school bands (with the late, and sadly missed, Steve Waller) he had turned initially to playing percussion and later, bass guitar.

However, as he approached school leaving age, the diminutive Smith, having watched his school friends grow in height on a daily basis whilst he didn’t, and being an astute sort of bloke into the bargain, realised that being a bass guitarist would mean lugging large pieces of equipment around with him all the time. He therefore reasoned that this was as good a time as any to take up the harmonica again! And so it was that Stevie began playing on the folk club circuit with his old school mate Waller again.

As Stevie’s reputation spread he began doing the odd gig with people like Long John Baldry, Kevin Coyne, and Jo-Ann Kelly. In 1971, Stevie started hosting the renowned Sunday night jam sessions at the Half Moon in Herne Hill, South London. These sessions featured an amazing array of musical talent from the most popular bands of the era including members of the Jeff Beck Band, Rory Gallagher band, Thin Lizzy, and 7th Wave. It was also around this time that Stevie first met Tony Fernandez who was later to become the Ruthless Blues drummer.

1975 saw the formation of the highly acclaimed S.A.L.T. which was fronted by Stevie and also included Mick Clarke on guitar and Tony Fernandez on drums. The band reached their high spot with an appearance at the 1977 Reading Festival and the release of an EP the same year. Unfortunately, however, at that time punk was very much the "in" thing and R’n’B wasn’t. So, by 1979 S.A.L.T had unfortunately broken up.

Stevie went on to form another band, Ramrod, which was rather short lived, as was a briefly resurrected S.A.L.T and by 1981 Stevie had almost retired from the music business. However, his reputation as an outstanding harp player had been established and he continued to be in demand for recording sessions with a variety of people.

1983 saw Stevie become a rather unlikely addition to Bad Manners with whom he went on to complete three tours of the USA and record one album and a single. Stevie recalls the period with a sparkle in his eye, "We didn’t make any money, but we sure had a lot of fun!".

Stevie formed several other bands of his own over the years including Terminal Snack, and The Purple Gang but Ruthless Blues became the mainstay of his musical career throughout the late eighties and the nineties.

Incidentally, Stevie also claims that he was runner up in the Hohner World Harmonica Championship in 1975 and was once a member of a World Championship harmonica group – but that’s another story!

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Been in touch with Mick Clarke who, has, after all these years, made the move from London. He's now living down on the Sussex border.

Terry, Mick sends his best wishes. He also said that he heard you on Radio London a while back and that you sounded great.

Mick has a new album due for release just before Xmas called "Solid Ground". He's also booked for a few festival dates. Check it out.

He also mentioned that there is talk of a SALT reunion gig or tour. As soon as I know the details I'll post them on here.

[Steve]

Hi.
I've just discovered this site and I'm well chuffed! It has brought back great memories of a place where I spent many a night in my youth.

Great to read the Mick Clarke and Salt/Ramrod comments. Salt were a killer band everytime I saw them at the Bridge. Stevie Smith standing on the bar singing his heart out and playing the harp is a memory I'll never forget.

Up until a couple of years ago I played in a Rory Gallagher tribute band and not only had the pleasure of meeting Lou Martin but also playing a gig with him in Cumbria. We talked a lot about the Bridge, Salt and his days in Ramrod. Happy days. Sadly Lou had a stroke a couple of years ago, but he's still as sharp as a razor and talks fondly of his days on the road.

Thanks Terence for bringing back some great memories!!

Steve

[TerryMurphy]

Thank you Steve,there is no doubt,Stevie Smith was a all time great,based on his live performances,and I wondered why he never worked in the studio,,A few weeks ago one of the Bridge house faithfull's Mick O`Brien , ,died and at the service they played a recorded Ruthless track,with Stevie on Vocals,and it was sensational.Ain't no Sunshine when shes gone.was the track,.Yes keep me informed about Steve,we will get him up at a R.D.B gig,he may then get a band together,hopefully Terry M