World tour of 1978 – the Earls Court and Blackbushe spectaculars

Thanks to Back Pages musician Gerald Bamford:

“Thank you for your reminders of the 1978 world tour from your perspective in Sydney.

“My own recollections are from those you missed by being in Australia. Who now remembers having to spend the night queuing and sleeping with thousands of others in Leicester Square the very same night that Ipswich had beaten the Arsenal at Wembley in the FA Cup Final, to get the maximum allocation of 6 tickets each concert (who went to more than one in those days?) for the residency at Earls Court?

“The concerts in June were wonderful affairs, Bob not having graced us with his presence since his trip to the Isle of Wight in 1969. I loved every second of my night, June 17th, being fairly near the front and seemingly privileged to be so since Earls Court is the ultimate airplane hanger.

“I recollect with fondness the duets with Steve Douglas - he who had been Duane Eddy's sax man before joining Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Everything seemed so well arranged and so different from anything before or since. The songs stood up well to the Las Vegas stylings and the very idea that the tour was arranged to pay alimony following Bob's recent divorce is faintly ridiculous since the band must have cost a fortune - half of them having played with Elvis himself in the Nevada desert city.

“And then onto Blackbushe on the Surrey/Hampshire border. What an event that one was. It seemed to me that the whole world and his brother was there (mine certainly was anyway).

“Bob's part in the proceedings was enormous and totally befitting his status as the most respected rock star on the planet. He seemed to sing songs from all parts of his repertoire and the new ones from Street Legal (had it been released by then?). We recorded the whole show on a reel-to-reel tape recorder from near to one of the huge blocks of speakers situated at various points over the area.

“It was a massive concert in all its aspects and an absolute privilege to be there too. Never to be repeated, since Bob picked up a cross thrown onto the stage at a show later that same year in the USA and things (apart from the quality of Bob's performances) were not quite the same for a very long while.

“God bless him and all the good works that he does perform.

“Thanks once again for the reminder.”