When I heard that this event was taking place, I knew that I had to be there no matter what. I flew in to London from Cyprus on the day before. For me, this was a dream event. For years, I have felt that Tony Ashton was being denied the recognition he deserves by a corrupt music business and a music press that is ruled by commercialism. His musically prominent friends were too busy with their own careers and success to do anything. Unfortunately, Tony had to fall ill and come close to dying to get the kind of recognition that this wonderful event has given him.
I arrived at Abbey Road at around 6:30. People were gathering in the bar for a drink as they waited for the door to Studio One (where the music was to happen) to be opened. I got to meet face to face Dave Hodgkinson (from www.deep-purple.com) after years of occasional e-mail correspondence and IRC chatting. I also met Chris Poustie, an online friend and fellow Ashton fanatic, for the first time. He had flown all the way from Thailand for this event. I was also introduced to several other people such as Uwe and Doug Macbeath whose names I recognised from the days I used to post on amdp. Neil Murray was having a drink at the bar as well. It was really great to see all these people there!
When the doors finally opened, the entertainment was provided by a group Mash and a duo, Johnny Johnson and Dave Williams. I did not pay attention to their performances so I have no comments to make about them. While that was going on, I got to see Tony and his wife Sandra who were mingling with the guests. It was the first time to see them since 1996 when they visited Cyprus. I told Tony how happy I was to see him in better health and as always he was his warm and friendly self. While going back and forth from the bar to Studio One, I witnessed the arrival of Bernie Marsden and Laurie Wisefield. This was getting really exciting!
Next up was the Hardin - York group. I took position as close to the stage as humanly possible and was really enjoying the music. Eddie Hardin and Pete York were accompanied by Geoff Whitehorn on guitar. That was a thrill as I was already familiar with his work with Paul Rodgers (both on CD and video). Others in the band were Chris Barber and Zoot Money who joined in the second half. They did blues, R&B, Rock n' Roll and some Jazz. Eddie Hardin, accompanied by his daughter Emma did the Spencer Davis classic Gimme Some Lovin. Exciting stuff!
After that set, John Entwistle came on stage accompanied by Zak Starkey on drums and Gary Nutall on guitar and vocal. They did some rock n roll songs along with a couple of Who numbers. It was good but I was disappointed! I was hoping they would perform the songs Fall To Pieces and Cell No. 7 the original versions of which contained great piano work from none other than Tony Ashton and could be heard on Entwistle's album Mad Dog.
This was followed by an auction whose proceeds were to go towards Tony. The auction was emceed by Joe Brown. Some of the items being sold were: an Ashton original painting, some limited edition Ashton prints, a leather jacket owned by Jon Lord, Pete York drumsticks, a rare Deep Purple Sweatshirt, other Deep Purple memorabilia and 3 limited edition Ashton Testimonial T-shirts one of which I was lucky enough to get thanks to Chris Poustie who after winning the auction himself was nice enough to let me buy it. Several other cool items were auctioned as well.
Now, movie star Ewan McGregor, himself a friend and fan of Tony's, went on stage to introduce the guest of honor for the evening: Tony Ashton accompanied by a great trio of musicians. On drums there was Pete York. On bass, Len Skeet. But the icing on the cake was Laurie Wisefield on Guitar. My favourite line-up of Wishbone Ash is the Mark II line-up so I was really thrilled to see him playing with Tony! It seemed that Tony was tired so the set was limited to 3 songs. The highlight was the Ashton standard, Chuck Berry's No Money Down. For the fifth time in the 30 years I have been an Ashton fanatic, I was witnessing a live performance by Tony! Selfishly speaking, it was disappointing that he only did three numbers but it was understandable seeing what he has been through during the last 8 months or so. Tired or not, the Ashton magic prevailed. The very soulfoul piano solos as well as the humorous vocals were there! Wow! What a night so far!
What we were about to witness next was history in the making!! Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody took to the stage to perform an acoustic version of Ain't Gonna Cry No More. It was pure magic! After that, they strapped on their electric guitars as they were joined by Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Neil Murray and singer Robert Hart. What we had is the classic line-up of Whitesnake that appeared on the albums "Ready n Willing" and "Come And Get It" with Robert Hart filling in for David Coverdale. The atmosphere was electric! They did incredible versions of Ready N Willing, Ain't No Love In The Heart of The City, Fool For Your Loving and Walking In The Shadow of The Blues. After that, Paice, Murray, Moody and Hart left the stage leaving Lord and Marsden to do an acoustic duet of Here I Go Again. Next, another historical event was about to take place.
Paice, Murray and Marsden returned to the stage. Bernie grabs the microphone and asks: "Where's the guv'ner?" Suddenly we see Tony Ashton being ushered to the stage! It was Paice Ashton Lord with Neil Murray filling in for Paul Martinez!! They were joined by what I believe are the original backing singers from the PAL album, Jeannette and Sheila McKinley (someone correct me if I am wrong)as well as Howie Casey on Sax from the original line-up along with a trumpet player whose name ecapes me. Laurie Wisefield also joined them on second guitar. I couldn't believe what was happening!! Jon Lord launches into the very familiar opening keyboard riff of Ghost Story and the Ashton fanatics in the first 3 rows just lose it (myself included!). Ashton, who had not rehearsed for this, sat at the piano watching in amazement as Bernie Marsden handled his original vocal parts. It was very obvious that Tony had forgotten most of the words. He helped out with a bit of the vocals on the chorus of the song. The whole thing was a bit too much for me and I found myself getting teary. I couldn't believe that I was watching Paice Ashton Lord live in concert once again! I saw them at the London Rainbow 23 years ago and I never imagined that such a reunion would be possible! After Ghost Story they went into Sneaky Private Lee and the emotions were running even higher among the PAL maniacs who were closest to the stage. The evening was about to come to a close. They ended with the obligatory Resurrection Shuffle with Tony once again handling the lead vocals. It included really nice piano exchanges between him and Jon.
What an evening! Whitesnake, PAL and Tony Ashton Quartet all in one night! Not to mention the legendary John Entwistle, Hardin and York and all the wonderful guests! I was really happy to have been there. My only regret was that I did not get the chance to chat with Tony for very long as he was contstantly being approached by old friends and fans wanting to greet him and congratulate him on his recovery. Also, I would have liked to talk to Jon Lord and Ian Paice but unlike all the other guest musicians who mingled freely in the crowd, they chose to hide out in dressing rooms and surround themselves with security personnel. This is what they are used to when they tour with Purple and it seems they were not willing to make exceptions that night. All they would have had to do was sign a few autographs and chat to a few Deep Purple fans. Anyway, no use to cry over spilt milk. I would like to end this report by wishing Tony a continued recovery and the best of health! It was wonderful to see him once again both onstage and off!
Walid Itayim
Nicosia, Cyprus
June 28 , 2000
