Reviews
Artist: Roy Hill
Towns: Kingston
Date: 26th September 2010
Website: myspace.com/royhillwordsandmusic
In 1851, few people recognised the genius of Van Gogh. Not particularly surprising, as it was another two years before he was born, but even so, he was hardly appreciated throughout his life, and it was left to history to realise that he was a genius.
Roy Hill, too, is sadly underrated and overlooked, but history will one day realise his true brilliance. To say that he is a unique talent would under value him: there are thousands of unique talents. Roy is up there with the best of them.
As a singer-songwriter, there's little point in suggesting comparisons, as I could put people off as easily as attract a new audience. Roy has a wealth of material he has written over the years to draw on, including a west-end musical. Some of his songs are wickedly funny, some heartbreaking. Many can be interpreted as a little bit naughty, and I wouldn't recommend you take a nervous grandmother along to see him, but he has written some truly beautiful songs.
As a raconteur, think Peter Ustinov. In his heyday, Ustinov, as a guest on Parkinson, could hold your attention for hours. Apart from Roy, there are very few others you could say the same for, (although as far as I know, Roy Hill never appeared on Parkinson). (And come to think of it, Ustinov's language tended to be slightly less blue).
In thinking of a comedian that could be offered as a comparison, my first thought was Tommy Cooper. With most comedians, if you have heard them tell a joke before, you feel cheated if you hear them repeat it. I was never fortunate enough to catch Cooper live, but I feel sure you could see him perform the same gag over and over again and still demand a repeat. There would probably be riots at his shows if he didn't do the "Bottle - glass - glass - bottle" routine. Another similarity between Tommy Cooper and Roy Hill is that Cooper would act as if he thought of himself as a master magician, and part of Roy's act is to pretend that he believes that he is a master guitarist - "Jeff Beck taught me that riff", and a master impersonator - "Dear Jim, could yow fix it for me".
I think the closest comedian, though, to Roy could well be Spike Milligan. Like the Goons, there is a logic to Roy's humour that is perfectly consistent in it's own universe, but is somehow offset from our normal reality. The first time you hear one of Roy's stories, such as 'Sheep' or 'Barber Jim', you laugh because you can't quite believe he could possibly have said that. The next time you hear it, you laugh because you imagine others in the audience being equally perplexed. The next time you hear it, you laugh because you appreciate his perfect comic timing.
Spike Milligan is equally renowned for his bouts of depression, and Roy too suffered from a bout of depression around 2005. During that period he wrote and recorded 37 songs, and for the last five years he has been working on putting together an album of some of the titles. Because of the depression, the songs sometimes feel to him as if they were written by someone else entirely. Some days he quite likes the songs, some days he hates them. Some days he thinks the album, 'Switzerland', is nearly complete, some days it's back to the drawing board. At a moment of optimism, he had scheduled the 26th of September as a release date, and had organised a gig at the Ram Club for the release.
After having waited a mere five years, no one was too surprised with the announcement that it wasn't quite ready yet. We were all delighted, though, with the fact that as compensation, Roy would be including an EP of four tracks from 'Switzerland' in with the ticket price. A gig and an EP all for a mere £5. A true bargain.
In fact it turned out to be more of a bargain than expected. The first set, (Roy solo) lasted almost exactly an hour, but the second set (in which he was accompanied for the most part by Steve Whalley (ex Slade) on mandolin) lasted for almost two hours. It was extremely close to being Monday by the time it finished.
Part of the delight of a Roy Hill gig, (or of a Cry No More gig where Roy is joined by Chas Cronk), is the audience participation. Roy enjoys a good heckle almost as much as the audience. He ended the first set by saying we should have a sing-a-long, and someone called out for the song "Torn". "Torn", if you are not aware, is a track from his new album, and, like most of these songs, is (a) not yet very well known by the audience and (b) fairly dark and depressing, so not particularly suitable for a sing-a-long. Roy rewarded the wit by playing both "Torn" and "I Love Roxy" (which is perfect for a bit of audience singing). Of the tracks from "Switzerland" that I have heard, "Torn" is one of my favourites. Although dark, it is extremely beautiful, so I was very glad it was played.
Another very funny heckle occurred during one of Roy's spoken set pieces, "Ouch", in which Roy describes how difficult it is for him if he's in the kitchen when the phone rings, because he insists on being bare foot, and keeping the floor strewn with drawing pins. Before reaching the punch line, someone called out that he should get a cordless phone. Very few comedians could have coped with such a heckle, but Roy managed brilliantly.
As with Cry No More, Roy and Steve had not rehearsed, and though Steve has played a few songs with Cry No More before, most of the material they played would have been fairly unfamiliar to him. This wasn't a problem for either of them, and it was fascinating to see how they fed ideas to each other. Several songs ended up lasting a lot longer than normal, as neither musician wanted to stop the other in mid-flow. A few incidental chords from Steve would suddenly cause Roy to think of the Everly Brothers and they'd branch off into "All I Have To Do Is Dream", or Steve would add an accompaniment to one of Roy's spoken pieces, and they'd find that they were playing "Singing In The Rain". Very good fun, and a real privilege to watch such talent and spontaneity.
The highlight was probably "Marion Jones", which came in at around fifteen minutes, owing to an extended break in the middle during which Roy told a few tales of things that a young Chas Cronk had got up to, on the grounds that Chas was away touring with Strawbs and so couldn't defend himself.
All told, a great evening, and perfect compensation for the album not being quite ready. Just means that we've got something else to look forward to.
Set List
Never Let A Day Go By
The Princess of Pain
In The Breeze
On Holiday
Refugees
A Movie, B Movie
Sheep
Taller Of The Two
Happiness
Sleep
Keep Away From Me
I Like, I Like, I Like
Torn
I Love Roxy
Kent
This Is Where The Pain Begins
Twisting Tale
King Of The Wilderness (with Steve Whalley on mandolin, who stayed for the rest of the set).
Come On Down To Kent
F.A.S.H.I.O.N.
Every Time You Say Goodbye To Me
All I Have To Do Is Dream (Everley Brothers)
Barber Jim
Singing In The Rain
Good For Nothing
Ouch
Hot Diggity Dog
George's Bar
As You Do
Don't Leave Me Here
Marion Jones
Hubert
Luxury
Pete Bradley