By: Len Liechti

Len Liechti — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:21:44 +0000

Further to the above, I’ve just read that Ollie Halsall started his pro career as a drummer, which also explains his dexterity on vibraphone, the instrument on which he was originally recruited to Timebox (that’s him on vibes on the “Beggin’” single, not a session musician). He’d also been a keyboard player. He only switched to guitar under duress late in 1967. This means that Halsall achieved the virtuosity (I use the term advisedly) on guitar that’s displayed on the first Patto album in just THREE YEARS. A shy, schoolteacherish figure in a tweed jacket, playing a white three-pickup Gibson SG Custom left-handed – what a true original. Wish I’d caught him live back in the day.

By: Len Liechti

Len Liechti — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:30:48 +0000

I’ve just scored the hard-to-find Patto compilation A Sense Of The Absurd which compiles their first two albums complete, plus some outtakes. I’ve been aware of Ollie Halsall’s reputation ever since the seventies but never really listened to Patto’s records until now. Let me tell you that Halsall is probably the best rock guitarist I’ve ever heard, and that’s after forty years of listening. Imagine, if you will, Jimmy Page with a penchant for jazz instead of folk, and you’ve got Halsall. In fact, better than Page by several levels: imagine Page crossed with George Benson in the latter’s early jazz-funk days. Unbelievable! The Patto albums juxtapose the bluesiest of cock-rock wirh the funkiest of jazz-rock, seamlessly. What a talented outfit (the other three members are pretty damned good too), and what a tragedy that Halsall died so precipitately from heroin abuse. Right, now time to investigate the Timebox stuff . . .

Comments on: Timebox “Beggin’”

By: Len Liechti

By: Len Liechti