Home Page
Biography
Discography
Poetry
Cuttings
Links
Feedback
Contact Us
Keeping
Gerry
Lockran's
blues
legacy
alive
Photo: Peter Smith
In 1970 Gerry and Bobbi's second son, Jethro, was born.
Young Jethro and his older brother Jason were
immortalised in Gerry's song 'Jonas and the whale',
recorded on Gerry's 1976 LP 'Rags to Gladrags'.
In the early 1970s, Gerry's career took a further turn
when he started being managed by Nigel Thomas, who also
represented Joe Cocker, The Grease Band, Rod Stewart and
The Faces, Chris Stainton and Juicy Lucy.
During 1972 and 1973 Gerry toured the US, Canada and
Europe as part of huge package tours featuring these
artistes. After years of performing at the small clubs
and pubs of the folk and blues circuit, Gerry was
suddenly playing an opening set in front of crowds of
tens of thousands of people.
The US and Canadian tour headlined by Joe Cocker lasted
three months and involved 40 concerts at venues,
including Madison Square Gardens in New York and The
Forum in Los Angeles. This was followed by a two month
European tour through France, Holland, Italy, Germany and
England.
Being under the same management as Joe Cocker, The Grease
Band, Rod Stewart and The Faces also resulted in Gerry
recording two LPs, featuring a stellar cast of
accompanying musicians. These included: Ronnie
Wood, Mick Ralphs, Henry McCulloch, Neil Hubbard, Alan
Spenner, Philip Chen, Pete Wingfield, Mel Collins, Bruce
Rowlands and his old friend Cliff Aungier, amongst
others.
These LPs, 'Wun' (released in 1972) and 'Rags to
Gladrags' (released in 1976) represented a new direction
for Gerry. His self-penned compositions came to the fore
including introspective and family-inspired songs such as
'Father to your children', 'My brother', 'Temptations'
and the chilling elegy 'She was a very good friend of
mine' (written about his late mother).
However, the association with Nigel Thomas was not to
last and Gerry soon discovered new audiences on mainland
Europe, where he concentrated his live work from the mid
1970s.
Germany, Austria, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland,
France and Italy provided Gerry with nearly his entire
live itinerary for several years.
It was during these years that Gerry worked with new
musicians, including blues harmonica players Matt Walsh
and Walter Liniger, guitarist Ian Hunt and an emerging
talent on the European blues scene, Hans Theessink.
Gerry continued to enjoy his status as an independent,
self-managed musician organising short tours in different
European countries on a regular basis.
During the mid - 1970s Gerry's live work started to
incorporate a PA system which enabled him to reach new
audiences. Around this time he also started to use the
relatively new Ovation Legend guitar (complete with
built-in electric pick-ups) which was easier to play with
amplification. This change from the classic Martin D28
may have caused slight consternation amongst folk and
blues purists but Gerry considered his style had to
develop further. And after all, he had already made a
huge contribution to the world of acoustic blues guitar
with his early LPs and live work playing the Martin D28.
Gerry's developing style was captured on later LPs
including 'Rally 'Round The Flag' (1976, live in Germany,
featuring Matt Walsh), 'The Shattered Eye' (1979, with
Ian Hunt), 'Total' (1980, with Ian Hunt), 'Across The
Tracks' (solo, 1981) and 'Cushioned for a Soft Ride
Inside' (with Hans Theessink, 1981).