www.gerrylockran.com

The sleeve notes for Hold On I'm Coming, by Alexis Korner:

For many years it was impossible for local performers to sing the blues, or so we were told by most of our "elders and betters". The colour was wrong, we had not done time in Southern Pens, we had not picked cotton, we had not known segregation. So it must be impossible for anyone here to sing the blues with any sort of conviction. Environment was another popular word used to put down our singers. "You see, you can't do it because you come from the wrong environment".

The first flies in the "elder and better" ointment appeared when certain visiting blues players expressed amazement at the quality of some British singers and players. Of course, it could always be put down to kindness or flattery but, on the other hand, there might just be something in it.

Could it be that old race records and, subsequently, the R&B catalogues, were not the only source of material? Unfortunately, our tutors, the self-appointed gurdians of our faith, had listened with such concentration to the music that they had failed to understand the universal basis of the emotions most blues conveyed: it was like failing to see the wood for the trees. Love, Hate, Pleasure, Sadness, Unification, Separation, Fidelity, Desertion, all are emotions common to mankind. In one form or another, they have been smug for thousands of years. It ws not the environment with which we had to familiarise ourselves, it was the form. With perserverance, this was bound to come about.

In their own time, our jazz men had overcome similar handicaps, now it was the turn of our blues players and singers. In folk and jazz clubs throughout the country they got going despite sometimes heavy opposition. Then skiffle came along and though, in an incredibally short time, it turned from the bluesto a mixture of country & western and comedy numbers, it did it's little bit to help along the growing blues movement. Then, for a few years, all was submerged by the trad boom.

But still, simmering underneath, too close now to the boil for any further suppression, were the blues. In 1963, out of the blues (if I may be pardoned the pun) came R&B to Britain. Following close on this, Liverpool, always a strong blues centre, poured it's Beat Groups out upon the world. But this was 'Pop' music, we were told, how could it have anything to do with the blues. Yet blues there were, and in quantity, among these pop songs. Maybe the beat had been changed around a bit, but the blues were there all the same.

They were, as there always had been, people's music and sung by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimmy Read or the Rolling Stones, they carried the same message. It was this time, also, that R&B singles, aimed mainly at the Negro market, started to break into America's National Charts. Blues package tours visited Britain and Europe, doing capacity business everywhere. Artists, unheard of three years before, suddenly became major club attractions. And with this popular interest to ride on, one or two British singers started to move steadily upwards.

One of these was Gerry Lockran.

Gerry is a dark handsome young man with the charm and outgoing manner needed to capture uncertain audiences. He is no novice and his years of devotion to the blues have stood him in good stead. Touches of Josh White, Brownie McGhee and Bill Broonzy serve to enhance his own natural virility. Essentially a masculine performer, Gerry can yet be gentle and pleading and his quality as a performer is proved by the ever increasing attendances at his club dates and concerts.


From 'Gerry Lockran - A Tribute from Derek Brimstone'
Published in The Southern Rag, January 1983

The chances are that Gerry Lockran will never play again. A blunt, sad statement to begin with, more so to those who have seen him work and even more so to those who, like myself, regard him as the greatest solo blues talent ever to originate this side of the Atlantic. A truly great musician, as well as a marvelous performer (the two don' t always go together). It' s a mystery that after twenty years on the road, he never got a fraction of the recognition he deserved.

Last October, Gerry had a mild heart attack and was admitted to Kingston hospital where, shortly after, he suffered a stroke, which has left him partially paralysed down the left side. Since then, he' s been pretty ill, and in July this year he had another heart attack. However, he is now happily making a very good recovery. He is responding slowly to physiotherapy, and they tell him that with luck, he will eventually regain the use of his left arm and leg, although it will be a long old job.

Either way, Gerry has decided to come off the road for good. "I gave it twenty years, had a great time, saw a lot of places, but it bloody near killed me Del". I can see his point, but what a great pity. There are the records of course, but as I said before, he was such a fantastic performer. I think I've seen Lockers more times than I' ve seen any other artist, and he was one of the few that could generate real excitement in a club. I mean the eyes-shut, smiling, foot tapping, swaying kind of excitement that only comes with a combination of superb musicianship and real stage presence.

Of course, he used to sail right over the top with various facial expressions ranging from ecstasy to pain, quite a few grunts and sighs and incredibly flash guitar phrases, but that was Lockran. He was good enough to get away with it. There was a kind of humour as well running through his gig that is hard to explain, in that he didn' t tell jokes or anything - he obviously enjoyed playing so much that it was kind of infectious. I remember once driving down to Bournemouth and Gerry was sitting in the back playing 'Trouble In Mind'. I could see in the mirror that he was pulling faces and stuff as though he was on stage and I told him that he' d stay like it if he wasn' t careful.

As a blues guitarist he was out on his own. Don't take my word for it, listen to his albums. To me a great guitarist is someone who you can hear and immediately know who' s playing. This can be said of Jansch, Chapman, Giltrap etc, all of whom are innovators with distinctive styles and original music of their own, but it's much more difficult with the blues. Wizz Jones can do it, but I'm hard put to think of anyone else. There are dozens of great technicians, but you have to go a long way back to the days of Broonzy to hear any original blues guitar: since then it's been all imitation. But for hard blues, I' ve never heard anyone near Lockran. A great blues voice too - a mixture of Ronnie Drew and John Baldry is the best description I can come up with. There is a school of thought that says you have to be either black or American, or preferably both, to sing the blues, yet curiously enough, it's quite in order if you're young, white, and in a group. I've never worked that one out.

Gerry Lockran is not black, although he is a sort of brown, having an Irish father and an Indian mother. He was born in India in 1942 and came to England in 1953. He started playing round about 1955 after listening to Scotty Moore (Elvis's guitarist), and graduated to the blues in 1958 after hearing Broonzy, who with Brownie McGhee he says are his greatest influences. The early sixties was a particularly good time for embryonic guitarists, and Gerry made the most of it, playing a lot around Soho Square with the likes of Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Enoch Kent, Long John Baldry, Martin Carthy, Redd Sullivan etc. He did the Paris bit in 1961, also spending time in Rome and Sicily.

From that time on - 1965 to 1971, which were boom years for the folk scene, Gerry was enormously popular throughout Britain, becoming one of the biggest drawing artists in the clubs. I remember, particularly in the Midlands, you'd have to get there early if Lockran was playing, or you wouldn' t get in at all. In 1971 he began to make his mark in Holland and Germany, and since that time has built up a huge following all over the Continent. In 1974 he did some big numbers in the States, touring with Joe Cocker, and supporting people like Stevie Wonder, the Eagles and Rod Stewart, all with great success, the press over there likening him to Taj Mahal.

But unfortunately, he never had the management or know-how to follow it through, so he began to concentrate on Europe. The blues have always enjoyed more acceptance and popularity over there, and of course, they pay much better. So, inevitably, Lockran gradually pulled out of the British folk scene, doing very little work over here in the past five years or so. Of course, you can' t blame him. If you' ve a family to support, you've got to go where the money is.

Another factor for the move was that the folk press swerved violently to the traditional about 10 years ago and have largely ignored the blues and contemporary side of things ever since. It affected Gerry Lockran, and played a part in driving him out of the country, and I still find it strange to talk to young folk and blues fans who have never seen him. It's very sad to think that they never will now, but happily Gerry was very prolific in the recording direction, and has left 13 albums to posterity. I may be just a little biased, but I can honestly say that they are all terrific.

If I was to single one out, I would go for 'Across the Tracks', which is to me about the ultimate in blues guitar playing and singing. Gerry himself is very excited about the very last one to be cut, shortly to be released on Autogram. It's called 'Cushioned Inside for a Soft Ride Inside' and he is backed on this by a great Dutch musician called Hans Theessink.

I'm sure that sooner or later, the pundits will turn onto Gerry Lockran, and they' ll realise at last just how bloody good he was, and maybe he'll enjoy the post-popularity that Leadbelly, Broonzy and Guthrie did.
I hope so.


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