Just Sweet Soul Music

May 7, 2014 | Review Beat

By Ralph Gowling

Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band, The Foundations, featuring Alan Warner and Jaki Graham, got off to a  cracking start on their Superstars of Soul Tour at Birmingham’s Jam House on April 30.

“Our tour started last night with a packed house in Birmingham and it was such a success we had to overrun by about 15 minutes. The crowd didn’t want us to get off! Great start!” said

Alan, the original Foundations’ lead guitarist/backing vocalist. “Geno Washington and Jaki Graham were really great, as I knew they would be. I’ve got a good feeling about this tour and I’m really looking forward to the next show at The Concorde Club, Eastleigh, Hants,” said Alan.

The Foundations first burst onto the world stage in 1967 with the No.1 ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You’ when the line-up was Alan, Clem Curtis (lead vocals), Pat Burke (flute, tenor saxophone), Mike Elliott (tenor saxophone), Eric Allendale (trombone), Peter Macbeth (bass) and Tim Harris (drums).

They had signed for the Pye label and come under the wing of producer/songwriter Tony Macaulay, who had penned the number with John MacLeod. The follow-up ‘Back On My Feet Again’ reached No.18 in Britain and then ‘Any Old Time (You’re Lonely And Sad)’ No.48.

Clem Curtis left The Foundations at this stage and was replaced by Colin Young, who was on lead vocals for the group’s next international chart-topper ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’.

This was written by Macaulay and Manfred Mann lead singer Mike d’Abo. The Colin Young era also produced the hits ‘In The Bad Bad Old Days (BeforeYou Loved Me)’, No.8, and ‘Born To Live, Born To Die’, No.46.

The Foundations were the first British multiracial group to have a No.1 hit in Britain in the 1960s. The Equals topped the charts a year later with ‘Baby Come Back’.

Alan was the only original member of The Foundations to stay with the group from 1967 to their break-up in 1970. Alan Warner’s Foundations are: Hue Montgomery (lead vocals), Alan Warner (lead guitar/backing vocals), Dave Lennox (keyboards), John Dee (bass/backing vocals), Pete Stroud (drums), Nick Payn (saxophone) and Matt Winch (trumpet).

Dates: Superstars of Soul Tour –

Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band,

The Foundations featuring Alan Warner & Jaki Graham

May 2 – The Concorde, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 9HQ 023 8061 3989

May 8 – Jam House, Edinburgh 0131 226 4380

May 9 – Concert Hall, Motherwell 01698 403120

May 13 – Towngate Theatre, Basildon, Essex SS14 1DL 01268 465465

May 16 – St Georges Hall, Bradford 01274 432000

May 23 – Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl,

Bridgend CF36 3YW 01656 815995

May 24 – Bilston, Robin 2 WV14 7LJ 01902 401211

May 25 – Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, Wirral CH45 2JS 0151 666 0000

May 31 – Embassy Theatre, Selsey, West Sussex PO20 9EJ 01243 606080

June 20 – Central Theatre, Chatham, Kent ME4 4AS 01634 338338

June 22 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, GL50 1HQ 01242 572573

June 26 – Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 1LZ 01438 363200

June 27 – Hall for Cornwall, Truro, Cornwall TR1 2LL 01872 262466

June 28 – Camberley Theatre, Camberley, Surrey GU15 3SY 01276 707600

June 29 – West Cliff Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex CO15 1LE 01255 433344

August 2 – Club Tropicana, Chapel St Leonards, Skegness, Lincolnshire PE24 5TR

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