In the second of my ramblings with regards to bands that mean a lot to me I travel back in time to late 1975. Having just left school and filled with the spirit of my youth I looked forwards to each new edition of the top three music papers of the time, Sounds, New Musical Express and of course Melody Maker. Towards the end of that summer I happened upon a full page advert for a forthcoming album and tour of a band that I had heard of infrequently, though never explored. I refer to UK band Camel. Little did I know then just how much my love for this band and their music would grow and the effect that the full page ad for the album Moonmadness and following UK tour would lead me. I ordered tickets immediately by sending a stamped addressed envelope to Newcastle City Hall as I was totally drawn in by the image of a Camel in a space suit and the articles about the upcoming album which promised to have a space theme about it. On purchasing the album from a local store I was not to be disappointed. Moonmadness was everything and more than what I could have hoped for. As I searched through articles written in previous copies of the above music journals to discover that Camel had release three albums prior to Moonmadness and somehow felt annoyed with myself that they escaped my radar. As Christmas 1975 approached my sister asked me what I would like as a gift, it was a no brainer, one of the albums I didn’t have please.
So, that Christmas morning when I opened the 12”x 12” gift it wasn’t the one I was hoping for, but hey, it was a Camel album and one I didn’t have. Whilst lunch was being prepared a dashed upstairs to my bedroom and placed the album on my turntable and sat back with my cans on and thought “what the hell is this”? Moonmadness it was not! Nothing like it in fact. My disappointment was quelled the following year after seeing the band perform the whole of Moonmadness and hearing songs played from their albums The Snow Goose and Mirage. Much to my dismay my friend Roland and myself had to cut a dash to catch the last train home there by missing the encore. Within the coming weeks you can rest assured that I had purchased the above albums and was now up to speed so to speak. So, what was it about this band that I loved so much? I think it was my passion for bands like Focus and Emerson Lake & Palmer That had a jazz element to them as well as classical motifs. Camel painted musical pictures and stories for me that didn’t necessarily need words for me to form images with. Following their fifth album Rain Dances the band seemed to become a vehicle for one man’s vision, that of guitarist Andy Latimer. They had already shed their original bass player Doug Ferguson swapping him out for Richard Sinclair of Canterbury band Caravan. Along with the inclusion of sax player Mel Collins, Richard Sinclair’s excellent bass playing and charismatic singing did change the music to a large degree, though keyboard player Peter Barden’s blues and jazz filled licks kept the spitit of the original Camel on track.
Like a lot of bands the cracks were beginning to show and the next studio album Breathless saw Peter Bardens leave the band. To say I was gutted was an understatement. I had become a massive Peter Bardens fan, I just loved his playing and enjoyed all of his pre and post Camel solo albums. Following Peter Bardens death in 2002 I remained in contact with his son Ben who lived in California working for the Walt Disney studios for many years exchanging regular emails. As Camel’s music progressed throughout the years and became more and more complex they still had that sparkle and originality that kept me hooked. Such was the nature of Andy Latimer’s guitar playing I often wondered if this is what The Shadows would have sounded like had they gone Prog? Following the departure of the band’s original drummer Andy Ward, Camel became an ever changing vessel which revolved around the core of now well established bass player/singer/multi-instrumentalist Colin Bass and remained that way until recent years. Listening to Camel’s albums brings me a lot of joy and I love each one individually. However, it is only when you see them play live that you witness the emotion and majesty of their playing and those spine tingling moments that can make you well and reach for your hanky.
After Andy Latimer and his life partner Susan Hoover sold up and moved to California in the eighties I honestly thought that was it! I don’t think I will ever get to see them live again which made me really sad. The opportunity was further thwarted when Andy Latimer contracted a rare form of cancer and became very ill. After a battle fearlessly fought and won the band announced that they were going to play some gigs in California, New York and New Jersey. I quickly ordered tickets to see them headline at NEARFEST at the Patriot theatre in Trenton New jersey along with some other amazing bands. The biggest surprise came after the gig whilst attending the meet and greet. I had been corresponding with Andy Latimer following his move to the states around the time he was recording the album Dust And Dreams. As I shook his hand on that occasion I said to him that I was Steve Petch from the North East of the UK. I was shocked when he rose to his feet towering over me and said “Steve Petch”, I know that name! Andy then proceeded t tell me about his dad being from the North East and he remembered the letters we had exchanged. Much to the dismay of the folks in the queue behind me the conversation continued for some time and I became conscious that I was hogging the time with the person they most wanted to talk to.
On my return to the UK I had resigned myself to the fact that based on what I had seen at NEARFEST I was unlikely to see Camel play live again. How wrong I was! Only weeks after my return the band announced a gig in London for which I immediately bought a ticket. Soon after that Andy Latimer returned to the UK on a permanent basis and I got to see them play on numerous occasions since then. The last occasion I got to see Camel play live was at the Royal Albert Hall in London only a week following my discharge from hospital after undergoing emergency surgery. Against doctors advice I travelled south with my friends Alan Peterson and Steve Tyson. After walking from our hotel in Kings Cross to the Royal Albert Hall I took to my seat and became as excited as I did the first time I saw them in 1976, however, this trip took me some time to recover from, though I am glad I did it and would do it again in a heartbeat. One thing that did make me smile following that gig was seeing a link on Facebook that someone had posted proclaiming to have seen legendary musician Steven Wilson in the audience after watching the Blu-ray footage. I laughed as I watched it and took a picture of it as it was none other than my good self and my friend Alan. So I guess camel is a band that means an awful lot to me in so many ways. A link to my youth, a celebration of all that is good about music and without any pun intended a nod and a wink to all of the adventures, journey’s I made and folks I met along the way who shared the joy of their music and vision. As I write Andy Latimer is still recording music under his own name and selling it via Bandcamp. I remain a devoted fan and continue to follow his musical journey as I have since being a spotty faced youth.
