Jackie Lynton at Scratchers

Old British rockers never retire it seems: they keep on rocking until they drop. One such is Jackie Lynton, who I went to see playing with his band at a pub in deepest Surrey last night with John Spencely. Jackie made a string of unsuccessful, and mostly middle of the road, singles in the early sixties which were released on Piccadilly, Decca and Columbia, including Over The Rainbow, All Of Me (his best - see link below), Chuck Berry's I'm Talking Bout You and Teddy Bear's Picnic, and also sang with the Savoy Brown band for 18 months in the early seventies. As a candidate for Keith Woods' annual tribute to the legendary 2Is coffee bar his credentials are hard to beat. He had a residency there in his earliest days and his first manager was the 2Is proprietor Toni Littlewood. He was also one of the first British acts to play in Hamburg and one of the Larry Parnes stable of singers.

Jackie's band today is very much a pub rock outfit with two good guitarists and his voice is strong and remarkably bluesy. I thought he was best on the rock and roll numbers such as Reelin' and Rockin', Nadine and Keep a Knockin', but his material, mixed with some very blue jokes in between numbers, ranged from blues to rock and an attempt at rockabilly. Now 71, it seems that Jackie is enjoying life as a rock and roller as much as ever - and long may it last. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHSBl42M2vw