When Chicken Shack arrived on stage I was tense with anticipation.  I'd already seen them at one of their very first gigs, when they were still running  around in a little Commer van , so I was well acquainted with their work. I just loved their early material . Stan Webb was one of my fave guitar players. Frizzy haired and rope thin , this guy had a very Buddy Guy style of playing and he loved to stretch out on slow blues numbers such as  When my Left Eye Jumps . The rhythm section was, I later thought, a bit pedestrian , seemingly afraid to experiment - but they were rock solid and of course there was the glamour factor of Ms Christine Perfect - later of Fleetwood Mac -on piano . A great band and they played a really cool set .

Go here to visit Stan Webb's Chicken Shack tribute pages

Bassist Glenn Cornick contacted us recently and commented ......

   Sunbury was, of course, one of the biggest days in my life as it was THE DAY when we knew we were going to make it. You cannot believe the feeling. I don't have many recollections about the Festival other than our reception. I swear we were all in shock.

    I don't know if you remember the circumstances of our introduction. Ian used to have a nasty old carrier bag that he took onstage and in which he rummaged for harmonicas, his flute or whatever - all part of his image. John Gee walked onstage carrying the bag and the whole audience stood up and started cheering even though we hadn't even been announced. What people didn't realise is that we had been playing 5 or 6 nights a week in little 40 or 50 seater blues clubs all over the country and those people had come from all over to see us. The Music Writers were shocked because we had made ourselves famous without their help or without most of them even knowing us!

photo of Jethro Tull at Sunbury © Franz Murer .

However, before Traffic came an act that I had completely forgotten about, until reminded about them by Chris Jones, who sent this excellent recollection of their set

    The big omission from your site is any mention of the Spencer Davis Group -always a favourite of mine - who went on before Traffic and had a very hostile reception initially. It was as if people thought that since Winwood had left they were crap. This was the first time that SDG had shared the billing with Traffic since the split and, I recall, they proceeded to win the crowd over number by number. Don't remember the track list but SDG played a mind-blowing Sitting and Thinking and were generally very bluesy. Part way through the set most of the band left the stage, only Eddie Hardin and Pete York were left - (later to have a separate career as The Greatest Little Big Band In The World) and they played magnificently - the standout number being Norwegian Wood. The rest of the band came back and by now the crowd were right behind them. Don't remember much more about this but I know that Traffic had to play their socks off to follow this.

Traffic did play a blinder - which was just as well!

    John Mayall's Bluesbreakers then followed . Mayall was the daddy of British Blues . the person credited with popularising the genre , largely through his unerring choice of truly fantastic players, such as Eric Clapton, John McVie and Peter Green . I have very dim memories of this set, which have resurfaced now that I have been reminded of the line-up of this current band . The Marquee pre festival handout stated that this would be the debut of a new line-up, nothing new for Mayall , who changed band line-ups so frequently I don't think anyone is really sure of when the changes occurred .

    This was once again a top line band , with Mick Taylor ( who had been with Mayall since the departure of Peter Green )on lead. . Rather than featuring a lot of new chums the band was a slimmed down version of the previous Bluesbreakers , minus the horn section with which Mayall had worked with in 1967 . Still onboard was renowned jazz drummer John Hiseman , (who had featured on the Bare Wires album ) but bassist Tony Reeves had departed the ship and in his place was Stephen Thompson.

Mayall at Sunbury, click to see a bigger version of the image .

    Anyway, as Chris Jones confirms , Traffic were great, which was nothing new, as they really were one of the best bands ever spawned in the UK. The original line-up of Winwood , Wood, Mason and Capaldi were a real treat to the ears. I'd seen them only few weeks before at the Hyde park free concert. Then it was a pleasant dreamy afternoon romp , but tonight was a more extended saga, with high points being more frequent.

    Those who are more familiar with Traffic from the 70s may be forgiven for forgetting that at one time they were a brilliant pop band. Sure they were also a psychedelic force, but they were also capable of forging great pop songs , as their second album , Traffic signifies.

    Songs like Paper Sun, Medicated Goo and 40,000 Headmen were singable, catchy , funky and memorable as well as being freaky . Add stuff like Mr Fantasy into the mix and you had a line-up of great songs to hear live. Winwood had one of the great voices of British Rock music and as well as being able to play a totally mean guitar he could also get it down on organ . The late great Chris Wood was a more than capable sax player , Capaldi was a tight drummer and Mason could play hot guitar as well as write great songs .

   Overall they got us all off that night. They of course finished with Mr Fantasy, a wonderful version which took me to new heights of admiration for their style and chops . They were very well received - as fest vet Mike Godwin reminisces - Winwood was playing a pale green Telecaster, which was quite unusual in an era when everyone played Gibson Les Pauls and 335s  - and I believe he really played well that night.

    I saw Traffic a number of times after this and perhaps this was not the best of all those gigs, - the Loughborough show of 72 was the best ever, as Steve was inspired that night - but this had to rank with the best.

    I can't remember the entire set list, but to give an indication here's a set list from 68 which is an indication of what they played at the time .

Colored Rain, Pearly Queen , Heaven Is In Your Mind , Feelin' Alright , Don't Be Sad , 40,000 Headmen , No Face, No Name, and No Number , Feeling Good , Who Knows ,What Tomorrow May Bring? , Dear Mr  Fantasy
    - great list huh ?

Traffic gallery and links here. 

   It had been a classic weekend, most of the Festival was a great success, well run, and some fantastic music . It was soured by the tragic events of Saturday night , but unless you were up close it was not enough to spoil it for the majority who were there.

  Whilst Sunbury  did not have the anarchistic bedlam of Bickershaw, the mega acts of Bath or the iconic status of the Stones in the Park, it was one of the best festivals I ever attended and I hope you haven't been too bored by my recollections .

Tramline onstage Sunday Nat jazz fest 1968 © Uli T