| Sounds, December 8, 1973 | |
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Poco or Patto?
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| Professional madman and sometime vocalist/songwriter Mike Patto, late of the band of the same name and more recently the newest addition to Spooky Tooth (as successor to Mike Harrison) has, so he says, yet another grand scheme in the offing, writes Pete Erskine. Rumour has it that the gentleman is to release a solo single sometime in the New Year (an oft repeated phrase you’ll note) aside from his continued dabblings in the Dick and the Firemen consortium, this being a flexible manifestation comprising, at times, some dozen or so musicians, but mainly Tim Hinkley, Mel Collins, Boz, Ian Wallace, John Halsey (former Patto drummer and raconteur) and former Greaseband guitarist Neil Hubbard. Patto himself, in characteristically dry fashion tells of the "Manor Live" album debacle released on Virgin awhile back, masterminded by Richard Branson, Virgin’s boss, who, according to Patto, had him confused with another. "He thought my name was Poco – you know, the American band – and like he’s taking me and buying me steaks and giving me his two thousand pound 12 bore gun to go shooting and fishing with him and letting me drive ‘is Bentley and asking ‘how long are you in the Country for?’ and I’m saying ‘you know . . . as long as they’ll have me’ and then he sussed one day that I wasn’t – and, oh yeah, he also thought Boz was Boz Scaggs you know, so when we see him we shout ‘Hey, it’s Poco and Boz Scaggs man’." More recently Patto has figured on the Alvin/Mylon album and your Music Person is pleased to report that the Dick and the Firemen tapes, for – you guessed it – release in the new year, are exceptionally warm and wunnerful – especially a neatly turned reggae version of "Sitting In The Park". |
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