The National Health Gig that never was....
Maybe somebody out there can help solve the mystery of the National Health gig that never was. I know it was a long time ago but I’m sure the truth is out there. The date was February 24th 1976, these old teenage diaries come in useful sometimes,
myself and a friend set out for Manchester Polytechnic to see the National Health gig as advertised in the New Musical Express. Not being acquainted with the college or Manchester for that matter, we assumed that there would be just one site on which we would find the concert hall. How naive, I think we ended up finding three different sites and no sign of National Health. The bemused college staff whom we asked thought we were looking for some sort of doctors' convention.
It was getting late and when we were attracted by the sound of discordant music from a nearby building which was part of another college. The posters revealed that the artist in question was Julie Tippetts, so in we went. The action took place in what looked like a lecture theatre, and what we saw was Julie Tippetts free improvising jazz musician, light years away from Julie Driscoll pop singer of the 60s.
| It was uncompromising music, most of it totally improvised, although some pieces had a very basic theme or structure. Performing were JT herself on vocals, piano and acoustic guitar, Brian Godding electric guitar, Harry Miller double bass and occasional bass guitar, and a drummer whose name escapes me. The other dominant sound besides Julie's voice was the cornet of Marc Charig. He shuffled around conjuring all manner of sounds from his horn complementing and contrasting the diving and soaring vocals. |
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As far as I could tell most of the pieces were untitled although one was dedicated to the recently deceased Mongezi Feza, and was lead by Julie's seemingly endless repetitions of his name over a mournful cacophony of sound, powerful stuff. I can never make up my mind about this sort of music. The musicians are searching for something and much of the time they fail to find it, but when they collectively hit the spot then it can be an intense experience.
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By way of contrast there was a short section mid set where Julie played a couple of beautiful songs simply accompanied by her own guitar and that of Brian Godding. Some months later having purchased her 1969 album I'm pretty sure I recognised these songs as The Choice and Lullaby. We had found an interesting gig, although not the one we intended. If anyone out there actually made it to the National Health gig, or knows if it ever took place, and if not why, then I'd love to hear about it. I did eventually get to see NH, but not until a couple of years later on the Steve Hillage tour, and then again the following year with Alan Gowen on keyboards after Dave Stewart had departed. |
