Skid Row/Brush
Shiels Feature (1967-present)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Skid
Row I
Brendan "Brush"
Shiels, started his
music career as the bass player with
Dublin beat group, The Up Town Band which he left in 1967 to form
his own group. The Up Town band was
based in Dun Laoghaire and was formed at the start of 1967, rising
quickly to the top of the beat group scene behind lead singer Pat
Nash. Brendan was the bass player in the band and he quickly became
one of the top "personalities" of the relatively small Dublin group
scene.
In late 1966, Rory Gallagher put
his group "Taste" together in Cork and they were one of the first
Irish groups to have success on the English scene, although in Pat
Egan's Beat Scene column, they were rated as the 12th best group in
the country with the Up Town band further up the chart at number 8.
Around this same time, ex-Them singer Van Morrison had made it big
in the United States releasing the now legendary Brown Eyed Girl.
In the September 28th edition of
Spotlight, Pat Egan first reported that "The Brush and his
new group have made the Scene Club their home."
The original name of the new group was "Your Father's Moustache" but
in October, 1967, Brush announced he was renaming the group, Skid Row. In the following years,
Skid Row would become one
of the best known of the new Irish Rock Groups, along with bands like
Rory Gallagher's Taste and Eric Bell's (and then Phil Lynott's)
Thin Lizzy.
The original lineup featured Brush (21) on bass, Noel Bridgeman (20) on drums,
Bernard Cheevers (18) on guitar and future Thin Lizzy star,
17-year-old Phil Lynott
on vocals. As an aside, in a December, 1968 interview in Spotlight,
Brendan
said he got the nickname "Brush" from Barry Blackmore, the
road manager for the Up Town Band because of his long hair and
moustache. Although he claimed in the article that he "didn't really
like it" it has stuck for the last 40 plus years! According
to Pat Egan, the band took the scene by storm but had trouble
connecting to the ladies in the audience who preferred "pop" beat
groups vs. "rock." (Editor's note: this schism would eventually
become pop vs. progressive.)
Despite this the band were not an
instant success. Groups like Granny's Intentions, The
Movement and Taste we all considered bigger names on the
scene. They were still very much a pop band though including songs
like "Brown Eyed Girl," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and "Strawberry
Fields Forever" in their set list. The band was being managed by
future Lizzy manager Ted Carroll. By March 1968, Pat Egan was
calling the band, "easily the greatest new talent on the scene for a
long time."
In April, 1968 Bernard Cheevers
left the band to join The Movement and was apparently
replaced for a short time by Brian Harris on guitar and eventually
by now legendary guitarist Gary Moore. (Editor's note: Brian
himself told us recently that he did spend several weeks rehearsing
with the band and played with Noel and Brush on a track for the
Movement at the time, but never played an actual gig.) At the
same time, Roy Esmonde took over managing the band, but he wouldn't
be around for long.
By July, the band had started
visiting London and Pat Egan reported they had signed a recording
and management deal with Andrew Oldham's Immediate Records (who at
the time had also signed the Small Faces.) In September Pat
reported that Noel Bridgeman had left the band as well and had gone
to seek his fortune in Germany.
Robbie Brennan took over the drumming spot in the line-up.
The band built a steady
reputation on the Dublin beat scene and was soon hailed as the top
group in Ireland. During 1968 many beat group musicians had joined
the ranks of the showbands, but the Brush was not interested. An
article in the December 7th issue of Spotlight wondered why
Phil Lynott had not landed a spot with a showband, like many of his
peers and several top entertainment managers in Ireland, including
Oliver Barry and Jim Hand thought he would not get an offer (despite
his obvious talent) "because of his colour."
In 1969, the band underwent several major changes. Sometime in the
Spring, Noel Bridgeman rejoined the band. Then, in June, Phil left
to form Orphanage (a precursor to Thin Lizzy which included
future Lizzy bandmate Brian
Downey, as well as Pat Quigley from the Movement, Terry Woods
of Sweeney's Men, and newcomer Joe Alexander). Following
this, Skid Row was reduced to a three piece with
Brush and Gary taking on the vocals. In his column in Spotlight
in early October, 1969, Pat Egan reported that Gary Moore had been
"loaned" to Granny's Intentions to help out on their latest
recording effort and had decided to stay with the band, leaving Skid
Row without a guitarist. The same column also announced that a Skid
Row "Farewell Dance" would be held the following Sunday in the
Crystal with both Phil Lynott and Gary Moore in attendance. In the end, Gary did not leave and a few weeks
later, Pat was touting the band as "Ireland's Best Hope for
International Success."
The lineup of of Shiels, Bridgeman and Moore would
stay together for a short time the first time around. In late
1969, the band was
managed by Brian Tuite and Peter Bardon (who also looked after the
newly formed Thin Lizzy). The band had reached the top of the scene
in Dublin and been back and forth to London recording and playing in
an attempt to break big in the UK. They recorded their first album
which would be titled simply, Skid. At the time, the band was
being touted as Ireland's next Taste which Rory Gallagher had lead
to success in England and the continent. Brush Shiels was adamant in
interviews that despite the fact that both bands were trios, the
similarities ended there. Said Brush in Spotlight, "Don't compare us
with Taste. The only similarities are that we are both two guitar
with drums groups and Gary Moore's hair is about the same lengths as
Rory Gallagher's. That's as far as it goes."
Their first album was all
original material with numbers contributed by all three members of
the band. They had high hopes of making the album charts in England.
Around this time, the band more or less emigrated to London, coming
home to Ireland only for the occasional gig. They also undertook
their first trip to the States, which Gary Moore commented was an
influence on their music, adding, "We heard lots of good music over
there." A June, 1971 Spotlight interview reported that they had
recorded an album, "34 Hours," a few months earlier. Brush referred
to their musical style as "controlled freedom."
In the November 21, 1971 issue of
Spotlight, Pat Egan hinted that Gary Moore may be
considering a change of scenery. Less than a month later, it was
reported that Gary had left to form his own group and Eric Bell from
Thin Lizzy stood in for a couple of gigs as Paul Chapman had not yet
joined the band.
In May, 1972, former Taste
manager Eddie Kennedy took over managing the band. Three months later, in August, 1972, the band split. Paul
Chapman returned to his native Wales while Noel Bridgeman would soon
join the Gentry. In an interview in Spotlight in October, 1972, Noel
recounted the split of the band. "It was money that caused the the
break up of Skid Row. At the end, when Paul Chapman was in the band,
we were beginning to play ridiculously well. But there was no money.
For two weeks, we didn't get a penny."
Skid Row II
In the meantime, Brush Shiels
returned to Ireland from London and formed a new band with John
Wilson, formerly of Taste, on drums and Adrian Fisher on guitar. The
band, called "Brush" played its first gig on September 1st
in London's Marquee Club and it's first Irish dates were in early
October, 1972. John Wilson had formed the band Stud after leaving
Taste. Originally, the band was to be called Stud Row (for obvious
reasons), but soon settled on Brush. Managed by Eddie Kennedy again, the
band would make a good effort to break in Europe, but it was not to
be. Playing music that was described as a cross between Taste and
Slade, the band would not last long.
In May, 1973 a feature in
Spotlight reported that "Skid Row Lives Again." The article reported
that Brush Sheils was reforming the band. He said that "business
hassles split Skid Row" and "Brush was just got together to
finish off Skid Rows' old dates." The article went on to say
the new band would be a four or five piece with "two guitars, bass,
drums and organ." The band took some time to get together,
but it finally happened in late August of 1973. The lineup featured:
Eamonn Gibney (vocals), Ed Dean (guitar), and John Wilson
(drums). Managed by Ollie Byrne, Brush was quoted as saying the band
was firmly focused on making it in the USA, as opposed to England,
as Brush surmised "anyway that scene is dead in England."
In his December 27th, 1973 "Let It
Rock" column, Pat Egan reported that the band had added a keyboard
player, Kevin McAlea (brother of Miami's Des Lee) to Skid Row's
lineup. Kevin had previously played with The Gentry, among others.
In March, 1974 a blurb in Spotlight announced "Brush Quits Rock
Scene." It reported that he had called it a day after the
reformed Skid Row experienced many personnel and management
problems.
At this point, the band continued
to flounder somewhat. A report in Pat Egan's column in mid January
stated manager Ollie Byrne had "fired" the band over a dispute to
which an unnamed member of the group was reported to say, "We're out
on our own now and intend to stay that way." At this time John
Wilson left the group and was replaced by Paddy Freeney. It was
rumoured John was joining the Freshmen. In the end, Ollie and the
band patched things up and Skid Row went back on the road, but not
for long.
A few months later, in April,
1974, Brush
teamed up with Eric Bell (after he had left Thin Lizzy) and they formed
the Bell/Brush band along with Tim Creedon (drums) who had
previously been with Orphanage. The band played their first gig in
the Carlton, Kilkenny.
In the October 3, 1974 issue of
Spotlight, the Rock On column (edited by Smiley Bolger and
Colin McClelland) reported that Brush and Tim Creedon were off to
London with former Skid Row vocalist Eamonn Gibney to play with
ex-Sparks guitarist A.D. Fisher with a possibility of it becoming a
permanent gig. In the same column, the question
was asked, "what now for Eric Bell," so we assume the Bell-Brush
Band came to an end only six months after it was formed. However, a
blurb in the same column a few weeks later said the Bell/Brush band
would be playing a gig in the New University of Ulster on Friday,
November 8, 1974. It also mentioned that Eamonn Gibney had joined
the band, so we know their stint in England did not last long.
In the December 12, 1974 issue of
Spotlight it was announced that the "original" Skid Row (Shiels, Moore and
Bridgeman) would be reuniting for a series of gigs. However, Gary
Moore said it was not a permanent outfit and they would simply be
coming together from time to time. A few weeks later, in the January
9th issue of Spotlight the Rock On column reported that Brush
and Eamon would be forming a new band soon, so at that point the
Bell-Brush band was off the road as Eric had joined up with Noel
Redding inn a new band.
As 1975 started, Brush went off to
London for a spell and it looked like the end of the line for the
band and maybe even for Brush. Based on the reports of the day, Skid
Row had been all but forgotten as a presence on the Dublin group
scene. Phil Lynott, Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher had all more or
less left Ireland in search of International recognition (which they
we all getting) with Thin Lizzy about to become the biggest
act Ireland had produced at that point.
Skid Row III
By March of 1975, Brush was back
with a new line-up of Skid Row. This would continue for most of the
seventies as he brought together a couple of different line-ups with
different musicians as either a four or five piece band. Gone were
the "progressive" rock numbers and the new band was most often
described as a "pop" band. In the new version of the band, Brush
resumed his place as the band's front man. A major change in the
line-up would be the inclusion of two drummers. Noel Bridgeman was
once again the main drummer with Tim Creedon also staying with Brush
after the demise of the Bell-Brush Band. Jimi Slevin was on guitar.
Posters for the band printed up by new manager, John Dee, announced
they had "just returned from their American tour" which was
described as a "spoof" by Smiley Bolger in Spotlight.
The reforming of Skid Row did
garner some initial attention in the national press, but this was
somewhat overshadowed by Brush's anger over the mishandling of the
earlier version of Skid Row's finances. As he said in an interview
in the Sunday Independent on February 23rd, 1975, "We were fiddled
by so many that it was incredible. We were an easy target to get
ripped off for we would sign anything to get an album out...we never
got more than £25 a week."
Reports on the new line-up were
not good initially with Mr. Bolger saying, "Skid Row aren't as
together as they think, or would like us to believe they are. For
one thing, their P.A., or does it not matter that people can't hear
what you sing or say all night." The lack of enthusiasm for the new
lineup would continue for some time. However, the poor reports did
not stop the band from playing up and down the country on the
ballroom circuit which was previously the home of the showbands
until bands like Horslips and Reform opened up the circuit to rock
groups in the early mid-1970's.
In mid-1975, the band was playing
a regular Thursday night in Dublin's famous Baggot Inn as "Brush
Shiels and the Skid Row Burlesque Show"
They released a single, "Spanish
Lady" with "Elvira" on the B side on the Dude label which was
described as "rocked up folk song with some nice guitar and mandolin
riffs." In early 1976, Jimi Slevin left to form his own band and was
replaced by Jody Pollard. Around this time, Brush also decided to
expand the band to a six-piece adding Ian Anderson on percussion and
Johann Brady on bass. Brush started to play electric mandolin and
would eventually switch to guitar in later years.
This line-up of the band made an
album of their live show in 1976 and "Alive and Kicking" is a good
indication of their musical direction at the time, all covers of
popular songs like "You Really Got Me," "Mr. Tambourine Man,"
"Satisfaction," "Summertime Blues" and others. Needless to say, this
was a long way from the progressive rock days of the late sixties
and early 1970's and the band was now Skid Row in name only.
Brush would bring out a solo album
of original songs in 1977 which was well received but would continue
to tour as "Brush Shiels and Skid Row|" for many years as we have
found advertisements for the band through 1989. By this time they
were considered by many to be a "pop showband" with few dancers in
the 1980's having any idea about the rock legacy of Skid Row and Brush.
One of the stories which has
continued to haunt Brush in recent years is the saga of the use of
the name Skid Row by an American rock band led by Sebastian Bach
which was founded in 1986. Despite a story that the band "bought the
name" from Gary Moore for $35,000, as recently as 2012, Brush placed
a video on YouTube asking Jon Bon Jovi (a financial backer of the
band) to contact him about the use of the name. He had claimed the
payment never happened and as the founder of the band, he was never
contacted by the American band. As far as we know there has been no
further movement on this as it comes down to an issue nobody can
actually verify since Gary Moore's sudden passing in 2011. We do
know the American band still records and tours using the Skid Row
moniker.
More to come.....
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