Vinegar Joe: Dream My Own Dreams

[Loveatory]

I think I was at that gig when I was a young teenager, it's from a TV-show called Opp O Poppa. Cool stuff.

[kaloncar]

Dream My Own Dreams

[fgldnglbs]

I just saw a bunch of posts for Elkie Brooks solo videos and I see some similarity and a difference in what she and Robert Palmer did. From her, I see mostly remakes of songs that were already in most peoples' consciousness; Palmer dug up songs that most listeners might have missed as well as wrote a few of his own. If this is what Brooks did, it might have worked for Linda Rondstadt, but not again.

[Eamonn20a]

@fgldnglbs Her hits , Pearls a Singer, Sunshine after the Rain, Don't cry Out Loud, No More the Fool, etc, etc, The last one been a new song. Where NOT in the consciousness of of most people.Elkie was primarily a Rock/Blues singer .Rondstadt was pop.

[fgldnglbs]

Robert Palmer with hair shorn, so this must be the later days of the band.

I know I heard the name Elkie Brooks somewhere and maybe heard a track or two. Interesting that these two crossed paths once.  She might be regarded as some as an unjustly underated and overlooked talent, but I wonder if coming out not long after Julie Driscoll and maybe even Dusty Springfield put her in their shadows.

[Eamonn20a]

@fgldnglbs Elkie is Blues and Rock . Driscoll was folk, Dusty was pop. Elkie is in the" Guinness Book of Records" as the most charted female, in the album charts in the last 30yrs.Elkie has never been in anyone's shadow.

[LunaSeaSane]

Elkie Brooks is one powerful vocalist. And i rarely saw this side of Robert Palmer. Way cooler than the dolls.

[richyrollins]

man this band sucked but thank god robert palmer made something of himself!

[farttart00000]

@richyrollins This band was GREAT . Elkie Brooks was the best thing to come out of this band.

[Eamonn20a]

@richyrollins This band was great. Elkie was amazing , still is. !!!

[jacquesL0711]

Brilliant..... Music is NOT the Same....

[NeilThompson30]

Whatever happened to tambourines?! - essential for any 70s college band.

No band uses them today - they're all pussies.

[ignimbrite1]

Interesting to compare solo careers. No offence meant but Palmer's demonstrates how a modest talent can be enormously successful given clever management and marketing. Elkie's career shows how even phenomenal talent can struggle without it. Still, whilst RP finally succumbed to the demons of the Rock n'Roll life, Elkie, a thoroughgoing, disciplined pro to her fingertips, is still packing them in and still fit as a butcher's dog.

[skida3]

Succumbed to the demons of Rock 'n' Roll life? As far as I know he wasn't a druggie or a particularly heavy drinker. He did smoke though and that is probably what caused his heart attack.

[HenningStrandin]

Hahaha, yeah, Robert Palmer was such a wild kid. :-) He was a fuckin' bore, a nine-to-five guy and a family man. That's what made him different to 90% of his contemporaries. It's a tragic irony that he died comparatively young, nothing less. And comparing talents, when it comes to composition and production, it's hard to find someone better than Palmer in his own generation. Elkie Brooks does not have that range (as much as I love her).

[zinesilol88]

@HenningStrandin Elkie Brooks has a FANTASTIC range.

[Eamonn20a]

@HenningStrandin Elkie Brooks HAS a MUCH better range than Palmer !!!! period.

[Khultan]

Now, is that a Rickenbacker that's with Mr. Palmer? [cheeky]

[RAMJAMOZ]

Skida, Bluetit, Franco & the rest of you guys. So flattered you care still after so long. Back then on just another TV show whooda guessed people would watch it 35 yrs later? I should have played better of I knew. OK I ran VJ - but we 'jammed'. Rob or I would write - then we all jammed the songs into existance. 'Calumet' I had the intro fixed & set melody for Elk - the rest was 'jam with these lyrics'. Everything was a blues without the 12 bar. Great that it still touches you guys. Thanks. PeteG

[skida3]

Thanks for joining in and giving us an insight to the workings of VJ, Pete. I saw VJ many times and thought you were one of the best live acts around, crikey! - I even saw Dada around 1970!

The songs still sound great now and that's what makes us care.

ps: I was at a bike rally a few years ago and Dr Feelgood were headlining. I got quite excited when I heard the singer was called Pete Gage, but alas I realised straight away it was a different PG. Two Pete Gages in Rock? Who'd have thunk it?

[PETEEAT]

@RAMJAMOZ allo pete would u waste a few seconds of your time to listen to a couple of vocals of willin by little feat and dobie grays drift away i'd like a pro take on them all opinions gratefull good/bad it's all good :) its in mi own vid section thanks mate

[mcp666]

I recall being very pleased with myself for taking a chance and buying a copy of Six Star General, I think that's the right title, and it being a damned fined album. ;-)

[nettiebaby45]

Vinegar Joe was a fantasic band! I'm only sorry that they weren' successful back then.

I'm glad to see them again.

[bostweed]

This was recorded in Stockholm, Skansen for swedish TV show Oppopoppa and i was there (in 72 or 73?) and there were some other acts too in the same show (Lynn Carey's Mama Lion and Osibisa i think). VJ was great and everyone's attention was fully on Elkie with her wild, powerful and magnetic presence. Me and my friends talked about her for a long time afterwards

[edmundo172]

ELKIE HOT, HOT, HOT.

[sookie517]

Love this performance. Thanks for sharing!

[LukasFin]

"This is an english blues", she said. Nice that you posted this rare tape. Thank you!

[francomoroni]

Robert Palmer left Vinegar Joe because Elkie Brooks was more in the limelight..

[skida3]

Not strictly true. After three low-selling albums, Island Records boss, Chris Blackwell, realised that the time wasn't right for VJ and decided to promote Robert as a solo artist. A massive tour of the USA was organised and this was the launch pad for his success. It is no secret that Robert and Elkie weren't best of friends towards the end of VJ (especially as Elkie was fond of going back to the studio and adding vocals to Robert's songs) but the band was just about finished before the split.

[skida3]

This was mean't to be a reply to Francomoroni's post on the reason for Robert leaving the band.

[edmundo172]

If Elkie done this (which I doubt) then it must have been that an extra vocal was needed.

[skida3]

Please don't misunderstand me, edmundo172: I love Elkie's voice and I loved to see her singing live with this band, but there were times when she put too much "business" on the songs. Listen to "Black Smoke Rising from the Calumet" from the last album to see what I mean.

VJ were a great band with songs that still sound good 36 years later (Jeez! Am I that old?), but that raw edge thay had live didn't come across on the albums.

[fiona1580]

Hi, your comment goes to prove Elkie has MORE control when she is on stage. No record producers telling her what to do and how to do it.

[rocker53zero]

The old scenario of  too many cooks spoil the broth comes to mind

[bluetit1991]

Pete Gage wrote "Black Smoke Rising from the Calumet"Pete told Elkie what her wanted. Elkie done it. To the composers liking. Not for yours.

[DirkjeA]

I had that album when I was 20 orso. God knows where it is now, but boy it swept me of my feet back than. Elkie Brooks is one of the greatest singers of all times to me.

[Eamonn20a]

Totally agree with you. Saw Elkie in concert this year. Fantastic.

[Daveynewport]

I agree - there are two sides to every story and VJ could just not sell records. At the end this band was in pieces - it is telling that Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer did not speak for 27 years after the band split. Elkie did some work for Island after VJ ended - Rescue Me in 1974 was on Island.

[bluetit1991]

Lets face it Elkie WAS, Vinegar Joe. I feel Robert was frustrated by Elkie, He could never out sing her. She was far too powerful.He went on to be another Bryan Ferry.,shame.

[skida3]

I think Elkie is one of the best singers this country has produced, but VJ was a GROUP of very talented musicians and two great (but very different) singers. RP went on to great success internationally. Elkie had much success in the UK.

Pete Gage may have suggested things to Elkie, but she would not have been TOLD what was wanted. Elkie and Pete's marriage was long dead by the third album.

What little I know about the end of VJ, I was told at the time by a close relative in the band.

[RodgersFan2009]

skida3 - can't agree more, never got to see them, god wish I could put the clock back. People bang on on about Janis Joplin but EB's vocals are on a par.

Other than EB & RP what are the other band members names?

[skida3]

On this video there is Pete Gage (guitar), Steve York (bass), Mike Deacon (keyboards) and Pete Gavin (drums). This I believe to be the final lineup.

Previous musicians include: Tim Hinkley (keyboards), Rob Tait (drums), John Woods (drums), Conrad Isidore (drums on 1st album). There were others but I think they were mainly sessionists on the albums.

[gilouseb]

I saw Jim Mullen on guitar on stage,on french TV.

[Khultan]

Brother, it's all media manipulation. Never heard of Elkie and never knew Robert was so damn good on the six strings also I would be around 6 years old at this time LOL

[zinesilol88]

@Khultan Elkie was the core of this band, stunning voice.

[francomoroni]

HEY KIKKIFFROG get you facts right. At the time Elkie was on her first marriage to Pete Gage. So for Palmer to be Mr Brooks no3. impossible.ELKIE told me, she never fancied Palmer. Too pretty.Elkie was the balls in V.J.

[kikiffrog]

Even at 21, Robert had a fabulous voice.

[kikiffrog]

I was lucky enough to meet Robert in 1985 & 1988 and he left Vinegar Joe because he didn't fancy being Mr Elkie Brooks 3rd and he wanted to sing his own-undiluted-songs.This is what he told me!!!

[15chipshops]

Great Band, Great Voices, Great Songs, Underrated and Long Forgotten, but not by me...

[Kronocide]

It is so unreal that this song is on here. I don't think I know a single person who knows about this song (one or two may have heard of Vinegar Joe) but it's been a personal favorite for decades.

[LovelyTranny29]

great song...i miss songs with this energy and soul...

[JoeVinegar2]

Great to see Robert alive and singing full of joy!

[terryclary]

Great video/Great performance. I wonder if Elkie's bruises from that tambo are for sale on Ebay?

Pete Gage strummed a mean guitar.

[wasphooker2]

Wonderful - saw them so many times when I was a teenager. Amazing live band! I was hopelessly in love with Elkie Brooks - moreso after I met her before a gig in Salisbury (UK) in about 72.

[francomoroni]

Elkie Brooks should have conquered the world, that voice.