The Archive.

Updated August 2004


June 28th 1969.
THE NICE.

 

 

Brian ( blinky ) Davison - drums
Lee Jackson - bass/vocals
Keith Emerson - keyboards

 

Keith Emerson tilts the old Hammond

Photo© M Wheeler

Derek Manuel remembers,

The Nice were tremendous. Keith Emerson was in fine form, and 3 Scots pipers came on stage at an appropriate moment in full kit, playing bagpipes.
I can't remember during what piece they played!! I think "America"
 

Whilst Stuart Godfey adds

 
The Nice were very flashy (knife-throwing), Scots Gaurds playing bagpipes,
but I enjoyed the Karelia Suite stuff.

Mike Le Voi

- I remember the bagpipers! Ten Years After did "I'm going home" as
usual. The show was a "whos who" of British Blues - apart from Jethro Tull. I seem to remember that the admission price was 22s 6d - but as I bought my ticket a few weeks in advance it only cost me 18s 6d - good value!

Cheers,
Mike Le Voi

At this time the Nice were a three piece, Davey O'List having left in 1968, and from then on the band moved from a focus on psychedelic pop to a very definite prog leaning, with extended solos  (mostly featuring Emerson ) as well as developing a repertoire which took classical pieces and attempted to fuse them with rock. This had mixed success, but on a good night the Nice were a VERY exciting band , especially when Emerson took to mauling his Hammond with knives .

    Their third album -THE NICE (Immediate IMSP 026) released in 1969 - features some live tracks -Rondo '69 and Bob Dylan's  She Belongs To Me! and these pieces were likely to have been played at Bath along with their reworking of Leonard Bernstein's America.

Their live album had some very indistinct images of the pipers at Bath- too indistinct to bother to include here , but above is a half decent pic of Lee Jackson onstage at Bath 69 and we now have soem good photos of the Nice onstage , thanks go to Malcolm Strachan amd Mike Wheeler for providing the photos .

Photo © M Wheeler

The Nice , with entourage of Pipers
Photos courtesy of Malcolm Strachan ©

If you click on the images you will see a larger version

  The bagpipe playing pipers would most likely have been an Emerson idea, forever the showman , when he formed ELP the band opened their Isle Of Wight festival show with a salute of cannons - definitely over the top stuff !

Click here to go to view my Nice Photo Gallery and read recollections of their performance at the 8th National Jazz and Blues Festival 1968.


Contents
 

If you have photos, recollections, set lists, newspaper reports or tapes of the event then email us and we'll add them to the site. Contact email

Bands in order of appearance.(l to R)
Just Before Dawn.
Colosseum
Roy Harper.
Keef Hartley.
Edgar Broughton
Liverpool Scene. 
Champion Jack Dupree.
Chicken Shack. 
Blodwyn Pig  
The Nice
Led Zeppelin
Taste

John Mayall

Bands listed below most probably did not perform

 
Babylon 

Group Therapy.

Principal Edwards Magic Theatre. 

Bath 69 reviews

Contact email

Back to the main Archive.