Chas (All Your Cares Away)

[Pseudopath]

Chas (from Chas & Dave) Hodges has died, aged 74.

Always seemed a bit of a gimmick act to me (even as a child) with the obvious exception of Ain't No Pleasing You, but I'm happy to be shown otherwise. Didn't someone on here recently state that Chas & Dave were much sought-after session musicians in the 70s?

[Pseudopath]

Oh yeah...they played on Labi Siffre's I Got The, later sampled by a certain Marshall Bruce Mathers III.

[daf]

Chas on bass and piano with Country Boy Hit-makers Heads Hands & Feet live in Paris from 1972

[Brundle-Fly]

Saw them live a couple of times. The 100 Club was one of the best gigs I ever attended. No more gimmicky than any other act. They were a popular good time band, one of the few we had left.

[Nowhere Man]

The man started out as a session musician (as part of the house-band, The Outlaws) for the legendary Joe Meek, playing on more classics than can be counted, usually as bassist. His bandmate was Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, here's a few of those records Chas is on:

Swingin' Low (1961) - his first proper record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp0oinxirKY

Johnny Remember Me (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e4JXwd7XMo

Tribute To Buddy Holly (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhb1xHtWrKo

Just Like Eddie (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVIiQ8iNvKc (1963)

In this awkward video you can see Chas on a 12 string guitar alongside Blackmore on electric guitar, and another future Deep Purple alumni Mick Underwood on drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBMuWS2B6BU

Chas also played with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent.. and had a few hits as part of Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers in the mid-60s, a band that also contained Dave Peacock. Paul McCartney produced a No. 6 hit for them with a cover of 'Got To Get You Into My Life'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKMAZxaFuS0

He was very underrated as a musician in general really. But even in Chas 'n' Dave he was more of an entertainer than a novelty act, at which he was first class. The likes of:

Ain't No Pleasing You
Rabbit
Gertcha
The Sideboard Song

are all genuine catchy earworms, and most importantly just fun to listen to, the man was excellent at getting people to smile. Something that doesn't get enough appreciation in serious music circles. He was also a fantastic guest, if you've ever met seen his appearance on John Shuttleworth's 'Lounge Music', very genuine fella, with no sense of arrogance about himself.

His father committed suicide when he was just 4 years old, and his family really struggled in their early years, but he never showed any anger about it. He just did what he did best as he got older, played the music that made him happy. He was a professional musician at age 16!

And yes, he is also responsible for perhaps the best music anecdote ever. That he played alongside Dave, on the Labi Siffre record, I Got The...
which was sampled for Eminem's first record, My Name Is.
https://youtu.be/xKISdd2mKzU?t=2m32s

[Blue Jam]

Lovely post Nowhere Man, thanks for that.

I've seen a lot of tributes focusing on his musicianship and the more credible stuff he was involved with, and while it's nice to read about all that, Snooker Loopy is still a tune:

https://youtu.be/BliAPzEsao0

I'm going to the Crucible for the first time next year and it'll be sad to hear it played around then. There should be some sort of tribute...

I also know quite few people who saw Chas'n'Dave live in small London venues and apparently they always put on a good show. "Entertainer" seems to be the word.

[daf]

Snooker Loopy is still a tune:

And by coincidence, this features on the next Top of the Pops to be shown on BBC4 (8 May 1986) this coming Thursday.

[Nowhere Man]

Chas with Jerry Lee Lewis


Chas with Gene Vincent


On another note, i'm constantly amazed Jerry Lee is still with us and touring, he looks fucked there and he's about 29 years old there (assuming that's 1964)

[alan nagsworth]

Lovely post Nowhere Man, thanks for that.

Agreed, very nice.

Man, this sucks, he was wonderful. I saw them a couple times on the festival circuit. At Sonisphere in 2014, amidst all the metal bands and stuff, on the second-to-main stage, a big-ass crowd of us absolutely loving it in the pissing rain. When they played "Rabbit", a guy in a rain-sodden Bugs Bunny costume was crowd-surfing, grinning and triumphantly punching the air the whole time. I laughed so much it hurt. Thanks Chas for being instrumental in one of my all-time favourite festival experiences.

[non capisco]

^ Captured for posterity here!
https://youtu.be/w_P-PlutF9A?t=1m11s

It's possibly a bit of a cliche by now to say that 'Ain't No Pleasing You' is a fucking excellent bit of songwriting by anyone's standards as if that should come as a surprise, but it is. Also the 'Snooker Loopy' verse that starts "But old Willie Thorne, his hair's all gawn" is really funny and should probably be the anthem for this forum. Rest In Pints, Chas.

I have never once seen rabbit on sale in Sainsburys, however.

[Brundle-Fly]

One of my mates had Chas & Dave as his wedding band. Nobody knew except him and his wife and when the boys walked through the reception and took to the stage the whole room went fucking mental. I will never forget that moment, the sheer glee and affection for them. It was a North London Jewish wedding so a lot of Spurs fans were crying into their matzo balls by the end.

And no, I didn't meet them. As per usual they do the gig and fuck off. You can almost hear the London taxi engine chugging away outside by the time they play the last verse of Margate.

[Blue Jam]

When they played "Rabbit", a guy in a rain-sodden Bugs Bunny costume was crowd-surfing, grinning and triumphantly punching the air the whole time. I laughed so much it hurt. Thanks Chas for being instrumental in one of my all-time favourite festival experiences.

^ Captured for posterity here!
https://youtu.be/w_P-PlutF9A?t=1m11s

Damn, I wish I could get that video to open, that's fantastic. As is the wedding story- I wish I'd seen them myself now, it all sounds so joyful.

[alan nagsworth]

^ Captured for posterity here!
https://youtu.be/w_P-PlutF9A?t=1m11s

HAHAHA FUCK

this has made my day, wow

[Brundle-Fly]

Look what Chas does at the very end of the clip. Can't wait to get home and put his feet up with the missus.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

^ Captured for posterity here!
https://youtu.be/w_P-PlutF9A?t=1m11s

Not featuring the original drummer, sadly.
C and D's original drummer was a diamond geezer, wasn't he ? Very much the third Chas And Dave, an integral band member, in the vein of Ken the bassist from Bros.

[NoSleep]

Saw him numerous times as the bass player of Heads Hand & Feet, who were one of the bands that I went to see again and again but didn't bother with the records (Osibisa was another).

During his time as a session player for Joe Meek in the early 60's he modded a bass guitar into a fretless, so that probably makes him at least one of the earliest adopters of fretless basses if not the first.

[imitationleather]

Not featuring the original drummer, sadly.
C and D's original drummer was a diamond geezer, wasn't he ? Very much the third Chas And Dave, an integral band member, in the vein of Ken the bassist from Bros.

The replacement drummer is Chas's son, as it happens. Which is quite nice.

The original drummer, Mick Burt, died in 2014. He'd retired from playing live a few years before that, though.

[daf]

The original drummer

"&"

[SteveDave]

When Dave retired because his wife died a few years ago I thought Chas should've made an LP with various musical people called David. It would've been called "Chas N Daves". It's too late now though. Sad ting.

[Norton Canes]

A highly skilled yet sadly under-rated songwriter whose output in many ways influenced a generation.

Who could forget classics like "Oi Darlin', Shut Your Maaf Before I Catchoo A Fat Lip", "Blow Me Darlin' I Just Can't Get It Right Can I, Fancy Anuvva Shiner?" or "Sorry Darlin' It Were All Me Old Dad's Fault, He Used Ter Beat Me Up Somefin' Terrible"

[poodlefaker]

When Dave retired because his wife died a few years ago I thought Chas should've made an LP with various musical people called David.

Instead he teamed up with Status. Dave of course, had originally been with Sam.

I love the fact that one of the guests on Chas & Dave's Christmas Knees UP (Central TV 1982) was Eric Clapton.

[Maurice Yeatman]

A highly skilled yet sadly under-rated songwriter whose output in many ways influenced a generation.

Who could forget classics like "Oi Darlin', Shut Your Maaf Before I Catchoo A Fat Lip", "Blow Me Darlin' I Just Can't Get It Right Can I, Fancy Anuvva Shiner?" or "Sorry Darlin' It Were All Me Old Dad's Fault, He Used Ter Beat Me Up Somefin' Terrible"

That's terribly unfair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq94TSAkAT0

[SteveDave]

Chas also played with Paul, George and Ringo at (I think) Eric Clapton's wedding in the late 70s.