Ronnie Lane has been rightly described as a born entertainer, humorous, emotional and spiritual. He was 'short and sweet', 'combined East End nous and the romantic' and was a troubadour to the day he died. Ronnie gambled his shirt on a pipedream, a circus! His approach to music was refreshing and genuine, the gig an instant party.
Charlie was lucky enough to spend much of the '70s working with Ronnie Lane.
“Ronnie was a dedicated prankster. When I was quite new to the band and suitably green, we were visiting a town somewhere up North. “I'll meet you in the Horse and Trouser at 2 o'clock” said our Ron. When I eventually tracked him down to the Golden Lion, he took great delight in hearing the details of my unsuccessful quest for what was, when you thought about it, the ridiculous and impossibly named “Horse and Trouser”.
Right from the beginning, I realised that Ronnie's approach to recording was highly idiosyncratic. Not for him the carefully controlled back-track recorded in sterile conditions followed by a succession of boring overdub sessions. Right in the middle of recording Fats Waller's “I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” the back legs on the ageing grand piano at Stargrove collapsed. Did this stop our using it? No way! Much to our hilarity Ruan managed to play the whole piece at some incredibly bizarre - and backbreaking angle. That was the take.”
Charlie worked on several albums, had some brilliant times on the road, and even helped Ronnie sow a field of Barley at his farm in the Shropshire hills.
Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert
Following Ronnie's death from MS, Charlie was asked to put together a Slim Chance line up to act as house band at a projected Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert at the Albert Hall in 2004.
The band that Charlie assembled contained Henry McCullough, Chrissie Stewart and Alun Davies (all of whom were original Slim Chance members) and they were joined by Geoff Dugmore and Geraint Watkins.They performed a couple of songs as a unit and were then joined by a succession of guests: Keith Smart, Chris Jagger, Sam Brown, Glen Matlock, Mick Jones, Pete Townshend, Paul Weller and finally Ron Wood.
"thoroughly merited testimonial for an artist who's rarely received his due"
Billboard
"never before has the Royal Albert Hall played host to such an atmosphere of love and deep respect as it did on the evening of 8th April"
Total Production
