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When John Mayall toured Australia in November 1975 he brought with him one of his best ever lineups. Guitarist Hi Tide Harris had been establishing a reputation for himself as one of the hottest young blues guitarists on the US West Coast. Ex Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor was a legend. Completing the rhythm section with Larry was ex Ike & Tina Turner Revue drummer Soko Richardson, and Red Holloway on sax was a seasoned jazz player who had decades of session work to his credit.
At the time I was a writer/researcher for the Australian Blues Society's "Crazy Music" magazine, so accompanied by my younger brother Duncan, and a good friend Terry "Moonface" Bailey we headed off to the morning press reception at Perth Airport. The press were only interested in interviewing Mayall, however, it was primarily Hi Tide and Larry that I was interested in so we quickly singled them out, introduced ourselves and got chatting. Following the press reception we continued on to the band's hotel where we spent some time discussing blues records and different musicians. Larry in particular was very knowledgeable about blues and we had a lengthy discussion about rare LPs and classic blues recordings.
As it was now into the afternoon Hi Tide told us he'd like to go out and see some of the sights of Perth. Someone suggested a drive out to the coast and Hi Tide said that would be fine, so off we went. We asked Larry if he wanted to come as well but he passed, saying he felt like resting up before that evening's performance. I gave Larry a bunch of blues magazines I'd brought along, and he said that was fine, he'd spend the afternoon relaxing and looking through the blues mags.
On the way to the coast we pulled into a liquor store and got a bunch of cold beers and soon hit the beach, where we sat on the sand dunes looking out over the Indian Ocean, drinking beers and listening to Hi Tide's stories about all the blues greats he'd met and worked with.
Terry "Moonface" had a younger sister named Maureen, who was a huge John Mayall fan and she had been looking forward to going to that evening's performance at Perth Concert Hall, but unfortunately the poor girl had taken ill a couple of day before and would have to miss out on attending the concert. So when it was time to return Hi Tide to his hotel we took a brief detour and pulled by Terry's house and took Hi Tide inside to see Maureen. I think it must have been one of the high points of her life when we knocked on her bedroom door and told her we had John Mayall's lead guitarist with us and he'd come to say hello and wish her a speedy recovery.
Later that evening backstage at the Perth Concert Hall we caught up with Hi Tide and Larry again, and had some laughs while getting stuck into the buffet spread and assorted booze that had been put on for the band.
The concert was great. Hi Tide was an exciting blues player, and to hear a rhythm section of the calibre of Larry Taylor and Soko Richardson was indeed a joy. Following the concert we spent a bit more time with the guys, then called it quits and headed home.
I was saddened to hear of Larry Taylor's passing in August 2019. As far as I know Hi Tide Harris is still with us, last I heard he was living in Japan with his Japanese wife, giving guitar lessons and periodically making records.
Larry Taylor, Bob Mac, Hi Tide Harris. Perth, Australia, November 1975
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