Do musicians stay sharp longer?

You have probably heard that singer-songwriter Glen Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a couple of years ago.

The 77 year-old has had world-wide hits with “By the time I get to Phoenix” and “Wichita Linesman’ among many others both pop and country.

He announced that he’d made his last album “Ghost on the Canvas”, planned to make a farewell tour, then retire from music. He says he was diagnosed early in 2011 but had suffered memory loss for some time.

You might think that Campbell has done well to be able to follow his dream for so long in what is an inherently un-healthy occupation. So what has helped him to keep going for so long?  Researcher and neuropsychologist Brenda Hanna-Pladdy at Emery University School of Medicine gave tests to people aged over 60 to measure their cognitive ability and memory.

She found that those who had played a musical instrument for ten years or more scored significantly higher on the tests than those with no musical background.

She thinks music lessons, like learning a second language, can help stave off cognitive decline and says; “musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of ageing….. Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older.”

She doesn’t say whether or not the genre of music is important but when you think how many old rock stars are still performing eg the Stones and Rod Stewart, who are all in their mid-sixties, who didn’t exactly live a healthy lifestyle when they were younger, it makes you wonder.

A couple of years ago I saw Steve Cropper, former guitarist with Booker T & the MGs and the Stax studio band, co-writer of “Dock of the Bay” (sung by Otis Redding) and a member of the Blues Brothers band, performing live at The Ramsbottom Festival at the age of 70.

And more recently Paul Jones, former Manfred Mann frontman, was performing live at the Burnley Rock & Blues Festival at the age of 71.

Rock on indeed!

Original version posted September 2011

25th Burnley International Rock & Blues Festival

Every May Burnley has something to smile about. This weekend not only did the local football team finish higher than its Lancashire rivals in the Championship but the music festival was on at the mechanics for the 25th year. Originally a blues festival it’s been retitled Rock and Blues but still has the original feel with acts appearing at American-themed venues all over town.

On Saturday Southside Johnny & the Asbury Dukes were the headliners on the main stage but I saved my hard-earned money for Sunday night and the Zombies. They were the headline act but with support from Paul Jones and Dave Kelly, Lucy Zirins, and Wishbone Ash.

I remember Paul Jones from his days as lead singer with Manfred Mann, a jazz-influenced group which played R&B and soul covers as well as their own material and probably best remembered for Do Wah Diddy, a cover of a song recorded by the Exciters (who also recorded Tell Him and He’s got the Power ,which was covered by Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders – but that’s another story), and 5-4-3-2-1 the TV theme tune for Ready, Steady Go.

Paul Jones left the band in 1966 to concentrate on acting. He has since appeared in films and on TV, played with a variety of R&B outfits and has presented a long-running R&B show on BBC radio 2.

I have to say I hadn’t heard of Dave Kelly before (my appreciation of British Blues performers limited to the late elder blues statesman Alexis Korner – not forgetting the crop of followers who formed their own bands, and Peter Green in his heyday) but a quick search on the internet shows he’s a highly respected blues singer, guitarist and composer. And together they played a great set including the classic Robert Johnson song “Dust my Broom”.

Another artist I hadn’t heard of was Lucy Zirins, a 21 year old Burnley singer/songwriter who is attracting a lot of attention on the folk-blues circuit and has been nominated for the British Blues Awards in the young artist category.

She played tracks from her new album “Chasing Clocks” as well as getting the crowd barking and howling along with her on Howling Wolf’s “Red Rooster”.

She writes her own material and accompanies herself on acoustic and resonator guitar, switching between finger-picking and slide with ease.

She has a great voice and came over as a genuine and modest individual expressing her delight at playing the main stage in her home town.

Her short set was followed by a big name from the 1970s,  long before she was born, Wishbone Ash.

Wishbone Ash isn’t a group I ever followed (being a fan of sixties music, stax and soul) although I knew their reputation for their twin lead guitar playing.

They had flown in from Poland to play in Burnley and their fans in the audience really enjoyed their contribution.

A tight band who play loud guitar music well and a treat for any guitarists watching and listening.

They played both songs from their back catalogues and songs from their new album “Elegant Stealth” such as “Man with no name”.

Finally the headline band The Zombies took the stage. Celebrating 50 years as a group – not exactly the same line-up but with Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone together again as good as it gets.

I’d bought their 2011 album “Breathe Out, Breathe In” and really enjoyed it. I thought the title track sounded a bit like Steely Dan but none the worse for that.

After running through half-a-dozen numbers non-stop Colin Blunstone explained that they were going to alternate between their back catalogue and newer material to give fans a sense of what they’d been doing over the last 50 years!

Rod Argent had looked unhappy during the opening numbers clearly complaining about the mix.

But once that was fixed and as the set went on he became more animated and engaged the crowd

Nostalgia is big and my guess is that while everyone enjoyed everything incthe set, which included a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”, most fans wanted to hear classics like “Season of the Witch” and “She’s Not There”.

And we heard both those, the latter as their closing number, to round off at a great evening at the Burnley 2013  International Rock and Blues Festival.