 Neil Ferguson: ‘Alan never lost his sense of humor or respect for others’
Neil Ferguson, one of Al Barton's best friends, who used to work on many
projects with him, is answering our site readers' questions today.
How and when did you meet Alan first?
Alan came to my new recording studio which I had set up in my house. First time
was in late 1980, with Colin and Terry from Black Lace to act as session players
on a demo by a local singer/songwriter. When Alan and Colin decided to do shows
as a duo, they came to me to record their backing tapes, and subsequently to
make their records.
You co-produced the most of Black Lace records and played guitar on them.
Were you really into that kind of music? What do you feel when some critics call
Black Lace 'the worst band in the world'?
I've always been a lover of "pop" music of all types, and those records were fun
to make. It's true to say that I would probably never buy a Black Lace record,
but I never thought of them as inferior or sub-standard - a lot of hard work
went into the recordings, and I am proud to have been part of that success. And
I love it, as did Alan, when "Agadoo" gets voted "Worst song ever" - it's all
part of the fun - music can be all sorts of things, and sometimes it can just be
fun, with no pretensions of seriousness.
You co-wrote and recorded one of the most unusual Smokie songs - 'Scream You
Guitar'. What do you think about this song?
Most of the songs I co-wrote with Alan were his initial ideas, and this was one
of those. It's a long time since I heard it, but I remember Alan trying to coax
me to play a screaming guitar solo on the original demo that we made together -
he was just about the only person that could get me to do that! Alan had so many
different angles in his songwriting, and this is one of the strangest, possibly.
It was certainly improved when Alan Silson replaced my fumbling efforts on
guitar!
Burning Ambition album was dedicated to the memory of Sonny Limbo. Who was
that?
 I have heard stories from all the original Smokie members about Sonny Limbo - he
produced one of their later albums (possibly Strangers in Paradise) - I think
Terry, in particular, regarded him as a friend and a musical influence.
Any memories you'd like to share about co-producing and playing on 'Precious'
album?
Making records with Alan was always a hoot - sometimes I had to slow him down,
as he was so full of enthusiasm and ideas he just wanted to get things done "now"
- he made me play things I didn't know I could play, and never said "that's good
enough" unless it was absolutely as good as it could be. He was especially hard
on himself when recording vocals - we spent many a long evening trying to
improve his lead vocal performances - but he never lost patience or his temper,
and always had a sense of humor, even when things weren't working out.
Are you in touch with Dean Barton, what do you think about his music?
I have lost touch with Dean - I would love to hear what he's doing.
Smokie's road accident was a big shock to all the fans. When have you heard
about it?
I was touring with Chris Norman - I think we were just about to fly to Russia
when I heard about the accident. I heard the news about Alan's death just before
going onstage in St. Petersburg, so that was a very hard concert for me.
One last thing I would like to say about Alan - I think everybody who knew him
would agree that he was great to be with - I always felt that he cared about all
his friends, and he was always fun to be around, and, despite being driven by
his huge ambition to be a successful musician, never lost his sense of humor or
respect for others. I will always remember him for his kind encouragement at
times when I might have given in or accepted something less than perfection. |
