This is Bath --Geno Washington is the real deal. A legend on the '60s Soul scene who enjoys cult status on the soul, r 'n' b, blues and northern soul scenes, due entirely to his unsurpassable reputation as a live performer.
A contemporary of Alexis Corner, Georgie Fame, The Small Faces and Jimi Hendrix (all of whom were his support acts back in the day) he is as electrifying on stage today as ever, a force of nature and a genuine joy to behold.
Geno was recently invited to play to a sell-out audience as part of the prestigious annual Lord's Taverners charity fundraiser at The Royal Albert Hall and was also picked by Ray Davies to play as the main act at The Royal Festival Hall at his 'Summer Meltdown' finale.
Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band Geno's famous soul band was one of the hardest working band in the UK towards the end of the '60s.
Geno had two of the biggest selling UK albums back then, both of which were live albums. One of them (which he recently re-recorded for Secret Records) Hand Clappin', Foot Stompin', Funky Butt Live, was in the UK album charts for 48 out of 52 weeks in 1967.
Incredibly, only the albums The Sound of Music and Bridge Over Troubled Water sold more copies in the UK that year… a true indicator of Geno's popularity as a live performer. And Geno has not many of that connection with his audience (as his re-recording testifies).
Catch him at Moles tomorrow night when he plays with the one and only Ram Jam Band.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, get your '80s post-punk fix at Moles with the poptastic Primitives.
Fronted by indie-pop blonde bombshell Tracy Tracy, The Primitives emerged from the independent scene of the mid-80s that spawned The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, The Wedding Present and Primal Scream.
Their sound distilled the shimmering guitar jangle of the Byrds, the buzzsaw style of The Ramones and '60s girl group melodies into two and a half minute pop gems.
A widely acclaimed first album, Lovely, made them the UK's indie darlings, while the huge success of the single Crash saw them cross over to a mass audience.
Further chart success followed, along with two more studio albums, Pure and Galore, plus extensive tours of Europe and the US, before the band called it a day in 1992.
The band were reunited in 2009 by the untimely passing of their original bass player Steve Dullaghan, reforming to play a show in his memory later that year in their home town of Coventry – their first show together for 17 years.
■ Visit www.moles.co.uk for further information and to book tickets. Reported by This is 5 hours ago.