Speedy Keen

What's that in Speedy's pocket?...............The most common name that seems to crop up on any John 'Speedy' Keen internet search is the word 'crony'. I'm not sure that I like this word because it seems to imply some dodgy underling. On the contrary, the word actually means an intimate and / or long lasting friend. Certainly the genius song-writer that frequently wrote songs as good as the all-time Thunderclap Newman classic, 'Something in the air' was a collaborater. As well as being a singer/songwriter, Speedy's credits also include chauffer, roadie, drummer / percussionist (session player for Rod Stewart), before his migration to behind the mixing desk. Speedy has numerous production credits, the most famous of which are, The Heartbreakers and Motorhead. His less well known production work with the band Valentine resulted in the 'Time' / Leader of the band' single and the first side seems to feature his vocals and is a lovely song whose chorus is strangely similar to the 'Crossroads' T.V. theme.Pete Townsend certainly seems to have been something of a patron and mentor, early on nuturing the seeds of genius lying in the song fragments which were to become the great, lost Thunderclap Newman, Hollywood Dream album. 'Revolution' was written on a scrap of paper in Speedy's pocket, which Townsend recalls was difficult to prise from that pocket. The song became 'Something in the air', and part of pop history in 1969 but then, a year later so too did the band. The single version of Accident's a wonderful dark child-like song, with its haunting blown middle section became a small hit the following year but what of the other songs? 'The Reaon' was a very heavy but great futher follow-up single and 'Wild Country' a fantastic rock song. Bob Dylan apparently thought that the Thunderclaps version of his, 'Open the door Homer' ( Richard on the Dylan version ) was one of the best covers he'd ever heard of one of his songs. To me though, 'When I think' is one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written.The Who were away touring and Thunderclap Newman feel apart. In America some people had apparently thought that Speedy was Townsend in a blonde wig rather than his own person. Whatever, keen obviously felt the need to be his own person. With Track records support, living in a flat provided by the label, Speedy was working alone and proceeded to learn instruments, musical arrangement and studio production in a 3 or so year period from 71-74 when he laid down the basis for an incredible single album of material ( the 'Previous convictions'record ) plus another double albums worth of material. 'Old fashioned girl' from 'Previous convictions' might be an old fashioned song in some ways but it is a great one, as is the fantastic, 'Aries lady' and 'Forever after' shows that Speedy had learned his studio craft well. There is also another great Dylan cover- this time the better known 'Postively 4th street!.A move to Island saw Speedy working on songs from the double album he brought with him from Track and the lovely, 'Someone to love' was the first single from the much-delayed first Island album ,' y' know wot I mean '?. The album does not flow like the previous records songs, having been taken from the doulble-Track album but the acoustic side is deeply melodic and outstanding. 'My love' is one of Speedy's greatest ever songs in my opinion. 'Crazy love is also a very knowing song which illustrates it's title with some deft observations about love. This might have made a good single after 'bad boys'. An odd version of the album appeared on the internet recently with diffrent lyrics and mixes-could these be from the double album possibly? A second Island album was completed with producer Steve Smith from which came a tantalizing taster, 'Your love' the final single in 1976. This is an all-time classic mid tempo love song and should be a standard as far as I'm concerned, but few people seem to know of it's existance. How could a rocker like Speedy write so many great love songs? I don't know. It might be that some of his great rockers would have ended up on the second Island album and 'Killer killer' featured on the live, 'Muggers tapes' circa 1977 could be one of those. Another, 'The forbidden song' was a title that Speedy mentioned as being from the double album, but this has never seen the light of day.As well as collaberating with many artists, Speedy continued to work on his songs although none of these were to see release. In his latter years, Speedy began to plan a third solo record. I was fortunate to hear a recent track. 'Homeless in London' and this is a very memorable song with quirky lyrics about a destitute girl living on the capitals streets.It is my great hope that one day we will be able to enjoy the wider works of the sometimes brilliant songwriter that was John 'speedy' Keen.The man must have had big pockets with all of those pieces of paper with his song ideas on them! I hope so because, as the song says 'We have got to get it together N-O-W...'Christopher Sidwell Febuary 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------