Dinky Dawson, Life On The Road: The Incredible Rock 'n' Roll Adventures of Dinky Dawson

Dinky Dawson, Life On The Road: The Incredible Rock 'n' Roll Adventures of Dinky Dawson - Once you get past the informal style of Dinky's anecdotes and the dense detail of his recalcitrant ramblings, you will find a wealth of technical information tracing the evolution of concert sound systems developed while he was in the employ of great bands like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, The Byrds and even the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Dinky would claim that this is why the MO sounded so good in the Between Nothingness and Eternity concerts, thanks to the innovative mastery of one of the greatest and most respected sound engineers in the business.

"John [McLaughlin] decided to form his own instrumental group to push the boundaries of jazz into the realm of hard rock. We talked about his sound and the guy [another soundman] who'd given him grief, then I related my credentials and experience. I also told John that I was planning to start my own company since I'd just tested and decided on what gear to purchase and use. "In about six months", he said confidently, 'my group will be headlining and we'll be needing a sound company by then. Give me a call.' ... 'This might be the way for us to go,' he observed. Then he laughed and added, 'Especially with a fellow Yorkshireman to boot!'

...

The first trial of Dawson Sound Company's product occurred on July 8 [1972] with my new friend John McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra.

...

The members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra walked calmly onstage and plugged in. John McLaughlin opened with a slowly building wash of soft guitar tones. The volume and intensity of the notes gained energy and speed until suddenly his fingers blurred into frantic motion, hammering out a fiery series of machine-gun riffs that triggered Billy Cobham's frenzied strokes behind his massive drum kit. The sound of that beat knocked my socks off, the kick drums punching me relentlessy in the gut.

...

Once the Mahavishnu Orchestra had left the stage and an entire field of satisfied people in its wake, I headed back to congratulate the band members. I turned the corner and ran right into a familiar face.

'I want ot know who's in charge!' the figure shouted at a small group of VIPs gathered to the side of the stage. It was Officer Obie, [of Arlo Guthrie's "Alices Restaurant" fame] back to complain about the volume and shut us down again.

...

The requests for use of Dawson Sound Company's Acoustic Suspension System continued in 1973. John McLaughlin made good on his promise to employ me ... Our first gig was Yale University on January 19 in an old campus lecture hall ... Midset, as Billy rollicked into a long solo and the other band members disappeared behind the amplifiers to relax, I got a call from Jim onstage. From the headset, however, emerged the excited voice of John, who had walked over to the monitor board, 'Dinky, the sound is fantastic, even better with the people in here.' Then he added, 'Your man is doing a good job on the monitors, I can actually hear myself play!'

...

For the high profile performances on August 17 and 18 in New York City's Central Park [used for Between Nothingness and Eternity] I put together the largest music reproduction system Dawson Sound had ever mustered ... the system proved to be a great success, especially in reproducing the sound of Billy Cobham's drums, which resonated deeply across the field ... A twenty-four-track mobile recording system captured the magic onstage, leaving the group with two full shows of usable material to choose from."

Dinky must have kept an amazing diary of everyday events and every gig to be able to recall each setup in so much detail [e.g., which microphones Cobham used in 1972!], and sometimes complete setlists, and all that through the evident druggy haze. Because of this volume of material, the delivery can be list-like in places. The main stories are spellbinding though - most of the ones from the 60s and 70s seem to be about electric (LSD spiked) drinks. On one such occasion, a roomful of music bigwigs got completely tripped out at a conference in Hawaii. Does this single-handedly account for the sad state of the music industry today?

Other tales have Dinky's path crossed by about every A-list celebrity at the time; Brando collecting his holiday stash from the same doctor, harmonising with Sly Stallone and Doris Day, Morrison sharing a flight to his Miami court appearance, and coming uncomfortably close to the Manson massacre.

He was apparently also pivotal in the course of music history ...

"Gradually, as the [1975] tour continued, John McLaughlin's band [Mahavishnu Orchestra Mk II], with the exception of drummer Michael Wladen, had all become ever more reliant on a foot-activated effects device called the Morley pedal ... After the show John complained that all he could hear during his playing was constant feedback. I had to explain to him that it was really the incessant drone of Morley pedals being overused ... John seemed to take my observation under consideration and slowly walked off in the direction of the dressing room, grabbing his sturdy double-neck Gibson on the way. He placed the six- and twelve-string combination instrument on a heavy-duty stand and left to take a shower. Moments later, the stand pitched over and the guitar's neck shattered into several pieces on the concrete floor. John nearly cried at the accident, a surprising one since the Gibson was not a poorly made product and hadn't fallen from any height. One of John's crew shook his head in disbelief. 'That was weird. It just tipped over and completely shattered the end. Now that's bad karma!' ... The next night John walked into his dressing room carrying the backup Les Paul, a guitar so sturdy you could practically use it to drive nails into the wall. Once again he placed the instrument carefully in a stand and once again, as soon as he'd gotten out of sight, the guitar prompty fell over ... the instrument's neck fractured into a dozen pieces.

John borrowed Jeff Beck's spare, another Les Paul, for the show ... When the rest of the band slid into a series of lengthy solos during the second song ... it was the first time he'd come out [to the mixing console] during a concert and my first talk with him since his two guitars had broken. 'So, how are you, lad?', he said, slipping into his cheerful Yorkshire accent.

'A little better than you, I imagine, but not much', I replied ... I motioned him to listen to the music. After a few moments, he turned and said, 'You know, it sounds bloody awful!'.

'Well, that's not me', I defended, 'it's those damn Morley pedals. Everyone sounds the same, no dynamics, no tone.'

'You're right', he said, realization crossing his face ... 'Can you believe what happened to my guitars, the only two I've got on tour?'

'Oh yes. You know what that's telling you?' ... 'It's had enough of you. You've burned this music out. It's telling you to move on.' ...

... 'Right, lad,' he said, jauntily putting his Yorkshire accent back on and smiling broadly now."

How much you want to accept as gospel truth is up to you. Regardless, here is an amazing history of the music industry, the development of some great bands, and one man's contribution to their music.