Keith Moon, Ayr Sheriff Court and an unforgettable Glasgow gig

The man in the dock was Keith Moon, drummer with The Who and at that time the undisputed champion of misbehaving in the world of rock 'n' roll. Earlier that week, The Who had played two sell-out shows at one of their favourite venues, the Glasgow Apollo – ticket demand had been so great that management said they could have sold out 14 concerts.

Exhausted and elated, the band headed for their flight down south, to find that Glasgow Airport was fog-bound. Moon and bassist John Entwistle, guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey joined the rest of the passengers on a coach trip to Prestwick Airport where another plane awaited. Moon spent the bus journey winding up the other passengers and slugging from a bottle of brandy.

When they arrived at Prestwick to discover that it too was also fog-bound, Moon verbally abused the British Airways counter staff and punched over a computer terminal. Despite a warning from police, Moon continued to act up, commandeering a wheelchair and careering down a flight of stairs. When he started waving a gun (imitation variety) the police arrested him.

The following day, Moon stood contrite in the dock as Sheriff Hugh Hunter told him that his conduct had been a disgrace. The millionaire drummer was fined a total of £60 on charges of breach of the peace and malicious damage to a computer. Outside the court he told waiting reporters that his night in the police cells at Ayr had been the best night sleep he had in ages. He apparently only woke once during the night and asked the station officer if it would be possible to order fresh lobster from the nearest hotel.

By the mid-1970s, Moon was well into the destructive downswing of booze and drugs that would see him die far too young in September 1978. “Moon the Loon” and his comic activities were a fixture in the tabloid gossip columns. In the immediate months before Prestwick, his bad behaviour had led him to be banned from Playboy clubs worldwide. Soon afterwards he was asked to leave a San Francisco hotel after blowing his room door of its hinges with dynamite.

But 40 years on from his early demise, the ‘wild man of rock’ reputation tends to overshadow Moon’s brilliance as a drummer, says Ted McKenna, a fantastic drummer in his own right with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB), Rory Gallagher, John Martyn, Gary Moore, Greg Lake, Ian Gillan, and many other legends.

Ted got a close-up of Moon in action in the summer of 1976, when SAHB supported The Who at three concerts at football grounds – in Swansea, Charlton in London, and at Celtic Park.

Ted had been a fan of The Who from way back. He remembers, as a teenager in Coatbridge, buying the group’s debut single I Can’t Explain shortly after its release in 1965. “I used to play along to that song. I loved them from day one. All the Alex Harvey Band were big fans of The Who, we thought they were one of the finest rock bands. They were heroes of ours. They still are.”

Critics have occasionally downplayed Moon’s spontaneous, unpredictable drumming style – but he was a vital part in the brilliance of the group. As Roger Daltrey recently commented, when Moon joined the band it was like adding a jet engine to an old biplane. Something magical happened.

Ted McKenna agrees: “People who criticise Moon’s drumming don’t understand how rock 'n' roll works. I have nothing but respect for his input into the Who and what he was about. He was so integral a part of what that band did. Moon was a classic rock 'n' roll drummer. Along with Townshend, Moon was the driving force of the band, they were the guys who kicked up the storm. Entwistle was the guy who held it down and allowed Keith Moon to be off-the-wall in his playing.

“The funny thing about Moon is that he never used a Hi-Hat early on. He just constantly played a forward rhythm, using both bass drums to keep things going all the time. I don’t think there is anyone else who played the way he played. He just basically charges through the music, driving the music on…pure rock 'n' roll."

Ted, who happily admits to nicking some of Moon’s drum fills, adds: “It’s the feel of the music that the drummer makes. It’s not about what chops he plays. People forever confuse technical ability with the point of the exercise – which is the music.

“Alex Harvey used to tell us it’s not all about technique. Bands like The Who are a chemistry between the individuals…the personalities of the people and how they react with each other. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to understand what it is that makes that chemistry. Moon’s public profile overpowered his talents as a drummer. He became a focal point for lunacy in the media. People tended to see that side of him first, and revel in the fact that he behaved in a crazy way.’

“With due respect to all the other great drummers who worked with The Who after Moon died, the only one to come close to Moon is Zac Starkey. When I saw him play with them in Glasgow before John Entwistle died, they sounded like The Who again, he played more like Keith Moon albeit in his own style.”

The 1976 concert at Parkhead – the middle date in The Who Put the Boot In mini-tour – is fondly remembered by those in the 35,000-crowd which flocked to the East End of Glasgow to see a bill which included Little Feat and local heroes SAHB as support. They closed the day with a state-of-the-art £32,000 laser light show, which unfortunately lost some of its impact as it took place in near-broad daylight.

Prior to their set, Moon had lived up to his reputation backstage when, dressed in a black leather jacket and chains and in dark sunglasses, he took a sledgehammer to the organ he had played in the Ken Russell movie Tommy.

The 10-hour extravaganza at Parkhead was billed as the most expensive open-air rock concert north of the border. It was Woodstock with a healthy dose of Glasgow realism. The Evening Times previewed the event by interviewing the man in charge of catering who explained how emergency supplies of meat pies could be rushed to the ground to satisfy hungry fans. “We can have 20,000 more pies at Parkhead within 40 minutes” he said reassuringly.

Ted McKenna has fond memories of the day but recalls, “I was going through a hippie period. I lived out in the country and used to spend a lot of time out walking in the woods with bare feet. It was a warm summer so I decided to play Parkhead without my usual trainers on, but the bass drum pedal took the skin off my feet. Mistake!”

Ted’s first wife Tracy had once lived in an apartment in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, where The Who would sometimes stay during the early part of their career. She and Ted kept in touch with Moon and the drummer remembers a poignant visit he and Tracy made to the star’s Hollywood home. “We arrived to find him sitting upside down on a chair…with his feet over the back of the chair and his head at the bottom. He was lovely, very charming, and so nice to us. We talked for a while and had a great laugh. We probably had a few drinks too! It was a lovely warm LA evening, with the crickets chirping in the background.”

A matter of months after that idyllic evening, Moon, aged 32, died of an accidental drug overdose. It happened the day after he had celebrated becoming engaged to his Swedish girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax. That evening he partied with Paul and Linda McCartney after the premiere of the Buddy Holly movie. An autopsy found that Moon had 32 Hemineverin – a sedative used to stop alcohol cravings – tablets in his stomach.

Ted McKenna, who still looking remarkably youthful for a man who has been in the music business for over half a century is still enjoying life on the road. As part of the Michael Schenker Fest he regularly plays to massive audiences around the globe – one recent gig in Tokyo attracted a 42,000 crowd. The band are due to play at Galvanizers in Glasgow in November.

Ted also plays in Band of Friends – a celebration of the music of Rory Gallagher, which also features Rory’s bass player for 20 years, Gerry McAvoy.

In the 40 years since Moon died much has been written about his madcap antics, but Ted prefers to focus on the human being, a warm and kind man. “I always remember as I was leaving his house that night in Hollywood, he gave me a hug. When I think back on it, it was so touching. The warmth of the man. It felt really honest and genuine for a younger guy like me. He was so warm and friendly. I’ll never forget that. “