Robin Le Mesurier - A Charmed Rock n Roll Life

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by

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Copyright 2017 Robin Le Mesurier

The right of Robin Le Mesurier to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with theCopyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Cover photographs Stphane de Bourgies

ISBN 9781912083145

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Ive been thinking and procrastinating about writing this book for some time, but got nudged so many times from friends and family that Id thought I would finally put my fingers to a keyboard and try and recall what I could. So I hope, dear readers, that you can follow and understand my ramblings and enjoy them as much as I enjoyed remembering them and putting them to paper.

This book is dedicated to my wife Jules Le Mesurier, my wicked stepmother Joan Le Mesurier, my parents, my brother Jake Le Mesurier, and everyone who has been a part of my most interesting life. Thank you all.

Contents

A Knight of the Realm and yours truly ( penny lancaster )

FOREWORD

I have to put it very frankly to you my friends, I find Robin Le Mesurier a complete and utter bore. I have had better conversations with a dining table. Also, my friends, he cant play guitar for sausage and was always late for concerts, turning up drunk and out of tune.

If you believe that then youll believe I am still 26.

During my expansive and illustrious career I have had many wonderful and creative guitarists in my band, but Robin was always just a cut above, a beautiful soulful lead, driving rhythms like a locomotive. And an unforgettable stage presence.

Over the years I have had some wonderful musicians and bands but it is simply not enough to be a fine musician. I always wanted mates, someone I could sit at the bar with, someone I could fall down with, even someone I could confide in. Robin has all of these qualities and more as a fully paid up member of the Sex Police (please refer to my book Rod the Autobiography on sale near you), in charge and responsible for the organisation of all sorts of shenanigans and tomfoolery.

Robin like myself was born to be a Rocker, I mean just look at the two of us. Can you imagine either of us working in Sainsburys? Not that theres anything wrong with working in Sainsburys, of course. We were, I suppose, cast by the good Lord.

Robin and I are still very good mates and we see each other on a regular basis and I sincerely hope our friendship survives after his read of this backward, I mean foreword

SIR ROD STEWART CBE

PREFACE

Earls Court, London 1965. A twelve-year-old boy is in the kitchen of his family home in Eardley Crescent. The house is, as usual, full of visitors and friends and hed been woken in the small hours by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan jamming. It was the sort of thing that happened quite regularly in his house, which was often full of actors, musicians and entertainers. He loves the lively, bohemian and warm atmosphere in which the house basks. The boy cranes his neck out of the window to see hordes of people making their way to the Exhibition Centre and concert hall. He dreams of playing there one day.

June 1983. Nearly twenty years later, and the same boy is grown up and thrilled. The boy, well its me that much, I suppose, is obvious and I am now a member of the Rod Stewart band. Im backstage at Earls Court, not having changed yet, just visiting with friends and chatting with Dad and Jake. Its quite a sprawling area covered in Astro Turf, a bar, of course, and much food. There are a number of dressing rooms plus a warm-up room for the band to go through a couple of raucous songs to get in the mood. I change into my stage clothes an electric blue suit and sneakers.

Elton John told me I looked just fantastic darling, which was comforting.

We climb the steps to the stage and assume the usual positions, myself stage right as usual, behind a red velvet curtain, emblazoned with the capitals RS in huge gold lettering. We cant see the audience but can hear their buzz. They are clearly eager and expectant, whistling and shouting for the show to start. Im very excited, but not nervous. We launch into the intro to Tonight Im Yours, and the curtain immediately splits from the middle, opening wide to reveal a stark white design with Rod centre stage and the band already rocking. We play twenty songs to a vociferous and appreciative audience for over two hours and end the gig with Sailing before two encores. We leave the stage with the crowd still screaming for more.

That night was really special for me. My brother Jake was there as was my proud dad and lots of friends in the audience including Elton, Jeff Beck, and many others. My mum had died nearly three years previously, but I felt her presence. Yes, she wouldnt have missed this for the world. My dream had come true.

NATIONAL TREASURES

In the early morning hours of Sunday 22 nd March 1953, after nine months of solitary confinement (with no time off for good behaviour), my mother released me to the care of The Princess Beatrice Hospital on the corner of Old Brompton Road and Warwick Road in Earls Court, London about five hundred yards from where I grew up and lived for twenty-seven years or so.

Its a miracle I actually made it at all. While pregnant, my mum, actress Hattie Jacques, was appearing in the BBC radio comedy Educating Archie and was also directing and appearing in a Players Theatre revue in London, The Bells of St Martins. In one sketch, she had to slide energetically down a table, ending up doing the splits. After each performance especially towards the end of the run the cast, aware of her pregnant state, looked on nervously, checking that she was in the pink. Fortunately for me, if not the cast, the show closed earlier than expected, which was something of a relief to my dad, who, despite his laid back nature, was becoming increasingly nervous about Mums exertions. Hattie and my dad, John Le Mesurier, also an actor, were apparently pretty relaxed about my impending arrival and would take day trips in their Morris Minor and enjoy outings to the theatre and cinema right up until her hospitalisation.

Although this was during the era when fathers were first encouraged to attend the birth of their offspring, my father was noticeably absent at the labour ward, which was probably a relief to Mum and the nursing staff. In fact he spent the evening of 22 nd March 1953 knocking back the booze in the company of actor Denis Shaw who, according to Dad, reserved his most memorable performances for the saloon bar.