The Wurzels will be 32 gigs into another busy year when they play at Bath Racecourse on Saturday – with two members in their mid-eighties – but don’t even hint it could be a farewell tour.
“Farewell? You must be joking,” says the band’s manager Sil Willcox.
“These boys will go on forever. They love it. They are one of the must-see bands from the 1970s. You’re not going to get The Eagles anymore, you’re not going to get Bowie anymore, so you may as well get The Wurzels.
“They’re a one-off band that should be on everyone’s bucket list.”
The West Country legends will be performing at the renowned Cider Racenight on Saturday August 17 and will take to the stage immediately after the final race which is scheduled for 8.12pm.
Like fellow octogenarian Bob Dylan, 84, Wurzels’ veterans Tommy Banner, 85, and Pete Budd, 84, are on a never-ending tour. They may have cut down from their hectic high point of 150 gigs a year, but they will still muster around 70-odd performances by the end of December.
That’s at least 70-odd renditions of classics such as Combine Harvester, I Am a Cider Drinker, The Blackbird and One for the Bristol City - more if you include encores.
Then, there are the more modern songs – unique interpretations of hits such as Don’t Look Back in Anger, Country House, You’re Gorgeous, Ooh-Aar, Just a Little Bit and others that have been put through the “Wurzeliser” and are part of the “Wurzelography” myth.
Willcox, who also manages punk icons The Stranglers, insists The Wurzels’ long history can be placed into three distinct eras.
There was the rise of the band under former lead singer Adge Cutler and their subsequent top 10 hits of the Seventies. Frontman Cutler’s influence was celebrated earlier this year with a documentary film that marked 50 years since the singer’s death.
That was followed by what Willcox calls “the wilderness years” and then the revival, based around nostalgia, student nights, farmers’ gigs, and clever marketing.
The upturn came after Willcox was introduced to the band in 2001, when things were at a particularly low ebb.
He was asked to attend a meeting to discuss taking on an act that needed reviving. He felt he had picked up hints it might be Geri Halliwell. It turned out to be The Wurzels.
“I met them in Wells,” recalls Willcox.
“There was a poster laying around for a gig they were doing. It said at the top, ’Afternoon Fete’, then underneath, ‘Hog Roast’ and underneath that ‘Burgers and Chips’. At the very bottom, it said ‘The Wurzels’.
“I said, ‘fellahs, we can do better than this. I can get you higher up the billing.’ They trusted me and it all took off again from there.”
Saturday’s Cider Racenight will also feature the usual popular cider festival, including local producers such as Thatchers Cider and Lilley’s Cider.
The drink and the music of the Wurzels have combined to produce what Willcox believes is a modern-day cultural phenomenon that social media has transported to all parts of the world.
“The Wurzels are getting ready to play in Bath again, but their popularity around the world is amazing,” he says.
“If someone makes a new cider in Japan, then they are on the phone to me for a comment just because I’m the manager of The Wurzels. We’re part of the cider world.
“That’s because the band have the association with the drink, but they also still have fantastic fun-loving reputation.
“They are consummate professionals, and they still know how to put on a great show. Everyone loves them, from grandparents, to mums and dads, to kids.
“Everyone comes away from a Wurzels gig with a massive smile on their face and you can’t ask for more than that.”
Cider Racenight with The Wurzels is at Bath Racecourse on Saturday August 17. Gates open at 3.40pm, with the first race at 5.40pm.
