This has saddened me so deeply, the first of these celebrity passings that I actually knew.
My first big break in the touring world was SAHB and their band and crew, all in it together family attitude really did me no favours in preparing for working with other acts. and I was always glad to get back to their annual Christmas tour
Of these Chris and Ted were the most kind and welcoming individuals you could ever meet. Like two big cuddly rock'n'roll uncles they took me under their wing and showed me the ropes. Ted was the complete antithesis to the rock star cliche, he was one of the most generous, hilarious and intelligent people I have ever had the honour of working with.
I'd just like to share my favourite Ted Mckenna story:
halfway through a tour the drum tech came up and said "check this out, I haven't changed the snare skin yet this tour, look at that..." the stick marks on the skin covered a small circle no bigger than a 50p piece from 2 weeks of gigging every single shot he had played on the snare had been that precise...
farewell big man, the world is a poorer place without you