Bruford - Adios A La Pasada [Goodbye to the Past] (Rock Goes To College, March 17th, 1979)

Visit Bill’s online store for exclusive and signed items: Bruford performing “Adios A La Pasada“ [Goodbye to the Past] on BBC’s Rock Goes To College broadcast on March 17th, 1979. Annette and I worked closely on this - I offered the music and she handled the words. Apologies to any of our Spanish speaking friends who may take issue with the title ’Adios a la Pasada’ as a translation of ’Goodbye to the Past’. They may be happier with ’Adiós al Pasado’. No excuses: that should have been checked, but stuff moved very fast around the production of these albums, and that one slipped through. I’ve just noticed, interestingly, that neither the English nor Spanish title actually appears in the song. I was totally on board with the sentiment of the words, especially around: “Say goodbye to the guilt Leave the past behind Leave the pain with the past Lighten up the cross, it’s a long journey ahead You are innocent victims of circumstance and coincidence Be gentle with yourselves Forgive yourselves Release yourselves from the past“ It may seem like a slick band, but this was our first live gig, and on national TV too. Mistakes were bound to happen. On this track for example, in the general on-stage chaos, Dave’s keyboards have a short blackout, either electronic or mental, at 4’08“; Annette inadvertently reverses lines two and three above at 4’14“; and there is a small train wreck at 5’.30“ as the band approaches the very climax of the song. To err is human, to forgive is divine. Jeff Berlin reminds me so much of a young Jaco Pastorius prowling around the stage with the brilliant Weather Report - the same exceptional command of the instrument, the same central position in the fabric of the music. Weather Report had spotted an interesting avenue for development - the (re)integration of world music influences within jazz - that catapulted Jaco to international fame and marginally eclipsed Jeff’s fast rising star. This is all OK. I loved playing the song and it’s more than energetic enough, but I do wish the drummer wouldn’t rattle around the kit quite so much though. Annette Peacock - Vocals Bill Bruford - Drums Dave Stewart - Keyboards Allan Holdsworth - Guitar Jeff Berlin - Bass Audio and video have both been sourced and restored from the original broadcast master. Footage licensed from BBC Studios Distribution. All rights reserved. Remember to subscribe: #BillBruford #Earthworks