During the 1970's The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge was the unlikely home of extraordinary jazz / blues trio Back Door. They helped put the remote Yorkshire venue on the musical map and the pub soon became a cult name amongst Soho's Wardour Street session musicians. People travelled from all over the North to see their gigs and the way was paved for visits from artists including Sting and his band "Last Exit", Chris Rea, John McCloughlin, Isaac Guillory, Sandie Shaw, Neil Sedaka, David Coverdale etc...
Following a 1972 album release on the "Blakey Records" label (featuring a cover photo of The Lion Inn), Back Door came to Chick Corea's notice who took them to London for some memorable performances at Ronnie Scott's jazz club. The band were later signed by Warner Brothers, who re-released the Blakey album "Back Door" in 2002 (now available from The Lion Inn - details)
Sting, Dave Coverdale, and Chris Rea are amongst the many world renowned performers who acknowledge their indebtedness to the influence of "Back Door". The national press enthused, with exceptional reviews in NME, Melody Maker, and the Sunday Times. Back Door recorded four albums for Warners, their producers included Felix Pappalardi, famous for his work with "Cream", another seminal trio, and Carl Palmer, drummer extraordinary.
They toured Europe and the States with "Emerson Lake & Palmer", "Deep Purple", and the "J. Geil's Band" amongst others, before eventually calling it a day and moving on to diverse and extremely successful careers in the music industry.
The artists they have worked with include Alexis Korner, Spenser Davis, The London Philharmonic, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Roger Daltrey, Meat Loaf, Chris Rea, Whitesnake, Jan Hammer, Sky and Isaac Guillory, with film and television work including "The Spy who Loved Me", "McVicar", and "The Simpsons"!
Reviews of Back Door's "Blakey" album, which is now available from it's original outlet - The Lion Inn :
The "Back Door"
album by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, April 1973 :
Just once in a while, a group of musicians gather together for no other ulterior motive than to play, and without realising it produce a brand of music which establishes a whole new set of values. As it transpired, when Colin Hodgkinson and Ron Aspery traded the rat race of London for the provincial seclusion of Redcar and conscripted Tony Hicks from nearby Middlesbrough, little did they envisage that they were about to direct a totally different outlook on what we know as contemporary music.
It's a fact that most innovations have been
conceived in a natural, though not always conductive, environment.
For Hendrix it was the run-down Ghetto bars; the Beatles sweaty
strength-sapping marathons in Hamburg; the Rolling Stones and
Yardbirds, a crowded bird-pullin' club in Richmond. Therefore,
if this music is indicative for a new perspective, then the saloon
bar of Brian Jones' Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge on the bleak windswept
Yorkshire Moors was the creative incubator for Back Door.
At the mere mention of their name, there are a few bands who are automatically associated with a specific approach to music. Back Door can lay claim to such distinction. I'm sure you'll agree when you hear this album.
Conspicuous by it's absence is a screamin' high-decibel lead guitar or a Hammond organ being violently disembowelled. Instead, a bass player, a drummer and a gentleman who plays all manner of saxophones. But they are not just a bass player, a drummer and a saxophonist. They are Colin Hodgkinson, Tony Hicks and Ron Aspery. How they utilise these basic components is what made them such a refreshing and innovative unit.
In the same way that Jimmy Hendrix seemingly came from nowhere and showed the world that there was in fact a whole new way to play a guitar, Colin Hodgkinson has done just that with the four-string bass model. Hodgkinson is the complete bassman. The first person who has liberated the bass player from his accepted role as subservient accompanist. With just two hands and one Fender bass, Hodgkinson takes on the almost impossible role of lead, rhythm and bass player all at the same time and without over-dubs, I doubt if anyone thought such a feat was possible.
Until the emergence of Back Door, the trio format had been worked to a veritable standstill. Seemingly, there was nothing left to exploit. No new territory to pioneer. The alternative was to turn the amps up to overkill and systematically regurgitate tired old licks. This album is living testament that between them Hodgkinson, Aspery and Hicks have brought about a most remarkable alternative.
Ron Aspery somehow manages to manifest himself as Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and King Curtis let loose in the House of Mirrors, yet what comes out of this amalgamation is pure Aspery. When in collusion with Hodgkinson, the swirling ensemble lines skip merrily about in flawless harmony. Each stanza crammed with hitherto unheard textures and innumerable variations.
There are few drummers left who don't try
to upstage the rest of the band and turn a set into a drum clinic.
Tony Hicks may well be upfront all the time, but it is an int
egral part of the three-way interplay.
Throughout, Hicks acquits himself with the utmost taste and discretion.
Having initially been given the 'thumbs down' by almost every record company as having "no commercial appeal", Back Door showed their initiative by recording this album themselves and selling it along with pints of best bitter over the bar of The Lion Inn and through other unlikely outlets. The first copy that reached the New Musical Express offices came via Drum City on Shaftesbury Avenue and the opinion of solidarity amongst ALL the staff nearly caused the spilling of blood and the taking of lives as to who would review it. A situation which has never occurred before in it's hallowed walls..
This then is Back Door as they really are. Live, no trickery, no overdubs, just bloody fine playing. Know them by this, their first album as Back Door.....Then as Hodgkinson, Aspery and Hicks.....Thereafter as Colin, Ron and Tony.
Christopher Bird - Melody Maker
Right, rob the baby's money box, go without food or whatever does you most good, but get away down to Ronnie Scott's Club, London, this next couple of weeks and join in the celebration to life, joy, melody, beauty, simplicity, funk and earthy good times that's going on between Chick Corea's new band, Return To Forever, and three guys from the North of England called Back Door.
The music of Return To Forever is an absolute feast of lines that dance and sing, shot through with Spanish influences, and of astonishing musicianship subverted to the need to communicate the beauties of rhythm and melody with a tightness, controlled power and rhythmic surge which is breathtaking.
Much coarser-grained is Back Door (Ron Aspery, reeds, Tony Hicks, drums, Colin Hodgkinson, bass), an exhilarating graft of early Ornette Coleman type tunes on to back country funk. Their tunes, with Hodgkinson's astonishing guitar-like lines moving as one with Aspery's acerbic alto, are not only unfashionably short, but little gems. Altogether a superb night's music.
Dave Gelly - Cream
Back Door, as those who caught them at Ronnie Scott's in October will Know, consist of three fine musicians from the North of England: Ron Aspery, Colin Hodkinson and Tony Hicks. Their music is indefinable, but being so eclectic that you can't pin it down to any particular area. This is the kind of group which, if there were any justice in the world, would be very popular - not just with the jazz audience, but with the people who follow bands like Collosseum or ELP.
New Musical Express
BACK DOOR "Back Door" (Blakey Records) - Would you believe that one of the finest albums of the last couple of years is on a small Yorkshire label and only available from a few specialist shops and from friends of the group? Well, dis am no jive. The group in question are called Back Door, and for the usual reason so is their album.
They are three, Tony Hicks (drums), Ron Aspery (saxophone, flute and similar objects) and Colin Hodgkinson (bass and voice, though he keeps his mouth shut on this album). Hodgkinson simply advances electric bass playing from the Model T stage to the XKE Jag stage. I could drivel on about Hodgkinson for another eight paragraphs, but it's easier just to say that this man is what the Fender bass guitar has been waiting for these last 20 years. Check out his miraculous "Catcote Rag". In fact, most of the time he sounds like two bassists, a guitarist and a set of organ pedals. Alternately, bass and saxophone slither around like electric eels, and the rhythm section (if such a mundane term is not an insult to Hicks and Hodgkinson) smash away like the Hulk and the Thing slugging it out 500 feet above the streets of New York.
In the midst of all this, let us not overlook Ron Aspery who cuts all rock hornmen blind. In a just and well-ordered society, Back Door would be hugely promoted and presented at venues other than Northern pubs and the odd support gig at Ronnie's. As it is, this album was obtained from Drum City in London's Shaftesbury Avenue, and every single member of the staff declared themselves willing to pay money for it. No badges, posters, free booze-ups, reception and bottles of Scotch - just a beautiful, amazing album.
You're going to find this album hard to obtain - but if necessary move mountains if you get the chance to see 'em live and getcha head blown off by Colin H's astounding performance of Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues" and all the other goodies. Remember - "Back Door". Would we lie to you?
Back Door - review by PAUL GAMBACCINI
The inner gatefold of this one comes complete with the musings of no fewer than five English scribes, who between them manage to invoke the music and/or spirits of Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Colloseum, King Curtis, the Hulk, the Thing, Cream, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The comparisons are unfair to the band as well as the consumer. How could any individual be a cross between Eric Clapton and Bruce Banner? Back Door's claim to our attention is not that they have succeeded in doing things past men have done but that they have breathed new life into the concepts of the instrumental trio and, in particular, bass playing. They have achieved this in such a spectacular way that Back Door is not only an impressive debut but important by any standards.
Colin Hodgkinson gives the Fender bass a role it has not been accustomed to. Instead of repetitively supporting the other instruments, Hodgkinson's bass at times plays lead. His solo on "Catcote Rag" is remarkable. He is the only guitarist in the group, yet he performs all the expected guitar chores and more.
Drummer Tony Hicks shows imagination but no desire to outshine companions. Refraining from extended solos, he remains an integral part of a tight unit.
Saxophonist/flautist Ron Aspery's playing is one moment aggressive ("Vienna Breakdown") and the next soothing ("Plantagenet"). Comparisons with prominent jazz musicians would be hackneyed, boring and inaccurate. The important thing is that he is playing well. Varying the approach produces almost a sampler album, a sampler of the kinds of things Aspery and Back Door are capable of. There must be more.
And there will be. The group has already recorded its second album, this one under Felix Pappalardi's direction at Electric Ladyland. Pappalardi had heard Back Door in its original limited edition on the Blakey label, a name inspired by England's Blakey Ridge where the group played for two years in a pub run by a man named (honest) Brian Jones. They recorded an album in London on June 3rd and 4th, 1972, and sold it in Jones's bar. A few copies fell into the hands of the British music press. Most importantly, a copy came into the possession of Warner Brothers, which has repackaged and distributed the album without touching the music. There are still no overdubs, vocals or electronic studio effects, just the unlikely instrumental trio of bass, drums and saxophone. The only intruding noise on the LP is the motorbike revving of two friends of Aspery, a confessed speedway buff.
It is hard to believe that a group like this could win over a pub audience. It is harder to believe that they did it for two years and nobody picked up on them. Whether they have strutted all the stuff they have to show or not we don't know. For now, Mr. Jones, it's more Guinness, please. And more Back Door.
Jazz UK (January 2001)
Back Door, that sensational '70's British power trio featuring electric bass virtuoso Colin Hodgkinson, is back in the racks with it's first and most acclaimed recording. "We didn't know Warner were planning to re-release our old stuff", Colin Hodgkinson told Jazz UK, "but if things go well we hope to find an outlet for some recent material we have". Subsequent to this quote Back Door chose to return to The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge after 31 years to launch their new album "Askin' the Way" on 12th & 13th March 2003 - click here for photos of the memorable event.
Back Door at Blakey photos from the early days 
the above photos were kindly supplied by Robert Lillie from Castleton If you have any old photos of Back Door at Blakey which we could include on this site please e-mail us - thank you.
Colin Hodgkinson, arguably one of the best bass players of all time said: "I am delighted with this album. Despite the fact that we hadn't played together for years everything fell into place straight away. It was all so natural, and felt great - like an old shoe!"
Ron Aspery "I think this is the best 'Back Door' album of all of them. I think it's the best we've ever played. It's 'Back Door' matured - come of age!"
Peter Bell, of Cultural Foundation, said "It's a real privilege to be asked to release this classic album. We have enormous respect for these musicians. It's great they've chosen to be represented again by a small, specialist label based up in the hills"
2003 Blakey re-union & album launch concerts 
album cover artwork
"Askin' the Way" - the new album by Back Door - is now available at the The Lion Inn, Blakey; Fearnley's Records, Middlesbrough; Music Quarter, Guisborough; Folk Devils at the Porthole, Whitby; Dyscworld and Record Revivals, Scarborough; Track Records, York; Muse Music, Hebden Bridge; Borderline, Brighton; and The Bass Centres in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Mail order: send £13.00 cheque (includes £1.00 p+p) to Cultural Foundation, Rosedale, N. Yorks, YO18 8RL or use secure credit card facility at www.cultfound.org.
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Prior to Ron Aspery's death he had decided that, having suffered illness for some time, the rigours of the road were no longer for him. He wished to continue with studio and compositional work, and suggested that a saxophonist could be found who would dep for him in concerts.
Sheer synchronicity lead to Rod Mason being identified as the man for the job. Rod is in ever-increasing demand. Apart from work with his own outfit he has played in the Ben Crossland quintet and with Alan Skidmore, Peter King, Don Weller, Art Themen, Guy Barker, Gerard Precenser, Steve Waterman, Jim Mullen, Mark Nightingale, with Tim Garland and John Surman in the 'Voice of the North Orchestra', and with John Etheridge and Annie Whitehead in the 'Zappatistas'. Ron Aspery and Back Door had been an early influence.
When Ron died everything was put on hold. All involved in Back Door stepped back for a while... Colin Hodgkinson and Tony Hicks are now determined to celebrate the life of Ron Aspery and maintain and develop the pioneering work of Back Door.
With Rod Mason in place the Back Door swings open again!
Back Door CDs for sale
Back Door (1972) Warner Brothers Tracks: Vienna Breakdown Plantagenet Lieutenant Loose Askin' the Way Turning Point Slivadiv Jive Grind Human Bed Catcote Waltz for a Wollum Folksong Back Door£13 inc UK postage overseas add £1 To purchase by email send your name & address card number valid from date expiry date issue number (Switch only) to blakey.music@virgin.net To purchase by post or fax print & complete this order form Askin' The Way (2003) Cultural Foundation Tracks: The Old Country Nice One Human Bed Askin' The Way Blue Country Blues Folksong Back Door Hurlington Down Shaken by Love Vienna Breakdown Spare Me The Tears The Sleaze Drinking With Boxers Snab's Rag Slivadiv The Cold Light Of Day Get Lucky Black Horse Hammerman£13 inc UK postage overseas add £1 send cheque to: Cultural Foundation, Rosedale N. Yorks, YO18 8RL or use secure credit card facility at www.cultfound.org.
Back Door Links Colin Hodgkinson - 2003 interview Ron Aspery - 2003 interview Tony Hicks - 2003 interview more photos from the 2003 Blakey re-union concerts Ron Aspery tributes Cultural Foundation's Back Door page
