Watch Francis Dunnery’s It Bites perform live version of Old Man And The Angel

Francis Dunnery’s It Bites have released a live clip of the and performing The Old Man And The Angel, originally from the band’s 1988 album Once Around The World, which you can watch below.

The clip is taken from live release, Live From The Black Country, which is released on Blu-ray and CD through Tigermoth Records on October 6. Dunner’s new-look band feature Maschine/Cyan guitarist Luke Machin, Camel/Tiger Moth Tales‘s Peter Jones, drummer Bjorn Fryklund, bassist Paul Brown and Quint Starkie on triggers and backing vocals.

“The first recollection I have of the opening riff of The Old Man And The Angel is in my old girlfriends parlour on a Juno 106 that the band had bought me to write songs,” Dunnery recalls. “I cannot remember the present but it sounded like a gong or steel drums. i was just peddling 8th notes on the left hand for the bass and the chord shapes were shown to me years ago by my brother Baz who showed me how to play Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt by Pharoah Saunders. Obviously its very different from the Saunders tune but the chord shapes were very similar. I hear the same chord shapes being used on Joe Jackson’s Steppin’ Out. I would put money on that he got those same chord shapes from Pharaoh Saunders although Steppin’ Out isn’t the same riff.

“So the first part, the opening riff came from my old girlfriends parlour. This was during the release of The Big Lad And The Windmill. We had already started getting songs and ideas together. The verse melody and the “how can i let you know” section came from the same time and the same sound and the same parlour. Thats the first i remember of it. The rest of the song and all the intricate pieces  came from rehearsals with the guys. My keyboard parts were always very basic and john had a great way of making them sound proper. I think we all just thrashed out the rest of the tune. We used to love seeing how far we could push the complexity of the rhythms. I remember the very end section that sounds insane. We loved putting that together. It was full on dedication and integrity. I always think thats what It Bites stood for. Dedication and integrity”

“The song’s lyric came out of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of the same name that I read when I was stoned and it got me thinking abut the end of my ife. It reminded me of our last days on earth. When we finally sit on the edge of the precipice between one world and the next.”

Dunnery is currently working on a new studio album with the new line-up.

“With a new studio album about to be recorded in December,” he confirms. “I believe this is a fantastic representation of the band and the 2023 live show that we all worked so hard to achieve.”

Pre-order Live From The Black Country.

Source: loudersound.com