Huw Lloyd-Langton, that much-loved and distinctive lead guitarist, might be best known for his multiple stints with Hawkwind - playing on their eponymous 1970 debut LP and returning for Live Seventy-Nine and Levitation, before staying with the Hawks through the 1980s, and making many guest appearances with them thereafter - and through his membership of 70s 'supergroup' Widowmaker - but there is so much more to his journey through a life shared in the music world with his soulmate and wife, Marion. He touched the lives of so many fellow musicians and fans alike, with his easy-going approachability, and with his wonderful musical dexterity.
A Wandering Minstrel is Huw's life, told by Marion, and the story of their life together, related with love and honesty, and is by turns heartwarming and heartbreaking. Liberally interspersed with memories and anecdotes from many of Huw's friends and musical comrades and illustrated with never before published photographs and a selection of Huw's very own caricatures, alongside a compendium of press cuttings and tour posters, this book is a proper homage to a cherished maestro.
From Huw's early days working in Ivor Mairants' fabled Musicentre London shop and touring in Winston G's band, to Marion's friendship with fabled blues musician Alexis Korner and his family, onto Huw's Hawkwind and Amon Din, Leo Sayer and Batti Mamzelle days, and Marion's career at the Robert Stigwood Organisation, and through Widowmaker, festival favourites Dr Brown, and Huw's own Lloyd-Langton Group, it's the story of a distinctive musician, loved by his fans, admired by his peers, winding his way through the many associations that made him who he was: a respected and cherished, and, as many would fervently argue, very much underrated guitarist.
Through Marion's honest recollections of high points and dark days comes a vividly drawn portrait of a man at ease with the twists and turns of the music industry, self-effacing and committed to encouraging others. Alongside this love story across the decades, is collected the memories of those whose paths he crossed and whose lives he enriched: fans, journalists, promoters, fellow musicians, gathered to pay tribute to someone who, most genuinely, was one of a kind.
Huw passed away on 6 December 2012 – his music very definitely lives on.
A Wandering Minstrel is written by Marion Lloyd-Langton, with the assistance of music journalist Ian Abrahams (Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins, Strange Boat - Mike Scott & The Waterboys, Festivalized, On Track Hall & Oates).
