| Admin History | Nick Lambert was a student at the University of Nottingham studying Law from 1970-1973. He states that those years were among the 'golden age' for bands playing on the University circuit. He had a particular interest in folk and folk-rock music as well as mainstream rock music, and enjoyed seeing many of his favourite artists on the campus, including Wings. It was Paul McCartney’s first live appearance with his new band anywhere since the break up of the Beatles a couple of years earlier and the Beatles themselves had not made any live appearances (apart from the 'rooftop' show) since 1966.
An old friend of Lambert's and fellow NU graduate recalls being in the Buttery [Student Union bar] the night before the show, and Paul and the band rolling up and asking to see the Social Secretary to ask whether they could play the following lunchtime. Word got round pretty quickly! Lambert brought his camera in on the off chance that he would be able to bring it into the gig. Unsurprisingly, cameras were banned but nonetheless he sneaked it in and managed to get close to the front. Almost all of the numbers which Wings played were unfamiliar to Lambert - they were from the band’s first album 'Wild Life' and their single 'Give Ireland Back to the Irish' (which was banned by the BBC). The set included 'Long Tall Sally' from Beatles days but otherwise there was nothing from the Beatles’ repertoire. Lambert recalls that the band rocked along nicely but thinks in fairness they really hit their stride a little bit later in their career. Lambert was able to grab some shots of Paul with Denny Laine (from the Moody Blues), Henry McCulloch (who also had 'form' as a member of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band) and American drummer Denny Seiwell. Regretfully he was unable to take any shots of Linda McCartney but had heard that she was very nervous about making a public appearance as a musician (her main forte being an excellent photographer) and remembers that she more or less hid behind her keyboards throughout the whole show. After the gig, Lambert hurried back to develop the film. He remembers drying the wet negatives with his hair dryer so that he could print them off as soon as possible. He sent them in to the weekly music papers and one of his photos was printed on the front page of 'Sounds' the following week - his 'fee' was a copy of Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (Volume 2).
Lambert also photographed gigs by Roxy Music and the Faces. Roxy Music played a very memorable show at the then brand new Sports Centre -the first time a band had played there - his photos are of considerable historic interest because Bryan Ferry only shared the limelight with Eno for a very short period of time. Rod Stewart was already a rising star in his own right at the time that the Faces played in Nottingham, and Ronnie Wood has gone on to great fame in the Rolling Stones. |
| Custodial History | The digital copies were passed to Manuscripts and Special Collections in 2022 when Nick Lambert was approached to contribute images to a planned 'Gig Guide' publication. |
| Content Description | Digital scans of 13 black and white photographs of a performance by the band the Faces [24 April 1971].
Digital scans of 8 black and white photographs of a performance at the University's sports centre by Roxy Music [15 March 1973].
Digital scans of 6 black and white photographs of a debut performance by the newly formed Wings, at the University's Buttery Bar, 9 February 1972.
Digital copies of 35mm colour slides of Nick Lambert's first days on campus (mainly in and around Hugh Stewart Hall), c.1970. Includes a photograph of the view towards the Trent Building across the boating lake and a shot of a student inside (presumably), Hugh Stewart Hall. |