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Capricorn duo was formed in 1979 when Robin Williams, a veteran of many Country music bands in Southern England advertised for someone to join him in a new duo; that someone was John Scott. In the mid-1980s the duo became a band but at a time when bands are finding it harder to get work as many clubs can only afford a soloist or a duo at best Capricorn have decided to retire at the end of this year after 46 years on the road. They have always been firm favourites at the Sands CMC in High Wycombe so it was good to see them playing at the club for one last time on 14th June.
Lead singer John Scott retired during covid and the last time I saw them at the club in 2022 Pat O’Dea was on lead guitar. He retired at the end of 2023 and during their last two years together they have been performing with either Ray Philips or Mark Jacobs, a former member of the band on lead. Tonight we had Ray Phillips on lead guitar and lead vocals joining Mike Loft on bass, Mike Wrixton who joined the band on 2012 on pedal steel and the very experienced Mike Pretty who joined the band on 1991 on drums and lead vocals. So we had three Mikes and a Ray.
Capricorn are unashamedly a traditional Country band smartly turned out with two good singers, good harmonies and top notch instrumentation and not a backing track to be heard. They kicked the evening off with Merle Haggard’s I Had a Beautiful Time, Bobby Bare’s The Streets Of Baltimore and Neal McCoy’s The City That Put The Country Back In Me which meant early on in the evening it was time for a barn dance.  Clearly Capricorn still have a fan base and it was nice to see the club so full on a hot night and they had little trouble keeping the dance floor busy.
A few more songs that stood out in the first set included Gene Watson’s Dreams Of A Dreamer, Bob Wills’ Right Or Wrong, Connie Smith’s Once A Day, Tracy Byrd’s You Lied To Me, Marty Robbins’s After The Storm and George Strait’s Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind all classics in their day but perhaps some of them less often heard these days.
One thing I really liked about Capricorns performance tonight was that it took me back to the Country clubs I remember over 30 years ago. A band of course, more than one good singer and a whole heap of songs I remember from those days. It was really like going back in time for the evening and I enjoyed every minute of it and judging by the enthusiastic audience response I wasn’t the only one. They ended the set with The Everly Brothers’ Carol Jane and George Ducas’ Tricky Moon
Set 2 opened with another barn dance to Brooks & Dunn’s If That’s the Way You Want It followed by Willie Nelson’s Seven Spanish Angels and Jason Roberts’ Last Dime, Mike Pretty told us when he was growing up one of his favourite songs at the time was Gene Autry’s South Of The Border which took us back to 1939. Mike is an enthusiastic drummer with a long pedigree in music; he has always been fanatical about Country music. He started out as a singer but soon discovered his drumming ability, and for the princely sum of £25 he acquired his first drum kit. This led to the formation of Ricky Marshall and the Deputies around 1960 it had a Country-sounding name but was heavily influenced by Cliff and the Shadows. After a break from playing an informal jam session in 1979 led to the formation of the Cottonwood Country Band and for the next 12 years Mike was their drummer, until a chance meeting with John Scott in 1991 resulted in Mike joining Capricorn.
One of my favourite band from the old days is the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; We certainly don’t hear enough of their music these days so Face On The Cutting Room Floor has to be one of my picks of the evening. On a hot evening it was good to hear a good helping of slow songs that kept the dancers on their feet, these included Tex Ritter’s Jealous Heart and Conway Twitty’s Its Only Make Believe. Capricorn brought the second set to a close with Rodney Crowell’s Give My Heart A Rest, Merle Haggard’s Old Fashioned Love and Jack Scott’s Burning Bridges a nice waltz.
Set three opened with Ricky Van Shelton’s Our Love and yet another Merle Haggard song Big City. It’s probably true to say you can’t have enough of Merle Haggard and Big City was a good opportunity for the two lead players Ray Philips and Mike Wrixton to demonstrate with competing but complimentary lead breaks.
After Chuck Berry’s Fraulein, Capricorn were joined on stage by guest singer and guitarist, our Sands host, Alan Maton. Tonight he brought his Taylor acoustic guitar out of retirement as this is the instrument Capricorn’s John Scott used to play. He remained on stage for the rest of the set kicking off with a couple from The Mavericks, There Goes My Heart and All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down.A few more songs that stood out in the final set included Alan Jackson’s A Little Bluer Than That, Emmylou Harris’ C’est La Vie and Don Williams’ You’re My Best Friend.
They closed the evening with yet another Merle Haggard’ Silver Wings and for an encore we heard Gene Watson’s Got No Reason For Goin’ Home which brought prolonged and enthusiastic applause. The dance floor remained full from start to finish confirming my view that music doesn’t have to be modern to satisfy dancers. With good food on offer during the first break, it is not surprising the Sands CMC is still doing well.
Click below to see my phone video of Capricorn.