Big Emmy Wins for George Harrison: Living in the Material World

I am so happy to share  the news that the documentary produced by Olivia Harrison and Directed by Martin Scorsese has one two Emmy Awards. One is for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special and the other is for Outstanding Directing. I served as Historical Consultant on the film and still recall my excitement the night Olivia Harrison called to ask me to work on this amazing film. It was a great honor and experience.

You can read about the Emmys here: http://www.examiner.com/article/george-harrison-documentary-wins-two-creative-arts-primetime-emmys

If you would like to see the film you can purchase the DVD at amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/George-Harrison-Living-Material-World/dp/B007JWKLMO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347895059&sr=8-1&keywords=living+in+the+material+world+george+harrison+dvd

You can also learn more about George Harrison at: www.georgeharrison.com

Next project is the release of my new book, The Beatle Who Vanished. You can learn more about this mysterious Beatle here: www.thebeatlewhovanished.com



(c)2012 Rock And Roll Detective (r), LLC.
All rights reserved.

The Best Classic Rock “Long-Songs” Playlist

It's time to travel back in time and recall some of the greatest and longest songs of classic rock. Does quantity equal quality? It sure does with these tracks. If I failed to mention one of your favorites, let us know below. I would have loved to put up the sound files, but that would be a copyright issue. If you are 45 years old and above, these should be in your collection. If you are under 45, well you need to visit iTunes and you will find them all there. Enjoy.

Low Spark of High Heel Boys - Traffic

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly

Hey Jude – The Beatles

Layla – Derek & the Dominos

The End – The Doors

Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd

Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ – The Rolling Stones

Jungleland – Bruce Springsteen & the East Street Band

 

Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who

Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin

Whipping Post (live) – The Allman Brothers

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

Southern Man – Neil Young

I Want You (She’s So Heavy) – The Beatles

I Want to Take You Higher – Sly & The Family Stone

Eurotrash Girl – Cracker (not really classic rock era, but a great long rocker nonetheless)

Keep on Chooglin – Creedence Clearwater Revival

No Woman, No Cry (live 1975) – Bob Marley & the Whalers

Papa Was A Rolling Stone – The Temptations

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills & Nash

I’m Your Captain – Grand Funk Railroad

Frankenstein – The Edgar Winter Group

Heroin – Lou Reed

(c) 2012 Rock And Roll Detective (r)

For more information on my new book, The Beatle Who Vanished, go to www.thebeatlewhovanished.com

The Beatles release new iTunes Album Collection Celebrating 50th Anniversary

Fiftieth anniversary of Fab Four's first hit to be celebrated with 14-track career retrospective

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 July 2012 05.54 EDT

This article is excerpted from the Guardian.co.uk 

'I have drowned myself in the depth of their catalogue' … Dave Grohl on the Beatles. 

The Beatles are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first hit with a new compilation of songs you probably already own. Tomorrow Never Knows, a "powerful collection … of the Beatles' most powerful rock songs", will be sold via iTunes.

The track-list is not exactly a showstopper. Opening with Revolution, closing with The End, it features 14 tracks from across the band's discography. Nothing here is new or unreleased – nothing is a demo or even a mono mix. Despite the breathless prose of the press release, the only interesting detail is the price: Tomorrow Never Knows costs about half of what it would take to purchase its individual songs.

There are no other plans to celebrate the five-decade mark, according to the LA Times. A spokeswoman confirmed that Tomorrow Never Knows will not be released on CD or vinyl.

Rock And Roll Detective comments: Regarding the last sentences of this article. Want to bet there will be something else special in store for Beatles fans in the coming years to celebrate the 50th?

The Beatles Use Two Different Drummers For One Audition!

Billy Fury and Larry Parnes

On May 10, 1960, The Beatles, (who were then known as The Silver Beatles), were invited to an audition at the Blue Angel Club in Liverpool. The club was owned by Allan Williams who claims to be The Beatles' first manager. Rock manager Larry Parnes came up from London to audition Liverpool groups and to choose a backing band for his singer Billy Fury, who was planning a tour of Scotland.

Other audition hopefuls along with The Silver Beatles, included: Cass and the Cassanovas, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cliff Roberts and the Rockers, and Derry and the Seniors.  At the time, The Silver Beatles' line up consited of: John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Stu Sutcliffe (on bass) and drummer Tommy Moore. Unfortunately, Moore was late to the audition when it was time for The Silver Beatles to begin. According to George Harrison, "When we arrived at the club our drummer hadn't shown up, so Johnny Hutchinson, the drummer with Cass and the Cassanovas, sat in with us. I don't think we played particularly well or particularly badly." 

L-R Sutcliffe, Lennon, McCartney, Hutchinson and Harrison



What is not known, is that The Silver Beatles' drummer did show up that day for the tryout, marking perhaps the only day in Beatles history, that they used two drummers for the same live performance. Tommy Moore arrived and stepped behind the kit to help The Silver Beatles finish their tryout.

Tommy Moore drumming

 These two rare photos from the same date, show Tommy Moore behind the drum kit playing with John, Paul, George and Stu (who was still learning his chords, with his back to us). According to Paul McCartney, "We had to tell Stuart to turn the other way: 'Do a moody - do a big Elvis pose.' If anyone had been taking notice they would have seen that when we were all in [the key of] A, Stu would be in another key."

Tommy Moore drumming

One might wonder if John Lennon said to Larry Parnes - at the end of their tryout - the same thing he uttered on the rooftop of Apple, after the last Beatles live performance, "I'd like to say 'thank you' on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition." Lennon did take the opportunity to ask the star Billy Fury for his autograph.

L-R Fury and Lennon

On May 18th, The Silver Beatles were informed they would not be chosen to back Billy Fury, but rather another singer from Parnes' stable, Johnny Gentle.  The Silver Beatles would tour Scotland backing Gentle, with Tommy Moore as their drummer.

In an interesting twist, Parnes had yet another band criss-crossing Scotland at the time. The group was called Vince Eager and the Quiet Three. This band contained yet another drummer who would briefly join The Beatles in a few years. His name was Jimmie Nicol.

Jimmie Nicol with Vince Eager Scotland 1960

To learn more about where and when Jimmie Nicol crossed paths with The Beatles, check out www.thebeatlewhovanished.com for more information about the forthcoming book and to get on the email list.


(c) 2012 Rock And Roll Detective(r), LLC.

Want to meet Ringo Starr?

Ringo Starr the artist, is coming to a Pop art gallery near you. That is if you live near New York. On June 25, 2012, Starr will be appearing at the Pop International Galleries (473 W. Broadway) and you can go meet him. That is if you are invited. It is a private function, "by invitation only".

The Rock And Roll Detective was there in 2005 for this event. It was very cool. This year, Ringo has a new batch of art, or as my daughter calls it, "KidPix". It is very colorful.

Now the question on everone's mind is: How do I get invited? It's very easy. You become a client and purchase a piece of Ringo's art (ahead of time), and you get to meet a Beatle and an artist! Good luck getting a moment alone with the drummer. The place is so packed that you may never get over to his side of the room. But, if you are tall, you will see him!

By the way, his artwork is all autographed. So, whatever you do, if you go, don't ask him for an autograph! After all, he already signed the artwork. Have a good time.


(c) Rock And Roll Detective(r), All rights reserved. Arwork: (c) Ringo Starr

"Louie Louie", The FBI and the History of Northwest Rock And Roll

No one could really understand the lyrics of "Louie Louie" as recorded by The Kingsman. Except perhaps former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover. He was outraged by the muddled singing. Hoover wrote to one informer (whose name is blanked out in the documents released by the FBI): 'Such material cannot help but divert the minds of young people into unhealthy channels, and negate the wholesome training they have already been afforded by their parents.' Eventhough, the words were indecipherable !

Regardless of what the FBI thought The Kingsman were singing, the irony is, the FBI turned the song into one of the biggest hits in rock history by making such a big deal out of investigating it.

Jerry Dennon was the man repsonsible for getting this song played around the country. Dennon is now the subject of a new DVD documentary entitled “Louie Louie and the History of Northwest Rock & Radio,” recemtnly released March 15, 2012 by SoundWorks USA, Inc., a multi-media entertainment, manufacturing and content company based in Redmond, Wash.

Jerry Dennon

With Northwest singer-songwriter Bonnie Guitar, Dennon formed Jerden Records (using the first three letters of his first and last name). In 1963, Jerden released the now-legendary Kingsmen single, “Louie Louie,” the most popular version of a 1955 Richard Berry song that became one of the most frequently recorded songs of rock ‘n’ roll. (The song is ranked No. 55 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”)

Dennon's story and the history of Northwest Rock & Radio is a facinating and fun tale of early rock and roll in the wild wild Northwest. Here is the link to the DVD: http://www.soundworks.net/thehistoryofnorthwestrockvol4battleofthebands-1.aspx

Enjoy.

(c) 2012 The Rock And Roll Dective(r)

The Beatles and their Animals!

Have you ever wondered where they all come from? It is amazing, once you think about it... just how many songs The Beatles wrote that referenced animals. Take for example the two dog songs and one cat song...

1. Martha My Dear... Paul's song about his sheep dog Martha;



2. Hey Bulldog... which was Paul and John's afterthought song for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, or Songtrack as it is now known. This song rocks and is unique in its vocal interplay - barking and joking - as the song plays out.

 

3. Leave My Kitten Alone. Well, okay, it is not really about John's kitten. It is really a girl he is singing about. But still, an animal reference nonetheless.

 

Then we know that The Beatles seemed interested in the aviary of birds. Although I suspect there was a clever analogy there! We have Blackbird for example. Again, despite the chirping sound effects, Paul was writing about the civil rights movement in the 60s and the role of black women. The tune, And Your Bird Can Sing comes to mind as more winged-writing from the group.

Next we get to the more intesting animals such as Dig a Pony and I Am The Walrus. Once again the lyrics don't support a story about animals, yet there are those references again.



Finally, The Beatles just cannot leave out the more exotic creature-songs such as : Piggies, Octopus's Garden, Rocky Racoon and Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey! And then of course, we have Good Morning, Good Morning where the progressive sounds of larger and larger animals are heard.

After the breakup, you might think the solo Beatles would have focused on other things. But No! They kept referencing animals; as this lifelong animal fetish continued!

We got Fish on the Sand, Pisces Fish, and Baltimore Oriole from George Harrison.

And who can forget Paul McCartney's classic Mary Had A Little Lamb. McCartney continued his animal rights activity with Looking for Changes,  Wild Life, and Linda's White Coated Man.

During his solo career, John Lennon didn't shy away from animal references either, penning Free As A Bird, that would be used after his death as a Beatles reunion track. And he even named one of his albums Shaved Fish!

Even Ringo Starr got in the act with: Bye Bye Blackbird; Monkey See-Monkey Do; and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Where did all of these animals come from?

2012 (c) Rock And Roll Detective(r)