kw21925

In 1975, the great Rory Gallagher was touring the US as the opening act for Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I didn't see the show, but I've seen Rory's Montreux Festival performance from 1975 on DVD. How those hacks from BTO followed that, I'll never know. Gallagher's Irish Tour '74 DVD (and CD) is also not to be missed. What a monster musician he was, one of THE great guitar players, from such an early age (what was he, 20 when the first Taste albums came out?). Hard to believe he passed so young. Sorry, what were you saying? I'm a million miles away. Ask the tattoo'd lady and the bearded baby, they're my family :-). You were a million miles away???? I was too but in fairness I'd just been walking on hot coals, twice. Thanks for the links. I'd never seen the Madrid footage of "Hot Coals"-just amazing! I don't want to be accused of hijacking this thread away from the Beatles, so let me just say: John Lennon was a big Rory Gallagher fan (it's true)!

In 1975, the great Rory Gallagher was touring the US as the opening act for Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I didn't see the show, but I've seen Rory's Montreux Festival performance from 1975 on DVD. How those hacks from BTO followed that, I'll never know. Gallagher's Irish Tour '74 DVD (and CD) is also not to be missed. What a monster musician he was, one of THE great guitar players, from such an early age (what was he, 20 when the first Taste albums came out?). Hard to believe he passed so young. Sorry, what were you saying? I'm a million miles away.

In 1975, the great Rory Gallagher was touring the US as the opening act for Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I didn't see the show, but I've seen Rory's Montreux Festival performance from 1975 on DVD. How those hacks from BTO followed that, I'll never know.

WTF? He has eight adult children, and "he only recently found a place to stay after a period of homelessness"? What's up with that?

Excellent! The (((stereo))) remaster sounds insanely great, especially the acoustic guitar, which contributes to the "living room effect." One of the reasons (I think) why I enjoy this album so much today is that it probably was the least played of all that owned. But it also because of the number of great Lennon vocals too. My mono box should arrive any day now, but at least vs. a vinyl drop mono dub this one I prefer in stereo. Contrary to current opinion, stereo isn't always inferior. I always thought "Beatles for Sale" was underrated, there's some great stuff on there. One cool thing, according to Lewisohn's "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions", Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" was recorded in one take, with the Beatles in their usual 2 guitar, bass and drums configuration, and George Martin on piano. No overdubs, no "bouncing down" of tracks, a totally live in the studio recording.

Not to mention "Blackbird", "Revolution", "For No One", "I'm So Tired", "Across The Universe", "Jealous Guy", "I, Me, Mine", etc. Apparently it's no accident he sounded like the Beatles. I did like "Junk Bond Trader", FWIW. I don't think he improved on the Beatles versions of their songs.

Try the new version of "Abbey Road", I think you will be pleasently suprised. I purchased "Abbey Road", "The Beatles", "Revolver" and "Past Masters", and they are all a great improvement over the original 1987 CD's. Id love to hear "A Hard Day's Night", "Revolver" and "Seargent Pepper" in mono, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend over $200 to get three CD's I want, and 11 that I don't.

Do you know that "Rubber Soul" was their most rushed album (aside from the first one)? Marathon sessions with mixing going on in one studio and recording going on in another. "Wait" was a "Help" reject that they dusted off to make the deadline. According to the Lewisohn book, the sessions for Rubber Soul began on October 12, 1965, and the album was released on December 3, in plenty of time for Christmas shoppers.

Thanks for boring us, great story, must of been a shock to find yourself in the midst of all that. Webcam shot of the Abby Road crossing that on 24/7. Can you post your pictures? Unfortunately, no, I can't. First, they are on Kodachrome slides, I have no clue how to scan them, or if they even can be scanned, and second, after 21 years, I don't even know where they are as I type this. I assume I still have them, but God knows where. Thanks for the webcam link, that's pretty interesting. I didn't know Abbey Road is the world's oldest recording studio complex, 78 years and counting.

Funny thing, but when I got back home to Surrey the next day, nobody was that impressed.

True story-about 20 years ago, I was in London for a few days, staying at The President, a seedy old hotel in Russel Square. One Sunday evening, I decided to go have some fish and chips, and then take a stroll. I had some guidebook that informed me the Sea Shell Restaurant in Lisson Grove had the best fish and chips in town (they did, and probably still do). So I studied my London Underground map, and determined I could take the tube from Russel Square to Marylebone, walk to the Sea Shell, have dinner, then walk up Lisson Grove to St. John's Wood, and take the tube back to my hotel. So I set out from my hotel room, took the tube to Marylebone, and got off on the deserted platform. Looking around, I felt a strange sense of familiarity with the surroundings. After a minute, it struck me-this very station was where the opening scene of A Hard Days Night was filmed! I thought "how cool is that?" and proceeded to dinner. After I dined, I continued my walk up Lisson Grove to St. John's Wood, and was suddenly stopped in my tracks by another familiar sight. I thought "No, it couldn't be. These zebra crossings probably all look the same". But sure enough, I recognized the buildings, and the white gate and low wall in front of Abbey Road Studios on my left. I didn't know it, but as you go north, Lisson Grove becomes Abbey Road, and I had stumbled onto another Beatles landmark! I swear I had no idea about any of this when I left the hotel, I just wanted fish and chips and some exercise. I took a couple of pictures, as I figured nobody would believe me back home. What does this have to do with the reissued CD's? Well, nothing, but when I purchased my copy of the Abbey Road CD, the memory came flooding back, so I thought I'd bore you all with it.

I agree. I like Jack Bruce as a bass player, but a blues singer he was not.

Hmm... I think most of your corrections make sense, but it was Freddie King that was a major influence on Clapton (not necessarily to the exclusion of Albert, but Clapton has made it very clear that Freddie was a huge influence on him). Anyway, this whole thing sounded like a string of incorrect assumptions, so I just did a little online searching. It appears that it was Harrison, not Clapton, who dubbed the guitar "Lucy". The Gibson website suggests that Harrison named it after Lucille Ball... the iconic redhead... (?!). At this point, I'm prepared to NOT believe anything I read about this story. The guitar in question was originally a goldtop owned by Rick Derringer, who had it refinished in red. Clapton got it from Derringer, and then gave it to George. Excellent bit of guitar based sleuthing there, likewise, I never remember reading about Albert Collins calling his axe anything at all, a bit strange Macdonald would make such a big goof there. BTW, I wish someone would give me a vintage Les Paul. A further BTW, Macdonald doesn't mention the whole bit about the guitar in the earlier versions of the book, it's only in the third edition. Strange that he would add something like that in and then get his Alberts mixed up. If you want to hear evidence of Albert King's influence on Clapton, listen to King's "Oh Pretty Woman" on the Born Under a Bad Sign album from 1967, then check Clapton's guitar solo on "Strange Brew" from Disraeli Gears. It's almost note for note.