Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Here's what happened: We were working on "Groovin'" and Gene Cornish was trying a bass part. I suggested a guy that I'd met who had played Bass for King Curtis, Chuck Rainey, several months before. Chuck had said to me that he wanted to be a session man, a studio musician.

So, in a leap of blind ...

Record companies did employ staff writers and A&R Men (Artist & Reportoire) in part because, being 'on staff' meant that they were employees, and paid a wage rather than a fee with a royalty. This also meant that they had to be kept busy, hence they were assigned projects.

I was in this position ...

John,

Thank you for the 'admiration' in not signing with Brian Epstein. It is, however, misplaced.

The reason that we didn't go with Eppy was that we were already being managed by Ralph Webster, who ran several dance venues, in Liverpool, including the Orrell Park Ballroom.

When John Lennon ...

From what I remember, there was apparently a lot of long-needed renovation work needed. Work that had to do with the safety of the railway system and the work came to an amount in excess of £2,000,000.00. Funding couldn’t be found, either from local government or from private sources. It was decided ...

John, you are right, the Four Pennies were from Liverpool. However, you got me stumped (and I have a great memory) with the ...3 piece band with a chinese/part chinese lead guitarist , especially the ...lyrical melodic Claptonesque/Paige style part. I don't remember any guitarist in Liverpool with ...

I remember coming home from school one day in 1953 and hearing that a cruise liner, the EMPRESS OF CANADA, had caught fire and was burning out of control in Gladstone Dock, on the Liverpool waterfront. My friends and I rushed down to the promenade to see what was going on, across the River Mersey ...

Arty,

Great to hear from you! Like me, you were there during those early days, albeit on the sidelines until a little later. Your post, although a 'what if' scenerio, is actually what was happening on Merseyside in the earle '60's: Musicians were going from group to group as the natural order of ...

John,

You're second effort at explaining your premise is a little clearer and the "what if's" more realistice to the question at hand.

You are correct that material (ie: good, strong commercial songs) was the key to popularity, back then, as it is now, although with the advent of MTV that is ...

Peter,

You pose the question, "Had the Beatles not been successful, what group do you think would have taken over, The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Undertakers, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas?"

The interesting thing is that there is no guarantee what-so-ever that any other ...

Yes, another character from the MerseyBeat years has gone. Bob was an institution in Liverpool back then. He ran a 'tight ship' at the Cavern and it only took a minor infraction to get him going. We all knew this and consequently, on occasion, would bait him. For the most part it was done in fun and ...

Peter, I must say that you are the comsumate moderater...LOL!

Marie, I take note of your 'MINOR DETAIL' and didn't mean any disrespect with my comments. In fact, I have an instance of 'THE CURRENT LINE UP IS THE ONLY ONE SOME OF US KNOW' that I will tell you about. My group, The Undertakers ...

There's another thread, "Did Early Line-up Changes Damage The Searchers?" that sort of falls in line with this one for me. When I think of the Searchers, I always see the original group, just like the photograph that Peter has posted. I guess that this is because I knew them way back then and we ...

Bob Dylan is a great example: A singer who, arguably, never sang a note in his life and yet spoke for a generation with his succinct brand of social commentary.

Re: the moivation of a big name singer assisting the Searchers? Like you, I don't see that happening. Again, it comes down to getting ...

In Real Estate there is a saying: "Location, location, location". Likewise, in music there is a saying: "Material, material, material". The Searchers need a song that, regardless of who sings it, would be a hit.

Musical styles have changed over the years and it's a debatable point as to whether ...

Andy Babuik interviewed me on several occasions for his new book. He seems to be a stickler for detail and also for collaberation of the facts. I really enjoyed speaking with him and look forward to reading the book myself.