Philly '64 live

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:30 am

Not only that, David, it wasn't that much earlier that studios thought there would be no second venues for their old films (we're only talking pre '50s) period!

And heck, it's been recently a lot of what's been out there the past few decades has been tidied up.

And yes, AHDN was really only made by UA to get the soundtrack in the US. The film was an afterthought.

gregga41 · Post by **gregga41** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:03 am

I drive right by Festival Hall here in Melbourne everyday to work, and it still amazes me to think the fabs played there!I was only 4 at the time,my mum was having her hair done at the hotel the Beatles were staying,and had to fight her way through the crowd to get out of there! Greg, email me and i'll see what i can do.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:39 am

QUOTE:
" ... And yes, AHDN was really only made by UA to get the soundtrack in the US. The film was an afterthought. ..."
END QUOTE

Glenn, Undoubtedly you have the newer DVD Imax DeLuxe version of AHDN with of all the restoration work that was done on the original film negative by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.

As you know, on this DVD there are many fascinating interviews done with persons connected to the production of AHDN including one former exec. with United Artists who goes into depth about this very point you mention.

I can only imagine what Mr. Francis C. Hall's reaction must have been when he saw images of his beloved Rickenbackers blown up on the huge theater screen!

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:06 am

The only reason AHDN is good of course is because the band didn't want to do something ****** just for the dough.

>>I can only imagine what Mr. Francis C. Hall's reaction must have been when he saw images of his beloved Rickenbackers blown up on the huge theater screen!<<

There's a story somewhere about one of the Ludwig's talking about how one Sat. night in Feb '64 he was trying to sell a drum set to some jazz drumer.

Then the next night he was watching the Ed Sullivan show and they had this new band he'd never heard of on and it was the first time he ever saw his name on TV, of course because Ringo was playing their drums.

He said he went to work the next day and by the end of that week they had 85,000 orders!

If you've ever seen the old Ludwig factory, which is on Damen in Chgo, and now loft condos, you can see the whole wing that Ringo essentially built. They had to put on two shifts, 6 days a week, and they still couldn't keep up.

Those were better days indeed.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:14 pm

Yeah!

I've read that above story from a web source.
The drums and Ringo's Ludwigs are of course a story within themselves as to the how and why Ringo chose Ludwigs and the eternally iconish "The Beatles" logo on the bass drumhead.

One thing for certain. The guitar and drum industry was to never be the same again.
They weren't just for surf music anymore. ...

glass_onion · Post by **glass_onion** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:54 pm

why did ringo change from premier to ludwig? is there a reason?

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:40 pm

Premier drums were readily available in Britain in the early 60's. Ludwig was the new kid on the block (over there). All of the Liverpool groups were scrambling to find American made gear.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:22 pm

It's pretty amazing that Ringo ended up trading his first decent kit in instead of keeping it.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:38 pm

What great stories about how things changed for Rickenbacker, Ludwig and all the others. What ever happened to the guy at DECCA who turned the Beatles down. What did that guy add to resume? I wonder if he was fired?

BTW Glen your 1996 looks great. I'll post pix of mine soon, but you can see it on Gary's website.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:05 pm

http://www.ludwig-drums.com/content/article.php?id=24

This above link will lead you to site the pretty much tell's the whole story on Ringo's Ludwig's

A partial "comp-job" hence no more Ringo Premiers

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:12 pm

FYI. Rick Rowe at Decca, their A and R guy who turned The Beatles down latter redeemed himself in a huge way.

In 1963 Beatle George Harrison referred Rowe to The Beatles then unfamous friends, The Rolling Stones and Dick Rowe signed them.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:15 pm

Now the big question is:

Who bought Ringo's used Premiers from Drum City?
And do they still exist somewhere?

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:08 pm

Gerry Evans from Drum City says that he took the Premiers back to his shop, refurbished them, and sold them. He doesn't state to whom. He says he also took the original Beatles 'bug' logo off the bass drum, and threw it away! (Source: The Beatles Gear by Andy Babiuk)

They may not have kept any records as to who bought them, nor told the buyer that they originally belonged to Ringo. Drum City appears to have not been out to profit from the Beatles. They were the ones who designed the new Beatles logo - And only charged them something like £5.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 7:12 am

QUOTE;
" ...They were the ones who designed the new Beatles logo - And only charged them something like £5."
END QUOTE

And isn't that fascinating prescience of what lay ahead!

I have always thought logo with the way the letter "T" was done was an extremely clever triple entendre.

First "beat", referring to Beatles with the b-e-a spelling and then to "beat music."
And then most cleverly to the drums themselves referring to "beat!"

For many years, I quite erroneously had assumed that Brian Epstein with his intuitive very sharp eye for design, high style and presentation had someone professionally design that iconic logo.

But, as we now today it just wasn't so. It was simply done by some very talented bloke from a drum store.
But, very wisely that logo was internationally trademarked by The Beatles and still is today.

And it how dramatically that has been engraved on the world's collective brains!

I re-ran "The Beatles on Ed Sullivan" on DVD at my home for probably the 50th time just the other evening. On the Beatles third and final 1964 debut final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Ed Sullivan very cleverly walks up the Beatles just after they finished their final number ("I Want to Hold Your Hand") and stands just stage right of Ringo's drums so you easily see that famous logo. This created an extremely powerful NLP mental anchor on every TV viewers brain linking of course Ed Sullivan with The Beatles and that Beatles drum logo with The Beatles themselves.)

And if the anyone in the USA needed this "extra push" at that point, it undoutedly only served to help sell even more Beatles product!

(It didn't do Ed Sullivan a bit of hurt either!)

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:37 pm

I don't even remember there being a charge for the logo. I remember hearing it was thrown in to seal the deal on the set.

Of course, the guy who designed it, or painted it or any of the guys at that shop would have made a mint if they had merely copyrighted it.

It is a great logo. Not sure if it's as cool as the Kinks logo with the little feet on it, though.