COUNT BASIE

[13_temple_street]

Saturday 14th May 1960 Pete Haslam’s Collegians Jazz Band is contracted to perform at the newly opened Iron Door Club, 13 Temple Street, Liverpool 2. Also performing were the Les Harris Six and Jackie Lynn.
There was an exciting buzz among the members of the Collegian Jazz Band. They had spotted the unusual figure of the famous American Jazz piano player alighting from a Taxi, making his way into the club.
Count Basie had been performing at a concert in the city. He had some time on his hands before he boarded his tour bus to take him to the next venue. (He was touring with what he used to describe as his short band, as opposed to his full orchestra.) Basie called his short band ‘The Kansas City Five’. Basie asked a young journalist who worked for the now-defunct Sunday Pictorial (who was covering Count Basie’s tour) to take him to a jazz club in Liverpool. The young journalist chose to bring him to the Iron Door.
The famous Jazzman managed to walk into the Bar area before he was spotted. He was literally being mobbed when I spotted the commotion; I urgently asked ‘Buster’, one of the two Corps of Commissionaires on duty, to help me get Basie out of harm’s way.
Mary, who was in charge of the bar, realized our predicament and quickly opened the bar door and ushered the Count and me into the safety of the bar.
Basie quickly regained his composure; he was amazed that he was recognized. I offered him a drink, ‘Bourbon’; I wasn’t familiar with what the American interpretation of whisky was. Litre bottles of whisky were on a shelf under the counter. I offered him a bottle to read the label. He immediately started to open the bottle, grabbed a half-pint glass, and walloped the contents, poured himself another. After two or three glasses, he started to talk about his time as a young piano player in the downtown drinking parlors, mixing with pimps and prostitutes rolling in the gutters, too paralytic to stand. I was absolutely fascinated. He was a master at describing situations.
So it was that I offered the name Kansas City Five when Bruce asked for suggestions for a name for his newly formed ‘Beat Band.’ The small group of musicians who had gathered in the foyer of the club in Temple Street voiced their approval. For obvious reasons, ‘Kansas City Six’ didn’t have the same ring. I did not meet Count Basie again, but I never forgot the meeting in Temple Street, Liverpool.
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[13_temple_street]

I've just read the post about the Iron Door club.
Pete Haslam's Collegians played there in the early 1960s. We had been going to the Cavern and had quite a following there, and we were booked for the Iron Door club. So, if my memory serves me correctly, we turned up in Temple Street, and there was a big pile of builders' rubble outside.
Think there was another band playing, but as we pulled up in the van, a taxi stopped right near this pile of rubbish, and who do you think stepped out of the taxi? Count Basie...his band had been playing a concert in the city, and he obviously wanted to go out and check out the local scene...Of course, this was before the Beatles were famous. We had played many times with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes as our supporting group, so the other band could have been them.
I remember that the Basie band's trombonist turned up, and he and Pete Haslam (trombone) were chatting and playing together. The Count didn't play, though, but I was a bit nervous playing in front of him.
Instead of going down steps to the cellar as we did in the cavern, we went upstairs, but the ground floor was like a builder's yard

[jps]

Wow, great stories about the Count!

I've only seen him once, in 1982 with the full orchestra. But I have printed this photograph of him many times while at in the photo business I was at from 1991-2012. The founder of Score Photographers/Labwork - The Black & White Lab had a huge portfolio of images he'd made since he started the business in 1958.

Berni_Rich_19.jpg (34.05 KiB) Viewed 155 times

[admin]

Geoff, thanks for posting the stories about Count Basie. It must have been a great thrill.

[13_temple_street]

""Peter McCormack wrote. " It must have been a great thrill "" None so much as receiving a reply from you, Peter, for the first time in many-many months. Because of your absence, I thought perhaps you had succumbed to the dreaded "Corvid. I did miss you on the site.

[13_temple_street]

Thank you, JEFF. The unusual angle to this photograph of The Count is most dramatic. Hope you are o.k. x

[admin]

""Peter McCormack wrote. " It must have been a great thrill "" None so much as receiving a reply from you, Peter, for the first time in many-many months. Because of your absence, I thought perhaps you had succumbed to the dreaded "Corvid. I did miss you on the site.

Very happy to be back, Geoff. There is nothing more fun and interesting that uncovering the role of the Iron Door Club in Liverpool''s music history.

[jps]

Thank you, JEFF. The unusual angle to this photograph of The Count is most dramatic. Hope you are o.k. x

All is good here, Geoff! Been very busy trying to get all our ducks in a row (dealing with meeting with the city) for a major house project that I had hoped would have started a couple of month ago.

The photographer (Berni Rich) had total access to the artists he photographed, hence, the very low angle of that photo (made with a Rollei TLR).

[iiipopes]

Shortly before Count Basie died I got to see the band and him at Jesse Hall Auditorium (the administration building) at Mizzou, where I was a grad student at the time. Of course, the band sounded great. A couple of times he wheeled out on his little electric go-kart up to the piano, always grinning, and with one finger of each hand played his signature ending. Ahhhhh! A great memory!

[13_temple_street]

What a great yarn, Scott. I really enjoyed reading your contribution. I am very envious.

[admin]

Shortly before Count Basie died I got to see the band and him at Jesse Hall Auditorium (the administration building) at Mizzou, where I was a grad student at the time. Of course, the band sounded great. A couple of times he wheeled out on his little electric go-kart up to the piano, always grinning, and with one finger of each hand played his signature ending. Ahhhhh! A great memory!

Thanks Scott, certainly as you say, "A great memory!"