Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Markus: During the mid 1960s, having a stint in Hamburg at the clubs was looked upon very favourably by promoters of groups in the UK. Many groups signed on for this gig, The Beatles, Tony Sheridan, The Jets, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers and others.

Is Hamburg, today, the thriving music venue it once was? Was it a popular city based on its music promotion? Was it sought after because it was easily accessible as a port city?

Peter, I am not sure, whether you are right, that promoters thought, Hamburg was a good place to start a carreer. I think The Beatles, Tony Sheridan and the others got there by chance. Hamburg has always been a very liberal city with a strong sub-culture and nightlife. Going there was an opportunity for The Beatles and other British musicians to get employed as professional musicians. I think that´s about it.

There is not much that I can tell you about Hamburg. It is the second largest city in Germany. With the exception of Amsterdam it is said to be the most liberal city in Europe. In the 60s the Reeperbahn in St. Pauli offered a lot of cultural "highlights" - variety theatres, live music clubs, operetta houses as well as brothels and nightclubs. In the 70s and 80s the interesting cultural events vanished. All the live music clubs closed as well as the theatres. It all came down to cheap prostitution and peep-shows. In recent years there have been several reports in the media though, that the Reeperbahn is back: new theatres have opened, old variety-shows have re-opened, there is a certain live-music-scene again a.s.o.

I have never been to Hamburg, so all I can tell you is the information that I get from the media in Germany.

Some of the most important contemporary German pop musicians are based in Hamburg - such as Udo Lindenberg, Tocotronic or Die Goldenen Zitronen. But I think that Hamburg only gets the third place behind Berlin and Cologne as far as popular music in Germany is concerned.

Thanks Markus.

What I am certain of is that those clubs booking The Beatles in the 1960s, emphasized that they had just returned from Hamburg and this was considered to be a feather in their cap.

You may be right that promoters could have cared less.

doctorno wrote:I have never been to Hamburg, so all I can tell you is the information that I get from the media in Germany.

Sounds like it's time for a road trip, Markus.

admin wrote:What I am certain of is that those clubs booking The Beatles in the 1960s, emphasized that they had just returned from Hamburg and this was considered to be a feather in their cap.

Yes, certainly, but if they had just returned from Paris, Rome or Barcelona wouldn´t this have been the same? On the other hand in the early 60s world war two was still present in the memory of people, so maybe it was considered something special, if a British band had worked in Germany. I do not know.

beatlefreak wrote:

doctorno wrote:I have never been to Hamburg, so all I can tell you is the information that I get from the media in Germany.

Sounds like it's time for a road trip, Markus.

Oh my god, do you know how much you pay for gasoline over here? Yes, I will probably go there some time or other ... but not now, I am saving my money for a new guitar .

Another Rickenbacker, or something else?

beatlefreak wrote:Another Rickenbacker, or something else?

No this time it will be a handmade custom guitar by Walter Kraushaar, an axcellent luthier living in Aachen. It will be built to my own specifications and will be completely unique. The shape and construction however will be like this:

http://www.kraushaar-gitarren.de/cms/sp_fusion.html

For my guitar, Walter will design a new headstock, add a Bigsby vibrato and use maple instead of spruce for the top. The guitar will be equipped with Gretsch humbuckers instead of P90s and with a guitar-to-midi-system.