Fact #190214
When:
Short story:
The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Mickie Most, Julie Grant, The Flintstones and The Rolling Stones play at The Odeon, Birmingham, England, UK, Europe.Full article:
Stuart Colman (audience) : Our hard-earned cash bought us a row of seats in the circle, to see a mighty bill that combined the talents of The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones and Mickie Most. The former Most Brother from Aldershot in Hampshire opened the show and did his best by warbling 'Mr Porter' as well as plugging his debut single on Columbia, The Feminine Look.
Probably at the behest of their managements, the adolescent Rolling Stones then emerged, wearing their soon-to-be-ditched 'dog-tooth' jackets. For some reason, they seemed to operate in a tight cluster around Charlie Watts' drum riser, but there was nevertheless heaps of activity with harmonicas and maraccas being hoisted in every direction …
Johnnie Walker (audience) : The Rolling Stones were just fantastic. Really rough and scruffy and unkempt, and they played Oh Carol and Not Fade Away and all that early stuff. I think they were better then than they were later.
Stuart Colman : Whether by choice or design, their allotted fifteen minutes set the scene ideally for the appearance of Bo Diddley, The Duchess and Jerome. Exuding maximum confidence, the trio strode out in a dazzling array of Lurex stage outfits, with Bo and the Duchess running their space-age Gretschs through a pair of matching Gibson amplifiers that had purposely been angled skywards. It was pure Americana.
Act Two opened with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Little Richard hit the ground running as he tore through his string of wild Specialty hits. Considering his most recent single had been the spiritual Travellin' Shoes, this was good news not only for rock'n'roll lovers but for recent r'n'b converts as well. However, such a demonstrative performance took a heavy toll on the running order and he quite obviously exceeded his designated time slot by the time Don and Phil finally got to appear.
While there was charisma aplenty, the sight and sound of the Everlys was to produce a confusion of emotions. The harmonies rang true and clear as they ran through a slick roster of their classics, yet there was a feeling of being short-changed as the songs were presented in tempos that were way above their original time signatures. This was not lost on the crowd, whose polite applause was only alleviated when the brothers decided to include their version of Jimmy Reed's Baby What You Want Me To Do at the eleventh hour. What a stark irony, that an r'n'b cover should win favour over the deluge of hits that they'd just performed.
As we filed out of the theatre, the general consensus was that we'd been spoilt for choice with so many acts to take in. Just as we were discussing the further merits of the show, we happened to turn into a side street where we found ourselves face-to-face with Keith Richards and Charlie Watts who were chatting up two mod girls clad in calf-length leather coats. Suddenly our debate became a unanimous appraisal of how good the Stones had really been. This helped to seal the moment and, taking us into their confidence, Keith and Charlie began to rattle off a host of tales about the tour.
Apparently they had become very friendly with Bo's maracca player, Jerome Green, whom they'd learned had been paid fifty dollars a week to help keep Jimmy Reed sober whilst on tour together. This was confirmed to them by Bo Diddley, who added that Jerome spent the money on booze himself, and was once so drunk he stepped out of a plane at Chicago airport before the steps had been put in place and ended up spreadeagled all over the tarmac.
The experience had a profound effect on me because I for one was smitten. By the following spring I'd quit my job and become a full-time bass player.
(Source : not known)
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Probably at the behest of their managements, the adolescent Rolling Stones then emerged, wearing their soon-to-be-ditched 'dog-tooth' jackets. For some reason, they seemed to operate in a tight cluster around Charlie Watts' drum riser, but there was nevertheless heaps of activity with harmonicas and maraccas being hoisted in every direction …
Johnnie Walker (audience) : The Rolling Stones were just fantastic. Really rough and scruffy and unkempt, and they played Oh Carol and Not Fade Away and all that early stuff. I think they were better then than they were later.
Stuart Colman : Whether by choice or design, their allotted fifteen minutes set the scene ideally for the appearance of Bo Diddley, The Duchess and Jerome. Exuding maximum confidence, the trio strode out in a dazzling array of Lurex stage outfits, with Bo and the Duchess running their space-age Gretschs through a pair of matching Gibson amplifiers that had purposely been angled skywards. It was pure Americana.
Act Two opened with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Little Richard hit the ground running as he tore through his string of wild Specialty hits. Considering his most recent single had been the spiritual Travellin' Shoes, this was good news not only for rock'n'roll lovers but for recent r'n'b converts as well. However, such a demonstrative performance took a heavy toll on the running order and he quite obviously exceeded his designated time slot by the time Don and Phil finally got to appear.
While there was charisma aplenty, the sight and sound of the Everlys was to produce a confusion of emotions. The harmonies rang true and clear as they ran through a slick roster of their classics, yet there was a feeling of being short-changed as the songs were presented in tempos that were way above their original time signatures. This was not lost on the crowd, whose polite applause was only alleviated when the brothers decided to include their version of Jimmy Reed's Baby What You Want Me To Do at the eleventh hour. What a stark irony, that an r'n'b cover should win favour over the deluge of hits that they'd just performed.
As we filed out of the theatre, the general consensus was that we'd been spoilt for choice with so many acts to take in. Just as we were discussing the further merits of the show, we happened to turn into a side street where we found ourselves face-to-face with Keith Richards and Charlie Watts who were chatting up two mod girls clad in calf-length leather coats. Suddenly our debate became a unanimous appraisal of how good the Stones had really been. This helped to seal the moment and, taking us into their confidence, Keith and Charlie began to rattle off a host of tales about the tour.
Apparently they had become very friendly with Bo's maracca player, Jerome Green, whom they'd learned had been paid fifty dollars a week to help keep Jimmy Reed sober whilst on tour together. This was confirmed to them by Bo Diddley, who added that Jerome spent the money on booze himself, and was once so drunk he stepped out of a plane at Chicago airport before the steps had been put in place and ended up spreadeagled all over the tarmac.
The experience had a profound effect on me because I for one was smitten. By the following spring I'd quit my job and become a full-time bass player.
(Source : not known)