News, Views and Music Issue 27 (Intro)

April 13:

♫ Dear all, welcome to another trawl around the half-price bargain bins of musical discussion that is ‘News, Views and Music’. As some of you may have noticed, we’re a teensy weensy bit late this week – sorry about that, it’s that darned cfs getting in my way again! To make up for it, we have for you this issue the first of a new semi-regular section of questions and answers, ready to help with all those musical queries that keep pressing on your mind. We’re hoping to make this a feature every 10 newsletters or so, depending on how many interesting questions you email in with (you can post them up on our guestbook, our forum or email them in to either pattin82@yahoo.co.uk or alansarchives00@googlemail.com). Oh and other new for you, I’ve just been informed that the local library is closing down for refurbishment at the end of the month (I didn’t think I’d made that much mess!) so the date of publication might have to change (I can still get things posted up when I visit out IT technician Mike at the weekend…) And now, on with the news…

♫ Beatles News: Paul and Ringo really did perform together at the New York David Lynch Charity show on April 4th, as reported in an earlier issue – the first time the two Beatles have played together since the George Harrison tribute concert in 2002. Macca played a full set of his own material (including his Lennon tribute ‘Here Today’ – how come he ignored this lovely song for 20 years and now seems to like it so much he’s played it endlessly since its 2002 revival?!) Ringo then joined Paul for the last song of the concert – a performance of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’. Ahh!

Anniversaries #1: Happy Ba-ba-ba-birthdays this week go to Spencer Dryden (drummer with the Jefferson Airplane 1966-70) who would have been 71 on April 7^th, Julian Lennon (John Lennon’s eldest) who turns 46 on April 8^th and Gene Parsons (multi-instrumentalist with The Byrds 1968-72) who turns 65 on April 9^th . Events this week include: the official first day in the office at the Beatles’ ‘Apple’ headquarters in London (April 6^th 1968), the date in 1962 when two r and b loving teenagers called Mick Jagger and Keith Richards first meet Brian Jones in his guise as bluesman ‘Elmo Lewis’ and agree to form a band (April 8^th), the premier of Neil Young’s ‘shakey’ film ‘Journey Through The Past’ (April 8^th 1973), the death of ‘fifth Beatle’ Stuart Sutcliffe after suffering a brain haemorrhage aged 21 – an event that had huge ramifications for the bands’ music (April 10^th 1962) and eight years later McCartney announces that the Beatles are to break up (well that’s what’s gone down in history anyway, he actually says that he can’t see a time in the near future when the four will play together again as part of a questionnaire released with copies of his first album ‘McCartney’ out on April 10^th 1970) and finally April 12^th saw the premier of the film ‘That’ll Be The Day’ starring Ringo as a teddy boy and various members of the Who backing Billy Fury (1973).

Anniversaries #2: Sorry for having to add another week on here, but anyway here it is – hoppy easter bunny birthdays this week  go to AAA luminaries and visionaries Jack Casady (bassist with Jefferson Airplane 1965-72) who turns 65 on April 13^th and Billy Kreutzmann (drummer with the Grateful Dead 1965-93) who turns 63 on April 17^th . Anniversaries of events this week include: The Beatles record Help! on April 13^th 1965, Pete Townshend performs his first ever solo concert at London’s Roundhouse on April 14^th 1974, the Rolling Stones release two different LPs on April 15^th ten years apart in 1966 and 1976 – ‘Aftermath’ and ‘Black and Blue’ respectively, British viewers get to see the very weird TV special ‘James Paul McCartney’ on April 16^th 1973– screened as part of a deal with publisher Lew Grade to drop a publishing dispute arguing that Paul’s wife Linda couldn’t possibly have had a hand in writing some of the ex-Beatles’ biggest songs, Janis Joplin’s posthumous album ‘Pearl’ becomes a runaway success in the charts after its release on April 17^th 1971 and finally The Cavern Club is sold on April 18^th 1966 after gradually falling revenue.