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Post by pothos on Dec 4, 2013 23:10:38 GMT
A couple of things struck me. I still cannot get over the tapes lost of the Big Three and just how accident prone was Rory. Never knew Bobby Thompson had links to Alex Harvey.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 5, 2013 0:29:33 GMT
Talk about lost stuff, look at how much stuff got lost of the Beatles! Their first record together, there were six copies made one for each player and they're all lost!! Can you imagine how much that would be worth!! No one ever bothered to tape them at the Cavern! Take a little recorder in and you would be rich today! Iris had a tape of Rory's band, lost until she found it just a few years ago! That 78 rpm of 'In Spite of All The Danger' was lost for umpteen years! That little recording of the Quarrymen was lost for years...and the list goes on.....
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Post by mrmustard on Dec 5, 2013 8:11:01 GMT
I even think if the Beatles hadn't come out with Sgt. Peppers when they did they may have been in the unemployment line too Really Rocky? Do you not think The Beatles had moved way beyond the reach of every Mersey Beat band by With The Beatles? Arguably before. Well before Sgt Pepper The Beatles were a band that had already broken many musical boundaries years before Pepper. I don't think they would have had any trouble developing their careers even if Pepper hadn't of come out or gone the way of the other Merseybeat bands.
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Post by pothos on Dec 5, 2013 12:17:31 GMT
Decca wiping The Big Three stage show sounds bizarre to me though.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 5, 2013 14:30:51 GMT
I even think if the Beatles hadn't come out with Sgt. Peppers when they did they may have been in the unemployment line too Really Rocky? Do you not think The Beatles had moved way beyond the reach of every Mersey Beat band by With The Beatles? Arguably before. Well before Sgt Pepper The Beatles were a band that had already broken many musical boundaries years before Pepper. I don't think they would have had any trouble developing their careers even if Pepper hadn't of come out or gone the way of the other Merseybeat bands. Yes that was really rash what I said. Those four would have kept on going at whatever they wanted to do, they had the fan base for it. And they still do, Sir Paul can bring out the crappest cd and people will still buy it, why, because he was once a Beatle and for nothing more than that.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 6, 2013 12:30:20 GMT
A rare video from Johnny Guitar Byrne's retirement party in 1998 that I found. He passed away a year later.
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Post by pothos on Dec 6, 2013 23:36:17 GMT
Thank you for posting that, I found that genuinely moving.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 7, 2013 1:14:57 GMT
Did you notice Johnny's right hand was in such bad shape that they had to manufacture some sort of handle for it attached to the guitar, but the show still went on, a trooper until the end. His guitar was a '57 Guyatone L50 and the same one that he used when he played all those years ago with the Hurricanes.
Which brings up another question, in the book pothos did they ever mention Ty's strat and whatever happened to it? This is the guitar that George Harrison said scar him for life!
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Post by pothos on Dec 7, 2013 13:10:00 GMT
The book sadly does not mention Ty's guitar. The guitar that does get a mention is Alan's Egmond described as black on the outside turning from red to yellow in the centre hole, dark brown neck with metal strings. Described as very Lonnie Donegan. The book actually does not go into too much detail about Ty except for a few things. He and Walter were members of the Hi Fi's before joining Alan and Johnny and they seemed impressed with Ty not only with his playing but he could box and this desire for the band to stay loyal and able to handle physical confrontations from outsiders seemed to have been important. Ty's passing is strangely not gone into detail. From the translation I am not even sure of the facts; he seemed to have taken ill onstage on stage somewhere had the op, partially recovered then gone downhill again quickly and then passed away while the band was rehearsing but the details are very scant and I wonder if the author and Iris did not know more details or were wary of upsetting Ty's family. As for the guitar no mention is made of it although you would think it either remained in the O' Brien family; Johnny got it or it was sold.
I still believe there is an incredibly detailed biography of the band to be written. In this book there is one picture of the band from the America release (the maracas picture which is just odd) and I have not seen before but Ty seems to be holding some kind of acoustic guitar. What is the policy on posting images from source material on this site as I do not want to get this site into trouble as there are some lovely images of Ringo and the lads in France.
As for the video of Johnny and his week had; that is what I noticed straight away and why I was so moved. Notice he was still doing the fret work even though he could not strum. Saddened that these young lad left the party so early.
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Post by pothos on Dec 7, 2013 13:20:15 GMT
Are any of these images of the mysterious Strat.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 7, 2013 16:15:31 GMT
The one on the far left he is holding a strat the other two he isn't. I have a hard time posting pics, but their is one of even Ringo holding it. I believe Ty got it on their first Hamburg visit. George Harrison also went down to buy it, but got up late and it was already gone. Just think it could have been a Fender strat we seen George playing on Ed Sullivan instead of a Gretch if it hadn't been for fate.
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Post by pothos on Dec 7, 2013 17:26:32 GMT
By the way does anyone know the year of the middle image and also one place gets mentioned in the book loads and it is the Pub The Old Swan. Is that still around?.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 8, 2013 2:42:33 GMT
I think our expert on Liverpool pubs, mrmustard can answer that one. lol
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Post by mrmustard on Dec 8, 2013 8:43:06 GMT
I think our expert on Liverpool pubs, mrmustard can answer that one. lol What are you suggesting Rocky! The Old Swan Pub is indeed still there right at the bottom of Rory's road (Broad Green road) where Stormsville was. It's locally known as the White House with another pub right next to it now called the Red House. I have been in once or twice but not somewhere I frequent. Here's the website www.oldswanliverpool.co.uk/
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Post by pothos on Dec 8, 2013 11:54:01 GMT
Thank you for the information on the Old Swan. It features a lot in the story and considering Ernest Violet and Alan/Rory never drank it seems to have been a place of social gathering for them.
Is the building where the Morgue was situated still about. Intrigued that Alan's former High School teacher was involved in helping to get that Skiffle cellar open.
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Post by pothos on Dec 8, 2013 22:55:29 GMT
Just read the Wiki page on RSATH. Did Rory change his name by deed poll as it is not in the book.
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Post by mrmustard on Dec 9, 2013 0:41:11 GMT
Just read the Wiki page on RSATH. Did Rory change his name by deed poll as it is not in the book. I have read this before too. Probably from the same source as you. I believe it to be true as he officially named his house Stormsville as well. A search of the last census should confirm. It would therefore be Alan Caldwell of Broadgreen road in whatever the closest census was, post his birth. I think this can be sought online.
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Post by pothos on Dec 9, 2013 12:58:53 GMT
I did provisionally find details for Alan but nothing under the name Rory Storm. That does not mean that the wiki entry is wrong per say but just finding the right files might be out of my reach.
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Post by ROCKY on Dec 9, 2013 21:06:25 GMT
I don't think this article written by Bill Harry for the MerseyBeat has been up yet on this thread. BTW check out the pic of Ty holding the strat. www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/a-z/rorystorm-hurricanes.shtmlAlso if you google -Beatles Gear Ty Brian strat, you'll get a little story of Ty and John Lennon getting into a little scuffle over the Stratocaster. I guess this happened around May,1960, so Hank Marvin of The Shadows strat was still a year earlier and the first in England.
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Post by pothos on Dec 9, 2013 22:52:52 GMT
Rocky I love Bill Harry's site and thank you for the story of the two groups in Hamburg. That story is not in the book.
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