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Post by Jai Guru Deva on Sept 20, 2011 16:54:43 GMT -5
Friday, October 7, 1966 (Born Frederick Heath--Willesden, London, 23 Deceber 1939) Johnny Kidd & The Pirates (The Five Nutters) Whether he was an influence on Adam Ant is open to conjecture, but Johnny Kidd was the first peformer in British pop music to don the panto gear. An early skiffle convert. he formed his own band, The Five Nutters, while still a teenager. When rock 'n'roll kicked in, his interest in Lonnie Donegan et al dipped somewhat and he sought a new image--that of seventeenth-century buccaneer Captian William Kidd. The look presaged a name change, too, and had immediate appeal, particularly to HMV , who issued the first Johnny Kidd single, the excellent 'Please Don't Touch" in May 1959. It's Top Thirty placing was a solid but not earth-shattering start, but the label's next move--to sack the band and bring in experienced hands--was less effective, a series of covers by and large failing to dent the listings. Kidd's co-written 'Shakin' All Over' (1960, though, was a genuine 'moment' in pop-music history and is rightly viewed as the classic British pre-Beatles rock 'n' roll record; this infectious stop/start rocker duly took Kidd--now with The Pirates, including top guitarists Alan Caddy and Joe Moretti--to number one that summer. From this, the only direction for a working unit on the label payroll to go was likely to be downwards, and tunes that disappointingly pushed this distinctive band into a 'Merseybeat' direction were largely misses (1963's 'I'll Never Get Over You' a notable exception). Kidd was a hard-worker, however, and he and his group would still kick up something of a storm on their exhaustive live schedule, with occasional support from The Who--a band that has consistently cited him as an influence. With a fresh line-up, Johnny Kidd & The New Pirates were on the road again in October 1966 when tragedy--or, more truthfully, a skidding lorry--struck. The recently married Kidd was travelling in the tour van to an engagement when he was killed in the crash on the M1 near Radcliff, just outside Bury, Lancashire. The remainder of the band, all of whom survived the accident, continued touring as The Pirates, and bass-player Nick Simper went on to join Deep Purple in the seventies.Excerpt taken from the book "The Encyclopedia Of Dead Rock Stars (Heroin, Handguns, And Ham Sandwiches)" by Jeremy Simmons. book linkI'll Never Get Over You - Johnny Kidd & The Pirates And covering the Beatles "Some Other Guy"
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Post by B on Sept 20, 2011 22:50:38 GMT -5
Interesting post, Jai Guru Deva. There are a number of good leads here. Deep Purple, Nutters (hello iamaphoney!), car crashes, Bury, Lancashire. (Blackbyrne could be a gloss.) Jai Guru Deva wrote: "a skidding lorry--struck" "Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go But oh that magic feeling: nowhere to go" (to get out of the way)That's when Faul gets the job in the song, notice. " We can be together (Jefferson Airplane)Ah you and me We should be together We are all outlaws in the eyes of america In order to survive we steal cheat lie forge fred hide and deal We are obscene lawless hideous dangerous dirty violent and young But we should be together" "Fred" was hiding. With the Jefferson Airplane it seems. What's interesting is that the real lyric sung above isn't "fred hide". It's "fu**, hide"! But apparently the lyrics were printed otherwise on the album insert. ;D Still, the message was there. About hiding someone, I mean. Hey FredrickJefferson Airplane Either go away or go all the way in Look at what you hold Come back down on a sphere of silence When it flies You go on through You come on to The ridiculous no Oh no (Ono ?)One more pair of Loving eyes look down on you Sheets and a pillow How old will you have to be before you Stop your believing That those eyes will look down on you That way forever There you sit mouth wide open Animals nipping at your sides On wire wheels the four stroke man Opens wide The marching sound (Sgt. Pepper?)The constant ride In the gasket is mine (In the casket is mine?)All mine One more pair of Wire wheels bear down on you Gear stripping the willow How many machine men will you see before you Stop your believing that speed Will slide down on you Like brakes in bad weatherwww.youtube.com/watch?v=w25xghugIdg
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Post by B on Sept 21, 2011 0:36:24 GMT -5
Look what happens to "Billy": (Dennis Hopper)Easy rider (final scene)www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMc-T6z0YyM"Either go away or go all the way in" People say, "Are you in?" when they're planning to get drugs or commit a crime, etc. in the aftermath:There you sit mouth wide open Animals nipping at your sides On wire wheels the four stroke man Opens wide this:The marching sound; of a military funeralThe constant ride in the casket is mine All mine One more pair of wire wheels bear down on you Interesting note: "The Weight" is a song that was done by Smith in the movie "Easy Rider": www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkmbLoaORUThe version done by The Band was better known, but the movie used the Smith version due to some legal entanglement. The Band was a group that had backed up Dylan. "Boy, you're gonna carry that weight; carry that weight a long time" might have been some sort of message to Dylan, who may have motivated the Easy Rider to do his thing. I've posted here before about how I think that the movie "Easy Rider" ties in with PID/PWR. We now return control of this thread to Jai Guru Deva, and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. 'til next time
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Post by B on Sept 21, 2011 0:53:06 GMT -5
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Post by Jai Guru Deva on Sept 21, 2011 13:52:41 GMT -5
articlewww.nicksimper.com/nicks_story2.htmAn excerpt from Johnny Kidd website:www.adiebarrett.co.uk/johnnykidd/timeline/timeline.htmOctober 07, Friday
The group are booked for a gig in Bolton but arrive slightly late. The Manager cancels, perhaps a little over-zealous as it isn't start-time yet, and refuses to budge in spite of hardly anyone turning up and Kidd offering to do it for nothing. With free time on their hands they travel over to do a reconnaissance of the Nelson Imperial; they are due to appear in a few weeks time and get on well with the Manager there, and hope he can put a few more bookings their way. After this they begin the long trek home. It is late at night, and the car leaves the road after a head-on collision on the A58, Bury New Road, near Radcliff. Traffic is diverted as firemen cut through the twisted metal to free the occupants. Nick Simper emerges badly injured but especially suffers with a smashed-up arm which will keep him out of action for weeks. Johnny Kidd however is pronounced Dead On Arrival at hospital. He would have been 31 in a few weeks time. One person in the other vehicle is also killed.This brings the New Pirates' career to a shuddering halt as they take time out to evaluate their position and await the injured to make full recoveries. JohnnyKidd'swww.adiebarrett.co.uk/johnnykidd/timeline/timeline.htmJohnny pretends to be "dead" while the rest of the band gathers around to mourn their " loss". Also notice the truck behind them ". The Beatles perform a similar scene: More photos of the Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. DrGangrene--JohnnyKiddWhen George played a pirate, was he just having some fun, or was he trying to send a message? Pirate Song ]
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Post by iameye on Sept 21, 2011 20:32:59 GMT -5
[quote author=jaigurudeva board=general thread=6629 post=89777 time=1316631161 The Beatles perform a similar scene: More photos of the Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. DrGangrene--JohnnyKiddWhen George played a pirate, was he just having some fun, or was he trying to send a message? Pirate Song ][/quote] A one-eyed pirate with a message?
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Post by B on Sept 22, 2011 1:04:45 GMT -5
Was this image taken from a film? There appear to be spirits in the picture. Look at the ectoplasmic gunk on Faul's chest. It could be a chain that moved during the photography, admittedly, but there's "fog" all over the picture. By Ringo's head, etc. Above Faul's head I see an ectoplasmic face looking down and to the left, as well as a George-like face on the stone block above Faul's head. I'm thinking that if the photograph is from a film, the weirdness might have to do with a changing scene, etc. or glare in the camera lense, but this looks like it could be 'ghostly' too. " Johnny Kidd was actually named Frederick Albert Heath. He was born in Willesdon, London on November 23, 1935." It seems possible that Beatles may have used the Johnny Kidd car crash as an inspiration for some of the "Paul is dead" story. Paul being in the role of Johnny ( Frederick Heath); "dead", but in fact being hidden by/with the Jefferson Airplane (and Neil Young also, I suspect). We're so sorry Uncle Albert?
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Post by Jai Guru Deva on Sept 23, 2011 15:49:13 GMT -5
If you'll take out your official unofficial "Paul Is Dead" guide for just a moment and turn to page 32 3/8th, section B, C, and D... I'm sorry, I meant E--naturally E--not D, subsection 2.8IF-LMW, clause F (as in "Fab", "Fool", or "Fake")... We've got songs like "A Day In The Life", "#9", "Don't Pass Me By", "Lovely Rita" and the Lovely Rita story which basically went as follows... Paul McCartney had an argument with his band members for one reason or another. He stormed out of the studio and drove off in the middle of night while it was raining heavily. He saw a young hitch hiker named Rita and decided to give her a ride. When she recognized who was driving, she jumped on McCartney which caused him to lose control of the car and crash. The effects of the alleged crash was devastating for McCartney. A crowd of people gathered around and stared. They'd seen his face before, nobody was really sure who it was either. When news of the death of Paul McCartney reached the band, an idea was proposed to hold a look-and-sound-alike contest to find someone to replace McCartney, paying the police and medical staff involved to keep quiet as well as 'Faul,' or the false Paul McCartney. The idea went through and someone was found by the name of William Campbell of Ontario, Canada. After a bit of plastic surgery, unreleased recording, and studio editing "Billy Shears" became the perfect McCartney double. We've got Tara Browne's "accident". As the story goes, on the night of 17 December 1966, Tara and his girlfriend, 19-year-old model Suki Potier, had spent the evening at a friend's house in Earls Court. They left shortly before 1am on the following morning, in search of food. Browne drove his light blue Lotus Elan car through London's South Kensington at high speed. He failed to notice a red traffic light and drove through the junction of Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens, colliding with a stationary van ( truck or lorry--some accounts say it was a lamp post. One would think someone would know the difference between a truck and lamp post...) in Redcliffe Gardens after swerving to avoid an oncoming Volkswagen car ( which had pulled out of a side-street). Tara Browne was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital ( some accounts say he died of his injuries the following day). The autopsy revealed that his death was the result of 'brain lacerations due to fractures of the skull.' His passenger, model Suki Potier, escaped with bruises and shock. He was survived by his wife Noreen, from whom he had separated, and their two sons. Browne was no stranger to mindaltering drugs and but different accounts differ about whether or not under he was influence when he crashed. However, John Lennon told Hunter Davis that he just added in the line about "he blew his mind out in a car", but that he really didn't blow his mind out in a car. Anyway, Tara apparently had enough clarity of mind to make split-second judgement and save Suki Potier's life. As Potier later claimed that Browne swerved the car to absorb the impact of the crash to save her life. She was unharmed in the accident. Well if you're going to go, why not as a hero? We have the story about Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Robert Fraser, and Christopher Gibbs all piling into a mini-cooper, then Mohammed Chtaibi follow them in a second mini-cooper. The plan is to drive to Redlands, Richard’s secluded thatched-roofed country mansion in West Wittering, Sussex, after a brief stop first at Mick’s place in Hertfordshire. The two Mini Coopers head up the M1 into the country dark of Britain’s outer regions. Traveling narrow road at speeds upwards to 70 M.P.H.. At about the half-way, Mohammed runs out of cigarettes. Giving the car the gas, he succeeds in pulling McCartney’s Mini up beside Jagger’s car and Fraser manages to land a few butts inside the car. Jagger and Company then pull ahead and out of sight. In his haste leaving McCartney's house, Chtaibi had accidentally the car’s seat belt dragging on the ground. As Mohammed slows down to light his cigarette, another car passes, getting close enough to run over the dangling seat belt. Chtaibi's Mini is tugged to the side and he pulls the steering wheel in the opposite direction. At this moment the passing car drives off of the belt. The Mini smashes into a metal streetlight, totalling the car, leaving Chtaibi unconscious and bleeding – and hugging the monstrous lamp pole between his legs. Not too very long after, Chtaibi begins to awaken. His first thought is to retrieve a box of drugs in McCartney’s car. Chtaibi pull himself out of the wreckage, locates the box, hobble across the dark highway (scaling a high barrier fence and a traffic island in the process), and throws the box down a ravine. Then he makes it back to the crash site before the police arrive. Hot on the heels of the police come the spectators. They immediately recognize the Mini Cooper as belonging to McCartney, and an audible buzz goes up after they see a slight, dark-haired man being pulled from the car and placed into an ambulance ( I guess Chtaibi got back in the car). Putting two and two together and coming up with three, the word quickly spreads that Paul McCartney’s been in a car accident. (Let's see, Chtaibi is driving a narrow winding road in a dark, desolate, remote area, he smacks into a light pole, and enough people to make a crowd gather around and they're able to recognize the mini cooper belongs to McCartney? I guess the license plate must've said, "Cute Beatle"!) Chtaibi is taken to a nearby hospital where he is treated for multiple cuts, bruises and other injuries. After the doctors remove all of the glass from his face and body. Chtaibi is able to relay the story of what happened to Fraser, and Fraser tells McCartney. www.gadflyonline.com/archive/MayJune00/archive-mccartney.htmlQ: Quick--who's black mini cooper is this? A: It belongs to John Lennon. His mini had the license plate LGF 696D. But if your just a country bumpkin out in the hinterland, not a real die hard Beatles groupie who pays attention to what cars they drive, how would you know? www.minispace.co.uk/beatles/john/index.htm
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Post by Jai Guru Deva on Oct 6, 2011 15:18:55 GMT -5
A pirate ship sails in the ocean on an early Beatles' alternate cover for the White album. Klaatu album cover "Magentalane". Terry Draper album cover "Stranded". www.terrydraper.com/
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Post by vOOdOOgurU on Oct 6, 2011 19:21:36 GMT -5
If you'll take out your official unofficial "Paul Is Dead" guide for just a moment and turn to page 32 3/8th, section B, C, and D... I'm sorry, I meant E--naturally E--not D, subsection 2.8IF-LMW, clause F (as in "Fab", "Fool", or "Fake")... We've got songs like "A Day In The Life", "#9", "Don't Pass Me By", "Lovely Rita" and the Lovely Rita story which basically went as follows... Paul McCartney had an argument with his band members for one reason or another. He stormed out of the studio and drove off in the middle of night while it was raining heavily. He saw a young hitch hiker named Rita and decided to give her a ride. When she recognized who was driving, she jumped on McCartney which caused him to lose control of the car and crash. The effects of the alleged crash was devastating for McCartney. A crowd of people gathered around and stared. They'd seen his face before, nobody was really sure who it was either. When news of the death of Paul McCartney reached the band, an idea was proposed to hold a look-and-sound-alike contest to find someone to replace McCartney, paying the police and medical staff involved to keep quiet as well as 'Faul,' or the false Paul McCartney. The idea went through and someone was found by the name of William Campbell of Ontario, Canada. After a bit of plastic surgery, unreleased recording, and studio editing "Billy Shears" became the perfect McCartney double. We've got Tara Browne's "accident". As the story goes, on the night of 17 December 1966, Tara and his girlfriend, 19-year-old model Suki Potier, had spent the evening at a friend's house in Earls Court. They left shortly before 1am on the following morning, in search of food. Browne drove his light blue Lotus Elan car through London's South Kensington at high speed. He failed to notice a red traffic light and drove through the junction of Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens, colliding with a stationary van ( truck or lorry--some accounts say it was a lamp post. One would think someone would know the difference between a truck and lamp post...) in Redcliffe Gardens after swerving to avoid an oncoming Volkswagen car ( which had pulled out of a side-street). Tara Browne was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital ( some accounts say he died of his injuries the following day). The autopsy revealed that his death was the result of 'brain lacerations due to fractures of the skull.' His passenger, model Suki Potier, escaped with bruises and shock. He was survived by his wife Noreen, from whom he had separated, and their two sons. Browne was no stranger to mindaltering drugs and but different accounts differ about whether or not under he was influence when he crashed. However, John Lennon told Hunter Davis that he just added in the line about "he blew his mind out in a car", but that he really didn't blow his mind out in a car. Anyway, Tara apparently had enough clarity of mind to make split-second judgement and save Suki Potier's life. As Potier later claimed that Browne swerved the car to absorb the impact of the crash to save her life. She was unharmed in the accident. Well if you're going to go, why not as a hero? We have the story about Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Robert Fraser, and Christopher Gibbs all piling into a mini-cooper, then Mohammed Chtaibi follow them in a second mini-cooper. The plan is to drive to Redlands, Richard’s secluded thatched-roofed country mansion in West Wittering, Sussex, after a brief stop first at Mick’s place in Hertfordshire. The two Mini Coopers head up the M1 into the country dark of Britain’s outer regions. Traveling narrow road at speeds upwards to 70 M.P.H.. At about the half-way, Mohammed runs out of cigarettes. Giving the car the gas, he succeeds in pulling McCartney’s Mini up beside Jagger’s car and Fraser manages to land a few butts inside the car. Jagger and Company then pull ahead and out of sight. In his haste leaving McCartney's house, Chtaibi had accidentally the car’s seat belt dragging on the ground. As Mohammed slows down to light his cigarette, another car passes, getting close enough to run over the dangling seat belt. Chtaibi's Mini is tugged to the side and he pulls the steering wheel in the opposite direction. At this moment the passing car drives off of the belt. The Mini smashes into a metal streetlight, totalling the car, leaving Chtaibi unconscious and bleeding – and hugging the monstrous lamp pole between his legs. Not too very long after, Chtaibi begins to awaken. His first thought is to retrieve a box of drugs in McCartney’s car. Chtaibi pull himself out of the wreckage, locates the box, hobble across the dark highway (scaling a high barrier fence and a traffic island in the process), and throws the box down a ravine. Then he makes it back to the crash site before the police arrive. Hot on the heels of the police come the spectators. They immediately recognize the Mini Cooper as belonging to McCartney, and an audible buzz goes up after they see a slight, dark-haired man being pulled from the car and placed into an ambulance ( I guess Chtaibi got back in the car). Putting two and two together and coming up with three, the word quickly spreads that Paul McCartney’s been in a car accident. (Let's see, Chtaibi is driving a narrow winding road in a dark, desolate, remote area, he smacks into a light pole, and enough people to make a crowd gather around and they're able to recognize the mini cooper belongs to McCartney? I guess the license plate must've said, "Cute Beatle"!) Chtaibi is taken to a nearby hospital where he is treated for multiple cuts, bruises and other injuries. After the doctors remove all of the glass from his face and body. Chtaibi is able to relay the story of what happened to Fraser, and Fraser tells McCartney. www.gadflyonline.com/archive/MayJune00/archive-mccartney.htmlQ: Quick--who's black mini cooper is this? A: It belongs to John Lennon. His mini had the license plate LGF 696D. But if your just a country bumpkin out in the hinterland, not a real die hard Beatles groupie who pays attention to what cars they drive, how would you know? www.minispace.co.uk/beatles/john/index.htm The Chtaibi story is just too hard to believe really. 6 adult people in 1 mini cooper (which should be green, not black) and 1 person in another, doesn't even make sense. One of the hardest things I found difficult to find was WHERE in Hertfordshire Jagger had residence. If you follow the M1 route from their original starting point (St John's Wood), there's only so many places Jagger could have lived. But it's just difficult enough to fathom six grown men in a mini-cooper that was reported as being black, when McCartney's mini-cooper was the only one of its kind in the UK, and was ... green. Talk about disinformation. The Beatles Monthly, with its supposed ghostwriters and coverage of The Beatles in its publication years, I really find it hard to not think the rumour really starts with that "report" in 1967. That they couldn't get the car colour correct seems ... weird. Lennon's black mini-cooper also gets stolen, never recovered as far as I have read. To see Keith Moon on the cover of WHO ARE YOU in a chair marked "Not To Be Taken Away", or certain members of Lynyrd Skynrd engulfed in flames on "Street Survivors" is one thing, and quite ominous. But to see one person singled out continuously over a 4 year period in much the same manner, and then have pieces like the Chtaibi account, which has a number of questionable attributes to it, only fuels such things. If it was a hoax/publicity, well ... it's a cheap tactic don't you think? The Beatles needed death to market their work? Really? That's sad. I find the whole hoax/publicity account of these things to be too rose coloured glasses. Was their "legacy" not enough to insure their continued interest and respect? Without going all PT Barnum and turning it into an oddity and distraction from maybe greater things? REVOLVER has death all over it. And not in a Baby's In Black way. All of a sudden The Beatles three main writers all begin to discuss death, and then an album later there's a funeral scene. Pre-planned? Creative direction? Self fulfilling prophecy? It wasn't just McCartney appearing in a case on Yesterday & Today. It was also the whole album Revolver and multiple references to Death. Physical or Metaphysical Death - take your pick, they're both represented. And not like "I feel like dying without your love" kind of death that filled every teenyboppers daydreams. The more heady stuff of death. To say it's brilliant publicity, or excellent marketing, well ... Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil was great publicity too. Except he didn't live to see the rewards of it. Or even capitalise on it. I have no real point to make to be honest. Other than that account of Chtaibi and the black mini-cooper.
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Post by iameye on Oct 7, 2011 7:40:19 GMT -5
A pirate ship sails in the ocean on and early Beatles' alternate cover for the White album. Klaatu album cover "Magentalane". Terry Draper album cover "Stranded". www.terrydraper.com/Pirate ship? maybe I like to think of it more as an ark that can go everywhere and anywhere. a white ( album ) doll's House in the Sky!
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Post by iameye on Oct 7, 2011 7:56:06 GMT -5
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Post by B on Oct 7, 2011 18:57:22 GMT -5
Quinn the eskimo? Does anyone know the story of this photo? What was going on?
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Post by Jai Guru Deva on Nov 15, 2011 15:04:53 GMT -5
I want to add the death of Eddie Cochran, because there also appears to be parallels between it, the PID story, and the Tara Browne crash. Eddie, his girlfriend Sharon Sheeley, and Gene Vincent were traveling by car from Bristol to London. The driver George Martin is a different person than the Beatle's producer George Martin (it's a curious fact nonetheless). The speeding automobile blew a tire, lost control, and crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, just outside Chippenham. Cochran threw is body over his girlfriend to shield her, and he was thrown out of the car. He was taken to St. Martin hospital, Bath. He died the next day from severe head injuries. Sharon and Gene were badly injured, but survived the crash. ______________________________________________________________________ Eddie Cochran ('Summertime Blues') died in a car crash in England. The accident also left Gene Vincent ('Be-Bop-A-Lula') seriously injured---1960. Rock Factoid: After a show at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 16th, Eddie wanted a lift back to London with opening act Johnny Gentle, who had driven himself to Bristol, but his car was full. There were no more trains at that time of night, so a taxi was called. Sometime after 11.00pm, driver George Martin, Eddie, Gene, Sharon Sheeley (songwriter and Cochran's girlfriend) and tour-manager Pat Thompkins, set off for London. Martin lost control of the car on a bend at Rowden Hill just outside Chippenham and crashed into a lamp post. The impact sent Cochran up into the roof and forced the rear door open, throwing him onto the road. After the car had come to a halt, Martin and Thompkins were able to walk away from the wreckage uninjured. But Vincent, Sheeley and Cochran weren't as fortunate. Vincent sustained lasting injuries to an already permanently damaged leg that would shorten his career and affect him for the rest of his life. Sheeley suffered a broken pelvis. Eddie Cochran passed away on April 17, Easter Sunday. The cause of death was severe head injuries. He was only 21. streamingoldiesPhotos of the Eddie Cochran crash. Note the grave with guitar made out of flowers. www.eddie-cochran.info/the_crash.htmwww.eddiecochran.info/Biography/Chippenham.htmTwenty Flight Rock by Eddie Cochran. It's the first song Paul McCartney played for John Lennon. He also played Gene Vincent's Be-Bop-A-Lula. Sundial and wooden bench at St. Martin's hospital. Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun If the sun don't come you get a tan from standing in the English rain
I am the eggman They are the eggmen I am the walrus Goo goo g' joob
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Post by iameye on Nov 17, 2011 10:22:49 GMT -5
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun If the sun don't come you get a tan from standing in the English rain
this is who you'll meet in the English garden
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Post by Jai Guru Deva on Nov 25, 2012 16:38:17 GMT -5
Bessie Smith. She was a blues singer. Born on April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was widely known as the “Empress of the Blues”.
In 1937, along highway 61 a long and winding road stretching from Chicago, along the banks of the Mississippi, and down to New Orleans. Highway 61 also known as America's Music Highway. Smith died as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash.
(Note there are elements of the car crash which ring familiar with the PID story.)
Excerpt from the book "A Bad Woman Feeling Good" by Buzzy Jackson, pgs. 76-77:
The facts--or at least the best approximation of them--were these:
At around 1 A.M on September 26, 1937, Bessie Smith and Richard Morgan left Memphis and began driving to Clarksdale, Mississippi, along Highway 61. They had gone about seventy-five miles when Morgan, who was driving, saw a pair of taillights ahead, tried to brake and lost control of the car, which smashed into the rear of a parked delivery truck and flipped over, coming to rest on the passenger side, where Smith was sitting. The injuries were severe. The truck and its driver, who has nver been identified, left the scene.
Almost immediately, Morgan and Smith were joined by two white men, Hugh Smith and Henry Braughton, who had been driving to a favorite fishing hole three hours south of their hometown of Memhis. Smith was a doctor, and he quickly assessed Bessie Smith's injuries: her right arm was almost completely severed at the elbow; her entire right side had been crushed; and she was no doubt bleeding internally. Not quite unconscious, she moaned and gasped for breath, and then went into shock. Dr. Smith and Broughton moved her to the side of the road and then went to a nearby house to call an ambulance.
The delay in the arrival of the abulance prompted the men to move Smith into their own car and drive her to the hospital themselves. Incredibly, just as they were about to move her, yet another car arrived on the scene, speeding down the highway, and promptly crashed into Dr. Smith's car. The white couple in this fourth vehicle was injured but not seriously, and at that moment an ambulance, a sheriff, and two policement arrived. A second ambulance pulled up, apparently summoned separately by the driver of the now-vanished truck. Bessi Smith and Richard Morgan left for Clarksdale in one ambulance, the young white couple in another.
It is at this point that the mythologizing begins: was Bessie Smith taken to a white hospital, only to be refused service and sthus killed by Jim Crow? Dr. Smith insisted that this was not true. "The Bessie Smith ambulance would not have gone to a white hopital," he said. "You can forget that. Down in the Deep South cotton country, no colored ambulance driver, or white driver, would even have thought of putting a colored person off in a hospital for white folks." Dr. Smith recalled that the separate hospitals for "colored" and white were about a half-mile apart, an insignificant distance when one considers the severity of her injuries. The black ambulance driver, Willie George Miller, claimed to have driven Bessie Smith directly to the black hospital, and he said that, in his memory, she was dead on arrival. According to hospital records, howver, Bessie Smith died at 11:30 AM of internal injuries.
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Post by LOVELYRITA on Nov 25, 2012 20:01:16 GMT -5
If you'll take out your official unofficial "Paul Is Dead" guide for just a moment and turn to page 32 3/8th, section B, C, and D... I'm sorry, I meant E--naturally E--not D, subsection 2.8IF-LMW, clause F (as in "Fab", "Fool", or "Fake")... We've got songs like "A Day In The Life", "#9", "Don't Pass Me By", "Lovely Rita" and the Lovely Rita story which basically went as follows... Paul McCartney had an argument with his band members for one reason or another. He stormed out of the studio and drove off in the middle of night while it was raining heavily. He saw a young hitch hiker named Rita and decided to give her a ride. When she recognized who was driving, she jumped on McCartney which caused him to lose control of the car and crash. The effects of the alleged crash was devastating for McCartney. A crowd of people gathered around and stared. They'd seen his face before, nobody was really sure who it was either. Oh yeah, blame it on me, I was only about 5 years old at the time, and my mother would not have allowed me to hitch hike in PA much less England.... at that time I would have hit him over the head with my teddy bear...seriously....
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