Bear with me, because this post is liable to be long, slightly convoluted, and possibly a bit crazy, but humor me, because I think it makes sense.
In addition, I DO realize that some of what I'm about to say HAS come up before, but I think that I'm approaching it from a different angle and pulling it together a bit more.
Anyways...
I was listening to Dylan's HOW DOES IT FEEL today and there's a verse in it that really has me a bit freaked out. It freaks me out because it was written in 196
5, but it seems to tell the story of Paul, Faul, and somebody else who might have sung for Paul, just as Mr. Vermouth indicated.
Here we go:
"You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you
You never understood that it aint no good
You shouldnt let other people get your kicks for you
You (Paul) used to ride on the chrome horse with your
diplomat (Denny Laine)Who carried on his shoulder a
siamese cat (Faul)Aint it hard when you discover that
He really wasnt where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal."
Dylan seems to be connecting a
diplomat with a siamese cat who stole everything. Is the
siamese cat a TWIN (or someone who went on to be a twin?) stealing everything from his brother, or from his look-alike?
At this point, I need to mention that Denny Laine's group before the Moody Blues was called Denny Laine and the
DIPLOMATS, and a guy I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with was also in the Diplomats. His name was
Phil Ackrill. He played guitar and sang, and there's been some talk that
HE is the one who became Faul.
Finally,
Bev Bevan was also a Diplomat, and he went on to be a founding member of
ELO. You know, the band with the guy (Jeff Lynne) who produced Free As a Bird and Real Love, and included PID/PWR songs like BLUEBIRD, and LETTER FROM SPAIN on an album called SECRET MESSAGES.
"I read the papers this morning
I saw your photograph
You look good in the movie
It must be so much fun
Letter from spain
From someone I once knew
I got a letter this morning
Postmark said it was from spain
Your writing is so very strange
I guess it always was that way
Letter from spain
From someone I once knew"
Anyway, here's the story of the Diplomats:
"Later in 1963, Nicky James was offered a recording contract with Pye Records and this effectively ended his association with Denny Laine & The Diplomats. The Diplomats carried on as a four-piece group and for a short time had local singer Buddy Ash (see The Brumbeats) as Nicky James' replacement, but although they had plenty of bookings and occasional appearances on local TV, singer Denny Laine grew ever more restless at the groups' lack of commercial success. By early 1964 when he was not appearing with the Diplomats, Denny Laine was rehearsing with a new group in Birmingham called The R&B Preachers - soon to become the Moody Blues - and by May of that year he had left the Diplomats for good to concentrate on the new project. The Moody Blues after being signed to Decca Records, would enjoy worldwide fame by the end of 1964 with their classic recording of Go Now climbing to number one in the record charts (see The Moody Blues).""The Diplomats decided to carry on with replacements; singer Jim Onslow from Park Hill Road, Harbourne, and guitarist Mike Hopkins, both who had been members of Gerry Levene and The Avengers. Although the Diplomats continued to play bookings throughout the Midlands area, the effects from the loss of Denny Laine as frontman and driving force became ever more apparent and the group began to lose direction. By the end of 1964, the Diplomats threw in the towel and split up with Phil Ackrill retiring from the music scene. Bev Bevan eventually found fame as drummer for The Move and was also a founding member of the Electric Light Orchestra which became one of the most successful rock groups of the 1970's.Source:
www.brumbeat.net/diplomat.htmSo, in summary:
1. Denny Laine was in a band called The Diplomats with Phil Ackrill and Bev Bevan.
2. Laine leaves The Diplomats in 1964 to form the Moody Blues, and has a #1 single. The Moody Blues sign with Brian Epstein sometime in early to mid 1966, but Laine leaves the Moody Blues in October of 1966, just in time to participate in the PID/PWR extravagaza. He later is a founding member of WINGS, and is, in fact, the only member other than Linda to be in WINGS from start to finish. Further, I believe that Laine sounds a LOT like McCartney, and is a possible candidate for the Pepper era stuff like Penny Lane, Hello goodbye, and Fool On the Hill. I included vocal samples of him in a post above, so have a listen.
3. Phil Ackrill "retires from music" at the end of 1964, and there's really not anything written about him since.
4. Bev Bevan goes on to be a founding member of ELO with Jeff Lynne. ELO have SEVERAL PID/PWR songs, and Lynne, went on to produce George Harrison's Cloud Nine (including the PID/PWR laden When We Was Fab), and formed the Travelling Wilburys with none other than Harrison AND DYLAN.
5. Dylan wrote HOW DOES IT FEEL, which, as I stated above, contains a verse that seems to tell the story of Paul, a Diplomat, and a siamese cat (twin) who steals everything from his look-alike.
I rest my case (ducks). ;D
EDIT:Looking at Diplomat photos, this keeps getting weirder.
First of all, Bev Bevan and Phil Ackril originally shared the last name of Ralston, although, it seems that they were NOT brothers.
Secondly, there seems to be AT LEAST two different versions of Phil Ralston/Ackril, and possibly even three.
Is this the same man as above?
How about this Macca-esque chap?
Cropped from this:
I am perfectly willing to accept that I'm wrong, and that this Phil Ackril is the same in all these pics, but I just don't think he is.
And if he's not, then this is a can of worms that deserves re-opening.
What do youse guys think?