There were technical issues with our interview on this weeks show with Tony Bramwell, so we did the best we could to transcribe it. Our chat took place October 3: You’ve seen Paul in action for so long…You’d almost think he had it down to a routine, but he keeps surprising us with cool shows like the one along Hollywood Boulevard, and popping up in unexpected places. TB: Yeah, I’m gonna see one next week in London, as a surprise…and that’ll be fun! Yesterday he spent the day tweeting people, didn’t he? I was saying, “What’s he doing?” That was a new one on all of us! Have you heard the new album? TB: Yes. And your impressions? TB: It’s jolly and happy and very pop-beat. It’s brilliant, yeh! As you would expect it would be. The tracks we heard early on, “Save Us” and “Everybody Out There” seem to have a bit of a spiritual theme, but that’s not really new for Paul, is it? TB: I don’t know if it’s spiritual, I think it’s just because he’s happy at the moment. It shows in a lot of the things he’s doing, and the amount of work he’s doing. No matter what he’s doing, he just loves work, none of this “unhappy, don’t do much work, wouldn’t fit him. Instead he’s all over media and television, he’s been on every chat show in the States, the concert next week…a BBC live broadcast. And then I hope to catch up with him in Japan in November. We’re in Japan at the same time, I think our time in Japan coincides. I saw your comment about Larry Kane’s new book, “When They Were Boys.” He was on the show twice last month and seems to have done a really great job with that topic. TB: Ah, Larry, Larry’s just a lovely old friend for oh, 50 years now. Occasionally we bump into each other. When he was doing his (previous) book, he came to England and we spent some time together, and of course he got stuck in the country because of that volcanic cloud that cancelled all the flights. I remember that! TB: And he was panicking to get back to the States because he had been invited to the White House. He really wanted to get back there because it was a day or two before the White House thing. He’s a really good friend, popular and very funny. His descriptions of me made me fall up! It’s almost like he’s telling the same story as in your “Magical Mystery Tours,” but from an American perspective. TB: Yeah, because Larry was one of the few people, one of the first proper journalists in the States to grasp the idea of the moptops and spend time with them, to invest his time and patience in getting close to them. Everyone talks about Ed Sullivan and Murray the K or whoever, but Larry was there all the time those first three tours. On the plane, at the gigs, in the hotel, so he knows what he’s talking about. I’ve been reading a lot about those early days when the group were always trying to stay a step ahead by hearing and learning the coolest songs that other bands didn’t know. Were there those bands they honestly thought were better, and that they were concerned about, before hitting it big? TB: This would be before (The Beatles) came back from Hamburg, and they were way above everybody else. There were a couple of great bands, but not playing that sort of stuff. Like the Searchers. They were more of a country-western band before they became The Searchers, “Sweets for My Sweet” and all that. More country-western, they’d be more likely to be doing George Jones or Johnny Cash stuff, and were called “Johnny Sandon and The Searchers.” And there was another great instrumental group called Remo Four. But they were more like the Shadows, or the Ventures over there. The guitarist was Colin Manley. He died not too long ago…He was a friend of George’s and taught George a lot of guitar back in those days. And the other group that were on the same level as the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, in their poppy way, and that was it, really. All the other groups struggled behind. I mean, the Swinging Blue Jeans were a jazz band until they became the Swinging Blue Jeans that copied the Beatles doing “Hippy Hippy Shake,” which will be on that new BBC album. That’s a good album, eh? I don’t know anyone personally who has a better insight into George’s psyche back in those days, than you. I’ve always been fascinated at the way he tried to appear indifferent to it all, but still enjoyed the benefits of his work a great deal. He always had that cool persona like “This is no big deal” even though it was. TB: Oh, no, it was a big deal, but he had to stand next to John and Paul. John and Paul treated George as the new guitarist in the band, and he wasn’t writing too much then. But that’s how it was, the reporters always went to John and Paul for in-depth stuff, Ringo for comedy, and George was just being George. He was smart about it and stayed that way. This is the first chance we’ve had to chat since Jackie Lomax passed away. You were there, right in the thick of it when Apple started, and now we’re hearing all those stories about what a great guy he was. TB: Jackie was a lovely guy. He was in the Undertakers, a Liverpool band. They were a great band, but more like a “show” band. But Jackie had that great screeching voice and they let him scream on “Hey Jude.” The stuff he made with Apple, it’s just a shame it all got overshadowed by the likes of Mary Hopkin and The Beatles. Jackie’s albums didn’t quite get that recognition at the time. Great songs, fantastic production and musicianship…Paul played on one, Ringo played on one, George played on one, Eric Clapton was all over them. The songs had Delaney and Bonnie, all of these people played on Jackie’s albums. It was a slight problem because Jackie could never do shows because he could not have that band. (laughs) The band he had was a band called Quiver, and they became the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. They did “Sailing,” which Rod Stewart had the smash hit with. I always liked Paul’s production of (Jackie’s) “Thumbin’ a Ride.” I played it on the show last week, just for you. And speaking of Apple, how wonderful was it to see your old chums Badfinger rocket back into the spotlight because of “Breaking Bad?” TB: That is astonishing! The power that a TV show, when no one in England’s really heard of it. I was getting all these reporters’ calls earlier in the week. I was happy but I had no idea what they were talking about. But I saw the video clip and I was just like “Wow!” It’s good for Joey Molland and puts the band that much back in demand now. And take it from someone who saw every episode, that was the absolute most perfect song they could have selected. I was blown away when it started playing because it fit what they were doing so perfectly. TB: Yeah, it’s just amazing how these film people will do that occasionally, pick that one that clicks just perfectly. They’ll hear something somewhere like HBO and think “I must use that sometime.” Very strange. What was your recollection of when Apple signed them? Even before the tragedies that came later, that band really seemed to have their ups and downs as they were starting as The Iveys. TB: The Iveys had a good five years where nobody could actually work out what to do with them. They were just sort of gigging around, and then suddenly there they were and Paul took notice of them and did “Come and Get It” which worked very, very well. Their production got much better and their songwriting became more confident. And that led to a lot, there was a teen TV show called “Top of the Pops” and I was having dinner with the producer, and he said “We’re starting a new slot on the show called an Album Slot, so if you’ve got somebody who could come on and do three songs from their new album…” And I immediately thought of Badfinger, and I got them on as the pilot act, doing the Album slot, and that’s what made “No Matter What” move up after “Come and Get It.” It got big TV exposure for them. It was a happy time except for those strange management people who didn’t know what they were doing. Counting the money! (laughs) I’m covering one of the rock and roll fantasy camps here in Las Vegas next week, and it has a Beatles theme. Denny Laine, Denny Siewell, May Pang are all going to be there. Here we are 50 years later, and people still want to experience that fantasy and put themselves in those shoes. Isn’t that crazy? TB: Why aren’t I there? (laughs) That’s a very good question! TB: You ask them! A Beatles camp and Bramwell isn’t there? What do you think you’re doing? Crazy, man! (laughs) I’m doing coverage and I’ll pass that along. Did I read right, you’re headed to Belgium next? TB: Yes, I’m heading to Belgium next week for a little Beatles Fest. I’ll be in Mons, where they’re declaring it a City of Culture next year, after Liverpool was City of Culture a few years ago. This year Londonderry in Ireland is a City of Culture, and whenever a city is going to become a City of Culture they ask me, and I give them some ideas on how to do concerts or a Beatle event. At least they called you! (laughs) How goes the update on the book? TB: It’s in its 11th printing at the moment, so it must be doing terribly well. I was a bit worried it might stop selling and contacted the publisher and they said, “No! We’re just going to reprint it again.” So it’s still doing very, very well. All right! I recommend it to everyone. It’s the best book about the early days I’ve ever read. TB: I think we’re going to give it another push next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary. Tony, it’s been a delight. We’ll touch base again soon. TB: Thanks for having me.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 19:37:10 +0000
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