#brian poole & the tremeloes

[strazcenter]

The Day the Music Didn’t Die

On Feb. 3, 1959, a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza flying in low visibility crashed north of Clear Lake, Iowa. All four aboard were killed: pilot Roger Peterson and rock & rollers Buddy Holly, 22; The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson Jr.), 28; and Ritchie Valens (Richard Valenzuela), 17. The three were stars of the Winter Dance Party Tour of the Midwest. Feb. 3 is called The Day the Music Died, the…

[harrisonarchive]

On 1 January 1962, The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records.

“It was snowing and I remember going into the Decca studios. We just went in, set up our amps and played. […] I did the Joe Brown records, so I sang ‘Sheik Of Araby.’ Paul sang ‘September In The Rain.’ We each chose a number we wanted to do. It was unusual at that time to have a group where everybody did the singing. In those days it was all Cliff and The Shadows, a lead guy out the front; the whole band in suits, matching ties and handkerchiefs, all with regular movements, and one guy at the front who sang. The audition lasted for a couple of hours and that was it. We left and went back to our hotel.” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology (2000)

“But Decca didn’t like us, did they? Instead, they hired Brian Poole and the Tremelos! And there was the famous quote from Dick Rowe, the [singles A&R] head of Decca Records, who said, ‘Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr. Epstein.' [Big laugh] That’s brilliant, isn’t it?” - George Harrison, Billboard, 5 December 1992

“In the very early days, it was pretty exciting. I remember going to auditions at Decca and each of us did pretty well, y’know. We were in a pub afterwards having a drink and kind of debriefing and coming down off the excitement, but we were still pretty high off it all. And I remember sitting at the bar with George and it became kind of a fun thing for us for years later. I would say, [adopts awed voice] ‘When you sang [Goffin & King’s] Take Good Care Of My Baby, it was amazin’ man!’ I’m not sure we said 'man' or even ‘amazing’ in those days, but... That was a special little moment and it just became a thing between me and him: [awed voice again] ‘When you sang Take Good Care Of My Baby...’” - Paul McCartney, MOJO extended interview, November 2011 (x)

[absolutely60s]

“GO OVER BIG with MARSHALL”