The Medusa Fora

A friend of mine who I play football with is a bit of an actor. He was in a popular comedy-lite back in the day called "Bread". He told me this tale on Monday.

He'd been to see the pogues in Leeds some years back and was staying in the hotel with the band. After the gig, Mr Chevron (who is clearly indefatigable) was playing his guitar in the bar ( I usually have to sleep for 48 hours after a concert and I've only been drinking and jumping about) when, quite lateish, a load of business suitey types decscended on the bar having clearly been indulging in liquid expenses.

Mr C continued with his playing and the suits were suitably (not intentional)impressed with his skills but not with his song selection and asked if he knew any Beatles tunes. Rest of company, the Maestro in particular, had hysterics but Mr C's sang froid was undisturbed and he smiled benignly but carried on with his tunes.

Having typed this, I am not sure if it reads as funny as it was when it was told to me, clearly my buddy has the advantage of professional actor delivery, anyway maybe it's a thin time for funny stories.

Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.

A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

philipchevron wrote:Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.

A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

Mr C you've made my night! That makes you a third hand Beatle.

I am prevailing on Nick to roll back the years and get himself to the MEN in December.......I think he'll weaken........

philipchevron wrote:
A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

Hahaha....Good call, Phil.

philipchevron wrote:A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

Quite so.

It could have been worse, though - you might have been in a bar in the states, in which case the suits would have requested either Lynyrd Skynyrd or Jackson Browne.

sheva wrote:

philipchevron wrote:A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

Quite so.

It could have been worse, though - you might have been in a bar in the states, in which case the suits would have requested either Lynyrd Skynyrd or Jackson Browne.

haha, since when are we nuts about browne?

cougar wrote:haha, since when are we nuts about browne?

Well, not we, cougar - I meant them, those other folks. Clearly, we know better.

soulfinger wrote:I am prevailing on Nick to roll back the years and get himself to the MEN in December.......I think he'll weaken........

Good old Billy Boswell.

philipchevron wrote:Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.

A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

we Celts don't need a Beatle to tell us how to sing!

philipchevron wrote:Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.

Mr. Chevron asked me to pass this along:

Mary Hopkin & Philip Chevron, 1978
http://www.pogues.com/gallery/main.php? ... alNumber=2

Hihi, I was born that year.. Nice suit Mr. C!

philipchevron wrote:Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.

A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

Geez. Hadn't thought about Mary Hopkin since, um, 1968, I guess. She disappeared from America's radar screen after the aptly titled "Goodbye".

If I may be so bold - what tuning is "Blackbird" played in? I only ask because I know it in straight concert tuning and it always sounded at least close to being accurate.

O'Blivion wrote:

philipchevron wrote:Mary Hopkin taught me how to play "Blackbird" (special tuning etc) as Paul (McCartney, that is) had taught it to her.

A man educated in "Beatles Tunes" to this degree has no need to prove it in public

Geez. Hadn't thought about Mary Hopkin since, um, 1968, I guess. She disappeared from America's radar screen after the aptly titled "Goodbye".

If I may be so bold - what tuning is "Blackbird" played in? I only ask because I know it in straight concert tuning and it always sounded at least close to being accurate.

I said Mary taught me how to play "Blackbird", I didn't say I remembered how 30 years later!

Mary Hopkin was a wonderful singer but a very reluctant star, constantly battling against the industry, which is not surprising since she somehow managed to embrace Panto with Tommy Steele at the London Palladium, Opportunity Knocks (the Idol of its day) AND the Eurovision Song Contest (she was placed second to Ireland's Dana). You have to have seriously unsympathetic management to achieve the triple crown of pop naffness. Despite this, she managed to produce a couple of good albums for Apple, the first Postcard produced by Paul McCartney, the second, the more folky and representative Earth Song/Ocean Song, produced by her then husband Tony Visconti. In his recent autobiography, Tony revealed they recorded at least two more albums of work together but Mary was unable to get a record deal which did not also require her to get back on the promotional hamster-wheel, so she always politely declined, preferring to make music on a low-key level with great folk musicians like Danny Thompson. Her 1972 "live" CD (released privately and available from her website) is well worth hearing, as is a charming compilation of her early, pre-Apple Welsh language singles.

I last saw Mary backatage at the London Palladium, where she had just done a show as a guest of the Chieftains. This would have been in 1990 or 1991, the same week the Chieftains played with The Pogues at the Brixton Academy. She always seemed quite happy working with other people, and can be heard on backing vocals on numerous Visconti-produced recordings from the mid-late 70s, including "Sound And Vision" (David Bowie), "Dear God" (Thin Lizzy) and "Walking Home Alone Again" (The Radiators).

At one stage, I think I'm right in saying, she was part of a group called Oasis (no relation) also featuring John Williams.

And now I think about it, "Blackbird" may just have had odd chord shapes, not different tuning.

Thank you for your response, Philip. (Geez, I will NEVER get used to how cool this place is!)
And thanks for the info about Ms. Hopkin.

Mary Hopkin sang backing on Sound & Vision? Wow... I never knew that. I worship at the Bowie altar quite regularly too. God, I love useless trivia.