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Topic: Billy Bremner - I've added a YouTube link..... |
Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 9:41 am |
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(Go to the bottom of the thread for the new YouTube link...)
Here's Billy - my good friend from the early-'70s to this day - with whom I toured the UK last October with Neil Innes and Fatso.
Billy's an unashamedly traditional rock player - it's just a shame you can't see hear him sing as well.
He's just a super musician....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2FTnHzvcV8
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Last edited by Roger Rettig on 3 May 2009 9:05 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 10:08 am
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Great playing, great rock and roll tone, with a tip of the hat to a wide variety of jump-blues and rock and roll guitar styles. I'm all for unashamedly traditional rock and roll, and Billy has it all goin' on.  |
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Rick Campbell
From:
Sneedville, TN, USA
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 11:35 am
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| That's some fine rock and roll picking. That song is the same chord progression as Dale Potter's "Fiddle Patch", also known as "Oklahoma Stomp" |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 12:00 pm
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Billy comes from Aberdeen, way up in the north of Scotland. He turned pro pretty young, and was with Lulu and The Lovers in the '60s, then with the Walker Brothers for a time. I met him around 1970 and we were soon in a band together. We became 'Compass', and got some decent work with a bit of TV; there were two single releases that - according to Billy - must have been issued on the 'Top Secret' label; they're impossible to find these days.
We were together in Fatso', and Billy can be seen - as well as me - on that well-worn YouTube clip with George Harrison doing 'The Pirate Song'. I recall George being at one of our gigs and remarking that 'Paul should hear Billy sing - that'd take the wind out of his sails a bit!' (or words to that effect); the Bremner Little Richard 'take-off' is amazing!
Next Billy was with Dave Edmunds and Rockpile, and he plays some great stuff on those records. He's on 'The Pretenders' records, and has spent time here in the US. He's a talented songwriter, too. He currently lives in Stockholm.
He's been an inspiration to me over the years, 'though I long since gave up trying to sing like him! 
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Archie Nicol R.I.P.
From:
Ayrshire, Scotland
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 1:24 pm
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Fantastic player. One of the reasons Leeds United did so well in the seventies. 
Arch.
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I'm well behaved, so there! |
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Tom Quinn
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 5:22 pm
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Billy and I were also part of the original 'Rutles', too...
I enjoyed that 'Rockpile' era. I was connected with the band through Billy, and I got to do some recording with Nick Lowe's then-wife, Carlene Carter. Billy and I do some soloing on tracks on her 'Musical Shapes' album produced by Nick.
i went on to play 'Pump Boys & Dinettes' for many months at the Piccadilly Theatre with Carlene (and with Kiki Dee - a GREAT singer!) That was how I got to meet step-dad Johnny Cash - he and June visited the show maybe three times, and Johnny always took the trouble to come into the pit and say 'Hello' to me; I was touched by that. June took us all out to dinner once or twice, too!
I recall Rockpile doing an incognito tour as support for Elvis Costello & the Attractions; they needed to rehearse for a US tour, so they gave themselves a fake name and opened for Elvis. I thought their choice was perfect...
The Trevor Trott Explosion!
Of course, as soon as they hit the stage everyone knew who they were, but it was a funny moment!
Me and Bill at sound-check and, below, we find paradise!!! There are NO snooker tables in either Stockholm or Florida, so we were like two sailors home from the sea when we happened on this Riley's Club in Ipswich!!! A great afternoon.....
(PS: The eagle-eyed reader will spot that there was also soccer on the TV - that pleased Billy mightily, but didn't do much for me....)
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Last edited by Roger Rettig on 20 Apr 2009 5:44 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Chuck Thompson
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 5:30 pm
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| yeah yeah! he is all over my favorite dave edmonds album and pretenders albums and of course rock pile albums. a monster |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 20 Apr 2009 7:41 pm
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| That bass player is no slouch either. He's smokin. |
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 22 Apr 2009 8:37 am
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| Bremner is a Rock Guitar deity... I remember coming to the realization that the majority of the cool guitar parts I liked in Rockpile tunes were actually BB not DE- not sayin anything against DE, I just came to realize the stuff that made me go "yeah" was almost invariably BB |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 2:07 am
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Roger,
always very interesting stories about the british music scene of the seventies, like in this subject. Ray Davies once said that country music was very popular in Muswell Hill/ London during the 60's was that your impression too ?
Joachim |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 7:55 am
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Joachim,
Did you happen to know that I was born and raised in Muswell Hill, or did you just mention it in connection with Ray Davies?
Well - I was. Muswell Hill is a tiny community built at the end of the 1890s on a high point about eight miles north of London's centre. It's retained a delightful village feel because, by a happy topographical accident, it doesn't lie on any of the main trunk roads in and out of the City. I consider myself lucky to have lived in such a delightful suburb, and I still return when I can.
St James' Church and some elegant Edwardian terraces in Muswell Hill Broadway...
I had my first proper guitar on October 2nd, 1957, and I formed my first skiffle group from members of the 10th Muswell Hill Scout Group. I played my first-ever show ('Scout Pie') ten weeks later here at Tetherdown Hall....
No more, I promise!!!!!!
I didn't know the Davies brothers until much later after we'd all left the Hill. Was there any particular interest in country? No, but all of us were skiffle-mad, and every UK musician of that era (late-1950s) fell under Lonnie Donegan's spell. While he wasn't 'country', I remain convinced that his devotion to American roots music influenced me in later years to be more 'open' to country and bluegrass artists than I might have been. The BBC didn't play ANY of that stuff!
Another piece of Muswell Hill pop-history of which you may be unaware can still be found right across the street from Tetherdown Hall. There, at the junction of Fortis Green Road, Tetherdown and Queen's Avenue is a gabled house built, maybe, in the 1920s. It's name was, and is, 'Fairport', and it's there that the foundation was laid for 'Fairport Convention', popular in the folk-rock boom a few years later.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 8:30 am
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| Roger Rettig wrote: |
| Muswell Hill is a tiny community built at the end of the 1890s on a high point about eight miles north of London's centre. |
Roger
Google Maps has done Street View for Muswell Hill and pretty much all of London.
Have you tried that? You can probably look in the window of the house where you grew up. It looks great but I suspect a hoax because the sun is shining and the sky is blue in many of the pictures. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 8:35 am
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It's all a fallacy!!!
It only gets dull and cloudy when visiting American musicians step off the 'plane.....
(PS: Yes, I have - I love it! They've done our place here in Tern Drive, Naples, too!)
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 9:01 am
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Your photo of Muswell Hill Broadway may be a hoax; it appears that there is space to drive and park a car. Maybe Google did get it right:
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 9:25 am
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How do I do that??? I found 'Fairport' on Google Maps, but I can't see how to 'capture' the image.
PS: I took MY photo on a Sunday morning - and your picture has one of those awful 'generic' cattle-truck buses that have replaced the real thing in London....
Here's the real thing - a matter of yards from where your picture was captured; those were the days. (This was 1976 - it was still sunny back then!)
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 10:41 am
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| Roger Rettig wrote: |
How do I do that??? I found 'Fairport' on Google Maps, but I can't see how to 'capture' the image.
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I pressed the Print Screen key, creating a .bmp file which I then cropped.
There is a free utility installed here called Gadwin Systems Printscreen, but I don't think that's necessary; I think that any version of Windows, MacOS, Linux etc will can make an image from the screen. |
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Archie Nicol R.I.P.
From:
Ayrshire, Scotland
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 4:05 pm
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Don't get into an argument, lads. Kittens would normally suffice to calm things down, but not in this case. What we need is some good old Cock....ney and Roll, Joe.
click here
Arch.
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I'm well behaved, so there! |
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Frank Freniere
From:
The First Coast
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Posted 23 Apr 2009 4:35 pm
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| Love Rockpile. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 24 Apr 2009 5:54 am
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Roger,
Thanks so much for your reply. I must admit that I was a little bit dizzy, after your mentioning of the Fairport House, which the Fairport Convention got their name from, because I was a big fan when R. Thompson was in their lineup. I saw them perform at a festival in Sunbury U. K. in '68.
Joachim |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 24 Apr 2009 6:51 am
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Hi, Joachim; it's my pleasure!
I wasn't quite accurate in my description of the 'Fairport' location - it's actually a few yards west of where I said.
My friend, 'Earnest', seems able to 'capture' stills from Google Earth maps but, although he's told me how to do it, he lost me at '..create a .bmp file' - gobbldegook to a Luddite like me!
Go to Google Maps, enter 'Fortismere Avenue, Muswell Hill' London, N10', go to its northern end (the junction with Fortis Green) and the house - a distinctive gabled building with a tiny porthole window by the front door - is on the south-east corner of that intersection. I HAD put it a hundred yards east of there, but it's been a while... .
Then you move the 'little yellow man' to the spot and it should bring up a street-level view. You may have to turn the image through 360 degrees, but the house is easy to spot.
I won't direct you to MY old home in Donovan Avenue - I'm still waiting for them to place one of those blue plaques on the wall.
Poor old Billy - this is as serious a case of topic-drift as I've seen! May I direct you back to Mr Bremner and his prodigious talents?
(Earnest: Do you recall that Billy was out of the band with a broken wrist the night you played with us at the Speakeasy back in '75 or so? You - technically - were his 'sub', I suppose!)
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 3 May 2009 9:04 am
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Here we are - Billy, Neil Innes and me; this is how we'd open a gig.
Please pay particular attention to my guitar - my beloved, but now long-gone, 1958 Gibson Super 400 (#A28256).
Please ignore the plaid jackets....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSS2HIKat2Y
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 4 May 2009 9:14 am
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Thanks Roger,
Since your post "Bash" and "a good week's work" by Billy Bremner, are constantly on my record/ cd player. Great records!
Joachim |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 16 Nov 2013 9:03 am Rockpile
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I've just found their album in pristine condition for a few Euros. It's very good!
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Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Larry Tracy
From:
Nevada City, CA, USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2013 1:46 pm
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| Billy Bremner is a great example of a great player being a team player. On all the Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds albums billy was playing the cool parts and guitar hooks of the songs and some of the solos. Some great live videos of those days on you tube. |
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