Commissioner Tommy Roedell Meets The Beatles!

It’s no secret to those who have known me for any length of time that I’m a huge fan of The Beatles’ music.  I think the first 45rpm record I bought AND the first song I learned to play on guitar was “Get Back.”   I sat with my Dad in the living room eating dinner off of TV trays and watching The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium…Dad commenting that they were his age and shaking his head. 

The Beatles steered music in a direction in the 1960’s that it might not otherwise have found.  They stretched the boundaries of what was popular at the time and crossed deep into “that won’t sell” territory.   As a band, they were four separate personalities contributing individual elements to the sound; such that if you were to remove one element, it wouldn’t be the same.   

Beyond the entire music catalog of The Beatles, the volume of their individual work as solo artists spans far beyond what they did collectively as a group.  I was one of two people I knew in Woodward that was crowing about Paul McCartney’s first solo effort “McCartney”, an album that displayed a genuine touch of genius (hell, I still play it).  Other albums of his that I never tire of listening to include “Ram”, “Band on the Run”, and “Flowers in the Dirt.”

For John Lennon, it was the “Imagine” album that my parents bought me as a Christmas gift in ’71.  I bought every release of John’s music after that…I was hooked.

George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” and the “Living in the Material World” will stand forever.  “Cloud Nine” (someone finally taught him to not sing through his nose) is another great one.

So, it was no surprise that The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years ago, soon followed by three former Beatles being inducted for solo work…John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. 

I have some questionable degrees of separation from all of The Beatles, but for the three I just mentioned, here it is:

·        John Lennon – I worked with a guy in the Navy who was from Oklahoma City.  His sister worked for a concert promoter there in the mid-70’s.  John Lennon flew into OKC to hear a band he was considering backing (sorry, don’t recall the band’s name).  The sister met John at Will Rogers and drove him around town that day.

·        George Harrison – I was living in San Diego at the time.  There was a Guitar Center over near the old sports arena.  I heard that the store had taken in a Fender Telecaster that George had used on tour.  I drove like a fiend to get there.  Of course, they wanted a king’s ransom for the guitar so I passed, but I was close to the guitar anyway. 

·        Paul McCartney – I lived in London for a couple of years back in the 80’s in an area known as Swiss Cottage.  My flat was less than a quarter mile from the legendary Abbey Road Studio. I took the Tube (Brit for subway) to work every morning.  There was one morning though that the Swiss Cottage Tube was closed, which was very unusual.  Turns out Paul McCartney was down there shooting the video for his song, “Press.”  If I had been just a few minutes earlier, I could have been bragging that I was in a PM video. 

It was something of a surprise that Ringo Starr, the drummer, had not been inducted despite a very successful solo career post-Beatles.  If you’ve never listened to Ringo’s “Goodnight Vienna” album, it’s definitely worth the time.  Would also recommend “Ringo”, “Ringo 2012” and the initial solo release (not to mention often overlooked), “Beaucoups of Blues.”  In fact, Ray Wylie Hubbard covered one of the tunes from Beaucoups - “Coochy Coochy.” 

I was reading the Woodward News this morning and wondering how I was going to turn the story about the County Commission delaying the purchase of two wheel loaders until Commissioner Tommy Roedell can inspect them into a CCB post.  Then on the next page I found an AP story about Ringo Starr  being inducted into the Hall of Fame as a solo artist.

I couldn’t have been happier.  I’ve always been a fan of Ringo’s solo work, particularly the stuff he did in the 70’s.  He was producing great tunes then and still is today.  Give him a listen.

Oh, my questionable degrees of separation from Ringo?    

·        My friend, Jose, was at Disneyland in California in the early to mid-80’s.  He was sitting on a bench when, as he put it, an ordinary looking guy came over and sat down next to him.  He said the guy was really mad because he couldn’t find the people he had come in with. He asked Jose if he had cigarette.  As Jose handed him the cigarette, he got a good look at the guy and realized it was Ringo.  Ringo soon departed in search of his people.

Okay, so much for my Beatles war stories.  Congratulations to Ringo…rock on, Brother!

By the way, it just occurred to me that I’m probably the first (and likely the only) blogger in history to have tied Tommy Roedell and The Beatles together in a posting.  Rock on, Tommy!