For fans of Jet Harris please read and comment

[fullerton62strat]

Bad idea, and in Jet's case NOT a good one!

To support the promotion of alcohol through an ex-alcoholic is ethically wrong for a start. Would you buy cigarettes with his name on just to finance lung cancer research? It is not certain what caused his cancer, but I do know that long-term effects of alcohol can lower the immune system leaving the body vulnerable in protecting itself.

Anyone who really knew Jet would know that his life was totally messed up through alcohol and he would have been mortified with the idea. An occasional drink is OK, but to those who have a dependency on it can wreck, not only their own lives, but those around them too. A lot of Jet's real friends had helped and encouraged him to abstain from it over the decades so they will see this as ''in very bad taste''.

In moderation alcohol is fine, but it is gaining a very bad reputation in recent times and is known to lead to many cancers and other conditions including liver disease, gout, deaths from drink driving etc., etc. What sort of intelligence thought up this idea? Stick to conventional fund-raising.

John

[John Boyd]

John,
Please consider the stance taken by Audrey - and presumably, through her, Janet.
If they are happy to accept this type of contribution to assist the fund in Jet's name, then so am I.
Cheers,
JB

[des mcneill]

Whereas I do understand some of the concerns expressed,as I understand it the publican had befriended Jet as a person,not an alcoholic and wished to pay tribute to him and help raise money for the fund. Publicans are likely to pay tribute in their area of expertise,alcohol,just as a gardener may name a rose,it should not be taken personally.

Des.

[362436]

Hear Hear John Skelton.
Could not agree with you more.
You have first hand knowledge of life on the road with Jet and what he must have gone through.
To state that Audrey and Janet are pleased with the beer promotion is not difficult to comprehend,after all some funds were donated, but I still feel that this is not an appropriate way in which to remember Jet.
Alcohol was a means to an end for Jet in his troubled times and a crutch to lean on.
What possible good did this do him?
All strength to Jet for overcoming his battle and I'm sure he will be having a good laugh up there wondering what all this is about!
Ian.

[EJK]

I wouldn't go near it. To buy this highlights Jet Harris for the wrong reason, it downplays his great contribution to British Rock music.

He should be remembered for his musicianship foremost with The Shadows, more publicity should be directed to his input to the band whether it be his image or his driving bass playing which contributed to the sound. A great many rock musicians who are now deceased were addicted to all sorts of things but their music is highlighted first. Over the years it seems that things have been reversed for Jet with the alcohol getting the headlines whilst his years with The Shadows being looked on as a mere detail, that has also been tragic.

[audreyk]

Hi Everyone,

I think I need to respond to this and I’ll try my best to answer all the points raised, so please bear with me. Here goes …

First of all, please don’t blame Jet MW. She wanted to help the Fund and she was keen to pursue this idea only after reading many very positive comments that had appeared on Facebook. These included quite a few comments from people wanting to know if they could purchase the beer. She only asked for people’s views and you have given them to her! It helps to hear people opinions – thank you.

Secondly, I should make it clear that there was never any question of the landlord of The Queen Inn raising funds for the Memorial Fund as an on-going venture. He organised this as a small, local, one-off event.

Iain is absolutely correct. This is a small pub whose landlord and son brewed a new beer that was sold from casks at a very small beer festival. Logistically, it would never be viable to produce it in bottles, distribute it, etc etc. Even if it were possible (which I’m sure it isn’t) – the landlord would never do this as a fundraising exercise.

From the point of view of the Memorial Fund and ethics, I should clarify that, although Janet and I are the “public face” of the Fund, there is a team responsible for the management of the Fund and we liaise extensively with Cancer Research UK who have been made aware of this fundraising event.

To give you a little background information about this, please do not imagine that this was our idea!! The first that I knew about it was less than a week before the event took place, by which time the beer had been brewed (and named), the brochures had been printed and press releases had been sent out. Of course I had some misgivings – that goes without saying!!! However, there was little that I could do about it, and, as the landlord of the pub was a friend of Jet’s, I decided to keep an open mind.

Jet and Janet used to visit this pub, The Queen Inn in Winchester, where the Beer Festival was held. I fully understand the feelings of those who knew Jet throughout his battles with alcoholism – but - in later life Jet did not need to be encouraged not to drink. He could be in a pub, or around people who were drinking and he would remain completely uninterested in the alcohol. This was one of the reasons that I wrote publicly that I had such respect for Jet.

Clive, the landlord of the pub, knew that Jet always drank coffee in the pub. Therefore, he would not have related to Jet’s history in the same way as people who remember his past. Also, in the latter part of his life, Jet was very proud of having controlled the alcoholism and he would talk to anyone about this. So, I imagine that Clive and his son saw no problem in trying to help Jet’s Fund by selling their new beer at their annual Beer Festival. He would have seen this solely as a tribute to Jet and a fundraising idea. He made it clear in his brochure that Jet no longer drank.

As I said, obviously, we had concerns about the way this would be perceived and the connection with Jet’s history. However, Janet, Barry and I attended the Festival on the Saturday and I have to say that it was a really lovely evening. The event was great and was very well organised. Some people buying the beer didn’t care (or want to know) about the connection to ‘a celebrity’, but other people talked about Jet and they were very respectful of him and the music. The point is that this was a local event and many people knew Jet. Many people mentioned the fact that Jet had given up drinking and they didn’t seem to make any negative connection with the beer at all. In fact quite a few younger people stopped to talk about Jet, to ask about his music and to give donations. The event made £700 and, naturally, we are extremely grateful to all concerned.

From the point of view of the Memorial Fund, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of positive comments that came in following this event. However, I am absolutely certain that no one would want to cause any offence or distress and I have asked Janet to make sure that people’s concerns are fed back to the landlord.

Finally, I’m not normally comfortable with talking about personal things in public – but I do think I should respond to one more point that keeps getting raised. I have just stated that we would not want to cause any offence or distress, but I would respectfully ask that this is accepted as a two-way sentiment. Many people were of extreme importance to Jet throughout his life. For those of us who were very close to Jet in the final years, it was obvious that Jet’s life was like a jigsaw puzzle with different individuals each playing an important part. I was proud and privileged to be just one of those individuals.

Janet, Barry and I understand that we knew a very different Jet to earlier days. For one thing he was older!!! For another thing, for the last two years that we were with him, he knew that his cancer was incurable. During those years he had time to think about his life, to talk to us in depth about the past, about the alcoholism, about places that he had lived and the people whom he had known. He also talked about his fears and of certain personal things that were important to him in the final weeks of his life. It was Jet’s decision to entrust his estate to Janet and also he asked me to do certain things for him which I prefer to remain private.

We are trying to do our best to fulfill these promises - often in quite difficult circumstances. Sometimes we don’t get it quite right … but we’re human!!! Normally, we never mention these things out of respect for other people’s feelings, but please can I ask that we all treat each other with respect. Please can we all honour Jet’s memory and can we all be glad that we knew him. Thank you.

To return to the topic of the thread … there is no question of the landlord mass producing this beer. Regarding other fundraising - I was really pleased to read people’s positive suggestions about different ways of raising money for Jet’s Fund. The problem is not only ideas, but active help – so if anyone has the time and skills to take on any of the ideas that you have mentioned (and to work with us regarding the legalities etc) … we’d love to hear from you. Thank you.

With thanks and best wishes
Audrey

[dave robinson]

First of all I would say that it is a great idea to do this if it raises money for Jet's cause, I see no problem whatsoever. Why bring up the past and add negative comments when no good can come of it?

Secondly I would say well done Audrey for your reply and would ask folks to respect what she has said - it made a lot of sense.

[Jetmarvinwelch]

Thank you very much Audrey and I agree with Dave 100%,
I think anything that raises money and awareness to Jets fund can't be a bad idea, I believe that everybody has a past and a past is a past and should be left in the past,
I wish that people wouldn't keep referring to Jet as an alcoholic, he stopped drinking so that is in the past, I'm sure we have all done things we wished we didn't and that we regret but people need to just move on and start thinking about jet as a musical inspiration and not as an alcoholic,
just think about when you die and the people who knew you remembered you for your mistakes in life rather than your accomplishments
I'm sorry if this post upsets anyone but some of the replays I've had on here have upset me, I didn't put this post on here to get personal attacks I just simply asked a question