BBC Pick of the Pops

[StuartD]

I wrote to "sounds of the sixties" when Jet passed away to request a track in his honour by way of a tribute to him, as It wasnt mentioned on the show following his death, probably due to the programme being pre-recorded. I got a nice e-mail back saying they were planning a "tribute" to Jet and Tony in an upcoming show, but to my knowledge this never materialized, so I wrote again and received no reply to this. The host of this programme is Brian Matthew who I am told Jet fell out with in the sixties because he never turned up for a show he was hosting live, this maybe why the "tribute" never happened, does anybody else know of a fall out with Brian Matthew and Jet?

Hi

Brian Matthew, who is a great supporter of the Shadows, played three numbers featuring Jet shortly after he died as a Tribute. That must have been what was refereed to in your letter Jim. I heard it and Brian spoke very highly of him. I think the tracks played were Apache, Main Title Theme and Diamonds but I could be wrong. Certainly Apache and Diamonds were played and it was within a fortnight of his death.

Regards

Stuart

[jimbojet]

Thanks Stuart, I obviously missed the tribute.....

[Martin Page]

TFYL was played in its entirety this morning on Sound of the Sixties and Brian Matthew attributed the rhythm guitar part to Hank!

Martin.

[Tone]

Yes, it was good to hear it. I always enjoy that instrumental spot just before the news as some very obscure but excellent tracks by less well known bands come up.

A few years ago Brian M read out my letter and played my request for "Raggy Tramline" in the spot and I bet you could count one on hand the number of times that track has been played by the BBC.

And I still have the SOTS Tshirt!

Cheers.

Tony

[Fenderman]

TFYL was played in its entirety this morning on Sound of the Sixties and Brian Matthew attributed the rhythm guitar part to Hank!

Martin.

It's ironic that the only track Bruce wrote on his own he didn't play on (due to illness).
It's also my mum's favourite Shad's track!

[abstamaria]

Is that true, that Hank played rhythm on the original recording?

Andy

[Martin Page]

Is that true, that Hank played rhythm on the original recording?

Andy

Yes!

[Arpeggio]

Yes....it is true. Bruce was present for the first part of the session that day (1 / 11 / 1963) and played on "Walkin'". He was unavailable during the latter part of the session and so, yes indeed, the rhythm guitar part on "T F Y L" was dubbed on by Hank as previously stated.

Rob

[Iain Purdon]

Gosh Rob, the things you know! I'd always assumed that Hank did rhythm on Walkin' as well! The rhythm sound on both tracks is so similar. So, who played rhythm on the other stuff done that day, is this the session that John Rostill observed, why did Bruce leave...?

(I won't ask who made the tea!)

[Arpeggio]

Well...to be perfectly honest...it's not a state seceret any longer (LOL). This was the period when Bruce was under enormous stress and 'fixated' upon his guitar tuning. The first part of the session went OK. But....following a break...Bruce was convinced that his guitar/s was / were out of tune (they probably weren't...but Bruce believed they were). Tensions / tempers were rising both with group members and (probably) producer / recording staff. Time is money during sessions as we all know. Finally..after half an hour or so of Bruce 'tuning up'...there was an almighty argument. Bruce literally stormed out of the session and drove home...leaving Hank & co. to finish "T F Y L" without him. Technically, Bruce was indeed ill (verge of a nervous breakdown). It was shortly after this incident that John Rostill offered to tune Bruce's guitars for him and Bruce trusted his (John's) sense of pitch and statements that his guitars were fine utterly and completely. As we all know - Bruce took a break....recovered...and returned. Result!

Bests....Rob