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Geoff Britton 1
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Jan 13, 2025
Legendary drummer Geoff Britton chats with Kal and Rosy. Part 1 where he auditions for Paul McCartney & Wings (and gets the gig!)
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0:00
what Manfred baton and you angel you the
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man who is actually drumming on that is
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our superstar afternoon Jeff Britain
0:08
we've been so excited I'm very glad to
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have you with us I'm honored to be here
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I tell you what though we never stop
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talking and you know you've been popping
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backwards and forwards and sorting out
0:20
some different things with Barry over
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the past couple of weeks but basically
0:23
every time you have nobody gets any work
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done because you can we just just
0:26
telling us about the various things that
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have happened in the life and times of a
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rock drummer and actually you were on
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that one angel station album from
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manfred Mann's Earth Band yes although
0:37
you were just checking cuz you're like
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is this me or is it me do you forget who
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you've worked with over the years - okay
0:55
mm-hmm
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don't forget but you're not sure what
0:59
versions sometime people bring out a
1:01
re-release and normally I know when it's
1:05
made by listening but I was because we
1:08
were talking about Chris Slade the the
1:09
drummer who was pretty basically
1:11
Manfredo I was just saying oh that must
1:13
be Chris Slade and it wasn't right let's
1:21
start at the beginning can we write at
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the beginning and you were your BAE
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profession wasn't really the job or was
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it just to start with well I was
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actually expected to take over my
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father's business he was a tailor now
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it's shops in southeast London and that
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was the that was the plan unfortunately
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I saw Gene Krupa playing with Benny
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Goodman on our black-and-white TV and
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I'm afraid the seal was my fate was
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sealed so what did a young person in
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Lewisham do then to become part of the
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rock scene of that so I must be quite
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buzzing there really is no or really
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London's through that period was the
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place if I if I look at it from a sort
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of historic point of view
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the rock-and-roll that came from America
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wasn't eclipsed by the Brits we had a
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good go at it but the Americans had the
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edge now then when we got into what I
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call our pop when our rock bands apart
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from one or two of the Americans didn't
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quite catch it and it's kind of like
2:27
that in Reverse and I was of that
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generation that came through the early
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60s I mean I saw the Beatles live in
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those days and and everybody really in
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London was kind of like a magnet for all
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that energy and all that creativity well
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you so we are listening to predominately
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American music then as you were starting
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to grow and learn as a music yourself
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well my dad was a big fan of the
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Armstrong and my brother who's five
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years older than me was it was Frank
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Sinatra then Frankie laine and so I kind
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of it morphed out of that but once I
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wasn't listening to that because that
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was the family music on the record with
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78 records but once some Bill Haley and
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Elvis and Lonnie Donegan had opened the
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page then there was no turning back that
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was it
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look who were you working with same when
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you just referred started out well I was
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very fortunate in one sense when I say
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falter because when it came to the
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audition with wings it wasn't they were
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you know Mitch Mitchell was on the day
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that I played Mitch Mitchell was Jimi
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Hendrix drummer and he was it was a
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game-changer along with a few others of
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that great creative time that England
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had her in terms of our pop groups so he
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came on to play and other guys who were
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grade but not great all rounders and I'd
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worked quite extensively for the club
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méditerranée
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which is a big holiday organisation
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throughout Europe in their hotels and
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their holiday camps and doing that we've
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you know Ireland to play everything from
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paso doble ChaCha's and and when when
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everyone gone to bed then we could work
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as a jazz group and play around sort of
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stuff and have a bit of fun with the
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late-night revelers so I kind of had a
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musical baptism in everything I'll go
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fortunate and I kind of have the
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attitude still there's there's only two
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kinds of music and that's good or bad
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and so everything's it's comes under the
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category of good I like to listen to
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Jeff tell us the story of how of the
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actual audition for wings because it's a
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fantastic story it was it was 150 guys
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and you how did you find out about the
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audition because I was chatting you say
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me and Jeff each other for ages where we
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don't plan to there was no phones there
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was no mobile basil or wince no email
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you know oh okay it's a larger story but
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basically it was in the Melody Maker
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that Dennis I will have been American
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drum with wings and he'd come back to
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America and so the manager would put an
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advert in Melody Maker Melody Maker was
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was the Bible the encyclopedia it
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advertised everybody and it it covered
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everything
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so one it advertised that Makani was
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looking for a drummer and I was standing
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in for a friend of mine running his dojo
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his martial arts club in West Wycombe
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Kent I stepped on to option hour to
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study for a couple years and one of the
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students was the manager of Fleetwood
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Mac and in the break he said to me are
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you going for the wings audition and I
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sit down like I said there was no no
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internet and McCartney productions was X
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directory so fish cave is his name and
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he's the guy he's the one two on the
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stretcher but we were talking about
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previously so used to say at tomorrow
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morning and I'll call you through the
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number which he did and I then phoned up
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the wings management who then told me
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that the list was closed and that they
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had hundreds and hundreds of application
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which they had actually brought down to
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1552 or four and I don't know how it
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happened but he just kept talking and he
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just said do you know I'm gonna put you
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on the list
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and which he did and then a few days
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later I got a phone call saying would I
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be free to come up to the Opera Theatre
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in Smarties Lane in London's West End
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and they'd be holding auditions so I
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willingly accepted I was I was given the
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two o'clock slot so on the way into town
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on my I was alone living in all this I
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came and so I jumped on my motorbike
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and I stopped in Lewisham to pick up to
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him Russell who had a hit record at the
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time with stretch with why did you do it
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and he was hot so I said to him on the
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back we're going up to audition with God
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so you told another drum of you were
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going for a Paul McCartney audition most
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musicians would you know hell kept it
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for themselves that's quite magnanimous
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of you do you help each other yeah he's
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one of my dearest closest friends I
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could get him started in the business in
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that sense when he saw my drum kit
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because we lived on the same block in
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those days and well I didn't really
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think in terms that I was going to get
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the gig it was just kind of a crack you
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know theater and we could park the
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motorbike right by the stage door and we
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walked in and there was a bit of a who
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are because Jim Russell wasn't on the
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list and he wasn't allowed to play and I
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was kind of throwing my toys out the
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tram and saying well if he can't play I
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won't play and at that stage I realized
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something wasn't quite the normal
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because I had a view to the stage and I
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could see that there was nobody from
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wings or McCarron stage there was Rob
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towns empires great
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drama and so I asked the people
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organized I said what's the story and
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they said well you you get to play with
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these guys do about six or seven tunes
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and Macker and the management are in the
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theater watching you so I said that's
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okay I'll play three tunes and Jim
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Russel will play no no that wouldn't
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that would fly and there was this real
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impasse because I stuck my neck out I
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had my mate with me and they were
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telling me it was it was a no-go
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anyway the phone went and the guy hot
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past fire was canceling so Jim Russell
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got half past five slot who cancels on
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Paul McCarthy yeah he was hoping to
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reach out to us he had some some genuine
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family thing and he couldn't make it so
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would he have another day well I've got
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my two o'clock spot which was fortunate
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because they stopped for lunch so they
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all buzzed off to the pub and then Jim
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Russ and I got in on those drums and
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really got them where we were
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comfortable and tuned them up the way we
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like them because I was the first
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drummer back on after lunch at two
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o'clock now because Jim Russell was on
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my slate when I was there we were
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allowed to sit in the theater which
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nobody else had the choice that's how I
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saw Mitch Mitchell with Jim Ross and I
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were really big fans of Mitch Mitchell
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as I say he was a genuine 60s going
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change along Ginger Baker and a lot of
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great guys I truly love and respect so
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anyway we're Mitch Warsaw and Jim Rice
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when I sit down both of us I'm prepared
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or unplanned we both said in unison Oh
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Mitch Mitchell because as far as we were
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concerned the gig was over I mean he
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shouldn't even been auditioning he just
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had a bad day so that's that's a story
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and then it goes from there
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there was a space in time I get a phone
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call would you prepare to come into the
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canned
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a Theatre in Camden Town and now you
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meet Paul and you play with the guys so
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I got a morning or an afternoon of that
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and nobody gives anything away just to
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play a few songs and you told you five
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few more songs and then a few more days
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go by and I got another phone call would
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I come in and spend all day with the
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band and go out to have lunch what have
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you and which I did and I took I had a
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mate with me on all those times helping
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me use my drums and just just you know
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your mates with your moral support as it
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were and then a few more days passed and
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energy I was out jogging I lived
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obviously a big big field and I was out
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jogging and my there next wife opened
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the window and shouted that Paul
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McCartney was on the phone to play in an
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audition he was a big yes she's play
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rock'n'roll do they okay well done okay
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okay so the very first plan with madcap
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with Paul um he says to me do you like
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rock and roll I said come on Paul we're
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both the same did the same I eat I said
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we grew up on rock'n'roll so he said you
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like it I said constant I love it so he
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said do you know Lucille so I said well
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yeah I said are you gonna do the Little
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Richard version or the evidence because
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throw mystically there they're very
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different so he goes oh he's an
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appreciative that were not in my
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direction and we ended up doing the
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Everly's version where the drumming is
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is body harmon great drama of that era
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did all the evidence hits and yeah we
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started off with that and yeah we went
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through a lot of Buddy Holly sang songs
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because Paulo owns the songbook and they
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all moved into some of the Beatles staff
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swing stuff it just you just an audition
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you know what do you fancy playing I
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fancy this someone starts to riff
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you'll just join in it's just Germany
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would call the coppers
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I gotta be honest that I was sitting
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behind him and
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looking at him and then thinking I can
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remember with my mates that there will
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in Jody and watching the Beatles do a
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gig and from that point on they just
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went ballistic there'd been nothing like
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that it's all really since in music
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history of anyone and he grew up getting
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that big and that popular and I'm
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sitting there behind him just playing
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with him and it was just like funny our
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music such a such a equalizer because
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when you're all jamming along you all
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your musicians are gonna blow and quite
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interesting but I did I did look at me
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think my god that's the head you know
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think that's just my arms would freeze
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[Music]
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yeah that's very true and in actual fact
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Mickey bowler who was the faces know it
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really wrote Stewart he did all these
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solo stuff with Rod Stewart and he was a
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real in-demand session guy and great a
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great drummers I have this great great
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player well he turned up you see a
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little bit nervous and you know too much
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to drink and so I think I think nose on
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something of that caliber complier game
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so I did what Billie Jean King the
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tennis player did I visualized visualize
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the whole thing sitting there talking
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and feeling nervous and then relax too
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much time going through it again
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so on the day and having a really dear
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friend with him my mate Bevo accompanied
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me just
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we were just natural and having a laugh
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and nose didn't come into it really
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didn't it was very special
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you put a list of songs together for us
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and things that you've played on things
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that you've loved there on the years but
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we've actually got you playing in
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rehearsal doing jets we a mission you
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haven't actually heard it ahead of us
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playing it now if you're if you're okay
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for us to players it's on the internet
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anyway love to is that all right
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I guess this afternoon Jeff Britain in
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rehearsal with Paul McCartney and wings
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