From B B King ...
             to Burger King.....

The Quarrymen’s US Tour October ‘08

    Well, what a trip that was! Their feet scarcely touched the ground for two weeks! Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. Check out the new photo gallery for pix of the trip.

• Just click here!

NEW YORK:  
Len, Colin and Rod (alas, no John Duff Lowe, work commitments kept him in the UK) arrived in New York on October 8^th, the day before John Lennon’s 68^th birthday. It was an uneventful trip apart from the last 5 miles or so when they were trying to find their hotel in their rented van. Several inadvertent trips up and down a section of the Jersey Turnpike almost led to a nervous breakdown but eventually (and quite a few dollars in unnecessary road tolls later) they arrived. Next morning they met up with their US Tour Manager, Thom Wolke, at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. John’s fans were already in full swing celebrating his birthday and the guys hung around enjoying the atmosphere and the warm sunshine until it was time to head off to B B King’s for their soundcheck.
     Here they were joined by J B Fonfrias, (pictured above with Colin and Len) a New Yorker who had played with the Quarrymen at the Metro and Chicago Fests for Beatles Fans in 2007 and who had been recruited to play bass on their US Tour. When the gig began it soon became apparent that JB had persuaded all his family and friends to come along, and when the group called for a volunteer washboard player from the audience one of his friends, a lady called Libertad came up on stage and produced a washboard playing performance which went right off the top of the Richter Scale! Sorry, folks, you’ll just have to wait for the video! Needless to say, the following morning all the musical instrument shops in New York sold out of washboards. Also at the show were lots of other friends and relations who gave the Quarrymen a great welcome. (There’s some shots of our soundcheck on Youtube).
     It was when they stopped for a hamburger for lunch that JB had a brainwave. He looked up at the Burger King sign and announced “We’re going to call this tour “From B B King to Burger King!”

MERIDEN, NH
     After the show they sped northwards into New England where they were due to play a concert next evening at the The Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, NH for the students of the Academy’s Music Faculty. The students were highly amused at this bunch of old guys still having fun and playing Rock ‘n’ Roll. One staff member said that the Quarrymen seemed to have connected with the students in the same way as grandparents did when the academy held a Grandparent’s Day, bridging the generation gap!……………….. Ah, well, we’re sure he meant it as a compliment!
     Next day was spent driving round New Hampshire and Vermont, taking in the local scenery, especially the “Leaf Peeking” - the autumn colours being at their finest that weekend. Also on the itinerary were a local craft fair, an Oktoberfest beer festival and a Farmers’ Supper.
     Sunday found the guys driving over to Boston to play at the Hard Rock Café for a gig hosted by Boston Classic Rock Station’s Chachi Loprete. They met a load of keen Beatles fans and converted a new one, a lady called Linda, who had arrived at Tour Manager Thom Wolke’s house the day before with the object of buying a bike rack for her car and was persuaded to make the trip to Boston. As a medic, she was probably more concerned with the Quarrymen’s state of health…….. (For some video clips see Youtube)

TROY, NY
     Next stop on the tour was the Arts Centre at Troy in upstate New York. The parking regulations on the street in front of their hotel seemed rather strange, “No parking between 4:00 am and 6:00 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays”. Still, it was a Monday so no problem there. That afternoon found the Quarrymen making a radio appearance at WRPI in Troy, having a great time fooling around on air with DJ Haremando.
     Strolling around Troy the guys spotted an advert for the The Ramblin’ Jug Stompers  who were due to play at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on the Tuesday lunchtime. The Stompers make a great Old timey sound, they call it “78 rpm music for the 21^st Century” and inevitably some of their repertoire coincides with the Quarrymen’s. (Check out their website at http://www.jugstompers.com). It was great to hear some real old fashioned American country music - together with some good old fashioned American humor (note spelling), and in the lobby afterwards the Stompers and the Quarrymen held a brief session, with the Stompers being persuaded to come to the Quarrymen'’ gig that night.
     Sure enough, during their concert at the Troy Arts Center when the Quarrymen called for volunteers to play the washboard, the Stompers’ Wild Bill was first on stage, flourishing his own personal thimbles and giving it socks on Donegan’s “In the evening”. Later during the show Cousin Clyde made his public debut on washboard with the Quarrymen playing “Down by the Riverside”. Our friendly DJ from Radio WRPI also made a guest appearance on the washboard. Special thanks to Jill at the Arts Center for all her help.  For a review of the concert please go to http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=730241&categor y=ARTS&TextPage=2

     At five am next morning the sound of a car alarm woke Colin up in his room overlooking the street, he staggered to the window just in time to see the Quarrymen’s faithful people mover being towed away - of course it was now Wednesday morning and the streets were due to be cleaned and in a haze of adrenaline and red wine the Quarrymen had completely forgotten about the curious no parking times. Rod decided that if he dressed quickly and went downstairs he might just catch the tow truck and find out where the van was being taken. The situation could have been serious as the guys were due to make a long road trip into Pennsylvania that morning and the last thing they needed was to waste half the day getting their van back. Alas, he was out of luck although he did find the local police station where he was told that the parking fine was just $30 but the tow fee was another $100. After walking around in the dark he eventually located the pound but it was closed so he went back to bed for a few more winks. The situation was eventually resolved after the pound opened and a large number of dollars was handed over!
     Rod’s miserable day had hardly begun, however. Mastercard froze his credit card because had forgotten to tell them he was going to the USA and they became suspicious of all the strange things he was buying, so it took him several expensive hours of arguing on the telephone to sort it out. Not only that, as he was using his new electric razor with the beard trimmer attachment, he pressed the wrong button and shaved half of his beard off by mistake. Not a good day!

SELLERSVILLE, PA
     Their next gig was several hundred miles away down in Pennsylvania, at the Sellersville Theatre, on the same bill as the Cryers and the Pete Best Band, which provided a unique opportunity for Beatles fans to get to see two early chapters of the Beatles Story on stage at the same time and the fans turned out in force. The Cryers opened the show and wound the audience up beautifully for the Quarrymen. It turned out to be a great evening’s entertainment and Pete’s band, with brother Roag alongside him, also on drums, played out the night.

EASTON, MA
     Next stop was the Art Deco Avalon Theatre in Easton, Maryland, which was a return visit for the Quarrymen who had played there in 1998 when Pete Shotton and Eric Griffiths had been in the lineup. They also got to meet an old friend from their previous trip to Easton Avalon, Ellen General, who had just retired. Ellen kindly invited them to chill out at her house and some of the more adventurous guys tried a spot of canoeing……….

SANTA MONICA,CA
     Saturday morning found the Quarrymen taking an early flight across America as they headed for California where they were due to play three concerts in aid of a charity called “Guitars in the Classroom” which helps teachers of all disciplines to learn to play the guitar and use it in lessons right across the curriculum. (Click here for their website). www.guitarsintheclassroom.org
    Executive Director of GITC, Jessica Baron, had organised the west coast part of the Quarrymen’s tour, which include concerts in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and San Diego.
     The evening was hosted by Chris Carter whose “Breakfast with the Beatles” show has been running for over 20 years. Chris introduced Laurence Juber, (http://www.laurencejuber.c om/lj.html) who is one of the patrons of GITC, had kindly agreed to open the first show which took place in Santa Monica. Laurence, of course, was an impossible act for the Quarrymen to follow, playing his usual incredible totally relaxed guitar style. However, that was the whole point of the exercise, so follow him they had to! You don’t usually have the best act on first! The Quarrymen had met Laurence several times before at Fests for Beatles Fans and he was his usual charming, modest self, sharing a beer and a chat before the show in the Green Room.

SANTA BARBARA,CA
    Sunday morning and the Quarrymen were due to appear on Chris Carter’s “Breakfast with the Beatles” show on Radio KLOS. Chris, with his great knowledge of the Beatles, was a very entertaining host. The Quarrymen, who of course have the ideal faces for radio, did their best to keep up with Chris’s fast moving Californian sense of humour and the hour passed very quickly.    (http://www.955klos.com/showdj.asp?DJID=34863&pt=BreakfastWith TheBeatles#chris)
     Later that afternoon the Quarrymen drove up the Pacific Coast road to Santa Barbara for their next gig at the SoHo Restaurant and Music Club, a great venue tucked away in the centre of Santa Barbara. As usual the guys got to meet a whole bunch of very charming Beatles Fans who had come to check out the origins of their favourite group.
     Next morning, Sandy Jacobson, creator and producer of “Backstage: Los Angeles” was waiting to interview the guys in the shadow of the famous HOLLYWOOD sign in the hills which provide a backdrop to the city. After a typical American Breakfast of crispy bacon they toiled up the hill and fooled around for the camera, hopefully not proving too bewildering. Colin enjoyed (?) his first trip actually in the boot of a car! You can see some of the results at 
http://www.backstagelosangeles.net/.
     On the way back the gang dropped into the famous Rainbow Bar on Sunset Boulevard where they bumped into Laurie Jay, the man who used to run the “Scotch of St James’s”, the legendary rock ‘n’ roll watering hole in London’s Swinging Sixties.
     You can’t go to Southern California without a trip to the beach, and the Quarrymen decided to take up the kind invitation extended by John Zambetti of the Malibooz (http://malibooz.homestead.com) who had attended the Santa Monica gig. John, whose band has played in Liverpool wished to return some of the hospitality which he had enjoyed in Liverpool. This consisted of a guided tour of his guitar collection - the biggest of which is the huge Strat at the bottom of his swimming pool, followed by a trip to Malibu Beach in John’s 1942 Ford “Woodie” Station Wagon. Despite the lateness of the evening there were still plenty of dedicated surfers squeezing the last drop out of the sunshine, and although the beach bunnies were all wearing wetsuits, one of them, Tiffany by name, obliged the boys with a few photos with her surfboard. (See the photo gallery).  When her boyfriend come over to chase away the old beach bums who were hitting on his girl, the Quarrymen legged back to the “Woodie” and dinner with John and his wife.

SAN DIEGO, CA
     The final gig of the tour was to be at the appropriately named “Anthology” in San Diego, which involved a long drive south through the sea mist before eventually bursting out into the sunshine. San Diego’s seafront was quite magical with its fascinating collection of old ships, from sailing ships to submarines, the ideal place to sink a few beers before the evening’s performance.
     Dave Mason, of San Diego’s “Breakfast with the Beatles” on 105.7 Walrus fm kindly hosted the show during which once again the audience provided a few memorable washboard players. The first of whom, Pete Guest, had attended Springwood School in Liverpool with Rod and Colin, and had been a pupil at Quarry Bank at the same time as John Lennon and the rest of the Quarrymen. Pete had brought his family with him to see him enjoy his notorious connection!
     Other washboard volunteers that evening included a couple of other exiles, Dave Humphries and Wolfgang Grasekamp, both of whom played with Tony Sheridan.
     The female washboard stakes were once again upped when one volunteer, on being told she had to kiss the a member of the band every time she dropped a thimble, simply threw them on the floor and made a beeline for drummer Colin Hanton! Yet another lady, on being told of the extraordinary performance witnessed at B B King’s, decided to go for broke and absolutely brought the house down. Once again, you’ll just have to wait for the video!
   After a fantastic two weeks in America, the Quarrymen left San Diego for England the following morning. Rod had to spend the night on the floor of Houston Airport but that’s another story!
     Very special thanks go to guest bass player, JB Fonfrias, for his great sense of humour and of course his fantastic bass playing. To Thom Wolke, the Quarrymen’s US Tour Manager who put the trip together and to Jess Baron for organising the California end and to all those other people behind the scenes who made everything run so smoothly.
     Thanks also to all those kind people who supported the Quarrymen gigs, bought the cds, plied them with beers and helped to make it an unforgettable trip.…..from B B King’s to Burger King! 

Who knows, the Quarrymen could be back again in the USA before long!

Thanks to Bruce Greenfield for his photos of the Quarrymen at B B King’s.

2008