Category: Beatles

Top Pop Gear

One of Bismo’s favourite programmes (note British spelling) is Top Gear, the show for automotive enthusiasts on BBC America. But long before Top Gear, there was Pop Gear, a 1965 movie featuring a bunch of British music acts, introduced by BBC TV personality Jimmy (now Sir Jimmy) Savile.

Last night, the season opener of Mad Men ended with Tobacco Road by the Nashville Teens, which you’ll find in part 5 of Pop Gear, compliments of YouTube user nyrainbow2.

Capitol-ism: from Bozo to The Beatles – 1

One of the the most controversial figures, and frustrating subjects, in the history of the Beatles is Dave Dexter, Jr. (1915-1990). Dexter hated the Beatles, both personally and professionally — as you’ll hear for yourself later — and yet he was in charge of their American releases on Capitol Records until the Yesterday and Today album, which was “prepared by Bill Miller” and was originally released with the infamous “butcher cover.”

Before I say anything more about Dave Dexter, Jr., listen to the recording on the player below. “The Chase” is exclusive to Dexter’s American version of “HELP!”, and it’s a noteworthy recording to be found on a Beatles record, but it isn’t by the Beatles.

“The Chase” is credited to Ken Thorne, who scored the soundtrack to “HELP!”, but it was performed by Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish (1914-2006). Click here to read his account of the recording session, and his subsequent involvement with George Harrison.

Prue in the tub with a hat

“Prue, in the tub, with a hat” sounds like a solution to the board game ‘Clue’, but I couldn’t think of what else to call this post other than what it is — a picture of Prue Bury (when she was Prue Hooper) wearing a Halston straw Derby hat, while sitting in a bathtub full of water!

Prue says of this unusual pose,

I have the photo in my scrap book. That was an uncomfortable shoot. A bath full of water and a suit which grew to be very heavy and cold! The hat looked great!

Thanks go to Martha B. at Nibs for having this scan from a 1968 issue of Look magazine.

She’s a Prunette


George Harrison, Pattie Boyd, Prue Bury, Wilfrid Brambell, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney

Prue Bury was joking this week about something that I’ll be featuring later, and she said, “Spike Milligan had “I told them I was ill” put on his tombstone. Mine will be “I told them I was not a blond!” (Prue has kept her hair lightened for some years now.) Spike Milligan, along with Peter Sellers, was one of the Goon Show goons, a BBC radio program that was a favorite of the Beatles, and was one of the inspirations for the Monty Python troupe.

[audio:http://www.thegoonshow.net/downloads/mp3/54-09-28~s05e01~the_whistling_spy_enigma.mp3|titles=The Goon Show: The Whistling Spy]

As someone else on the Net says, commenting on Prue, “Real class tells. And this brunette is REAL class.” Indeed she is.


Prue Bury, George Harrison, Pattie Boyd

The pictures are courtesy of Lynn at Pattie Boyd’s Sixties Style on Yahoo!

The true Prue revealed

A few days ago, I said of Prue Bury in a particular photo, “Prue is contemplative, almost pensive.” I’ve long wondered about her expression in this snapshot, but now I know it was a put-on, and she was only pretending to be serious. Place your mouse pointer over the image to see for yourself.

“Between scenes we relaxed but didn’t stop laughing. Ringo pretended he didn’t think Prue was being very funny!” said Pattie. From the UK magazine, Woman’s Own, May 30, 1964.

My thanks go to Lynn, who runs the Yahoo! Group Pattie Boyd’s Sixties Style.