jET HARRIS NEW BOOK

[Alan Prudhoe]

Ask Big Jim Sullivan. I recall him once saying that he played on literally hundreds of hit records at the time. As Tony says, it was much quicker - and therefore cheaper - to use accomplished players in the studio.

[Amanda]

The book does not do Jet's memory any favours from what I hear!
Just a way of making money from Jet's name now he's not around to defend himself.
I wouldn't sully my bookshelf with it!!



Amanda

[d jones]

Hi All

If my memory serves me correctly i think in the Mike Read book about the shadows Cliff Hall states on entering the studio and who are we supposed to be today! So i would assume from this, that it was common place back then for session men.

Dave

[kipper]

The book does not do Jet's memory any favours from what I hear!
Just a way of making money from Jet's name now he's not around to defend himself.
I wouldn't sully my bookshelf with it!!



Amanda

thanks amanda is this the one that jet got stoped at at one time. peter

[SELEDA284]

Hi All

If my memory serves me correctly i think in the Mike Read book about the shadows Cliff Hall states on entering the studio and who are we supposed to be today! So i would assume from this, that it was common place back then for session men.

Dave

According to Alan Jones it was very common place when he was a session man. He was on many hit records & he never knew who he was supposed to be until he entered the studio.

[JimN]

The allegation that Jet did not play on these recordings is not new - it has been on Joe Moretti's website for some time. However, Tony's comments would seem to confirm the matter.
George

It's more than an allegation, George. Jet Harris himself made that revelation about Scarlet O'Hara as far back as 1968. In the early part of that year, there was a media fuss about band members not playing on their own records, after it was reported that only Steve Ellis, the lead singer of the group The Love Affair, was on their hit record Everlasting Love. One of the Sunday papers (probably the News Of The World) ran a multi-page story on the phenomenon, gaining interviews and quotes from various recording artistes, including Jet. Jet said that he had not been able to learn Scarlet... quickly enough in the studio and that rather than abort the session (which would have cost money), the group - with Tony very much in charge musically - decided to get the second guitarist to play the tune. "He's better anyway", said Jet.

The second guitarist was not named in that newspaper article, but years later, it turned out that it was Joe Moretti.

None of this is as sensational as it at first sounds. Many groups of the period used sessioneers on some or all of their instruments. I'm sure that The Shadows, The Beatles, The Searchers and The Dakotas all played on their own records. But other groups of the time? The Pacemakers? The Dreamers? Dream on... the playing on most of those records is far too expert to have been laid down by a bunch fresh from an all night session at the Cavern or the Twisted Wheel followed by a van trip down the bits of M1 and M6 that then existed.

And isn't it odd how the guitar sound and playing style on Scarlet O'Hara, I'm Telling You Now (Freddy & The Dreamers) and Song Of Mexico (Tony Meehan Combo) is identical?

JN

[biba]

Hi AGAIN.
I can understand that this is difficult to swallow for someone,but there is a big difference being a solo star with his own name on the label.than being a session man.
Yes we shall remember him ofcourse for what he did with the Shadows.but he also had a great solo career whith his own name on the hits,and I can not defend that.
I think he must have had a good laugh on the way to the bank.
I have had many talks with Jet,both privat and in some different forum.I have also have the privelege to play with him and I respect him very much as a person and a musican. But maybe blood is thicher than water.
What others do back then did not justify this.

biba

[iefje]

Well then, did Jet play on "Diamonds", "Besame Mucho" and "Main Title Theme (The Man With The Golden Arm)"? I am suddenly beginning to question all the early 1960's solo recordings. If he didn't play "Theme For A Fallen Idol", then he maybe also didn't participate in "This Sportin' Life" and "The Guitar Man", all from the same session. Did Tony Meehan even play on all the 1960's recordings?

[shawbridge]

The line," Can of worms " comes to mind

Peter

[JimN]

Well then, did Jet play on "Diamonds", "Besame Mucho" and "Main Title Theme (The Man With The Golden Arm)"? I am suddenly beginning to question all the early 1960's solo recordings. If he didn't play "Theme For A Fallen Idol", then he maybe also didn't participate in "This Sportin' Life" and "The Guitar Man", all from the same session. Did Tony Meehan even play on all the 1960's recordings?

Yes, Jet played on Diamonds, Besame Mucho and Main Title Theme (as well as Big Bad Bass). Or at least, there is no reason at all to suppose that he didn't.

Can of worms indeed. What I would not want is for it to be thought that Jet was in any way dishonest about any of this. He certainly wasn't and he was the person who revealed it, albeit it was a long time ago.

JN