We attempted. As I said, he is not well. Ken also reached out to Phil Spector in prison last year, and he also didn't seem to be in much condition to contribute. He didn't refuse, he just wasn't really capable. However, we have testimony from both of them in the book from older interviews where they were lucid and not incarcerated. Unfortunately I haven't heard anything about a release date for the ATMP reissue/box set, but I certainly hope it's soon. The samples I've heard are tantalizing.
I've pre-ordered this book and very much look forward to reading! Your 'Producing The Beatles' podcast is very well done.
Given his schizophrenia and imprisonment for murder, I imagine it can’t be easy to chat to him! And with his illness there is the issue of trust in what he says also and that’s before you even think about whether he’s capable of holding that conversation.
Thanks! I'm hoping to do an episode or two about the production of All Things Must Pass for the podcast soon, just have to line up all the moving parts. I certainly have plenty of material to work with!
Fantastic. I am really looking forward to this. The recording of Clapton's first solo album is quite close in time as well, regarding how Derek and the Dominos took shape I mean. I assume sources like Marc Roberty or Christopher Hjort (who did an incredibly detailed book on Clapton et al from 65' to 70' using day-by-day press cuttings for instance) have been used?
I don't have Hjort's book but I used Marc Roberty's Day By Day book and went through a lot of Melody Maker, NME, Disc, etc myself and found pieces that I haven't seen referenced elsewhere. I was in contact with Marc briefly regarding a question about the mid-1970 timeline, for which I had access to material he hadn't seen before. We cover the Delaney and Bonnie time and the recording of the first solo album as well, though not in nearly as much detail as ATMP or Layla.
Pre-order is in! Good luck to both authors on this new book. Jason does a great job on his "Producing The Beatles", and I find Ken's books to be very informative. This should be a good one!
Ken and I did a Q&A about the book for the Best Classic Bands website, which will give a little preview of what we found: Authors Talk 'All Things Must Pass Away: Harrison, Clapton, and Other Assorted Love Songs' Book - Best Classic Bands
Here's Bobby's response when asked about your book (at his YouTube channel): "Just from what we've seen, it's a load of hogwash." And no, I wasn't the one who mentioned your book. In case you want to see the specific citation, it's in the comments section for the video Never Can Say Goodbye.
Thanks for letting me know. To my knowledge, he hasn't seen a copy. I certainly didn't send it to him, and as far as I know, neither has the publisher. That's not to say he couldn't have gotten his hands on a pdf, but we've cited every single source and interview, including his own book.
Upon reflection, I wonder if Bobby read the above article and took issue with the comment that Derek and the Dominos weren't the house band for the entirety of the All Things Must Pass sessions, but really only about a week and a half. This point is a little more nuanced than that article had space for, because Clapton and Whitlock were most certainly there from the beginning. Stories vary as to when Carl Radle arrived in England, and Jim Gordon doesn't appear to have gotten there until about June 10, by which point George had been recording for two weeks. This is based on Bobby's own recollections in his memoir, as well as Mark Roberty's research, both of which led me to seek out further details in the music papers in the first half of June. There's a break in recording after the first D&D gig (June 14, where they are christened), and then they blast through the last leg of tracking sessions. Having a timeline of recording dates from Chip Madinger, plus tape boxes from Bill Levenson (which you'll see in the book), helped put all this into context. Of course, if I find more information that proves this wrong, I'm happy to accept it, but this is the material we had on hand when writing.
Looking forward to the book and more info on Delaney and Bonnie circa 1969 - as I'm not a fan of Derek & the Dominoes they are always Delaney & Bonnie's band to me
I thought I had answered this but must have just imagined I did. John was in Los Angeles all summer undergoing Primal Therapy with Arthur Janov. This covers the entire period of tracking sessions for All Things Must Pass so he couldn't have been there. The "It's Johnny's Birthday" bit was recorded in October and on the 9th, while John, Klaus and Ringo were recording in Studio 3, George popped in -- you can hear it on the session tape for "Remember," where John goes "GEOORGE!" He seems very pleased to see him. George was working on mastering ATMP at this point, though he would go through two more mastering studios before he was satisfied.
My copy is on its way from Blackwell's, which is an excellent birthday present! Sadly, it probably won't arrive before I go away for a few days but fingers crossed for tomorrow.
I'll be a little upset if you get yours before I get my author copies! (Just kidding -- I hope you enjoy it)
