It's BCAF week and tonight it was Burbage Live - six pubs, six bands.  As always Mick and Mo came over; Keith too with his brother, Mick.  We had a good evening - 3 pubs, 3 bands: some years we miss the music altogether!  We finished in the Constitutional Club - as we walked in the door I heard "Back in the USSR" and  one of the singers was Nick Mayne, brother of Tony (Mike's dear, departed friend). Only disappointment - no chips on the way home (it was too late)

Pat came to see me tonight - back from his business trip to India.  Lots of tales to tell, including an evening out to a Hard Rock Café in Bangalore that was decorated with pictures of ... George Harrison.

Breakfast in bed with Saturday's supplements.  I found out that it costs £97.50 to get to Hamburg by train "there's a charming historic old town to explore ... plus tours around the Beatles' old hangouts from the Fab Four's time in the city" (Times: Weekend. Germany by train ... p30). 

I also discovered that Mark Ellen (rock journalist) "is an amiable, McCartney-esque figure" who has recently published a vivid memoir "Rock Stars stole my life! A big bad love affair with music" (Times: Saturday Review p12).

But I did already know that the Everly Brothers had a profound effect on the Beatles.  A trailer advertising a R2 programme on the pair reminded me today.  Mike was a big fan of the Everlys: we saw them a couple of times and he used to sing their songs with his close friend Steve Cartwright in a group called Earl and the Shiltones!

Moore with Lennon & Yoko

I had breakfast in the garden then sat in the sun reading yesterday's news in The Time.  Apparently 91-year old Baroness Trumpington is not a pop fan.  In the Quick Fire section of a two-page interview she's asked "One Direction or The Beatles?" Her answer "I think they're all bloody awful" (p31). 

Jack Henry Moore would probably have chosen the latter.  He died last month. An impresario of avant garde music in Swinging Sixties London, his obituary (p78) highlights his close association with Lennon and Yoko. He had a vast archive of sound and video recordings of the pair and he "hosted Ono's first happening" and helped to produce "The Alchemical Wedding (1968) at the Albert Hall.  Lennon and Oko appeared in a bag...It was intended to make the audience think". I bet it did! I remember seeing a clip of a "bag performance" and finding it ridiculous

Later in the day I turned the radio on and was rewarded with a Beatles Triple  on the Paul O'Grady R2 show(which I nearly missed as I was about to plug the hoover in):  Hey Jude, Hello Goodbye and Let it Be.

I watched about 45 mins of last night's show - some good covers.  Paul and Ringo in the audience with Beatle family members and a host of celebrity fans. A bit too "sentimental" and "groupie-ish" for my liking but will "catch up" with the rest sometime.

I heard two more Beatles songs today.  The first was Jamie Callum singing a jazzy version of "Can't buy me love" whilst I had a picnic in the park (they play music over the bandstand speakers). More piped music in B & Q. I caught "Eight Days a Week" just as I was leaving the store with another tin of paint.

"The Beatles: The night that changed America - A Grammy Salute". Stars perform Beatle songs to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four's appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" .  The programme starts in a few minutes - sounds star-studded and interesting but it goes on til late; not sure if I'll make it to the end (ITV). 

I woke up knowing it was going to be a difficult, challenging day ... and to Paul McCartney singing "accentuate the positive ..."!  (R2)