Here is a cool Beatle News Site I was turned on to. WALRUSGUMBOOT BEATLE NEWS
WALRUSGUMBOOT BEATLE NEWS
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Aug 14, 2008 5:58 p.m. Beatles6120:
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Aug 14, 2008 6:08 p.m. Beatles6120:
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Aug 14, 2008 6:25 p.m. JazzBoxJunky:
I'm pretty sure John would LOVE to know that people were using his face and ideals to solicit a potential president that he never even knew, or had a chance to approve of.
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Aug 14, 2008 7:57 p.m. Beatles6120:
I didn't make it. But I am certain that John would never vote for McCain.
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Aug 14, 2008 8:00 p.m. Beatles6120:
Jackson Browne sues McCain over song use. Republicans
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Aug 14, 2008 8:06 p.m. Beatles6120:
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Aug 14, 2008 11:43 p.m. JazzBoxJunky:
I dunno, to me this is no different than Nike using Revolution to sell sneakers. I guess all the marketing and exploitation he endured with the Beatles will continue on into the future.
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Aug 15, 2008 12:09 a.m. Robert:
I love the Beatles but it seems this site is a bit of an overkill. A quick rundown of the main page:
3 stories about Mark Chapman . One concerns him, another is devoted to his current wife and yet another to his ex.
Stella Mcartney is enraged that a model sporting one of her own designed black lace bras is also wearing mink. Unfortunately the picture in question is nowhere to be found.
A Cheech and Chong book. This failed the 1st paragraph test so I have no idea what this has to do with the Beatles.
Paul is considering another marriage. I wish him well…
Paul supports anti-litter campaign. Nothing wrong with that but don’t we all?
Paul plays harmonica for a kid named Jude. Actually I liked this story until I read that he refused to let the child's parents take pictures.
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Aug 15, 2008 12:18 a.m. Beatles6120:
Robert said: Paul plays harmonica for a kid named Jude. I actually liked this story until I read that he refused to let his parents take pictures.
He has to draw the line somewhere. -
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Aug 15, 2008 11:59 p.m. jazzbo:
I liked the story about how he shunned expensive hotels in favor of sleeping in the Missouri state park.
It must have been hard on his old bones. A couple of nights later, he bunked down at the posh Skirvin Hilton here in OKC. Gotta love the old guy, though. He refused to eat in a private dining area, choosing to sit in the open section of the restaurant.
He's driving an old Ford Bronco and following old Route 66 all the way to Santa Monica. Sounds like an adventure. Think they packed any sammiches?
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Aug 16, 2008 9:50 a.m. Deed Eddy:
"Actually I liked this story until I read that he refused to let the child's parents take pictures."
Well, perhaps he was just hoping to have a semi-normal road trip, and wasn't looking his usual fantastic self. We all have days like that, don't we? The mom and dad have a wonderful story to tell their son, and the press don't have a "bad hair day" pic of Paul to use against him.
Seems a fair trade to me.
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Aug 16, 2008 6:28 p.m. Robert:
Yeah I'll go along with that. I hate having my picture taken but not being able to walk around the corner without a camera in your face must brutal.
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Aug 16, 2008 10:24 p.m. Proteus:
There's not a lot of old 66 to follow most of the way...nice stretch from Flagstaff to Kingman, though.
And I THINK it's old 66 which runs parallel to I-44 across most of Missouri, now used as a farm access road. I always drive as much of that as I can when crossing Misery.
There ARE great abandoned stretches which go nowhere (or there were 13 years ago when my son, my dad, and I did the odyssey). My son was 13, and we put him behind the wheel of the Lincoln and got out so he could drive solo down a deserted stretch, turn around and come back for pictures.
We got chunks of pavement as souvenirs...but where they've got to now I don't know.
And we stayed at a couple of cool overnights, like the Wigwam concrete tipis, and the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari. AND we stood on the corner in Winslow Arizona, which is as close to the Eagles as I want to be.
Got haircuts at Angel's barbershop in Seligman.
It'll be a good trip however it works out.
But a Bronco? Something postwar to mid-60s would be a far better ride!
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Aug 16, 2008 10:58 p.m. crowbone:
In the early 90s I took the family out to Arizona and put 1700 miles on the rental.
We wound up in Holbrook. Wow. It was encapsulated in the Rt.66 heyday. Complete with sleeping in cement ti-pis, fiberglass dinosaurs, and other assorted oddities.
Can't wait to get back there.
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Aug 17, 2008 12:00 a.m. Deed Eddy:
McLean, Texas. One of our favorite spots on old 66. Population, not too many. A town the Interstate left in the dust. This is the Avalon Theater, taken in June. It's been unused for years. Many roads trips ago, I took a shot of the ticket booth, and lying inside it was a small sign that read, "All children must be seated before the performance will begin." Those were the days.
Have You Slept in a Wigwam Lately?
And last, truly one of the Route 66 classics...
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Aug 17, 2008 12:27 a.m. Deed Eddy:
But we can't forget this guy!
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Aug 17, 2008 8:46 a.m. JBGretschguy:
Thanks for sharing those, Deed. Paul McCartney did a Route 66 drive a couple of weeks ago in a '89 Ford Bronco. He stopped in Springfield, IL at a gas station and first was thought to be an impersonator. But it was him!
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Aug 17, 2008 8:54 a.m. audiodrome:
Back in 1988, I drove across the country with my girlfriend (from Boston to LA, and then to San Francisco) using the back roads and camping along the way. I remember that food, gas and lodging cost us around $700. I'm glad I did it then because I'd never have the time now (we gave ourselves a month to get there). It was a wonderful trip and it's something I will never forget!
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Aug 17, 2008 9:00 a.m. Bernw:
So being a poor old Uk'er who only knows of Route 66 from the Nat King Cole, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry recordings - what actually happened to it?
Deed mentions the interstate leaving it for dead. I assume that the interstate is an equivalent of our "motorways"? So what was Route 66 when in its prime - a version of our "trunk road" or one of our "A roads".
And was it a revered route before the songs about it?
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Aug 17, 2008 11:41 a.m. Timthom62:
The Interstate Highway System is indeed somewhat akin to the British Motorways or the German Autobahn. Multiple lane, divided highway in each direction with ramped inlet and outlet points and overpasses (or underpasses) for roads which cross it.
The US Highway System, of which Route 66 is but one example, was much more basic. Just one or two lanes in each direction, often not divided, that intersect (for the most part) the roads that cross them.
When the Interstate System was laid out, they were made a straight as possible and this often left many of the towns on the more meandering US Highway System far from the exits. That the Interstates are more efficient is hard to dispute, but something intrinsic to the travel experience, (indeed, the sense of travel AS an experience), has been lost.
As one of the main routes to Southern California from the East, the shared experience of traveling Route 66 became part of our culture and therefore the subject of songs, movies and television shows.
Hope Paul had fun, but Route 66 is a mere shadow of it's former self and downright depressing for those who remember the way it was.
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Aug 17, 2008 3:12 p.m. Mark Synchro:
As TimThom mentions, not much of Route 66 remains beyind the legends. I'm glad that the wigwams remain, somehow the world would seem a bit emptier without their presence.
The road-travel experiences of my generation must be quite different from those that traveled in the heyday of Route 66. While my little town is hundreds of miles from Route 66 you can still see reminders of travel before I-10 came along and reduced the town to a Denny's and a few gas stations.
The main street of Benson Arizona still has a number of motels from the olde days. One, that was owned by a friend of the family for a time has a carport for each room which is a pretty good idea here in the desert. It was built in 1929 and the carports look about the right size for a Model A Ford. Add a hanful of greasy looking drive-in restaurants (a product not of the '50s but of the '30s) and you have all the makings of a travel scene right out of "Grapes of Wrath".
I love highway travel to the extent that I no longer fly but prefer to see the sights from the windshield of a rental car. Being out on the Interstate at night is an exercise in shared isolation. There are other people in other cars on their way to other destinations, listening to their own music and drinking their own favored road-friendly beverages. Lights from Mc Donald's or a Pilot Travel Stop beckon and if you go into one of these places you find a mix of strangers most of whom are semi zoned-out from the road. Travelers seldom interact unless the road is closed and everyone gets out of their cars for a stretch. Other than that rare event we tend to travel in solitude and that's fine by me.
If you could flash back 60 - 70 years how different it must have been. Back then autos didn't offer the same quiet, climate-controlled environment as they do today. If it was raining the vacuum powered windshield wipers of the day didn't work when you were passing or going up a hill. If it was too hot you rolled down the windows. If it was too cold you turned on the heater and hoped for the best. If you had passengers in the back seat chances are that they would need a blanket to throw over their legs. Cars of that era were not as reliable as they are today. If the voltage regulator failed the generator was bound to follow and vice versa. V-belts broke frequently and starters were a problem although a manual transmission made push-starting a viable option which could see you through to the next major town or the next payday).
It's easy to imagine that such travel was less anonymous than it is today. For one thing, there were less people on the roads and meeting the same folks over and over as you mutually passed through the same list of towns was probably more common when the number of gas stations, motels and drive-in restaurants was limited. According to everything I've heard or read about that era the pace of life was noticably slower so it's likely that a few extra minutes to chat at a roadside stop were fairly commonplace.
In any event, I wish I could do the same thing as Sir Paul set out to do. A diagonal drive across the US taking in as much of Route 66 as possible would indeed be a pleasant diversion.
Just once in my life I'd like to travel with no time pressure and see the sights. I've often fantasized about having the wherewithal to pack a van with musical instruments and recording gear and driving across America looking for interesting musical experiences. Imagine the possibilities; stopping by an interesting roadhouse and jamming with the local Blues talent or meeting Bluegrass players that grew up immersed in that sort of music. Jazz musicians are usually looking for opportunities to play and I'm certain that some very talented players are to be found even in remote locations with no local Jazz community.
Anyhow, best wishes to Sir Paul and thanks to him for rememebring the America that once was.
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Aug 17, 2008 4:04 p.m. Spartanman:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66
Please see above link.
Although it is mostly gone, I must agree that driving off the beaten path is very refreshing. Here in Texas they are are FM (Farm to Market) and Ranch Roads. I imagine in other parts of the country they have similar types of roads. Growing up in California, they didn't have them, and I really appreciate them now.
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Aug 17, 2008 4:10 p.m. Tsar Nicholas :
Bernw said: So being a poor old Uk'er who only knows of Route 66 from the Nat King Cole, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry recordings - what actually happened to it?
It's funny, I've learned all of my American geography and place names from Chuck Berry!
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Aug 17, 2008 5:45 p.m. Beatles6120:
Paul McCartney did a Route 66 drive a couple of weeks ago in a '89 Ford Bronco. He stopped in Springfield, IL at a gas station and first was thought to be an impersonator. But it was him! said:
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Aug 18, 2008 12:25 a.m. jazzbo:
Route 66 ran directly through the town I was born and raised in. Until I was 10, I lived two blocks from old 66. First person I ever saw killed was a kid trying to cross 66 near my house. Really made an impression on me at 7 years old. I always made sure I had plenty of lead time when I crossed it.
When I was 13, I went to work as a busboy in a Route 66 restaurant called Consumers Oil. It had been there since the 30s. They had a new fancy location on the recently completed Interstate 40 across town. At the time, I wished I worked there. However, they eventually closed the old one and I ended up at the new one anyway. Looking back, it was way more fun and nostalgic, plus the clientele was the older established folks who had eaten there for years.
They also had those little portable jukeboxes at each booth and I knew a trick how to get it to squeeze the buttons together and it would play for free. They got so tired of me playing Dave Edmunds "I Hear You Knockin."
All of the cooks were these old black women. One of them, Lula, had the most perfect white teeth I had ever seen. I asked her once, "Lula, are those your teeth?" She smiled real big and said, "They sure are, honey. Bought and paid for,...bought and paid for."
My first drag race was on Route 66 just a few miles from the restaurant. We've still got a lot of 66 that looks like this.
OK, reminiscing time's over. Thank you for your indulgence.
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