Tapes of Top Gear from 1969 and 1970

[hills1902]

Ken

I listened again to the fragments of the last Top Gear of Bernie 
Andrews and unfortunately the bit I remember about JP saying he 
doesn't understand the reason for the change in producer etc isn't on 
there - I only have 9 tracks from the programme (which had sessions 
from Led Zeppelin, Taste, Nice and Heir Apparent) with some of JP's 
chat. He dedicates a record (Flying Burrito Brothers) to "a number of 
people whose association with Top Gear is ending because of the 
change in producer and because of the change in time - Pam Tarrant, 
Bernie's and TG's secretary for x number of years, Alan Harris who is 
balance engineer and Bob Cunduck recording engineer". At the end of 
the programme he says this is the last Sunday afternoon programme, 
next week will be 7 to 9 on Sunday evenings and plays out with the 
whole of the Top Gear theme by The Nice saying "this is for Bernie 
with thanks from several million of us". 

So, apologies for misleading you - I don't have quite what I thought 
I had!

John

--- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "ken garner" <ken_garner@...> wrote:
>
> Dear John
> 
> I know a bit about the dates because in order to write my previous 
> book, IN SESSION TONIGHT, I was able, as it was an official BBC 
> project, to print out every Peel show programme-as-broadcast script 
> (the running orders of the music basically) from the launch of 
Radio 
> 1 to June 78, when I ran out of time and money. I still have them 
all 
> right here in my office at home in Glasgow.
> 
> Yes, Peel was initially sceptical of Walters. I have a long quote 
> Peel gave Melody Maker in suport of Bernie but I have not heard 
that 
> last show link from the week before. If you could transcribe it for 
> me and e-mail it to me, maybe...?
> 
> I think I simply noted the Elton John spin because it demonstrated 
> that Peel alone was backing Eltona good year or more before anyone 
> else noticed him. Rememebr, elton;s first album stiffed in the uk 
on 
> first release, it was only after his lvie success in America 
that... 
> etc
> 
> Legality? Well legally, unlike TV with video recorders, it is 
still, 
> would you believe, technically illegal to record radio programmes 
off 
> air, I think, and this is one of the reasons why the BBC cannot do 
> many podcasts from its website, only 'listen again'. I think it 
> unlikely at this late date anyone is going to try and nobble any of 
> us for exchanging tapes and MP3s of 40 year old radio shows. On a 
> personal level, I know the archivists and producers at Radio 1 are 
> delighted to get copies of anything they do not have - after all, 
> this was how Kevin Howlett was able to make The Beatles at The Beeb 
> series, largely thanks to listener contributions, and several of 
> these ended up on the EMI album.
> 
> Regarding BBC recordings of full shows, these were rare and 
> haphazardly done internally, at the whim of a producer or not, from 
> time to time, until the mid nineties: since then, a CD is 
> burned of every show as it goes out and this is lodged in the R1 
> archive, for future storage. Louise Kattenhorn, Peel's last 
producer, 
> has CDs of all Peel shows back to 2001, and most of Anita Kamath's 
> (previous show producer) going back to 98, for example. But don't 
> expect to find any of this on the peel archive site: that was 
created 
> independently of R1 staff by the freelance production company 
> Somethin' Else, and they only used two sources for it: my book (I 
> know, because they asked me if I minded them rekeying it!) and the 
> Radio 1 aged computer system Romeo, which contains session sheet 
> files, but which are often incomplete.
> 
> However, late last year, BBC INfax, the BBC's archiving 
> operation, lanched its experimental programme archive catalogue 
> online. Only the catalogue, mind, not the shows: it's like showing 
> you their card index files online, that's all. Media academics like 
> me were invited to have a look at it and tell them what we think. 
> It's not bad but the information about the entries is inconsistent. 
> Neverthless, it has already proved useful in reconstructing my 
grand 
> narrative of the Peel show from 99 onwards, with the complete show 
> records for 2000 being particularly helpful. If anyone's 
interested, 
> it's here:
> 
> http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/
> 
> cheers
> 
> Ken Garner
> working on book THE PEEL SESSIONS, forthcoming Oct 07, BBC 
> Books/Random House
> 
> --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "hills1902" <jandchill@> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the information on dates - how do you know all this??
> > 
> > In response to your questions:
> > 
> > - in the show on 27/4/69, I haven't played it all through again, 
> but 
> > I think the only reference John Peel makes to the new producer is 
> to 
> > call him John "Petals" Walters, you get the impression he took a 
> > while to warm to him! One of the tapes has the last bit of the 
> > previous show (unfortunately I recorded over most of it with a 
John 
> > Peel concert programme) in which JP pays tribute to Bernie 
Andrews 
> > the outgoing producer and says he can't understand the reason for 
> the 
> > change - so perhaps he was initially a bit hostile to John 
Walters.
> > 
> > - unfortunately I recorded over the last 10 mins or so of the 
show 
> on 
> > 27/7/69 (also with a JP concert programme) so don't have the last 
> > item (Elton John's Skyline Pigeon)- was it significant?
> > 
> > 
> > The tapes also have some mostly incomplete recordings of the John 
> > Peel concert programme (Van der Graaf Generator, Mungo Jerry, 
Brett 
> > Marvin and the Thunderbolts are some I've written down) but I 
don't 
> > find these very interesting now, compared to the Top Gear shows 
> which 
> > you listen to and think what great music (mostly)!
> > 
> > One question from me - does anyone know about the legality of 
> > distributing these recordings? I imagine the BBC are the only 
ones 
> > that might take an interest. I've looked for archive recordings 
on 
> > their website and they have the odd disappointingly brief snatch 
of 
> > Top Gear. Does anyone know if they have preserved the recordings 
of 
> > the shows, or is it only the sessions that they have kept?
> > 
> > John
> > 
> > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "ken garner" <ken_garner@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I too would like to hear them, of course. I think I can be of 
> some 
> > > assistance with confirming your dates, here you go:
> > > 
> > > Sn 27/4/69 Eclection, new session first broadcast (plus 
repeated 
> > > sessions from: Family, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre)
> > > - yes, defintiely 27th, not 26th, and coincidentally that was 
the 
> > > first Peel show Produced by John Walters, I wonder if Peel says 
> > > anything about this in his links?
> > > 
> > > Sn 11/5/69 T.Rex, King Crimson (Fleetwood Mac, Bonzos)
> > > - correct, King Crimson's first, by the way
> > > 
> > > Sn 18/5/69 Pentangle, John Dummer's Blues Band (Blodwyn Pigg, 
> > > Mandrake Paddle Steamer)
> > > 
> > > Sn 29/6/69 Idle race, Led Zeppelin (Pentangle, Savoy Brown 
Blues 
> > Band)
> > > 
> > > Sn 6/7/69 John Hiseman's Coliseum, Imrat Khan (Pretty Things, 
> John 
> > > Dummer Blues Band)
> > > 
> > > Sn 27/7/69 Third Ear Band (Roy Harper, Ten Years After)
> > > - my notes also say last record in show was Skyline Pigeon by 
> Elton 
> > > John! Got that?
> > > 
> > > ...Top Gear moved to Saturday afternoons late Sept 69...
> > > 
> > > St 4/7/70 Country Joe McDonald (Fotheringay, Cochise)
> > > 
> > > St 11/7/70 Kevin Ayers + the Whole World, Son House (East of 
Eden)
> > > 
> > > Most of the major sessions there survived on tape, but I am not 
> > sure 
> > > quite all of these are in the Radio 1 Archive, by the way, 
> > especially 
> > > the Country Joe one, but I can check that easily enough...
> > > 
> > > ken
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "hills1902" <jandchill@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I have some old 7 inch reel-to-reel tapes of eight Top Gear 
> > > > programmes 
> > > > that I recorded in 1969 and 1970, with sessions from the 
> > following 
> > > > bands:
> > > > 
> > > > 26 Apr 69 - Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, Eclection, Family
> > > > 11 May 69? - Fleetwood Mac, King Crimson, Tyrannosaurus Rex, 
> > Bonzo 
> > > > Dog 
> > > > Band
> > > > Date unknown - Pentangle, Blodwyn Pig, Mandrake Paddle 
Steamer, 
> > > John 
> > > > Dummer Blues Band
> > > > Date unknown - Ten Years After, Roy Harper, Third Ear Band
> > > > 29 Jun 69 - Led Zeppelin, Pentangle, Idle Race, 
> > > > 6 Jul 69 - John Dummer Blues Band, Colosseum, Pretty Things, 
> > Imrat 
> > > > Khan
> > > > 4 Jul 70 - Country Joe Macdonald, Fotheringay, Cochise
> > > > 11 Jul 70? - Kevin Ayres, East of Eden, Son House
> > > > 
> > > > Some of the tapes are recorded at 3 3/4 inches per second and 
> > some 
> > > at 
> > > > 1 
> > > > 7/8 inches per second, and are of complete programmes, though 
> > > > unfortunately I edited out the half-hourly news on most of 
> them. 
> > I 
> > > > seem 
> > > > to remember Radio 1 was only on medium wave at the time so 
> > quality 
> > > is 
> > > > not brilliant, but they were recorded by connecting to the 
> > speaker 
> > > > terminals of a radio (not using a microphone). Also the tape 
> > > recorder 
> > > > was a bit dodgy and took about 10 mins to warm up to full 
speed 
> > so 
> > > > some 
> > > > of them now play back too fast for the first 10 mins or so! 
The 
> > > tapes 
> > > > also have various LPs of that era on them. 
> > > > 
> > > > Despite all their faults, is anyone interested in them ? I'm 
> > > willing 
> > > > to 
> > > > send them by post in return for the postage (plus donation to 
> > > charity 
> > > > if there's a lot of interest), and would be interested in 
> > > > copies on CD if that's what someone would like to do with 
them.
> > > >
> > >
> >
>