Ask Jimmy Pou - Page 1

MIKE'S QUESTION: "I have a VOX AC-30 and a Rickenbacker 360 V-64 12
string. What fingering do you use for the opening chord to "A Hard Days
Night"?. I think I've tried everything. Very close but..."
JIMMY: "A Hard Days Night opening chord is a G minor with a sixth added,
so you play a G minor chord and with the pinky finger you play the fifth fret
which will turn out to be a "C" note."

JAMES' QUESTION : "I read that George got the sound for the "Nowhere
Man" lead by overdriving a portable tape recorder (probably a Nagra) and
injecting directly into the console. How do you produce this tone live? I
never see you fiddling with your amp's panel."
JIMMY: "I don't know about a overdriven tape recorder. As far as I've read,
he used a Fender Stratocaster, and had George Martin put the treble up as
high as it could go, and took all the bass tone off. Now, what I do to try to
reproduce that sound on stage is to use the compressor pedal, and the
parametric equalizer which are both in front of me on the floor, so that's why
you don't see me fiddling with the amp."

MARK'S QUESTION : "I hope 1964 plans on staying together for a long time
to come. Do you have any long term plans, please don't say retirement. Also
I'm curious as to what kind of things you and the band are into? There isn't
much info on any bios except yours."
JIMMY: "We don't plan to retire anytime soon, so I wouldn't worry about not
being able to see us perform Beatle songs. We also do our own music as
well, so we will be out there touring in one form or another."
LISA: "All members of 1964 are involved in other things. Mark is a luthier
(guitar maker), Gary I think does some other voice work, Greg and his wife
own a pottery shop in Michegan, where I believe they even sell some of
Greg's own creations. Jimmy often plays with other bands when he's not
scheduled with 1964. Mark, Gary and Jimmy all have original CD projects "in
the works". Gary did a solo project a long time ago. If you have 1964's CD
"Nine Hours In November", Gary's LP (yes, it's on vinyl!) is pictured inside,
behind the Dunkin Donuts coffee cups."

TERESA'S QUESTION : "Here's a "technical" one: I just got your "Four Little
Ditties" CD, and noticed I really had to turn up the volume to hear it on my
CD player in my truck. Of the other CDs I own, some are much louder than
others. Is this something that happens in the recording process, or what?
At least my finger gets lots of exercise on the volume control!"
JIMMY: "I have the same problems with different CDs that I own. I don't
know why that is, very strange thought I must agree. I think it is in the
copying process of the CDs, not the recording of it, but making copies of
the CDs in production."

RICH'S QUESTION : "For the closet guitar player who would like to play
Beatle tunes a little better, are there any hints or forms of tableture to learn
some of the leads? I would really like to learn George's lead in "All My
Loving", do you have any suggestions?"
JIMMY: "The way I learned how to play George's parts was to listen to the
records for years and picking out every single little note. The solo on "All
MY Loving" is based on a Chet Atkins type lead playing that George imitated
from Chet. You basically play the solo by playing chords and it's done in a
country style picking. I hope this helped."
LISA: "There are several TAB sites online. www.tabcrawler is one. You can
also go to www.amazon.com and do a search for Beatles song books. I
bought the big white book which sells for about $50-$60 at Amazon, has all
guitar, bass tabs and drums. I bought mine on eBay for about $30."

JOJO'S QUESTION : "Paul McCartney once told Julian Lennon to stop playing
his "father's" music and do his OWN. Well, imitation is a great form of
flattery...My question is, respectfully, with all your OWN talent and original
music...do you feel being in this 1964 Tribute allows you more FAME and
FORTUNE you might not accomplish in your OWN persona?"
JIMMY: "Well, funny you should ask, I do have my own music
that I write . I have my CD "Four Little Ditties", did you not see it on my web
site? I am also in the studio at home when I am not playing Beatles songs,
working on my second solo CD, which will be titled : "A Dozen Scrambled
Daze". I hope you get a chance to give a listen to them, you can order them
from my web site. The 1964 show we do is our day job, and what a fun day
job it is.
LISA: "A Dozen Scrambled Daze" has not yet been released, but will be
soon. Once released it will be available via mail order. Check the "Mail
Order" page on this site."

(added note: A Dozen Scrambled Daze was released July 2001 and is
currently available).

MIKE'S QUESTION : "What are the most challenging guitar licks you face in
concert with 1964?"
JIMMY: "I would have to say that the most challenging guitar licks that I play
in the show is "And Your Bird Can Sing" because it is 2 parts and I have to
play them both at the same time. In some parts of the solo it is 3 parts, and
they have to be played very fast and it ranges from the top end of the guitar
neck to the low end of the neck, lots of movement. The Beatles recorded
the song with George doing one part and Paul played the other part. Plus
they had the luxury of doing it over if there were any mistakes ,
overdubbing, and I have to play it live every night. Ouch!!
Also the new one we do now is "In My Life", the solo in the middle is pretty
hard too. Actually they're all hard, because for years I've been a bass player,
so it's a challenge for me every night, every solo."

DAN'S QUESTION : "Can you put up a complete list of all the Beatles songs
that "1964" performs on you web site. And, I sure would like to hear you do
the song "If I Needed Someone"."
JIMMY: "We have a list of all our songs on the back of our new live CD
called "All You Need Is Live". Our song list is listed there and we did do "If I
needed someone" for a little while, but you do a song for while and if you
don't get a good reaction from the crowd after a while you get the feeling
that the song isn't working or the crowd is not getting into it, after all we are
there to please us but also to please the audience."

DAN'S QUESTION : "Did anyone ever tell you, you look like Alice Cooper?"
JIMMY: "I have been told I look like Alice Cooper, Keith Richards, Ron
Wood, Bill Wyman, John Lennon,Randy Mantooth, Al Pacino, Paul McCartney,
and oh yeah..............George Harrison."

DAN'S QUESTION : "How many gigs does "1964" do in a year? And, Did Paul
McCartney ever hear your show?"
JIMMY: "We do about 150 to 170 shows a year. Every weekend just about."
LISA: "To the best of my knowledge, none of the former Beatles has seen
1964 perform."

DAN'S QUESTION : "How in the world did you figure out how to play the lead
ride in "And Your Bird Can Sing"? Did George Harrison originally do the
song, tracking the lead ride?"
JIMMY: "Well the lead to "And your bird can sing" is a real tuffy. It took me a
good 2 months to figure it out and rehearse it before I had the nerve to play
it on stage. George and Paul tracked it in the studio, and of course they had
the luxury of stoping the tape if they made a mistake and they had the luxury
of overdubbing, but after all they were the Beatles weren't they? and they
wrote it. So there you have it."

TERESA'S QUESTION : "Do you ever plan on learning to play a sitar so the
band can perform "Norwegian Wood"?"
JIMMY: "I do not plan on learning the sitar, it is a pretty sounding
instrument, but it would be very difficult to carry around on planes don't you
think?"

JIM'S QUESTION : "How does it feel to live the life of an idol? Must be a
dream come true?"
JIMMY: "Great question, but I must tell you that the only time that I feel a
little like George is when we are on stage, once the show is over I feel just
like me. It is a real honor to try to portray one of my own idols, but that is as
far as it goes . Once the show is over, I come straight back to reality."

BECKY'S QUESTION : "Do you know if the other 3 members will have their
own webpage like you did?"
JIMMY: " I do know that Gary has registered his name and is starting to
think about putting a web site together. As a matter of fact, it was Gary that
gave me the idea, he had told me that I should hurry and register my name
quick before somebody else does, so I did and I said to myself , I should put
together a web site , and here it is."

TERESA'S QUESTION : "Jimmy, inquiring minds want to know: What's the
story behind that pic of you on the web page where you appear to be
dressed as Zorro?"
JIMMY: "The "Zorro" photo was an idea that my son Aaron and I had when
we were thinking of a cover shot for my CD. I looked so scary after viewing
the result, that I decided I better find a photo of myself when I was cute,
that's why I chose the one of me at 3 years old riding my bike."

STEWART'S QUESTION : "I noticed that the Beatles tuned in Eb on most of
the Sulivan shows, the Boudakan, NME show and I noticed that 1964 also
does this. Is it to save your voices? Did the Beatles ever mention this in
print?"
JIMMY: "Very observant of you to notice that we tuned down. Yes, we also
figured out that the Beatles tuned down to Eb. We never heard the reason
why, but since we work so much, 1/2 step down can make all the difference
in the world when you are trying to save your voices. We give everything
that we can during our performance, but we also have to remember that we
have to go to another city the next night, and again give everything we've
got and still be in good voice, a paranoia that hits every singer."

CLAY'S QUESTION : "What guitars do you have other than the gretch country
gent and the ric 360/12?"
JIMMY: "At home I have a Rickenbacker Bass guitar same one that Paul
used in the later years, but mine is wood color, I bought it in 1970. I also
have a Yamaha 2001 Bass guitar green, that I used to use in my heavy metal
band that I was in years ago.I also have a Yamaha 12 string acoustic FG-312
that I use in the studio when I am recording my original music. Last but not
least , I also have a re-issue model 1962 Country Classic Gretsch Country
Gentleman with gold inlay and gold tuning pegs, my favorite. The reason I
own bass guitars is because I played bass in several bands in the past."

STEPHANIE'S QUESTION : "Do you attend the Beatlefest up in Chicago? A
few years ago I saw Mark Benson there. I later heard a rumor that 1964
doesn't associate with Beatlefest anymore. I didn't know why. I was sad to
hear that, because I'd love to see you perform there."
JIMMY: "Yes, Mark Benson was there just visiting.I went to the one in Los
Angeles because I live in L.A. The reason we don't do more of them is
because Mark Lapidos has a loyalty to "Liverpool" the group who are also
friends of mine. Mark explained that it was nothing personal, just that he
likes to stay with one band, so we are still and always will be friends and
fans of the convention. Years ago, I actually played with "Liverpool" at the
convention in L.A. when their lead guitarist couldn't make it, and it was a lot
of fun."
LISA: "According to those I asked, Jimmy performed with Liverpool at the LA
Beatlefest in 1992. Jimmy also performed with Liverpool at the LA Beatlefest
November 2000."

RICK'S QUESTION : "I heard somewhere that you guys (1964 The Tribute)
replace your suits every year. I was wondering how often you guys have to
repair or replace the guitars and if there is any guitar that is difficult to
replace."
JIMMY: "On our suits, we used to go to tuxedo shops and get used
tuxedos. Then had them altered slightly to look like the original Beatle suits.
But the last time we went to replace our suits, we decided that perhaps we
should go to a tailor and have him make us custom made suits , instead of
purchasing already used suits. These suits were custom made, with really
good fabrics, a bit more expensive and they seem to be lasting a lot longer
now. So the moral of the story is, you get what you pay for.
"On the guitars, Our guitars are worked on constantly, if it is not John,(our
stage technician), then Mark Benson,who has a side job as a guitar maker,
sometimes if major work has to be done, Mark takes the guitar home and
does refretting jobs, or fixes the intonation on the guitars, so replacing
guitars luckily for us is not a problem. But basically guitars are like cars, to
maintain the guitar, you have to keep fine tuning them from time to time."

KRISTA'S QUESTION : "What groups were an inspiration to you when you
were younger (other than The Beatles)?"
JIMMY: "I was very much into anything that was from England, The Hollies,
The Kinks, Dave Clark Five, The Stones, Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas and
The Searchers. As far as American groups, I was always into The Doors, Iron
Butterfly, the Beach Boys, The Young Rascals and Buffalo Springfield."

KRISTA'S QUESTION: "When did you start writing/playing your own music?
JIMMY: "I started writing songs when I was 13 years old in my band The Bed
Bugs."

STEPHANIE'S QUESTION : "I was wondering if you ever had the chance to
meet the real George Harrison. I know you had performed for his sister
before, but I was just wondering if you ever met him."
JIMMY: "Yes I did meet George Harrison in Los Angeles, where I live. He
was at a night club in Hollywood listening to Bonnie Raitt's back up band. I
just happened to be there doing the same thing. He was nice, but quiet.
"The cool story is when I met Ringo in London, I went to a night club, and he
was introduced to me by a mutual friend. He looked at me and said, 'You
must play George' (I was performing in the show Beatlemania at the time).
He was very nice and very talkative. We sat and talked about music and the
show (mostly music) for about twenty minutes or so."

MORIAH'S QUESTION : "What's your favorite song to perform with (1964) The
Tribute?"
JIMMY: "She Loves You" & "I Call Your Name"

MARY'S QUESTION : "You guys (1964 The Tribute) have been out on tour
longer than the Beatles. Don't you ever get tired of it?"
JIMMY: "Yes we have been out longer than the Beatles, but it was probably
a lot different back then, the touring schedule that they had was a lot more
hectic than ours. We go out on weekends and have plenty of breaks
between."

LINDA'S QUESTION : "Do you still enjoy art?"
JIMMY:"I do still enjoy art. Fortunately my son, Aaron, is now the artist. I
have put down my brushes a long time ago, and traded them for a guitar."

DAN'S QUESTION : "Are there any plans for other band members to release
original CDs or for the band to record a CD of original music together?"
JIMMY:"I am planning to put out another CD, and I think Gary mentioned that
he had plans to try to do one also."

GENERAL QUESTION :
Several people have asked, "How is 'Pou' pronounced?"
ANSWER: "Pou is pronounced like 'Poe' ."

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