Ask Jimmy Pou - Page 4

DENNY'S QUESTION: "Is Jimmy a big Beatles/Solo fan or collector?"
JIMMY: "Yes, I have collected stuff over the years, what have you got to
give me? Hee Hee."

DENNY'S QUESTION: "Is that the type (Dion&Little Richard) of concert that
Jimmy might go to? (see question below.)"
JIMMY: "Yes, it is the type of show I might go to."

DENNY'S QUESTION: "Does Jimmy live in San Dimas, CA? By chance, would
he be going to this concert June 20, 2004 at Frank Bonelli Regional Park
with two R&R Hall of Famers, Little Richard and Dion?"
JIMMY: "Yes, I was thinking about it. I jog by the office there every morning,
and they gave me a flyer for it. I happen to be off from work that day, so I
was going to check out how much it would cost and everything, and I may
just go there."

DENNY'S QUESTION: "Was Jimmy at Beatlefest in Boston a couple of years
ago?"
JIMMY: "I don't think I was."
LISA: "I was there and I do remember Kenny stopped by for a couple hours
on the way to the airport. (1964 had played nearby one night.)"

TREVOR'S QUESTION: "I have been wrestling with getting a Ric 325 for years,
but every time I pic one up I'm put off by the scale. How do the musicians
who play John feel about that guitar? Do they suffer through it or come to
love it?"
JIMMY: "Thank you so much for the kind words. I can't blame you for the
hesitation on the Rickenbacker. Mark Benson who plays John in the band,
says that it is a very difficult guitar to play because it is so small, such a
small scale and neck. I would not personally buy a guitar of this size, I guess
John Lennon had small fingers, but if you have long fingers, I would search
for another guitar, but remember, this is only my opinion."
LISA: "Mark Benson is also a luthier and has made his own necks/guitars
that are slightly larger than the Rickenbackers John used --- closer to 7/8
than 3/4."

DAVE'S QUESTION: "Is the big Gretsch tougher to play because of it's size
than other guitars? Where were you able to find your 12 string
Rickenbacker?"
JIMMY: "The Gretsch Country Gentleman is a bit big and awkward, but you
get used to it, and it happened to be the same style guitar that George
played so that is the reason it is used so much for the early songs. The 12
string Rickenbacker was sent to us by John Hall who is the owner of
Rickenbacker, the factory is right here in sunny California where I happen to
live."

ED'S QUESTION: "You mentioned you are now using a Vox Valvetronix
effects box. Are you just using the effects or are you using Vox Valvetronix
amps? I am looking for a compact way to achieve that vintage sound. I am
considering the Vox Valvetronix amp, a Line 6 Pod Pro XT or a reissue Vox
AC-30. Do you have any suggestions? Additionally, if the band is now using
the Valvetronix amps, what are you doing for a bass amp?"
JIMMY: "We are just using the Vox Valtronics Tonelab effects boxes. You
can get all the sounds out of those that would an amp. Also, since 9/11 the
airlines have been cracking down on weight restrictions, and as you know,
the AC-30s are very heavy amps. We then had a guy make us lighter amps
with just one Bulldog speaker in the cabinet, made it out of much lighter
wood , all the same tubes and components, and we still got hammered by
the airlines, and let me tell you, when you travel every weekend like we do,
that can be a lot of extra money you have to pay the airlines when they
place the cases on their always faulty weighing scales. But getting back to
your question, you just have to fiddle with the Valtronics a little to achieve
the same sound as the original amps, and our bass player has been using a
bass pod for years now, and the bass is run through the house system. We
have tried to keep the show as authentic as possible, but we have had to
modify things since the whole world changed on that dreadful day, but it
sure helps when it comes to loading up the gear for our road crew."

D'S QUESTION: "I was wondering if it is difficult to play that big old Country
Gentleman? The physical size sometimes looks like it might be tough. I know
anything could get tiresome after doing it for a long time, but do all you guys
enjoy doing the 1964 shows as much as your audiences do?"
JIMMY: "You are absolutely right, that guitar is really cumbersome, but that
is the height that George wore his guitar back then. If you were to just lower
the strap a little, it wouldn't look so big, although it still is a big one. The
sound is great though, and if you are going to do a Beatles show, you better
start off with the right gear. One thing about our job, is that when I think
about how tiresome it gets, then I think about other people's jobs, and what
other people do for a living, then I slap myself and I remind myself that all my
life I wanted to be a musician in a working band, and on the side I write my
own music, so then I slap myself again, and say *Hey, you have a great gig,
and everyone wants to be able to do what I do*, so you can figure out what
my answer is to you, No it doesn't get that tiresome."

CECE'S QUESTION: "Jimmy, as a 40-year fan and student of the Beatles, I
know how hard you and the other 1964 guys work to put on an authentic
show. What type and how much research have you done over the years to
ensure this authenticity? I know a lot about the Beatles and you guys are
pretty near perfect."
JIMMY: "Good question. Basically, we have studied the Beatles from the day
they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. Of course, back then none of us
knew that we were going to be portraying them in a band some day in the
future. We have studied since then, their concert footage, their movies, and
their interviews for their talking voices. The main thing that was done was to
learn the music by listening to the original records, back when there were
records. We have done our homework, and apparently it shows, because
there are people like you that take notice to our accomplishments, and I
thank you for that."

ROBIN'S QUESTION: "Do you see yourself eventually leaving the band and
going solo?"
JIMMY: "You always have to envision what you would be doing in the future.
Right now I am very happy doing what I do, because I am able to do both
worlds. I do my gig with the band, travel all over the world, and then I am
able to work on my original music, someday I would love to go on tour with
my own songs and that would be wonderful, but for now I am most happy
when I write my own songs when I am at home in San Dimas. Puddingstone
Lake is a beautiful place to visit, there are are boat rentals, boat races,
picnic areas, hot tub facilities, hiking trails, and a beautiful park area. You
would enjoy it very much, and of course, there is the water park Raging
Waters right across the street from the lake. I can walk to the lake and the
water park, that's how close I live to there. You can run into me while I'm out
running, thanks for the compliment."

DAN'S QUESTION: "Has 1964's management talked to Bootleg Beatles yet
about a possible combination concert tour between both groups? I would
love to see this happen, as it would be flat out awesome!"
JIMMY: "We get requests from people all the time with different
suggestions, and although yours sounds like it would be fun, we would
rather keep doing what we do, and let the Bootlegs do what they do. We
tried doing that idea once already, it wasn't our idea, it was a promoter's
idea for this venue in Rhode Island. He had friend's of his that did the later
Beatles type show, and we opened the show, and then they came on, and it
was a bit of a let down and embarrassing when people, I should say fans of
ours, started leaving the theater. I am not saying that people would leave
during the Bootlegs performance, they are very talented. But since that
time, we have had a bad taste in our mouths of ever wanting to do that
again, but thanks for the idea."

JPGR'S QUESTION: "Did you ever (watch)the ABC-TV Beatles cartoon series
when it was on TV? (1965-1969)"
JIMMY: "I was 11 and 1/2 when the Beatles were first on TV, and then the
cartoons came out when I turned 12 years old, and they were on Saturday
mornings, so naturally I watched, I was obsessed with them. I wanted to be a
Beatle someday, and even though I am not one, I do play one for a living,
and I get paid for doing this, imagine what a cool job this is. But yes, I
watched them, and if I had a VCR back then, I would have them all on video,
but alas, all I have are the memories of the cartoons."
LISA: "I've seen them available as bootlegs. I may even have a couple."

PAUL'S QUESTION: "What type of strings do you use on your Gretsch Country
Gentleman?"
JIMMY: "We use Pyramid strings from Germany, the same that the lads used,
when they went to Hamburg, Germany to perform in the early days. They
discovered Pyramid strings, and to get the same sound the Beatles got, you
should use the same gear they did."

CERESIN'S QUESTION: "What type of guitars does Jimmy use?"
JIMMY: "I use a Gretsch Country Gentleman, Chet Atkins model for most of
the show. I also use a Gretsch Tennessean, and the red guitar I use is a
model 360 Rickenbacker 12 string. All these guitars are the same model of
guitars that George Harrison used while playing with the Beatles."

MIKE'S QUESTION: "I used to live near Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, Ca.
Was this Jimmy's ode to the same, or did he just like the sound of it?"
JIMMY: "Puddingstone Lake is literally 1/2 a block away from my house. I jog
by it every day, and of course as you would know, Raging Waters water park
is also on the other side of Puddingstone, and yes, I do like the sound of the
name. When I started my latest solo CD project, with Chris Huston
producing, he suggested that my first song should be called Puddingstone
Lake after me mentioning the name of the lake that I jog by every day."

JPGR'S QUESTION: "When you were young did you ever wear Beatles
T-shirts to school, Jimmy?"
JIMMY: "Yes, I did wear Beatles T-shirts to school. I was a fan just like
everybody else."

JOHN'S QUESTION: "I now have a question for Messers Pou and Huston. I
know that during the recording process (of Puddingstone Lake ) you both
had to take time away from the studio because of commitments so this
album was recorded some here and some there. Was it difficult to get back
on track after a few weeks off? I am just curious because the finished
product flows so well and I do know how much fun this was for you guys."
JIMMY: "You would think that it would be difficult to get back into it, but it
was done on a consistent basis, we worked every other week. I would fly
back to Nashville, and work during the week in the studio, and it was just
like leaving and coming back home, we just fell right back into it, during the
time off, it was good, because it gave everyone a chance to listen back to
what we had all done, at times we would be happy with it, other times we
would decide we heard something that should have been there, and we
would change things, sometimes I would come back and sing a part over
again, in the hopes that it would come out better, same thing with guitar
parts, I would listen, or Chris would listen and we would discuss over the
phone what we thought we could try to improve the sound of the song. Like
an artist who is working on a painting, you walk away, come up with ideas
and try them the next tine around, as they say, 'Rome wasn't built in a day'."
CHRIS HUSTON (producer): "Yes, the CD was recorded sporadically with
Jimmy coming into town (Nashville) for two or sometimes three days at a
time, when his touring schedule allowed. In some ways this was difficult and,
in others, it was helpful. It is frustrating to get into productive recording and
have to stop just as you get warmed up. This happened quite often. On the
other hand, Jimmy was able to take rough mixes of the various song tracks
on the road with him and spend a couple of weeks getting his voice in
shape for the vocal sessions. The mixing period is when the stops and
starts got extremely frustrating. It takes a while (sometimes, quite a while) to
get warmed up and into the 'mix mode' and also used to a set of speakers.
Having just two days to mix and then a break for two or three weeks was, to
put it mildly, the shits. Never-the-less, we got through it and it sounds quite
nice. The long periods between mix sessions really meant that I could never
get a continuing creative flow going."

JOHN'S QUESTION: "Also...where did you get these fabulous musicians to
compliment the songs so well?"
JIMMY: "The musicians were great, I was lucky I guess, Terry Manfredi is a
friend who lives in the area of Nashville, he has sat in for Greg George a
few times as Ringo. he used to be the sound man at one time for my group
1964 The Tribute , he agreed to come help me out with my songs, he also
has a fantastic group of his own, called October, who are working on their
own CD as we speak.
Lindy Gerlach is a really good singer who happened to come see us (1964
The Tribute) perform in Franklin at Centennial High school Auditorium, she
met Chris that night, and Chris asked her if she would work on my project,
he would in turn help her out in the future with her recording project, lucky
huh?
Steve Rossi, the keyboard player is a musician who has worked on projects
with Chris in the past, he has toured with many famous musicians, Chris
called him and he learned the four songs and recording them all in one day.
The rest of the instruments and vocals I did myself."
CHRIS HUSTON (producer): "Well, there are only two other musicians and a
female vocalist on the CD. Terry Manfredi, a longtime friend of Jimmy's,
played drums on all but one track; my friend Steve Rossi played piano/organ
on a couple and Lindy Gerlach did a magnificent job on the background
vocals with Jimmy. My approach to the backgrounds - because most of the
basic tracks are, if you listen carefully, quite sparse instrument-wise - was,
in most instances, to arrange them as I would string or horn pads, that is for
accompaniment."

GENE'S QUESTION: "I've got some cool old video footage of Jimmy's
appearance on ABC's Fridays . He was on in a skit with other Beatlemania
members Mitch Weissman & Ralph Castelli. Do you have any particular
memoriesof doing that show?"
JIMMY: "Yes, I do have some fond memories of that skit we did on the short
lived Fridays show. We were hired to do that skit with a comedian who went
by the name of Solly Mullens, who played a temp something or other every
week, this week he was to play a Temp Beatle. The comedian happened to
be Larry David, who ended up being the guy in charge of the Seinfeld show
years later. The ironic part was that it was done in early 1980, Larry David
was to fill in for John Lennon who supposedly had developed a rash, and
couldn't attend the Beatles reunion, just a few months later in December,
the real John Lennon of course was assassinated, so it was a bit freaky to
think about, why did they happen to pick John as the missing Beatle. It just
so happened that I showed the video of that show to friends just this last
December during the holidays, so thanks for asking."

GENE'S QUESTION: "Also - obviously the Beatlemania show must have been
playing LA at the time. Do you remember who the John wasin the band at the
time? (the John character was not in the sketch)."
JIMMY: "I think I answered that question in the last (question) about the
John not appearing in the skit, but I believe it was Mike Palaikis in my band,
you have to remember, there were several groups put together for each
production, each production had 2 groups who would alternate each night,
one group would be on stage, the other group backstage with the orchestra
doing extra voices, handclaps, tambourine, harmonica, and whatever
needed to be added to sound like the original studio recordings, the next
night the other group would perform the show on stage. I don't recall who
the other guy playing John in Mitch's band was at the time, or who played
with Ralph's band, but it might have been David Leon or Jim Riddle."

SERGE'S QUESTION: "Do you still have the boss compressor and equalizer,
or were you using something different?"
JIMMY: "We are now using Vox Valtronics effects boxes, it's a kind of a pre
amp effects box, and it simulates the same exact sounds that come out of
every Vox amp you have ever heard, and they are not that expensive.
Thanks for noticing."

ANTHONY'S QUESTION: "I was wondering if you ever considered to put out
an instructional video for Beatle songs in particular George's style and
techniques."
JIMMY: "I have been asked to do that in the past, I have considered it, and
then I thought different, I mean do people really want that? and if I took the
time to do it, would it really sell? and if only a hand full of people use it,
would it have been that beneficial to have done that? after I considered all
that, I decided against it. I hope you understand."
LISA: Check out Rob Taylor's Beatles To-A-Tee videos/DVDs.

JPGR'S QUESTION: "Do you have any Beatles T-shirts, ties, pins or hats. If
so do you ever wear them? What about Aaron?"
JIMMY: "Doesn't every Beatles fan have all of those? Yes, I do, people
always have given me posters, hats, T-shirts, but I have also bought stuff
like that when I was younger, and I was just a fan. As far as Aaron, my son? I
really don't think he owns any Beatles T-shirts, or anything like that
although, he also is a fan. He used to come see me perform in the show
Beatlemania back in the 70's when he was only 3 years old, so he had always
been a fan since he was a little boy."

PENNY'S QUESTION: "Does Jimmy Pou go on tours singing his own songs?"
JIMMY: "No I don't at this present time, but you never know what the future
will hold. I am way too busy right now with 1964 to br going off and doing my
own thing. But I am certainly building up quite a repertoire of music , so that
if that should happen, I would have a lot of songs to choose from."

DAVID'S QUESTION: " If you had your pick of guitarists to jam with from this
list, who would you choose and why? Roy Buchannan, Rory Gallagher, Steve
Marriot, Michael Bloomfield, Or Albert Collins?"
JIMMY: "I must be truthful in telling you that I am not familiar with Roy, I don't
know who Rory is, and although I've heard of Steve Marriot, never really
heard his stuff, Mike Bloomfield as in Blood, Sweat and Tears?? he 's good,
and isn't Albert Collins an blues player??, you would have to come up with
another list my friend, sorry, but if I had to choose one it would be Mike
Bloomfield, if it's the same guy who played in B,S, and T."

KEVIN'S QUESTION: "Have you ever played " I'm Only Sleeping " Live ? I
know the lead guitar is a backward loop, but with equipment today like The
Boomerang ( which allows you to play backward leads live ) I thought you
may have tried or at least experimented with it."
JIMMY: "No, haven't tried it, I have enough work cut our for me when I do
the swells on "Yes It Is" and we now do "I Need You" trying to reproduce
that is like trying to bring a sitar with us on the road just to do "Norwegian
Wood'. With all the restrictions that they put on us nowadays after 9/11, we
are getting fined all the time for too much weight in our travel anvil cases
for our guitars and amps and drums, we don't need to be bringing more
stuff, it's just not worth it, but thanks for the suggestions."

KEVIN'S QUESTION: "Now that you play with 1964, are there any regrets?
What I am referencing is the fact that outside of Birthday, you no longer play
any of the later years material. Don't you miss it?"
JIMMY: "Actually, no I don't miss playing such songs, the ones that I play
now are a lot of fun. Those later songs are fun, but I played those for the last
15 years, and I've only been with 1964 for 10 years, so they are fresh in my
mind right now."

KEVIN'S QUESTION: "Have you had any desires to do a total tribute to
George Harrison? I would enjoy seeing that as I know so many would."
JIMMY: "There are guys who do that kind of thing already, Leslie Fradkin,
Peter Santora, why add me when I am happy and content playing with a great
bunch of guys already, besides in something like that,. I would have to do all
the work or at least most of it."

KEVIN'S QUESTION: "Why weren't you in the movie Beatlemania?"
JIMMY: "I was the understudy for Tom Teeley. I tried to trip him several time
as he walked past me on the way to the set, but he caught me every time,
rats !!"

SERGE'S QUESTION: "I was wondering, is it ok for fans to audio tape or video
tape the shows you guys do? i saw the band at carnegie hall and i taped it, it
was quite a great show by the way."
JIMMY: "Yes, we have no problem with you taping the show as long as it
stays a private tape, and you do not plan to sell it, that's where we would run
into some legal problems, but as long as it's for your own personal use at
home, have fun with it."

KEITH'S QUESTION: "What brand and model of compresser do you use for
your guitar? It sounds great!"
JIMMY: "Thanks, I'm glad you like it. It is a simple little old Boss compressor.
I also use a Boss equalizer for TaxMan, and And Your Bird Can Sing. For
Nowhere Man I use them both at the same time."

FRED'S QUESTION: "I was wondering how the "royalties" work out when you
guys play live, and record CD's and videos of Beatles copyrights. Has the
band had any legal troubles concerning this, or are special permissions
granted by the 'ones in control'?"
JIMMY: "Royalties are paid to The Beatles Publishing company for each CD
that is sold, it is all listed on the back of the CD if you own a copy. The
performing royalties, that is our live shows, are paid from our musician's
union. We have dotted all our i's and crossed all our T's, but thank you for
your concern."

GAVIN'S QUESTION: "I play George and I know a few George impersonators
from various other beatle bands and we had a big gig in the empire in
liverpool (my home town) on the first anniversary of the passing of George...
However, I could'nt sing any songs because I had an ear infection so we did
John and Paul songs instead... Then I found out that AE's George, Marty had
a throat infection at the same time and could'nt perform, The australian
beatles George, Gary had a vocal problem as well, and our rival bands
George had nasal problems as and so was'nt able to sing properly... There's
a pattern here that I can't quite put my finger on... How did you perform on
that anniversary gig???."
JIMMY: "I had the same problem when I went to Liverpool last year. I caught
a sore throat on the plane on the way over to Manchester. It turned into
laryngitis and I wasn't able to sing hardly at all. I was able to muster up a
voice to sing Roll Over Beethoven, but that was it, the rest of the time I just
didn't speak and I waited for my voice to come back, there's really not much
you can do if you lose your voice is there? "

HENRY'S QUESTION: "Jimmy, I saw the picture of you and George Martin on
your site. How did you get to meet him? Did you work with him?"
JIMMY: "I was performing the show "Beatlemania" in London for 4 months,
while there, George Martin was spotted standing in line to buy tickets to our
show, as unbelievable as that seems, it is the truth. So I went up to him and
said, "Mr. Martin, are you really buying tickets to our show?" and he said
"Oh you must play George" and I introduced myself, and asked if I could put
he and his family on the guest list instead, so he came to the show, loved
the show, came backstage, met the other guys, and invited me to his "Air
Studios" on Oxford Street, and I took him up on the invite and that is when
the photo was snapped."

JULIA'S QUESTION: "I was wondering which of you are single, and could you
please tell me everyone's ages?"
JIMMY: "Gary (Paul) is 53, is married, Greg (Ringo) is 51, married, Mark
(John) is 50, engaged to be married, and I Jimmy, (George) am 51 and I have
a girlfriend."

JULIA'S QUESTION: "When did the band come together?"
JIMMY: "The band was formed in 1984, in Akron, Ohio. I am the only one who
is not an original member. I joined in 1993, before that I was involved in a
Broadway show called Beatlemania, which I did from 1978 until 1993, when I
joined 1964, and now you the honest truth of it all."

JULIA'S QUESTION: "I was wondering if in person the guys are anything like
the Beatles they portray. Are you anything like George? If so, then you
must be very enlightened! Did you know that George was also an Austin
Powers fan?"
JIMMY: "We are big Beatles fans, but no, we are nothing like the actual guys
in the Beatles. None of us smoke, we are not English, and we are just
musicians who loved the Beatles so much we decided to do a show and play
their music and it caught on"

JPGR'S QUESTION: "What Beatle movies have you seen, Jimmy?"
JIMMY: "I think all of them."

If you have Questions for Jimmy Pou, please email them to:
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