Chords for Rock & Roll legend Joe Brown chats with Bob Harris at #Bobfest 2021

_ _ There's a friend of mine here and I absolutely cannot resist inviting him up on stage in
a second [F#] because this man represents a direct line to all the things I used to absolutely
love about music in my early teens.
He worked with and played on records by some of the
great names of the late 50s and early 60s before having big hits [D#] of his own.
Joe Brown
is here.
Joe, just come up to the stage in a second.
_ _ I know I'm _ _ _ _ spraying this on you.
I just _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
thought I'd sit.
Who's that old geezer up there talking to me? _
Come in and sit down.
Certainly.
Yeah, yeah.
Joe, how are you then?
You alright?
Old.
Yes.
Where do you want me to sit?
Just sit on the_
That far away?
Yeah, no, because we'll be able to hear each other.
Oh, is he your young lad here?
Aye.
OK, I'm here.
What a lovely show, Bob.
Oh, thanks, Joe.
I tell you, the people that have performed this afternoon are fantastic.
Yeah, more to come.
I mean, it's really_
It's great.
I couldn't believe the last two young ladies, the harmonies were just_
Siddling harmonies.
You can't beat them, can you really?
I know.
And it's been absolutely wonderful.
I've had such a good time.
Well, you know, when I talk about Joe and me going back in my, you know, sort of the
history of my record collection, it's true because when _ [F#] people_
OK, so in the late
50s, early 60s, there was this weird thing going on with the unions and they had this
what was called a sort of exchange thing with musicians from Britain and America, transatlantic.
If two artists toured Britain from the States, then two equivalent artists had to go over
and tour America from Britain.
It's sort of the way that it worked.
Yeah, it was the unions thing.
It was the unions thing.
So people would come over here.
Some of the [F#] big American rock and
roll stars would come over, but they weren't really allowed to bring with them [E] their own
musicians.
So they'd work with UK musicians.
And aged, what, 17, 18 years old, Joe was
absolutely regarded as the kind of, I don't know, the Jimmy Page of his moment and [D] whatever
it is.
But everybody wanted Joe to play with them, you know.
And some of the stories, Joe,
of those early days when you were touring with Eddie Cochran and_
[C#] Gene Vincent.
Gene Vincent.
Johnny Cash.
Yeah.
There's a great picture of Joe at Joe's house with you, with Gene Vincent, Billy Fury.
Oh, [C] Bill, yeah.
Yeah.
And so that was Joe.
And those tours in the late 50s, early 60s.
Well, you know, the thing was in those days, just after the skiffle, _ there was only about
half a dozen people playing electric guitars.
You know, like [C] there was big Jim Sullivan,
a bloke called Colin Green and a few other guys and myself.
And there was [D] no one around
to tell us we was doing it wrong.
Yes.
But we seemed to get away with it.
But I remember my brief on the television show that I was
lucky enough to get a spot on, which was a follow up to a rock and roll show called Oh
Boy, which was produced [C#] by Jack Good.
And this was called Boy Meets [D] Girl.
And I couldn't
read music.
And I was in this orchestra with all these great musicians, mainly from the
Ted East Orchestra in those days.
You're probably too young to know that.
But anyway, my brief
was to get their solos on a record [N] and learn their solo because I couldn't read music,
you know.
And I could tell you stories.
You haven't got time, have you?
_ Johnny Cash was the one.
Yeah.
Because they sent this record over, it's called How High's the Water, Mama?
And the guitar
part was really simple.
It just went, donk, [C] donk, donk, donk, donk, donk, just like that,
all the way through, donk, donk.
And he's saying, how high's the water, mama?
_ _ Donk,
five foot high and rising.
And then it went up, I told him, donk, donk, [N] donk, donk, donk,
donk, how high's the water, mama?
Five foot high.
This bloody song went on for 15 foot.
_ I got fed up with it.
So we got to about eight foot.
And he went, donk, donk, donk, donk,
donk, donk, donk, donk, donk, _ donk.
And he stopped the show.
Johnny Cash stopped the
show.
Hold it, he said.
And he looked across to the orchestra and he said, Joe, _ there'll
be no picking there.
And I got the sack.
On the spot, I was actually conducted out.
The
musical director still had his baton up and he went ye out and as I went out the
drum and went boom boom I thought I'll get you you know _ _ I mean the first thing
I did I got fired and I'm [E] sitting in the studio I was almost in tears and I was
sitting on one of those rostrum things and I think hope someone from production
would come in and I could I could beg them and said please have a word with a
musical director and I promise I'll never do it again nobody came in and
after about 20 minutes Johnny Cash came in and he saw me sitting there nearly in
tears and he came over and he said what's the matter Joe I said to him I've
got the sack he said you got the sack what are you gonna put in the sack I
said you don't understand Johnny I've been fired fired fired what for I said
up I'll tell you what for I said I played that and I and you stop the show
I got I got fired and he said well now we'll just have to see about that and he
went and had a word with the director I got my job back see _ nobody argued with
Johnny Cash too many mates on death row
_ _ _ those are the days Bob honestly we could we could live through it all son
yeah but Joe just just one final thought because I mean this could [F#] be the start
of a conversation that could go on for the rest of the night but but just while
you're [G#] you're on camera I think if one took a sort of straw poll like right now
and one of the magic moments that they would have seen on on video or if you
were lucky enough to be there on the night at the Albert Hall at the concert
for George you know when yes [F] when you rounded the concert off with that are
just so touching version of I'll see you in my [A] dreams
well it's a [C#] lovely song I've been closing my show with it for years [D] and so
_ _ [C#] so Olivia George's wife said [G#] _ _ _ yeah [E] _ all right then so there's all out there
McCartney's and Ringo's thrashing away and all these great musicians are
pounding [N] and they finish with a song called wah-wah
_ _ _ _ and there's I'm on the side of the stage at the Albert Hall with a little wood
wooden ukulele with no pick up in it and I had to go out and do it and it's just
a lovely song I'd love to take a lot of credit for it but at the end of the day
it's just a beautiful old song yeah you know and I think anybody could have done
it really but I just love George yeah we all did all those petals coming down
Joe it was really _ _ _ well _ _ _ _ _ everybody Joe Brown I mean just _ we'll have to go on
together Joe _ now do you want me off this way yeah you could well I've got a
little step there for me _ _