Eddie Holman Interview |
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EDDIE HOLMAN,
REHEARSAL, INTERVIEW AND GIG REPORT BY BIG MICK. We dont
compare our success with anyone elses success
because no one elses success pays your bills
.
(EDDIE HOLMAN, Lowton, 270399). 27th
March this year saw the highly talented and legendary
EDDIE HOLMAN arrive in this country once again. Thanks to
the dedication of STEVE FLETCHER, BERNIE OBRIEN and
KEV MURPHEY, we had the opportunity to see, hear and meet
one of souls greatest icons. The place was LOWTON CIVIC
HALL, the time was dinnertime, everybody ate chips, I was
left out. Undeterred, I carried on until the interview
had finished. This is how it went
.. Immediately as
the editorial team and I arrived at LOWTON we were, again,
press-ganged into arranging the table and chairs for
tonights entertainment. The whole gaff was in the
process of being re-decorated and the bar in the small
modern room looked not unlike an MFI bedroom accessory.
Once der management were satisfied with the arrangements
we sat down and chilled out listening to EDDIEs
session tape whilst the man himself was chauffeured from
his digs to begin rehearsals. BIG TONY (or so
his wife JILL says) went to the chippy and on his
return ate his no more than 3 feet away from me (his
granny used to be in the GESTAPO, dead close her and TONY
were). Soon, the moment came when EDDIE would stroll
through the door and transform our very existence with
his charismatic presence. The band was the same as JERRY
WILLIAMS was fortunate to have backed him. They were
already practising, as EDDIE walked in the band were half
way through hey there lonely girl. Not
wasting any time, EDDIE was on the stage and after a
couple of words to the band he broke into song. You had
to be there, his magnificent falsetto voice hitting the
first high notes of hey there lonely girl
sent an errie silence through the room. All who were
lucky to witness this event were spellbound, the hairs on
my neck and arms suddenly shot up and my goose bumps had
goose bumps of their own. The air was electric, EDDIEs
voice had lost nothing over the years, rather, his voice
was honed to perfection. The ultra soulful voice went
through track after track drawing enthusiastic applause
from the privileged few here including the band.
Eventually, I managed to steer EDDIE away from those who
were left, but not until IAN LEVINE had filmed EDDIE for
the documentary being made on northern soul. We found a
room backstage, comfortable yet cold we began the
interview. Soon the chill would disappear and nothing
would matter but for the hypnotic persona of the man
himself. BIG MICK. Born
in NORFOLK VIRGINIA, you moved over, with
your family, to PHILIDELPHIAat the tender age of 3. A man
of many talents, after leaving CHEYNEY STATE COLLEGEyou
attended the VICTORIA SCHOOLof ART and MUSICin New York.
You were in a number of musicals and in childrens
TV for NBC. You certainly jumped into the world of
entertainment with both feet, is this were you wanted to
be at that time or were you still unsure in those early
years in which direction you wanted to utilise your
talents?
EDDIE HOLMAN I
was sure at an early age that I wanted to be in the
entertainment business. One of the greatest shows I had
ever seen was at the APPOLO THEATRE in NEW YORK. When we
moved to NEW YORK my mother and my aunt took me around
the shows. Two of the acts we saw just blew me away, one
was LITTLE RICHARD who Id just worked with this
past August at the FREE RIVER STADIUM in PITTSBERG and
the other was THE FABULOUS FLAMINGOS. One of the original
FLAMINGOS sings with the DELLS, JOHNNY (with the high
voice). So heres a gentleman I worked with last
January with the DELLS and he was the guy that inspired
me with the high voice. I wasnt singing in the high
voice then but just to hear him, I said, some where
along the line I just gotta do it. (EDDIE
starts laughing).
B.M. Not
long after, success eluded you in NEW YORK with the
LEOPARD label and then onto the ASCOT label were you
worked with JOE RENE and the then JIVE 5 lead singer
EUGENE PITT you possibly found the recording side of
entertainment an uphill struggle around 1961 / 2. Looking
back, could you say whether you found it hard to find the
right music for you or were you still experimenting, not
sure in which direction your artistic career lay? E.H. Well
at that point in my recording career you were in the
hands of the producer so it was really up to the producer
to come up with what they felt was good enough for you.
You werent doing the producing or the writing so
you had to trust people like JOE RENE. The good part of
the relationship with JOE RENE is that, my mother got me
that record deal because it was a great outlet,
it was a great opportunity. Even though I didnt
have any hit records with JOE RENE, I did get what was
called a turn table hit. The first one I
recorded for him was, what you dont know wont
hurt you. That got played like it was a hit record.
What happened was, it introduced me to the record
business, it got me to meet different people and kinda
get a feel of what the record business is and how it
works. So that was good and I would never forget JOE RENE
for that. B.M. In
those early formative years, you got to work with many
greats amongst which was the tragic FRANKIE
LYMON & THE CLEFTONES. What are your memories of what
must have been a monumental time in your life and also,
how long later was it that FRANKIE died? E.H. Well
FRANKIE, if Im not mistaken died in around 1965/66
so when I first met FRANKIE, Id say he lived about
another 10 years. He was a young man, I mean he was a
young teenager. I have a son older than him, I have 3
sons, 2 are grown and I have one thats 16 going on
17. I know from raising grown men what phases you go
through and I dont know if he had the opportunity
to go through the normal phases that normal teenagers
would go through. He was a world renown-recording artist
from a very early age, he started from 12 or 13 years old.
One of the most amazing things that happened in meeting
him was, I won the amateur hour at the APPOLO THEATRE. I
singing, why do fools fall in love while
HERMAN SANTIAGO and FRANKIE LYMON and, forgive me, one of
the other members I cant remember his name
right now was standing to the side of the stage. I won
and they were all hugging me, FRANKIE LYMON gave his
phone number and when he made his first trip to ENGLAND
he called me before he left. I said, man, youre
going to ENGLAND, wow you know. I was excited for
him and he was supportive, I mean, he really inspired me.
At that time, you cant imagine all the pressures on
him, I mean, hes a star with a number 1 record. Hes
wanted to do appearances all over the world so it must
have been pretty strenuous and stressful for him so thats
probably were all that tragedy came from I guess.
B.M. Do
you feel at your young age this could have been your
downfall if things had worked out differently? E.H. Yeah,
you know, nobody is better than anybody. The things you
hear that have happened to recording artists, writers and
record producers could happen to anybody. Nobody is
above those things happening to them, so you just have to
be thankful it hasnt happened to you or if you been
through it and got out of it.
B.M. When
you eventually returned to PHILLY, was it because you
thought CAMEO-PARKWAY might have been more lenient
towards your abilities to project your talents to an
audience nearer to home? B.M. CAMEO-PARKWAY
were somewhat reluctant to take on a young EDDY HOLMAN at
the time whilst riding high in the billboard charts with
CHUBBY CHECKER, DEE DEE SHARP and BOBBY RYDELL. You were
turned down a few times, did this just make you more
determined to get your foot in the door? E.H. Well
you used the word few I use the word many
(EDDIE finds this amusing and just cracks up again
laughing). Yeah I was turned down a lot by CAMEO-PARKWAY
records and one of the reasons were that they had this
one particular guy who worked in A&R and he was
always the one to see for the auditions. He
would always give me the same old B.S. (bullshit
EDDIE didnt swear here, B.S. was all hed
allow himself to say), same old jive, oh well, youve
got a great voice but I dont think theres
anything we can do for you right now but you keep coming
back. That wasnt very encouraging but Ive
always been a confident person and I wouldnt let
that stand in my way, the guys name by the way was
DAVE APPLE. What happened eventually was we go past the
CAMEO-PARKWAY days when I at last, met with PETE DE
ANGELLIS. PETE and I formed an alliance an hes
taken care of me for the last 30 years. When PETE DE
ANGELLIS did the arrangement and brought in the musicians
to do its all in the game, hey
there lonely girl, I love you and so on
guess who was on my record session?, DAVE APPLE, he was
there playing guitar cause he was a friend of PETEs.
If I didnt have the love and respect that I have
for PETE, I would have insisted to PETE to get DAVE APPLE
out of there. I let it go cause PETE had been so
good to me, and I said, well thats not my
friend its PETEs friend and if PETE wants to
see he gets paid for this session then Ill let it
go, and I did. But I admit I would never personally
have hired him, I never have and never will.
B.M. Your debut
single back in 1961, what you dont know wont
hurt you on the LEOPARD label, as an early attempt
on vinyl didnt quite make any waves in
the charts. Compared to the release on CAMEO, this
cant be true in 1965 which an old friend of
yours, JAMES SOLOMAN co-wrote with yourself, what subtle
differences between the two tracks can you identify as
the reason cant be true turned out to
be the successful hit it was? E.H. Well,
what you dont know wont hurt you
was written by JOE RENE and his wife MALOU RENE. JOE RENE
had a number 1 record with BOBBY LEWIS called tossing
and turning a very big, big record number 1
record in the STATES. So what he was trying to do was
take the principles of what he did on that record with
BOBBY LEWIS and apply them to a young teenage recording
artist and that song, what you dont know wont
hurt you had a feel that the BOBBY
LEWIS hit. It was also a turn table hit, what I mean is
that disc jockeys played it every where like it was a hit
record even though it wasnt a big hit record. So,
it got my feet wet to what was going on in
the music business and it let me know that I was there to
stay. Cant be true was successful
because it was written for me and like a suit of clothes
it was made for me by a tailor. It was tailor made for me,
no one else could do it and thats always my goal
when I make a record I sing it my way. My way, nobody
else can do that. I dont have to have a song thats
covered by a lot of people, I really couldnt care
less about that. I just want to know that Ive done
something special and something different that people
like and theyll remember me for doing. Thats
why cant be true I feel was a hit, not
because it was a better song than necessarily than what
you dont know wont hurt you it just
fitted me like a suit of clothes.
B.M. You wrote
the hit record, EDDIEs my name whilst
still in college. I bet you got quite a lot of attention
from your fellow students after that, what do you recall
from that exhilarating moment in your youth? E.H. EDDIEs
my name the reason we came up with that was because
back in that time all the singers had a theme song,
something they could be identified as their opening song.
So that was just an attempt at the time to come with
something that was your own suit of clothes
that, no matter where you sing, or what ever show you
were on you had that song to come on with to
introduce yourself with.
B.M. What
kind of attention did you get from your fellow students,
I mean, heres a guy in college with a hit record
whos just one of the guys. How did the other
students react. E.H. Well
you know how people are when youve got a hit record
and the girls, well you know, Ive always had a lot
of girl friends. What happened was, things got really
intense once you started making records, even girls Id
once gone out with were fainting and falling out and
stuff, you know at the shows. Its nice to be liked
but it could be at times, how do you say, get in the way
and your mind isnt on anything else but just doing
what you gotta do and getting out of there but I made it
through it. (EDDIE chuckles to himself at the memory of
girl fans mobbing him).
B.M. I
surrender, Ill cry a 1000 tears,
dont stop now, free country,
my mind keeps telling me and I love you.
You are quite a versatile person in your approach to your
given talents, what do you draw on to help you focus in
the right direction with regards to writing and singing? E.H.
Well again, I try to write and do a melody in a way that
it fits me, you know, I cant be somebody that Im
not. Im not a JAMES BROWN type of singer so I
dont write a JAMES BROWN type of song. I like
the love songs and I love the ballads and I always
believe in singing positive things, theres so much
negativeness in the world you dont have to
reiterate all that and going over and over. Some of
the music I hear today, all they talk about is the bad
things, there are some good people around and some people
who are trying to do the right thing and those are the
things I like to sing about, I always like the positive
things in life.
B.M. You were co-responsible
for the northern soul classic, shes wanted
which LARRY CLINTON recorded. Whats the story
behind that popular track? E.H. When
we wrote the song I thought that I would do it myself
when I did the demo track on it, you know.
What we used to do when we had a 3 or 4 hour session and
wed chosen 1 or 2 songs to do in that time, if we
had some time left and we had something that we would
have considered to do we would do it. Wed do,
like a rough track on it and thats what we did with
the LARRY CLINTON song, shes wanted.
The track came out a lot better than we thought, we
thought that wed have to go back in again and do it
again. So it came out really strong, and I thought that Id
have done that song myself but what happened was I was
having success as a ballad singer and thats what
the DJs knew me for. They wanted to hear EDDIE HOLMAN
sing those love songs in the high voice because thats
what my calling card was, you know.
It was decided that, maybe I shouldnt do shes
wanted but hold that for another artist and that
artist happened to be LARRY CLINTON. The late LARRY
CLINTON I should say, hes past away more than
several years ago, LARRY is no longer in the land of the
living. But what I remembered about him is he had a big
voice, a powerful voice, a very down to earth kind of
individual. He was a tough individual too by the way, he
was a rough and tough fight em and shoot em
kinda guy, you know. I dont mean that in a negative
way Im just trying to give you some idea what his
personality was like, he was a gangster and I understand
that in his death he had met with foul play, he was a
rough man. He wasnt the kind you would call a
gentleman (EDDIE tries to stifle a laugh as he remembers
the funny side to LARRYs lifestyle) he was a tough
guy but he had such a wonderful voice. I feel sad that he
couldnt have left that kind of life alone and use
those talents that he had and hed probably still be
around today and probably working over here doing some
shows on the northern soul scene, you know. You know my
mother used to say hed made his bed and he chose to
sleep in it. B.M. Compared
with some of the more uptempo tracks
associated with you, you cut many ballads.
Which do you feel comfortable with, or was it due to the
mood and your surroundings which you may have felt
compelled to flow along with at that moment
in time? B.M. You were
close to the guys in the group, THE VOLCANOS who then
went on to become the TRAMMPS. You went to school with
some of these guys and nearly cut a record together as
the VICEROYS. EARL YOUNG, I believe, worked on many of
your recordings over the ensuing years and was known as
the drummer for the TRAMMPS and the inspiration behind
the TRAMMPS. How did this fruitful friendship continue
over the years, and how much did EARL influence your
style in song writing or was it the other way around?
B.M. How
did the closure of CAMEO-PARKWAY affect you and your
plans at that time, were you already aware of the
impending closure and if so, were you making plans for
the future when the inevitable day finally came? E.H. Well before
CAMEO-PARKWAY closed I had really had a lot done for me -
meaning that I had been all over the country. I was
established as a recording artist and most important, not
to brag or anything, I was a legend, I was a living
legend at 19 years old. Here I am working with people in
their 20s and their 30s and their 40s on shows, Im
19 and Im a legend because this cant be
true no one had done anything like it or
tried to do anything like it. So, CAMEO was good in that
sense but at that point I wasnt worried whether I
would come back again I just knew it was a matter of, you
know, the right song at that point. When youre
kinda working and writing things for yourself you know
that you may not have that right song now but you will
get it, it will come around. When CAMEO-PARKWAY closed I
had no fears or any doubts or anything like that. We did
a couple of other sides like the BELL record Im
not gonna give up that was one that I wrote and
BELL picked it up. It wasnt a big smash hit
or anything like that, you know. Another song that
was done very well and done good enough that people were
still amazed. How I got the opportunity to move on
to ABC records, I actually signed with ABC about the
spring of 1968 no Im sorry it was about the
summer no forgive me it was the spring. We
did 3 songs, one of them being, I love you
the title track to the hey there lonely girl
album and that came out, backed with I surrender
an the single on a 45. (In the UK it
was backed by all in the game). That stayed
on bowling the charts so long over 6 months
that the company decided to come up with more money to do
more recordings because nothing bowls the
charts that long. So they spent more money and the
second go around we did hey there lonely girl,
its all in the game and I forget the 3rd,
Id have to see the list of the songs to get the
feel of what the 3rd
song was. It was just no question of whether we
were gonna get a hit or not because PETE DE
ANGELLIS was a great, great producer and arranger and the
combination of us working together was just great.
B.M. Eventually
you did the track previously cut by RUBY & THE
ROMANTICS, hey there lonely girl which made
good here in the UK in 1974 and originally called, hey
there lonely boy. Is it true to say that you did
not want to do this gem of a ballad until record producer,
PETER DE ANGELLIS talked you round? B.M. What
motivation did you need to become the success you are,
who gets the credit? B.M. At
ABC, you were busy recording tracks such as, its
all in the game which was a hit for the FOUR TOPS
and since I dont have you, dont
stop it now and of course, the ballad Cathy
called. Shortly afterwards, you recorded the theme
song to the film Love Story, where do I
begin. Even though you were recording many tracks
at ABC you chose not to renew your contract but instead
move on to GSF. What was the reason behind that decision? E.H. Well
LARRY NEWTON who was the President of ABC records when I
signed for ABC, eventually left ABC and he helped form a
label called GSF records and because of the relationship
with LARRY NEWTON it appeared to me to be the move to
make at the time. We did one song, the first one
charted about the mid to low 80s, there was one called,
my mind keeps telling me which did real well
for us. The late great RONNIE BAKER, I call him
the hit maker, wrote that song specifically
for me in mind. Ill never forget, he called
up and said, man Ive gat a song for you, can
I play it?, I said yeah you can play it
and he played it. I said, I like that
and he said, Ill be over and well get
together and Ill give you the words and if you want
to do it, lets do it. GSF put the money
up so we went ahead and did it. RONNIE BAKER is
also co-writer of one of the songs on the northern soul
scene, night to remember that was co-written
by RONNIE BAKER and, oh gee, I forget the other guys
name that helped him write that song, they wrote that for
me to do. It charted in the 90s, it wasnt a
real big hit but it was the kind or record because of the
era and time it was done I got much work from it. For
instance, in one 6 month period alone, I was working in
NEW YORK every week carrying a ten piece band at that
time and WARRENs back ground singers and rhythm.
Id be at one club one week and itd be with
the TRAMMPS, the next week itd be SISTER SLEDGE and
wed all be playing the same circuit
over and over and the people just kept bring us back and
back so that was a good deal for me.
B.M. You
quite unashamedly, and possibly quite rightly so stated
that your FALSETTO style of singing inspired
the likes of the DELFONICS and the STYLISTICS, and you
were also quoted as saying, I am the Father of
that sound from PHILLYDELPHIA. Did you ever work
with RUSSAL THOMPKINS, the lead singer of the STYLISTICS? E.H. Sure,
were neighbours. (Jeeze, what a coincidence,
I always loved the STYLISTICS). We have been neighbours,
RUSSAL THOMPKINS and I in the same neighbourhood for
about 23 years. Occasionally Im booked with
the STYLISTICS and the DELLS and the DELFONICS, matter of
fact, when I return home from ENGLAND I have a few days
off. Id probably stay over here a bit longer
but, I dont know if my fans and people over here
know that Im a Baptist Minister, an ordained
Baptist Preacher. I serve at the Mount Moria Temple
Baptist Church in South Philadelphia, I am having to go
back home and preach on Good Friday and since Id
been serving at Mount Moria I havent missed a
service on Good Friday. The following week theres a
big concert being held at the First Union Centre, its
gonna be awesome. Of course Ive worked with
everybody on it but last year, it was called Philadelphia
1, I was already obligated and booked so I couldnt
do it last year. This year, the promoters and the
people involved in it got to me earlier during the winter
where I committed to it, you know. On this show the
STYLISTICS will be on it, JERRY BUTLER, FABION, DION,
BOBBY RYDEL, I could go on and on. Its a way
of saying, thank you Philadelphia for helping
our careers and this is on April 10th at
the First Union Centre and theyre advertising it on
W.O.G.L. radio station there and its in the news
papers so anybody whos anybody who can get there
will be there. Its gonna be a sell out,
I mean like, the tickets are going really fast. B.M Moving
to SILVER BLUE records, a subsidiary of
POLYDOR records and then later moving, once
again, but this time to SALSOUL. Whats
the story behind your indifference at SILVER BLUE? E.H. I had
no good feelings about SILVER BLUE, not the record label
but the people involved it, a guy named JOE DIAMOND, or
something like that. I had no special love about
SILVER BLUE or POLYDOR because those products I did with
SILVER BLUE were released on POLYDOR as well as SILVER
BLUE thats how the distribution deal was set up.
You see, Im used to taking my own destiny in my own
hands, when I need a record I get a record, at SILVER
BLUE you just went along with the programme. Now
SALSOUL records, on the other hand, the deal with those
guys was a little bit different. I had good memories
about that label because EARL YOUNG, RONNIE BAKER and
NORMAN HARRIS was setting that up me to get with the
label. The label spent $60,000 on an album, a
night to remember and they gave me $10,000 and they
bought me a P.A. system, tour support, you know. They
just did a lot for me at a time when I really needed a
lot done and so I have good feelings and good memories
about them. I thought the guys at SILVER BLUE were
BUMS, Im not really into putting
anybody down but a bums a bum
and that guys a bum (sarcastically) I
wish I could remember his name.
B.M. What
regrets do you carry with you over your expansive career,
if any, something you may have done or said which, if you
had the chance, you would change relating to a particular
song or associate? E.H. I
wouldnt change anything because my careers
been good, its been good for me, its been
good for my family. Its not everybodys
business, you know, what your business is but it has been
good to me and Im just glad I listened to my wife
and did the song, hey there lonely girl
because its put me in a league
alllllllllllllllllllllllll by my self. It takes
good care of me and my family, Ive raised 2 grown
men who have their own families, I have 7 grandchildren,
I have 1 son at home, you know, its been a blessing
to be able to do good things for your family, you know.
We dont compare our success with anyone elses
success because no one elses success pays your
bills. If I had top change anything I would be more
hard core in the way I did things, Id
just them harder with more of my money.
B.M. I think I
read somewhere once, you had embarked on song writing and
performing on the GOSPAL forum. As a Baptist Minister you
obviously must be a spiritual person, were
you looking for a focal point in your life, a sense of
inner warmth and being, or
possibly a direction? E.H. Well
let me put it to you this way, the hand of God was on
me before I was even born. In other words, if
youre called to be a Minister, if you
have the calling to even become a Minister,
its something that takes place before you even know
that its taking place. Your family knows and so,
from a baby it was prophesised that Id be a
Minister some day. What happens is that, your
training in church and the way you go about doing things
and carry yourself have a lot to do about
your calling. Let me just say this, I
never made a record until I received Jesus Christ as my
personal saviour. I have not recorded, could not
record and God would not allow me to record until I was
born again. Now I was a teenager when I was
born again and received Christ, my personal
saviour. Once I did that the Lord allowed me to
make records and why did he do that
. well you saw
what happened to FRANKIE LYMON didnt you? If
FRANKIE LYMON had had God in his life things may have
made a lot of difference, if things had got a little too
stressful for him he would have been able to call on the
Lord. He had to endure all those temptations and its
not God who does the tempting its the Devil who
does the tempting, you know. I just want to show
you how my relationship with God has been a source of
encouragement, a source of comfort throughout my career
from a child. I was fortunate enough to make a Gospal
album which was released over here about 1985on CHARLEY
records and they picked that up and did a
distribution deal them from the STATES. B.M.
Did you receive payment form CHARLEY, I know JERRY
WILLIAMS is still waiting. E.H.
Yes. Yes I did, as late as 2 Christmases ago I
received a royalty cheque. I got paid, I cant
say many others got paid. What they did, they had
my bank account details and, you know, I got paid by
CHARLEY. I know about the relationship they had with
other artists and to say that they (CHARLEY) was not the
right thing at the right time would be a lie and I wouldnt
say it any other way. Maybe they have a way or doing
business in some ways that we might not agree with but
they were good for EDDIE HOMAN. Let me give you an
idea of what I mean, I sent the record over to a guy who
listened to it and said, man I like this.
He said, look, I know a couple of guys who might be
able to put this record out for you. One of
the people he got was by the name of JOOP (pronounced
YOPE, in his native land his name means JOE FISH,
possibly DUTCH) VISER who worked for the CHARLEY label.
He was like, one of the A&R people, he
was the promotion man who promoted hey there lonely
girl in that country, he was also a jazz musician
and played the saxophone. Well, JOOP VISER, with
his background, was working with CHARLEY picking and
choosing different products that they could put out
so this particular guy I sent over the record to took it
to him. JOOP liked it so much he said Id
definitely be interested in talking with EDDIE HOLMAN and
seeing what we could work out to put his record out.
So I was over in ENGLAND on tour at the time and I
finished the tour. I was staying right outside of
BIRMINGHAM in NUNEATON and when I finished the tour I
took a train right down to LONDON. I met with JOOP
VISER and we hit it off right away. They
gave me a distribution deal and a nice advance, some nice
money. That was in April and the didnt
release the record until June, so now when they released
the record in June because they did it right they sent me
to the best photographer that you could go to at that
time, the best in LONDON. They paid for everything,
they sent me to a good photographer, the paid to put
everything together, they did the liner notes
right and everything. Then when June came around,
they brought me back over to ENGLAND to do one of the big
public relation companies. They took me to this
company and hired them to take me all over ENGLAND to
promote this record for , like, 2 ½ to 3 weeks and we
went everywhere. We went to SCOTLAND, I was here in
MANCHESTER, we were in LONDON, BIRMINGHAM we just went
everywhere promoting it. Thats what they did
for me, you know and that record lasted a long time, a
long long time. I dont have the rights
to it anymore but I cant forget what they did for
me. If somebody says to me I dont know
about those guys, they dont pay, I cant
say that, Id be a liar if I said they didnt
pay me. (EDDIE now cracks up laughing) Maybe, they
didnt pay me all they owed me but I got something,
maybe a lot of other people didnt get, I got money.
Getting money from CHARLEY was like getting teeth from a
person with his mouth sewed up (this is hilarious to
EDDIE). It was at this point that, being the highly talented reporter and VIP interviewer that I am, I excused my self and turned off the recorder to change the batteries. I inadvertently forgot to switch the damn thing back onto record so the next 2 or 3 minutes was buggered up. EDDIE did say that he would never have come over if he couldnt meet me, BIG MICK and get my autograph and photo. He also went on to say how God damn handsome I was for a fat git and if he had a daughter he would beg me to marry her. Well, it was something along those lines youll have to trust me as I was there and you werent. What he did say was how much he loved the attention by his BRITISH fans and hoped he had made it all worthwhile for them. EDDIE also went on to say how he appreciated the reception at LOWTON, it would remain with him for the remainder of his life and to sincerely thank everybody concerned from the fans to the organisers. The show at LOWTON that night was certainly an eventful one to say the least. Some clumsy person who shall remain nameless unwittingly set off the fire alarm at the precise moment EDDIE was due on stage. As I had, once again been pressed into the role of security personnel (bouncer and EDDIEs on stage bodyguard) I assisted in evacuating the building until FIREMAN SAM was convinced that the only thing that was burning was the red face of the person who remains nameless, eh STEVE FLETCHER !!!!!? EDDIEs infectious character and persona was overwhelming as he went through track after track to the delight of the audience. Rapturous applause echoed the appreciation as flashes from many cameras dazzled the red suited GENTLEMAN OF SOUL himself, sweat pouring from every gland EDDIE gave what must be one of the best performances I have seen in a long time. I managed to organise a pint of iced water for EDDIE which he was more than grateful for and was only the first of about 3 or 4 such pints within about 30 mins (Im just glad they werent anything stronger itd cost a bloody fortune!). This will be a night to remember, I surrender, Ill cry 1000 tears, all in the game, hey there lonely girl the songs came like welcomed old friends. EDDIE laid on the atmos by rapping to the audience between each piece, he held everybody mesmerised with his talent and warmth. No one was going to miss any of this performance, the crowd demanded more, flashbulbs dazzled the stage, the band excelled in their support of this wonderful soulful apparition before us. As the song says, this will be a night to remember, for those lucky enough to attend, this was certainly true. It seemed everyone wanted to touch EDDIE from their privileged positions coveted at the front of the stage, MARTIN WEBSTER gingerly, rose from his wheel chair to get closer to the man himself. This was later to prove a minor problem as a few of us managed to help him up the stairs to meet EDDIE. Jeeze MARTIN youre a fat git, dont ever call me, and Im ONLY 20 stones!!!!! Im sorry for the cock up at the end of the interview but I hope the experience of all those who met and heard this fantastic GENTLEMAN OF SOUL will be etched your memories forever, enjoy, BIG MICK.
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