Tappy Wright
ROCK ROADIE
By James "Tappy" Wright
With Rod Weinberg
Published by JR Books released July 2009 Confessions of a super roadie............
SYNOPSIS
- ¨ Sex and drugs and rock 'n roll and packed full of conspiracy theories .......The Animals; Jimi Hendrix; Tina Turner; & Elvis.........Super roadie Tappy Wright takes his readers on an exclusive access all areas tour during more than thirty years on the road with the biggest names in rock and roll as tour manager and close confidante.
- ¨ 'After years of press speculation, Tappy finally reveals his "being there" experience of what happened when Jimi Hendrix died. How did it happen.....? Read Rock Roadie's Revelation!'
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/festivals/john-nicholson "John Nicholson on August 22, 2009 10:31 AM HYPERLINK "http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-festival-fringe/"in Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Ah ha! I was involved in a bit of news on Friday evening. We had all filed in to see this grand old Geordie roadie Tappy Wright, tell us tales of being on the road with The Animals, Hermans bloody Hermits and Hendrix, back in the 60s. All was rollicking along well, with Tappy on fine form when Marsha Hunt got up and declared it was all lies and a charade.
Now, if you don't remember, Marsha Hunt that's because you are not old like me. Think Blue Mink - "what we need is a great big melting pot" - etc......( UPDATE: actually, as a poster has pointed out, my memory is playing tricks on me, that was Madeline Bell - she did have great hair though ) she had a Jagger babba too, used to have a fine, nay, legendary 'fro and, according to Tappy, was a brief girlfriend of Jimi. roackroadie.jpg
Tappy says Jimi was murdered by Mike Jeffrey - his manager and all-round gangster type; that he was effectively drowned in wine in order to collect a £2 million insurance pay-out which Jeffrey needed to pay off the mob, having borrowed money from them to pay tax demands. Whether this is true of not is impossible to prove but he made a convincing case that this was, at the very least, a plausible scenario.
It was at this point that Marsha jumped up and said it was all lies. Had she been waiting for this moment for weeks? If so, it didn't cut the mustard as an intervention, though it was excellent theatre. When invited by Tappy's interviewer - Roger Pomphrey - a man with a killer older dude's perm - to justify her claims, she was unable or unwilling to do so and stormed out.
Hey, even if it nothing he said was true, who cares? It was a cracking hour and all made perfect sense to me. And anyway, the truth is rarely revealed by facts, Professor Existential.
It was all great fun, and very rock n roll. Tappy was not amused. He did know who she was - maybe she's stalking his shows or something, it seemed an odd thing to do really, after all, he was only talking to 60-ish people. But hey, she can get up and shout at all the shows I go to see, its livens up proceedings no end.
The hour with the Tapmeister was too short to ask him all the questions we wanted to ask but this kind of oral history is fantastic if you're interested in a specific era and if you have a chance to catch one of these promo evenings for his book Rock Roadie, then you'll not be disappointed, unless you're Marsha Hunt, of course. And I can categorically say, I am not Marsha Hunt.
Star Rating * * * * *
Tappy Wright Supper Room Assembly@George Street 22nd only.
Geordie "Tappy" was there at the beginning when Eric Burdon and the boys formed the Animals and when they recorded their anthem 'House of the Rising Sun'. He was there at the end when they re-formed for a world tour in the early 80's.
He was there at the beginning when unknown guitarist Jimi Hendrix played to a handful of punters in a smoky American club and next day recorded one of his biggest hits 'Hey Joe'. He regularly took Jimi and his band to the VD clinic as groupies gave them more than their bodies.
He looked after superstar Tina Turner and her fiery husband Ike on their first ever tour of the UK.
He told the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Aaron Presley, in no uncertain terms to go away when he took the telephone call from who he thought to be an impostor, before grovelling to the great man and finally being given a private audience at Graceland.
Rolling Stone Brian Jones and Beatle John Lennon were guests at his 21st birthday party...Lennon's legendary sense of humour resulted in a cake fight between the two.
He fended off sexual advances from sex-bomb actress Jayne Mansfield.
He has seen it all. He has done it all. He's been jailed and he's been 'press ganged' into the US Army as a deserter. He came close to joining the 'Monkees'. He was witness and victim to early racism in the music business. He has seen drugs kill and destroy. He single-handedly defeated the Spanish Armada's attack on London, during a bad acid trip on LSD. He's shed enough tears.
He knows the real reason Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler parted company at the height of his fame. And he's telling.
Tappy's insight into the crazy world of rock and roll in the 60's, 70's, and 80's is free of PR puff and fluff. He tells it like it is, like it was because he should know. He was there. His own sexual exploits are X-rated......he even ended up being photographed for a double page spread in girlie magazine Escort!
This is no ordinary book. It is extremely funny and will appeal to rock and roll fans across the globe, those of us who were around in the free-love days of the 60's (he was at Woodstock with Hendrix) will revel in the nostalgic trip down memory lane. It should also serve as a historical archive record of the birth of the Animals and beyond.
Tappy was born in Whitley Bay, just outside Newcastle, the son of a miner and lucky to have food on the table of the family's tiny, two up, two down, terraced house. His love of music and canny ability to be in the right place at the right time resulted in Tappy helping form the Animals, even playing second guitar on many of their hits.
He went on to work with Jimi Hendrix, Ike and Tina Turner, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Peter Noone (Herman's Hermits), Chuck Berry, Liza Minelli, Sammy Davis Jnr., Dean Martin, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, Dusty Springfield...an almost endless who's who of music and film stars. His dream really came true when he got to meet his boyhood idol, movie star and comedian Jerry Lewis.
He married a Polish Princess and spent much of his time with her looking over his shoulder for the Polish Secret Service; sure he was under surveillance and his telephones being tapped. Amazingly, he was approached by a mystery man in a London pub and invited to become a spy for the British.
Tappy's fame in his native Geordie -land helped him buy and run the very club where it all started for him and the Animals, the infamous Club-A-Go-Go. Recession and some bad business decisions saw Tappy's world fall apart when the club and his other business interests went bust and he was left with huge debts totalling £500,000.
But a natural survivor, Tappy has now cleared those debts and spends his time between his home in Whitley Bay and a holiday home in Florida, where he is a regular visitor to the famous Hard Rock Café, as the world's only living rock and roll memorabilia, regaling diners with his fascinating tales of life on the road with the stars of rock and roll. He even owns one of Jimi's rare guitars, given to him before Jimi's death. The real-life Alfie, Tappy's exploits and sex-ploits offer an affectionate, witty, and sometimes touching, dash through musical history experienced first-hand.
Packed full of conspiracy theories, truths finally told and previously unheard anecdotes, Rock Roadie is a gripping and hilarious read from the man that famous names were hoping would keep his silence. But Tappy Wright is finally speaking out and he's telling it all!
Supported by a spoken-word tour of the US and with guaranteed media interest through revelations about Hendrix's alleged murder, Rock Roadie is the autobiography that every 60s/70s music fan has been waiting for
As Eric Burdon wrote in his 1984 autobiography..."A good road manager is as important as a good lead singer. Tappy Wright was the best in the business".
Ends
Tappy is soon to hit the road again, to begin a tour of a different sort - this time as the star of his own show, a "spoken word performance" - treating audiences at theatres and University campus' to his account of life on the road and backstage............access all areas. Who knows........some of Tappy's old pals may just turn up for old time's sake.
Tappy is represented by veteran music biz manager, film producer, agent and promoter Rod Weinberg, the man who persuaded the Animals to put their differences for each other aside to re-form for the 1983 World Tour.
Representation: Rod Weinberg
Tel : 44(0)7795 413257 E-mail: rodweinberg@rockroadie.net
Skype ID: rodweinberg
ROCK ROADIE
By James "Tappy" Wright
With Rod Weinberg
Published by JR Books released July 2009 Confessions of a super roadie............
SYNOPSIS
- ¨ Sex and drugs and rock 'n roll and packed full of conspiracy theories .......The Animals; Jimi Hendrix; Tina Turner; & Elvis.........Super roadie Tappy Wright takes his readers on an exclusive access all areas tour during more than thirty years on the road with the biggest names in rock and roll as tour manager and close confidante.
- ¨ 'After years of press speculation, Tappy finally reveals his "being there" experience of what happened when Jimi Hendrix died. How did it happen.....? Read Rock Roadie's Revelation!'
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/festivals/john-nicholson "John Nicholson on August 22, 2009 10:31 AM HYPERLINK "http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/festivals/edinburgh-festival-fringe/"in Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Ah ha! I was involved in a bit of news on Friday evening. We had all filed in to see this grand old Geordie roadie Tappy Wright, tell us tales of being on the road with The Animals, Hermans bloody Hermits and Hendrix, back in the 60s. All was rollicking along well, with Tappy on fine form when Marsha Hunt got up and declared it was all lies and a charade.
Now, if you don't remember, Marsha Hunt that's because you are not old like me. Think Blue Mink - "what we need is a great big melting pot" - etc......( UPDATE: actually, as a poster has pointed out, my memory is playing tricks on me, that was Madeline Bell - she did have great hair though ) she had a Jagger babba too, used to have a fine, nay, legendary 'fro and, according to Tappy, was a brief girlfriend of Jimi. roackroadie.jpg
Tappy says Jimi was murdered by Mike Jeffrey - his manager and all-round gangster type; that he was effectively drowned in wine in order to collect a £2 million insurance pay-out which Jeffrey needed to pay off the mob, having borrowed money from them to pay tax demands. Whether this is true of not is impossible to prove but he made a convincing case that this was, at the very least, a plausible scenario.
It was at this point that Marsha jumped up and said it was all lies. Had she been waiting for this moment for weeks? If so, it didn't cut the mustard as an intervention, though it was excellent theatre. When invited by Tappy's interviewer - Roger Pomphrey - a man with a killer older dude's perm - to justify her claims, she was unable or unwilling to do so and stormed out.
Hey, even if it nothing he said was true, who cares? It was a cracking hour and all made perfect sense to me. And anyway, the truth is rarely revealed by facts, Professor Existential.
It was all great fun, and very rock n roll. Tappy was not amused. He did know who she was - maybe she's stalking his shows or something, it seemed an odd thing to do really, after all, he was only talking to 60-ish people. But hey, she can get up and shout at all the shows I go to see, its livens up proceedings no end.
The hour with the Tapmeister was too short to ask him all the questions we wanted to ask but this kind of oral history is fantastic if you're interested in a specific era and if you have a chance to catch one of these promo evenings for his book Rock Roadie, then you'll not be disappointed, unless you're Marsha Hunt, of course. And I can categorically say, I am not Marsha Hunt.
Star Rating * * * * *
Tappy Wright Supper Room Assembly@George Street 22nd only.
Geordie "Tappy" was there at the beginning when Eric Burdon and the boys formed the Animals and when they recorded their anthem 'House of the Rising Sun'. He was there at the end when they re-formed for a world tour in the early 80's.
He was there at the beginning when unknown guitarist Jimi Hendrix played to a handful of punters in a smoky American club and next day recorded one of his biggest hits 'Hey Joe'. He regularly took Jimi and his band to the VD clinic as groupies gave them more than their bodies.
He looked after superstar Tina Turner and her fiery husband Ike on their first ever tour of the UK.
He told the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Aaron Presley, in no uncertain terms to go away when he took the telephone call from who he thought to be an impostor, before grovelling to the great man and finally being given a private audience at Graceland.
Rolling Stone Brian Jones and Beatle John Lennon were guests at his 21st birthday party...Lennon's legendary sense of humour resulted in a cake fight between the two.
He fended off sexual advances from sex-bomb actress Jayne Mansfield.
He has seen it all. He has done it all. He's been jailed and he's been 'press ganged' into the US Army as a deserter. He came close to joining the 'Monkees'. He was witness and victim to early racism in the music business. He has seen drugs kill and destroy. He single-handedly defeated the Spanish Armada's attack on London, during a bad acid trip on LSD. He's shed enough tears.
He knows the real reason Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler parted company at the height of his fame. And he's telling.
Tappy's insight into the crazy world of rock and roll in the 60's, 70's, and 80's is free of PR puff and fluff. He tells it like it is, like it was because he should know. He was there. His own sexual exploits are X-rated......he even ended up being photographed for a double page spread in girlie magazine Escort!
This is no ordinary book. It is extremely funny and will appeal to rock and roll fans across the globe, those of us who were around in the free-love days of the 60's (he was at Woodstock with Hendrix) will revel in the nostalgic trip down memory lane. It should also serve as a historical archive record of the birth of the Animals and beyond.
Tappy was born in Whitley Bay, just outside Newcastle, the son of a miner and lucky to have food on the table of the family's tiny, two up, two down, terraced house. His love of music and canny ability to be in the right place at the right time resulted in Tappy helping form the Animals, even playing second guitar on many of their hits.
He went on to work with Jimi Hendrix, Ike and Tina Turner, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Peter Noone (Herman's Hermits), Chuck Berry, Liza Minelli, Sammy Davis Jnr., Dean Martin, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, Dusty Springfield...an almost endless who's who of music and film stars. His dream really came true when he got to meet his boyhood idol, movie star and comedian Jerry Lewis.
He married a Polish Princess and spent much of his time with her looking over his shoulder for the Polish Secret Service; sure he was under surveillance and his telephones being tapped. Amazingly, he was approached by a mystery man in a London pub and invited to become a spy for the British.
Tappy's fame in his native Geordie -land helped him buy and run the very club where it all started for him and the Animals, the infamous Club-A-Go-Go. Recession and some bad business decisions saw Tappy's world fall apart when the club and his other business interests went bust and he was left with huge debts totalling £500,000.
But a natural survivor, Tappy has now cleared those debts and spends his time between his home in Whitley Bay and a holiday home in Florida, where he is a regular visitor to the famous Hard Rock Café, as the world's only living rock and roll memorabilia, regaling diners with his fascinating tales of life on the road with the stars of rock and roll. He even owns one of Jimi's rare guitars, given to him before Jimi's death. The real-life Alfie, Tappy's exploits and sex-ploits offer an affectionate, witty, and sometimes touching, dash through musical history experienced first-hand.
Packed full of conspiracy theories, truths finally told and previously unheard anecdotes, Rock Roadie is a gripping and hilarious read from the man that famous names were hoping would keep his silence. But Tappy Wright is finally speaking out and he's telling it all!
Supported by a spoken-word tour of the US and with guaranteed media interest through revelations about Hendrix's alleged murder, Rock Roadie is the autobiography that every 60s/70s music fan has been waiting for
As Eric Burdon wrote in his 1984 autobiography..."A good road manager is as important as a good lead singer. Tappy Wright was the best in the business".
Ends
Tappy is soon to hit the road again, to begin a tour of a different sort - this time as the star of his own show, a "spoken word performance" - treating audiences at theatres and University campus' to his account of life on the road and backstage............access all areas. Who knows........some of Tappy's old pals may just turn up for old time's sake.
Tappy is represented by veteran music biz manager, film producer, agent and promoter Rod Weinberg, the man who persuaded the Animals to put their differences for each other aside to re-form for the 1983 World Tour.
Representation: Rod Weinberg
Tel : 44(0)7795 413257 E-mail: rodweinberg@rockroadie.net
Skype ID: rodweinberg
