Wednesday - Day 7 L.A.

The day broke with a cloudy sky and the prospect of a rather dull and cold day.

We got up with the alarm and had breakfast in our usual haunt, Uncle Johns, before we were due to meet Darian Sahanaja, and Nelson Bragg, both from Brian Wilson's band (but also great musicians in their own right) outside our hotel at 11am. Before we met the guys, we popped into the chemist and The Beeb found an interesting product on the shelves.....

We have NO IDEA what this is for!!!!

Anyhow, the day was brightening up as the sun broke through the clouds, and we set off with Darian and Nelson to be Beach Boys "geeks" for the day. Today we did the Hollywood and Beverly Hills haunts, and started at a small parade of shops that used to be the site of the Goldstar Studios where Phil Spector produced his "Wall Of Sound," some Beach Boy music was recorded. We moved on to the Capital Records Tower on Hollywood Blvd. This is very much an LA landmark, although apparently most of the building is now actually empty. Hope they don't tear it down.

The guys goof around with the Captial Tower backdrop

Darian, The Beeb and Nelson outside
Ocean Way studios

Next up were the recording studios on Sunset Blvd - starting with Ocean Way where Brian Wilson and his band have recorded many of the albums over the last few years.... Getting In Over My Head, The Christmas Album, Gershwin........

The old Western Studios are now EastWest Studios and Nelson blagged his way through the door. Inside it is quite impressive albeit different from the days when Brian Wilson recorded there, but we were told by the receptionist that the actual recording rooms have been unchanged.

Reception at EastWest!

Unfortunately we could not get into Western 3 where Pet Sounds was recorded, and settled for Western 1, which is the studio Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was recorded, and the mixing desk is the same one that Qunicy Jones had specifically built and installed for that recording.

In Western 1

The receptionist was really helpful and gave The Beeb a promo DVD package which charts the history of the studio and also very kindly let us pose for photos!

Nelson, The Beeb, Minty and Darian inside East West

Next up was Sunset Sound, on Cherokee - this is where Love and The Doors recorded and also Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE was born here. This is truly an iconic album among Brian Wilson fans, and it was good to hear Darian's tales of Brian taking the bumper off Princes' car!!!.

Minty and The Beeb outside Sunset Sound

Darian and Minty outside Sunset Sound

Next on the trail was a drive along Melrose Avenue and past Fairfax High which is where Phil Spector went to High School. A spot of lunch at Farmer's Market and then we headed off to see The Troubadour while the Welsh band, The School (loved by Minty) played on Darian's IPod. Nelson was really impressed by what he heard too.

Next to the Troubadour is the restaurant, Dan Tana's, where Phil Spector had eaten on that fateful night of the shooting.

The guys walk by Dan Tana's

Outside The Troubadour

Unfortunately the Troubadour was closed at this time of the day so all we could get was an outside shot. Brian Wilson apparently came to see Tony Rivers play here one time, with very funny consequences!

Heading up into the canyons, we took a trip to Laurel Way and the house Brian Wilson once owned, known to the fans as The Pet Sounds House. Security up here is tight and within a couple of minutes of us arriving, a black SUV was on site, with a guy and a walkie-talkie obviously checking us out! Nelson surreptitiously took our picture before we got chased off!!!!

Incognito at Laurel Way!!!!

Then we saw the Bellagio House - the home where Brian Wilson spent a lot of time in his bed!. This is a gated house so we couldn't get up close!

The Bellagio House

Next up was a drive up into the mountains, up Mulholland, the road many Bette Noir films were shot, and where many a car has undoubtedly gone over the edge!!! The views here are awesome and although we didn't go to the side where you get a view of downtown LA,  we got a great view of the San Fernando valley (dontcha know, more Porn is produced in this valley than in the rest of the world put together!!!).

Darian, Minty and Nelson overlooking San Fernando Valley

Our last stop on this tour was a quick stop to have a peek at the recording studio Darian and fellow Wondermint Nick Walusko have built in collaboration with their musical friends Marizane. It's coming together very nicely. It looks like it could be the Headquarters from some Gerry Anderson TV programme. To top things off, Nick even popped by to say hello whilst we were there. Even the recorded sound of the piano in the studio sounds amazing, and it will be great to hear the future CD's  that do come out of here.

It was an amazing day with Darian, Nelson and Nick. Not only did we get to see some historical places in LA, but we learned a lot about Nelson's historical drinking haunts!

Thanks guys.... we really can't thank you enough for giving up your time to be Beach Boys geeks with us!!!

Back at the hotel, we got in touch with Domenic and Becky and we spent the evening with them on the Sunset Strip. Domenic had a great book, "Riot On Sunset Strip" published a couple of years back and he is really an authority on the whole Sunset Strip era and can rattle off dates, places and names like there's no tomorrow, which is really impressive. The Strip at night is something else, with loads of lights and is a really bustling place.

Dom drove up the Strip and we saw the Roxy Theatre, Whisky A Go Go, the Viper Room and infamous Chateau Marmont where James Belushi died. Dom also pointed out the site (traffic island) where Pandora's Box was located.

Dom & The Beeb at "77 Sunset Strip click, click"

We had a light dinner at Le Petit Fours (well The Beeb had a homemade pudding rather than a dinner) and then we took a walk along some of the Strip.

Whilst many of the businesses on the Strip have changed since the 60's, the architecture is basically the same. The Beeb remembers the TV programme "77 Sunset Strip" and had his picture taken with Domenic at the site the show was filmed (which is not 77 by the way - no. 77 has never actually existed!).

Mel's Drive Inn has the typical 60's architectural structure, especially in terms of the slant of the roof. A few band's were put together here too.

Mel's Diner

Next up was a trip to Canters, where we met up with Mark London, a graphic designer - he designed the "Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE" album cover and packaging. He had very kindly arranged for a couple of Pet Sounds CD's to be signed by none other than Brian Wilson, and he gave us these treasures. Mark is working on a new book just now, and it sounds as if it's going to be a real cracker.

Whilst we were with Mark, our jaws dropped again when we were joined by non other than Rodney Bingenheimer - The Mayor of Sunset Strip, who used to run a well known club on the Strip called English Disco. Our jaws had been pretty much on the floor since Sunday's party and spending the day with Darian & Nelson, but this was a really surreal experience. Sitting having a chin-wag with Rodney Bingenheimer on Sunset Strip, listening to his stories of Elvis, The Beatles and everyone who was anyone in the music business. Who'd have believed it?

We ended our night in a Pub out in Silverlake where some bad Karaoke was going on!!! After 1 beer we were all really tired - it was past midnight, so Dom and Becky dropped us off at our hotel.

So ended night no 7 in L.A. Moregreat  memories to keep for a lifetime. Thanks again to Dom and Becky for yet again entertaining us.

Tuesday - Day 6 L.A.

This was going to be our lazy sunshine day. After breakfast it was into the car for a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a gorgeous day again, and the intention was to shoot up to Santa Barbara. We underestimated the time it would take to get there. We were thinking the PCH was like an Interstate highway and didn't rekon on having to drive at 30mph for parts of it.

Still, the scenery we took in till we got as far as Pleasant Valley was well worth the drive alone.

On the way back we stopped off at the un-aptley named Paradise Cove. Well actually the cove itself IS nice enough. This is the one featured on the cover of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari." The problem is, as soon as you turn off the road into it, you're into a car park with a barrier that costs at least $25 if you don't eat there. Straight away that gets your heckles up getting ripped of like this, even if you PLANNED on eating there.

Paradise Cove - the shot on the cover of the Surfin Safari album was done here

There was a 30 min wait to get a table outside and this gave us the chance so sit on the beach for a while.

The Beeb on the Beach avec lobster!

Minty with her Diet Coke in Paradise Cove

When we were called to the table, the girl took our order then told us she was going for her break and Josh would be our server from then on. Minty ordered some kind of toasted cheese sandwich, while The Beeb had corn on the cob with chips. We think they must have gone to milk the cow before making the cheese by the length of time it took to arrive. Josh was the most surly server we have ever seen - he never once let a smile reach his face and he didn't even acknowledge us.

Absolutely terrible service, and not what you expect from a place like this. They obviously rely on passing trade and don't have many regular customers as we can't see many people wanting to go back!!! Anyway, this is the only place we've been to where there was no tip left.

Then we headed back on the road to spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach at Santa Monica. The Beeb finally made it into the Pacific Ocean for a swim.

The Beeb hits the Pacific Ocean Blue

Surprisingly the water isn't quite as cold as you'd image. After getting walloped by head high waves it doesn't take much to get used to it. You do realise the power of the waves as they knock you off your feet though.

Minty paddled on the shore line

When the sun started to set, it got a bit cooler so we headed back to the hotel. Following a quick change, we headed off to Pershing Square and got the metro up to Hollywood and Vine and discovered the world of Amoeba Records. The metro was quite packed, and had some characters on it. Minty was a bit worried about coming back on the same route - if it was like this at 7.30pm, what would it be like around 11pm!!!!

Amoeba Records is a HUGE record store, and after a serious browse, we came out with some goodies. Minty got Jan & Dean's Carnival of Sound CD for a fraction of the price that would need to be paid from the UK, as well  Brian Setzer's first solo album from 1986 for approx £6 when the UK amazon price is upwards of £20!!!! Unfortunately the CD's The Beeb was interested in were full price and are actually much cheaper from Amazon in the UK so he was very restrained.

When we got to the tills to pay, the guy asked us where we were from and gave us back our $3 discount cards to re-use, and also threw in 2 t shirts and a heap of stickers, fridge magnets and postcards for FREE!!!

By this time it was around 10.15pm and most of the places to eat were closing. Feeling a bit peckish, we headed up Vine and found Cafe Was which advertised a "full menu" until closing time (which was 2am). What a little goldmine this place was......from the outside it looked like Hard Rock Cafe, with the neon sign and the prospect of burger and fries type menu. How pleasantly surprised we were, when upon entering, we saw a Grand Piano taking up centre floor with tables around it, and further tables in booths on a raised level just overlooking the piano. What a set up. The waitress told us that usually they have live music every night, but they couldn't book anyone for this night (hence why it was so quiet) but Jeff Goldblum (he of The Fly) plays piano every Monday here......

We had Macaroni Cheese and chips and then headed back to Downtown, via the (much quieter) metro back to Pershing Square and then a short walk to the hotel.

So back at the hotel.... night no 6 draws to a close... and Minty is all excited as tomorrow we spend a bit of the day with Darian from Wondermints........

Monday - Day 5 L.A.

Well, there was no way on earth, Monday was going to top Sunday, so having readjusted our expectations of the day, we had our usual breakfast in Uncle Johns and then headed onto the Metro, to get to LAX and pick up the rental car we had booked.

We had considered this route on Saturday to get as close to the Marina Del Rey for Adam Marsland's gig before getting a cab, and the hotel concierge had advised strongly against it (bad part of town, you have to change lines etc). We had no problems what so ever and the changing from the blue line to the green line was simple.

We got to LAX and decided that as we were already on Aviation Boulevard and the number of the building next door was not too far from the number of the car rental place, we would walk......... After about 20 minutes we conceded defeat, and stopped at a restaurant where they called us a cab. This was just as well as the rental place was much , much further than we had anticipated.

Picking up the car was not a pleasant experience. The guy behind the counter lost his charm certificate somewhere in his life and when Minty insisted on reading the document put in front of her prior to signing, he got the biggest hump on his shoulder. He grunted something about "line 4" and sent us on our way.....

Outside, in the lot, we found someone who was aplogetic about his colleague's demeanour and showed us the choice of cars we had.... The Beeb picked a sporty little Dodge Caliber and within minutes we were on our way....... with a Sat Nav (GPS for our American friends).

The Beeb and the car

Now, driving in the US is not easy and with Mrs Sat Nav to confuse you.....well, the fun begins!!!! When the Sat Nav tells you to "keep right", it doesn't necessarily mean that you will end up turning right and when the Sat Nav tells you to "keep left", it really does mean keep in the furthest left hand lane otherwise you end up being railroaded onto a slip road (ramp) you never intended to take!!!!!! After a number of false starts we were finally on I110 and then onto I10 to Santa Monica.



Minty outside Chez Jay's

It was a glorious day (well into the 80's we think) and we found a $6 parking lot right next to the beach and took a wander.



The Beeb on Santa Monica Pier

Neither of us were dressed for the beach so we just wandered along the Santa Monica Pier, then we wandered onto Ocean Avenue had a peek at the menu at Chez Jays (the hang out of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson) which held nothing for The Beeb to eat (it was all fish or meat) and then walked a mile or so along the beachfront to Venice Beach. Half way, we stopped at a beachside cafe for a bite to eat - the food was not very nice to be honest.


The Beeb at Pacific Ocean!

Venice Beach was really busy, with many street artists selling their wares and happy hour being made full use of by many beach goers in the bars.


On the beach front walkway

Knowing we had to meet a friend later that evening, we turned around and headed back to the car and then headed back to LA........
Eventually we made it back to Downtown LA and found a lot to leave the car overnight, where the attendant didn't charge us anything as he was about to shut up shop and we could "sort it out with the attendant in the morning".

Back at the hotel, a quick change of clothes and then we walked down Grand Avenue to the LA Live area on Olympic Boulevard to meet fellow Beach Boys / Brian Wilson fan, Mike Walker (also over from the UK) for a light bite to eat and a few drinks in Trader Vics.

The area was very quiet tonight, and the bar was almost empty. But we spent a few hours chatting about just about anything! Mike had not been able to make it to the party the day before which was a shame as he realised just what a treat he had missed.


Mike and The Beeb

The hint was taken when the staff started to disappear, and the tables and chairs outside were being chained up for the night, so we left and headed "home".
So ended our 5th day in LA. It was great to meet up with Mike, and we were glad we had got to see the beach and weather permitting, intend to get back there and spend some time in the sand and sea!

Sunday - Day 4 L.A.

This was a day we were really looking forward to. A party had been arranged in our honour at the home of Domenic Priore and Becky Ebenkamp. But first up was a visit to Pasadena college for a monthly market with loads of CDs and records to salivate over.

We got the gold line metro out to Pasadena from Union Square, a stunning marble covered railway station. The trains in LA are SO clean.

Metro station in the middle of the freeway

When we got off at Pasadena, we found ourselves in the middle of the Interstate highway! The train-line runs in between both sides of it.

We walked to the college, and eventually hooked up with Domenic who introduced us to  Gary Schneider. The CDs Gary had on his stall could have burned a real hole in our holiday money! After a bit of a browse we headed out to Dom's place. And what a place it was!

As we got out of the car, someone was parking up across the road. It was none other than Bobby Figueroa, former drummer with the Beach Boys. This was before we even got INTO the house. He and his wife were first to arrive. Bobby and his lovely wife Joanne were great company. He's a real gent, and Joanne has a million anecdotes that will make a great book one day. Unfortuantely they could not stay long as Bobby had a gig in San Diego that evening.

The Beeb, Bobby Figueroa, Joanne, Minty and Darian

Already in the house though, was Lina and Rory Litonuja. Lina and The Beeb have been on-line friends for about nine years now, and this was the first time there was the chance to meet.

Lina with The Beeb

She was chief tamale maker (along with loads of other tasty goodies which included a very good, tangy coleslaw salad) and all her hard work was appreciated by everyone through-out the day. Within minutes of meeting Rory and Lina, they felt like long lost friends.

Rory brought along his Celtic shirt to make The Beeb feel at home

Dom and Becky's place is like a 1960's cool museum. You could spend all day just looking the wonderful collection of artifacts that fill the house. Amazing.

Next to arrive was Nicky Wonder. We couldn't believe our eyes. The quiet Wondermint! Then Darian, then Probyn, then Nelson...can you imagine how we were feeling?? These guys had came along to a party in OUR honour.

It was great to see Probyn's wife Julia again too. These were guys we knew, and the rest of the whole afternoon was spent meeting really cool people, which included Ron Silva who played with San Diego bands in the 80's and Monkee supremo, Andrew Sandoval. Later in the evening, Kari Kaos a DJ from Luxuria Music came by too.

The jam session

Rory had brought a selection of guitars along, and it didn't take long for the music to begin. Along with Rory, we had Darian on bongos, Nelson on acoustic bass, Probyn on banjo and Nicky and the Beeb on guitars. The Beeb is now claiming his position as an honourary Wondermint!

The Beeb and Probyn

The Beatles, The Byrds, The Stones, The Kinks...songs from them all were given work-outs throughout the day. The Beeb also managed his kazoo solo when Del Shannon's "Runaway" was rolled out!

Darian on the bongos

Darian also pointed out how much easier it was to understand the Beebs' accent when he was singing as opposed to talking!

A friend of ours from the UK, Mal Young, had come along too, It was great to see so many of the people at the party showing such great interest in the work he does. Mal looked like he had a great time there too.

The Jam session, with vocals from our host, Domenic

Another old friend who turned up was Steve Kalinich. It's not possible to mention everyone who was there, but everyone we met were so incredibly nice to us. It's really humbling to think they came along to a party hosted for US.




All through the day, the house was filled with the sound of chattering, laughing, music and glass clinking. We've been to some truly wonderful parties with some of these guys in the UK, but having a party like this, in a PLACE like this, with everyone so relaxed, off-guard and at ease with each other..it was just awesome.

Stevie K, Becky, Julia and The Beeb

We can't thank everyone enough, but you made it a day we'll remember for the rest of our lives. THANK YOU ALL, especially Domenic and Becky, the hosts.

The Beeb with our host, Becky

Saturday - Day 3 L.A.

Uncle Johns won it for breakfast again and right on time, Chuck Kelley from Luxuriamusic was at the hotel to take us on a tour of the Beach Boys old haunts.

First up was the old home of Hite Morgan. He had a recording studio here, and that was where "Surfin'" the Beach Boys first record was made.

The Morgans - Surfin' was born here

Next door to the first home Brian and Dennis lived was, surprisingly, the Grandparents house. Chuck really HAS done his research.

Home of the residual cheque!

Amazingly, when we got to Brian's first ever apartment of his own, in the Crenshaw Apartments, we managed to get in through the locked gate and found that Brian's old appartment was empty. We kept the gate open while Chuck ran back to the car for his camera. It may just have been an empty apartment in a block, but Chuck was clearly delighted at getting pix of the inside. This is where Brian was living when he got his first residual cheque.

After visiting David Marks' old schools we finally got to see the Beach Boys Landmark. It was great to see so many names on it that we knew.

The Landmark

The Landmark Inscription

Brians' elementary school was seen just before we went to Hawthorne High. Luckily for us, there was a gala day on and it was good being able to wander around the whole school no problem and without being challenged.

By the Hawthorne High Signage

A&W, the hang out of the Beach Boys, is now an O'Reilly's Auto Parts store but Fosters Freeze is still there, and Chuck and The Beeb treated themselves to a bit of ice cream decadence .

At Fosters Freeze

Then we went to El Camino College, where Brian and Al bumped into each other and had an idea about starting a group! Again, we were fortunate to get on site and wander around unchallenged, which meant we had the opportunity to walk around the music building - the very same corridors where Brian Wilson would have wandered.

Manhattan Beach, old haunts, various homes the Boys lived followed, and finally we ended up at the impressive Love family home on Mount Vernon & Fairway.

There was so much more in between what's been mentioned, and it was great having such an informative and enthusiastic guide as Chuck. A great day out, and we'd recommend anyone visiting LA to go out for the day with Chuck.

Back at the hotel, a quick change of clothes and a freshen up and then we headed off to Marina Del Rey to see Adam Marsland's Chaos Band at Brennans, but not before having a lovely meal at 26 Beach Cafe, in the company of International Pop Overthrow organisers, David Bash and Rina Bardfield. It was a pleasant change being able to have a relaxed conversation with them this time. Usually we're shouting in each others ear over the noise of bands playing and inbetween David and Rina dashing around organising the bands and introducing them on stage at the IPO in Liverpool!

Minty and The Beeb with David and Rina

David then dropped us off at Brennans for the Adam Marsland gig. We had a drink or two at the bar before Adam came in, and when he did come in he recognised us right away which was really nice. He'd already told us some of his set was based around us visiting Los Angeles.

Evie Sands had recorded in Scotland with Duglas Stewart and David Scott, so that meant we had mutual friends. Well..when Evie came over to meet us, it was as if we were long lost friends. She was just an absolute delight.

The gig was awesome - 50 songs in one night. So many weird and wonderful choices of songs were played. From The Beach Boys to Trio, via They Might Be Giants....what more could you ask for? A great venue with a great band, and at the end of the night you couldn't pull Evie and The Beeb apart, talking guitars.

Adam Marsland's Chaos Band

We were very fortunate that Ken and Laura who were at the gig were happy to give us a lift back to our hotel in Downtown LA. We got a detailed history of Los Angeles on the way back too. We now have two more new friends made during this holiday.

This had been a long and tiring day, but the time really flew in and we loved every minute of it. Both of us were absolutely exhausted by this time, and zonked out almost before the heads hit the pillows at 2.30am!

Friday - Day 2 L.A.

After a good night's sleep we woke up naturally and set off to hunt for a decent place to have breakfast. First on our list was Uncle John’s Cafe, which was literally down the road and it was a good choice. Their speciality is spicy pork chops, but we settled for the omelettes and toast.

This set us up for the rest of the day and next, we headed down to Figueroa Street and to The Grammy Museum. We were a bit early (the box office doesn't open until 11.30) so we killed some time by having a coffee in Starbucks.

Once the doors opened to the Grammy Museum, we  went in. The museum is on 3 floors, and among the exhibits was a 78rpm of George Gershwin's 1924 recording of Rhapsody in Blue. The John Lennon exhibition which we thought had finished yesterday, has been extended to September so The Beeb was pleased to find he would be able to see it afterall. The exhibits were mainly handwritten lyrics and videos / film of John and Yoko from the later years.

At the end of the exhibition, you are invited to write on a specially prepared tag which you can hang up as part of the exhibition..... "Imagine a World....." The Beeb, cheekily wrote "where LA had a Greggs" and stuck that up!!!!
What surprised us was, with 60 years of Rock and Roll history, they managed to have one of the three floors totally dedicated to Hip Hop music yet not a mention of The Applejacks anywhere.

The Beeb outside The Grammy Museum

After wandering around The Grammy Museum for over 2 hours, we found a good watering hole in Trader Vics, where Minty had a Singapore Symphony and The Beeb sampled some Mexcian Pacifico beer.

Billy the barman was a useful source of information on getting around LA and where not to go!

Next up Minty went hunting for a pair of shoes. Luckily the shop only had about four thousand pairs on display, so by the time she tried on almost three and a half thousand she got what she wanted.

El Pueblo is the oldest part of Los Angeles and Olivera Street is a small Mexican version of Portobello Road. It is crowded with market stalls filled with local produce, works of art and tacos. The buildings here go back to 1818, and that makes you realise how young a country America is. Not much older that The Beebs' first pair of Levis!

We went for a meal in the El Peseo Inn where there where local musicians playing indigenous music for the diners. The Beeb was adventurous ond ordered fahijas, but then became apprehensive about the green bean sauce thinking it looked like green mince.

The Beeb with his vegetable fahijas and refried bean stuff!

After dinner we strolled downtown to catch a live band in an Irish bar we'd came across earlier. Minty was challenged on the door for ID, which made her day, being 20 years over the legal drinking age out there!!!!

We got a decent seat while we waited for the band to set up. As they were doing this a friend of the band came in. He was six feet tall with a dyed black beard and wearing black stockings with hot pants. When the band started he was up prancing about and rolling around on the floor. He definitely thought he was the bees knees, but in reallity he just looked like a sheet metal worker from Scunthorpe whose wife had come home early and caught him wearing her clothes!

We were expecting Irish music, but it was actually rock music and we left after half an hour.

The tiredness from all the walking around today was kicking in so it was back to the hotel for the night.

Thursday - Day 1 L.A.

After a taxi ride to the hotel, filled with more unexpected luxury, we booked in and went for a walk. The first corner we turned had the Disney Concert Hall sitting in front of us. But before we even got that far there was a roar in the sky and unbelievably, a stealth bomber flew between the buildings just overhead! No wonder people were reporting UFO sighting when this thing was being tested! It really doesn't look like a plane at all.

One of the things that is hilarious about the US are the adverts on TV. For ever 30 second ad about whatever medical product, 20 seconds are spent warning you not to take it! But this takes the biscuit. The area we're in is a commerce and banking skyscrapers; and outside one of the buildings we came across this sign.

We had a nice bite to eat, then popped our heads into the Los Angeles City Library. After that we did a bit of shopping, found a bar full of Celtic memorabilia, then headed back to the hotel for a night-cap. It's been a long day, but after a good nights rest... bring on the weekend!

Thursday - Flight from NYC to L.A.

We arrived at JFK on good time to get checked in. We had to do self service and the computer wouldn't give us 2 seats together, nor allow us to change the seat allocation. The staff at check in were pretty blase and unhelpful when we asked if they could get us in seats next to one another and we were told to ask at the gate.

It must be a United way of doing things, as the Customer Services Reps at the gate were overwhelmed with people needing to change seats. Thankfully we did get reallocated.

Flight 53 took off pretty much on time, despite a bit of a furore on board when 2 flyers who had booked Business class for themselves and ecomony for their wee child and nanny found that the special car type seat they had brought on board for the child to sit in had to be by a window and their allocation was not by a window!!!

It was a very basic flight, with the TV monitors above the aisle, not individual screens, showing True Grit..the movie The Beeb watched on the way to the US! There was no opportunity to trace the path of the flight, so we had no idea which state we were flying over when we saw some fantastic snow covered mountains below us.

We were well ahead of schedule, so as we approached the Grand Canyon, the pilot informed us that he had permission to drop altitude, circle a couple of times and give us a mini-tour of the Grand Canyon!!! What a sight this was. A site-seeing tour in a 747 jet...amazing.

As we stepped out of LAX we felt the warm, dry heat of LA for the first time..and it felt good :-)

Wednesday - Day 5 NYC

We were a bit late on the go this morning, and it was just after  mid-day when we headed out across to 30^th Street Guitars for The Beeb to have another browse.  The shop was filled with classic used guitars from the 60’s and 70’s and it was obvious some of them had been round the block, including the old Gibson in the front window, covered in black paint, which had a $7,000 price tag!

Charlie Parker Way

On our itinerary today was Greenwich Village, and The Beeb picked up a copy of The Voice on the way down. First stop was the house Mark Twain stayed in and then we walked through to Alphabet City to see where that well known Sax player with The Rolling Stones (!), Charlie Parker stayed.

A quick hop in a cab took us to MacDougall and Bleeker Street, where we went into Bleeker Bob’s record store and the first thing we saw was a 7” single from 1982 by non other than Mari Wilson (she of beehive hairdo in the 80’s and a great singer, songwriter and raconteur today ). It had to be bought, and although the guy behind the counter was reluctant, he did allow The Beeb to take a photo of Minty buying it!



Minty buys Mari

We toured a few more records stores and also found another guitar shop. This one has been a supplier of Gretsch for many years, and sure enough, hanging up and tempting The Beeb was another White Falcon guitar! Fate is telling us that he will own one, one day!



Kenny's Castaways

Looking for a watering hole, we stumbled quite accidentally on Kenny's Castaways, the venue David Bash uses to host the New York IPO every year. We stopped for a couple of beers and had a look around the stuff hanging up on the walls, including some Smithereens silver discs and a few signed guitars. We had a chat with the barman who told us he sees over 300 bands a year in the bar! He also told us that The Smithereens started their musical career there and indeed, 2 of the band had worked at the bar before hitting the road to fame and fortune.

Time was running short, so a quick dash in a cab up to 34^th Street and The Beeb bought a couple of pairs of Levi jeans he had his eye on, before we had a quick bite to eat in Choc O’ Nuts. Here we ordered side dishes but they would have counted as mains in the UK – it was another “Welcome to New York” moment.

We met our Beat Rat friend Frank in the hotel lobby in order to have the chance to spend a couple more hours together. At $17 for 2 beers in the hotel bar, it seemed like a wise decision to move on to another bar – and we ended up in Reservoir in the University area. It wasn’t a bad bar – we found some soft seats in the back. The service was quite inattentive to the point that The Beeb went to the bar to get more drinks and we got told off by the management who informed us we had to order through the waitress (well we would have done had she bothered to serve us!).

We said our farewells to Frank and then headed a bit further South to Botanica on E. Houston Street where we had arranged to meet up once again with Dennis Kelley. Botanica is a blink and you'll miss it type of place. Downstairs from the front street and into a dark world of cool music and hip looking people.


with Dave Amels

Dennis had kindly driven through from New Jersey for our last night. We were later joined by Nancy and Kiki. It looked as if we were in the Lucy Show or something the way the girls were dressed. Half way through the night we were joined by Dave Amels, who co-produced the wonderful Dennis Diken & Bell Sound album, "Late Music".

A brilliant last night in NYC for us, and it was with great reluctance that we left to go back to the hotel and pack - it was going to be an early start for us the next day.