Tonight! BP Fallon on The Beatles – ‘Guth’ TG4 9.25pm
Two people with Irish backgrounds – John Lennon, Phil Spector, members of Stevie Wonder’s band and BP Fallon, Madison Square Gardens, New York City 1972
BP Fallon appears in ‘Guth’ on TG4 tonight at 9.25pm discussing The Beatles. Three of the four Fabs are of Irish descent. BP worked at The Beatles’ Apple Records, appeared as a member of John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band on TV in England and on stage at Madison Square Gardens in New York, worked with Ringo Starr on the Marc Bolan & T.Rex movie ‘Born To Boogie’ and went on the road with Paul McCartney & Wings to write about it in their magazine ‘Club Sandwich’.
Among those also speaking in ‘Guth’ are Rod Davis of John Lennon’s skiffle group The Quarrymen, Brendan Bowyer of The Royal Showband who were supported by these up-and-coming Beatles, Peter Jay of Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers who toured with The Beatles and John McGrath of St John’s Ambulance who was on duty the night The Beatles played two shows in Dublin on Nov 7th 1963 when Ireland fell full-on under the spell of live Beatlemania. The following night, they played two shows in Belfast and everyone went bonkers again.
Three people with Irish backgrounds. “What does ‘Guth’ mean, John?” “Well, Dusty, it’s Irish for ‘voice'”.
‘Guth’ is the documentary series that tells how the sons and daughters of Irish emigrants have changed the face of popular music. What impact, if any, did their Irish blood have on singers like Bing Crosby, John Lennon, Dusty Springfield, John Lydon, Morrissey and Marr or the Gallagher Brothers?
Would the world have heard this music if Bing Crosby’s great-grandfather had not left Cork for Canada, if John Lennon’s grandfather hadn’t taken a ship to Liverpool or John Lydon’s father had stayed in Tuam, County Galway? And how did their relationship with Ireland inform their songs?
Tonight’s ‘Guth’ on The Beatles is the final programme in this highly-lauded series.
A bunch of benign loonies, London 1979. Photography by Chalkie Davis.
BP Fallon being filmed for ‘Guth’ in Dublin private members club Residence
The ‘Guth’ series is produced by Bríd Seoige and directed by Dathaí Keane.
‘Guth’ TG4 tonight 9.25pm – on your television and also here
