“Hutch” is dead

8 Responses

  1. James Percival says:

    Johnny Hutch is one of those figures from the Liverpool scene you would imagine would be great to meet and chat to – so long as he was in a good mood!
    He was obviously a strong and outspoken character, but not very credible as a source. At least in that last interview he wasn't quite so dismissive of the Beatles. But I suppose it must be hard to only be known for what you didn't do in life. I suspect he cared more about it that he wanted to admit. I am sure in all the videos and interviews I've read with Lewisohn, Hutch was one the key witnesses he found difficult to pin down. I must check if Johnny did talk to Mark in the end.
    Let's be honest – Hutch in the Beatles would not have worked. I'm pretty outspoken too. I have no interest in any of the Mersey scene beyond the Beatles and the songs that they gave to their pals. I do rate Jackie Lomax, and Johnny Gustafson as a bassist, but that's as far as it goes.
    Interesting comment about Pete Best. At least he didn't let friendship cloud his opinion there.
    Finally – best drummer from Liverpool from a slightly more dispassionate and objective standpoint must surely be Aynsley Dunbar.

  2. Oddleif Nilsen says:

    James, thanks for your comment, its good to have different perspectives on Beatle-stories 🙂

  3. James Percival says:

    Thanks, Oddlief
    I have a lot I want to write about the Beatles and really I should start my own blog. Nevertheless, I won't be clogging up the comments board on this site.
    The trouble is I have a busy professional and home life and if I start a blog I will always feel guilty for not doing other things…

    The death of Hutch led to me re-reading quite a lot of the extended version of Tune in. In one of the footnotes Mark informs the reader that Hutch turned him down flat, and yet did the above interview with the Sun a few years later. In fact Hutch doesn't feature much in Tune in, and reading between the lines one gets the impression Mark Lewisohn wasn't too keen to meet him. One incident was putting the Beatles superfan Bernie Boyle in hospital – though in the fairness of balance John did the same to Bob Wooler.

    But the Mersey scene…
    In the early 1970s, a local, quite outspoken TV reporter, Bernard Falk interviewed several characters from the 60s including Tommy Moore. He noted the ghostly look in their eyes, and the sense of eternal regret. Hunter Davies mentioned something similar in the late 60s from the ones who got left behind. It's noticeable that they always seem to focus on fame and money rather than artistic achievement. And that's the problem, isn't it? The Beatles had the talent – it was nothing to do with a lucky break. Rory Storm was never going to sell records because he couldn't really sing; Gerry Marsden could sing but was never going to record a Revolver, and neither were the Searchers (all 20 of them). None of them were unlucky, they just weren't that talented. But then the Beatles is one of those once in every 10 generations thing. I will give Johnny Hutch credit for apparently not caring, but whatever the truth of his claim about Brian, the Beatles did pretty well without him. Same for Pete Best.

  4. Unknown says:

    Interesting film idea.

  5. James Percival says:

    bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015n97t

  6. db says:

    Youtube version for those who can't get BBC content
    youtube.com/watch?v=ya_cNogTvGg

  7. Martin says:

    If Hutch had been a Beatle I wonder what he'd have thought about Yoko and the madness that surrounded Apple in the later years?

    RIP Big Fellah

  8. piper909 says:

    What's this about the Fabs recording at Capitol Records' tower in LA? I don't think so!!!

    I find the Hutch's statements over the years mostly hooey anyway. He really did have the native gift for gab. This does seem to be a Scouse trait, spoken as one who has experience. I'm not surprised Lewisohn either couldn't get him to cooperate for his book or doesn't regard him as a reliable source.

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