From: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Subject: Wonderwall Music
Keywords: Wonderwall; Ashton Gardner and Dyke; Bee Gees; the German language
Reply-To: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 19:37:37 GMT

A couple of months ago we were discussing the film "Wonderwall" for
which George Harrison did the soundtrack.  I ran across a reference to
the job being offered to the Bee Gees first, which was news to me and
everyone else here.  Here is some more information on "Wonderwall".

It might be worth noting that "Wonderwall" isn't exactly George's
first solo album, because he does not play on it.  One Beatles book
reports the rumor that it does include Ringo as "Roy Dyke" and Eric
Clapton as "Eddie Clayton", but Roy Dyke at least is a real person who
played drums.  Dyke and Tony Ashton, who plays keyboards on
"Wonderwall", have several George connections: they were in a
Liverpool group, the Remo Four, who appeared on the same bill as the
Beatles a few years earlier, and then, as two-thirds of the group
Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, they played in the Delaney and Bonnie tour
that George did in December 1969, and recorded a song "I'm your
spiritual breadman" produced by George in 1970.  It's probably not
related, but Ashton, Gardner and Dyke's first album was reportedly
produced by Vince Melouney, who had been lead guitarist for the Bee
Gees (1967-68)-- does anyone here have that record?-- I'd like to know
who else was involved with it.  I have no information about this
"Eddie Clayton" character, however.

Anyway, a reference that should have clarified things is buried in
Mark Lewisohn's unindexed book "The Beatles: 25 Years in the Life"
(also known as "The Beatles Day by Day").  I find now that under 27
Oct 1967, it says the Bee Gees went to Twickenham Film Studios to look
at rushes for "Wonderwall", because they had been offered the job of
scoring it.  Lewisohn remarks there only that "eventually" the job
went to George Harrison instead.  It didn't take long though, because
in his new book "The Beatles Chronicles" Lewisohn reports (p. 336)
that George began recordings for "Wonderwall" on 22 November 1967,
just 4 weeks later.

I had wondered whether "Wonderwall" had a NEMS connection.  The two
dates mentioned occur in that brief period when Robert Stigwood ran
NEMS, from Brian Epstein's death in August to Stigwood's departure to
his own company on 8 December 1967.  (Note, Stigwood took several acts
with him that he had signed to NEMS after Epstein made him a partner
in 1967, principally Cream and the Bee Gees.)  However, I don't find
any mention that "Wonderwall" was in any sense a NEMS project, so this
seems to be irrelevant.

The following is my loose translation of a passage in a book written
in German called "Bee Gees : die Superstars die 70er Jahren" by
Henkels, Taurus Press, about 1980.

  Right after the success of the "Massachusetts" single [issued in
  September 1967 in the UK], the Bee Gees received songwriting offers of
  all kinds.  People wanted theater, film and background music written
  by them because they expected success from successful people.  

  One of the projects that was discussed in early 1967 was the music
  for an English feature film, "Wonder Wall". 

  "We have absolutely no experience with film music, except through a
  brush with Georgie Fame", steamed Maurice [Gibb] at the time, in great
  hopelessness.  [The Georgie Fame remark is a pun but I don't see the
  meaning behind it.]  "We will, however, look at the raw material of
  "Wonder Wall" and then start."  . . .

  However, before they worked out a method of scoring "Wonder Wall", they
  learned what a hard thing it is to call something off. . . . [No more is
  said about it.]

The date of "early 1967" seems wrong.  To me, Lewisohn's reference to
rushes indicates filming in progress, not finished, and the quote
about looking at the raw material sounds like viewing the rushes too.
If we suppose that the offer came in when "Massachusetts" became the
Bee Gees' first UK hit single, then dating the offer to October fits.
But I can't determine from these sources why they didn't actually do
"Wonderwall"-- was the offer withdrawn?  This seems to be saying they
were attempting to do it.

If you would like what changed things and resulted in George getting
the job, well, you still don't know.  It can hardly be his experience,
since he never wrote a score either.  The best he could say is that
he'd acted in two films, but his less than prolific songwriting makes
him seem a weak candidate for scoring a film.  I wonder if George
proposed the idea of contrasting Indian and western music?  Did that
novelty arouse interest?

I'm appending that German text here at the end, since my translation
is not very trustworthy, and I'd be happy to see an r.m.b. reader with
a better grasp of German give it a shot.  It seems to be written in a
"popular" German rather than what I find in a pocket dictionary; it's
sprinkled with English for one thing.  Particularly, what is the sense
of the last sentence-- that they gave up trying, or that the chance
was taken away?

--Joe Brennan



Schon kurz nach dem Erfolg der "Massachusetts"-Single erheilten die
Bee Gees stapelweise Angebote fu"r Kompositionen aller Art.  Man
wollte Theater-, Film- und Backgroundmusiken von ihnen komponiert
haben, weil man sich ganz einfach von erfolgreichen Leuten wie den
Gibbs eigene Erfolge versprach.

Eines der Projekte, die schon 1967 o"ffentlich diskutiert wurden, war
die Musik fu"r einen Featurefilm aus England, "Wonder Wall".

"Wir haben gar keine Erfahrung mit Filmmusiken, ausser durch einen
Georgie-Fame-Streifen", da"mpfte damals Maurice allzu grosse
Hoffnungen.  "Wir werden uns aber die Rohfassung von 'Wonder Wall'
ansehen und dann anfangen". . . . 

Noch bevor sie einen Takt fu"r "Wonder Wall" neidergeschreiben hatten,
wussten die Bee Gees allerdings, wie die keineswegs leichte Aufgabe zu
lo"sen ist. . . .