Rapping With Russ
by Chris
Morton
Being a rabid XYZ/Keener/CKLW radio listener since '61 after
seeing "House On the Haunted Hill" at the ripe age of eight, sometime during '67
I made the switch from AM to the new "underground radio" format popping up on
the FM dial. At that time WABX was the forerunner, broadcasting an experimental
show—"The Troubadour"—once a week or so prior to going fulltime with the format. Soon ABX was
joined by WKNR-FM and, later, WRIF.
That same year I joined a busload of
Cranbrook students to
go to a Sunday afternoon, underage concert at the
Grande Ballroom, "Uncle Russ"
Gibb's answer to the Fillmore (we were treated to an initial Detroit appearance
by Cream). Enthralled by the euphoric Grande scene, I waltzed into Russ' office
and, introducing myself, soon landed an assignment to produce—with a bit of
guidance from Grande-regular Carl Lundgren—a Grande handbill
promoting an upcoming B.B. King concert. (My card, being traded at $250 in
2005, has since shown up as part of a
B.B. King exhibit
at Cleveland's Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.)
Such was my interest in rock music that I spent many evenings and weekends talking to the underground jocks—the late Dave Dixon, KNR manager John Small, and Russ Gibb in particular—on the telephone. It was in talking to Russ about having seen an unknown English avant-garde group, Soft Machine, upstage Jimi Hendrix at Masonic Temple that he invited me down to KNR's Dearborn studio on Michigan Avenue to pick up an advance tape of that group's forthcoming first LP. Hitchhiking down there the following Saturday, that tape was an instant hit in the Cranbrook's language lab come Monday.
Being an ever-faithful listener of Gibb's show, I was captivated one weekend when he interviewed a fellow on-air about multiple clues, taken from many Beatles' LPs, leading to the possibility that Paul McCartney had been killed and replaced by a look-alike. Though I don't specifically remember what tips I contributed, I was very excited to be able to participate in Russ' show and offer additional "clues," now that pandora's box had been opened.
Stories such as these, including the one about having seen each of the Beatles shows on the Ed Sullivan Show, have been passed down to my two kids. My wife, of course, has been subjected to my far-off reminiscences of that era more times than she cares to remember. So it was the four of us met in London in August, 2001. On the alert for a suitable birthday present for Dad, my son arranged for the four of us to go on a guided "Magical Mystery Tour" walk.
Starting very near the location of the Beatles' short-lived Baker Street clothing boutique, the tour takes in McCartney's MPL office, Carnaby Street, and several other Fab Four sites on its way to the former Apple headquarters, where the Fab Four, along with Billy Preston, played the famous "Get Back" rooftop session.
From there it was on to the world famous Abbey
Road Studios in St. John's Wood, where our guide launched into a dissertation on
the famous zebra-crosswalk photo appearing on the cover of the Beatles' last album,
Abbey Road, prior to disbanding. Here Paul is pictured barefoot and a VW license plate
reads, "28IF," Paul's age at the time of the infamous KNR broadcasts "had he lived." My
ultimate delight came from the astonished looks on the faces of my wife and kids
when, after explaining many of the clues, our guide attributed the "Paul Is
Dead" story to none other than "Uncle Russ" Gibb, my WKNR-FM disk jockey
friend!
Other links:
http://www.detnews.com/2005/screens/0502/03/E01-78112.htm
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/3674/pid.html
http://home.att.net/~s.m.geer/