Once again thanks to my pal Brad Bultman who strongly suggested
that I take a music tour while I was in London. He did the tour on one
of his many visits there. He even e-mailed the company,
London Rock Tours & he arranged to book me on the tour back on Thursday
afternoon, October 7th from 2-530PM. He sent me the confirmation. He
said I just needed to come to the
Original Tour Visitors Centre in
Trafalgar Square at 1:30PM. I wound up there after I finished my own
tour of London that morning.
Upon arrival, I
saw a guy named Bob who was in charge of their tour reservations. I gave
him my name & I paid him for the tour. Brad told me that would be
the case. He said to take a seat & relax. He said we plan to leave
here at 2PM. He also said that depending on traffic we should get back
around 5:30-6PM. He wound up being our tour guide. He was entertaining
& very knowledgeable throughout the tour.
Once
he rounded everybody up we proceeded to all get into the "magic bus."
He proceeded to take us on a magical mystery
tour. Along the way, we got to see many historic landmarks &
neighbourhoods from
the legendary British invasion just before my time in the early 1960's. We also got to see places from people who changed the music world in the
70's & 80's as well.
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| Back of the "Magic" Bus |
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| Side view of the "Magic" Bus |
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| Tail end of the "Magic" Bus |
We made numerous
stops in the process as we passed through Chelsea, Kensington, Holland
Park, Notting Hill Gate, St. John's Wood, Marylebone & the West End.
We got to see different recording studios, pubs, clubs & boutiques as Bob shared many stories with us.
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| Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers Restaurant |
We
got to take a half hour break when we stopped off at
Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers Restaurant. We got to see the former Rolling Stones
bassist guitar among other amazing memorabilia that was hanging on the
walls all around the restaurant. If we had more time, I would have sat down & ate a good meal.
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| Jimmy Page's Mansion |
When we got
back on the bus, we continued our magic carpet ride. We
passed by the houses that legends once lived in or still live in. We saw
Brian Epstein, the Beatles' first manager's flat,
Ringo Starr's King Road
apartment,
John &
Yoko's first home &
Paul McCartney's current
London home. We also passed the site where
Jimi Hendrix died. In
addition, we passed by the mansion that belonged to
Jimmy Page of
Led Zeppelin. It was truly a ride down memory lane especially for those
people like myself who appreciate the music from that era & in
particular the Fab Four. They changed the way music was played &
they made memories for future generations to come. We got to go to a
gift shop that sold Beatles souvenirs & nostalgia. They were
priceless commodities. Furthermore, we got to hear some of their
legendary music that added a special touch especially since I was in the
area where it all began way back in the day. When we got back on the bus we wound up riding down
Abbey Road where the Beatles crossed the
street. We then stopped & we were able to get out & walk across
the famous street like the Fab Four did. That was such a moving
experience. We also saw the
Abbey Road Studios which were formerly called
EMI Studios.
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| Abbey Road |
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| Me walking across Abbey Road |
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| Abbey Road Studios |
As
the tour was winding down & we were making our way back towards the
drop off point, we got to ride down
Baker Street. Bob the tour guide
appropriately played Gerry Rafferty's legendary hit song,
Baker Street for us. It was a lasting memory to a great afternoon of musical
remembrance. I'm so happy I listened to Brad. Being a music fan, I knew it would be worth
my while & it sure was.
As for the end of
the ride, Bob was able to accommodate my special request to get dropped
off near an Underground station. He let me out & he directed exactly
where to go. I wound up taking a short walk to get to it.
Stay tuned for another special post that will go into detail how I spent that evening.
Thank you for reading & following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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