[Slowhand] You are what you archive...

[Art Arias]

That supposed find of Beatles master tapes in a
suitcase in Austrailia proved to be a bust. But
veteran rock archivist and art director Geoff Gans'
investigation of a storage unit containing goods left
by 60's culture vulture Alan Pariser revealed some
real lost treasure, including some unseen
Beatles-related film footage. Last year, Gans was
called by Barbara Pariser, a longtime family friend
and sister of Alan, who among other things was one of
the people behind the Monterey Pop Festival and
produced the very 60's film, "You Are What You Eat".
Her brother died in 2001, and Barbara wanted Gans to
go through some of his belongings and see if there was
anything of significance. Gans didn't expect to find
much, but his curiosity was piqued, especially upon
learning of Pariser's friendship with George Harrison
and Beatle publicist Derek Taylor and his role in
promoting the duo Delaney & Bonnie (a Gans favorite),
including instigating the participation of both
Harrison and Eric Clapton in recordings and tours with
the band. What he found went way beyond his
expectations.

"What was there was almost his entire archives, not
just all the Delaney & Bonnie tapes, every demo,
master reels of entire concerts with Clapton and
Harrison, but also films," Gans says. "Alan had the
best cameras available at the time and always had a
camera with him. A lot of it was unlabeled and I had
to do research, but among other things was 30 minutes
of home movies of George Harrison from the 60's".
Other films include visuals from a Rolling Stones
concert celebrating Mick Jagger's bithday at Madison
Square Garden in 1972 (degenerating into a cake fight)
and footage of Ringo Starr and T.Rex singer Marc Bolan
at the Beatles' Apple offices in London. Gans is
nearly finished cataloging the vast collection and he
and Barbara Pariser soon will decide what to do with
it. Some items, including the Delaney & Bonnie
material and many hours of outtakes from the "You Are
What You Ear" production, are being evaluated for
potential release. Other things, including Monterey
Pop collectibles and perhaps the Harrison film
footage, may be put up for auction. "We hope to get
some Harrison photos and material to his family for
use on one of their projects," Gans says. "It would
make great bonus material on reissues." 

Los Angeles Times - Calender Part II - Oct. 24, 2004



		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. 
www.yahoo.com