Moretti's recollection of how "Shakin' All Over" was written (and how little he was paid) is wickedly funny. In 1959, (a year before "Shakin' All Over") Moretti played on another of the greatest early British rock singles, "Brand New Cadillac" by Vince Taylor And His Playboys. British radio wouldn't give Vince Taylor a chance, and Moretti turned to session work to pay the bills. Among his colleagues in the studio were Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John McLaughlin.
Moretti left London in 1981. He and his wife relocated to South Africa to avoid the Inland Revenue. He died in Johannesburg in 2012. He left a legacy of incredible guitar work, and Stinky has done the honors of compiling two dozen songs that represent Moretti's musical artistry.
Here's a video of Gene Vincent performing "Bluejean Bop" and "Sexy Ways" on Italian TV in 1960 with Moretti on lead guitar:
The Best Of Joe Moretti:
ReplyDeletehttps://tinyurl.com/2s4cav9v
Another Stinky Production
Which brings to mind the joke about the guy who goes to the doctor and says:
ReplyDelete“Doc, you gotta help me—I can’t stop humming What’s New Pussycat!”
The doctor says: “It sounds like you’ve got Tom Jones Syndrome.”
The man asks: “Is it rare?”
And the doc says: “It’s Not Unusual.”
Whenever my wife's granny saw Tom Jones on TV she would say, "Now that's a MAN!"
DeleteAwesome! Thanks for the information and the music.
ReplyDeleteJonder actually gets credit for this compilation. I'd done a comp of songs that feature the fretwork of fellow legendary guitarist Mick Green, & I'd included "Shakin' All Over." Jon pointed out that it was Moretti on that track. I had read an article about Moretti in one of those large glossy rock mags that the British do so well--and revisited it to put together this comp!
ReplyDeleteStinky's "Best Of Mick Green" compilation is coming up soon, and it's a hot one!
DeleteThanks Stinky, A great comp.
ReplyDeleteThank YOU Boppin' Bob! :)
ReplyDeleteSchooled again! Some stellar work by another artist I never knew by name. Thanks team!
ReplyDeleteDidn't he play lead on Cliff Pilchard's "Move It"?
ReplyDeleteMove It "featured another Glaswegian guitarist, Ernie Shear" according to Joe Moretti's obituary in the Glasgow Herald.
Deletehttps://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13047572.joe-moretti/
No, that was the gentleman who wrote the song “Move it,” one Ian Samwell. He came up with and played the very cool, certainly at the time, opening lick. I got to know Ian quite well when he lived in Nashville and got it directly from the horses mouth. 😄
ReplyDeletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Samwell
Lovely man. RIP
rjf
Wow -- the same Ian Samwell who cowrote "Whatcha Gonna Do About It"! Thanks, rjf!
DeleteThere's an excellent book by Pete Frame (he of Rock Family Trees fame) called "The Restless Generation, how rock music changed the face of 1950s Britain."
ReplyDeleteIn the epilogue he recounts how Ian Samwell collapsed in 1991 and needed a heart transplant that was going to cost over a quarter of a million dollars and he had no insurance. At 54 he accepted he was going to die and fell into a deep sleep in a hospital bed.
He woke up fourteen hours later with a nurse asking who he was. Ian Samwell he replied, poiting at the name on the end of the bed...
"Yes I know that, but WHO ARE YOU? The phone hasn't stopped ringing. All these people have been calling with offers of money - Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard, Led Zeppelin... who are you?"
He was the guy who wrote Move It; that's who he was.
...he eventually died ...in 2003, aged 66. Nicest guy you could ever meet. And he wrote Move It."