Only later did she learn that the notes she played were to be the intro on 'She’s Leaving Home' by the Beatles.... Mrs. Bromberg’s harp intro and rhythm, backed by a full string section, set the poignant tone of the track before Paul McCartney (who recorded separately) began the lyric 'Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock as the day begins.'... She played harp on two early James Bond films starring Sean Connery — 'Dr. No' (1962) and 'Goldfinger' (1964)... She also performed the solo intro to the 1976 hit disco single 'Boogie Nights' by the band Heatwave. She recalled that the heat in the studio was so intense, she played with her feet in a bucket of icy water.... During the 1960s and ’70s, she was a member of the BBC’s
Top of the Pops orchestra... Mrs. Bromberg couldn’t afford child care, her son recalled, and he was dragged along to the Top of the Pops studio and sat in the control room alongside Michael Jackson (at the time part of the Jackson Five), the Osmonds, Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones.... Her Ukrainian grandfather (at the time Ukraine was part of the Russian empire) was a principal trumpet player in Kiev’s symphony orchestra before fleeing anti-Jewish pogroms. He settled in London, where he made a scant living playing in coffeehouses. Other members of the family moved to the United States, and a cousin of Mrs. Bromberg, the multi-instrumentalist David Bromberg, became one of Bob Dylan’s favorite guitarists, playing on several of his albums."
I'm glad to see a long obituary for someone who played a supportive role. That "She’s Leaving Home" harp touched many hearts, and there's no reason to believe she wasn't properly paid.
As for that cousin, David Bromberg, he wasn't just a backup player to Bob Dylan. I remember him as a solo artist in the early 70s. His recording
"The Holdup" was pretty popular at the time. I don't know how many times we went to see him
at The Ark in 1971 and 1972.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX5BCgmr7tg&ab_channel=MagnoliaPictures%26MagnetReleasing
That $17 is equivalent to $140 today. Certainly, the Beatles could afford to pay her more, but it wasn’t like they were not paying her a decent wage.
Ah, yes, The Ark. Haven't been there in a few years but always enjoyed the music/experience. Looks like the place opened up again a few weeks ago so will have to keep an eye on the offerings.
$17 was still pretty good money in 1967.. About enough for 50 gallons of gas
Keep in mind that $17 in 1967 would be around $135 today. Not a great amount of pay by any standard, but the article's implication is that she was underpaid; the aspect of inflation is lost on many people today. I would guess that this amount was the going rate for piece-work for an instrumentalist at that time. I doubt that EMI asked her how many children she was supporting before determining her rate of pay. I would also say that 'bragging rights' of having been an instrumentalist on a Beatles song was worth a lot more than what she was paid for the session work. Think of the vast majority of session players who have played on well-known recordings that never make any more money than average over their lifetimes.
Still - that opening on 'She's Leaving Home' is a great one, and I'm glad to see her getting some widespread credit for this and other contributions she's made musically.
David Bromberg still tours occasionally I think.
In music, as in all creative endeavors, content is king. The lion’s share of money always goes the those who create, not those who merely perform. That is, unless the suits fool creators into contracts that shift the rewards to the agents as was the case for John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival and many other pop music creators.
BTW, the same principal has operated for the tech moguls.
I’m not defending the practices, just noting that it’s everywhere in a tree enterprise system.
In inflation adjusted terms it would be about £138. And that doesn't account for the improvement in living standards, so in modern times she would have got about £200. I expect she was quite happy with the pay.
Yes, $17 today is worth about $140. But she was paid 9 pre-decimalization British pounds. According to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, that’s worth 167 pounds in 2020, or $231.67 at today’s exchange rate. Not a king’s ransom, but the Beatles weren’t pikers.
In 1967 £9 would have been around $25. In late 1967 the £ was devalued from $2.80 = £1 to $2.40 = £1
The Ark!
I'm going to be in Ann Arbor next week visiting friends. Here's a shout out to Monahan's Seafood Market in Kerrytown. Established in 1979 and still cranking.
"Keep in mind that $17 in 1967 would be around $135 today. Not a great amount of pay by any standard, but the article's implication is that she was underpaid..."
She played one page of music. It didn't take all day.
The Beatles sometimes had a whole orchestra, so the per-person rate for these performances wouldn't have been that high.
It was much harder to get the idea to use harp, to write the composition, and to record and edit in the material.
Of course, it was harder than all that to learn the harp in the first place, so if she were the only harp player and harp was the sine qua non of "She's Leaving Home," she could have driven a hard bargain.
But driving that hard bargain would be harder than playing one page of harp music when you already know how to play the harp.
No one has yet tried to make a comment out of a harp player dying and the mythology of angels playing the harp.
Leland said...
That $17 is equivalent to $140 today. Certainly, the Beatles could afford to pay her more, but it wasn’t like they were not paying her a decent wage.
Don't lay it at the Beatles door. I'm sure she got the going studio rate that had been negotiated by the Musician's Union (UK).
She touched millions of hearts. A musician's dream is it not?
As I was reading the blog post's beginning, I started to think about other pop songs that had noticeable harp arrangements, and the very first one that popped into my head was "Boogie Nights".
"No one has yet tried to make a comment out of a harp player dying and the mythology of angels playing the harp."
Because we don't know which way she went after she died.
My guess is she went to the same place John and George went. And she's told them how she plans to rip Paul a new one for ripping her off in 1967 when he finally arrives where she is now.
I wouldn't have seen this without you posting it. Thanks, Ann. I can hear that solo from "She's Leaving Home" note for note without even trying. What a sad but beautiful song.
I always wondered about the line, "Fun is the one thing that money can't buy." Even as a teenager I thought that didn't make sense. Wouldn't "love" be more accurate than "fun"? Money can buy a lot of fun, but it can be empty.
My favorite piece for the harp is this:
https://youtu.be/G3UGewCinYw
"No one has yet tried to make a comment out of a harp player dying and the mythology of angels playing the harp."
It's 9/11. There's a lot of harp music playing in a lot of hearts today.
'The lion’s share of money always goes the those who create, not those who merely perform.'
Always get a writing credit. The session guitar guy gets scale. A writer can get millions.
'No one has yet tried to make a comment out of a harp player dying and the mythology of angels playing the harp.'
You know, that reminds me of way back in the days when... (cue harp music) : )
Whiskeybum said...
Keep in mind that $17 in 1967 would be around $135 today. Not a great amount of pay by any standard, but the article's implication is that she was underpaid; the aspect of inflation is lost on many people today.
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is this why it is now $26/hour for living wage
That was a lovely read, thank you. I've always liked that part of the piece, but never thought about the harpist before. I have that song on my phone, so could immediately play it as a reminder and remembrance.
Have there ever been more than a handful of famous harpists? I can think of Joanna Newsom, who makes quirky alt-pop albums (and is married to Andy Samberg). Loreena McKennitt plays Celtic-influenced new-age music on the harp and other instruments. And of course there was Harpo Marx, who was self-taught and learned to play his harp on the wrong shoulder.
I can also think of Drella, the (fictional) grouchy inn harpist in a few episodes of "Gilmore Girls," played by Alex Borstein (now on "Mrs. Maisel" and the voice of Lois Griffin). Borstein was supposed to play the chef on "Gilmore Girls" but couldn't get out of her "MadTV" contract -- which was a huge career break for Melissa McCarthy.
I'm sure more serious classical-music fans are aware of other well-known harpists, but I've never even heard one played in concert.
I
I had forgotten about the harp into to "She's Leaving Home" again just now. Listening to it again, I'm struck by its resemblance to another McCarthy song "Eleanor Rigby" from the album before SPLHCB --- Revolver.
In truth, neither of these two songs are in any sense "rock" songs. They are British music hall songs, closer in spirit to Franz Schubert than to Chuck Berry.
Well the pound was worth $2.80 X 17 is $47.6 X 8(inflation adjusted) is $380 today.
"As for that cousin, David Bromberg, he wasn't just a backup player to Bob Dylan. I remember him as a solo artist in the early 70s"
His cover of "Mr. Bojangles" is amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h1z94p0Pq0
“She’s Leaving Home” is a masterpiece, both musically no poetically. The image created with “Standing alone at the top of the stairs” is fraught with danger. But there’s one word in the song that destroys the poetry like a fart at a dinner party: Fun. “She’s having fun.”
Fun? Freaking fun? Is the daughter as emptyheaded as her parents? Guess so. Maybe it’s the exact right word. But I never liked it.
Thanks for the video, Skippy. That is amazing! Brought a tear to my eye.
For the song “For No One” on the album “Revolver”, The Beatles brought in French Hornist Alan Civil to perform on the song as he was the best in the business with the French Horn. McCartney wanted Civil to play a note that was thought not possible to play on that instrument but he did pull it off. Civil was offered the standard union rate to perform on the song and he counter-offered with a much higher rate, which he then got paid. On Sept. 21, 2002, Mrs. Scott and I attended the Paul McCartney concert in Milwaukee when he (allegedly) performed “She’s Leaving Home” for the first time ever in concert.
thanks, temujin, for observing how the timing is awesome.
the thing about the beatles -- that resonated across my twelve-year-old american girl assumptions like a deep tremor creates an elegant tsunami -- is how they championed the singular Minds of us most regular of women in their/our particular limitations, women aiming to get it right no matter the pain. Dylan, too, whew. i was changed listening at twelve and on, Hooked right up to a laser beam of optimistic, independent, can-do attitude.
[what are young women listening to now, she winces to ask. G*dspeed All]
I had a neighbor, a Jewish lady from New York who would come over for dinner frequently. I always put on some music and she usually would get interested and we'd discuss what we were listening to.
One night I played Bromberg's My Own House, thinking she'd be familiar with it, but she never said a word about it.
As she was leaving I asked her opinion, and all she said was "I always hated that guy."
David Bromberg was still touring just before the pandemic hit, I saw his performance at the Katherine Hepburn Theater.
During the first set someone in the crowd shouted out for "I like to sleep late in the morning." Bromberg replied somewhat angrily that he was not taking requests, he had his own plans for what he wanted to play, so don't ask.
But when he returned for the second set after an intermission, he agreed to play that song. When the whole theater sang the chorus, he looked up, acted surprised, and said "My People!" Which got everyone to sing the chorus with ever more enthusiasm.
It was the highlight of an outstanding evening of music. However, I later found this clip on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CwkDm1tE0
So it was a shtick worthy of Wayne Newton, who told every crowd that they had been so wonderful he would do something special for them. Right down to the search for a way to end the song.
Still, he is a treasure, it was a memorable evening..
Andrew said...
I always wondered about the line, "Fun is the one thing that money can't buy." Even as a teenager I thought that didn't make sense. Wouldn't "love" be more accurate than "fun"? Money can buy a lot of fun, but it can be empty.
That theme was already covered in "Can't Buy Me Love," at least "everyone tells me so."
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