The Beatles, really, made the music business. They took it from where it was, a small family business, and made it gigantic. The first time they came in, it was George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and they wandered in during the busiest time of the day. They were quite noticeable; they were wearing multicolored, beautiful clothing. I wanted to help them myself, but the store was jammed, but we pride ourselves on our musician customers.
I told them I had nobody to take care of them right away, but to feel free to try out whatever they wanted. They were great, they hung around for an hour or so, signed autographs, and purchased several thousand dollars worth of accessories. They got most of their instruments for promotion, but they wanted to try effects and they sure did buy a lot of stuff.(...)
After that, the Beatles came in quite frequently, and when they did, all of them were perfect gentlemen, never asking to be served first. They would sit down quietly, they signed autographs. They were completely marvelous people. I loved the Beatles. They had tons of class.
Excerpted from The Wall of Fame: New York City's Legendary Manny's Music by Henry and Holly Goldrich -- and I'm going to guess that's Henry Goldrich at the mic.
Manny's Music was bought out by Sam Ash some ten years ago, which meant Sam Ash merchandising within the old Manny's innards. The New York Times ran a piece this morning about Manny's pending makeover: the old Manny's with its wall of fame will be mothballed and a Sam Ash interior will go up in its place.
I found the Goldrich book via The Virtual Wall of Fame, a site with the pure purpose of retaining some of the old Manny's vibe, albeit through a questionable information architecture.
Also from the book:
Les [Paul] is a genius. He did things with a guitar that no one else could do. He made effects that no one else could, and whatever he did he had a touch of gold; he was really good.
Strange, but good.
p.s. Like I said: Ironic »
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