John Barrett and Roger Scott - legit info?

[dascottjr]

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to compile info related to John Barrett and Roger Scott, and how their work ended up in the hands of bootleggers. I feel like I have a good idea of what the real story is, but I'm having a hard time finding legit sources for much of this info.

Can anyone here share what they feel are the most definitive takes on their story? For instance, can anyone even tell me how *old* John Barrett was when he died? Any photos or remembrances of him with any depth or length? Even the Kate Bush sites are only giving me scraps! Surely, someone can give a better idea of who Barrett was other than "guy who got cancer", right?

I would like to compile this information into something *finally* definitive that everyone can enjoy. I would be forever grateful for such info on Barrett *and* Scott, and would love to give credit to anyone pointing me in the right direction. If I'm going to appreciate their contributions to beatlegging, I want to know what led them to those events, even in a broad way.

I hope I'm being clear, and thanks in advance to anyone able or willing to help.

[rons1010]

https://www.rogerscott.net/

[innergroove]

I used to listen to Roger Scott on Capital Radio in the 70s. He played a lot of Beatles stuff - that's where I heard many Beatles tracks for the first time. He was also great mates with Kenny Everett (the greatest DJ ever) who also worked at Capital Radio. Kenny was another Beatles freak, who would frequently play obscure Beatles album tracks on his show. I remember the two of them presenting an entire DAY of Beatles music where they played every single track. That was a huge education for me - I only had the Red & Blue albums at this stage.

When I think about it, those two DJs were very much responsible for my lifelong fascination with the Beatles music. I remember Kenny Everett playing tracks from "Live At The Star Club" when it was released. No other DJ did that. I remember him proclaiming that the Star Club album was much better than the Hollywood Bowl album which came out around the same time. He was right.

Kenny had a lot of tape recorders and audio gear. If Roger had somehow managed to "borrow" the tapes for a day, Kenny would very probably have had the gear to transfer them. This is just guesswork, but it would not surprise me if Kenny was involved.

[Bumblebee]

You need the book Lifting Latches by John C Winn, the physical copies are long gone and attract high prices on the resale market but digital copies are available from Johns site for $20. It’s indispensable and still in the pantheon of Beatle books:

http://www.multiplusbooks.com/

He gives the full history of John Barrett’s role and analyses his tape log. He also covers how Roger Scott acquired material and what he had. It’s fascinating to read.

To answer your first question, John Barrett was 31 when he died in 1984. I do recall seeing a picture of him in a control booth but it’s not unusual that there is no comprehensive photographic history of him. There are lots of employees of EMI and the majority won’t be figures of national interest. The same applies to John B; it’s only the leaking of Beatle material subsequent to his death that has elevated his status within the Beatle collectors fraternity.

[dascottjr]

You need the book Lifting Latches by John C Winn, the physical copies are long gone and attract high prices on the resale market but digital copies are available from Johns site for $20. It’s indispensable and still in the pantheon of Beatle books:

http://www.multiplusbooks.com/

He gives the full history of John Barrett’s role and analyses his tape log. He also covers how Roger Scott acquired material and what he had. It’s fascinating to read.

To answer your first question, John Barrett was 31 when he died in 1984. I do recall seeing a picture of him in a control booth but it’s not unusual that there is no comprehensive photographic history of him. There are lots of employees of EMI and the majority won’t be figures of national interest. The same applies to John B; it’s only the leaking of Beatle material subsequent to his death that has elevated his status within the Beatle collectors fraternity.

Thank you for the link! The part where John and Roger are listening to the playbacks is highly essential, and makes me want to track down a complete collection of the monitor mixes. (BTW, it turns out I already had Lifting Latches on pdf, so I ended up buying some of Winn's Beatlegmania books instead.)

I also managed to find plenty of Roger Scott info via his website, including some great sound bites, plus his entire Sgt Pepper radio show.

I'm still wondering if anyone can connect me with photos or stills of John Barrett, or (more ambitiously) with someone who knew and/or worked with him. I know that a nephew of his was on the Hoffman forums up until 2017, but aside from that, I've got nothing. (Also, there is currently a man named John Barrett--no relation--working at EMI more recently, making online searches for the original John even more difficult.) A weird request, but thank you to anyone who can help! I may have to branch out my search even further soon....