Patsy Power Part 43

We packed our bags and put them down in the foyer for the morning as it was to be an early start. After a good night’s sleep we were all up for breakfast at first light and, after brushing our teeth, gathered in the foyer with our overnight bags. We had a car to pick us up to go to the airport and, after the normal interminable wait in the departure lounge, we were heading west again.

Sarah sat with Riordan and me and asked us how we thought the meeting went. I said that, on the face of it, it all looked good but I wondered what else was in it for the friends of the Marquis. I said that I thought the numbers given were after the take from the seed partners and that we will never know what their return would be. Sarah tended to agree but said that there was plenty left over for the rest of us. Riordan said that she thought Stephanie may well stand up for us now as we seemed to have got her well on our side. I said I would wait for the future to show just how well we connected.

I asked Sarah if she knew about the first date in the studio. She said she had thought it was just a get-to-know-you event and I told her that Grog had said it was a full, real-time, gig recording that could be released as a live album, the studio giving a live feel. I wondered if it may find its way onto the web as a knock-off CD. Sarah said she could research the link between tours and knock off albums. I asked her about the pony-tailed man from the party and was proved right; it was a studio designer. At Heathrow we had a bit of a wait before our flight back to New York so we browsed the duty-free shops. I bought a nice necklace for Joanne and a bracelet for ‘Aunt Ruby’. We all dozed a bit on the way to New York and when we got out of the airport there was a limo to take Sarah and me to a hotel and then Riordan and Simon to their homes. Sarah and I had a quiet dinner and then yet another early night.

Back in Nashville the next day I was just about sick of air travel so wanted nothing but some quiet time to write. Joanne loved her necklace and swore never to take it off. I told her about most of the happenings of the time away and she loved my descriptions of the band of Grande dames that populate the upper crust. We went for a drive in the sports car and found ourselves at the music store. Luckily, Pierre was in his office so I asked if we could have a private meeting. I had my copy of the tour dates and asked him to look it over. He was impressed with the coverage and asked me what part he could play. I told him that we would need two complete sets of instruments for the band plus spares. As all amplification was to be provided by the main band, we were getting off light. He asked about a vendor’s area and I said we had been given the go-ahead to organise one. I was not sure if we could be at every venue but the US ones were certainly possible. I told him we would have to organise a meeting with our listed vendors so they could plan their own activity. I assured him that he was the first to be spoken to and that everything would be done contract-wise after Christmas.

I then broached the idea of a couple of local stadium shows for ‘Amazon’ as lead act with a couple of local bands in the first half. They would need to be finalised soon with the events taking place in February or March so an indoor venue would be best. He liked the idea of promoting a couple of concerts and I left it with him to sort out with Ma and Sarah. We went over to the nursing home and I caught up with my mother (Aunt Ruby) and then took my venue list to the day room. Jim gave us both a hug and asked me how we were going. I told him that I had just spent a few days in Geneva in the company of ‘Primal Purge’ and the nobility.

I showed him the gig list and he let out a whistle. “This is huge, Patsy, this tour will make five or six hundred million. It will be hard work but there is nothing that will hold you back when you finish this. Well done!” He passed the papers to Roger and said “I hope your passport is in order, Roger, this may be the world tour that you have been talking about, without the cruise, tropical islands or tourist hot-spots.” Roger looked at it and asked me how everything was to be transported. I told him about the dual 747’s for the freight and a single one for the bands. He asked if we were taking a photographer and I gave him a peck on the cheek and said “Maybe, if he promises to be a good boy.”

The days passed quietly. Minh was off doing signings of her album, which was selling very well. I suppose that we would have to promote the next ‘Amazon’ album in the early part of next year. Joanne and I put down some new songs with the guitar and keyboard to build up stocks for another ‘Amazon’ album and a different stage set. I had got in touch with Jake and asked him if he could give me a definitive snapshot of Grog’s life and one day he called me up and said he had put some history together. I met him at the house and took him to the studio. Joanne was off visiting her folks so we would not be overheard. I told him that Grog had asked me to write a song that would be performed after the last encore of the last show in London as Grog wanted to thank the crowd as he retired. I didn’t tell him that it was likely to be our last sight of the great man.

I said that I had some ideas about a chorus and opening verse but needed some historical links to his music. I said that he would sing about his old bands and that he wanted our band only to be in on it. This would mean that Jake would have to provide the classic riffs and tunes for each verse. He was a bit amazed that Grog would allow him to do it but said that there was five distinct eras that needed to be highlighted. The first was a ‘shed band’ era of twelve bar rock, the second was a blues based band, the third was more stadium rock, the fourth was a supergroup avant-garde trio and the fifth was the heavy metal that came after a long period of being in a rehab clinic. Each one had very recognisable hits with classic riffs. I asked him to practise these quietly by himself and I would get him in to lay down a track before the tour so we could get the rest of the band to quietly learn it.

Another project I set myself was a group of songs that could become a Patsy Meyers solo album, just as an insurance policy. For this, several of the early ‘Patrick’ works could be recycled with a feminine slant as it would be a soft-rock set, rather than a stadium sound. Over the next few weeks I put together quite a collection. Some, I could see, would suit Lorraine or Nina in solo form but there were several that I liked for myself and sat in the studio on some days learning the new songs, finally ending up with about three quarters of an hour of all new works. I also had about six ‘Amazon’ numbers that I emailed to Riordan to work on. As we got very close to Christmas, the ‘Amazon’ studio album was released and immediately went into the top ten. A couple of our new songs were being played on the radio and plans were put into place for a signing tour over January. It was expected that Riordan, Julia and Nina work down the east coast while Joanne, Jake and I worked the centre and west.

Sarah put on a big party for Christmas with all of our friends, K Beat staff and the ‘support crew’ attending. It was a blast with lots of other artists in the K Beat stable being there and everyone having to do a stint on the microphone. Staying on the soft drink I didn’t enjoy myself as much as some I saw but I was, at least, spared the hang-over. Between Christmas and New Years a group of us performed at the hospitals around town with our evolving acoustic set. Jake and Keith had a good take on folk music and we could sound just like PP&M sometimes. Joanne surprised during this period with a rather good range of Celtic ballads that she had learned from her grandparents that she sang while playing a little portable keyboard. She was really blossoming with her vocal range. We played two institutions a day for a week before we had to refuse more offers as we had a signing tour to do. That was going to be living out of a case and wondering where one was for two weeks.

Part 44

The signing tour was harder than playing. We flew to Seattle in a snowstorm and were taken to a big record store where we were sat at a table with our marker pens. Three hours later we were allowed a light lunch and then were taken to another store where we signed for another three hours. We were taken to a hotel for dinner and then flown to Portland for our overnight stop. In the morning it was another store, lunch and the second store, dinner and a flight out to San Francisco. It carried on in the same vein to Los Angeles, El Paso, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Denver, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis and Saint Louis before coming home. I can’t remember much of the details as it seemed a never ending line of faces and hands with albums to sign.

One thing that did stick out was the number of Innocent Party ones that we signed. Once we got home the three of us just crashed for a couple of days. I then went into K Beat and spoke to Carl and the old band. I told them I wanted to put down a few solo tracks for my own use and asked them if they could do some backing. I played them the tracks I had already recorded and said that I just wanted a laid back backing on them. Carl said it would be good and asked why I wasn’t using Jake and the band. I told him I wanted smooth for these, not rocking. A week later he called me and told me that we could use the studio in the evening and into the night on the next day. Ron was good to oversee the session. The next day I took my electric acoustic into the office and, after an evening meal, we set up in the studio. Over the course of the next four hours we perfected ten good tracks of laid back night club songs. When we wound it up Ron told me that I would have a lifetime on the nightclub circuit with material like that. I told him it was just an itch that needed to be scratched. He dubbed me off a CD and did one each for the guys. I thanked them for their help and went home to a good night of very restful sleep.

We were now into mid – February with just six weeks before the tour starts. Pierre had booked an indoor stadium for second weekend in March and had organised a couple of local bands to open. Between now and then we had a photo shoot of spring fashions and that was just a four day shoot down in Florida so was not a great problem. Having Riordan, Nina and Julia there it was easy back in Nashville to get the band together for just a run through on the K Beat practise stage to make sure we remembered everything and then spent a week going around town advertising the show with spots on the radio and signing sessions in the record store and the music store. Come the weekend of the show Lucy revealed our new stage wear, all very high class but edgy. Jake looked every inch the Rock God and the rest of the band weren’t far behind.

We were to play the Friday, Saturday and Sunday night so it would be a good trial for us. The early bands were quite good and had a good local following but when we got to start the second half we lifted the level several notches. Everyone was happy with the show and the next two nights went as well. We mixed as much as we could with the other bands and the paying customers and I would have guessed that Pierre came out well ahead. I know that Sarah was happy to promote K Beat locally and treated us all to a dinner on the following Monday evening. The other girls went back to New York on the Tuesday to get ready for the trip to Geneva in two weeks’ time.

On that Tuesday afternoon Alice called me and asked me to come to her office. When I got there she told me that the police in Hanoi, Vietnam, had called the office. It seemed that they had found a semi-submerged kayak in Halong Bay and that there was a packet of papers in a waterproof pouch with Patricks name on them and a contact number. As his closest relative that was able to travel, could I go to Hanoi straight away and sort it all out? She told me that I would be contacted by a friend of hers at the airport. “He ‘looks like a pirate’ but is really a pussy-cat” she said, with a wink. OK, now it is time to tidy up some lose ends before the big tour.

Next day I was in first class from Boston to Paris, with a connection directly to Hanoi. I arrived there early the following day, a bit jet-lagged. When I walked out of the arrivals door I didn’t need a sign with my name on it as the man holding it was a shoe-in for Long John Silver but without the parrot or wooden leg. He introduced himself as Pietro and asked after Alice. He took me to a hotel in Hanoi and told me never to drink the water unless it comes from a bottle I have unsealed myself. He bought me a lunch and then we went to the police headquarters. There we were shown into an office where a high ranking officer sat. He stood to shake our hands and thanked me for coming. He had a packet of things on his desk and asked me if I could identify any of it. I could see a K Beat ID with my old Patrick face on it and told him what it was and showed him my own. There was also a passport in his name with entry and exit visa stamps across Europe and into Asia. He asked me what Patrick did with the company and I told him that he was a contractor looking for new artists and, as far as I knew, was planning some time in South Korea at the end of this trip. “That explains something” he said “He has been staying at a local hotel with a night club and had been seen in the company of a singer there. When he did not return to the hotel they packed all his clothing and left it in their storage.”

“The lady is called Peggy Evans and sings in the evenings.” He then looked serious and said “This may not be connected but a body was washed ashore a week earlier but was too mutilated to get any positive identification. We think it may have been run over by one or more of the vessels that teem in Halong Bay. There was only one marking on the body that we photographed before incinerating the remains. I will show you a picture and ask if you have seen this mark before.” He pulled a photo out of an envelope and laid it on the desk. It showed a somewhat decayed stomach with a belly button and a small crescent shaped mark on it.

I looked him in the eye and said, “Yes, I see it every morning in the mirror.” I pulled up my top and showed him the mark on my own belly. “It is a family thing” I said, He clapped his hands and an assistant rushed in. “Identification positive, please prepare a death certificate for this lady and all the paperwork needed to collect the property of the deceased. Thank you, Miss Meyers; you have turned a complicated situation into a very simple task. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Hanoi. The certificates will be available in a day or two so please contact this office and we will let you know when they are available.” He shook our hands and we left the police station. I looked at Pietro and said “I love your work, Pietro. Allow me to buy you dinner. Perhaps we can go to this nightclub where Peggy sings.” He smiled and took me back to my hotel to freshen up and change.

When I came down to the foyer he was waiting for me and looked dapper in a light sports jacket and slacks. He hailed a taxi and we went to the entertainment section of town and pulled up outside a place that was called the ‘Burning Yankee’. “They have a lot of irony, do the Viets”, he said as we went in. We had a very good meal and chatted. I did not ask how the deal was done as I really did not want to know but it seemed that we now had a semi- legal ending to Patrick’s life. About nine pm the band started playing ‘torch’ music and a lovely girl in her early twenties came out singing the sort of music I had so recently recorded. She was very good and I really appreciated her work. I asked the waiter if she could be asked to join us for a drink after her set and she did join us ten minutes after her last song. I asked her if she was friends with Patrick Reece and she told me that they had only chatted as he was in the music business. I told her that he was now legally dead as I had identified the only part of a body that had been found and that I would be coming by to collect his things. I asked her if she would like to come back to Nashville with me as I could see what Patrick had seen and thought she could have a good career with the right guidance. Her face lit up and she said “Could I? I have been stuck here for three months, unable to afford to leave, even with working here. I was on a gap year trip around the world and had all my money stolen here.”

I asked her about her family and she told me that she had been brought up by her grandparents in Cornwall, UK, as her mother had died from an overdose not long after she had been born. I asked her about her father and she said that there was no father shown on her birth certificate but that her grandfather had told her that he was some loser called ‘Grog’!!!

This ends Book Two. Next posting we start Book Three ‘Positively Patsy’.

Marianne G 2020