History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs (31 page)

Watson, Johnny “Guitar,”
68

Watts, Charlie,
110

Wayne, John,
111
–12,
231

Webb, Charles Harper,
107

Weil, Cynthia,
6
,
118
,
120

Weiss, Mary,
247
,
248
,
250

Welding, Pete,
147
,
148

“Well . . . All Right” (Holly),
99
,
102
,
111

Wenner, Jann,
7
,
132

Wexler, Jerry,
4
,
197
,
213

“What’d I Say” (Charles),
169

“What Would I Do Without You” (Charles),
213

Whelan, Pete,
18

“When a Man Loves a Woman” (Sledge),
213

“When That Great Ship Went Down” (W. and V. Smith),
110

White, Jack,
149

“White Christmas” (Drifters),
203

Whitehead, Colson,
220
,
222

Whitfield, Norman,
168

Who,
6
,
11
,
51

“Who Do You Love?” (Diddley),
97

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’

On” (Lewis),
25

“Why?” (Mack),
213

Wiener, Jon,
130

Wiley, Geeshie,
72

Wilkins, Robert,
19

Williams, Dootsie,
241

Williams, Hank,
4
,
86
,
97

Williams, Johnny Lee,
205

Williams, Larry,
102

Williams, Maurice,
15
,
16
,
18

Williams, Mel,
67
–68

Williamson, Sonny Boy,
88

“Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (Shirelles),
119
,
245

Wilson, Anthony (Tony),
31
–32,
37
,
38
,
41
,
43
,
46

Wilson, Chris,
25

Wilson, Jackie,
5
,
73
,
167

Winehouse, Amy,
239
,
245
,
248
–50

“Winnebago Skeletons” (Handsome Family),
23

Winner, Langdon,
90
–91

“Wish Someone Would Care” (I. Thomas),
213

With the Beatles
(Beatles),
126
,
172
–73,
174

“Woman Is the Nigger of the World” (Lennon),
62
–63

“Wonderful World” (Cooke),
15
,
240

“Work with Me Annie” (Ballard),
85

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (Beach Boys),
15

Wright, Charles,
234

Wright, Charlie,
67
–68

Wright, Jeffrey,
93

Wyman, Bill,
110

“You Cheated” (Slades/Shields),
67
–68,
70
,
74

“You Gambled” (Slades),
69

“You Know I’m No Good” (Winehouse),
248
–49

Young, Neil,
7
,
23
–24,
27
,
193

“Young Blood” (Pomus/Coasters),
197

“You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” (Righteous Brothers),
243
–44

Zodiacs,
15
,
16
,
18

*
About the time Reggie and Ronnie Kray sat for David Bailey and were lionized by certain pop stars, at least from a distance, they met the Beatles’ manager in a gay bar, and formed a plan to seize control of the Beatles by threatening to expose Epstein as a homosexual. As Ronnie Kray wrote in 1993 in his autobiography,
My Story,
“The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were rulers of pop music, Carnaby Street ruled the fashion world . . . and me and my brother ruled London.” In 1968 they were convicted of double murder and sentenced to life—but the notion of taking over the Beatles was not as crazy as it might seem. In 2000, Paul McCartney told the story of how Epstein, near the end of his life and consumed with a despair he could not put into words, tried to sell the Beatles to the music mogul Robert Stigwood, a king of shlock with whom he had already merged his umbrella company, NEMS Enterprises: “We said, ‘Well, let’s just get this straight. We’re not going to be sold to anyone. If you can do it, you can continue to manage us. We love you. We’re not going to be sold. In fact, if you do, if you somehow manage to pull this off, we can promise you one thing. We will record “God Save the Queen” for every single record we make from now on and we’ll sing it out of tune. That’s a promise. So if this guy buys us that’s what he’s buying.’

“Funnily enough,” McCartney said, “the Sex Pistols did it years later. It was always a good idea.”