My Pal Paul (1996)

 My Pal Paul

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Ormskirk Advertiser

February 8, 1996

It's taken drummer Bernie Rogers 20 years to catch up with an old pal, and when they met, the eyes of the world were on them. His old pal is Paul McCartney, and the ex-Beatle made sure that the Aughton musician was a special guest at the opening of the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts last week.

     Bernie found that the musician had lost none of his scouse wit. "I hadn't seen him for 20 years, and the first thing he said was 'The grey fox!'" said Bernie. The two musicians were all part of the 60s Merseybeat era. "We all came up together," added Bernie, who lives with his parents, Aggie and Alec Rogers, in Town Green Lane.

     "I played many times with the Beatles on different shows. I used to be in Lee Curtis and the All Stars, Farren's Flamingos... you moved about then.

     "In 1965, I moved down to London to do session work." While Paul and the rest of the Beatles were finding fame in their own name, Bernie was establishing himself as a big name in musician circles. "I played drums with Dusty Springfield, Ben E King, and even Matt Monro. I backed them on TV shows like Ready, Steady, Go, and made hundreds of records and LPS playing drums for different artists. 

    "This experience will be invaluable to modern-day would-be musicians, as LIPA opens."  LIPA hopes that the experience of 60s artists will help present-day performers learn more about their art and different facets of show business. 

    Bernie also has another connection with LIPA. For a number of years, he has been organizing charity events at Liverpool's Empire Theater, with some £97,000 going to various good causes, and LIPA was one of the beneficiaries last year.

     But for Bernie, the drumming never stops, as well as using his talents and contacts to set up a 1996 charity show, he is also off back into the studios shortly to work with chart-topping band 10cc.

     But neither event is likely to capture the old Beatlemania atmosphere as the opening of LIPA did. Bernie had to be escorted through the screaming crowds by security guards waiting to see Paul McCartney. "People had come from America and Germany just to be there," said Bernie. "It was fantastic."