Jimmy Miller would be pleased... Back in the 1980s I rented a car for Jimmy. Jimmy put the keys to the car on a hook in the sauna at the luxury condominiums we rented for him and his family. Someone stole the rental car (3 teenaged kids, it turned out) while Jimmy was in the sauna, they smashed into a car in Malden Center, drove the car back and put the keys back.


The next morning the rental car company called me up yelling at me. I said "You know I rented the car for Mr. Miller, let me call him and find out what happened.
"
Meanwhile I had purchased insurance, of course, especially since someone else was driving.


Well, Jimmy went downstairs (he was up on the sixth floor or something) and the grill to the car was smashed in. He phoned me back and said "My God, Joe, the car was in an accident." Jimmy later tracked down the culprits...but here's the kicker...the rental car company manager sued me!

So Jimmy & I went into court - and Jimmy had gone to law school and was pretty darn good in court (yes, I was taught by the master!)...The Judge listened to us, asked me if I bought insurance, I said I did, he turned to the rent a car manager and said "I don't care if Mr. Viglione parked the car, went into a grocery store with the car running to buy something, came out and found someone hit it. HE BOUGHT INSURANCE. My question to you, Sir, is where is all the insurance money going? I will take this under advisement.
"

As we walked out of the court room Jimmy said "We won." We did. The notice came in the mail.


Years later as I fight for First Amendment TV rights in Medford, I'm dealing with a lunatic attorney who has threatened to kill me (in Cambridge court), who has harassed me, and who keeps losing in court! Jimmy taught me well!

In the same court room where Jimmy & I won a judge slapped down this nutty attorney for saying that I am "mentally deficient" and "insane".

Now some of you might agree with the loon counselor, but he shouldn't
be mouthing off in court just to be mean spirited.
Oh, he lost two cases to me that day, August 6, 2008!

Here's a You Tube of the nutty attorney getting thrown out of City hall Medford at a hearing for the TV station!

Close to 400 Hits for embarassing Skerry moment!
http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=Pi4nP8j0JWI

Rest in peace Jimmy Miller

..> ..>

Dec 31, 2006 11:35
Subject:	My brush with greatness....
Body:	In the early 1980's I was in The Daughters, Boston's most hated rock band. We had the great fortune to have Jimmy Miller produce a demo tape for us at Euphoria Sound Studio in Revere, MA. Thankfully that demo remains well forgotten - though no reflection on Jimmy's legendary skills. But working with and getting to spend time with Jimmy was the experience of a lifetime. He was avuncular, friendly and a gentleman who never made us feel like the small potato's we really where. Those days remain among my most cherished memories & isn't it about time somebody wrote a well researched biography of this legendary producer who's work is still heard & loved all over the world every single day? Regards~ Simon Ritt

Jo Jo Laine in North Shore Sunday
 
Viglione: Beyond rock 'n' roll
By Joe Viglione/ Guest Columnist
Friday, November 10, 2006

At 14 years old, a young Joanne Patrie mailed a letter from her Danvers home to The Boston Herald defending John Lennon during the flap over his "We're more popular than Jesus now" quote. She escaped the strict household and her strong Christian upbringing at that age on a mission: to attend The Beatles/Bobby Hebb/Ronettes/The Cyrkle/The Remains concert at Suffolk Downs at Revere Beach, outside of Boston. The date was Aug. 18, 1966.


    As an aspiring model she was helped by well-known regional photographer Ira Kaye, a man who became like an uncle to her and her children, a dependable rock in her life. Jo Jo also did modeling for Rex Trailer of "Boomtown" fame in the Boston area, gaining fame on the covers of international magazines. From the Boston Tea Party days she knew Jim Morrison of The Doors, met Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, and dated Rod Stewart before settling down with Denny Laine, founder of the Moody Blues and eventual guitarist in Paul McCartney's Wings.


    As a wife of a rock star, Jo Jo was someone very special, an elite member of "the club," able to navigate through the inside track of rock 'n' roll superstardom. At a Led Zeppelin reunion in 1988 she talked with Robert Plant about old times at Madison Square Garden. At the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston Rod Stewart put us on the guest list for his show and played soccer with Jo Jo's oldest child, Laine Hines, on the Boston Common. Everyone loved being with Jo Jo, her classy savoir-faire was irresistible and fun.


    On Oct. 29, 2006, on the 62nd birthday of her ex-husband, the aforementioned Moody Blues founder Denny Laine, Jo Jo Laine passed away. Hers was more than a rock 'n' roll life - her sparkling personality made her attractive to everyone she came in contact with.



    She was one of the wittiest people this writer has ever met, the queen of the one-liners. One evening as she and Rolling Stones producer, Jimmy Miller, walked arm-in-arm into Club Cafe in Boston, a woman stopped her and - looking at the different-colored shoes (I think one was green and one was purple) - she said to Jo Jo, "I love your shoes." Jo Jo replied without skipping a beat, "Yes, they're like my sexual preference; I can't make up my mind!"


    How could you not love a woman with so much verve? Not to mention nerve!


    She appears on record with Paul and Linda McCartney and Wings drummer Steve Holley, an album titled "Japanese Tears." Andy Summers and Sting of the Police are said to be on her PYE Records single, "Hulk" b/w "Dancing Man," and the great Ray Fenwick (of the Ian Gillan Band and Fancy) produced her Mercury 45, "When The Boy's Happy".


   In 1986 Jo Jo recorded a few sides with Rolling Stones' producer Jimmy Miller including a cover of the Herman's Hermits hit "Something Good," Jo Jo changing the lyric to "I'm In For Something Good." Also recorded during those sessions were the songs "I Go Fast," "I Want You Sexually" and a version of Eddie Cochran's "Something Else." [continue]
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Jo Jo Laine in North Shore Sunday
 

Viglione: Beyond rock 'n' roll
[continued from previous page]

Jo Jo appeared on "The Shirley Show" in Canada, Visual Radio in Boston in the 1990s, and was taped by Dan Clapton for a special on Jimi Hendrix and Keith Moon for British satellite TV in 2005. She was writing her memoirs "I'm In For Something Good: The Jo Jo Laine Story" at the time of her passing at St George's Hospital in Great Britain on Oct. 29.


    Jo Jo will be remembered for her vibrant charm, her passion for life, and her sophistication. She liked to put on the "Alexis Carrington" persona that Joan Collins played so well on "Dynasty," but under the act she had a heart of gold. Born on July 13, 1952, Jo Jo was 54 at the time of her passing.


     In the aftermath

    This writer told Jo Jo that I was all prepared for her passing - a close friend who seemed indestructible. Now I truly know what denial is. Never did I think she would leave us, nor would I understand how hard it is losing someone that had become such a big part of my life.


    Both of us went through the agony of losing sisters and both of us could cry on each other's shoulders in time of need. A true friend, she was always there to listen 24/7. I would show up at 5 in the morning and Jo Jo would be overjoyed to see me. Now that's a friend. We were always welcome in each other's homes any time of day. How do you replace that kind of connection when it is taken from you in a flash?
 

  The Beatles' songs were always a constant source of strength and, along with our love for The Rolling Stones, the music that had brought us together was a common thread that we both understood more than most. Scenester Helanie Saad bought us both tickets to The Rolling Stones in Foxboro back in 1994 - I remember the night was very cold, Jo Jo and I looking at all the merchandising Mick & the boys had on sale. A framed photo of the group with a stamped "autograph" went for a couple of hundred bucks! We were stunned.


    It's tough to impress the woman who would dip into the briefcase backstage at McCartney & Wings concerts to grab a bunch of tickets to hawk on the street just for fun. At most major concerts the promoters hold back a certain number of tickets until the day of the show; she told me in September of this year how she would sell the tickets on the street - the wife of the rock star having fun because she could - buying things for drummer Joe English and the late Jimmy McCulloch, guitarist of Wings.


    "Paul & Linda and Denny (her husband) had no idea what I was up to," she said. Hilarious. The wife of the rock star outside the concert hall hawking tickets! They were millionaires but she couldn't resist being a little bit naughty for show and for fun - shades of Colonel Tom Parker allegedly doing the same at Elvis concerts with merchandising.


    Jo Jo Laine was a rock star, a "superstar," as TV producer Dan Clapton stated emphatically. While there are many rock women whose only claim to fame was who they slept with, Jo Jo, like producer Jimmy Miller, was many cuts above the rest. In a league all her own.


[continue]

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Jo Jo Laine in North Shore Sunday
  

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Home  >  North Shore Sunday  >  Opinion & Letters

Viglione: Beyond rock 'n' roll
[continued from previous page]

A fantastic personality with the ability to captivate people - the life of the party - Jo Jo would morph into many personas. The British press, unfairly, would use the "groupie" word, but the U.K. press often loves to drop to the lowest common denominator. Respect is not in their vocabulary - it's all about shock value and selling papers, no matter how the survivors feel reading about their mom or best friend in the newspaper.

---

   Yes, Jo Jo knew how to shock - the "good stuff"isn't in the British press, nor will I print it here in this memorial - and we had some pretty wild times, both good and bad. That's life. At the end of the day, our friendship was strong and deep.

---

    Getting that call
    Jo Jo kept the seriousness of her illness from me. At Uncle Ira's birthday party in May at the Kowloon in Saugus, her mother, Helen, told me confidentially how bad things were health-wise for my dear friend. Jo Jo said "Oh, mother's being dramatic," but she wasn't. Helen knew how much her daughter meant to me and was kindly preparing me for the worst. Uncle Ira also was the voice of reason, warning me that the end was near.

---

    I didn't want to believe it.

---

    Jo Jo the indestructible could beat this. She was upbeat on the phone to me. She was funny! She was the same Jo Jo I considered (and still consider) one of my best friends of my entire life.

---

    There are so many great stories - Jo Jo playing with the band GEAR that Jimmy Miller produced; her appearing on V-66 in Boston with this writer, a wonderful interview we will re-broadcast. Her 14-year-old friend from 1966 that ran off with her to see The Beatles perform found Jo Jo again in August of 2006, 40 years later, thanks to MySpace.com. Jo Jo loved her Myspace, and her original page was amazingly popular with tons of musicians finding her again.

---

    The page crashed when MySpace had the brownout back in the summer. So did Jimmy Miller's page. We re-built them. Her children, Heidi-Jo Hines, Laine Hines (both from her marriage to Denny Laine) and Boston O'Donohue re-built a new page - myspace.com/jojolaine13music - with some of the songs from her album "The Best Of Jo Jo Laine" available on that site. We had just struck a deal with the Washington, DC label "Foldback Records" to release "The Best of Jo Jo Laine," and were working on her book.

---

    You don't expect to get that phone call with the news - Jo Jo's gone. I'm shell-shocked. The indestructible Jo Jo Laine taken from me and the world with a fall down the steps at her old house at Yew Corner.

---

  You can call it coincidence that "Penny Lane" and the Boz Scaggs song "Jo Jo" came on the satellite radio at the bagel shop the day she died - tears pouring from my eyes, the tears I swore to her I would not cry. [continue]

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Jo Jo Laine in North Shore Sunday     


Home  >  North Shore Sunday  >  Opinion & Letters

Viglione: Beyond rock 'n' roll
[continued from previous page]

The very special Jo Jo Laine has moved on to the next plane of existence, but she hasn't forgotten us. I was in denial that she was ill; I am in denial that she is gone. You had to have known her to know what a very special woman she was. As Uncle Ira said to me on the day we lost our Jo Jo, "There will never be another one like her."

---

     Editor's note: Services for Jo Jo Laine were scheduled to take place in England this Friday, Nov. 10. Her ashes will be interred in Danvers following a memorial ceremony there in late winter or early spring of next year.

---

   Joe Viglione is a Medford resident and longtime journalist.

---

Dear Friends,

It is very difficult for me to write this.  Jo Jo Laine left us sometime Saturday or Sunday, probably Sunday, October 29, 2006, London time.

We are all devastated.  If this isn't sounding right, I'm sorry, there are too many tears in my eyes.

God Bless You, Jo Jo, I miss you terribly.

joe

---

We built a beautiful site for Jo Jo Laine which got eaten by the MySpace poweroutage which also claimed Producer Jimmy Miller's page.  We failed to save a lot of the info and are looking for Google Cache to re-post that original site.

If anyone saved it please send it over!

Also Click On Jo Jo Laine's MUSIC page to hear 4 songs!

---

Jo Jo's Life Story
The beginning of Jo Jo's new book.  We had so much material up on the original page.  We are re-locating much of it

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Jo Jo's Life Story
Producer Jimmy Miller

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The Jimi Hendrix Book
Jo Jo's Life Story
http://www.theguitarmaster.net


JO JO LAINE in the news:


From a WINGS Page

JO JO LAINE, ex-wife of WINGS guitarist DENNY LAINE.  The brunette beauty, 53, is reeling after the recent diagnosis, but hopes to fight it. Jo Jo, whose former boyfriends include JIM MORRISON and ROD STEWART, says, "Doctors tell me they have found a tumour. I'm on 11 pills a day and frequently visit Addenbroke's Hospital in Cambridge (England). I couldn't have better doctors."
01/06/2006 07:48
-------------------------------------------------------------
Check out Kenneth Nielsen's wonderful POLICE site
which mentions my recordings:



Kenneth Nielsen's STING site

http://www.stingme.dk

Jo Jo Laine in North Shore Sunday

Jimmy Miller: Exiled Genius

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Exiled Genius
By Joe Viglione/ Correspondent
Thursday, October 26, 2006

Jimmy Miller remembered
    Few people who hear "Honky Tonk Women," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Street Fighting Man" realize that the man who put many of the classic sounds into those Rolling Stones classics lived in Medford for a year or so in the 1980s.
    Along with Beatles' producer George Martin and the once revered Phil Spector, Jimmy Miller rounds out the three greatest producers of the rock and roll era.
    The world lost Mr. Jimmy, the man Mick Jagger was "standing in line with" in the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on Oct. 22, 1994, 12 years ago this week. Strangely, Marianne Faithful, produced by Jimmy on an album called "The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus," released on ABKCO a year after his passing, told this writer to "give my love to Jimmy" just 13 days before Miller's death.
    I never got the chance.
    Medford might be known worldwide for the song "Jingle Bells" having been written on what is now High Street, but it's also very special that our city was home for a time to the man who co-wrote and produced "I'm A Man" for the Spencer Davis Group and who went on to produce Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Blind Faith, Johnny Thunders, The Plasmatics and, of course, that band called The Rolling Stones.
    Miller, in fact, produced more than 100 songs for the Stones. As his business partner and exclusive representative, I had compiled about 93 recordings Jimmy worked on for The Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the world, uncovering more in Martin Elliot's excellent "The Rolling Stones: Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002."
    Twelve years after Jimmy's exit from the stage of life, book after book is being written on the Mick and Keith and their eternal music. There's an astonishing four books on the Miller produced "Exile On Main Street," the double LP that ruled the airwaves while I worked on Park Street in Medford in 1972, took guitar lessons at Pampalone Music on Salem Street (right next to what is now Joe Pizza) and went to Suffolk University for film and journalism.
    In the day it was hard to even imagine that the production name stamped on "Brown Sugar," the Sticky Fingers' album and the deep and valuable "Exile" would actually live a few miles from Medford's Pampalone music a dozen years hence.
    So "Exile On Main Street" is now being studied by rock scribes from four corners of the globe. Robert Greenfield, a veteran writer who previously put together "STP: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones," has just released "Exile On Main St: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones" (Perseus Books, Cambridge, Mass).
    It will hold your attention as Greenfield was there in France during some of the recording and again in Los Angeles while the group was mixing the album. Greenfield is an amazing interview and the pity is that his book doesn't have his voice booming out of the pages. He tells the story with the awe of a Stones fan while still having that critical eye on what is going on during the creative magic and all the madness that drugs and hangers-ons tend to add to the equation.
    Greenfield is very kind to Miller throughout "A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones," but the emphasis is on engineer Andy Johns when a better part of the story is the technique Jimmy brought to those recordings. Geoff Emerick's recent "Here, There and Everywhere" on his time engineering The Beatles, nicely blends both the music and the stories - Yoko Ono's bed literally brought into the recording studio during the recording process - absurd tales that only add to the charm of the music we now love and adore. Yoko's dragon lady pales in comparison to "A Season In Hell" as the true rock and roll bad boys descend deep into the abyss and Greenfield records it all for posterity here.
    Evolution
    After Miller was signed to Colgems for a 45 RPM or two, he began making records in his early 20s with a then-unknown George Clinton, later of Parliament/Funkadelic. Entrepreneur Chris Blackwell of Island Records was looking to give record producers a marquee platform that film directors enjoy and when he hired the maestro he would splash "Produced by Jimmy Miller" in bold letters on the back of albums by Traffic and Spooky Tooth.
    Miller deserved the recognition. The man had a wealth of musical knowledge and skill along with music in his genes. His dad was impresario Bill Miller who brought Elvis back to Vegas in 1969, and his mom was a lovely woman, Anne Wingate, who was a showgirl, living out her final days in Wilmington, Del.
    Jimmy was actually named David Miller, one of two twins, the only one to survive during birth, his parents putting the name of the deceased baby, James, in front of David's name, so the survivor became James David Miller, destined to be record producer Jimmy Miller.
    As Jimmy had moved from Brooklyn to Great Britain, where his great reputation was established, we had a number important projects including a former Mercury artist, singer Jo Jo Laine, and legendary Blues guitarist Buddy Guy.
    It made sense for Jimmy to re-locate his family to the Boston area during this time as much of our recording work was done in Boston proper and a studio in Warren, R.I. Usually I drove Jimmy to the sessions, we were pretty inseparable at that point in time, but when we got extra busy we would rent a car for Miller.
    An interesting story occurred while he was in the sauna at his condominium at Wellington Circle. Three 15-year-old boys stole the car we had rented, taking the keys off of the hook while he was in the sauna. They seem to have taken it on a joyride to Malden Center, hit another automobile in the lot where there's now a gym, then most likely high-tailed it back to the scene of their first crime, the parking lot at the Wellington condominiums. They replaced the keys back on the hook in the sauna with Jimmy not aware the car had been stolen.
    The next morning the rental car company phoned me and said, "You owe us $2,000 for the car accident last night."<br>    "What accident" I said astonished.
>
>    Quickly phoning Miller, he replied, "Joe, I didn't even drive the car last night." A few minutes later Jimmy phoned back. "My God, the front of the car is damaged!"
    Miller tracked down the culprits, though they were never brought to justice, but we got a summons from the rental car company to go to Somerville District Court. Jimmy Miller, having gone to college for law, was a valuable asset in the courtroom. He left law school to become a singer and was signed to the previously mentioned Colgems imprint (the label The Monkees were on!) in the early 1960s.
    I could wake Jimmy up from a sound sleep to look at contracts before getting them to our lawyer and he would be quite sharp when it came to things legal. In court the judge asked if I purchased the insurance, which I did. The judge then got furious with the rental car guy.
    "I don't care if Mr. Viglione parked the car at the curb, left it running to buy groceries at the convenience store and it got hit while he was out of the car. He bought the insurance. My question to you, sir, is where is the insurance money?"
    The judge took it "under advisement," but Jimmy assured me we won! And we did.
    Jimmy could be a terrific friend and his stories were phenomenal. We have many of them on tape for future release on CD and to be included in a book on his life: "Fever In The Funk House: The Biography of Jimmy Miller." We were working on his book during the 80s, and have lots of audio of his distinctive voice, a very special sound talking about the very special sounds he made!
    Which brings us to a book by Bostonian Bill Janovitz, lead singer and guitarist for cult favorites "Buffalo Tom." Janovitz has written a book called, you guessed it, "Exile On Main Street," part of Continuum's 33 1/3rd series, is by former Buffalo Tom guitarist/singer Bill Janovitz.
    He opens the book by calling the album "The single greatest rock & roll record of all time," a pretty good endorsement to the music crafted by Miller and the Stones. Where Greenfield delves into the dark passages that helped create the atmosphere in his Perseus book, Janovitz tells about the recordings from his perspective as a musician.
    Reading the books back-to-back, which this critic did, is sort of like continuing a soap opera and to those who love the songs "Sweet Virginia," "All Down The Line" and "Shine A Light," you'll understand the need for so many words on such a dense musical buffet.
    Both authors are fans of the music and their passion for it shows, though neither book is the definitive story on the album - not that they claim to be. The hard to find Genesis book, EXILE, may be the holy grail on the subject so far. The problem with Genesis books is also what makes them so valuable.
    The British book publisher creates limited edition leather bound treasures that cost hundreds of dollars (anywhere from $250 to $400 or more for these coffee table books). For the hardcore fans, go to eBay.
    The mix master
    Jimmy Miller came into my home in Woburn and "Tumbling Dice" was on the stereo.
    "Take that off," he said to me.
    I said, "You've got to be kidding. This is probably my favorite of all your productions."
    That's a hard thing to say - Jimmy was my favorite producer of all time - and perhaps still is. "Tumbling Dice" is an endless party, the mix so sublime with the chicks wailing and the Stones chugging along.
    "I had to mix that 43 times," he said.
    Jimmy told me how he, Mick and Keith would get into a limo, drive around Los Angeles and listen to the song on the radio. Keith liked the mix, Jimmy liked the mix, Jagger asked Jimmy to go back in and mix it again.
    "Mick Jagger was the most singles-conscious performer I ever worked with," Jimmy stated.
    To this fan - and critic - "Tumbling Dice" is the ultimate mix. Somehow all the mania got contained into that hit, the first "advertisement," if you will, for the album. It was the song that would herald the double disc, traditionally a tougher sell to an industry that is known for overpricing what it markets.
    But Exile is well worth the price of admission and "Tumbling Dice" the perfect entree. Mick Jagger is a businessman and despite all the sex, drugs and rock and roll one will read about, the institution that is The Rolling Stones hardly left something as vital as a mix of a new 45 RPM up to chance.
    When Miller formed a new production company and struck a mega deal with ABC Dunhill, The Stones created their "Glimmer Twins" production team of Mick and Keith. Andy Johns remained as engineer on "It's Only Rock & Roll," but minus Miller - even with the brilliant Mick Taylor still on board for one more disc, Johns' mixes missed the mark.
    The Stones themselves never quite re-captured that "golden era" sound without Miller and Taylor as part of that magic combination. Jimmy was the "groovemaster" and many of The Rolling Stones' finest recorded moments happened because Jimmy got the groove.
    "I'm playing the drums at the end of Tumbling Dice," Jimmy told me. "Charlie was unavailable and we needed a little extra ooomph, so I got behind the kick and put the drums down."
    They explode out of the speakers. It is the drumming team of Charlie Watts during most of the record with Jimmy Miller at the end of this fantastic recording that make "Tumbling Dice" such a delight. Fever In The Funk House now indeed!
    Miller played drums on "You Can't Always Get What You Want," "Happy" and other songs, including the end of "Tumbling Dice." His production skills are undeniable.
    But why is there so little written on him? Even in the two new books on "Exile On Main Street," the great Jimmy Miller seems to have a cameo appearance when his contributions are great.
    To those exploring the album's majesty with real depth the element that brought that intuitive intangible to the music, the producer, has to be explored in more detail. The sound that developed when the director of the film brought all the components together needs to be discussed.
    Take Jimmy Miller away from the equation and you get "It's Only Rock & Roll." The band's first album without Jimmy was like a can of cola left open on the table for a day. Flat "New Coke" just can't compare with the caviar that Jimmy created for them. Miller says that Keith Richards played him a mix of "It's Only Rock & Roll" which was terrific, far superior to what eventually was released. Imagine if the master got to mix that album at another crucial juncture in The Stones saga.
    While having lunch at the old Howard Johnson's at Wellington Circle with Jimmy's second wife, the late Gereldine Miller (nee Gere Rock), she told me how after Jimmy left The Rolling Stones started consciously erasing him from their story. Greenfield, to his credit, admits that the Stones took what they could from Jimmy's technique.
    Jimmy got the groove like no one else. Knowing what he did and doing what he did are two distinctly different things.