BEAUREGARDE
 label:
JACKPOT 7104
Item #: 255051 |
$15.00
grade: SS
format: LP |
| This
limited vinyl reissue was made from the original master tapes and
features text from Greg Sage and amazing photos of Beauregarde. |
|
Beauregarde -
Beautiful Beau
How many wrestlers do you know of that have
ever made a decent musical endeavor? How many have made a psychedelic soul
masterpiece and also rode a three-wheeled motorcycle with a pitchfork
seatback? Only one…Beauregarde!
Released in 1971, the self-titled,
“Beauregarde” was the brainchild of Portland Wrestler Larry Pitchford, AKA
Beauregarde. In 1963 Beauregarde started his wrestling career and by 1970 had
made a name for himself on the wrestling circuit. At the time, he was one of
the highest paid wrestlers in the United States. Not only known for his unique
wrestling moves, but also for the zany on-stage characters he would create.
Beauregarde would refer to an almanac before he was to wrestle and find a
historic figure whose birth date or historical event fell on the same day. He
would then become that person for any interviews or match on that the day. Some
of the characters he portrayed were: Baby New Year, Napoleon, Caesar and more.
|
Beauregarde with his tag-team
partner "The Claw" |
In 1970 Beauregarde entered Sound Productions
studios in Portland, Oregon. At the same studio a 17 year old
Greg Sage was
also there rehearsing for a friend’s band. Beauregarde was so impressed by the
Jimi Hendrix type guitar style that he heard emanating from the other studio
that he notified the sound engineer that he wanted Greg to play guitar on the
album. Greg had only been playing guitar for a short time and had never been
into a studio to record.
Greg Sage would later go on to form
The Wipers
- a seminal punk band from Portland who has influenced almost every major band
from the Northwest including
Nirvana who covered “Return Of The Rat” for a
Wipers tribute cd Soon after the addition of Greg, Beauregarde’s band was
formed (also featuring Dave Koupal on bass of The Wipers).
During the recording it was evident that
Beauregarde was a man with vision. All the music and lyrics were written by
Beauregarde and curiously, they did not feature any lyrics about his career as
a wrestler. He also produced and arranged the whole album. Using intellect
instead of arrogance, Beauregarde sang about serious subjects such as drug
usage within the music community (which at that time included the recent death
of
Janis Joplin).
|
Beautiful Beau |
He also used introspective lyrics about
intangible forces in life such as time and fate. This entire record was
recorded in one afternoon. When the album was released it became a minor hit in
Portland. A single was also released for the songs “Testify/I”.
After its release this music was not limited
to record players. Beauregarde used the music from his album as his entrance
music to the wrestling ring. He would blast the record as his theme music while
he rode his chopper into the wrestling ring. This was a first as up until this
time wrestlers didn’t use music as part of their routine. Beauregarde also made
a music video (a first for any wrestler) for “Testify” that featured him
handing out money to panhandlers, riding his chopper in his fur vest, singing
his songs on stage, and wrestling shots with blood dripping from his injured
head. It’s a very strange video that was used as a tool to promote his career.
The video was shown before he wrestled as a way to promote the name and
himself. Renaissance man that he is, Beauregarde produced and starred in the
video.
"My introduction to
Beauregarde and Pro Wrestling came one Saturday night while flipping through
the local Portland TV channels in late 1969. All of a sudden there was this
guy in a pirate costume spewing some of the most brilliant insults and
arrogance to some unknown opponent. I immediately envisioned how cool it
would be to be able to say these things to the bullies at my school.
This was my first wrestling
experience and still the most memorable. I would watch Portland Wrestling on
Saturday nights from that time on just to watch this character Beauregarde do
his TV interviews. He was a comic genius that no one yet has come close to
matching.
|
Beauregarde Sings |
Little did I know that
within 6 weeks I would come face to face with Beauregarde while sitting in
for a friends band. During a rehearsal Beauregarde comes by to talk to
someone and tells me I play like Jimi Hendrix and have to be on his album.
Being 17 and never recording
before and only playing guitar for a short time I was amazed to say the least,
and how could I say no to a request like that? In early 1970 I went to the
studio with Beauregarde and we recorded his LP in an afternoon. The recording
started off with a few problems -- The engineer had issues with my guitar
style and volume. When I made a suggestion of how to mic my amp he grabbed me
by the collar and dragged me to his office to show me all his framed
certificates and documents -- basically saying I did not know what I was
talking about, but he did.
Beauregarde came in and
politely said "if you lay your hands on my friend again, you will have to
deal with me". Beau said "Greg knows what he's doing and it's what I want".
The engineer said to take a break and when we came back we had a new
engineer. This was the only time I ever saw Beau get upset with anyone. He
was the most mellow and friendly person you would ever meet. Seeing the
contrast of Beauregarde the wrestler and the down to earth person he really
was only went to prove his brilliance and uniqueness as a performer and
actor."
-Greg Sage
Beauregarde retired from wrestling quite some
time ago. He now owns a sheet-rock company in Florida where he resides and
spends most of his time fishing. |
