Freed and Found is an ongoing feature where the staff of CBC Music digg though YouTube and only post the gold.
In 1964, the Beatles played The Princess Theatre in Hong Kong. This performance was the catalyst to a new musical era in China (or at least the parts that weren't fighting or loving the Cultural Revolution). The Fab Four inspired teens to pick up electric guitars and form bands like The Mystics, The Fabulous Echoes, and D’Topnotes. The mop-tops also inspired Robert Lee, the brother of famed martial artist Bruce Lee, to form The Thunderbirds.
Coincidentally enough, the Thunderbirds signed to EMI, the same label as the Beatles, but folded towards the end of the ’60s. Robert then moved to the U.S. to live with his brother.
After Bruce’s death in 1973, Robert released the album Robert Lee Sings… The Ballad of Bruce Lee.
Highlights of that album include: “The Ballad of Bruce Lee,” with the very literal lyrics, “his hands and feet fast, powerful and mighty,” and “JKD (Jeet Kune Do),” a groovy number with synth bass, grunting and lyrics that are equally as literal about the martial arts system that Bruce Lee founded.
Related links:
Freed and found: Tom Jones fronts CSNY
Freed and Found: The Animals ‘House of the Rising Sun’ 1964 (HD)
