The effect at the beginning I used to use a thunder/rain effect on the G1000, with the Tyros 2 I actually don't bother as I have sampled the original and can trigger that from my other keyboard. I'm trying to work out if I can load some sort of sample into the 1 gig of extra memory I purchased for the T2 but it's easier said than done.
I didn't know about his life, it's just a song I've always liked. I play loads of Shadows stuff as well, love the instrumentals they did.