It was 35 years ago today (May 4th, 1977) that The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl was released. The live album, which featured songs from all three of the group's shows at the venue, August 23rd, 1964 and August 29th and 30th, 1965, was remixed and produced by George Martin for release. The album, which was the Beatles' only official live album, and their first previously unreleased archival collection, went on to peak at Number Two on the Billboard 200 album charts.
The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl featured the constant shriek of 17,000 fans and proved that the group, who had long been said to be a slipshod and barely-adequate live act, was actually a tight ensemble that was able to faithfully reproduce their classic hits and album favorites on stage.
As was the case with the 1970's Beatles compilations, John Lennon took an active interest in the project and went so far as to suggest the album's title. Interestingly, despite the involvement of Lennon, Martin, and the Beatles' longtime engineer Geoff Emerick, the word since the album's release is that the group was adamantly against the project being issued, which led to a 14-year moratorium on vault releases.
Among the highlights from the album are "Twist And Shout," "She's A Woman," "Ticket To Ride," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Boys," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Things We Said Today," "A Hard Day's Night," "All My Loving," and "Help!"
When the Beatles' catalogue was released on CD beginning in 1987, The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl was not reissued.
The Hollywood Bowl material has been used several times by the Beatles over the years. The group used the audio from their 1965 performance of "Twist And Shout" in their TV film The Beatles At Shea Stadium in place of the substandard original version. Most recently, the band used footage from the 1964 concert as part of The Beatles Anthology project.
Fans have been clamoring for the three unedited Hollywood Bowl tapes to be issued since the 1977 album was released. There are rumors that if the group decides to issue a third box set of The Capitol Albums featuring the Beatles U.S.-only releases that the live set would be included.
Renowned Beatles author Bruce Spizer has published eight books on the Beatles, and has consulted on the remastering of their Capitol Albums box sets.
- Spizer says that he personally is hoping for a complete unedited version of The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl -- which is the only non-compilation Beatles album unavailable on CD -- to be released in the near future.
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl on August 23rd, 1964.
NEW BEATLES DOCUMENTARY SET FOR RELEASE
A new rock-umentary about the Beatles is due out April 24th. Called “Strange Fruit: The Beatles” will take a look at Apple Records, owned by John, Paul, George and Ringo.
The documentary will feature interviews from former artists from the label like Jackie Lomax and David Peel. Interviews with a number of Beatles experts are also featured, including a recent conversation with former Apple music director Tony Bramwell.
MAY PANG SLAMS JOHN LENNON BULIMIA CLAIM
John Lennon's mid-'70's girlfriend May Pang joined Yoko Ono in lashing out against the claim that Lennon suffered from bulimia. Backstage Pass VIP author Debra Sharon Davis -- who's book tells sorted tales of other rock legends, including George Harrison and Mick Jagger -- talks at length about Lennon's food fetishes, which were a symptom of his alleged longtime battle with bulimia.
May Pang emailed Examiner.com and struck back against the allegations, writing, "John's bulimia. . . not! During my whole relationship time with John, who weighed about (155 pounds), he was never bulimic. In fact, he loved having a full English breakfast including black pudding which I made most Sundays when we were home in New York. When we were away, he loved having his blueberry pancakes. (The) Walls And Bridges (album) was made on Whoppers and pizza. His favorite soup was Chinese hot and sour soup. This is all evident in my book of photographs I took of John called Instamatic Karma released in 2008."
Last week Yoko spoke out against the book, telling London's Daily Mirror that Lennon "was always on a very healthy diet" and explaining: "John did not have an eating disorder. Sometimes he slipped and ate a bar of chocolate. His diets included vegetarian diet, macrobiotic diet and, very rarely a juice-only diet. All of the above are internationally approved health diets."
- Pang told us that fans saw a far different side to Lennon in Instamatic Karma than in recent books by more established and professional photographers.
FAST FACTS
May Pang, who began working as John & Yoko's personal assistant in 1971, was romantically linked to and lived with Lennon throughout his mid-'70s separation from Yoko Ono from October 1973 to February 1975.
Her recent photo book, Instamatic Karma, features previously unseen shots of Lennon during his legendary 15 month "Lost Weekend" in the mid-'70s. Included is a previously unseen photo of Lennon and Paul McCartney from April 1974 taken in Santa Monica, California.
Prior to living with Lennon, Pang was briefly romantically linked with Badfinger's Pete Ham.
Pang was responsible for coordinating the production of such Lennon albums as Mind Games, Walls And Bridges, and Rock 'N' Roll, and Harry Nilsson's Lennon-produced album Pussycats.
She's featured on background vocals of Lennon's Top Ten hit "#9 Dream," whispering "John" during the choruses.
Lennon wrote "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)" on his 1974 album Walls And Bridges about Pang.
In her 1983 memoir Loving John, she claims that their affair lasted until 1978, and that they remained in contact through 1980.
In 1989 Pang went on to marry producer Tony Visconti, known for his work with David Bowie, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy, Paul McCartney, and many others. They divorced in 2000, and have two children.
Pang remains close to the Beatles scene. In 1998 Paul McCartney invited her -- and not Yoko Ono -- to Linda McCartney's New York City memorial service, and in 2002 she attended the George Harrison memorial The Concert For George at London's Royal Albert Hall, and in 2010 she attended Julian Lennon's photography exhibit in New York City.
CHECK IT OUT: Photos of John Lennon taken in 1980.
NEW BOOK CLAIMS JOHN LENNON BATTLED BULIMIA
A new tell-all book about rock legends, named, Backstage Pass VIP, alleges that John Lennon was bulimic. Although, no one can deny that Lennon, who was five-foot-eleven and weighed about 130 pounds at the time of his death was somewhat obsessed with his weight after being called early on the "Fat Beatle," author Debra Sharon Davis claims that it was a dangerous and longtime battle for Lennon.
Prior to his 1994 death, Lennon's collaborator and close friend Harry Nilsson recalled to Davis a conversation pertaining to food with Lennon, saying, "John and I were having a heart-to-heart. Then all of a sudden John went off about how powerful men had ravenous appetites and wanted to swallow the world whole. And he thought that was why he had this horrible problem -- being hungry all the time and overeating. He said he often fantasized about large quantities of 'forbidden' foods."
Davis told Radaronline.com that Lennon harbored food fetishes: "He said food was 'sacred' to him and it frightened him. He saw it as 'a great weakness' and he referred to it as 'a lack of discipline'. . . For instance Lennon loved eating huge bowls of Rice Krispies with large scoops of ice cream on top. He enjoyed putting ice cream on everything when he could. There were also numerous bowls of snacks throughout his grand estate, Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot when he lived in England in the late 1960's and early 1970's."
She went on to explain, that it was hard for Lennon to reconcile his issues with food as he got older: "Lennon was confused about his obsession with food. (He) was surrounded by talented musicians, but many had drinking and drug problems -- so it was hard for them to see Lennon's purging behavior as extraordinary. One must also realize that at that time the public and the media were unaware of bulimia as an addiction and health risk -- which made it all the more frightening for John Lennon. He literally had no point-of-reference on what he was experiencing."
A new tell-all book about rock legends, named, Backstage Pass VIP, alleges that John Lennon was bulimic. Although, no one can deny that Lennon, who was five-foot-eleven and weighed about 130 pounds at the time of his death was somewhat obsessed with his weight after being called early on the "Fat Beatle," author Debra Sharon Davis claims that it was a dangerous and longtime battle for Lennon.
Prior to his 1994 death, Lennon's collaborator and close friend Harry Nilsson recalled to Davis a conversation pertaining to food with Lennon, saying, "John and I were having a heart-to-heart. Then all of a sudden John went off about how powerful men had ravenous appetites and wanted to swallow the world whole. And he thought that was why he had this horrible problem -- being hungry all the time and overeating. He said he often fantasized about large quantities of 'forbidden' foods."
Davis told Radaronline.com that Lennon harbored food fetishes: "He said food was 'sacred' to him and it frightened him. He saw it as 'a great weakness' and he referred to it as 'a lack of discipline'. . . For instance Lennon loved eating huge bowls of Rice Krispies with large scoops of ice cream on top. He enjoyed putting ice cream on everything when he could. There were also numerous bowls of snacks throughout his grand estate, Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot when he lived in England in the late 1960's and early 1970's."
She went on to explain, that it was hard for Lennon to reconcile his issues with food as he got older: "Lennon was confused about his obsession with food. (He) was surrounded by talented musicians, but many had drinking and drug problems -- so it was hard for them to see Lennon's purging behavior as extraordinary. One must also realize that at that time the public and the media were unaware of bulimia as an addiction and health risk -- which made it all the more frightening for John Lennon. He literally had no point-of-reference on what he was experiencing."
- Although Lennon's hard drug use had subsided by the last years of his life, he was a chronic, non-stop cigarette smoker. Fred Seaman, Lennon's personal assistant in 1979 and 1980, recalled that Lennon's smoking was at times a liability in getting the proper vocal take he wanted during the 1980 Double Fantasy sessions.
CHECK IT OUT: Lennon's performing "Slippin' And Slidin'" during his final public performance on April 18th, 1975 in New York City's Hilton Hotel at the taping for Salute To Sir Lew - The Master Showman.
FLASHBACK: THE BEATLES RECORD 'FROM ME TO YOU'
It was 49 years ago today (March 5th, 1963) that the Beatles recorded "From Me To You." The track was done in a single session at London's Abbey Road Studios, which included 13 takes of the song, 13 takes of the song's B-side "Thank You Girl," and five takes of "The One After 909," which would remain unissued until the 1995 archival release The Beatles Anthology 1.
The Beatles would revisit the song, one of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's earliest collaborations, for the group's 1969 Let It Be project, and performed the tune during their final live performance on the Apple headquarters rooftop.
On the afternoon of March 5th, 1963 the "Fab Four" posed for their Please Please Me album cover at their record company headquarters staircase at EMI House in Manchester Square. An alternate shot from that session was used for the group's 1973 compilation album, The Beatles 1962-1966.
The session tapes recorded on March 5th, 1963 are among the rare cases in which an entire Beatles session has been widely bootlegged with pristine sound.
In April 1963 "From Me To You" was released and topped the British charts for five weeks. The following month, in the U.S., the then-still unknown Beatles released the song where it became their American chart debut, "peaking" at Number 116. In early 1964, the song charted again at Number 41 when it was re-released as the B-side to the group's "Please Please Me" single.
- In late 1963 Burt Bacharach first met the Beatles, who had recorded a cover of his song "Baby, It's You" on their Please Please Me album. He admitted that he was immediately struck at how different they looked.
- Paul McCartney told us that even early on, he was convinced the Beatles' music would be around for generations.
DID YOU KNOW???
Out of the Beatles' original 22 singles, Paul McCartney has performed the majority of them in concert -- except: "From Me To You," "She Loves You" -- although he did perform it's B-side "Thank You Girl," I Want To Hold Your Hand," "A Hard Day's Night," I Feel Fine" -- although he did perform it's B-side "She's A Woman," "Ticket To Ride," and "The Ballad Of John And Yoko."
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles performing "From Me To You" on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 16th, 1964.
FLASHBACK: THE BEATLES APPEAR ON 'THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW'
It was 48 years ago on tonight (February 9th, 1964) that the Beatles made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seen by over 73 million viewers, the show has gone on to become one of TV's most iconic moments, much like Neil Armstrong's 1969 walk on the moon. The Beatles performed twice, both opening and closing the program.
- Here's Ed Sullivan's legendary introduction from that night's show.
The group performed a total of five songs that night: "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and their then-current Number One hit "I Want To Hold Your Hand." One of the more memorable parts of the show was during "Till There Was You," when the screen dimmed as each Beatle was highlighted with his name appearing on the screen. John Lennon didn't know it at the time, but an additional caption saying "Sorry Girls -- He's Married" was added under his name.
What many people don't know is that their legendary Sullivan appearance was actually their second of the day. Prior to the live February 9th broadcast, the Beatles taped a future segment for Sullivan's February 23rd show. After that, the audience was cleared for the live broadcast.
Up until the group's break-up in 1970, they continued to send promo clips of their latest singles to be aired on the Ed Sullivan Show -- including "Paperback Writer," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Hello, Goodbye," and "Let It Be."
- Ringo Starr recalled that the group was sweating over getting the sound right for the show --- right up to the last minute.
- George Harrison said the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show even kept the streets safe for the hour that the show was on.
- Paul McCartney said that after all these years, the Beatles' Sullivan Show appearance is usually the first thing fans bring up.
In 2010, The 4 Complete 'Ed Sullivan Shows' Starring The Beatles was reissued on DVD. The collection includes the full uncut shows from February 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 1964 as well as the Beatles' September 12th, 1965 return appearance, which was actually taped on August 14th, 1965 -- the day before their historic first concert at Shea Stadium.
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles performing "All My Loving" on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964:
FLASHBACK: THE BEATLES PERFORM ON THE APPLE ROOFTOP
It was 43 years ago this afternoon (January 30th, 1969) that the Beatles performed for the last time in public, on the roof of their Apple headquarters building in London. For the better part of that January, the group had been filming their rehearsals for a planned comeback concert, before band politics forced them to abort the plan and concentrate on recording a new album, tentatively titled Get Back.
The film crew continued filming the recording sessions for what eventually became the Let It Be album and movie, and on January 30th, the Beatles finally gave in to director Michael Lindsay-Hogg's request for a live concert finale for the film. Rather than the various exotic locations that had been tossed around for the group's first public appearance in nearly two-and-a-half years, such as a cruise ship, a mental asylum, or a Roman amphitheater, the group had their equipment set up on top of their business offices at 3 Saville Row for a brief lunchtime set -- similar to the ones they used to do years earlier in Liverpool's Cavern Club.
The Beatles and keyboardist Billy Preston, who were decked out in winter coats, played for about 42 minutes for a handful of fans, their wives, office workers and their personal staff. They performed a total of nine full songs: three versions of "Get Back," two versions of "Don't Let Me Down," two versions of "I've Got A Feeling," and one each of "Dig A Pony," and "One After 909" -- which was one of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's earliest compositions, dating back to the 1950's.
Ken Mansfield, the former U.S. manager of Apple Records was among the handful of insiders present at the rooftop concert that day.
- He recalled prior to the lunchtime gig walking in on the four Beatles who were using one of the Apple offices as a makeshift dressing room.
In between songs, while the film crew was busy setting up, the Beatles briefly ran through a few standards, including a few bars of "Danny Boy," "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody," and "God Save The Queen."
George Harrison had made it clear prior to the impromptu concert that none of his songs would be played on the roof. Toward the end of the Beatles' set, the police were called and politely demanded that the group quit disturbing the peace, as dozens of office workers had begun crowding around in the streets near the Beatles' headquarters to hear the band play.
At the end of the final performance of "Get Back," Lennon uttered the immortal line, "I'd like to thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition." It was the last time that the Beatles would ever perform in public.
Although never released in its entirety, most of the Beatles' "Rooftop Concert" has been widely bootlegged over the years. The Beatles themselves have also issued a lot of the rooftop concert over various releases. 1970's Let It Be album featured an edited live performance of "Dig A Pony," "I've Got A Feeling," and "One After 909." The group's final performance of "Get Back" was included on 1996's The Beatles Anthology 3 album, and the 2003 Let It Be. . . Naked collection included new composite takes from different versions of "Don't Let Me Down," and "I've Got A Feeling." In one form or another, at least one version of all the songs from the group's final performance has been officially released.
The version of "Get Back" that closes the Let It Be album, which was long thought to be a live take, is actually a cheat -- Lennon and McCartney's pre and post-song comments were tagged by producer Phil Spector onto an abbreviated version of the studio-recorded single version.
- Author Richie Unterberger, who recently published the book The Unreleased Beatles, says that if it wasn't for Paul McCartney holding the band together at that point, they would have easily fallen apart.
- Ringo Starr's former producer and songwriting partner Mark Hudson remembers Ringo saying that up until the Beatles' split, they always knew how to pull it together musically.
CHECK IT OUT: "Get Back" live on the Apple Rooftop.
CHECK IT OUT: "Don't Let Me Down" live on the Apple Rooftop.
CHECK IT OUT: "One After 909" live on the Apple Rooftop.
YOKO ONO MAINTAINS SHE DIDN'T BREAK UP THE BEATLES
(1//18/2011) Nearly 42 years after the Beatles' legendary split, John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, maintains that she did not break the band up. Yoko, who became lovers with Lennon during the making of the band's 1968 "White Album" was on-hand in the studio throughout the album sessions, the following year's Let It Be album and film, and married Lennon prior to the Beatles' final album, 1969's Abbey Road -- during which she also was a constant presence. Yoko told NDTV that at the time it seemed easy to point the finger at her for the group's inevitable demise, explaining, "I do not know, but they did not have anybody to put the blame. I was the easy target. . . yes, scapegoat. . . being an Asian is one and being a woman. . . the combination, y'know, was pretty disastrous."
- She credits Lennon's devotion for helping her get over being vilified by the world: "I had John with me and he was very supportive and protective about me. If John was not there it would have been a difficult situation. . . and when John passed away, it was then that the real difficulties started to happen."
Yoko told us that while recording music with Lennon during the '70s, despite the indifference from the studio musicians, he never wavered in his support of her music.
- Although there were many factors that led to the Beatles' breakup, the changing public perception as to Yoko being the villain in the band's split is just one more instance of things not being as black and white as the seem in "Beatledom." Author Christopher Sanford, author of the recent biography, McCartney, explained that the "Cute Beatle" rarely got credit for his musical breakthroughs.
FLASHBACK: GEORGE HARRISON QUITS THE BEATLES
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It was 43 years ago today (January 10th, 1969) that George Harrison temporarily quit the Beatles. The group, who was filming their Let It Be movie in the cavernous Twickenham film studios in London, had been rife with tension as they prepared to work up a set of new material for their proposed return to the concert stage. Harrison wasn't the first Beatle to quit the band, with Ringo Starr walking out the previous August during the group's sessions for The Beatles, commonly referred to as The White Album.
Although it's been thought that Harrison's was annoyed with Paul McCartney's domination during the rehearsals -- dubbed by fans as the "Get Back" sessions -- Harrison was equally peeved at John Lennon, who at this point was barely communicating to the band and letting his soon-to-be wife Yoko Ono speak for him in group matters. Harrison later went on record stating he was frustrated because he had a growing backlog of new material, but constantly had to work on Lennon and McCartney's songs before the group could begin rehearsing his.
After running through a few songs that day, including a brief rendition of the group's "All Together Now" and "Get Back," Harrison nonchalantly announced that he was leaving the band immediately and sarcastically told them as he walked out, "See you around the clubs."
- George Harrison explained that the Beatles regrouping in January 1969 before the cameras was a "worst case scenario" situation for him.
After the announcement, filming was halted. According to authors Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighard, who documented existing tapes of the sessions for their book Drugs, Divorce And A Slipping Image: The Unauthorized Story Of The Beatles' "Get Back" Sessions, once the tapes began running again, Lennon ironically led the group through a run-through of the Who's "A Quick One While He's Away."
Before departing for the weekend, Lennon half-joked that the group should replace Harrison with either Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, and that the Beatles' publicists should announce Harrison's departure to the British trades. Interestingly, it was Harrison who broke the news of the rift to the British press, yet refused to do so in any great detail.
- Author Ritchie Unterberger chronicled the dozens of hours of Let It Be tapes for his book "The Unreleased Beatles". He says that many of Harrison's songs didn't fit stylistically with the group's other material.
After Harrison failed to show up for the sessions on January 13th, 14th or 15th, a band meeting was held at Starr's house, where they urged Harrison to come back and complete the project. Harrison agreed to re-join the band under the condition they give up on the idea of a live concert, and move the filming to the Beatles' new studio in their Apple headquarters. The band re-grouped in front of the cameras again on January 22nd.
FLASHBACK: THE BEATLES' FINAL RECORDING SESSION
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles jamming in the Apple basement studio during the Let It Be sessions.
FLASHBACK: THE BEATLES' FINAL RECORDING SESSION
It was 42 years ago today (January 3rd, 1970) that the Beatles recorded their final song together. Three of the four Beatles -- Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- gathered at London's Abbey Road studios to complete Harrison's tune "I Me Mine" for the group's Let It Be soundtrack. While it wasn't publicly known, John Lennon had quit the group the previous September. Although aware of the session, Lennon was vacationing with wife Yoko Ono in Denmark and declined to take part.
The song "I Me Mine" was written by Harrison in late 1968 about the ongoing personality clashes within the group. Harrison, McCartney, and Starr can be seen running through the song in the Let It Be film while Lennon waltzes around the rehearsal stage with Yoko. "I Me Mine" was never officially recorded during the Let It Be or the Abbey Road sessions from later that year, so when the decision was made that the song was to be included in the Let It Be film, the band re-grouped to record the track.
The January 3rd session lasted from 2:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. the following morning. Sixteen takes were laid down of "I Me Mine," featuring Harrison on acoustic and lead vocal, McCartney on bass, and Starr on drums. Backing vocals, Hammond Organ and electric piano from McCartney and a lead guitar by Harrison were added toward the end of the session.
After the 12th take, Harrison led the group through an impromptu run-through of Buddy Holly's 1959 hit "Peggy Sue Got Married," which has yet to be released.
The original mix of the song topped out at only one minute and 34 seconds. When producer Phil Spector was brought in to "re-produce" the Let It Be album, he added a brass ensemble and re-edited the song to stretch it out to two minutes and 25 seconds. The original undubbed short version can be found on the Beatles' Anthology 3 album.
Although overdubs for the Let It Be album stretched on until March, this was the last time the Beatles entered a recording studio to record new material prior to their official breakup on April 10th, 1970.
The song "I Me Mine" was written by Harrison in late 1968 about the ongoing personality clashes within the group. Harrison, McCartney, and Starr can be seen running through the song in the Let It Be film while Lennon waltzes around the rehearsal stage with Yoko. "I Me Mine" was never officially recorded during the Let It Be or the Abbey Road sessions from later that year, so when the decision was made that the song was to be included in the Let It Be film, the band re-grouped to record the track.
The January 3rd session lasted from 2:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. the following morning. Sixteen takes were laid down of "I Me Mine," featuring Harrison on acoustic and lead vocal, McCartney on bass, and Starr on drums. Backing vocals, Hammond Organ and electric piano from McCartney and a lead guitar by Harrison were added toward the end of the session.
After the 12th take, Harrison led the group through an impromptu run-through of Buddy Holly's 1959 hit "Peggy Sue Got Married," which has yet to be released.
The original mix of the song topped out at only one minute and 34 seconds. When producer Phil Spector was brought in to "re-produce" the Let It Be album, he added a brass ensemble and re-edited the song to stretch it out to two minutes and 25 seconds. The original undubbed short version can be found on the Beatles' Anthology 3 album.
Although overdubs for the Let It Be album stretched on until March, this was the last time the Beatles entered a recording studio to record new material prior to their official breakup on April 10th, 1970.
- McCartney says that both fans and the press have incorrectly pegged him as the villain in the "Fab Four" breakup.
"I Me Mine" was the final Harrison song to ever appear on a new Beatles album. Nearly five months to the day of recording the tune, Harrison returned to Abbey Road Studios with Phil Spector to record a series of demos which marked the first session for All Things Must Past, his first solo album following the band's split.
- In 1995, Harrison said that it was liberating to finally get his songs released.
It wasn't until February 11th, 1994 that Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr regrouped again, when they gathered at McCartney's home studio to begin work on the first Beatles "reunion" song, "Free As A Bird," for their Anthology project.
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles' "I Me Mine".
JOHN LENNON REMEMBERED
Today (December 8th) marks the 31st anniversary of John Lennon's death. As is the custom every year, several hundred fans are expected to stand vigil for Lennon today across the street from the Dakota building in Central Park's Strawberry Fields. The triangular patch of land was designated by the city of New York in 1984 to celebrate the former Beatle's life and work.
Today (December 8th) marks the 31st anniversary of John Lennon's death. As is the custom every year, several hundred fans are expected to stand vigil for Lennon today across the street from the Dakota building in Central Park's Strawberry Fields. The triangular patch of land was designated by the city of New York in 1984 to celebrate the former Beatle's life and work.
In 1980, the 40-year-old Lennon had re-entered public life that fall, after a self-imposed five-year hiatus to spend time with his young son Sean, travel and recharge his creative batteries. On November 17th, 1980, Lennon and wife Yoko Ono had released their "comeback" album Double Fantasy, which included such future Lennon standards as "Woman," "Beautiful Boy," "Watching The Wheels," and the album's lead track and single "(Just Like) Starting Over."
On the night of December 8th, 1980 -- with "(Just Like) Starting Over" sitting at Number Six on the singles charts -- Lennon and Yoko returned home to their apartment building, the Dakota on Manhattan's Central Park West. They had spent the evening at the Record Plant East recording studio mixing a tune of Yoko's called "Walking On Thin Ice." Mark David Chapman, who had been stalking Lennon for several days and had received an autograph from Lennon earlier that evening, lay in wait for his return. Chapman, who was living in Honolulu at the time, had made an unsuccessful trip to New York the previous October with the intent of killing Lennon, but couldn't find him.
Lennon and Yoko returned from the studio at around 10:50 p.m., with their limousine dropping them off in front of the building on 72nd Street, rather than pulling into the building's courtyard as usual. As the couple walked in, they passed Chapman who called out "Mr. Lennon?" and fired five shots from a .38 caliber handgun, with four bullets entering Lennon's neck and back. Officers were quick on the scene, arresting Chapman and rushing Lennon in a squad car to nearby Roosevelt Hospital, where doctors worked on reviving the musician, who died from the severity of his wounds.
Dr. Stephan Lynn, the director of Roosevelt Hospital's emergency room, recalled Lennon's injures to The New York Post, saying that, "We made an incision in the left chest and separated the ribs and found a very large amount of blood. We looked for an injury to the heart or to the blood vessels. But what we discovered was that all of the major blood vessels leaving the heart were simply destroyed. There was no way that we could repair them."
The news of Lennon's death was broken by a reporter for New York's WABC-TV, who by coincidence was in the same emergency room after a motorcycle accident. The news was first reported by Howard Cosell during the Monday Night Football telecast.
Yoko returned home and called "the three people John would have wanted to know" -- his aunt Mimi Smith, who raised him; his 17-year-old son Julian, from his first marriage; and Paul McCartney. Within hours of the news, thousands of fans had flocked to the Dakota to stand vigil for Lennon.
- Radio executive Andy Denemark recalled getting the news of Lennon being shot.
- Denemark recalls how limited fans' options were in getting accurate news about Lennon's condition.
Julian Lennon and Ringo Starr made immediate plans to head to New York, with George Harrison issuing a statement saying, "After all we went through, I had and still have great love and respect for him. I am shocked and stunned. To rob life is the ultimate robbery." McCartney also issued a statement, saying, "I can't take it at the moment. John was a great man who'll be remembered for his great contributions to art, music and peace. He is going to be missed by the whole world."
- During his 2008 appearance on ABC's The View, McCartney spoke frankly about Lennon's murder.
There was no funeral for Lennon, who was cremated almost immediately in Hartsdale, New York in Westchester County. Instead, tens of thousands of mourners gathered in New York's Central Park the following Sunday (December 14th) to observe ten minutes of silence at 2 p.m. The event was broadcast globally, with many radio stations ceasing all airplay during the memorial.
THE AFTERMATH
"(Just Like) Starting Over" went on to top the charts for five weeks, with the following singles "Woman" and "Watching The Wheels" hitting the Top Ten in the coming months. Double Fantasy went on to win the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Album.
Both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr contributed to George Harrison's 1981 Lennon tribute "All Those Years Ago," which hit Number Two in the spring of 1981.
McCartney's solo tribute to Lennon, called "Here Today," appeared on his 1982 album Tug Of War, and has been a part of McCartney's live set since 2002.
In early 1981, Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder, and is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence in New York's Attica State prison. Chapman, a devout born-again Christian who is allowed conjugal visits, has refused all offers of psychotherapy since the murder. He has been turned down for parole six times.
Yoko has kept Lennon's legacy alive by consistently issuing previously unreleased recordings and videos along with reproductions of his artwork as lithographs, mugs, tee-shirts, baby clothes, and other items -- to the chagrin of some Lennon fans.
30 years after Lennon's death, he now has had far more posthumous releases than he had solo albums by 1980.
In 1995, with Yoko's blessing, McCartney, Harrison and Starr teamed up to complete two of Lennon's unreleased demos -- "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" -- for The Beatles Anthology project.
Last year, in celebration of Lennon's 70th birthday, Yoko Ono and Capitol records have reissued newly remastered versions of Lennon's solo albums -- including John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band; Imagine; Some Time In New York City; Mind Games; Walls And Bridges; Rock N' Roll; Double Fantasy; and Milk And Honey. The new discs differ sonically from the Lennon CD's previously on the market, which were slightly remixed to Yoko's specifications.
In addition to the albums and several box set repackages of Lennon solo classics, long-estranged Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas has remixed the Double Fantasy Stripped Down CD packaged along with the original 1980 version.
JOHN LENNON FAST FACTS
- Lennon's full birth name was John Winston Lennon. In April 1969, he legally changed his middle name to "Ono."
- Lennon was raised from the age of four by his maternal aunt Mimi and her husband, milkman George Smith. Lennon's uncle, who served as a loving surrogate father to him, gave him his first musical instrument -- a harmonica -- died of a liver hemorrhage when Lennon was 14.
- Growing up, Lennon was in steady contact with his mother Julia, but never lived with her. She was killed by a drunken off-duty policeman speeding in front of Lennon's home in 1958. She was 44 years old.
- His father, Freddie, a merchant seaman, abandoned the family when Lennon was three, only making contact with Lennon again in 1964.
- Lennon had sporadic contact with him over the next six years before cutting him off financially in 1970. Lennon made peace with his father on his deathbed in 1976 when Freddie was dying of stomach cancer. He was 63 years old.
- Although Lennon is often said to be an only child, he in fact has five half-siblings. Julia and Jacqui Dykins are half-sisters on his mother Julia's side, and another sister, named Victoria, was adopted at birth; and in the mid '70s, Lennon's father Freddie had two sons, named David and Robin Lennon, born in 1973 and 1975, respectively.
- Lennon's mother taught him his first song on the guitar -- Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame."
- 'Lennon and McCartney made a handshake deal in late 1957, agreeing that all compositions written by either one of them -- solo or in collaboration with each other -- would be credited to "Lennon-McCartney."
- The Beatles performed Lennon's first original composition, titled "Hello Little Girl," at their unsuccessful Decca Records audition on January 1st, 1962.
- After the Beatles' breakup, both Lennon and McCartney gave separate interviews detailing who wrote what within the duo's partnership. They two agreed on everything except two songs -- Lennon claimed that he wrote the majority of the lyrics to McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby" and McCartney claimed that he wrote the melody to Lennon's "In My Life."
- Although uncredited, Lennon helped write the lyrics to George Harrison's song "Taxman" from the Beatles' Revolver album and "Piggies" from The White Album. On bootlegs of the band's seemingly endless Let It Be sessions, Lennon can be heard helping Harrison develop the structure to his Abbey Road classic, "Something."
- Lennon's lucky number was nine. The number popped up in several of his songs, including "One After 909," "Revolution #9," and "#9 Dream."
- Although primarily a rhythm guitarist, Lennon played bass on several McCartney-written Beatles classics, including "Back In The U.S.S.R.," "Helter Skelter," "Let It Be," and "The Long And Winding Road."
- Lennon played keyboards on "I'm Down," "Tell Me What You See," "The Night Before," "We Can Work It Out," "Penny Lane," "The Being For the Benefit Of Mr. Kite," "All You Need Is Love," "Hello Goodbye," "I Am The Walrus," "Hey Bulldog," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Because," and others.
- Lennon also played lead guitar on a number of Beatles tracks too, including "Get Back," "You Can't Do That," "Honey Pie," "Yer Blues," "For You Blue," "The Ballad Of John And Yoko," and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." He swapped guitar solos with George Harrison on the band's cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," and traded licks with Harrison and McCartney on the Abbey Road closer, "The End."
- Lennon published two books of short stories and prose during the height of Beatlemania -- 1964's In His Own Write and 1965's A Spaniard In The Works. In 1986 a novel written in the late-'70s, titled Skywriting By Word Of Mouth, was published posthumously.
- Although Lennon performed live many times after the Beatles breakup, his only full-length, fully rehearsed and promoted concerts took place on August 30th, 1972 -- a matinee and evening show -- at New York's Madison Square Garden. The "One To One" shows benefited the mentally retarded patients of Long Island's infamous Willowbrook Institution.
- Excerpts from the shows were released as an album and on video in 1986, as John Lennon Live In New York City.
- The only three albums which Lennon fully produced himself were Harry Nilsson's Pussycats, and his own Mind Games and Walls And Bridges.
- Lennon had many legendary nicknames throughout his life, and was most fond of the moniker "Dr. Winston O'Boogie."
- Lennon's 1974 Walls And Bridges album closes with a cover of Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya" -- the only recorded performance of him jamming with then 11-year-old son Julian on drums.
- Although it's usually believed that Lennon's final public performance was with Elton John on Thanksgiving night 1974, his last appearance in front of a live audience actually took place on April 18th, 1975 at New York City's Hilton Hotel. Lennon performed three songs, "Slippin' And Slidin'," "Stand By Me," and "Imagine," as part of the taping of the British special Salute To Sir Lew Grade - The Master Showman. Sir Lew Grade was a British entertainment mogul, whose company ATV owned a controlling interest in Lennon & McCartney's song copyrights, before selling them to Michael Jackson.
- Prior to returning to Yoko after their infamous 14-month separation in the early 1970s, Lennon was planning to travel to New Orleans to record with McCartney, who was then working on Wings' Venus And Mars album.
- Lennon and McCartney last saw each other on April 24th, 1976, when they watched Saturday Night Live as producer Lorne Michaels offered the Beatles a whopping $3,000 to reunite on the show. They briefly considered heading to Rockefeller Center where the show was being performed, as a gag. The two last spoke on the phone in early 1980.
- Before deciding to take a five-year sabbatical from recording, Lennon was composing material for a 1976 album tentatively titled Between The Lines.
- In the months prior to his death, Lennon rang up his aunt Mimi Smith, urging her to send over family pictures and heirlooms he hadn't seen in years. He also asked her for his Quarry Bank high school tie, which he took to wearing in the last part of 1980.
- In the years prior to his death in New York, Lennon usually woke up around dawn each day, and by mid-morning would walk over to the upscale neighborhood coffee house Cafe LaFortuna and read The New York Times, The London Times and several other international newspapers to get a world view of daily current events.
- Lennon was also known to go out for drinks at his local watering hole, Malachy's Donegal Inn, only a block away from the Dakota.
- At the time of his death, Lennon and Yoko were planning a world tour to tentatively start in the spring of 1981 with a free show in Central Park, and eventually culminating with a concert in the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool.
- Lennon was said to be considering performing several early Beatles numbers on tour, including reworked versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," and "Help!"
- About a half hour of videotape exists of Lennon performing live at the Hit Factory recording studios on August 19th, 1980, but it has never been aired publicly. In addition to then-current numbers such as "(Just Like) Starting Over" and "I'm Losing You," Lennon and his band perform covers of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody," Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover, " Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs' "Stay," and the Beatles' "She's A Woman."
- Lennon and Ono recorded two Double Fantasy tracks -- "I'm Losing You" and "I'm Moving On" -- with Cheap Trick's Rick Nielson and Bun E. Carlos. Both versions were passed over for the final release.
- According to author Keith Badman, Lennon last saw George Harrison on September 28th, 1980, when Lennon and Ono supposedly flew to Los Angeles to see the Monty Python troupe perform live at the Hollywood Bowl. Reportedly Lennon and Harrison exchanged tapes of their recent work. The meeting is disputed by a large number of fans and historians who believe that the pair's last meeting was in New York City in December 1974.
- Lennon composed two songs for Ringo Starr in 1980, one called "Life Begins At 40" which remained unreleased until Lennon's demo was issued in 1998, and "Nobody Told Me," which was released posthumously on Lennon's 1984 Milk And Honey album.
- Lennon and Ringo last saw each other on November 26th, 1980, when Lennon and Ono met up with Starr and future wife Barbara Bach over dinner at Manhattan's Plaza Hotel. Lennon made plans to meet up again with Starr in Los Angeles on January 14th, 1981, to begin recording the tunes for Starr's new album.
- In the weeks prior to his death, Lennon was working on two new songs, "You Saved My Soul (With Your True Love)" and "Dear John." An edited version of "Dear John" appears on the 1998 John Lennon Anthology box set.
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles performing "Help!" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965.
________________________________________
GEORGE HARRISON'S SISTER PLANNING TELL-ALL MEMOIR
George Harrison's estranged sister, Louise Harrison, has announced a tell-all memoir about her relationship with her younger brother and the Beatles due out sometime in the next year or so. The Harrison's were a tight-knit family that remained close even after Louise married and moved to America. Although she and George became estranged in later years, over the past two decades Louise has been a welcomed guest at Beatle conventions around the world.Louise, who now manages a Beatles tribute act and lives in Branson, Missouri explained to The Sarasota Herald-Tribune why she felt the time was right to tell her story, explaining, "So much garbage has been written about George and the Beatles. Half of the stuff has been written by people who spent maybe an hour on a plane with the Beatles. Now I think it's my duty to get the truth out. There's been all kinds of myths and fantasies written about them. At least I have some facts to go on, because I was there -- from even before they were the Beatles."
There's been no title or release date for the upcoming Harrison expose.
- A decade ago Louise participated in the publication of Before He Was Fab, a book that chronicled Harrison's 1963 visit to the U.S. prior to the "Fab Four's" meteoric landing the following year. Louise told us at the time that most of the books that have been published about the Beatles are inaccurate.
- Although her brother has been gone a solid decade, Louise says that George remains very much alive in her thoughts and heart.
CHECK IT OUT: Louise performing one of George's favorite songs, "The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" with Beatles tribute band, Liverpool Legends.
10 YEARS LATER...
REMEMBERING GEORGE HARRISON
It was 10 years ago today (November 29th, 2001) that George Harrison died after a long battle with cancer, at age 58. Harrison, the first of the Beatles to embrace Eastern philosophies and culture, will also be remembered for his humanitarian efforts, such as his 1971 Concert For Bangladesh for famine relief.
- Following Harrison's death, an obviously distraught Paul McCartney met the press outside his Sussex, England home and spoke lovingly about his original friend in the Beatles.
After the Beatles split in 1970, Harrison's solo career kicked off with the Number One hit "My Sweet Lord" and the Number One album All Things Must Pass. He was also responsible for organizing 1971's The Concert For Bangladesh, which was the first major rock fundraiser, which paved the way for countless other music-supported benefits over the years.Harrison wrote such Beatles classics as "Don't Bother Me," "I Need You," "You Like Me Too Much," "Think For Yourself," "If I Needed Someone," "Taxman," "I Want To Tell You," "Love You To," "Within You, Without You," "Blue Jay Way," "It's Only A Northern Song," "It's All Too Much," "The Inner Light," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Piggies" "Long, Long, Long," "Savoy Truffle," "I Me Mine," "For You Blue," "Old Brown Shoe," "Something," and "Here Comes The Sun," among others.
Other solo hits included "What Is Life," "Bangla Desh," "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)," "Dark Horse," "You," "This Song," "Crackerbox Palace," "Blow Away," "All Those Years Ago," and his 1987 comeback single "Got My Mind Set On You," which is the last solo Number One single by any former Beatle to date.
In 1971, Harrison produced Ringo Starr's initial solo singles "It Don't Come Easy" and "Back Off Boogaloo," as well also co-writing Starr's first Number One hit "Photograph" with him in 1973.
Shortly after his return to the spotlight in 1987, Harrison co-founded the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. In 1991 he undertook a brief tour of Japan with Eric Clapton and his band.
His widow Olivia Harrison has led a successful reissue campaign of the Harrison solo catalogue, including a recent box set of the Traveling Wilburys material. An upcoming collection featuring highlights of Harrison's sole North American solo tour from 1974 is said to be in the works for the near future. Olivia also served as the executive producer for director Martin Scorsese's recent documentary on Harrison's life and work, called Living In The Material World, which premiered on HBO last month.
HARRISON ON HARRISON
- Harrison admitted that he felt that it was all downhill for the Beatles as a band following their early Hamburg days.
- Although Harrison was thought to be a bit of a hermit during his post-Beatles years, he explained that nothing could be further from the truth.
- Harrison was so turned off by the critical slamming he received for his lone solo North American tour in 1974, that he didn't hit the road again until 1991. Harrison shed some light on the back-story to the legendary trek.
- Harrison chose to sit out a substantial part of the '80s, letting half a decade lapse between 1982's Gone Troppo and 1987's Cloud Nine. He admitted that for the most part, the sounds of the new decade turned him off.
Upon his return to the charts in 1987 Harrison revealed why he had abandoned recording for a five-year-stretch.
- Harrison explained that the late-'80s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys came to be almost by accident -- with help from Jeff Lynne -- when his record label demanded a new B-side for his latest single.
- After his 1999 stabbing by a delusional assailant from which he suffered a collapsed lung, among other injuries, in this clip featured in the new Living In The Material World documentary, Harrison spoke candidly about facing his own mortality.
FAMILY & FRIENDS REMEMBER GEORGE
- We asked Olivia Harrison if George ever felt hurt by some of the negative reviews his solo work garnered due to much of it dealing with God and religion.
- Olivia told us that George learned to balance his often hectic and surreal life through spirituality.
- We asked Olivia how she thought George would have made sense of the post-9/11 world.
The Harrisons' son, 33-year-old Dhani, is now a musician in his own right and has teamed up with singer/songwriters Ben Harper and Joseph Arthur to form the new "emo" supergroup, Fistful Of Mercy. He also fronts his own band thenewno2 (PRONOUNCED: "The New Number Two"). Dhani has gone on to become the only "Beatle kid" to take an active interest in the Beatles' company Apple by spearheading the production of the recent Beatles: Rock Band game.
- He told us that he doesn't feel being the son of a Beatle is in any way a burden, and that his father influenced the way he feels about most things -- especially music.
- In 2007, Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd published her memoir on her marriages to Harrison and Eric Clapton titled Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton And Me. Boyd was amazed at what a loving and supportive family Harrison had away from the madness of "Beatlemania".
- Boyd says that Harrison's infatuation with Hinduism, spiritual topics, and Indian music was his attempt to seek out the "bigger picture".
- Boyd explained to us that she needed to write an honest warts and all portrayal of her marriage to Harrison.
- Phil Spector set the scene prior to him signing on to produce Harrison's first post-Beatles album, the triple record set, All Things Must Pass.
- Badfinger's Joey Molland spoke of what a solid contributor Harrison was in the studio when producing the band's 1971 Straight Up album -- and their Top 10 hit, "Day After Day".
- Longtime Beatles confidante and solo session bassist Klaus Voormann says that he was never more proud of Harrison than when he took charge of The Concert For Bangladesh concert at the urging of friend Ravi Shankar.
- One of Harrison's closest friends, Eric Clapton, was on hand to witness the birth of one of Harrison's greatest Beatles-era classics.
- Clapton said that it might have taken Harrison's death to show people just how great he really was.
- Tom Petty credits George Harrison for teaching him how to play the ukulele during the 1988 sessions for the first Traveling Wilburys album.
- Toto guitarist Steve Lukather recalled developing a dream-come-true friendship with Harrison in the 1990's while out in California.
- Ringo Starr spoke about his final meeting with Harrison only weeks before his death.
- Olivia Harrison spoke about the ultimate moment of George's passing.
CHECK IT OUT: Harrison leading the Beatles through "Roll Over Beethoven" their opening number at the first U.S. concert on February 11th, 1964 in Washington, D.C.
CHECK IT OUT: "My Sweet Lord" from 1971's The Concert For Bangladesh.
CHECK IT OUT: Harrison and Paul Simon performing "Here Comes The Sun" in 1976 on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
FLASHBACK:
THE BEATLES RELEASE 'THE WHITE ALBUM'
THE BEATLES RELEASE 'THE WHITE ALBUM'
It was 43 years ago Tuesday (November 22nd, 1968) that the Beatles released their 30-song self-titled double album, which was commonly known as The White Album. The album's release followed the group's extended stay in Rishikesh, India where they studied transcendental meditation under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Most of the songs from the The White Album were written while the group was in India, including "Back In The U.S.S.R.," "Yer Blues," "I Will," "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill," 'Revolution 1," "Rocky Raccoon," "I'm So Tired," "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da," "Dear Prudence," "Mother Nature's Son," and John Lennon's thinly-veiled attack on the Maharishi, titled "Sexy Sadie."
Other highlights on the album included Eric Clapton guesting on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Julia," "Helter Skelter," "Glass Onion," "Martha My Dear," "Birthday," and Ringo Starr's first composition, the country-flavored "Don't Pass Me By."
Several songs originally intended for the The White Album turned up on later solo albums, such as "Junk," which Paul McCartney released on his 1970 solo debut McCartney; "Child Of Nature," which Lennon rewrote as "Jealous Guy" for his 1971 album Imagine; "Not Guilty," which made its way onto Harrison's 1979 self-titled album; "Circles," which saw release on his 1982 album Gone Troppo; and McCartney's "Cosmically Conscious" which appeared on 1993's Off The Ground album -- with an extended version appearing on the B-side of the title track's single.
Paul Saltzman, the author of the photo book, The Beatles In India, spent weeks within the group's inner circle at the Maharishi's ashram. He says that he never so much as saw the Beatles smoke a cigarette -- let alone partake in any illicit drugs.
In a sick example of the Beatles' growing influence in popular culture, Charles Manson and his "family" members credited The White Album as their inspiration for the vicious August 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles.
- Producer George Martin says that the album still sounds more like the work of four solo artists rather than one unified band.
- Martin recalls that the material seemed to not be up to their usual standards when they first presented it to him.
- Paul McCartney doesn't buy into Martin's revisionist beliefs that it could have made a single album on par with Revolver and other single-disc Beatles masterpieces.
- George Harrison defended the group's decision to release a 30-song album.
- The Beatles' chief engineer Geoff Emerick -- who was the first engineer to score a Grammy for his work on Sgt. Pepper -- says that the band finally moving to an eight-track recording console for The White Album changed the way Beatles records were mixed forever.
- With tensions in the band so high, Geoff Emerick quit the sessions rather than face further attacks by the band. Engineer Chris Thomas stepped in and later went on to produce key albums for the Sex Pistols, the Pretenders, Pete Townshend and McCartney. Emerick was asked if he ever regretted his decision to miss out on engineering White Album and Let It Be classics such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Back In The U.S.S.R.," and later on, "Get Back" and "The Long And Winding Road"
- Beatlefan magazine executive editor Al Sussman recalls at the time that less than a year after Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles had amazingly dropped all vestiges of psychedelic production.
The group's biggest hit, "Hey Jude" -- and its B-side, "Revolution" -- were both recorded during sessions for The White Album, but were left off the album after being released as a single the previous August.
The Beatles' White Album hit Number One on December 28th, 1968 and went on to top the charts for nine non-consecutive weeks.
DID YOU KNOW???
- The White Album was released five years to the day of the Beatles' second album -- 1963's With The Beatles. -- which was released the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated???
- During sessions for The White Album, Ringo Starr quit the group and took an impromptu family vacation to Sardinia. While there he wrote "Octopus' Garden." In his absence, Paul McCartney drummed on "Back In The U.S.S.R" and "Dear Prudence."
- The White Album holds the distinction of being the first album to feature the Beatles' wives -- or soon-to-be wives -- on the actual recordings: Yoko Ono sings a line on "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill" and Yoko along with George Harrison's then-wife Pattie Boyd sings backup on "Birthday."
- The night that Linda McCartney -- then Linda Eastman -- moved into McCartney's St. John's Wood townhouse, he came home in the early morning hours and played her a rough-mix acetate of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun."
- George Martin left midway through the sessions and appointed his assistant Chris Thomas as the de-facto producer. Although Thomas produced a good portion of The White Album, he received no production credits. Thomas also played the harpsichord on "Piggies" and the harmonium on "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill."
- The White Album was originally going to be titled A Doll's House after Henrik Ibsen's play -- but was changed when they found out it was already taken by another band.
- The song "Julia" is the only song in the Beatles' entire catalog to feature John Lennon performing solo.
- Although the album was released on the band's new Apple label, they weren't actually signed to Apple. Capitol/EMI, which the Beatles were under contract to, also distributed Apple and permitted the band use the famed logo for their own recordings too.
- Throughout the years, a grand total of 12 of the songs recorded during the White Album sessions have been performed live by the former Beatles -- John Lennon performed "Yer Blues," Ringo Starr performed "Don't Pass Me By"; George Harrison performed "Piggies" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"; and Paul McCartney has performed "Back In The U.S.S.R," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," "Blackbird," "I Will," "Birthday," "Mother Nature's Son," "Helter Skelter," and "Hey Jude."
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles' 2009 White Album, mini-documentary:
CHECK IT OUT: The Beatles in the studio during 1968's White Album sessions recording "Hey Jude":
CHECK IT OUT: Paul McCartney running through "Helter Skelter" during 1968 White Album sessions:
CHECK IT OUT: Paul McCartney performing "Blackbird" live in 1976:
CHECK IT OUT: George Harrison performing "Piggies" live in 1992:
CHECK IT OUT: Ringo Starr performing "Don't Pass Me By" live in 2005:
The History of The Beatles
EVERY WEEK: IT'S BEATLES WEDNESDAY
ON 92.9 STAR-FM
MUSIC OF THE FAB FOUR EVERY HOUR!
WEDNESDAY 11/16 WE'RE PLAYING
Beatles #1 songs
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND JANUARY 1964 7 WEEKS
SHE LOVES YOU FEBRUARY 1964 2 WEEKS
CAN’T BUY ME LOVE APRIL 1964 5 WEEKS
LOVE ME DO MAY 1964 1 WEEK
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT AUGUST 1964 2 WEEKS
I FEEL FINE DECEMBER 1964-JANUARY 1965 3 WEEKS
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK MARCH 1965 2 WEEKS
TICKET TO RIDE MAY 1965 1 WEEK
HELP! SEPTEMBER 1965 3 WEEKS
YESTERDAY OCTOBER 1965 4 WEEKS
WE CAN WORK IT OUT JANUARY 1966 3 WEEKS
PAPERBACK WRITER JUNE 1966 2 WEEKS
PENNY LANE MARCH 1967 1 WEEK
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE AUGUST 1967 1 WEEK
HELLO GOODBYE DECEMBER 1967 3 WEEKS
HEY JUDE SEPTEMBER 1968 9 WEEKS
GET BACK MAY 1969 5 WEEKS
COME TOGETHER NOVEMBER 1969 1 WEEK
LET IT BE APRIL 1970 2 WEEKS
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD JUNE 1970 2 WEEKS
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