Beatle News

Ascot Acres

Within the next ten weeks John and Yoko will move house to take up residence in what John describes as "a functional country pad" close to Ascot.

He bought their new Tittenhurst Park Georgian mansion early last month for a tidy figure approaching £150,000!

For this sum he gets seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, three main reception rooms, a lodge, a pair of staff apartments, four terraced cottages, a Tudor-style tea pavilion, a heated swimming pool and just over 70 acres of very splendid garden and park land surrounding the actual "functional country pad".

Unlike the previous Tittenhurst Park residents, John and Yoko will not be opening their lovely grounds to the public. Their next door neighbour will be dress designer Norman Hartnell.

Wedding Album

Recorded in Amsterdam, John And Yoko's Wedding LP album is to be issued by Apple in August as a limited edition of about 15,000 copies in a special presentation box. Apart from the LP record there will be a jig-saw puzzle, wedding and honeymoon photographs and poems by John to Yoko.

First two from Zapple

Apple's just-launched second label, Zapple, has got off to a fascinating start with special albums by John and Yoko (Life With The Lions; Unfinished Music No. 2: Zapple 01) and George's Electronic Sounds (Zapple 02).

John spent plenty of time actively promoting the new label with a series of radio and TV interviews which included How Late It Is, Scene And Heard and John Peel's programme plus a set of voice tapes for Radio Luxembourg.

George's Electronic Sounds was recorded partly in Los Angeles and partly at George's own home. It has no singing and is not divided into tracks. It features George, coaxing from his fantastic music-making machine, a Moog Synthesiser, an incredible range of sounds. George painted both front and back of the LP sleeve himself.

Paul writes Mortimer Single

Paul's specially penned new number On Our Way Home is to be on the top deck of a single to launch Apple's American teenage trio Mortimer. The three New York boys--Guy Masson, Tony Van Benschoten and Tom Smith--play acoustic guitars and conga drums. Their Apple single will be issued at the end of this month or early in July. It is being delayed so that it goes into the shops just before the Beatles' next LP album--which will also carry the Beatles' own version of On Our Way Home.

Ringo in New York

Beatles man Peter Brown and Apple press officer Derek Taylor spent the second week of May in New York preparing for Ringo's Stateside stay during location filming for "The Magic Christian". A luxury apartment was rented so that Ringo could relax with Maureen after each day's 13-hour stint in front of the cameras.

Ringo and Maureen chose to sail rather than fly, leaving Britain aboard the QE2 with their children Zak and Jason on May 16.

John and Yoko went along with them "just for company"!

Beatles' New L.P.: Latest

At press-time Apple Records' executive Tony Bramwell was hopeful that everything would be ready in time to set a mid-July release date, although this cannot be confirmed until all four Beatles have expressed full satisfaction with the re-mixed tapes.

Stop Press

John has produced a special TV film clip to promote the Beatles May 30 single release The Ballad Of John And Yoko . . . Paul and Linda spent the last few days of May in the South of France and are now vacationing in Greece.