Taped: Wednesday 15 April 1964
Aired: Wednesday 18 May 1964
On April 15, 1964, Paul McCartney was interviewed by David Frost for a BBC1 television show, A Degree Of Frost.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
"And Your Bird Can Sing" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Original Manuscript, "You Don't Get Me" (1966)
You tell me that you've got everything you want
And your bird can sing
But you don't get me
You say you've seen 7 wonders
And your bird is green
But you can't see me
When your prized possessions start
to weigh you down
look inthe my direction
I'll be 'round, I'll be 'round.
You tell me that you've heard every sound
there is
And your bird can swing
But you can't hear me
When your bird is broken
and will it bring you down
you may be awoken
I'll be 'round, I'll be 'round.
Paul McCartney
As Released by the Beatles (1966)
You tell me that you've got everything you want
And your bird can sing
But you don't get me, you don't get me.
You say you've seen seven wonders
And your bird is green
But you can't see me, you can't see me.
When your prized possessions start to weigh you down
Look in my direction
I'll be round, I'll be round.
When your bird is broken will it bring you down?
You may be awoken
I'll be round, I'll be round.
You tell me that you've heard every sound there is
And your bird can swing
But you can't hear me, you can't hear me.
Original Manuscript, "You Don't Get Me" (1966)
You tell me that you've got everything you want
And your bird can sing
But you don't get me
You say you've seen 7 wonders
And your bird is green
But you can't see me
When your prized possessions start
to weigh you down
look in
I'll be 'round, I'll be 'round.
You tell me that you've heard every sound
there is
And your bird can swing
But you can't hear me
When your bird is broken
you may be awoken
I'll be 'round, I'll be 'round.
Paul McCartney
As Released by the Beatles (1966)
You tell me that you've got everything you want
And your bird can sing
But you don't get me, you don't get me.
You say you've seen seven wonders
And your bird is green
But you can't see me, you can't see me.
When your prized possessions start to weigh you down
Look in my direction
I'll be round, I'll be round.
When your bird is broken will it bring you down?
You may be awoken
I'll be round, I'll be round.
You tell me that you've heard every sound there is
And your bird can swing
But you can't hear me, you can't hear me.
The Quarry-Men - The Dawn of Modern Rock
Label: Pilz 449830-2Year: 1993
1. Hallelujah, I Love Her So (2:23)
2. The One After 909 (2:29)
3. I'll Always Be In Love With You (2:22)
4. You'll Always Be Mine (1:46)
5. Matchbox (1:02)
6. You Just Don't Understand (2:30)
7. Somedays (1:37)
8. Thinking Of Linking (instrumental) (2:32)
9. I'll Follow The Sun (1:49)
10. The One After 909 (1:32)
11. Hey Darling (3:23)
12. You Must Lie Everyday (2:34)
13. Guitar Bop (instrumental) (2:20)
14. That's When Your Heartaches Begin (1:19)
15. Hello Little Girl (1:55)
16. That'll Be The Day (0:45)
Historical Collectors Series
Limited Edition
Rehearsal Demo Recorded
April 1960
Friday, July 17, 2009
"Girl" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
As Released by the Beatles (1965)
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day.
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
When I think of all the times I tried so hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry
And she promises the earth to me and I believe her
After all this time I don't know why.
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
She's the kind of girl who puts you down
((Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit))
When friends are there, you feel a fool.
((Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit))
When you say she's looking good
((Tit, tit, tit, tit))
She acts as if it's understood
((Tit, tit, tit, tit))
She's cool - ooo-ooo-ooo.
((Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit))
Girl - (girl) girl.
Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead?
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
As Released by the Beatles (1965)
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day.
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
When I think of all the times I tried so hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry
And she promises the earth to me and I believe her
After all this time I don't know why.
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
She's the kind of girl who puts you down
((Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit))
When friends are there, you feel a fool.
((Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit))
When you say she's looking good
((Tit, tit, tit, tit))
She acts as if it's understood
((Tit, tit, tit, tit))
She's cool - ooo-ooo-ooo.
((Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit, tit))
Girl - (girl) girl.
Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead?
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
Ah, girl - (girl) girl.
The Making of "Hey Jude"
by Mal EvansOn Friday, July 26, John and Paul spent most of the day at Paul's house putting the final touches to their latest composition, "Hey Jude." The following Monday evening at EMI they began to rehearse it with George and Ringo.
The next night we had a load of film people in to take movies of the "Hey Jude" session at EMI for a 50-minute feature about the national music of Britain.
Then, on the Wednesday, we moved from EMI to Trident which is where the rest of the work was done on "Hey Jude." In fact a fresh version of the number was started from scratch with George on electric guitar, Paul on piano and Ringo playing the tambourine. To the first backing tracks Paul added his solo vocal and then the others joined him to put on the harmony stuff.
On Thursday, August 1, we imported a 40-piece orchestra, the largest group of accompaniment musicians we'd used since the Beatles did "A Day In The Life" for Sgt. Pepper well over a year ago. As you all know by now "Hey Jude" starts out as a plaintive ballad with Paul's voice well up in front of a fairly simple backing. Then the arrangement begins to build up towards an exciting climax. That's where the big orchestra came in. Mostly they just held single notes for long periods to underline and emphasise the whole atmosphere of the recording.
Towards the end of the evening we decided to make double use of the 40 musicians by asking them if they'd like to do a bit of singing and clap their hands. They were quite pleased to oblige and the entire orchestra stood up, clapped and sang their "la-la-la" bits under Paul's close supervision!
So "Hey Jude" was finished that night at the end of a highly spectacular session. The next day we went back to Trident to do the final "remix" job on the tapes and by Friday afternoon we had the first rough discs, the advance acetates as they are called, back up at the Apple offices for everyone to hear.
I can't go into great detail about most of the other July and August sessions just yet because they were all in connection with the next LP and the titles are still "hush-hush" until a bit nearer the release date. All I can say is that there's some terrific material on tape, more than half the LP is ready and the rest of the tracks are being done this month. Ringo has recorded two titles--the one he wrote himself and another which John and Paul did for him and which has a 30-piece orchestra, choir and even a harp on it! And, of course, there's a new George Harrison specialty. One of the new numbers Paul wrote turned into a 24-minute recording, a right old jam session, with John playing bass guitar just for a change. Doubt if it will still be 24-minutes long by the time it reaches the LP because it would fill most of one side if it did!
Beatle People: Maureen Starkey
Maureen Cox Starkey (4 August 1946–30 December 1994) was the first wife of The Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr. They married in 1965 and divorced in 1975. The couple had three children, Zak, Jason and Lee.Early life
Mary Cox was born in Liverpool, England, the only child of Joseph Cox, a ship steward, and his wife Florence Barrett. Mary left school at 16 and changed her name to Maureen when she began her career as a trainee hairdresser in Liverpool. She was also known as "Mitch" to her friends.
Maureen became a regular at the Cavern Club, where The Beatles often played. She developed a crush on the new drummer, and seeing him on the street one day, chased after him. She got his autograph and wrote his "car" license number on her exercise book. It was not until three weeks later that Ringo took any notice of her. Once he did, they went out regularly together on his days off. After they began dating, she would still go to Cavern performances to watch the Beatles, but it was getting more and more dangerous for her to go. As Cox recalled in 1967:
“(The girls) used to hang around the Cavern all day long, just on the off chance of seeing them. They'd come out of the lunchtime session and just stand outside all afternoon, queuing up for the evening.... The object was to get as near the front row as possible, so that they could see the Beatles, and be seen. I never joined the queue till about two or three hours before the Cavern opened. It frightened me. There would be fights and rows among the girls. When the doors opened the first ones would tear in, knocking each other over. Then when it got near the time for the Beatles to come on, if there was a gang of four say, they would go off in turns to the lavatory with their little cases to get changed and made up. So when the Beatles came on they'd look smashing, as if they'd just arrived...They were obviously dying to be noticed and get to know one of them. But no, it was really just everything about being there. It was terrible, the mad screams when they came on....”
Maureen's life became regularly threatened when some of the fans figured out that she was dating Ringo. She was viciously scratched on the face by a fan on February 14, 1963 as she was waiting in Ringo's car outside the Locarno where the Beatles played that night. She got the window up just in time or she feared she would have been killed.
Maureen and Ringo saw each other less as the Beatles' fame grew. Ringo moved to London while she stayed in Liverpool with her parents. Maureen was not well known in the press until she went on a Caribbean holiday with Ringo, Paul McCartney, and Paul's girlfriend, Jane Asher in May 1964. She told her parents she was going to visit Ringo in London for a few days but suddenly her name and pictures were all over the British tabloids. Maureen's father, Joe Cox, commented: “It really did not surprise my wife or myself when we learned she was half way across the world. In any case it wouldn't have made any difference. I would have given her permission anyway. Maureen is a sensible girl and well able to take care of herself.”
Previously, in September 1963, Maureen, with her parents' permission, had holidayed in Greece with Ringo, Paul and Jane Asher—their last peaceful and anonymous vacation before the Beatles' fame made privacy impossible.
In Liverpool, Maureen had assisted at the Beatles Fan Club since 1962 and answered lots of Ringo's fan mail. Parents would write back thanking her for being so nice to their daughters. After their Caribbean holiday, Ringo introduced Maureen to the press, announcing she was now his private secretary and would be helping his parents with his personal fan mail.
In June 1964, Ringo collapsed, suffering from tonsilitis, at a photo studio just before tours to Amsterdam and Australia. Maureen and Ringo's mother rushed from Liverpool and stayed at his London flat until he was released from the hospital, free to join the Beatles on the remainder of their Australian tour. In December 1964, Maureen was by Ringo's side when he went back into the hospital to have his troublesome tonsils removed. She secretly visited and brought him ice cream, remaining with him in London through Christmas. By January 1965, Ringo went down on one knee and proposed to Maureen at the Ad Lib Club in London.
Marriage to Ringo
The eighteen-year-old Cox married Ringo Starr on February 11, 1965. Their first child, Zak Starkey, was born on September 13, 1965. They had two more children, Jason on August 19, 1967 and Lee on November 11, 1970. During this time, Maureen was very much a part of Ringo's life and they did everything together. She sang backup vocals on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and was in attendance at the rooftop concert in 1969 (Paul can be heard saying "Thanks Mo" in reference to Maureen's cheering after the final performance of "Get Back".)
The very first song in the Beatles' Apple Records catalog was a special private recording sung by Frank Sinatra as a favor to Ringo Starr as a 22nd birthday gift for Maureen in 1968. Sammy Cahn rewrote Lorenz Hart's lyrics to "The Lady Is a Tramp" and personalized them about Maureen (who was a great Sinatra fan). Sinatra recorded the song in Los Angeles, and only a few copies were pressed before the master tape was destroyed. Ringo surprised Maureen with the one-of-a-kind single on August 4, 1968.
Despite all of the marriage problems the couple faced, such as Maureen's affair with George Harrison, which is mentioned in Pattie Boyd's biography Wonderful Tonight, Maureen Starkey did not want a divorce. Her husband, however, simply wanted out. Maureen eventually accepted. On July 17, 1975, the divorce was finalized on the grounds of Ringo's affair with an American model, Nancy Lee Andrews.
In her book John, John Lennon's first wife, Cynthia, wrote that after her divorce from Ringo, Maureen was so upset that she rode a motorbike at full speed into a brick wall and required plastic surgery to repair injuries to her face.
Post-Ringo
Maureen gradually created a new life for herself and the children but the Starkeys remained a family unit. A friend commented: "Ringo never lost that place in his heart for Maureen. He'd only lost that person that fell in love with her." On the third anniversary of their divorce in 1978 Ringo and Maureen with their children attended a party together setting off press speculation that they were reconciling. Maureen married Isaac Tigrett, of Hard Rock Cafe and House of Blues fame, on May 27, 1989 in Monaco. They had one daughter together: Augusta King Tigrett, born January 4, 1987 in Dallas, Texas.
Death
Maureen died of complications related to leukemia treatment at age 48 on 30 December 1994 in Seattle, Washington. She had recently received bone marrow from her son Zak. Her four children, mother Flo, husband Isaac Tigrett and ex-husband Ringo were all at her bedside when she died. Ringo was devastated by her death and a friend commented to the press: "She took a part of Ringo with her when she died last week. There was so much of Ringo that he had lost over the years which only Maureen held in her heart." McCartney wrote the song "Little Willow," which appears on his 1997 album Flaming Pie, as a tribute to her memory, and he dedicated it to her children.
Wikipedia
Thursday, July 16, 2009
"Paperback Writer" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Original Manuscript (1966)
Dear Sir (or Madam) (INTROD.)
Will you read my book. It took me years to write,
will you take a look. It's based on a novel by a man named
Lear, and I need a job, so I want to be a paperback
writer. RIFF TWICE
It's a dirty story of a dirty man, and his clinging
wife doesn't understand. His son is working for the
Daily Mail. It's a steady job, but he wants to be
a paperback writer. (INTROD) RIFF ONCE
It's a thousand pages, give or take a few, I'll be
writing more in a week or two. I could make it
longer, if you like the style, I can change it round
and I want to be a paperback writer. RIFF.
If you really like it you can have the rights,
and it could make a million for you overnight.
If you must return it you can send it here,
but I need a break, and I want to be a paperback
writer.
Your Sincerely, Ian Iachimoe.
As Released by the Beatles (1966)
Paperback writer ((paperback writer)) paperback writer.
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job
So I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer.
It's a dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand.
His son is working for the Daily Mail
It's a steady job
But he wants to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer.
Paperback writer ((paperback writer)) paperback writer.
It's a thousand pages, give or take a few, ((Frère))
I'll be writing more in a week or two. ((Jacques))
I can make it longer if you like the style, ((Frère))
I can change it round, ((Jacques))
And I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer.
If you really like it you can have the rights, ((Frère))
It could make a million for you overnight. ((Jacques))
If you must return it you can send it here, ((Frère))
But I need a break, ((Jacques))
And I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.
Paperback writer ((paperback writer)) paperback writer.
(Paperback)
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback...
Original Manuscript (1966)Dear Sir (or Madam) (INTROD.)
Will you read my book. It took me years to write,
will you take a look. It's based on a novel by a man named
Lear, and I need a job, so I want to be a paperback
writer. RIFF TWICE
It's a dirty story of a dirty man, and his clinging
wife doesn't understand. His son is working for the
Daily Mail. It's a steady job, but he wants to be
a paperback writer. (INTROD) RIFF ONCE
It's a thousand pages, give or take a few, I'll be
writing more in a week or two. I could make it
longer, if you like the style, I can change it round
and I want to be a paperback writer. RIFF.
If you really like it you can have the rights,
and it could make a million for you overnight.
If you must return it you can send it here,
but I need a break, and I want to be a paperback
writer.
Your Sincerely, Ian Iachimoe.
As Released by the Beatles (1966)
Paperback writer ((paperback writer)) paperback writer.
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job
So I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer.
It's a dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand.
His son is working for the Daily Mail
It's a steady job
But he wants to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer.
Paperback writer ((paperback writer)) paperback writer.
It's a thousand pages, give or take a few, ((Frère))
I'll be writing more in a week or two. ((Jacques))
I can make it longer if you like the style, ((Frère))
I can change it round, ((Jacques))
And I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer.
If you really like it you can have the rights, ((Frère))
It could make a million for you overnight. ((Jacques))
If you must return it you can send it here, ((Frère))
But I need a break, ((Jacques))
And I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.
Paperback writer ((paperback writer)) paperback writer.
(Paperback)
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback writer) paperback writer.
(Paperback...
Beatle People: Olivia Harrison
Olivia Trinidad Arias (born May 18, 1948 in Mexico City, Mexico), aka Olivia Harrison, is the widow of George Harrison, former member of The Beatles. They had one son together, Dhani Harrison.She is the daughter of dry-cleaner Esiquiel Arias, and his wife Mary Louise, who worked as a seamstress. She has brothers named Ron and Gilbert and sisters named Chris and Linda. Olivia attended Hawthorne High School and graduated in 1965. She later worked as a secretary at A&M Records, where George Harrison happened to hold a recording contract. Olivia attended Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach's wedding in 1981 without her wedding ring giving rise to speculation that her marriage to Harrison was a hoax. This is not true: her parents attended their private wedding ceremony at Henley-on-Thames Register Office in England. George's brothers at Friar Park were not invited. George always referred to her by her maiden name, Arias, on all his original albums and even named her "my wife Arias" in a Musician Magazine article, c.1991.
Olivia, together with Beatles' wives Linda McCartney, Yoko Ono and Barbara Bach, has been involved with the Romanian Angel Appeal since the early 1990s, which has raised millions of dollars to provide aid for children living in devastation. She reveals her concerns for the Romanian orphans in this quotation (from her appearance on "Wogan", transmitted 22 June 1990): "It was sort of a gradual assault on my conscience. It was slowly wearing away at me and I decided that perhaps we should try to raise some money...I went to Romania and was just overwhelmed, devastated and shocked by the situation."
Olivia Harrison produced The Concert For George in her husband's memory in 2002. This concert was sold out at London's Royal Albert Hall and featured many musicians such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr, and many more, including the first worldwide exposure of her son Dhani. She has received a Grammy Award in 2005 as a producer for the music video of the show in the Best Long Form Music Video category.
Wikipedia
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
"Getting Better" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
As Released by the Beatles (1967)
... Four, five, six...
It's getting better all the time.
I used to get mad at my school (now I can't complain)
The teachers who taught me weren't cool (now I can't complain)
You're holding me down (aah) turning me round (aah)
Filling me up with your rules.
I've got to admit it's getting better (better)
A little better all the time (it can't get no worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (better)
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Me used to be angry young man
Me hiding me head in the sand
You gave me the word
I finally heard
I'm doing the best that I can.
I've got to admit it's getting better (better)
A little better all the time (it can't get no worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (better)
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Getting so much better all the time.
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better.
I used to be cruel to my woman
I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved
Man I was mean but I'm changing my scene
And I'm doing the best that I can.
I admit it's getting better (better)
A little better all the time (it can't get no worse)
Yes I admit it's getting better (better)
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Getting so much better all the time.
As Released by the Beatles (1967)
... Four, five, six...
It's getting better all the time.
I used to get mad at my school (now I can't complain)
The teachers who taught me weren't cool (now I can't complain)
You're holding me down (aah) turning me round (aah)
Filling me up with your rules.
I've got to admit it's getting better (better)
A little better all the time (it can't get no worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (better)
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Me used to be angry young man
Me hiding me head in the sand
You gave me the word
I finally heard
I'm doing the best that I can.
I've got to admit it's getting better (better)
A little better all the time (it can't get no worse)
I have to admit it's getting better (better)
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Getting so much better all the time.
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better
It's getting better all the time
Better, better, better.
I used to be cruel to my woman
I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved
Man I was mean but I'm changing my scene
And I'm doing the best that I can.
I admit it's getting better (better)
A little better all the time (it can't get no worse)
Yes I admit it's getting better (better)
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Getting so much better all the time.
June 6, 1972 - Mary Had a Little Lamb
Taped: Tuesday 6 June 1972
Wings shoot a new videotape clip for 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherds Bush, London. This clip, which features the band miming the song at what is supposed to be the bottom of a hill with Paul playing the piano, all intercut with animated sequences to illustrate the lyrics, is inserted into programme eight of the latest series of the long-running children's programme The Basil Brush Show, transmitted on BBC1 on Saturday June 24 between 5:00 and 5:29pm. Hosted by Derek Fowlds, the comedy show also features contributions by The Roger Stevenson Marionettes and The Bert Hayes Sextet. During the taping session, Paul is informed by a member of the Joe Lights lighting company that the lyrics to the 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' song were the first words ever recorded by Thomas Edison when he invented the phonograph back in 1877.
To aid with the promotions for 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'; Wings appear in two further video clips. The first features the group miming the song in a barnyard setting. Paul is seen playing the song on the piano while a hen perches on top of it. Linda is seen cuddling a lamb and then singing the song while playing bongos. The second performance, affectionately called the "psychedelic version", features Wings performing the song in matching orange T-shirts and dungarees, with strikingly bright blue, yellow, black and red colours appearing in the background. Incidentally, Nicholas Ferguson, who first met Paul on the set of Ready Steady Go! in the sixties, directs all three of the above versions. He also directed The Beatles Intertel studio promotional films on November 23, 1965.
Wings shoot a new videotape clip for 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherds Bush, London. This clip, which features the band miming the song at what is supposed to be the bottom of a hill with Paul playing the piano, all intercut with animated sequences to illustrate the lyrics, is inserted into programme eight of the latest series of the long-running children's programme The Basil Brush Show, transmitted on BBC1 on Saturday June 24 between 5:00 and 5:29pm. Hosted by Derek Fowlds, the comedy show also features contributions by The Roger Stevenson Marionettes and The Bert Hayes Sextet. During the taping session, Paul is informed by a member of the Joe Lights lighting company that the lyrics to the 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' song were the first words ever recorded by Thomas Edison when he invented the phonograph back in 1877.
To aid with the promotions for 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'; Wings appear in two further video clips. The first features the group miming the song in a barnyard setting. Paul is seen playing the song on the piano while a hen perches on top of it. Linda is seen cuddling a lamb and then singing the song while playing bongos. The second performance, affectionately called the "psychedelic version", features Wings performing the song in matching orange T-shirts and dungarees, with strikingly bright blue, yellow, black and red colours appearing in the background. Incidentally, Nicholas Ferguson, who first met Paul on the set of Ready Steady Go! in the sixties, directs all three of the above versions. He also directed The Beatles Intertel studio promotional films on November 23, 1965.
John Lennon: 1968
By Jonathan Cott/November 23, 1968 The interview took place at John Lennon and Yoko Ono's temporary basement flat in London - flat where Jimi Hendrix, Ringo Starr and William Burroughs, among others, have stayed. But the flat seemed as much John and Yoko's as the Indian incense that took over the living room. The walls were covered with photos of John, of Yoko, a giant Sgt. Pepper ensign, Richard Chamberlain's poster collage of news clippings of the Stones bust, the Time magazine cover of the Beatles.
We arrived at five on the afternoon of September 17, said hello to gallery owner Robert Fraser, who had arranged the interview, and to John and Yoko, sitting together, looking "très bien ensemble." We sat down around a simple wooden table covered with magazines, newspapers, sketch paper, boxes, drawings, a beaded necklace shaped in the form of a pentangle.
John said he had to be at a recording session in half an hour, so we talked for a while about John's show at the Fraser Gallery.
When we arrived the next afternoon, September 18, John was walking around the room, humming what sounded like "Hold Me Tight" - just singing the song to the air. Old Fifties 45s were scattered about the floor, and John played Rosie and the Originals' version of "Give Me Love." We talked about the lyrics of Gene Vincent's "Woman Love." In spite of having slept only two hours, John asked us to sit down on the floor and begin the interview.
Any suspicions that John would be ornery, mean, cruel or brutish - feelings attributed to him and imagined by press reports and various paranoiac personalities - never arose even for the purpose of being pressed down. As John said simply about the interview: "There's nothing more fun than talking about your own songs and your own records. I mean, you can't help it, it's your bit, really. We talk about them together. Remember that."
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
"Get Back" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
As Released by the Beatles (1969)
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last.
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Jojo.
Go home.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Oh get back Jo.
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
But she was another man.
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
But she gets it while she can.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Loretta (wuh - wuh).
Go home.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Yeah get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Ooo - ow, ow!
Get back Loretta
Your mommy's waiting for you
Wearing her high-heel shoes
And a low-neck sweater.
Get back home Loretta.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Oh get back, get back yeah, yeah!
Get back - oh yeah.
Jojo, Loretta.
As Released by the Beatles (1970)
Rosetta.
Sweet Loretta Fart she thought she was a cleaner
But she was a frying pan ((sweet Loretta Martin)).
Yeah ((Rosetta)).
The picker - the picker, picture the fingers going (ooo me).
OK one, two, three, four.
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last.
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Jojo.
Go home.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Oh get back Jo.
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
But she was another man.
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
But she gets it while she can.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Loretta (wuh - wuh).
Go home.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Yeah get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back - ooo!
Thanks Mo.
I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves
And I hope we passed the audition.
As Released by the Beatles (1969)
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last.
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Jojo.
Go home.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Oh get back Jo.
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
But she was another man.
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
But she gets it while she can.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Loretta (wuh - wuh).
Go home.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Yeah get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Ooo - ow, ow!
Get back Loretta
Your mommy's waiting for you
Wearing her high-heel shoes
And a low-neck sweater.
Get back home Loretta.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Oh get back, get back yeah, yeah!
Get back - oh yeah.
Jojo, Loretta.
As Released by the Beatles (1970)
Rosetta.
Sweet Loretta Fart she thought she was a cleaner
But she was a frying pan ((sweet Loretta Martin)).
Yeah ((Rosetta)).
The picker - the picker, picture the fingers going (ooo me).
OK one, two, three, four.
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last.
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Jojo.
Go home.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Oh get back Jo.
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
But she was another man.
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
But she gets it while she can.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back Loretta (wuh - wuh).
Go home.
Oh get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Yeah get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back - ooo!
Thanks Mo.
I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves
And I hope we passed the audition.
Holy Grail Recording #1 - We Can Work It Out (live) (1965)
In this series, In The Life Of...The Beatles presents the top 10 unreleased recordings of the Beatles.In my personal opinion, the most desirable unreleased recording of the Beatles is a live performance of "We Can Work It Out" -- which may not exist at all. Perhaps the rarest of Beatles live songs, "We Can Work It Out" was performed for a brief time during the Beatles' British tour in December 1965, following the release of the double-A-sided "We Can Work It Out"/"Day Tripper."
Unless some enterprising person recorded this using a portable tape recorder (itself somewhat of a rarity in 1965), then a live performance of this song may be lost to history. It would be interesting to hear how the harmonies translated in a live setting of this wonderful song -- a great single and a true Lennon/McCartney collaboration. For now, all we have are pictures from the tour, showing both Paul and John on organ (presented at right) and Robert Murray's attempt at coming up with what it may have sounded like, presented below, along with the Beatles miming the song from the television special, The Music of Lennon & McCartney.
Beatle People: Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney (née Eastman, formerly See, 24 September 1941 – 17 April 1998) was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her mother and father were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman, heiress to the Lindner Department Store fortune.She married Paul McCartney of The Beatles on 12 March 1969, and was a member of Wings. The McCartneys had four children together: Heather Louise (from her previous marriage, whom Paul McCartney adopted in 1969), Mary Anna, Stella and James Louis. Linda became Lady McCartney when her husband was knighted in 1997.
McCartney wrote several vegetarian cookbooks, became a business entrepreneur (starting the Linda McCartney Foods company) and was a professional photographer, publishing Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era. McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, and died at the age of 56 on 17 April 1998 at the McCartney family ranch in Tucson, Arizona. She left her entire estate to her husband through what is known as a Qualified Domestic Trust Fund, which allows deferral of estate taxes due on her assets until after her husband's death.
Early years
McCartney was born Linda Louise Eastman, the second-eldest of four children, to Jewish-American parents in New York City. She had one older brother, John (10 July 1939) and two younger sisters, Laura (born 1947) and Louise Jr. (born 1950). She grew up in the wealthy Scarsdale area of Westchester County, New York and graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1960. Her father was the son of Jewish-Russian immigrants. He changed his name from Leopold Vail Epstein to Lee Eastman, but was not related to the Eastman Kodak family. He was songwriter Jack Lawrence's attorney, and at his request, Lawrence wrote a song called, "Linda," in honor of the five-year-old, which was recorded by Buddy Clark in 1947. Her mother Louise Sara Lindner Eastman—heiress to the Lindner Department Store fortune—died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 1 in Queens, New York, in 1962. McCartney later said that because of her mother's death, she hated traveling in airplanes. McCartney studied for a Fine Art major at the University of Arizona. Her first marriage was to John Melvin See Jr., whom she met at college. They married on 18 June 1962, and their daughter Heather Louise was born on December 31, 1962. They were divorced in June 1965. McCartney later commented that See was a "nice man, a geologist, an Ernest Hemingway type." See committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 19, 2000, at his home in Tucson. John Eastman later became Paul McCartney's lawyer and manager, taking over from his father.
Photography
McCartney started work as a receptionist for the Town & Country magazine, and was the only unofficial photographer on board the SS Sea Panther yacht on the Hudson River who was allowed to take photographs of The Rolling Stones during a record promotion party. Although she had previously only studied the photography of horses in Arizona at an arts centre with a teacher, Hazel Archer, she was later asked to be the house photographer at the Fillmore East concert hall, and supposedly became a popular groupie. She photographed artists such as Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, The Doors, and Neil Young (Linda photographed Young in 1967 — the picture was used for the front cover of Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 (2008)). She photographed Clapton for Rolling Stone magazine, becoming the first woman to have a photo featured on the front cover (11 May 1968). She and McCartney also appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone on 31 January 1974, making her the only person both to have taken a photo for, and to have been photographed, for the front cover of the magazine. Her photographs were later exhibited in more than 50 galleries internationally, as well as at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A collection of photographs from that time, Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era, was published in 1993.
Paul McCartney and children
On 15 May 1967, the then Linda Eastman met Paul McCartney at a Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O'Nails club in London. She was in the UK on an assignment to take photographs of "Swinging Sixties" musicians in London. The two later went to the Speakeasy club on Margaret Street to see Procol Harum. They met again four days later at the launch party for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at Brian Epstein's house in Belgravia. When her assignment was completed, she flew back to New York City. In May 1968, they met again in New York, as John Lennon and Paul McCartney were there to announce the formation of Apple Corps. In September of the same year, he phoned her and asked her to fly over to London. They were married six months later at a small civil ceremony (when she was four months pregnant with their daughter Mary) at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969.
After giving birth to Mary McCartney (born in London on 28 August 1969) Stella McCartney (born 13 September 1971) and James McCartney (born on 12 September 1977 in London) she said that four children was enough (meaning her first daughter Heather as well). She became Lady McCartney when her husband was knighted in 1997. Her brother, entertainment lawyer John Eastman, has represented Paul McCartney since the break-up of The Beatles. McCartney now has six grandchildren, all of whom were born after her death: Mary's three sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999), Elliot Donald (born August 1, 2002), and Sam Aboud (born August 11, 2008), and Stella's children, Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005), daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born December 8, 2006), and Beckett Robert Lee Willis (born 8 January 2008).
Music
She made an uncredited vocal contribution to The Beatles' title song of Let It Be in January 1969. After the breakup of The Beatles in 1970, her husband taught her to play keyboards, and permanently included her in the lineup for his new group Wings. The group garnered several Grammy Awards, becoming one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, but had to endure jibes like, "What do you call a cow with wings? Linda McCartney." Linda later admitted that the early accusations about her singing out of tune in the early days with Wings were true.
In 1977, a single entitled "Seaside Woman" was released by an obscure band called Suzy and the Red Stripes, on Epic Records in the United States. In reality, Suzy and The Red Stripes were Wings, with Linda McCartney (who also wrote the song) on lead vocals. The song was recorded by Wings in 1972, in response to a lawsuit by ATV (which owned The Beatles' Northern Songs catalogue) about Paul McCartney's practice of granting his wife co-writing credit on his songs, which had the effect of transferring a share of the publishing royalties to his own MPL Communications company. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
McCartney and her husband shared an Oscar nomination for the song "Live and Let Die," which they co-wrote. Linda McCartney's album Wide Prairie, which included "Seaside Woman," was released posthumously in 1998. Paul McCartney worked with the help of The Beatles' engineer, Geoff Emerick, to finish the album. Along with eight other British composers, he contributed to the choral album A Garland for Linda, and dedicated his classical album, Ecce Cor Meum, to his late wife. In January 1999, "The Light Comes From Within" single from the Wide Prairie album was banned by TV and radio stations in the UK. Paul McCartney placed advertisements in English national newspapers asking parents to give "guidance" as to whether their children could be "morally corrupted" by the song lyrics, which included the lines, "You say I'm simple, you say I'm a hick, You're fucking no-one, you stupid dick."
Vegetarianism, activism and lifestyle
McCartney introduced her husband to vegetarianism in 1975, and promoted a vegetarian diet through her cookbooks: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking (1989) Linda’s Kitchen and Simple and Inspiring Recipes for Meatless Meals. She explained her change to vegetarianism by saying that she did not "eat anything with a face", and if "slaughterhouses had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian". The McCartneys became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists. They said that their vegetarianism was realized when they happened to see lambs in a field as they ate a meal of lamb.
In 1991, she introduced a line of frozen vegetarian meals under the Linda McCartney Foods name, which made her wealthy independently of her husband. In 1995, McCartney appeared in animated form with her husband in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian." The "Trash of the Titans" episode was dedicated to her memory. The H. J. Heinz Company acquired Linda McCartney Foods in March 2000, and the Hain Celestial Group bought it in 2007.
McCartney was a strong advocate for animal rights, and lent her support to many organizations like PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) as well as The Council For The Protection of Rural England, Friends Of The Earth, and was a patron of the League Against Cruel Sports. Before her death, she narrated a TV advertisement for PETA, in which she said: "Have you ever seen a fish gasping for breath when you take it out of the water? They’re saying, ‘Thanks a lot for killing me. It feels great, you know.’ No! It hurts!" After her death, PETA created the Linda McCartney Memorial Award.
McCartney was arrested in Los Angeles for possession of marijuana in 1975, although all charges were later dropped. In 1984, the McCartneys were arrested in Barbados for possession of marijuana and were fined $100 each. They flew to Heathrow Airport, London, where Linda McCartney was arrested again on charges of possession. She later commented that hard drugs were disgusting, but marijuana "is pretty lightweight."
Death
McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, and her condition soon grew worse as it spread to her liver. Paul's last words to her were: "You're up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It's a fine spring day. We're riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear-blue." Linda McCartney died at age 56, on 17 April 1998, at the McCartney family ranch in Tucson, Arizona. She was cremated in Tucson, and her ashes were scattered at McCartney's farm in Sussex. Paul later suggested that fans remember her by donating to breast cancer research charities that do not support animal testing, "or the best tribute — go veggie". A memorial service was held for her at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, which was attended by George Harrison, David Gilmour and Ringo Starr. A memorial service was also held at Riverside Church in Manhattan, two months after her death.
Talking later about the medication used to treat her breast cancer, Paul said: "If a drug has got to be used on humans then legally it has to be finally tested on an animal ... This was difficult for Linda when she was undergoing her treatment." He also claimed that she was unsure if the drugs she took had been tested on animals: "During the treatment, a nice answer is a nice answer and if they (the doctors) say, 'It's OK to have this because we didn't test it on animals', you are going to believe them." She left her entire fortune to her husband in a special trust, known as a Qualified Domestic Trust, which allows deferral of estate taxes due on her assets until after his death. He will have access to any royalties from books, records and any financial remuneration for the use of his wife's photographs. He has pledged to continue her line of vegetarian food, and to keep it free from genetically modified organisms.
Wide Prairie, a six-minute cartoon fantasy film by Linda McCartney and director Oscar Grillo, was premièred at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 19, 1998. It was shown before the British première of The Horse Whisperer, starring Robert Redford. On 10 April 1999, Paul McCartney performed at the tribute "Concert for Linda" in the Royal Albert Hall, with numerous artists including George Michael, the Pretenders, Elvis Costello and Tom Jones. In January 2000, he announced donations in excess of $2,000,000 for cancer research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, where Linda received treatment. The centers received $1 million (£625,000) each. The donations, through the Garland Appeal, were made on the condition no animals would be used for testing purposes. In 2000, The Linda McCartney Centre, a cancer clinic, opened at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital. In November 2002, the Linda McCartney Kintyre Memorial Trust opened a memorial garden in Campbeltown — the main town on the Mull of Kintyre — with the dedication of a bronze statue of Linda by sculptor Jane Robbins, (Paul McCartney's cousin) which was commissioned and donated by Paul.
Portrayals on screen
Both Linda McCartney and Paul McCartney made an appearance on The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian" (1995). Elizabeth Mitchell and Gary Bakewell played Linda and Paul McCartney in the 2000 TV movie The Linda McCartney Story. Catherine Strauss had earlier played her (as "Linda Eastman") in the 1985 TV movie John and Yoko: A Love Story. Tamara Blum Cohen appeared as Linda McCartney in a 2007 episode of the TV series Final 24 focused on Keith Moon.
Wikipedia
Monday, July 13, 2009
Beatle People: Cynthia Lennon
Cynthia Lennon (née Powell) (born 10 September 1939 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England) was the first wife of musician John Lennon. She grew up in the middle-class section of Hoylake, on the Wirral UK, and gained a place at the Liverpool College of Art.She met Lennon in a lettering class and started a relationship with him, marrying him in 1962, after the two discovered her pregnancy. They had one son, Julian Lennon, who also became a musician. She divorced Lennon in 1968, after he left her for the artist Yoko Ono. She was married three more times, and now lives in Majorca, Spain.
Early years
Cynthia was the last of three children born to Charles Powell and his wife Lillian (neé Roby) who had two older sons named Anthony (Tony) and Charles. Charles Powell worked for the GEC company, and sold electrical goods to shops in Liverpool. In 1939, Mrs Powell (who was carrying Cynthia) was sent to Blackpool after World War II had been declared, and lived in a small room in a bed-and-breakfast on the Blackpool seafront before giving birth. When Lillian came to term, she was in labor for a whole day and a night until a midwife arrived, who saw how bad the situation was. The nurse locked the door, swore Lillian to secrecy, and "dragged" the infant (Cynthia) into the world. After her birth, the Powell family moved to a two-bedroomed semi-detached house in Hoylake; across the river Mersey from Liverpool. Her eldest brother, Charles, was a talented pianist who left home at 16 to work for the GEC in Birmingham.
At age 12, she was accepted at the Junior Art School, which was only a short distance away from the Liverpool Art College, and it was there that she met Phyllis McKenzie, who became her lifetime friend. When she was 17, her father died after a long battle with lung cancer. Before he died, he told his daughter that she would have to get a job to support her mother, and would not be able to go to art school in Liverpool. However, her mother wanted to see her receive a better education, she squeezed four single beds into the master bedroom and rented it out to four apprentice electricians.
Art college
In September 1957, Cynthia gained a place at the Liverpool College of Art, and turned up everyday wearing glasses, twinsets and tweed skirts, because she wanted to be the model student, although many other students at the college dressed differently, and were called beatniks because of their Bohemian lifestyle. During her first year she dated the son of a window cleaner named Barry, whom she later described as the "Romeo of Hoylake." They talked about marriage one day, but their relationship faded after Barry was unfaithful and stopped altogether after she met Lennon.
She started to change her dress style, grow her hair, and often did not wear her glasses, which meant that she sometimes got off a bus at the wrong stop, and misread notices in college. She had to wear them in class, as she admitted that she would not have been able to see without them. Although she was studying graphics, she also took some classes in lettering, and during the first class a Teddy Boy came in late and sat down behind her. He tapped her on the back and said, "Hi, I'm John." Lennon never brought any equipment with him, so he constantly borrowed pens and pencils from her, who found out that he was only in the lettering class because other teachers refused to have him. Lennon sometimes brought a guitar with him into class, and once sang "Ain't She Sweet" directly to her, which made her blush and run out of the class. She once overheard Lennon make a comment about a girl with blonde hair in the college, whom Lennon thought looked like Brigitte Bardot. The next Saturday, she dyed her hair, and went into college with her hair several shades blonder. Lennon noticed straight away, exclaiming, "Get you, Miss Hoylake!" (Lennon's nickname for her—referring to the middle-class suburb where she lived). He also used to call Cynthia "Miss Powell," but after their relationship started, simply "Cyn."
Relationship with Lennon
Their relationship started after a college party before the summer holidays when Lennon asked her to go to the Ye Cracke pub with him and some friends later that evening. She replied that she was engaged (to Barry, in Hoylake) so Lennon stormed off, shouting, "I didn't ask you to fucking marry me, did I?" She later went to the pub, although Lennon ignored her all evening, but as she was ready to leave, he grabbed her hand and took her to a room Stuart Sutcliffe was renting, where they engaged in sexual intercourse. During the beginning of their relationship, the two often had sex in alleyways or shop doorways if Sutcliffe's room was not available but she didn't enjoy those "snatched encounters." Lennon's jealousy could manifest itself in violent behavior towards her, as when he slapped her across the face (hitting her head against the wall) the day after he saw her dancing with Stuart Sutcliffe. She broke up with Lennon for three months, but resumed their relationship after Lennon's profuse apology.
When Lennon returned home to Mendips after the first Hamburg trip, Mimi Smith (Lennon's Aunt and guardian) threw a cooked chicken (that Lennon had bought especially for Mimi) and a hand-mirror at Lennon for spending money on a suede coat for Powell, once referring to her as "a gangster's moll", and was unpleasant or cold towards her thereafter. The Beatles went to Hamburg in 1960, and Cynthia and Dot Rhone (McCartney's girlfriend) visited them there two weeks later, but had to stay up all night because of the long sets, with both having to take the same pills --Preludin- that the others took just to stay awake.
After the trip to Hamburg, her mother told her that her cousin and her cousin's husband were emigrating to Canada with their new-born baby and that she [Cynthia's mother] would also be going with them to look after the baby while they studied to become teachers. She waited until Lennon came back from Hamburg before she asked Mimi—who had taken in lodgers before at 251 Menlove Avenue—if she would rent a room to her. Mimi let her have the little box-room above the front door (which used to be Lennon's bedroom) and demanded that she do chores around the house. She remembered Mendips as cold and draughty (it had no central heating system) with only old electric fires in the downstairs rooms. To pay the rent, she took a job at a Woolworths store in the city after her student grant had run out.
In 1961, when Lennon was 21 years old, he received £100 from his aunt Mater (who lived in Edinburgh) and went to Paris with McCartney for a holiday. She could not accompany them as she was studying for her final exams, and had to partake in teacher-training practice at local schools. It was at one of these schools (a private girls' college) that she later made the mistake of teaching her class the wrong material for an exam, although the students were able to take the exam again.
The Beatles went to Hamburg again in April 1962, but she decided that she had had enough of living with Mimi, and moved into her aunt Tess's house for awhile, or slept at McKenzie's house. She looked for somewhere to rent, and found a bedsit in a terraced house in 93 Garmoyle Road, which was close to the two schools where she was teaching. It had a one-ring cooker, a one-bar electric fire, a single bed and an old armchair. She had to put a shilling into a meter for enough ankle-deep hot water to take a bath in the shared bathroom. When the old woman who was living in the larger room next door moved out—which pleased Cynthia as the woman filled her room with cats and bags of coal—she asked Rhone to share the rent of the two rooms together.
In July 1962, after having failed one of her exams, she found out that she was pregnant with Lennon's child. They had never used contraception, and she explained that they never talked about it, and didn't think about it at the time. When she told Lennon he said, "There's only one thing for it Cyn, we'll have to get married," but when he told Mimi she "screamed and raged" at him—threatening never to speak to him again—in order to stop him from going through with it. Her mother was back in England for a visit, and she told her about her upcoming marriage to Lennon the day before she was due to go back to Canada. She married Lennon the next day.
Marriage
Lennon and Cynthia were married on 23 August 1962, at the Mount Pleasant Register office in Liverpool, but Lennon's aunt Mimi did not attend. Lennon had wanted his half-sisters, cousins, and aunts to be there, but Mimi made sure that did not happen. Cynthia's brother Tony and his wife did attend, along with George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Brian Epstein (the Beatles' manager) with Epstein serving as Best man. The wedding was a farce (with no photographs or flowers) because as soon as the ceremony began a workman in the backyard of the building opposite started using a pneumatic drill which drowned out anything the registrar, Lennon, or Cynthia said. When the registrar asked for the groom to step forward, Harrison stepped forward instead, which increased the confusion. They celebrated afterwards (at Epstein's expense) at Reece's restaurant in Clayton Square with a set menu of soup, chicken and trifle, but no alcohol, as Reece's did not have a beverage license. Reece's was the same restaurant where Alf Lennon and Julia Stanley (Lennon's parents) had celebrated their marriage twenty-four years earlier in 1938. The same night Lennon went to play in Chester.
During her pregnancy Epstein offered the Lennons the use of his flat at 36 Faulkner Street—and later paid for a private hospital room when she was coming to term. After Lennon and Cynthia had been living at Epstein's flat for a few months (and after hearing about a near-miscarriage) Mimi offered to rent the downstairs rooms of Mendips to them both. Although pregnant, Cynthia had to boil hake fish for Mimi's three Siamese cats every day, which made her nauseous. While Lennon was in Hamburg he would often telephone Mendips, but Mimi always got to the phone first and talked to Lennon until shortly before his money ran out—only then handing over the phone to Cynthia.
Julian
After she had been in labor for 24 hours, John Charles Julian Lennon was born on 8 April 1963, at 6:50 a.m. in the Sefton General Hospital in Liverpool. Lennon was on tour at the time, so was not present (Mimi was the first to see Julian) although Lennon did see his son three days later during a short stop-over trip to Liverpool.
After Julian's birth, she often found one of Mimi's cats (along with cat hairs) in Julian's cot, and vacuumed outside her door every morning to let Cynthia know it was time to get up. Mimi constantly complained that Julian's constant crying during the night was keeping her [Mimi] awake. In November of 1963, she left Mendips and moved into a bedsit with Julian and her mother Lillian, who had returned to Liverpool. They had to live in the bedsit for a month, as they had to wait for the lodgers in the Powell house in Hoylake to move out.
The press heard rumors about Lennon having a wife and child at the end of 1963—after Beatlemania had already swept the whole of Europe—and descended on Hoylake in November and December. Friends and neighbors protected her anonymity, but she was often approached by journalists. In late December she had Julian christened at the Hoylake parish church, but didn't tell Lennon because she feared a media circus and knew Lennon wouldn't approve. She told him two days after the event, and Epstein asked to be Julian's godfather. Not long after the christening the newspapers printed the full story about Lennon's "secret wife and child."
The Lennons both moved to London and found a three-bedroomed flat in Emperor's Gate, which was just off Cromwell Road. The flat was the third flat of three, which were built over two floors, which meant climbing six flights of stairs. She first had to carry Julian up to the flat, and then go back down to collect shopping bags, but fans found the address, and would camp out in the hallway, so she would have to push through them when leaving or arriving.
She went with Lennon to America on The Beatles' first trip there, and Lennon agreed when the press asked for a photo of them together. She was once left behind in New York while Lennon and the other Beatles were quickly ushered into a car, and in Miami she had to ask the help of fans to convince a security guard who she was. Lennon's response was, "Don't be so bloody slow next time—they could have killed you."
Back at Emperor's Gate the situation grew worse, with fans sticking chewing gum in the lock of the flat and tearing at any article of clothing when she or Lennon were leaving or arriving. The Beatles' accountant advised Epstein that the individual Beatles should move to houses near his in Esher, so she and Lennon bought a house called Kenwood, which was a mock-Tudor-style house on 3 acres (12,000 m2) in Weybridge, where Tom Jones and Cliff Richard already lived.
Kenwood
Lennon spent twice the original £20,000 purchase price on renovations for Kenwood — reducing its 22 rooms to 17. The new kitchen was so modern and complicated that someone had to be sent to Kenwood to show her how it all worked. During the extensive renovations the couple lived in the attic bedroom, and had to stay there for nine months. Although she enjoyed entertaining in the larger rooms, Lennon could usually be found in a small sunroom at the back of the house overlooking the swimming pool, which was similar to Mimi's conservatory in Liverpool. She often found Lennon there in a daydream, and said that in that state he was "present but absent."
When Lennon was working, or just non-communicative, her £50 a week allowance allowed her to go shopping. Assistants in expensive shoe shops in Weybridge would happily welcome her when she walked in, knowing they were sure of a sale. She enjoyed the closeness of Maureen Starkey (Ringo's wife) and Pattie Harrison (Harrison's wife) as they lived nearby, and they often went on holiday together or shopping.
Kenwood became a place for the other Beatles to visit, various American musicians, and total strangers that Lennon had met the night before in a London nightclub. Both Lennons enjoyed London nightlife in 1965, and went to many expensive restaurants and clubs which Epstein recommended. At home they enjoyed simple food (as she admitted that cooking was not one of her strong points) like bacon or steak sandwiches, meat pies, cheese on toast, and tea.
She was often photographed at Beatles' movie premieres and special occasions, and sometimes with Lennon and Julian at home, which meant she had the role of a Beatle wife, as well as being a mother. She would often go to a nightclub with Lennon until nearly dawn, but in the morning would take Julian to school. When she passed her driving test Lennon bought her a white Mini, and then a gold Porsche. She found a red Ferrari in its place one day, as Lennon had traded the Mini in for the Ferrari (which was for himself as he had recently passed his driving test) without telling her. Lennon later bought her a green Volkswagen Beetle.
In 1965, she opened the front door of Kenwood to see a man who "looked like a tramp", but with Lennon's face. It was Alf Lennon (Lennon's father) whom Lennon had not seen for years. She invited Alf in, and gave him tea and cheese on toast until Lennon came home. While waiting, she offered to cut Alf's "long, stringy locks" of hair. After waiting for a couple of hours, Alf left. Lennon was annoyed when he came home, and told her(for the first time) about his father's visit to the NEMS office a few weeks before. Three years after meeting Lennon in the NEMS office, Alf (who was then 56-years-old) turned up at Kenwood again, with nineteen-year-old student Pauline Jones, who was Freddie's fiancée. Alf asked her (to ask Lennon) if he could give Pauline a job, so Pauline was hired to help with Julian and the piles of Beatles' fan mail. Pauline and Alf spent a few months living at Kenwood in the attic bedroom, but Cynthia remembered Pauline, "crying all the time and arguing with her mother on the phone."
Drugs
She knew that Lennon took drugs like cannabis (which made her feel sick and sleepy) and previously Preludin, but saw them as not being very dangerous. At a dinner party in central London one night, Cynthia, Lennon, Harrison and Pattie Boyd were given LSD without their knowledge. They went to the Ad Lib club, where they thought the lift up to the club was on fire, and were then driven back home by Harrison (which took hours because Harrison was still tripping). They sat up all night at Kenwood and experienced the full effects of their first LSD trip. She thought it was "horrific", and hated the feeling of not being in control of herself and not knowing what would happen next. Lennon thought differently, however, and started taking LSD on a regular basis. After much encouragement from Lennon, she agreed to try LSD one more time, but this second trip (at Kenwood) was even worse than the first. She said that she saw her own skeleton in a mirror, watched the friends that Lennon had invited turn into snakes, and saw their cat's fur bounce in time to the music. The next day she told Lennon that she would never take it again, although she relented and took it (for the last time) a few weeks later on the way to a party at Epstein's house in the Sussex. The results were the same, and she realized that a gulf was opening between her and Lennon.
The Beatles publicly renounced drugs (although never completely) after their initial meetings with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in London, and took a train to Bangor, in Wales, to meet him again in the summer of 1967. A policeman stopped Cynthia from boarding the train as it was pulling out (not knowing who she was) with Lennon calling out of a window after her, "Tell them to let you on!" She broke down in tears, and later said that it symbolized where she felt their marriage was heading, with Lennon speeding into the future and herself being left behind. Epstein had previously agreed to travel to Bangor to join them after the August Bank Holiday, but died of a drug overdose on 27 August 1967, which was a massive shock to both her and Lennon.
India
The Beatles were scheduled to fly to India to visit the Maharishi for two or three months, but before that she found letters from Yoko Ono that made it clear that Lennon had had contact with her over a period of time. She had previously met Ono when Ono asked for a lift in Lennon's car after a meeting with the Maharishi in a London suburb. Lennon denied that he was involved with Ono, and said that she was just some "crazy artist" who wanted to be sponsored, although Ono kept up a stream of calls and visits to Kenwood.
In February 1968, she flew to India with Lennon and the other Beatles and their partners. She had taken pens and paper with her, so was able to draw, meditate with Lennon every day, and for the first time in her life she started to write poetry. "Magic Alex" (Greek-born Alex Mardas who was part of Apple Electronics) was also with them, and smuggled in alcohol from the nearest village as it was not allowed in the ashram. After two weeks Lennon wanted to sleep in a separate room from her, saying that he could only meditate when he was alone. She found out much later that Lennon walked down to the local post office every morning to see if he had received a telegram from Ono, who sent one almost daily.
Divorce
She had suspicions of Lennon's infidelity over the years, and people had told her that he had had numerous affairs as far back as their time together at the art college in Liverpool, but she decided to ignore it, unless there was definite proof.
After returning to Kenwood from India, Lennon got very drunk on scotch and coke and confessed that there had been other women during his time with her. He detailed every groupie, friends of hers (such as Joan Baez, and Maureen Cleave) and told her about "thousands" of women around the globe. She was totally taken aback at the time and simply replied, "That's OK." Two weeks later, in May 1968, Lennon suggested that she take a holiday in Greece with Mardas, Donovan and two friends. Lennon said that he would be very busy recording The White Album and that it would do her some good to take a break.
The beginning of the end for the Lennon's marriage came when she arrived back at Kenwood one day early from Greece on 22 May 1968, to discover Lennon and Ono sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring into each others eyes, and then found Ono's slippers outside their bedroom door. She gathered a few things and asked Jenny Boyd and Mardas if she could spend the night at their apartment. At the apartment Boyd went straight to bed, but Mardas got Cynthia drunk and tried to convince her that they should both run away together. After she had been sick in the bathroom she collapsed on a bed in the spare bedroom, but Mardas joined her and tried to kiss her until she pushed him away.
Lennon seemed absolutely normal when she returned to Kenwood the next day, and maintained his love for her and Julian. Lennon went to New York with McCartney shortly after and told her she could not go with them, so she went on a trip to Italy with her mother. Mardas appeared during the holiday in Italy and broke the news that Lennon was planning to sue her for divorce on grounds of adultery, seek sole custody of Julian, and send Cynthia "back to Hoylake". She said in 2005: "The mere fact that ‘Magic Alex’ [Mardas] arrived in Italy in the middle of the night without any prior knowledge of where I was staying made me extremely suspicious. I was being coerced into making it easy for Lennon and Yoko to accuse me of doing something that would make them not look so bad."
She was allowed to return to Kenwood, while Lennon and Ono took up residence at Starr's flat at 34 Montagu Square. Lennon and his wife had one last short meeting at Kenwood (with Ono alongside Lennon) but Lennon accused her of an affair in India—saying that she was no "innocent little flower." McCartney visited Cynthia and Julian that year, even though it was frowned upon by Lennon. On the way to Kenwood he composed a song in his head that would later be "Hey Jude". Having just broken up with fiancée Jane Asher, he took Cynthia a single red rose, and asked jokingly "How about it, Cyn? How about you and me getting married now?"
During their divorce, Lennon refused to give his wife any more than £75,000, telling her on the phone, "That's like winning the pools, so what are you moaning about? You're not worth any more." She did not want to take half of Lennon's millions (as she would have been entitled to) because she did not want a lengthy court battle, so she accepted £100,000, plus £2,400 a year, custody of Julian and Kenwood. Their decree nisi was granted on 8 November 1968.
She learned of Lennon's death while she was staying with friends in London. She received a call from Starr two hours after Lennon had been shot in New York on 8 December 1980. "I don't remember getting out of bed and going down the stairs to the phone. But Ringo's words, the sound of his tearful voice crackling over the transatlantic line, is crystal clear: 'Cynthia, I'm so sorry, John's dead.' In my stunned state I had only one clear thought. My son - our son - [Julian] was at home in bed, I had to get back to Ruthin so that I could tell him about his father's death."
Later life
On 31 July 1970, she married Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, whom she'd first met in Italy, in 1966, and started dating after parting with Lennon. She divorced Bassanini in 1973. During Lennon's separation from Yoko in 1973 and 1974, his girlfriend, May Pang, actively tried to get Lennon to spend more time with Julian, forming a friendship with Cynthia in the process, which continued even after Lennon and Yoko had reconciled. Cynthia said in an interview in 2005: "I met her [Pang] the first time I took Julian to see his father after he had split with Yoko. She was a very young girl and she was so kind and so lovely to Julian.... She embraced him and she talked to Lennon about his responsibilities. I’ve never forgotten that. I have a really soft spot for May and you can communicate with her – I’ve never ever been able to communicate with Yoko on any level."
In May 1976, she married John Twist, an engineer from Lancashire, but they divorced in 1983. She then settled in Ruthin, north Wales, and opened the Manor House Restaurant, Well Street. Her son Julian Lennon attended Ruthin School. She met Jim Christie, who was her partner for 17 years until they broke up in 1999. She said at the time: "Jim [Christie] has never felt he's living in John Lennon's shadow. He's four years younger than me and wasn't really part of that whole Beatles scene, though his parents were in show business. He knew Julian before he knew me and, in fact taught him to ride motorbikes - and we became friends as a result."
After her divorce from John Twist, she changed her name back to Lennon by deed poll. She kept mementos of Lennon for years, including never-published photographs, letters, and personal items, auctioning off many of them after his death. She published a memoir, A Twist of Lennon, in 1978, telling about her life before and with Lennon, containing her own illustrations and poetry. In 2002 she married Noel Charles, a night club owner. In September 2005, she published a new biography, simply titled John, that re-examined her life with Lennon and the years afterwards, including events following his death. In 2006, she and Julian attended the Las Vegas premiere of the Cirque du Soleil production of the Beatles Love, which marked her only joint public appearance with Ono. Cynthia currently lives on the island of Majorca, Spain.
Wikipedia
"I'm Only Sleeping" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Original Manuscript (1966)
(1) When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed float upstream
Please don't wake me no don't shake me
Leave me where I am I'm only sleeping.
(2) Everybody seems to think I'm lazy
I don't mindthey're all I think there [sic] crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need.
Please don't spoil my day
I'm miles away
And after all I'm only sleeping.
Keeping an eye on the world going by my window.
Taking my time
(3) Lying there and staring at the ceiling
Waiting for a sleepy feeling
John Lennon
As Released by the Beatles (1966)
When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning.
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float upstream (float upstream).
Please don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping.
Everybody seems to think I'm lazy.
I don't mind, I think they're crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need (there's no need).
Please don't spoil my day, I'm miles away
And after all, I'm only sleeping
Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time.
Lying there and staring at the ceiling
Waiting for a sleepy feeling.
Please don't spoil my day, I'm miles away
And after all, I'm only sleeping.
Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time.
When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning.
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float upstream (float upstream).
Please don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping.
Original Manuscript (1966)
(1) When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed float upstream
Please don't wake me no don't shake me
Leave me where I am I'm only sleeping.
(2) Everybody seems to think I'm lazy
I don't mind
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need.
Please don't spoil my day
I'm miles away
And after all I'm only sleeping.
Keeping an eye on the world going by my window.
Taking my time
(3) Lying there and staring at the ceiling
Waiting for a sleepy feeling
John Lennon
As Released by the Beatles (1966)
When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning.
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float upstream (float upstream).
Please don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping.
Everybody seems to think I'm lazy.
I don't mind, I think they're crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need (there's no need).
Please don't spoil my day, I'm miles away
And after all, I'm only sleeping
Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time.
Lying there and staring at the ceiling
Waiting for a sleepy feeling.
Please don't spoil my day, I'm miles away
And after all, I'm only sleeping.
Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time.
When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning.
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float upstream (float upstream).
Please don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
August 1, 1971 - The Concert for Bangla Desh
Taped: Sunday 1 August 1971
Aired: Thursday 23 March 1972
George and Ringo appear twice (afternoon and evening) at the Concert For Bangla Desh, held at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of two capacity 20,000 crowds. Also appearing are Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar and members of Badfinger. During the concert George performs: 'Wah-Wah', 'My Sweet Lord', 'Awaiting On You All', 'Beware Of Darkness' (with Russell), 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Here Comes The Sun', 'Something' and 'Bangla Desh'. Ringo performs 'It Don't Come Easy'. Outside the venue, touts are seen getting between $50 and $600 for one single $7.50 ticket.
Aired: Thursday 23 March 1972
George and Ringo appear twice (afternoon and evening) at the Concert For Bangla Desh, held at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of two capacity 20,000 crowds. Also appearing are Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar and members of Badfinger. During the concert George performs: 'Wah-Wah', 'My Sweet Lord', 'Awaiting On You All', 'Beware Of Darkness' (with Russell), 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Here Comes The Sun', 'Something' and 'Bangla Desh'. Ringo performs 'It Don't Come Easy'. Outside the venue, touts are seen getting between $50 and $600 for one single $7.50 ticket.
"From Me to You" Lyrics
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
As Released by the Beatles (1963)
Da da da, da da dum dum da
Da da da, da da dum dum da.
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
I got everything that you want
Like a heart that's oh so true
Just/So call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
I got arms that long to hold you
And keep you by my side
I got lips that long to kiss you
And keep you satisfied - ooo!
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
From me - to you.
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
I got arms that long to hold you
And keep you by my side
I got lips that long to kiss you
And keep you satisfied - ooo!
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you
To you, to you, to you.
As Released by the Beatles (1963)
Da da da, da da dum dum da
Da da da, da da dum dum da.
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
I got everything that you want
Like a heart that's oh so true
Just/So call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
I got arms that long to hold you
And keep you by my side
I got lips that long to kiss you
And keep you satisfied - ooo!
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
From me - to you.
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you.
I got arms that long to hold you
And keep you by my side
I got lips that long to kiss you
And keep you satisfied - ooo!
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love from me to you
To you, to you, to you.
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