John Lennon & George Harrison Interview on Frost Programme (October 4, 1967)

Following their successful appearance on The Frost Programme just days prior, John Lennon and George Harrison returned to Wembley Studios in London for another enlightening discussion on Transcendental Meditation. Hosted by the esteemed David Frost, the duo delved into the depths of meditation once more, fielding questions from viewers' letters and engaging with members of the studio audience.

During the 45-minute show, Lennon and Harrison shared their personal insights and experiences with Transcendental Meditation, shedding light on its benefits and addressing any skepticism. The conversation extended beyond mere advocacy, as they participated in a lively discussion with both proponents and opponents of meditation, offering a well-rounded perspective on the practice.

Recorded from 6-7pm, the edition of The Frost Programme provided a platform for thoughtful discourse on meditation and its implications. Broadcasted on the ITV network from 10:30-11:15pm on the same evening, the episode offered viewers a deeper understanding of Transcendental Meditation through the lens of two iconic musicians.

 

Kenny Everett Debuts Sgt. Pepper on BBC Radio

Sgt. Pepper Radio Special
BBC Where It's At
Broadcast: Saturday May 20th 1967

PM: This is Paul McCartney, saying this is where Chris Denning is at. This is where it's at, Chris, take it.

CD: Thank you Paul. Yes, this is Chris Denning on the first of the new 90-minute "Where It's At" programmes and, apart from the usual show, for this week only, a special bonus. Kenny Everett, here in the studio, talks to the Beatles on their new LP, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For an introduction, over to our commentator, John Lennon.

JL: We're sitting in the hushed semi-circular theatre, and waiting for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to come on, and here they come now, playing the first number, ah let's go! Alright? I can't do it for them all, or then I'll all be dizzy.

---

KE: Hey, alright, alright, alright, Ringo Starr and the track from the new Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Also during the next X-minutes on the BBC light wireless programme, we're going to be playing most of the tracks from the album, so stay tuned. And we're going to have wonderful words from the wise four.

---

KE: Well, by George in the studio, we have old Ringo Starr, of the Beatles fame. Ringo, what have you been doing since I last saw you in America a year ago?

RS: Um, very much.

KE: Really?

RS: Yeah, well, I went on holiday, we made an LP, we've made a few more tracks, we've sort of been busy.

KE: What do you think of this new LP? It's a bit strange compared to the others, would you term it psycheDEALic?

RS: Only if you want to think of it as psycheDEALic.

---

KE: Talking about things psycheDEALic and weird sounds, of which this album is full of . . . them, here is one of the most instantly beautiful tracks of the whole thing.

JL: Now we'd like to play you one, it's a sad little song, how does it go? Oh, well this is it, yeah. Picture yourself on an old-fashioned elephant. Lucy in the sky for everyone, now.

---

KE: Well, there you go, did it strike you immediately? Ah! Lovely. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." And, there's a story behind it. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. One day, months ago, Julian, son of Lennon, came home from school with a painting he had just drawn. A picture of a lady bursting with colours. John Lennon said, "What's that you got there, junior?" To which junior replied, "It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds, daddy." Shut up! Ow!

KE: The story you have just heard is true. On now to track three on the album, Paul McCartney by himself. . .

---

KE: Yeah good, yeah good. Paul McCartney and "Fixing A Hole" in the roof where the rain is and it stops my mind from wandering. By the way, if you notice, that mostly through the LP they're using very odd sound effects. Not sound effects as we know them, but sort of phased distortion on the voices. This is where they get two of the same sound and push it through hundreds of machines and it comes out of the other end sounding electric.

---

KE: How long did you take over technical details like phasing?

JL: Phasing is great! Double-flanging we call it. Now there you go, right, we're on the same thing. Flanging is great, right. We're always doing it.

KE: You used it on "Lucy In The Sky."

JL: You name the one it isn't on! You know, you name it! You spot it, you get a prize! You get a Sgt. Pepper badge.

KE: Or a paper moustache.

JL: Try anything you like. Phasing is too much!

---

KE: There you go, the Beatles and "For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite," sung by John all by himself. Did you catch the sounds on that one? It sounds like it's travelling around the room, you see, well travelling around this studio, anyway. The song, by the way, was taken from a poster, an old circus poster that John got hold of and said, "I'll write a song about this. Oh, this is good."

KE: Well, that's this half of the Beatle programme, although we'll be back in X-minutes, with another three million, seven hundred and four thousand watts of BBC light programme Beatle power!

---

KE: There you go, the title track, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Well, more Beatle sounds from "Where It's At" in just a moment.

CD: Over now to our commentator, Kennis Everett.

KE: Welcome back, Beatle people, for part two of the BBC light programme, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Ha! Paul McCartney starting off part two, "When I'm Sixty-Four."

---

KE: Ah, lovely. The simplest track on the whole album, and also the first one that they recorded, way back in September [sic]. This is probably the longest time taken ever to record a pop album, I think. Not quite sure. Anyway, a lovely track.

---

KE: How many takes did you usually do on this album before you got the perfect take?

PM: We did quite a few on each one, but it's just because it's changed, you know. Like in the old days, of the LP Please Please Me, we went in and did it in a day, because we knew all the numbers and you know, they'd been . . . we'd rehearsed them and done them and we'd been playing them for about a year. But nowadays, we just take a song in, and all we've got you know is the chords on a guitar and the words and the tune. So we've got to work out how to arrange it, and that. So we do a lot of takes on each one, you know.

---

KE: Ah, lovely. Peaceful, fantastic. Gets me right here. Well, no, perhaps a bit higher, just here. Fastastic. John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I think that Paul composed that one all by himself, it sounds like one of his, doesn't it? Very peaceful. Anyway, that's called "She's Leaving Home." A word about the FANTASTIC album. Yes, friends, this is the most expensive album ever produced by any manufacturer I would venture to say because not only inside does it have the album, it also has the words of every track on the back. And it's a double feature album, which has a free paper moustache, a badge, and a picture of Sgt. Pepper, no less. Excuse me. This next one's called "Lovely Rita" and it's sung by Paul McCartney. Pay special attention to the drums.

---

KE: Yes, leave it. Lovely. John Lennon in the background, Paul McCartney in the foreground. Meter maid, which is an American expression for one of those ladies, one of those diabolical people, who goes around putting tickets all over your car.

---

KE: Do you like to have a lot of people in the studio when you're recording, or do you like to do it completely alone?

PM: It doesn't matter, we had a lot of people on some of the tracks, and sometimes we use them, you know, ask them to clap and that. Depends if it's good people, who don't hassle anyone and don't try and mess a session up, then it's great, you know, because it's company, good company.

KE: I hear you had the Rolling Stones in a session.

PM: They came down, because we had a lot of people there, you know, because it was a big session and we wanted to make a happening happen. And it happened.

---

KE: Paul talking about people gathering around them while they were recording the album. Now, we have two tracks to go. This one is called "Getting Better."

---

KE: Yes, Beatles and "Getting Better," that one sung by Paul McCartney. Superb. And for all those haters of special effects, that's a completely dry run for you, none on that one. Okay, one track to go now, and a very special one it is too. Oh, we've had everything on this programme, Chris Denning, Kenny Everett, Beatles. The only thing we haven't had is chickens.

[chicken sound]

KE: I beg your pardon?

---

KE: Yes, very good, very good, very good. Fade, fade, fade. Well, that was the last track, friends. Just a little bit more music before we leave and a word from Paul McCartney.

PM: This is James Paul McCartney, Upper 5 B, saying that Kenny Everett is just about one of the finest disc jockeys in the world, as disc jockeys go, aren't you Kenny?

KE: Oh, you're lovely. Yes.

---

KE: I don't think ever in my experience as a disc jockey I've ever heard a sound as beautiful and superb as this new album. It's an achievement of our modern age of genius, an advancement in the recording technique, the Beatles!

PM: I'd just like to say, thank you.

My Unforgettable Meeting with Mike McCartney

by Jennifer Game

My friend and I collected our tickets for the show we were going to see one evening in London, then as we had a good bit of time to spare, we decided to go and take a look at Paul's house in St. John's Wood. Although my friend had seen his house before, I hadn't and felt very excited as we stepped on to the tube at Victoria.

We arrived at St. John's Wood station twenty five minutes later and by this time a thousand thoughts had stirred up inside our heads as to what we would say to him if we met him. But, secretly, we knew it was very unlikely. My friend, not remembering exactly how to get there decided we should ask someone. After following a kind lady's directions we came to our destination, and there standing bold and proud against the dark sky stood Paul's house.

I rang the doorbell, which was fixed to the letterbox on the big black gate, examining the eight milk bottles which stood in a blue crate by our sides, at the same time. A voice spoke to us through a tiny microphone which was also sitting in the letterbox, and might I add it wasn't a very inviting voice and sounded something like this:--"Who are you, what do you want? Do you always go around ringing people's doorbells? Do you mind going, I am on the telephone?" We knew it couldn't possibly be Paul's voice after reading how friendly and welcoming he is at the worst of times. But we were not discouraged, for we knew there was someone in as there were three lights on in the front of the house.

A policeman came up to us and as we walked down the road listening to his stories of Paul with him, we didn't notice the events taking place up the road behind us. The policeman decided he had talked to us long enough and departed to carry on his beat.

We turned around to walk back and noticed a white mini had driven up and parked itself outside Paul's house. My heart, I am sure, missed a beat, for the dark shadow that emerged from the car had to be Paul's. Another figure appeared from the car, but we couldn't see the face. We raced up to the car and then it was clear who the shadow was. Not Paul, but his brother Mike.

After receiving their autographs we talked to them for a while and I noticed that Mike had the same sense of humour as his brother . . . It was obvious that they hadn't much time. Mike took a key from his pocket and unlocked the big black gate, and taking his word that Paul wasn't in, we said goodbye and turned to begin our journey back to Victoria.

They had been thoroughly nice and perhaps if we hadn't met Mike we would have been disappointed in not meeting Paul. But we had met his brother and that was good enough for both of us. Now we can walk with our heads that much higher.

Many fans have met Paul, perhaps all of the boys, but for us this joy, I feel, is sure to come. When we are sixty we can look back on October 26, 1967 and remember that unforgettable meeting with Mike McCartney.

Yours sincerely,
Jennifer Game (18),
208 Western Road,
Leigh-on-Sea,
Essex.

The Mystery Partly Explained

by Frederick James

There's never been a Television Show quite like it! And I doubt if there will be again until The Beatles make another TV film NEXT year!

The story begins with RINGO and his Auntie Jessie (played by heavyweight actress JESSIE ROBINS) deciding to go on a Mystery Tour. They buy their tickets from a little shop where the sales assistant is a jolly chap with a ridiculous R.A.F. moustache and a distinct resemblance to JOHN! While all this is happening the soundtrack is brimming over with brand-new Beatle sounds in the form of the show's fast-rocking title number "Magical Mystery Tour."

The MAGIC bit means that the film is never limited to realistic happenings. With MAGIC around the most fantastic scenes can be pounced upon the amazed viewer at a moment's notice. Incidentally we ARE allowed to see where all the magic is made. Now and again the cameras leave the coach tour to show us the bubbling test-tubes, mysterious maps and magical telescopes of The Magicians' Secret Laboratory--manned by five extraordinary folk in bright red and yellow gowns and high pointed hats. Five? Yes, the big guy in the background looks suspiciously like MAL EVANS!

So the coach tour begins and we're introduced to the bus driver (Alf), the Hostess (MANDY WEET), the Courier (DEREK ROYLE) and passenger-type people ranging from comedians NAT JACKLEY and IVOR CUTLER to actress MAGGIE WRIGHT and "Little Man" GEORGE CLAYDON. What a marvellous bunch of Magical Mystery Tour companions!

The second song we hear is PAUL'S simple, very tuneful ballad "The Fool On The Hill." Later there's a special spot for GEORGE'S "Blue Jay Way" (he's seen sitting cross-legged on a pavement in thick fog!) and all the other numbers including the Twenties-tinted finale song "Your Mother Should Know."

Most Spectacular

Perhaps the most spectacular of all the song sequences is that which has The Beatles plus the entire cast involved in "I Am The Walrus." In last month's Book I expect you saw the Competition Page which showed a photograph of all four Beatles covered from head to toe in furry animal suits. THAT is just one small part of the "Walrus" scene.

But you mustn't get the impression that "Magical Mystery Tour" is just a long parade of songs. There are plenty of strong comedy items. For me one of the most hilarious is set in a curiously out-of-date Army Recruiting Office where a smartly uniformed Major McCartney(!) watches VICTOR SPINETTI giving a fair impression of a parade-ground sergeant who demonstrates (amongst other things) the right way to defend yourself against an aggressive cow.

There's a beautiful touch of "human interest" in a scene in which JOHN and GEORGE are sitting on the bus talking to a bright little 5-year-old girl named Nicola. This--and most of the dialogue involving The Beatles with professional actors and actresses--is unscripted. Instead of demanding that the cast should learn written lines, The Beatles discussed each bit of talking with the people concerned, told them what they were supposed to be doing and what their various reactions should be AND THEN LEFT THE ACTUAL WORDING TO THEM.

The lack of a script let all the actors relax because it didn't matter too much what they came out with and they hadn't got to keep stiffening up and remembering precise sentences to say. You'll see how well this approach works when you watch Ringo having an argument with Auntie Jessie or Little George taking photographs of Maggie The Lovely Starlet. And the late-night homeward-bound sing-song on the bus couldn't have been rehearsed to such perfection in a month of blue moons! Nice touch to include accordionist SHIRLEY EVANS in the cast for this and various other scenes!

I could tell you much more--but I'm not supposed to give away TOO MANY secrets. For the rest--well, "Magical Mystery Tour" will be on your home screens in just a few weeks from now and (as the boys have said themselves) it has Something For Everybody. Dream sequences, a Hollywood-scale Finale, a load of great songs, a marvellous guest appearance of THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND in a Strip Club scene, and (wait for THIS) a marathon race which includes RINGO DRIVING THE "MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR" BUS!

Don't know about YOU but I'm booking my seat for NEXT year's tour right now before the rush!

Meditation...

After he appeared with George on the David Frost programme in the television discussion show "The Frost Programme" John commented: "If just one in every thousand viewers who watched the programme was encouraged to look into Transcendental Meditation then it was well worth doing. We want to get the message across to as many people as possible that meditation can help everyone. Not just a special few, or brainy people or cranks but EVERYONE."

The following is an abbreviated transcript of the views and explanations given in London by John and George before they left for India:--

JOHN: Through meditation I've learned how to tap energy that I've had in me all the time. Before I could only reach this extra energy on good days when things were going well. With meditation I find that if it's not too good a day I can still get the same amount of energy going for me. It means I am more use to myself and to others. Put it another way--the worst days I had without meditation were much worse than the bad days I have now, days when it's difficult to get going.

GEORGE: The energy is latent within everybody. It's there anyway. Meditation is a natural process of being able to contact that energy each day and give yourself a little more. You're able to do whatever you normally do with a little bit more happiness, maybe.

Each individual's life sort of pulsates in a certain rhythm. They give you a word or a sound which pulsates with that rhythm. The idea is to transcend to the most subtle level of thought, to replace your ordinary thoughts with the word or sound. Finally you lose even that and you're at a level of pure consciousness.

JOHN: You sit there and let your mind go. You introduce the word, the sound, the vibration to take over from your thoughts. You don't will thoughts away.

GEORGE: When your mind is a complete blank it's beyond all previous experience. That level is timeless, spaceless. You can be there for five minutes or much longer. You don't actually know how long when you come out of it and back to the everyday, the gross level of thinking.

JOHN: It's like sleeping. You don't know you've been sleeping until you're awake again. It seems as though no time has gone at all.

GEORGE: You can't really tell anybody exactly what it is. The teaching of Transcendental Meditation is all based on the individual. If you want to do it you get instruction. That leads to some sort of experience. After that experience you're taught the next part and told how you can go on from there to the next stage.

JOHN: It's like asking someone to say what chocolate tastes like. It's impossible to describe.

GEORGE: Or to tell somebody how it is to be drunk. They've got to be drunk themselves before they know what it is.

JOHN: You don't feel you have more actual knowledge--or at least I don't--but you feel more energetic. You come out of it and it's just a sort of "Let's get going" feeling about whatever work you've got to tackle.

GEORGE: It takes a lot of practice to arrive at a point where you can remain in that frame of mind, that attitude to life, permanently. I've had definite proof after only six or seven weeks that this is something that really works. It'll take a long time to arrive at a state where I can hold the level of pure consciousness and bring it back with me into everyday levels of acting and thinking. That's the eventual aim.

JOHN: One of the Maharishi's analogies is that it's like dipping a cloth in and out of gold. If you leave it in it gets soggy. If you leave it out the sun will fade it. So you keep dipping it in and bringing it out and, eventually, there's the same amount of gold in the cloth whether it's in or out. So you don't meditate ALL the time but you DO meditate regularly if you want to get anywhere with it. Twenty minutes a day. Something like that.

GEORGE: You can take certain drugs which heighten your perception. From there you can go on and try to get on to a subtler level of thought but drugs, in themselves, would never get you there and it's a mistake to believe they will. Drugs are on the same level as sleeping and dreaming and waking they're all relative and comparatively superficial.

JOHN: We dropped drugs long before we met the Maharishi. It had done all it could do for us. There was no going any further. That was more associated with finding out about yourself and your ego. It's more psychological than anything else. Meditation is a bit more gentle and much deeper.

GEORGE: Drugs don't really get to the true you, the real self. The way to approach the real YOU is through meditation or some form of Yoga.

JOHN: Meditation doesn't actually change you, make you different in any way. It's just something beneficial which you can ADD to yourself, add to your routine. When you add to your religion you don't CHANGE your religion. Whatever you are--you carry on. If you ask any of the Maharishi's people to give you a few laws for living by they'd be virtually the same as Christianity. Christianity is the answer as much as this is.

GEORGE: The word God means all sorts of things to me. The first concept I had of a man in the sky, well, I kicked that one a few years ago BUT I'm coming back to that now because, yes, it's a man in the sky as well if you like, it's just every aspect of creation, all a part of God.

JOHN: I think of God as a big piece of energy, like electricity, a big powerhouse.

GEORGE: Or the energy which runs through everything and makes everything one.

JOHN: Everything you read about, all the religions, are all the same basically. It's just a matter of people opening their minds up. I don't know how divine or super-human Maharishi is. He was probably born quite ordinary but he's working at it.

GEORGE: If everybody took up meditation it would help them to sort out their own problems, put their houses in order, if you like. People cause all the world's problems. So if people fix up their personal problems that's it, we're well on the way aren't we. It's up to each individual, every person, to make his own move.

JOHN: The main thing is it's simple. All you've got to do is to be INTERESTED. If you don't believe in meditation and you're cynical about it there's still no reason why you shouldn't try to find out WHAT you're so cynical about. And the only way to find out is to learn about meditation and give it a try. THEN you'll have the right to condemn or otherwise.

Behind the Spotlight

by Billy Shepherd and Johnny Dean

As January, 1965, came in, the Beatles were in their old familiar positions . . . top of the charts ("I Feel Fine") and the key talking point of the nation via their jam-packed "Christmas Show", which ran for three weeks at the Odeon Cinema, Hammersmith. Pictures of the lads, dressed in Eskimo gear for one sketch in which they met Abominable Snowman Jimmy Savile, flashed through the pages of even the most august newspapers in the land.

Sell Out

What a show that was at Hammersmith. It was a sell-out success right from the moment the box-office opened. It had some of the spirit of pantomime but any friend of the Beatles knew that they would never stick to anything remotely traditional.

They threatened the safety of the theatre roof by causing ear-piercing cheers every time a Beatle arm or leg or head appeared in one of the sketches. And what's more the supporting bill was exceptionally strong . . . Freddie and the Dreamers, the Mike Cotton Sound, Sounds Incorporated, Brian Epstein's then new balladeer Mike Haslam, the Yardbirds and Elkie Brooks who was in such devastating form that if the Beatles hadn't been in top nick she would have landed the honours. Poor Elkie, who fast became a favourite with the Beatles, has, incidentally had a lot of throat trouble in recent months--otherwise we're sure she'd be right up there in the popularity polls.

The Beatles' act? Well, for collectors of Beatle lore, they did "I'm a Loser", which John tackled on a Bob Dylan kick; "Baby's In Black"; "Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby"; Ringo stepped vocally forward for "Honey Don't"; "I Feel Fine"; "She's A Woman"; "A Hard Day's Night"--and elsewhere in the show the inevitable "Twist and Shout" and "Long Tall Sally".

If the Beatles did well, the ticket touts did better. They were flogging ten shilling seats for four times that amount. Hammersmith has never since seen so much action over such a long time.

It was the Beatles' second dabble at a lengthy Christmas show. And as we now hear about the criticised "shortage" of Beatle live shows, we also think on what would have happened at Hammersmith had that show gone on, like a West End production, for as long as there was an audience willing to pay to go in. That Christmas show of 1964 would probably have run right through the year until Brian Epstein was forced to change the title to "Beatle Christmas Show 1965".

Supremacy

Actually though, the Beatle supremacy was better underlined in this way. During 1964, they'd been top of the charts for a total of fourteen weeks through the year. They couldn't help laughing at the fact that second best in this particular list was their old mate from the days of the Cavern, Cilla Black.

Backstage at the Hammersmith Odeon was, as they say, somethin' else. Never, said the management, have there been so many potential gate-crashers. Old friends of the Beatles managed to get through . . . but the stage-door screening was done with the same ruthlessness as if organised by M.I.5. John established a new criterion for party acceptances: "How many people are going to be there that we haven't met before?" he asked. He was in very much a festive meeting-new-people mood.

We remember Ringo engulfed in an enormous woollen sweater with head- and arm-holes for two persons, and four giant initials "P, R, J, G" all over the massive chest. A fan sent it to the boys from Sweden. True to form, the boys wore it in an ad-libbed routine on stage that very night. Cynthia Lennon was in much demand, being pumped about how she's spent Christmas with John. "Very quietly," said she. "We just exchanged a few novelty presents and John had a good rest."

They're Unique

Brian Epstein was often there, still looking very pleased at the tremendous audience reaction to his "boys". A few journalists asked him, formally, how long he felt the Beatles could go on at this level of popularity. He shrugged, stretched his arms open wide, said: "They are unique. They have such distinctive personalities that I can't see any individual Beatle ever losing his appeal. But as a group? Well, I'd say at least two or three years right at the very top. After that, I'm convinced they each have magnificent careers in films."

Towards the end of the Hammersmith show, the boys were out at parties most evenings after the programme. Often Brian Epstein drove them himself in his new Bentley Continental. Ringo was the keenest dancer at all parties, showing astonishing agility in the latest crazes, despite admitting himself to be "dead knocked out with tiredness".

But as January, 1965, came slowly to a halt, there was a lot of urgency for John and Paul, who had to complete the songs for the upcoming film. John actually afterwards nipped off for a ski-ing holiday in the Alps with Cynthia and recording manager George Martin. Paul stayed in London to complete HIS side of the song-writing. George also took a holiday, but Ringo decided that he'd spend a lot of time house-hunting. He said: "I've been spending a ruddy fortune on maintaining a flat in London and now I think I should find a proper pad of my own." Needless to say, estate agents fell over themselves once this little bit of information was printed in a London evening paper!

At this stage, John and George were the house-owners. Paul had bought property for his father and new stepmother, and furnished it too, but he also had thoughts of a complete new home for himself. A sartorial note from Paul at this time: "I've just bought a dead old-fashioned jacket, with wild lapels and it's black with very wide chalk pin-stripes." No need to stress, we suppose, that this sort of styling has been followed by umpteen people, including stars, throughout the land!

What everyone even remotely interested in the Beatles wanted to know was what plans they had for 1965 . . . and "remotely" interested included even the people who sold hot-dogs outside Beatle-concert theatres. And there were, even then, problems, for the boys had to go to America, had to make a film (possibly at this time even a third movie in the autumn) and they had to undertake a short European tour. They were genuinely perturbed that they might not get out round the country on a massive one-nighter scene, but as ever they had total confidence in Brian Epstein.

One surprise single out in Britain was "If I Fell" and "Tell Me Why" . . . a surprise because it comprised two L.P. tracks previously issued as a single only for overseas markets. But dealers had specially imported it for British fans . . . so EMI capitulated and it picked up substantial fan-following even among those who'd got it on the album.

But the boys enjoyed their short individual breaks from the business. We'll tell you why next month. . . .

Beatle News

Late Coach

As all the National press found out very quickly, the Mystery Tour coach which the Beatles had hired for their trip round South West England was two hours late arriving to pick Paul McCartney up on the first day, Monday September 11th.

Paul spent the time being photographed, signing autographs and having a cup of tea at a nearby canteen.

The forty-three seats of the coach were filled by 7 technicians, the 4 Beatles, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, Press Officer Tony Barrow, Freda Kelly and several other friends including an elderly couple and fan club secretaries Sylvia Nightingale from Sussex, Barbara King from Essex and Jeni Crowley from London . . . lucky girls?

Director John

As you know, the Beatles have planned the whole Mystery Tour themselves and they're also directing it. On Wednesday September 13th John directed a sequence in which Scotch comedian Nat Jackley chased a bevy of girls round a swimming pool. Although the Beatles are completely in charge, they do have a camera director with them who is taking care of the technical side.

Big Change?

Lots of clothes designers down Carnaby Street have been wondering whether the Beatles were about to spark off a craze for gangster style clothes after the pictures appeared in the papers of them wearing Al Capone suits at the start of their Mystery Tour. Sean Connery wore a similar outfit to a big fancy dress party that Brigitte Bardot gave only a few days before. But reports from people on the Mystery Tour say it's not happening yet. To quote one, "As soon as they got into the hotel they changed straight back into their 'love' gear".

No Studio

When the Boys came to book a film studio in which to shoot the interior scenes for their Mystery Tour, they found that all the film studios around London were booked up solid. But a little problem like that has never stopped a Beatle yet and they got hold of an empty hangar in West Malling, near Maidstone in Kent.

Tributes to Brian Epstein

The death of Brian Epstein hit everybody, especially the Beatles, with all the impact of an atomic explosion. The man who had master-minded the boys into the position of the greatest thing in popular music was dead . . . and the newspapers rallied to give their tributes.

Here are just a few:

"Brian Epstein, the quiet Svengali of world pop. The man who took four ordinary Scouse lads and made them so extraordinary . . . I'm not too sure whether this rather gentle man invented the Beatles or the Beatles made him. But what is certain, though, is that never since the invention of the gramophone has one man caused so much swinging joy throughout the world of the young". This story was headlined "Seven Short Years To Live A Legend" . . . Fergus Cashin, Daily Sketch.

"In the world he made for himself he was a God, pleased while he was creating, exhausted and beset by personal doubts when he had created . . . Occasionally the joy of knowing he was no longer a failure in the public eye welled up in him." Alix Palmer, Daily Express.

"He was the man behind a marvel . . . He consciously created the image of innocence, cleanliness and respectability which won over the mums and dads as well as the kids. He understood the young people of the 60's . . ." --Michael Cable, Daily Mail.

Headline: The Fifth Beatle. "He wanted to make you see that the Beatles were close friends, not just business acquaintances. For the Beatles are not just a money-making machine, they are successful as artists. Success didn't change Brian Epstein".--Henry Fielding, The Sun.

"He was the man who picked up the first loose threads and wove them into a design for living . . . and so created a country of new ideas, where the young were as important as the middle-aged, finding their own identity, changing it from month to month, wearing an army uniform one day, a flowered shirt the next . . ." Alix Palmer and Judith Simons, Daily Express.

"The news of Brian's death is so awful that I scarcely know what to say. That any great man, so young and so talented, should lose his life is tragic. But it means more when the man is someone so close. He was a close friend and adviser who has guided every step of my career." --Cilla Black.

"Of course it is a big personal loss. The thing is not to get too selfish about it--if you get depressed, it is a form of self-pity, because you are sympathising with your own loss. Brian's spirit is still here and it will always be here". --Ringo Starr.

"Brian has died only in body and his spirit will always be working with us. His power and force were everything and his power and his force linger on. When we were on the right track he knew it, and when we were on the wrong track he told us so and he was usually right." --John Lennon, in Disc.

"He was one of the most honest men I've ever met. He always kept his word and was tremendously loyal to the people whom he admired or respected." --Norrie Drummond, New Musical Express.

"Brian wanted to know all about life, as we all did. He was one of us. You can't pay tribute to him in words" --George Harrison, in the Daily Express.

"The man who revolutionised pop music in our time" --New York Times.

And so the tributes roll in--and that's not counting the headlines which paid their own respects to a man who earned his own respect the hard way.

Brian Epstein is dead, but the scene he left behind lives on . . .

John At Home

It was beautiful sunny day when the Beatles Book photographer and I went to call on the fourth Beatle at his home.

John's house is situated in the same wooded stockbroker belt, near Weybridge in Surrey, as Ringo's and George's but George's home is several miles away, while Ringo's is only a couple of hundred yards down the hill.

Just as we were driving through Esher we suddenly found Pattie's bright orange Mini in front of our Jag.

Pattie was driving with George in the passenger seat. He spotted us behind, asked Pattie to stop the car and when she had done so, popped his head through the sun roof. "Going to John's" he yelled, we nodded back at him, "I'll lead you there", he said and dropped back into his seat.

After what seemed like a dozen right and left turns through the country lanes, we eventually entered the estate where John and Ringo live. George left us at the entrance to John's road. We shouted our thanks at him and Pattie gave a quick smile, slammed the gear lever home and roared off up the road.

The entrance to John's estate is marked by a pair of huge wooden gates. We drove through them and up the path which winds around to the front of his house.

Front Door

My first impression was of a large mock Tudor mansion, lots of red brick, white walls and an iron-studded, oaken door. But this door was slightly different. It had been sprayed with paint aerosols in many colours. Over the large knocker was the crest of the Lennon clan.

John opened the door himself. After a quick "Come in," he led the way into the house.

I was completely overwhelmed with the fantastic collection of instruments, pictures, furniture, antiques, flowers, stickers, models, books, which met my gaze. I can honestly say I have never seen so many different things gathered under one roof. The result is extraordinary because it all fits. I don't know whether John or Cyn is the genius, but rooms have two pianos in them, or a statue with a gorilla mask and a pipe stuck in its mouth, and still seem right.

On the ground floor there is a large, entrance hall, lined with shelves of books stretching from floor to ceiling. To the right it leads to the kitchen, which is situated in the centre of the house, and to the left to two rooms, one very large, one small. As soon as we entered the house Julian appeared. He is a fascinating boy now, solemn-faced with sharp brown eyes, very like his father's, which follow your every movement. It's no good trying to get Julian to do anything he doesn't want to. He has got a mind of his own, again like John. He obviously gets on tremendously well with Dad who lets him work out his own small problems in his own way, and after studying us for a minute or two he very quickly made up his mind that, if his father was going to be photographed that day, then so would he.

Two Pianos

The smaller room contained two pianos, one Broadwood, one Bechstein. The mahogany case of the Bechstein, however, was fast disappearing under a psychedelic design, which was being painted on by two Dutch artists, Simon and Marijke. Simon had shoulder-length hair and a white sweatshirt covered with different coloured paints, on which was emblazoned "Jesus Saves". Marijke had on a long, rugby-sweater type dress, made up of green and orange rings, well daubed with paint. The right-hand wall was covered with a bookcase. In the middle of the room was a television set covered with stickers. John loves these coloured stickers, with upside-down phrases on them, like "Quiet Please, Explosion Nearby", and "This Cemetery Welcomes Dangerous Drivers". In fact, he picked up a sheet of stamp-like slogans and stuck a few on the front of the television set while I watched Simon and Marijke at their work.

The next room was very large with three beautiful, soft sofas in it. In one corner was an extraordinary Chinese screen cutting, and next to it the brass statue with the gorilla's mask on it, and a pipe stuck in its mouth, upside down, that I mentioned before. On one side of the fireplace were three turntables. John is very fond of putting on L.P.'s of noises these days, and one played constantly while I was there, broken only by bursts of "All You Need Is Love".

On the shelves near the record player were arranged several of John's gold discs. The Beatles have collected so many awards for their record sales, that each of them has shelves full of gold discs, statuettes, and certificates.

In the centre of the fireplace was a huge colour television. John was one of the first people to buy a colour set in the country. It is reported that only two thousand had been sold when the first colour transmissions started during Wimbledon week.

Cyn's Kitchen

We went next door to the dining room, or rather the room in which the Lennon family eat. The centrepiece was a beautiful antique table surrounded by chairs. The kitchen led off the dining room. All the Beatles houses have fabulous kitchens, and Cyn's is no exception. She's obviously very proud of her home and mistress of her kitchen. There's a most unusual stove in the middle of the room which consists of a table-like surface, built of white tiles, in which are fitted the hot-plates for cooking. I offered to carry something in, but Cyn said, "Certainly not, leave it to the women." She served up a tasty tea of ham, sweet corn, french fried, which was followed by a delicious trifle--obviously Julian's favourite.

"Would you like to take some shots of me with the Rolls?" John asked. Leslie Bryce, the Beatles' photographer, could hardly ram the film into his camera fast enough, as John led the way to the massive double garage at the right-hand side of the house. The newly-painted Rolls certainly looked magnificent. The intricate designs had been painted on with great precision by a local fairground painter.

To be continued next month

A Speakeasy Party

The audio pulse on the wall by the record bar blazed red and green as the vibrations from the thumping bluesy discs set its lights flickering into action. Pale faces glided by, eyes penetrating the velvet darkness with difficulty. Musky pink lamps glowed in the gloom at intervals along the walls.

This was the Speakeasy, London's current "in" clubs and favourite haunt of the night people, pop stars and musicians looking for a place to relax after their work is done.

The door of the glass-fronted restaurant at the far end of the club displayed a "closed" sign. It had been booked for a very special party that was to have some very special guests.

At 10.30 p.m. the Speakeasy's customers were few--it was early for the night people. The restaurant was almost deserted but a couple of hours later it was to be overflowing with famous names from the pop world and the Kings of British pop music would be meeting face to face with the King's of America's West Coast musical scene--a meeting between The Beatles and The Monkees.

Around 11.30 p.m. the Speakeasy began to fill up. The Who had arrived and so had dee-jays Kenny Everett, and Rick Dane (who compered one of The Monkees' concerts at Wembley) and singer/writer Jonathan King.

Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton of Cream arrived dressed entirely in red with a beautiful black, gold-embroidered bolero and close behind came the entire Manfred Mann group. Mann Tom McGuiness greeted Cream Eric and they disappeared into a corner to chat.

Micky Dolenz arrived with his pretty friend and companion Samantha Juste and asked for "Two large iced cokes please". They found two seats opposite Eric Clapton and started to talk about music and anti-gravity!

Mike Nesmith wearing huge pink-lense glasses escorted his pretty blonde wife Phyllis who had only flown in from America a few hours earlier. They, too, both asked for cokes and went to sit by the door.

By now the records had been replaced by a live group on stage and the party people were beginning to sway with the music. Paul McCartney came in with Jane Asher and the hum and noise grew louder. Paul stripped off his green and orange jacket to display a green and red floral shirt. Jane looked cool and beautiful in an apple green skirt and a blouse on which Paul had painted a series of designs.

Beatle John, now minus his moustache, slipped in almost unnoticed and took a seat next to Paul. Picking up a packet of cigarettes from the table he demanded "Whose ciggies are these? Can I pinch one?"

Everyone Was There

Standing room had become very limited. Record producer Mickey Most squeezed through the doorway, greeted Vicki Wickham (of "Ready Steady Go" fame) and made his way to the bar. Frankie Allan of The Searchers, Patsy Ann Noble, Dusty Springfield and Lulu were all chatting happily when Procul Harum in its entirety (and resplendent in their eastern costumes) pushed through the doorway and had difficulty finding space in which to stand.

Kenny Everett and Jonathan King moved over to the Beatles table and sat down, joined by Keith Moon of The Who. The music got louder and fingers began drumming on the table. A blue-shirted Peter Tork slid along the bench to join in the fun.

George Harrison arrived with Patti and two way-out friends, the boy playing a flute and the girl wearing a flower in her hair. The party was really beginning to swing. George removed his sheepskin jacket and made his way across the room greeting people as he went. Patti talked with Jane, and George spoke to Mann Klaus Voormann.

Iced cokes were being passed over bobbing heads, ciggies were passed from hand to hand and Paul took a couple of hot sausages from a passing waitress. Cheese and pickles on sticks were popped into hungry mouths and George was hunting for a vacant chair.

The group had finished playing on stage and music from the record bar bounced out of the speakers. John Lennon and Keith Moon were leading a boisterous chorus on one side of the room and George had found a seat on the other side with Eric Clapton and Procul Harum.

By 3.00 a.m. George was serenading everyone with the help of his ukelele, Peter Tork was playing banjo like he had just invented it, Keith Moon was drumming on the table. Micky Dolenz was chatting quietly to Paul. Mike Nesmith and his wife had slipped quietly away and the crowd had thinned slightly. But the party still had another three hours to run!

But there were two people who missed the fun--Beatle Ringo and Monkee Davy Jones. Both were visiting relatives 'up North'.

Behind the Spotlight

Two Years Ago

by Billy Shepherd and Johnny Dean

John Lennon has always had pretty fixed ideas on what a star owes to other people. Just a couple of years ago, in September of 1965, he had been with the other Beatles to meet Elvis Presley at the EP mansion in Bel Air. An historic occasion, and one which had a big effect on John.

Afterwards, John said: "When you get to the position of being a star, you owe a lot to the fans and to the people who pay you your money. This means that you turn up on time for shows and you work as hard as you possibly can. You treat each show as important as the last one, whether it is for a TV audience of millions or a theatre audience of a few thousand.

"And when it comes to records, you put every bit of effort and enthusiasm into each one. We all owe it to people to keep the standards high. But I feel that when I'm through with work, then my life simply has to be my own. I don't owe twenty-four hours of every day. My family should be protected because they are part of the other me, not the one who gets up there on stage."

Home Life

And this is still John's fervent belief. He appreciates that there must be a lot of interest in his home life but he doesn't encourage it. He was saying recently that the meeting with Elvis had a lot to do with that. He admired the quiet family life that El still had, despite having been a world star for a good five years longer than the Beatles. He had worked for his privacy and he held on to it despite everything.

John also talked about the difference between the public life of a solo singer as compared with a group. He told Elvis that the Beatles were lucky in having four people up there taking control of the barrage of hysteria. He owned up: "If I was shoved up there, all on my own, I think I would just break up." Well, since then John has been to a lot of places on his own--and he has made his film debut as an individual. But he still hasn't gone on stage to put on a whole show by himself. . . and nor have any other of the boys.

Very Aware

But this doesn't stop them appreciating the problems of other people in the big-time show-business. They are all as aware of the difficulties as of the rewards of remaining up there in the glare of about ten million spotlights.

Oddly enough, though, Elvis . . . "a real star" in the opinion of George Harrison . . . doesn't get regular hit records nowadays. While the Beatles bask, at the time of writing, in the luxury of a number one single and a number one LP, Elvis has become rather patchy in terms of success. Of course, filming is his number one priority these days but going back two years ago an interesting point came out in that meeting between the two giant attractions. El was asking Paul and John just how many hits they'd written so far, and saying that he wished he had more time to pursue his writing. John suddenly broke off and asked Elvis why it was that he didn't go back to his old-style record-making--the wild rock 'n' roll which made Presley an international attraction. El wasn't too sure how to answer this at first. But funnily enough he has since come out with wild rockers and they have proved every bit as successful as his ballads.

So lots of side issues came out of that show-business summit meeting. I'll always remember Ringo saying of Elvis: "Fantastic. He was just like one of us. None of the old Hollywood show-off thing."

Incidentally in that September of 1965, "Help" was just starting to move down the charts. A real eye-opening experience is to play that old track over and then compare it with something like "All You Need Is Love". That gives you an idea of how different the Beatle sounds are from record to record. And how they have developed.

There was a big protest scene going two years ago. Songs with arguments against war, like "Universal Soldier", "Eve of Destruction" and so on were all the rage in the charts. Of course, the Beatles don't actually protest . . . but the word "love" figures in a lot of their song titles. Paul has always been strong on this--as he said recently: "We hope to get people thinking more about love, rather than hate. This is a time in history when what is needed is love, not violence."

Some people accuse the Beatles of merely paying lip service to this, but that's not true. Through the years, they have concentrated on getting across the message that love is fine--and not something to hide under a blanket of bravado.

Beatles Double

But enough of that. Back in September 1965, the Beatles were chalking up some more incredible popularity poll results. This time, it was the Melody Maker poll--a paper with a readership that has a strong jazz-musical backbone, though also reflecting pop tastes of the moment. So in came the Beatles to run away with the group department at both British and World levels. The Americans they pipped handsomely in the World Section were the Everlys, the Beach Boys, the Jordanaires, Supremes.

John Lennon was fourth in the British singer section; George Harrison was second favourite musician. Their vocal record "Ticket To Ride" topped that department but "I Feel Fine" was also listed. John Lennon was third top male TV artist--and seventh in the world singer section. George Harrison was fourth in the world musician rating . . . and in the world listing for vocal records the boys came second with "Ticket To Ride" to . . . yep, Elvis Presley cropped up again with "Crying In The Chapel", which happened to be one Presley disc that the boys didn't rate very highly. However in this last section, the Beatles again were the only group or artist to have two records ("I Feel Fine" was the other) in the top ten.

Ringo Hits Top 100

But what amused Ringo most of all was that his vocal on "Act Naturally" actually made the American top hundred.

Actually it was a fitting little celebration present for Ringo, seeing his name up there in the charts. Because in mid-September, the 13th to be exact, he became the extremely proud father of a baby boy. Yes, Zak made his first appearance in front of the world at Queen Charlotte's Hospital. It was a busy day, one way and another. Maureen Starr was rushed into Hospital early in the morning and Ringo went with her, not getting back home until 11 p.m. that day. He phoned his parents in Liverpool, grabbed some shut-eye and then raced back to the hospital early the next day. History repeated itself last month when Ringo's new baby was born.

Most of the month, the boys were on holiday . . . recovering from their hectic American tour and preparing some ideas for the autumn tour which had been lined up for them. There had been theories that the boys were not keen on touring, but as George explained: "We like getting out to the fans but we are doing fewer things now because we think people have seen more than enough of us in the past couple of years."

George also said with great candour: "Wherever you play you're bound to upset someone. It's when you see the situation from the management side that you realise you really can't win."

However there were quite a few things the boys COULD win during that particular autumn. But more about those next month.

With the Beatles No. 4

Our Visit to Greece

By Mal and Neil

In all our holiday party numbered twelve people. Four flew to Athens on the Thursday--George and Pattie, Ringo and Neil. The remaining eight followed two days later--John, Cynthia and Julian, Paul and Jane, Pattie's 16-year-old sister Paula, Alistair Taylor from the NEMS office and Mal.

Apparently the photographers at the airport in Athens hadn't a clue who Paula was. One newspaper back home in London decided to identify her very vaguely, but they had an idea she was Cynthia Lennon!

There was a 13th man in our group--in fact the whole trip was his idea in the first place. His name is Alexis, a young and very clever electronics man, a Greek who became a close personal friend of the Beatles in London a few months ago. Alex took care of us all in Greece, translating when it was necessary, and we stayed at his house in a suburban part of Athens.

White Yacht

The plan was to move onto a big white motor yacht at the weekend as soon as everyone had settled in. But the rented boat was delayed on another cruise, stuck somewhere near Crete in high winds which prevented her sailing. In the end the boat--named the m.v. Arvi--arrived at Athens on the Monday and we went on board on the Tuesday. Minus Ringo who headed home with Neil that day. Maureen hadn't been able to join us because the baby was nearly due so Ringo didn't want to be away from her too long.

Anyway we made good use of the extra days in Athens before starting the cruise. On Sunday we all piled into a convoy of cars--a big Mercedes and a couple of huge old American taxis! For three hours we drove through the countryside in the blistering hot sunshine. Suddenly the rest of us realised that the taxi carrying Paul, Jane and Neil was missing. Apparently the extreme heat had been too much for it. Thick black smoke poured out as the engine all but caught figure. So Ringo's taxi turned back to look for them--and found the trio walking happily along the dusty road towards the village we'd stopped at for lunch!

Everyone spent an hour or so looking round the village, admiring the tiny shops, buying beads, Greek antiques and odd bits of clothing. Then we were taken to lunch at a lovely house high up in the hills, and while we ate, a guitarist and a clarinet player provided colourful accompaniment with their folk music. We all tried a bit of Greek dancing on the patio to work off some of that marvellous meal!

We left the village loaded down with presents. The girls were given Greek dresses with classical patterns. Julian got a foot-high doll (a Greek soldier) and the boys received long slip-on shirts.

Shopping

Before going any further we decided it was time we bought something to carry all the gear in. Obviously we were going to do a lot of shopping during the week! So everybody picked up brightly-patterned hand-woven shoulder bags and started filling them with beads, old Turkish and Greek jewellery.

We drove for another hot and sticky hour before coming to rest on a beautiful beach where Paul helped Julian to construct one of the finest sandcastles you ever saw.

The same evening Alex had hoped we'd visit the old Delphi theatre but there were so many people waiting for us when we arrived that we split and headed home to Athens rather than face all those crowds. News of our whereabouts and our plans seemed to spread round like wildfire!

On the Monday George and Paul decided to have a quiet day. They stayed behind and played guitars while the rest of the party went into the shopping centre. John wanted to buy the local equivalent of a guitar. A huge crowd of fans and sightseeing tourists gathered round the instrument shop we tramped into. To our surprise the shop was stocked with a wide range of modern electric equipment--Vox amplifiers and the lot! "It's just like going into Sound City in London" observed John as we looked around. But he found the instrument he wanted in the store's antique department!

Cunning Ringo

Ringo devised a cunning way of by-passing the crowds. He'd wait until John and the rest of us went into one shop, then he'd sneak quietly away into the one next door while the crowds gathered round John. His scheme came unstuck when he spent a bit too long choosing a pair of sandals. Forty photographers and umpteen Americans descended upon him ("Say, isn't that crazy? We travel all the way from Chicago and find Ringo Starr in a Greek shoe shop!").

All the shopkeepers of Athens expert you to argue about the price of everything. The boys got pretty good at this bartering game and managed to pick up a load of bargains from the tiny rows of antique shops in the old part of the city. But whether we wanted to buy or not the shopkeepers urged us in very broken English to "just come in and look around so we can tell people Beatles was here!"

All the time we were in Greece we had wonderful food. One evening we stopped for dinner in a small village and sat down at tables under the trees in the square. Paul, Ringo and Jane decided to test the local cooks by asking for an English meal just for a change. They had one of the best egg and chip meals they'd ever tasted--garnished (like every Greek dish) with tomatoes in olive oil and lashings of cheese. The rest of us had delicious kebabs--skewered chunks of lamb beautifully cooked.

All the while quiet Greek music was pouring out of a little loudspeaker in the tree above our tables. Suddenly they changed the record AND PUT ON "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" BY THE BEATLES. The owner of the cafe stood at the top of the steps beaming brightly and we all had a good laugh before signing some autographs and heading for home!

Greek Flutes

On Tuesday we set sail in the gleaming white motor yacht Arvi. It had 24 berths and, apart from the captain, a crew of seven including a chef and two stewards. The captain had purchased a brand new red ensign to fly on his mast to show he had a party of Englishmen on board. That evening we gathered up on deck to watch the sun setting over the islands. What a pity Ringo and Neil missed that! It was a fantastic sight. Still, the rest of us took many pictures and our movie cameras whirled away like mad.

At two o'clock in the morning we anchored under a full moon. Beside us was a mighty rock with the Temple of Neptune on top of it. The pillars were outlined in the moonlight--another unforgettable sight.

The days that followed were all swimming and laziness and beautiful sunshine.

Hindu Chants

After sunset each night we'd gather together on the top deck and sing until two or three. George played his ukelele, John got out his Greek guitar and we'd sing strange Hindu chants over and over again for hours on end!

We came home to London in two relays. George and Pattie wanted to go a little early--to pack again and leave for California--so Mal flew home with them on the following Sunday. Then on Monday Paul, Jane, John, Cyn, Julian, Paula and Alexis headed for London. Alexis just about had time to pack a fresh set of clothes in time to leave for Los Angeles on the Tuesday with George, Pattie and Neil!

There's no room here to tell you about the Harrison holiday in Hollywood so that will have to wait till next month.

How I Won The War

Coming Soon! JOHN LENNON's eagerly awaited, long anticipated, solo screen debut in the UNITED ARTISTS picture "HOW I WON THE WAR". This month FREDERICK JAMES gives BEATLES BOOK readers their first exclusive "sneak preview" of the film.

There won't be much longer to wait. The West End premiere of "How I Won The War" is scheduled to take place a month or two from now.

Before I tell you something about the story we ought to clear up a couple of points. First of all DON'T go to see this film expecting to find John in the lead role. John's part--as Private Gripweed of the Third Troop of the Fourth Musketeers--is not a large one. It is small yet important. And DON'T expect "How I Won The War" to be an all-laughter picture. There are loads of laugh lines, lots of hilarious sequences, BUT your smiles may turn to tears in the more serious sequences. Basically this is an anti-war film and to make its message all the more profound you'll see a fair amount of spilled blood. Some scenes showing the death of Fourth Musketeer soldiers are quite gruesome. You'll watch men stabbed through the stomach with bayonets, blown to pieces by shells, damaged beyond repair by bombs and bullets. But balanced against the tragedy you'll get an ample helping of humour--from slapstick farce to pungent satire with subtle jokes set out alongside physical clowning.

Colour

The main role in this Eastmancolor production, directed by Richard Lester who worked with The Beatles on "Help!" and "A Hard Day's Night", goes to actor Michael Crawford who plays a British army officer named Lieutenant Ernest Goodbody. Goodbody leads his platoon through a series of Second World War battles and special missions set in the Western Desert, Dunkirk, Dieppe, Alamein and Arnhem.

Integrated with each of the battle sequences are actual newsreel shots which were filmed 25 years ago. These sequences are shown not in full colours but a series of deep colour tints--green to identify the Dunkirk fighting, pink for the Dieppe shots, orange for the Alamein campaign and blue for Arnhem. You can imagine the curiously powerful impact of these scenes with the whole screen bathed in a blue or pink.

True to the dreadful facts of war at least one member of Goodbody's platoon is killed in each of these actions. But when a man dies his place is taken by a new faceless soldier whose skin and clothing is tinted from head to foot in the colour used to identify the battle which has just taken place. Are these green and blue people meant to be the ghosts of those who have died or are they unknown new soldiers sent in as replacements? We're never given an answer.

By now you will have realised that this is no ordinary comedy film and no conventional war picture. By the ingenious use of cameras, colour and brilliant directing techniques the whole production puts over the futility of fighting, the nonsense of war.

Apart from John's Private Gripweed you'll meet amongst the other Fourth Musketeers troop members Clapper, Dooley, Drogue and Transom. Clapper is played by Roy Kinnear. At first you'll meet them while they're doing their basic military training--square-bashing on a parade ground, learning their rifle drill. There are riotous moments as you see them negotiating a tricky obstacle course which includes leaping over walls and dangling from high-slung ropes above ponds of muddy water.

Later, in the North African desert, you'll see John learning to drive a truck and a sort of tank. His driving lessons take place prior to a "vital assignment" given to Lieutenant Goodbody's squad--to infiltrate enemy lines, press on far beyond the battlefront and establish a cricket field (yes, a CRICKET FIELD!) for inspection by a senior officer of the British Army. The mission is successful despite Private Gripweed's blunder in letting the platoon's precious water supply (stored in the giant roller used to iron out the cricket pitch!) leak away into the sand.

It would not be fair of me to tell you more about the actual story. You must see for yourself how the war is won and by whom. But I will tell you that this is to be one of the most powerful and moving pictures you've ever seen. It will leave you with hosts of memories--happy and sad--and it will be an experience you'll never regret.

Filmed Last Year

"How I Won The War" was filmed during the autumn of 1966. Indeed John left for the first shooting location in Germany within hours of The Beatles' return from their summer concert tour of America. From Germany the production unit moved to Almeria, a remote spot on the coast of Spain where John and Cynthia set up their temporary home with little Julian in the spacious and beautiful old mansion where John celebrated his 26th birthday last October.

"I'm still not sure about acting" said John when the whole thing was over "I couldn't imagine myself making film after film but I've learnt a lot from it and it was good experience. I've tried a bit of writing and now I've tried a bit of acting. I'll never be able to take either of these things much further but I'm glad I've done them."

How did John Lennon happen to become Private Gripweed?

John Was Right

From director Richard Lester: "When I read the first outline of the story I kept thinking of John for this character. I found that Charles Wood--the man who gave me the first treatments of the story to look at--was thinking the same way although we hadn't discussed the casting. So we wrote the part specially for John. As an actor John has a natural instinct for comedy and his timing is excellent."

And from John: "I did the film because I believed in it. There never has been a war film which showed war as it really is. A man fighting in a battle doesn't see the whole thing. He never meets the enemy until the day a man comes round the corner and sticks a bayonet in him and he can't quite believe it is happening."

The final words are from Richard Lester: "Although I knew John as well as I knew the other Beatles I only got to know him well during the production of this new picture. I was tremendously impressed by John. More than by anyone else I have ever met. Particularly by his ability to cut through all the outside layers and get to the heart of people and matters. Many times when I was setting up a scene John would say something like 'But look . . . that's daft . . . it should be like this' or 'Aren't we supposed to be doing so-and-so in this scene'. Well, I'd stop and think about it and realise John was right. This is not something he has learned--it's instinctive. He tries to be supremely honest, not only with the people he meets but, above all, with himself."

Behind the Spotlight

Two Years Ago

by Billy Shepherd and Johnny Dean

In July, 1965, the Beatles were in the throes of a fantastically successful continental trip. Including Italy, where, surprisingly, there had never been the same symptoms of Beatlemania as in, for instance, France and Germany. But the boys barnstormed the Italians . . . playing to audiences of 10,000 and 22,000 on the same night in Milan at the Palais des Sports.

Not Happy

Yet Paul wasn't entirely happy with everything. He told us: "The Italians seem to have a strange attitude to a pop group. We saw one girl, about thirteen, who screamed at us when we were leaving an hotel. Suddenly she was grabbed by her mother and given a right old beating . . . there in the street. They seem to think that there is a disgrace in showing enthusiasm for pop artists. We don't like it--it's not the kids fault, really."

However, "Hard Day's Night" was a good box-office success in Italy prior to the boys' arrival, so their fears that the Romans and the Milanese might be a bit of a wet-blanket after the riots of Paris were not confirmed.

The boys did notice that the Italians were rather behind in their musical tastes. There were some unknown British groups there doing very well with out-and-out rockers from the Bill Haley catalogue and the Beatles found that numbers like "Long Tall Sally" were most popular with the fans. Funniest thing about Italy, though, were the groups of photographers who followed the boys everywhere. When John popped out for a newspaper, he was surrounded by about five dozen picture-men, some on scooters and all apparently appearing out of thin air at exactly the moment he pushed through the swing-doors of the hotel. . . .

After Italy the boys went on to Spain, appearing for concerts in bull rings there. Somewhat naturally, they were loaded down with souvenirs when they arrived back at London Airport to a mass of delighted fans and a whole lot of interesting new work. Ringo Starr, wearing a matador-hat, was in especially good form--he'd just celebrated his 25th birthday and had been involved in something like forty different parties to commemorate it. And his wife Maureen had given him a sword, an historic old gun and a pikestaff--to add to his collection of 17th century antiques at his home. His mum and dad had also unearthed an old sword. Ringo was delighted.

So were the fans when it was announced that the new single "Help", their tenth, would be out a week earlier in July, 1965, than was previously expected. And the final details of the next LP, tying up with the film, were revealed . . . but more about that next month.

Always Win

John and Paul have always done exceptionally well in the Ivor Novello Awards. These "prizes" of the music industry were awarded annually by a panel of experts--and handed over at a luncheon organised by the Variety Club of Great Britain. In 1965 we went along to see the grand ceremony--but predictably it didn't work out as planned.

For a start, John didn't make it at all. Paul came in very late, explaining that John had had a bit of a late night and was very sorry. The organisers could have been a bit upset but such is Paul's charm that they merely laughed delightedly and said: "Well, you can never be sure of anything where the Beatles are concerned . . ."

So it was Paul only who received two statuettes for "Can't Buy Me Love"--as the Most Performed Work of 1964 and as the Highest Selling Single. Then they won two Certificates of Honour for "A Hard Day's Night", as the second Most Performed Work and the second Outstanding Theme (from TV, radio, film or stage). Their other cause for celebration was another certificate for "I Feel Fine", which was the year's second biggest selling record. The rest of the awards went to rather "squarer" songs, though Paul said he was glad Tom Springfield and Welshman Clive Westlake picked up a certificate for penning Dusty Springfield's big hit "Losing You".

Good old Paul was bobbing up and down like a yo-yo receiving the Beatles awards, which were made separately. As he stood there, cameras popping all round him, he said, in reference to the way certain people had threatened to send their MBE's back to the Queen after the Beatles had similar awards: "I only hop the other winners won't want to send THESE back." And there was another roar of laughter.

What Happens

Anyway, in this month of July, 1965, as "Help" came out--George Harrison was being interviewed about that interminable old question as to what would happen if the Beatles didn't actually make number one this time. We've reported this rather irritating question several times in this "Spotlight" feature but we make no apology for repeating it. George took a realistic view of it all. He said: "We hope to get to the top. But we know we can't stay there for ever, so I'm just hoping that it'll be the Rolling Stones that take over from us."

This was something new--a top group member hoping that the nearest opposition would supersede his own group. "But we want several weeks up there," he added quickly. "Then they can have the place to themselves with 'Satisfaction', which we think is the best thing they've ever done."

As for "Help" . . . well, it was a number one (of course). But it is interesting to recall that George and John were both even more keen on the "B" side which was "I'm Down" . . . and they'd have begged for that to be the top deck if there hadn't been a film to consider. Said George: "We still like keeping up with the really wild sort of rock--and 'I'm Down' has John on Hammond organ and it swings along like mad . . . especially with paul putting on what we call his Little Richard-type voice."

Good Flip

As ever, the Beatles had insisted on putting out a strong flip-side. Paul explained: "Often people say they like the 'B' sides more than the top sides. But this is probably because they hear the main number more often so they tend to find it too familiar and then they're knocked out that we've bothered to put anything at all on the 'B' side!"

It's a policy, through and through. Even now the Beatles insist on a value-for-money coupling. How many other groups worry about that!

The preview of the film "Help" came up right at the end of July but Mayflower books brought out a synopsis for fans before the first cinema showing. But we'll recall the LP and the film in the next issue . . . suffice it here and now to say that "Help" was unique in that United Artists made more copies of it than had ever been printed before for a colour film. This was headline news in all the world's trade movie papers--and a stirring commendation of the incredible popularity the boys enjoyed.

Actually we went behind the scenes one afternoon in July, 1965, to see what really happened when a new Beatle single was pressed. Said a spokesman at the EMI pressing plant: "It's all stations go when the Beatles are on the scene. We have to lay on extra staff and we're always hard-pressed coping with the orders which flow in from all over the country. Sometimes there is a delay between the announcement of a Beatle title and the actual release of the record. This is so that we can get something like 500,000 copies ready to be whipped out all over the country . . . if there is delay it is not really fair to the fan who knows that his friend has already got a copy . . ."

And this was also the month when Ringo announced that he was moving into a new house. It was a very big place, he announced proudly . . . and it was only about a mile from John Lennon's place at Weybridge. Seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, a massive lounge and what Ringo said added up to "hundreds" of littler rooms all over the house.

Pending parenthood brought out the best in Ringo, even though he often took the mickey out of himself when talking about Maureen and her "interesting condition".

Anyway, before the end of July, two years ago, "Help" was right at the top of the charts . . . their ninth disc to rush to the top. It was Paul who said, on the telephone from Manchester: "We never take anything for granted. We're always rather surprised when a single actually gets to number one in the charts." And that wasn't unnecessary modesty either . . . because all the other Beatles have said much the same thing in the last couple of years.

Because so many of you Beatle stalwarts like to recall the past achievements as well as savour the current ones, we'll not forget about reminding you of the "Help" film and LP next month. But there was also a lot else happening for the boys in that rather unpredictable August of 1965.

To find out about it, just make a mental note to join us in about four weeks' time. Glad to let you in on the happenings. . . .

Beatles' Dinner Party

By Kenny Everett

Just before the release of the new album there was a "Sgt. Pepper" dinner party at Brian Epstein's house in Belgravia. The idea was that The Beatles invited a few journalists to come along and spend an evening with them, chat, eat, drink and hear "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Various deejays like Alan Freeman, Jimmy Savile and myself being thrown into the invitation list for good measure. For the first few hours we stood in the dining room discussing the album which was playing in the background.

The boys themselves were in an unusually talkative mood that night and were pouring forth with all sorts of interesting tit-bits of info about the LP. They were dressed in the usual Beatle-type garb consisting of a million different colours. John wore red trousers with a green shirt which had yellow flowers leaping about all over it. No pockets in his trousers of course so a sporran was the natural thing to wear--well, it was for him anyway!

Later

Later, when most of the writers had got their stories, I managed to get John, Paul, George and Ringo to come upstairs into the study where it was very quiet. Just what I needed--a place to tape comments from each of them for the special "Sgt. Pepper" album programme I was doing for the Light ("Where's It's At") the following afternoon. So--tapes at the ready--I fired away!

First Track

Apparently the first track the boys worked on was "When I'm 64". This extremely simple but very effective number was written by Paul last September. I think I would have guessed that Paul was responsible even if he hadn't told me 'cos it just seems to be his type of thing.

According to John there is no set pattern for sitting down to write a number. If one day Paul calls round at John's house (or vice versa!) for a cup of tea suddenly something in the air can call for a song to be written. The bare skeleton is put down in their heads. Then when they've got it figured out it's taken to George Martin who puts it into dots and arranges it.

Weird Sound

At various places in the album--especially on songs like "Lucy" and "Little Bit of Help"--you may have noticed a weird sound. Paul calls this "phasing" and it occurs when you re-record the original sound (voice or instruments) and then play both copies alongside one another. Almost together (in sync, you know) but not quite so that one copy of the recording is very slightly ahead of the other by a split second. If you get all that you know how it's done. If you don't you shouldn't worry--just sit back and enjoy "phasing"!

The biggest thing on the boys' minds at the moment--apart from producing records--is a new type of religion of the mind. George practices it most and is completely obsessed with love-your-neighbour. Buddhism is the closest thing I can think of to compare with this way of thinking. Anyway, whatever it is, it's beautiful and everybody should be like that. We had long chats that night and Paul was abundantly talkative.

Beatle News

Indian Incident

George tells us that while he was in India at the end of last year, he had a nasty road accident. No, he didn't hit another car, but a bullock cart! After the crash, he got out of his car and dashed over to see if the bullock itself was all right. Fortunately, it appeared to be O.K. and, as far as he knows, recovered completely.

Great Friends

The Beatles got on famously with Monkees Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones, when they visited this country during February. Paul was first off by inviting Micky, and road-manager Ric Klein over to his St. John's Wood home as soon as they arrived. Many of you will have seen the photo, which appeared in the "Daily Mirror" the next morning, of Micky and Paul sitting in front of "Solo" in Paul's music room. John, also, lent the boys his Rolls Royce when they had trouble with their car. And, of course, the Monkees went to that special recording, when Paul conducted a large orchestra.

New Nanny

Cynthia Lennon was looking for a nanny for their son Julian. When the Lennons had dinner one evening with Peter Cook and his wife at their Hampstead home, Cyn found Sally Bulloch. Eighteen-year-old Sally used to be nanny to the Cooks' two young children. Cynthia felt that Sally was just the right person and offered her the job. But John had different views. He believes that it is a wife's duty to bring up children, so Sally didn't get the job. Instead of moving into the Lennons' beautiful Surrey home, she flew off to Malta in search of work. But she still hopes that John will change his mind.

Julian who is now five years old, is going to school now at Heath House in Weybridge near to John's home.

Present for George

George bought several little trinket boxes, beautifully decorated by Indian craftsmen, while he was in India studying the sitar under Ravi Shankar, and posted them home to himself. They were only recently delivered to his Esher home.

Beatles Talk

Recorded press conference excerpts transcribed in question and answer form by Frederick James

Q: When were "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" written?

JOHN: We thought about writing some songs about places in Liverpool ages ago, I mean a couple of years ago at least. I remember then Paul thought of doing one all about Penny Lane. I started to work on "Strawberry Fields Forever" when I was filming in Spain last October. We had a lot of waiting around to do. Paul did most of "Penny Lane" just before Christmas.

PAUL: Mind you, most of the stuff we write now is unfinished when we go into the recording studio. We use a lot of studio time for doing arrangements and actually rehearsing new songs. That's what happened with these two for the single.

Q: Last month I asked you about television and you, Paul, said The Beatles would like to do your own programme. Any more details on that yet?

PAUL: Well, you see, it's going to be a whole show built around the next LP which we haven't quite finished. So we haven't finished the TV programme either. A couple of weeks ago we had some cameraman in the recording studio while we were working on one of the LP tracks. If it fits in O.K. that will be one bit of the TV programme.

Q: This new recording contract which was signed on your behalf by Brian Epstein--what does it mean?

GEORGE: For a start it should mean the end of all the rumours about The Beatles breaking up. Brian signed a nine-year contract for us with E.M.I. Records. That means we want to go on making records--as a group--until at least 1976.

Q: How about this cinema you're building for yourself, Ringo?

RINGO: Yeah, how about that! I just like movies, you know. We all do.

Q: We've established that John did most of the composing work for "Strawberry Fields Forever" and Paul's ideas went into "Penny Lane". Is it coincidence that whoever writes a song is also the Beatle who sings it on record?

JOHN: Yes and no, if you know what I mean. I suppose I write the way I know I can sing even if I don't realise it at the time. But we don't often write entirely on our own--I mean I did bits for "Penny Lane" and Paul wrote some of "Strawberry Fields".

PAUL: The singing bit isn't strictly true anyway because John sings "Penny Lane" with me although everybody keeps saying it's my solo side.

Q: When you filmed your special TV sequences for the new single why didn't you go up to the actual places mentioned in the songs? Up to Liverpool?

RINGO: We hadn't got time, really. We were in the middle of recording more LP material. That was all in the first ten days of February. So the director, a great Swedish bloke named Peter Goldmann, found a place in Kent. Knole Park Estate at Sevenoaks. It was just right for "Strawberry Fields" and much easier to get to from London. Then they took film shots of the real places in Liverpool to go with the shots of us. All very clever.

Q: For "Penny Lane" I believe you almost rode horses in Stratford, E.15?

RINGO: What do you mean ALMOST? It was on a Sunday. The horses arrived very late and it was getting dark so we weren't able to film much. Anyway about 2,000 kids all over East London found out about the filming and we nearly caused a couple of traffic jams!

Q: Whose idea was it to add those extra few seconds onto the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever"?

GEORGE: Often after a recording "take"--you know, after we've taped a number--we just go on playing for fun. This time we decided to put some of it onto the actual record. I don't know who thought of it.

Neil's Column

Ever since Tuesday, January 31st, I've been inundated with requests for bits of information about the new single. January 31st? Well, that was, just for the record, the day Radio London became the first station to play "Penny Lane" on the air.

So the whole of my page this month is going to be devoted to telling you at least some of the extra things you want to know about "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever".

"Strawberry Fields" was the first number The Beatles recorded before Christmas when their current series of sessions at E.M.I. began. Two finished tapes were scrapped because John was worried about the tempo--the first version seemed to be too slow, the second sounded right from the speed point of view, but other things didn't come up to the boys' required standard.

The instrumental sound you hear at the very beginning of "Strawberry Fields" is made by a Melotron (played by Paul) which can imitate a variety of other instruments. Here the flute stop was used.

INSTRUMENTS

At one stage George and Paul played tympani and bongo drums and Mal sat in with them on tambourine!

"Penny Lane" has got a lot of people guessing about who sings what. I've seen various newspapers claim that Paul does all the solo singing on this track. Actually John sings with him quite a bit on "Penny Lane". Incidentally this was recorded during the first two weeks of January and the last bits to be added were the harmony voices and those fantastic trumpet figures. One of the country's most famous and most skilled classical trumpet players came in to put those finishing touches to "Penny Lane". In fact Paul had been thinking of all sorts of different ideas before he hit on the trumpet suggestion. The boys all sat round for ages playing the unfinished tape over and over and coming up with thoughts for filling in with different instrumental bits at those particular points in the arrangement.

MAL PLAYED

Maybe you've already sorted out in your own mind the different instruments--other than guitars and drums--heard during "Penny Lane". That's definitely the simpler of the two arrangements. In fact you can hear (apart from the trumpet) a string bass, flutes, piccolos, a flugelhorn and John and George Martin playing pianos.

For "Strawberry Fields" you've got, in addition to Paul's Melotron, a vast variety of percussion sounds, cellos, trumpets, an electronic drum track by Ringo and a sort of table harp played by George.

Questions

I hope I've answered some of your questions about the single. It's difficult to remember everything that happens when the boys are working on new tracks because there are four of them and they're all thinking up ideas while we're in the studios. But the result is what counts and it's a great disc, isn't it?