Thursday, May 3, 2012

Irish Sitar


November 1971 was the month of Beatle-related movies, as 200 Motels opened in New York on the 10th, Blindman premiered in Rome on the 15th, and Raga had a special screening at Carnegie Hall on the 22nd, attended by George and John and their wives.

George was in New York all month, editing the film of the Bangla Desh concert and promoting the Raga movie and soundtrack LP. Near the beginning of November (it's introduced as the 7th, but a comment by George places it nearer the 1st), he dropped by WPLJ's studios and talked with Alex Bennett about Ravi Shankar and Indian music in general, as well as his experiences recording Wonderwall in Bombay.

Meanwhile, John and Yoko were entering the "activist/protest music" phase of their career, spurred on by meetings with Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman. As well as producing an album by street musician David Peel, John was writing songs about the Attica prison riot, the jailings of Black Panther Angela Davis and White Panther John Sinclair, and the situation in Northern Ireland.

On November 12th, filmmaker John Reilly videotaped John and Yoko in their Bank Street apartment, working on a new song, "The Luck Of The Irish":



Early versions of "Attica State" and "The Luck Of The Irish" were apparently recorded in the fall of '71 for possible release as a single, or even as part of an LP containing the live Lyceum and Fillmore East concerts. In the end, both numbers were redone during the early 1972 Sometime In New York City sessions with Phil Spector.

2 comments:

  1. George talks "Wonderwall" on this interview, now there's something you don't hear everyday!!!

    Also love his "understanding" of his role in "Raga", that cracked me up.

    Thanks again, Dinsdale!

    -Winston Legthigh

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  2. Wow, for a woman who might have been unfairly treated for being asian, Yoko manages to cram in every Irish stereotype into her sections of the song!! (i'm talkin' "Luck of the Irish"!). John's part is so beautiful, brilliant....direct....and then he just hands the song over to an amateur! God bless him, what a husband!

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