Contra Band Music

Beatle George

2012-02-01T15:10:00.002-05:00

On October 8th, 1969, George Harrison sat down with David Wigg at Apple Corps for a lengthy chat. Topics included the "Hare Krishna Mantra" single, the Abbey Road LP, and John Lennon's recent complaints in the press about the difficulty of extricating his share of Apple's income.

The interview was broadcast in two parts on BBC Radio 1's Scene And Heard on the following Sundays (12th and 19th), and some of the raw tape was released on the 1976 LP The Beatles Tapes With David Wigg. Here is a 22-minute composite using all three sources.

Running Down The Road

2012-01-19T10:56:00.002-05:00

The long-awaited Abbey Road LP was released in the UK on September 26th, 1969. Most previous Beatles albums had promotion from the group as a whole, whether appearing on TV, radio, or giving print interviews. This time, each of the band members would give individual interviews about Abbey Road, describing the new songs for different media outlets. Listening to all four in succession is an enlightening way to compare their opinions on the final Beatles LP.

George spoke with Ritchie Yorke of the Toronto Globe and Mail, not long after John's return from Toronto on the 15th. On the 19th, Paul chatted to David Wigg for BBC Radio 1's Scene And Heard, broadcast in two parts on the 21st and 28th.

Ringo and John both recorded track-by-track dissections of Abbey Road for Radio Luxembourg; Ringo's talk with "Kid" Jensen was aired September 26th, and John's rundown with Tony Macarthur was played one night later.

36 Hours

2012-01-06T13:04:00.003-05:00

On September 12th, 1969, John and Yoko gave a joint interview to several journalists at their Apple office, discussing their recent film Self-Portrait among other topics.

At some point on that day, Canadian concert promoter John Brower managed to get through on the phone to Apple, and much to his surprise, convinced John and Yoko to appear the very next day at the Rock and Roll Revival festival being held at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. An impromptu Plastic Ono Band consisting of Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and Alan White was assembled, rehearsed on the flight to Canada, and performed in front of 27,000 fans on the evening of September 13th.

The band spent the following day in Toronto and returned to London on the 15th, where John and Yoko were interviewed by ITV News about Yoko's unusual style of performing. On the flight back, John has already made up his mind to leave The Beatles, telling Allan Klein as much but not dropping the bombshell on Paul and Ringo until an Apple board meeting on the 20th.

Chant And Be Happy

2012-01-05T11:13:00.003-05:00

The Beatles' career wound down with a series of "lasts" as a four-piece band in August 1969. Last song begun on the 1st ("Because"); last LP cover photo taken on the 8th (Abbey Road); last overdub on the 19th ("Here Comes The Sun"); last group mixing session on the 20th; last group photo shoot on the 22nd.

Paul and Linda welcomed their first daughter, Mary, into the world on August 28th, and three nights later, John, George, and Ringo watched Bob Dylan perform at the Isle of Wight Festival.

George had been working closely with the London branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, even recording a hit single for them, "Hare Krishna Mantra", which was released August 29th on Apple.

The founder of ISKCON, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, was visiting London a couple of weeks later, and John and Yoko offered him a place to stay on the spacious grounds of their Ascot estate. The day he arrived (September 11th), the swami had a long conversation with John and George at Tittenhurst, which was recorded for posterity.

Million-Dollar Bash

2012-01-04T14:24:00.002-05:00

The last group Beatles project turned out to be the recording of Abbey Road in July and August, 1969. John's auto accident in Scotland on July 1st meant that he missed the first batch of sessions, but by the recording of "Come Together" on July 21st, all four Beatles were hard at work inside EMI Studios.

With the daily focus on recording, public appearances and interviews ground to a halt, even for the ubiquitous John and Yoko. Only BBC Radio's Kenny Everett gained access to the Fabs, recording interviews for his Radio 1 show Everett Is Here.

The first may have been recorded July 24th, while Paul worked on a demo of "Come And Get It", as it includes a piano-based jingle for Kenny, as well as an interview with George about the July 26th Rathayatra Festival in Hyde Park.

Kenny definitely dropped by EMI on August 14th, listening to a mixing session for "Sun King", Mean Mr. Mustard", and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" - inside knowledge which he parlayed into several self-harmonized jingles for his show. He also chatted with John that day about the album's progress.

Acorns and Lilacs

2012-01-03T15:07:00.002-05:00

With the Bed-ins behind them, John and Yoko put in another appearance on a David Frost TV chat series, this time the aptly named David Frost Show, taped June 14th, 1969 for syndication across the US in July. They arrived bearing gifts, including a "box of smile" for David, acorns in a bag for the audience, and of course a copy of their new LP, Life With The Lions.

Sometime in June, John was also interviewed by David Gresham for South Africa's Springbok Radio, discussing his 1966 "bigger than Jesus" remark which led to a South African media ban on Beatles records. The remainder of June found each Beatle away from home, as George was in Sardinia, Paul in Corfu, Ringo in France, and John in Scotland.

Rabbis and Popeyes

2012-01-02T12:05:00.002-05:00

Reporters and disc jockeys who couldn't make the pilgrimage to Montreal were able to speak with John and Yoko via telephone. On May 29th and 30th, they chatted with Howard Smith of WABC-FM in New York, and they rapped with WNEW-FM's Rosko on the latter night. The 30th also found them talking to Tom Campbell and Bill Holley of KYA-AM in San Francisco, a recording later distributed on a 7" single, "The KYA 1969 Peace Talk". They even recorded several peace-related jingles and promos for various stations.

Ken Seymour of CBC Radio was near enough to record his interview in person, and CBC-TV sent a camera crew to cover the Bed-in for their news program The Way It Is. Patrick Watson interviewed John and Yoko for the show, aired June 8th. Meanwhile, John and Yoko's personal camera crew were capturing all the bedside happenings for their own documentary film, issued on video in 1990 as John and Yoko: The Bed-in.

The highlight of the week was of course the live recording of "Give Peace A Chance", which took place in a crowded room 1742 on the night of May 31st. The following day, a weary John described the "bedlam" to a reporter. The Bed-in concluded on June 2nd, and John was in a reflective mood that day as he spoke with Fred Peabody, a reporter for Concern magazine.

The following afternoon, John and Yoko stopped by a peace conference at the University of Ottawa and participated in a panel discussion. A visit to Niagara Falls on June 4th was their last stop in Canada before returning to London on the 5th.

A Kept Beard

2011-12-29T13:58:00.004-05:00

As planned, John and Yoko flew to the Bahamas on May 24th, 1969, but after one night in a sweltering and uncomfortable Freeport hotel, they realized it was an unsuitable location for their second Bed-In. Luckily, good old Air Canada came through with a flight to Toronto, which they took the evening of the 25th.

After a night at the King Edward Sheraton Hotel, John and Yoko had chosen their ultimate destination, Montreal. On the afternoon of the 26th, before checking out in Toronto, they allowed 14-year-old student Jerry Levitan to record an interview, ostensibly for his school paper.

At 10pm, John, Yoko, Kyoko, and Derek Taylor boarded a flight at Malton Airport, bound for Montreal. On board, John spoke with a CBC-TV news reporter about his intentions for the upcoming event.

The Montreal Bed-In was held in room 1742 of the Hotel Reine-Elizabeth, and officially began on May 27th. Here is a composite of several filmed interviews from that first day, conducted with Kyoko nestled in bed between her mother and stepfather.

One of the many media outlets covering the event was New York's WNEW-TV, which sent reporter Ted Kavanau and a camera crew to Montreal on May 29th. The result was a half-hour documentary with the unwieldy title John & Yoko Lennon Have a Message for the World from Their Bed in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, first broadcast June 6th.

Dark Hours

2011-12-28T11:09:00.002-05:00

Thus far, The Beatles' output of 1969 was limited to a single ("Get Back"), with another soon to follow ("The Ballad Of John And Yoko"). But scattered sessions in Apple, EMI, Trident, and Olympic since January had produced more than an LP's worth of new songs (most of the eventual Let It Be album plus a head start on Abbey Road).

On May 9th, the group met at Olympic to hear Glyn Johns's latest mixes of the January material. The session became fractious when Paul refused to accept his bandmates' demand to sign a contract naming Allen Klein financial manager of Apple. When the others left, Paul blew off some steam at the drum kit behind Steve Miller; their jam became a single, "My Dark Hour".

Paul followed this by vacationing with his wife and stepdaughter in Corfu, prefacing the trip with an interview for BBC Radio Merseyside. On May 16th, Ringo and Peter Sellers set off to New York from Southampton aboard the Queen Elizabeth II. While waiting to depart, he was interviewed for an Associated Press newsreel, explaining that John and Yoko would be joining him if they could get visas in time.

As it happened, their requests were denied by the U.S. embassy, but they hatched plans for a "second honeymoon" (aka Bed-In #2) to be held in the Bahamas instead, where Ringo and company were currently enjoying a vacation. They described these plans in an interview circa May 24th, just prior to leaving London.

And what of George? His holiday in the sun wouldn't begin until June 1st, when he and Pattie flew to Sardinia, but in the meantime, here are two undated interview snippets from the era: George talks about his song "Piggies" and is cryptic about "Hey Jude".

Life With The Lie-Ins

2011-12-27T15:50:00.002-05:00

John and Yoko's second experimental LP, Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With the Lions, was released on the Zapple label May 9th (in the UK; May 26th in the US). To promote the record, and their ongoing peace crusade, the couple recorded several interviews for British radio, all from their office in the Apple building at 3 Savile Row.

On May 8th, they sat down with David Wigg for a long chat, aired in two parts on BBC Radio 1's Scene And Heard the following two Sundays. This 17-minute composite recording begins with a bit of the off-air broadcast, but is mostly from the unedited tape.

Also for Radio 1 was an interview with Pete Drummond, covered in an earlier blog post. And most likely from the same date is this in-depth conversation with Tony Macarthur for Radio Luxembourg, including a plug for the other Zapple LP, George's Electronic Sound.

Apple Skyline

2011-12-23T15:53:00.002-05:00

April 1969 saw the resumption of Beatle activities, with recording sessions at EMI for a new single ("The Ballad Of John And Yoko"/"Old Brown Shoe") and the beginnings of a new LP ("Something", "Oh! Darling", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "Octopus's Garden").

Sessions moved to Olympic in early May ("You Never Give Me Your Money") but quickly fell apart amidst business squabbles - specifically Paul's refusal to sign a management contract with Allan Klein.

Meanwhile, John and Yoko ramped up their peace campaign again. They formed Bag Productions on April 21st, made experimental recordings for their Wedding Album, and flew to Switzerland to attend a screening of Rape at the Montreux TV festival.

On May 2nd, they discussed the film on BBC-TV's How Late It Is; two nights later, they joined Paul and Ringo at the wrap party for The Magic Christian. Sometime around May 5th, John and Yoko entertained reporters in their office at Apple HQ, pontificating about peace, art, Beatle arguments, and the still-dormant Get Back album.

Two Gurus In Drag

2011-12-22T14:44:00.003-05:00

With their film Rape scheduled for a March 31st, 1969 premiere on Austrian TV, John and Yoko promoted both the broadcast and their peace campaign by flying to Vienna direct from the Amsterdam Bed-In. This time, the gimmick was to hold a press conference at the Hotel Sacher, answering questions from inside a bag (actually a hotel bedsheet tied in a bundle).

On April 1st, John and Yoko flew back to London Airport, where an ITV News reporter asked them about the goings-on in Amsterdam and Vienna. Later that night, they appeared on Thames TV's Today, chatting with host Eamonn Andrews on a bed brought into the studio.

John and Yoko accepted Andrews's invitation to appear on his self-titled talk show two nights later. Other guests on the live April 3rd Thames broadcast of The Eamonn Andrews Show included Jack Benny, Rolf Harris, and Yehudi Menuhin.

So Did We

2011-12-21T14:07:00.004-05:00

A mere four days after Paul tied the knot, John and Yoko flew to Paris, hoping for a romantic French wedding of their own. They settled for a ceremony in the British territory of Gibraltar on the afternoon of March 20th, 1969, flying back to Paris immediately afterward.

But the real honeymoon began on March 24th, when the newlyweds landed in Amsterdam to begin a week-long "Bed-In" to promote world peace. The event began the next morning with a lengthy press conference from bed in an attempt to explain the concept of the occasion to confused and bemused reporters. On the 25th, they also filmed interviews for ITV News and Dutch television.

They continued to accept visitors to room 902 all week, chatting live on VPRO radio's Hee on the 29th, and being filmed throughout by Peter Goessens for a documentary, Mr. & Mrs. Lennon's Honeymoon. Here is an earlier blog post with further Amsterdam Bed-In interviews.

We Got Married

2011-12-19T11:04:00.003-05:00

After three years as the Most Eligible Bachelor of the Beatles, Paul McCartney finally took himself off the market on March 12, 1969, when he married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office in London. Present at the ceremony were Peter Brown, Linda's daughter Heather, Paul's brother and best man, Mike, and no other Beatles. As it turned out, George would have his hands full with a drug bust at his house later that day.

A Reuters film crew interviewed the newlyweds outside their front door, and later in the day ITV News spoke with the happy couple at the wedding reception, held at the Ritz Hotel. Here is a sampling of how news bulletins reported the story to heartbroken fans around the world.

On March 17th, Paul and Linda flew to New York for a honeymoon and to visit the Eastman family. CBS News caught up with them at Kennedy Airport.

One Big "Coronation Street"

2011-12-14T13:29:00.002-05:00

While the rooftop concert was a natural endpoint, the Get Back sessions already had a self-imposed deadline of February 3rd, 1969, Ringo's first day of filming for The Magic Christian. Consequently, the Beatles spent most of February pursuing individual endeavors, uniting only for two sessions at Apple and Trident towards the end of the month.

John and Yoko stayed out of the spotlight, finally surfacing on March 2nd for a live performance at Cambridge University. Paul produced singles for the Fourmost ("Rosetta") and Mary Hopkin:

George was the busiest Beatle, having a tonsillectomy, recording "Under The Mersey Wall" at home on his Moog synthesizer, taping several solo demos at EMI on his 26th birthday, and ending the month with a quick trip to Ottawa.

On March 4th, David Wigg visited George at Apple HQ and interviewed him for BBC Radio's Scene And Heard. George downplays the group tensions which led him to walk out of the January sessions at Twickenham, even stating that the Beatles will stay together forever!

The End Of A Beautiful Friendship?

2011-12-13T16:31:00.003-05:00

There are, of course, hundreds of reels of Beatles recordings from the January, 1969 Get Back sessions, including dozens of hours of conversation and dialogue. Actual interviews from the period are few and far between.

Filming and rehearsing began January 2nd in a cavernous soundstage at Twickenham Studios. By January 10th, George had walked out, vowing to quit the band, a fact John Lennon doesn't allude to when interviewed on the set January 14th by a reporter from CBC-TV.

News of a Beatle squabble did leak in the interim between the Twickenham and Apple Studios sessions, and Ringo fielded David Wigg's queries about the matter when interviewed en route to Apple on January 21st.

"Magic" Alex Mardas had attempted to create a usable multitrack mixing board for Apple's basement studio, but as this recording attests, the design proved unusable, and equipment was duly borrowed from EMI.

In any case, plans for Get Back, conceived as a live TV and/or concert performance tied in with a "making of" documentary and LP featuring new material, quickly collapsed. The only immediate result was the legendary January 30th performance on the roof of Apple. In this undated interview, Paul discusses the difficulties of tackling a live Beatles show in the post-Beatlemania era.

Beatlegmania For Xmas

2011-12-11T15:02:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that Multiplus Books is having a sale from now until the end of 2011 on the latest two volumes of Beatlegmania.

I've discounted each book by $10, or you can order volumes 3 and 4 together and receive a $25 total discount. Volumes 1 and 2 are sold out entirely, and there aren't too many copies of Volume 3 left.

To purchase either volume individually, visit the Multiplus Books website and click on the "buy now" button of your choice:

http://www.multiplusbooks.com

If you want both Volumes 3 and 4 with the $25 discount, just send the appropriate amount to my Paypal account (multiplusbooks@aol.com):

US customers - $37

Canada/Mexico customers - $42

All other customers - $47

Please include a note with your payment reminding me that you are ordering both books.

Thanks and happy Beatling!

Randy Legmeat And The Incredible Brown Bag

2011-12-08T15:45:00.002-05:00

December 1968 was the first month of a year-plus-long media blitz by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, promoting their conceptual art, their avant-garde recordings, and ultimately advocating world peace.

On December 3rd, John was interviewed at home by students Maurice Hindle and Daniel Wiles. On the 11th and 12th, he and Yoko participated in the Rolling Stones' ill-fated Rock And Roll Circus TV special:

Just after midnight on the 12th, John and Yoko participated in a live broadcast, part interview, part disc spinning, part happening, for John Peel's BBC Radio show, Night Ride. While there, they promoted an upcoming appearance (in a white bag) at the "Alchemical Wedding" on the 18th at the Royal Albert Hall.

Sometime around this date, John had a dentist appointment in Knightsbridge; while he was being worked on, Yoko was interviewed in the waiting room by Abram de Swaan for the Dutch TV show Rood Wit Blauw. Once he was done in the dentist's chair, John took over from Yoko, chatting through an anesthetized mouth about their recent drug bust, revolution, and capitalism.

Meanwhile, John and Yoko's film Rape (Film No. 6) was due for airing on Austrian TV in early 1969. A film crew from Austria had been following the couple around, shooting some of the Rock And Roll Circus taping, and filming scenes at Kenwood of Yoko describing her art pieces while John strummed guitar in the background.

Overwhelming Oddities

2011-12-07T14:44:00.002-05:00

Even before the "White Album" sessions concluded with a marathon 24-hour mixing date on October 16th-17th, 1968, the Beatles had started to go their separate ways for the year.

Ringo split to Sardinia on the 14th, and two days later George flew to Los Angeles where he would produce Jackie Lomax's Apple LP, Is This What You Want? While in California, George appeared on underground radio and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He spent Thanksgiving in New York, hanging out with Bob Dylan and The Band.

Back in England, John and Yoko were busy dealing with a drugs raid on their apartment (and Yoko's hospitalization and subsequent miscarriage). This left Paul to promote the new album, now officially titled The Beatles, on Radio Luxembourg.

With all four Beatles in separate locations, they had to tape their contributions to the annual Fan Club Christmas flexidisc individually for the first time. The results would be skillfully joined together by Kenny Everett and mailed to club members on December 20th. Here are the unedited and unprocessed takes of John's contributions, two poems commonly known as "Jock And Yono" and "Once Upon A Pool Table".

Mad Days In

2011-12-02T13:55:00.003-05:00

The Beatles spent most of the summer of 1968 hidden away at EMI's Abbey Road Studios recording the "White Album" and a new single. By summer's end, the claustrophobic and contentious sessions had caused engineer Geoff Emerick, producer George Martin, and drummer Ringo Starr each in turn to go on strike/holiday.

Their absence from the spotlight means a dearth of interviews from this period, but they were seen in public occasionally, including a day-long group photo shoot on July 28th at various London locations. On July 30th, they were filmed in Studio Two rehearsing and recording "Hey Jude":

Ringo's self-imposed absence lasted from August 22nd through September 2nd; he often tells the story of spending this time in Sardinia, but that actually occurred in October after the LP was completed. The Sardinian trip was spent on a yacht owned by Peter Sellers, and Ringo apparently spent his time away from the group in August compiling a tape of rough "White Album" mixes as a gift for Sellers. He closed side A of the tape and opened side B with special home recordings meant for Sellers's ears only.

John and Yoko's You Are Here art exhibition opened July 1st at the Robert Fraser Gallery in London, and they appeared live on LWT's Frost On Saturday August 24th to explain Yoko's unusual concepts. David Frost also introduced the Beatles on September 4th at Twickenham Studios when they videotaped promotional clips for "Hey Jude" and its B-side, "Revolution":

So Little Time, So Much To Know!

2011-11-30T15:21:00.003-05:00

By June 26th, 1968, all four Beatles were together again in EMI Studios recording their new album. The first two weeks of sessions concentrated on "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey", "Good Night", and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".

Spare days saw them assisting other Apple artists, as Paul produced "Those Were The Days" for Mary Hopkin and George (with help from Paul and Ringo) worked on "Sour Milk Sea" with Jackie Lomax. On June 30th, Paul recorded the Black Dyke Mills Band performing "Thingumybob" and "Yellow Submarine".

A press preview of the animated film Yellow Submarine was held July 8th at the Bowater House Cinema in London. For some reason, John and Yoko failed to show up, but the other three were there to chat with reporters from ITV News and other outlets. All four Beatles did attend the movie's public premiere on July 17th at the London Pavilion, an event captured on camera for BBC1's How It Is.

Apple Plugging

2011-11-29T14:46:00.003-05:00

As soon as they had begun, the "White Album" sessions were put on hold when George and Ringo flew to California on June 7th, 1968. During a visit to Big Sur on June 10th and 11th, George participated in filming for the documentary Raga, featuring Ravi Shankar:

Until George and Ringo's return on June 18th, John and Paul worked largely on individual efforts. They held sessions at Abbey Road to work on sound effects for "Revolution 9" and the play In His Own Write (John), and to record "Blackbird" (Paul). Rehearsals of the latter, from a June 11th session, were captured in a short promotional film, Apple, directed by Tony Bramwell:

Meanwhile, John and Yoko planted acorns for peace as their contribution to the National Sculpture Exhibit, attended the opening of In His Own Write, and produced a pair of short films, Two Virgins and Film No. 5 (Smile):

On June 16th, Paul taped a TV appearance with Frankie Howerd, introducing Apple's latest signing, Mary Hopkin. Then it was his turn to fly to California and promote Apple on the West Coast, staying from June 20th through the 25th and talking with Bobby Dale about the fledgling company.

Rousing Crescendo

2011-11-28T13:12:00.004-05:00

The "White Album" sessions got underway May 30th, 1968 at EMI Studio Two. The first three dates were spent recording a version of "Revolution" which would end up split in two parts as "Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9".

On June 5th, the Beatles started work on Ringo's first composition, "Don't Pass Me By". The next day, as the others worked on overdubs in Studio Two, John sat with Victor Spinetti in Studio Three for a filmed TV interview. John's books had been adapted by Spinetti and Adrienne Kennedy into a stage play, In His Own Write, which would be opening soon at the Old Vic. Peter Lewis talked with John and Victor about the production for BBC2's Release, broadcast June 22nd.

With that done, John sat down "cross-legged on his amplifier", strumming a fretless guitar, and bantered amusingly with BBC Radio's Kenny Everett. When they had finished overdubbing, the other Beatles joined the fun, playing and singing impromptu jingles for Kenny. An abbreviated version of this recording, overlaid with sound effects, was heard on The Kenny Everett Show June 9th. A longer edit was released on a promotional Apple single, Una Sensazionale Intervista con I Beatles. Here is the unedited tape of the interview, complete with narration by Kenny's tape recorder-owning chum Tony Olivestone.

Miasmic Climaxes

2011-11-22T15:38:00.002-05:00

The two weeks between John and Paul's return from America on May 16th, 1968 and the start of the "White Album" sessions on May 30th were a busy time for the Beatles.

A few days after returning to Kenwood, with his wife away in Greece, John invited Yoko Ono over; they broke the ice by recording Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins. George and Ringo were at the Cannes Film Festival attending the premiere of Wonderwall. They returned on the 19th, just in time to attend a housewarming party thrown by playwright Harold Pinter.

On the 21st, Paul and Jane Asher attended an Andy Williams concert at the Royal Albert Hall; on the 22nd, John and George attended a luncheon to launch Apple Tailoring, the company's second London boutique. On the 23rd, Paul and Ringo were filmed at EMI Studios for Tony Palmer's TV documentary about the British rock scene, All My Loving. It was aired on BBC's Omnibus series November 3rd.

May 26th found Paul at Kensington Gardens directing a promotional film clip for Apple Publishing artists Grapefruit's new single, "Elevator". Somehow, during all this activity, the group found time to record close to 30 demos of songs for their next album, mostly composed in Rishikesh.

Finally, here are a couple of promos for Toronto radio station CHUM-FM, recorded by Paul on an unknown date circa 1968.

Where's Johnny?

2011-11-21T16:00:00.002-05:00

The Lennon-McCartney publicity blitz promoting Apple Corps in New York City reached its zenith on May 14th, 1968. The day began with a 1:30 pm press conference at the Americana Hotel.

John and Paul then taped an interview for the local public TV station, WNDT, chatting with Mitchell Krause for Newsfront. The awkward and mostly unrevealing discussion was broadcast the following night, but only survives as an off-air audio recording.

Likewise the duo's appearance that evening on NBC's The Tonight Show, the master tape of which was erased along with most of Johnny Carson's first ten years as host. Carson wasn't even in town that night, so baseball announcer Joe Garagiola did his best to fill in as guest host; actress Tallulah Bankhead livened up the proceedings somewhat.

An Expanding Vista

2011-11-18T15:16:00.003-05:00

With India seemingly in their rear-view mirrors, it was time for the Beatles to concentrate on their new business venture, Apple Corps. Apple Tailoring and Publishing were already established, and the record label would soon follow, along with Apple Films, Electronics, and a whole host of ideas that never made it off the ground. Now it was time to emblazon the company's name into America's consciousness.

Accompanied by Derek Taylor, Mal Evans, and Neil Aspinall, John and Paul flew to New York City on May 11th, 1968 for a press blitz unparalleled since their touring days. Many of the interviews were conducted out of the St. Regis Hotel on May 13th, most notably a filmed chat with their erstwhile touring companion, Larry Kane.

Limitless Undying Love

2011-11-17T16:01:00.002-05:00

Before heading off to India, the Beatles spent a few days in early February, 1968 at EMI Abbey Road recording tracks for a stopgap single to be released during their absence. In the midst of the sessions, Ringo appeared live on Cilla Black's new TV series. "Lady Madonna" and "The Inner Light" ended up on the single, while John's "Across The Universe" was donated to a (much-delayed) charity LP, and his "Hey Bulldog" was slated for Yellow Submarine:

John and George flew to Rishikesh on February 15th, and Paul and Ringo followed three days later. ITV News interviewed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the outset of the group's pilgrimage to his his ashram.

Ringo and Maureen lasted only ten days, while Paul and Jane returned home on March 26th. At London Airport, Paul explained to the BBC's Richard Whitmore and another interviewer what life was like at the retreat, and their reasons for returning to England. By April 12th, John and George had also gotten their fill of the Maharishi; John beat a hasty retreat to London, while George stayed in India, visiting Madras.

Newer And Bluer Meanies

2011-11-16T13:05:00.002-05:00

With Apple in its embryonic stages and no group projects in the pipeline, 1968 began on a quiet note for the Beatles.

On January 7th, George flew to India to record at EMI's Bombay studios. Most of the material was for the Wonderwall film score, but he also produced the basic tracks for "The Inner Light" there on January 12th.

Apple's first headquarters officially opened at 95 Wigmore Street on January 22nd; three days earlier, the Beatles had attended a launch party there for Apple Publishing's first signing, Grapefruit.

Later that week, they gathered at Twickenham Studios to film their closing cameo appearance in Yellow Submarine:

On January 27th, Kenny Everett visited Kenwood to record an interview with John for his BBC Radio 1 series, The Kenny Everett Show (broadcast February 4th).

Frosty Reception

2011-11-15T15:04:00.004-05:00

1967 ended on a disappointing note for the Beatles. Magical Mystery Tour was released as an LP (by Capitol in North America) on November 27th, and as a double EP (by Parlophone in the UK) on December 8th.

Along with the single "Hello Goodbye", the new music was well-enough received, but the TV film would have a different fate. It was previewed for the Beatles Fan Club Area Secretaries on December 17th (attended by John and George, as Ringo was returning from filming Candy in Rome and Paul was away in Scotland).

All four Beatles threw a fancy dress party on the 21st to officially launch the film, but the initial broadcast on BBC-1 (in black and white) on Boxing Day was a critical disaster. So negative were the reviews that Paul agreed to appear on Rediffusion-TV's The Frost Programme the very next evening, where he defended the project to David Frost as a noble failure.

Plenty Of Jam Jars

2011-11-14T20:33:00.002-05:00

I seem to have already posted most of 1967's remaining interviews and spoken word bits, so here's a quick recap:

John and George pontificated about Transcendental Meditation on The Frost Programme September 29th and then again on October 4th.

In mid-November, John appeared on BBC Radio's Where It's At, chatting with Kenny Everett and Chris Denning about Magical Mystery Tour.

On November 28th, the Beatles recorded their fifth (and in my opinion, funniest) Fan Club Christmas Message:

Early in December, George spoke about Ravi Shankar and Indian music in general on the PBS series Public Broadcasting Laboratory.

It's A Mystery To Me

2011-11-10T16:14:00.004-05:00

In the immediate aftermath of Brian Epstein's death, the Beatles' future was in question. The seeds for Apple Corps had already been planted, and Brian's brother Clive would succeed him as the head of NEMS Enterprises. Beyond that, Paul took the reins in leading the group into the studio and then on location for the Magical Mystery Tour project.

They spent the week of September 5th-8th, 1967 working on songs for the film at EMI, then piled into the big yellow motorcoach on the 11th to begin filming. The next afternoon, as the cast and crew stopped for lunch at Plymouth's Grand Hotel, BBC reporter Hugh Scully tried in vain to get Paul to describe the project for viewers of Spotlight South West.

On the 13th, George sat down with Miranda Ward and went into much greater detail about the reasons for the film, as well as his latest spiritual developments, for Scene And Heard. Ward chatted with Ringo the next day about far less weighty matters.

The second week of shooting was centered around a single location, West Malling Air Station in Kent. When it was done, the group returned to EMI for further recording dates.

September 25th found them recording "The Fool On The Hill", with reporter Rumiko Hoshika and photographer Koh Hasebe visiting from Japan. The lengthy tape of Rumiko's interviews, as well as "Fool On The Hill" rehearsals, only circulates in atrocious sound quality. Far easier on the ears are these messages to Rumiko, recorded sometime after her earlier visit to London (she had attended the session for "It's Only Love" on June 15th, 1965).

You Just Keep Going, Really

2011-11-09T14:22:00.002-05:00

Pattie Harrison had begun studying Transcendental Meditation in 1967, so it was natural that she would encourage her husband to attend a lecture on the topic at the London Hilton by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. George rounded up John and Paul for the August 24th event (Ringo was busy attending to his wife and newborn son, Jason).

After meeting the guru backstage, the Beatles readily agreed to drop everything and participate in the Maharishi's week-long TM conference in Wales. The next day, the Maharishi spoke to a reporter at Euston Station in London before he and all four Beatles boarded a train bound for Bangor.

They barely had time to settle into a routine at Normal College before harsh reality intruded: on the morning of August 27th, Brian Epstein was found dead in his bedroom of an apparent drug overdose. Paul and Jane Asher took the next available train back to London, while his bandmates spoke to reporters from ITV and BBC News about their feelings.

Action/Reaction

2011-11-08T18:54:00.002-05:00

The Summer of Love rolled along as July 1967 turned to August. Just two days after returning from Greece, George and Pattie Harrison (accompanied by Neil Aspinall) flew to Los Angeles on August 1st, where they would spend a week visiting Derek Taylor. Taylor's tardiness that first evening inspired the composition "Blue Jay Way".

Most of the week was dedicated to Ravi Shankar, as George visited his music academy on the 2nd, held a joint press conference with Ravi on the 3rd, attended Shankar's Hollywood Bowl concert on the 4th, and stopped by tabla player Alla Rakha's recording session on the 5th.

On August 8th, the Britishers made an enlightening (in a disappointing sense) visit to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. Later that night, George, Pattie, and Neil flew to New York for a one-day stay before returning to London. Shortly before their flight home on the 9th, George stopped by WOR-FM's studio to grant an interview with Murray "the K" Kaufman, who seemed to have eagerly adopted and embraced the hippie way of life.

Be At Leso

2011-11-07T16:16:00.002-05:00

At the urging of their new electronics guru "Magic" Alex Mardis, the Beatles decided to take a holiday in Greece during the last week of July, 1967. Soaking up the warm Mediterranean sun and tripping the days away, they hatched elaborate plans to purchase an island, build a recording studio and homes for the entire Beatles clan, and pack up and leave chilly England for good.

Back in the sobering light of British day, once the legalities had been examined, the idea was abandoned. Ringo returned to London first, on the 26th, and five days later, he represented his bandmates in recording a farewell message to Radio London. The Marine Offences Act would be passed on August 14th, effectively shutting down all pirate radio stations off the UK's coast. Ringo's message was played on August 5th, Radio London's final broadcast day at sea.

Two Of The Beautiful People

2011-11-04T13:51:00.003-04:00

Even as late as the summer of 1967, it was possible to meet a Beatle by simply marching up to the front gate of their home and ringing the bell (or waiting for them to arrive or exit). Two American students, Leslie Samuels and Donna Stark, accomplished the feat on July 12th, bringing their cameras and a tape recorder to document the occasion.

Crude but lengthy recordings of their meetings at 7 Cavendish Avenue and Kinfauns circulate; more details and photos of the pilgrimage can be found on Sara's Meet The Beatles For Real blog.

Acid Test

2011-11-03T15:25:00.003-04:00

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was launched with a press event at Brian Epstein's London flat on May 19th, 1967. A day later, Kenny Everett broadcast most of the LP for the first time on BBC Radio's Where It's At, accompanied by exclusive interviews with John, Paul, and Ringo.

The album was released June 1st to near-universal acclaim, kick-starting the Summer of Love. But before the calendar had officially turned to summer, Paul McCartney found himself in hot water for comments about LSD. In the June 16th issue of Life magazine, he was quoted as saying, "After I took it, it opened up my eyes... If the politicians would take LSD, there wouldn't be any more war, or poverty or famine."

Of course, many pop stars had been experimenting with LSD for the better part of two years, including Paul's bandmates, but this first public admission came as a surprise to most of the British public. Paul spoke at home with an ITV News interviewer on June 19th, and turned the questions around, wondering why media outlets would disseminate this "news" if they were worried about it corrupting the youth of the world.

All was forgiven and forgotten a week later when the Beatles represented their homeland on the global telecast Our World, singing "All You Need Is Love".

I.T.'s All Too Much

2011-11-02T13:40:00.002-04:00

The Sgt. Pepper recording sessions wrapped up April 3rd, 1967, with the final overdubs on George's contribution, "Within You Without You". The same day, Paul flew to the US, accompanied by Mal Evans, to surprise Jane Asher in Denver on her 21st birthday. On his April 11th return flight to London, Paul sketched out a rough idea for a Beatles TV film. By the 25th, the band was back at EMI recording the film's title song, "Magical Mystery Tour".

On the evening of April 29th, John Lennon dropped acid and dropped in on the 14-Hour Technicolor Dream, a "happening" taking place at the Alexandra Palace in London. One of the events being presented was Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece", although it's not known if John was aware of the connection (or even there to witness it):

A couple of weeks later, George Harrison sat down for a very lengthy interview with Barry Miles, co-founder of London's underground paper, the International Times. The contents of the rambling conversation are far removed from jelly babies, haircuts, and the usual Beatles interview fodder. In addition to discussing the Technicolor Dream, George and Barry ponder universal love, drugs, Zen Buddhism, mantras, reincarnation, and other weighty topics.

I.T. interview, Part One

I.T. interview, Part Two

A Completely Different Scene

2011-11-01T13:43:00.002-04:00

As winter turned to spring in 1967, the Sgt. Pepper sessions were drawing to a close. After four months with nary a peep from the Beatles (apart from a groundbreaking single), it was BBC Radio's Brian Matthew who returned with news from the front following his visit to EMI Studio 2 on March 20th.

His first task was to record John and Paul accepting three Ivor Novello awards, and discussing the winning songs, all Lennon-McCartney compositions. The recording would be played back during the ceremony on March 23rd and subsequently aired on BBC Radio March 27th.

Brian then chatted with John and Paul about the upcoming LP, and the future of the Beatles' concert career, for Top Of The Pops, sent to BBC Radio's overseas customers for broadcast in America and other markets.

As Bad As The Monkees

2011-10-28T14:39:00.004-04:00

Being ensconced in EMI Studios throughout the first three months of 1967, the Beatles made few public appearances and gave few media interviews, apart from Paul's appearance in a Granada TV documentary.

An early clue to the new direction surfaced February 13th (in the US; February 17th in the UK) with the release of the single "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane". The recordings, together with the picture sleeve photo and psychedelic promotional films, represented a radical new sound and look for the Beatles.

Kenny Everett played an advance copy of the single on Radio London on February 4th, and fell instantly in love with "Strawberry Fields Forever". US teenagers were less convinced when viewing the promo clips on American Bandstand March 11th.

Capitol's promotional copies of the single sent to disc jockeys in the US and Canada used an early mix of "Penny Lane", highlighted by a seven-note piccolo trumpet coda. This version was commonly heard on the radio well after the single's release, as this March 26th aircheck on WFOM in Marietta, Georgia proves. During a trip to New York City in March, Brian Epstein explained to Murray the "K" that it was Paul's perfectionism which caused the last-minute switch.

The End Of Beatlemania?

2011-10-27T15:01:00.004-04:00

The "studio years" phase of the Beatles' career began when they reassembled at EMI Abbey Road on November 24th, 1966. With no tour or film commitments booked, they were able to record at their leisure, utilising seven sessions over the next five weeks to perfect a single song, John's "Strawberry Fields Forever".

On November 25th at Dick James's London studio, they recorded their annual Christmas message for Beatles Fan Club members, this one more creative (and bizarre) than any previous:

Two pirate radio stations were also sent slightly saner Christmas greetings for 1966.

By December 20th, ITV News decided to send reporter John Edwards to Abbey Road to see just what the Beatles were up to. His interviews with each Beatle as they entered the studio were broadcast December 29th as part of Reporting '66: End of Beatlemania, a title which indicates his line of questioning to the now fuzzy-faced Fabs.

Misunderstanding All You See

2011-10-26T10:19:00.004-04:00

Road-weary and shell-shocked after a harrowing summer of worldwide touring and controversy, the Beatles retreated to individual pursuits from September through November, 1966.

John Lennon flew to West Germany on September 5th, had his moptop cropped, and began filming How I Won The War under Richard Lester's familiar direction. John returned to London September 14th, the same day George and Pattie Harrison left for Bombay. They would spend the next five weeks in India, where George would receive sitar tutelage from Ravi Shankar.

On September 18th, John flew to Almeria, Spain, for a more extended location shoot for How I Won The War. While there, he composed "Strawberry Fields Forever", welcomed a visit from Ringo and Maureen Starkey, and gave a lengthy interview to Fred Robbins.

Paul McCartney busied himself composing music for the film The Family Way, arranging and recording the score with George Martin's assistance. He then took a sightseeing trip with Mal Evans to France and Spain, arriving a few days too late to meet up with John, whose part had wrapped on November 6th. Paul and Mal then spent a week on safari in Kenya, finally returning to London November 19th.

All of these separate activities caused rampant speculation in the press that the Beatles were on the verge of breaking up. Brian Epstein denied these rumors at every occasion - to Dieter Broer in September, during a German press conference for John's film, and again to Reuters on November 8th. But privately, Brian was terrified that the Beatles no longer needed him; after overdosing on pills, he checked himself into a clinic on September 27th to recuperate.

Meanwhile, John Lennon's life was about to take a sharp left turn, after his meeting with avant-garde artist Yoko Ono at the Indica Gallery on November 9th. His performance as a doorman on the Dudley Moore/Peter Cook TV sketch show Not Only... But Also, filmed November 27th, was the last public appearance of "Beatle John".

I'm Not A Beatle Anymore

2011-10-25T15:18:00.003-04:00

The Beatles' concert career came shrieking to a halt in San Francisco just before 10pm on August 29th, 1966, as the group roared through "Long Tall Sally" one final time.

KYA radio plugged the performance, with no hint that it was anything other than "the last show of their biggest American tour". Nor did fans at Candlestick Park sense anything historic about the occasion. John, George, and Ringo gave no clues when speaking to WTRY's Lee Darling backstage.

But when they boarded a flight back to London on August 30th, George Harrison declared to nobody in particular, "Well, that's it. I'm no longer a Beatle". When they landed on the 31st, their only declaration was that it was time to rest, but the Beatles would never set off on tour again.

Ho Ho Ho

2011-10-24T15:47:00.002-04:00

The Beatles flew to Seattle on August 25th, 1966, for two concerts at the Seattle Coliseum. Vancouver's CFUN radio kept fans abreast of the ticket sales and a rumor that Paul would be marrying Jane Asher that very day. A local TV reporter grabbed a few words from Ringo as he deplaned at Sea-Tac Airport.

Between concerts, Dusty Adams interviewed all four Fabs backstage, and a press conference (most likely the final ever held by the group on tour) occurred just prior to the second show. Rather than staying in Seattle, The Beatles flew back to Los Angeles immediately after the last concert.

When The Bubble Bursts

2011-10-21T15:55:00.002-04:00

Kenny Everett switched on his tape recorder as the Beatles' flight from New York approached the Los Angeles airport in the pre-dawn hours of August 24th, 1966.

Rather than play in Los Angeles right away, the city (a rented private home in Beverly Hills) was used as a base for the final week of West Coast concerts. Their only task on the evening of the 24th was a press conference at the Capitol Records Tower, with more humorous moments than any previous 1966 conference. At the end, a reporter representing Dick Clark's ABC-TV show Where The Action Is tried to film exclusive interviews with George and Paul, but as you can hear, the result was unusable.

Nothing To Shea But It's OK

2011-10-20T14:40:00.002-04:00

The Beatles' final concert in New York would be at Shea Stadium, but compared to the previous year's record-setting sellout, the 1966 performance was only about 80% full.

The group arrived at LaGuardia Airport on August 22nd, flying direct from St. Louis and landing around 3:50 in the morning. As they slept into the afternoon at the Warwick Hotel, an Associated Press reporter interviewed a devoted fan outside.

The Beatles eventually emerged for an early evening press conference, followed by a special "junior" press conference, with contest-winning fans asking the questions, which were both more interesting and more inane than those posed by the "real" journalists. They also spoke with "Cousin" Bruce Morrow live on WABC radio following the two conferences. That night, Brian Epstein appeared on NBC's Tonight Show, with guest host Hugh Downs filling in for Johnny Carson.

On the 23rd, George chatted with Kenny Everett prior to the concert at Shea. Covering the concert were a somewhat cynical Leonard Harris from WCBS-TV and an enterprising reporter for the Audio Journal company, who released an audio-verite souvenir LP called Beatles at Shea Stadium Described by Erupting Fans.

Doubleheader

2011-10-19T15:52:00.004-04:00

Heavy downpours and a lack of protection over the stage cancelled The Beatles' scheduled concert in Cincinnati on August 20th, 1966, forcing them to "play" a doubleheader in two cities the following day.

They began in the afternoon with the rain check show at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, then flew to St. Louis for another rainy show (this time under a canopy) at Busch Stadium. Bess Coleman kept the fans up to date with on-the-spot reports from both Cincinnati and St. Louis.

St. Louis was disc jockey Ken Douglas's final stop on the tour; here are some of his undated Beatle interviews and a quick chat with Brian Epstein. The Beatles' next stop would be New York City, where WMCA-AM had been cranking up the hype machine as usual all week long.

Doped With Religion

2011-10-18T15:33:00.004-04:00

From the time John Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remarks made headlines, the backlash was largely concentrated in America's southern "bible belt".

England's ITV News sent reporter Richard Lindley to the US to assemble a package for the news program Reporting '66. He began in Birmingham, Alabama, interviewing local teenagers as well as disc jockey Tommy Charles. On August 19th, Lindley was present in Memphis to cover the Beatles' concerts at Mid-South Coliseum, where a cherry bomb tossed during the second house was the only real disruption.

Eventually, Tommy Charles decided WAQY had milked all the publicity it could from the tempest and decided to accept John's apology.

Cornflakes, Mini Minor, Blue, Blonde...

2011-10-17T12:48:00.002-04:00

The Beatles' August 18th, 1966 concert at Suffolk Downs in Boston was highlighted by a fan jumping onstage during "Long Tall Sally", a moment captured by Kenny Everett.

Elsewhere, Jim Stagg got a few words from George as he deplaned at Logan Airport, and talked with Paul and George at the Somerset Hotel. Bess Coleman had lengthy chats with each Beatle at the hotel, and filed another brief tour report describing the previous day's Toronto concerts.

We're Not Allowed To Have Opinions

2011-10-14T11:22:00.002-04:00

The Beatles' final performances in Canada were at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on August 17th, 1966. The between-shows press conference here was one of the better not only of the '66 tour, but of their career, and fortunately a complete and excellent-quality recording exists.

To balance that out, here are two horrendous-sounding Toronto interviews conducted by Jim Stagg and Bess Coleman, along with another of Bess's tour updates.

How To Crash

2011-10-13T16:19:00.002-04:00

August 16th, 1966 saw the Beatles playing a single concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Prior to the show, in lieu of a press conference, the band members granted individual interviews to journalists.

Ken Douglas chatted with Paul about Paul's new home in London; Jerry Leighton and Bess Coleman talked to Ringo about the chaotic Cleveland concert; and Jim Stagg spoke with George about the perils of flying.

Bess Coleman also filed a report about the trip from Washington to Philadelphia.

That's Why It's Terrible

2011-10-12T13:28:00.002-04:00

The August 1966 tour carried on with concerts in Detroit on the 13th, Cleveland on the 14th, and Washington, DC on the 15th. In the latter city, George was interviewed by Kenny Everett about the gradual deterioration of the Beatles' live performances.

At some point during this first week of the tour, Ringo and Paul recorded spots for WMCA-AM in New York to promote an upcoming "junior press conference", exclusively for fans to ask questions of their heroes.

Elsewhere, Ken Douglas interviewed fellow disc jockey/tourmate Jim Stagg about his experiences on the last two US tours, and promoter Ira Sidelle about the logistics of a Beatles tour. And while I'm at it, here is a Larry Kane interview with Sidelle from the 1965 tour which I neglected to post earlier.

Weird Effects

2011-10-10T13:47:00.002-04:00

The Beatles' final tour kicked off with a pair of concerts at the Chicago International Amphitheater on August 12th, 1966. Media coverage was understandably high at this show, with John's "apology" fresh in the news.

Local station WCFL broadcast live coverage from the venue, and WCFL disc jockey Jim Stagg teamed up with Bess Coleman to interview the Beatles between shows. Coleman was the band's American press officer, and would file reports for radio syndication as well as Teen Life magazine throughout the tour. Also chatting with the group between concerts was Ken Douglas, a British DJ working in Louisville, Kentucky.

Standing beside Douglas as he interviewed Paul was Kenny Everett, another British DJ who was covering the tour for the pirate station Radio London. Kenny spoke with fans in the audience, and filed this report on the first day's events. Not to be outdone, rival pirate station Radio Caroline had Jerry "Super" Leighton following the tour, and his secondhand reporting was used to compile a news bulletin on the Chicago date.

All This

2011-10-07T13:26:00.003-04:00

August 11th, 1966 was John Lennon's day of reckoning. Even before the Beatles boarded their flight to America, a BBC-TV reporter at London Airport tried to gauge John's state of mind about what might lie ahead. As soon as John stepped off the plane at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, American journalists tried to get a scoop by shouting questions across the tarmac.

Upon arrival at the Astor Towers Hotel, John had only an hour or two to gather his thoughts (and shed some stressful tears) before his moment of reckoning. Tony Barrow had arranged to ease the group into the limelight by scheduling two press conferences; the first was for local newspapers and various DJs and reporters covering the whole tour, with no national media or moving picture cameras present. The full 17-minute audio recording captures John's repeated attempts to clarify or explain his remark, culminating in a halfhearted apology to Tommy Charles.

The second press conference was held in front of cameras from the major TV networks as well as newsreel film crews from around the globe. The more well-known soundbites originate from this conference, which doesn't seem to exist in a continuous state. Here is a 5-minute composite from several sources.

They're Gonna Crucify Me

2011-10-06T14:46:00.003-04:00

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

This John Lennon quote, lying dormant in Maureen Cleave's March 4th, 1966 Evening Standard profile, sprang back to life in the first week of August, just in time to potentially derail the Beatles' North American tour.

The backlash was largely fomented by one radio station, WAQY in Birmingham, Alabama. WAQY's morning men, Tommy Charles and Doug Layton, leapt upon the opportunity to promote their show and station by boycotting Beatles music and organizing a bonfire in which teenagers could "burn their Beatle paraphernalia".

As the story took hold, particularly in the southeastern US, Maureen Cleave and others weighed in to defend John, but it was clear that some official response from the Beatles' camp would be needed. Brian Epstein flew to New York and held a press conference on the 6th, reading a prepared statement vetted by John.

Still, the American press were eager to hear an explanation, if not an outright apology, from Lennon himself. On August 10th, ITV News got a word or two out of Paul on a London street, but the world would have to wait until the following day, when the group flew to Chicago, to hear John face the music.

When The Rain Comes

2011-10-05T15:03:00.004-04:00

During their month off in July 1966, the Beatles tried to put the horrors of Manila behind them and recoup their energy for another American tour. George continued to practice the sitar, and visited his new in-laws. Paul appeared on BBC Radio with David Frost, and he and John sat down with Keith Fordyce to explore their songwriting partnership.

Meanwhile in the States, radio stations were ramping up the hype machine yet again for the impending tour. WTRY in Albany held a contest to send fans to Shea Stadium, and KBTR in Denver sponsored a trip to the St. Louis concert.

On July 29th, a John Lennon quote on the cover of Datebook magazine set off a series of events that had the potential to make Manila look like a polite misunderstanding.

Thrilla In Manila

2011-10-04T16:41:00.003-04:00

On July 4th, 1966, The Beatles played to their largest-ever single day crowds (80,000 total) in two performances at Manila's Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. The accomplishment was quickly spoiled by events at the Presidential Palace:

"On July 3rd, the day prior to the show, The Manila Sunday Times reported that the Beatles were invited to join the President and Mrs. Marcos (with their 3 children) to their Malacañang Palace at 11am. The Beatles knew nothing of this appointment, hearing only of a request for a short "pop-in" at the palace at 4pm which they respectfully declined due to the fact that their first show started at 4pm! The Beatles claimed they never received the earlier 11am invitation.

Much to the Beatles' surprise, the palatial tyrants were extremely angered at the Beatles neglect and the morning after the concert, The Manila Times ran the headline "Imelda Stood Up!!". The ramifications were to become serious. Philippine promoter Ramon Ramos refused to pay the Beatles for their performance! Bomb and death threats were telephoned to the deluged British Embassy and to the boys hotel suite. Brian Epstein was so distressed with the situation he arranged for a press conference from the hotel to apologize for the misunderstanding. BUT... as fate would have it, some unforeseen static blipped out his interview from most all TV screens in the country! (more than a few thought it was probably more shenanigans by the Marcos clan).

Pulling more strings the next day when the Beatles were scheduled to depart the country, Misael Vera, Philippine Tax Authority, insisted the group could not leave the country until every penny of the taxes owed them was paid! Of course, they never got paid anything but Brian hurriedly forked over a bond out his own funds for P.74,450 (around $18,000) to settle the matter.

To make matters worse, all security detail assigned to the boys were withdrawn leaving them extremely vulnerable. They were literally kicked and jostled as they left their hotel and totally harassed all the way to the airport. Things were no better there where the airport manager has also removed all security for the Beatles. They went so far as to shut down the power to stop the escalators, forcing the boys to scale several flights of stairs with their own luggage, only to face an angry mob of 200 Filipinos brutally manhandling them! Ringo was literally floored by an uppercut and kicked on the ground. He suffered a sprained ankle as well and had to be helped to the customs area. Mal Evans and Brian Epstein were injured as well. Alf Bicknell suffered a cracked rib and a spinal injury.

When they finally approached the plane, a large booing crowd jeered and mocked them chanting "Beatles Alis Dayan!" (Go Home Beatles!) Once in the plane, some scraping government officials "decided" the Beatles were NOT authorized to leave the country due to inaccurate "check in" procedures days earlier... This led to another 40 minute wait on the tarmac while Mal & Tony Barrow went back to the terminal to clean up the necessary paperwork. Only minutes after the Beatles angrily departed, did the press run a statement by President Marcos stating "There was no intention on the part of the Beatles to slight the first lady or the government of the Republic Of The Philippines". Obviously a bit too late to do the Beatles any good."

Source: http://www.rarebeatles.com/photopg7/nonusa/php7466.htm

Bewildered and extremely embittered, the Beatles cooled their jets in New Delhi for a couple of days before finally returning to London Airport early on July 8th. There, they explained their side of the imbroglio to ITV News reporter John Edwards and an interviewer for Reuters.

Nowhere Men

2011-10-03T15:01:00.004-04:00

As noted in a previous blog post, the Beatles' June 26th, 1966 Hamburg press conference was a contentious affair, although the concerts and reunions with old friends went off well.

But the tour was fated to go from bad to worse to nightmare. Flying out of Hamburg on the afternoon of the 27th , the band were due to fly via London to Tokyo for a couple days of rest before their Budokan concerts. Mother Nature had other ideas, and a typhoon rerouted their flight to Anchorage, Alaska for an unscheduled overnight stay.

They finally arrived in Tokyo around 3:30 am on the 30th. Their plane-weary and jet lagged bodies grabbed some sleep in their Hilton Hotel suite before emerging for a TV interview mid-afternoon. This was followed by a press conference which dragged on for twice as long as usual due to the lengthy translation (and re-translation) process.

The Beatles' three-night stand at the Budokan had drawn protests from traditionalists offended at the use of a martial arts arena for a Western rock spectacle. The first two shows were videotaped for Japanese TV, preserving for eternity the dreadful state of their sloppy and unenthusiastic performing efforts:

All things considered, the Beatles were probably glad to put Japan behind them and head to Manila, the last stop on the tour... Whoops!

Private Mans

2011-09-30T14:37:00.003-04:00

The Beatles spent the first half of June, 1966 ensconced in EMI Studios finishing up the Revolver LP. On the 16th, they made a surprise live TV appearance on Top Of The Pops, miming both sides of their new single (as with most of their TOTP performances, the videotape no longer exists).

Meanwhile in the States, Capitol was recalling thousands of copies of the "Yesterday"... and Today LP, to replace (or paste-over) the offending "Butcher" cover photo. Press officer Tony Barrow spoke about the controversy with Cleveland DJ Jerry G. Bishop.

Recording for Revolver was wrapped up on June 21st, and after a single day off, the Beatles flew to West Germany to begin their final World Tour. The first stop was Munich, for two concerts on the 24th, followed by a pair of shows in Essen the next day.

In Essen, they held a press conference between shows, and spoke to a reporter from WDR Radio as well as Camie McKay of Radio Canadian Army Europe.

Cooking With Dylan

2011-09-29T10:47:00.002-04:00

Rather than make the usual rounds of pop music TV shows to plug the "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single, the Beatles opted to film a series of promotional clips of both songs for worldwide distribution.

On May 19th, 1966, they videotaped at least seven clips inside EMI Studio 1, as well as a special greeting to Ed Sullivan, whose show would air two of them in color on June 5th. The following day, they spent the morning at Chiswick House and Gardens, filming more promos for both songs, to be broadcast on Top Of The Pops in the UK.

The Beatles had the next five days off, meeting up again on the 26th to tape the basic tracks for a new song, "Yellow Submarine". After the session ended at 1am, John apparently stayed up all night at his home in Weybridge indulging in certain substances with Bob Dylan, who was in London to perform at the Royal Albert Hall.

By 7am, it was time for the party to end, and John and Bob were driven to the Mayfair Hotel where Dylan was staying. Also in the limo was filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, who was shooting a documentary on the tour. The result was 20 minutes of footage showing Lennon and Dylan at their least inspired, with the latter growing increasingly ill as the limo approaches the hotel. Only a very brief portion of the footage was used in the completed film, Eat The Document.

Quiet, Rural Characters

2011-09-28T14:32:00.003-04:00

With a new single to promote ("Paperback Writer"/"Rain"), the Beatles recorded a chat segment for BBC Radio's Saturday Club. On May 2nd, 1966, they spoke with Brian Matthew (their final group interview with him) about the album in progress, and their summer touring plans. The conversation was included on the 400th edition of Saturday Club, aired June 4th.

Matthew then interviewed Ringo and Paul individually for Pop Profile. This unidentified recording of Paul talking about "Michelle" may originate from this date, or the later Lennon And McCartney Songbook special.

Mayday!

2011-09-27T16:46:00.002-04:00

After spending most of April inside EMI's Abbey Road Studios recording a new single and tracks for Revolver, the Beatles made their first public appearance of 1966 on May 1st, headlining the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley. The mind-bogging lineup of performers included the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Spencer Davis Group, Roy Orbison, the Yardbirds, Dusty Springfield, the Small Faces, and Cliff Richard and the Shadows, among others.

It also turned out to be their final performance before a paying audience in their home country, albeit a truncated set: "I Feel Fine", "Nowhere Man", "Day Tripper", "If I Needed Someone" (seen above), and "I'm Down". Unfortunately, ABC-TV's cameras were shut off during the Beatles' numbers, due to contractual issues. But they were filmed receiving their awards at the end of the event:

Meat City

2011-09-26T14:02:00.003-04:00

March 25th, 1966 was a bizarre day for the Beatles. They had attended the premiere of Alfie the previous night, a film in which Jane Asher had a small role. That may have been the first time in 1966 all four Beatles were together, apart from a January 5th overdubbing session for the Shea Stadium concert film.

Their first business-related task of the year was a photo session in Chelsea the following day. Robert Whitaker shot a series of surrealistic photos, most notoriously the "butcher" images, one of which ended up briefly on the cover of Capitol's "Yesterday"... And Today LP.

A less welcome task that day was an interview with Tom Lodge, disc jockey for the pirate station Radio Caroline. Lodge managed to record 21 minutes of material with the group, ostensibly for use on a flexi-disc to promote the new Disc and Music Echo music paper. Unfortunately, the group was in no mood to cooperate, and the "witty banter" was beyond forced, with less than two minutes being usable.

Beatles '66

2011-09-22T12:42:00.003-04:00

From the moment they stepped offstage at Cardiff on December 12th, 1965, until they convened at EMI Studios on April 6th, 1966, the Beatles enjoyed the longest stretch of free time since their rise to fame. Other than writing new songs and the occasional photo session, they had no group commitments.

Brian Epstein began 1966 with a business trip to New York City, and on January 8th, he spoke via telephone with Bruce Bradley of Boston's WBZ-AM, keeping Americans up to date on the Beatles' plans for the new year.

John and Ringo, accompanied by their wives, flew to Trinidad on January 12th for a winter holiday in the sun, returning on the 23rd. This meant they missed out on George's January 21st wedding to Patricia Boyd; the newlyweds would honeymoon in Barbados beginning February 8th.

Sometime that winter, George recorded a brief message for Bravo, a German magazine that would be sponsoring the Beatles' tour in June. The recording was included on a flexi-disc with the March 21st issue of Bravo.

It's Ten O'clock On A Saturday!

2011-09-21T13:23:00.003-04:00

The final Rubber Soul session stretched into the early morning of November 12th, 1965. From then until their final UK tour kicked off on December 3rd, the Beatles had few commitments.

On November 23rd, they spent the day at Twickenham Film Studios videotaping promotional clips for both sides of their new single, "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out", along with their three prior A-sides.

On the 29th, they sat down with Brian Matthew for a chat-only appearance on BBC Radio's Saturday Club, to be broadcast on Christmas day. The uncut tape of this recording was discovered in 1988, and portions have been aired in various BBC retrospectives since then.

The following day, Matthew also interviewed George and John in-depth for Pop Profile.

Why Such Fury?

2011-09-19T12:55:00.003-04:00

By November, 1965, deadlines for Rubber Soul and the annual Fan Club Christmas flexi were imminent. After an aborted attempt at the latter in October, George Martin and the Beatles decided to kill two birds with one stone.

On the 8th, they recorded George Harrison's second contribution to the LP, "Think For Yourself". During the vocal overdub portion of the session, Martin rolled a separate tape to capture the group's rehearsal, banter, and bad jokes, hoping to capture some spontaneous magic for the Christmas flexi.

None of the nineteen minutes recorded proved useful, apart from a few seconds exhumed in 1967-8 for the Yellow Submarine film soundtrack. The finished message was edited together from three takes of speech and singing, taped after "Think For Yourself" had been completed. Earlier this year, an Arena profile of George Martin provided a brief outtake from one of these takes.

The Wonderful and Talented... Thingy

2011-09-16T13:14:00.003-04:00

Rubber Soul sessions continued apace throughout October, 1965, interrupted only by a visit to Buckingham Palace on the 26th.

The first two days of November were taken up with rehearsals and videotaping of a 50-minute special for Granada TV. The Music Of Lennon & McCartney featured a number of acts performing John and Paul's compositions, including the Beatles' mimed renditions of "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out", already slated for their next single. John and Paul were given the task of "hosting" the show, introducing most of the guests with rather stilted dialogue.

One Bird A-Hummin'

2011-09-15T14:26:00.002-04:00

Apart from composing material for their next LP and single, the Beatles had little to do in September, 1965. Ringo did get to greet his first child, Zak, into the world on the 13th, and the group made a quick visit back to Liverpool.

Sessions for Rubber Soul began back at EMI Studios in October 12th. In addition to having a new album and single out for the holidays, publicist Tony Barrow was insisting upon another "Christmas Message" flexi-disc specifically for members of the Beatles Fan Club. To this end, a session was held at London's Marquee Studio on October 19th.

As the surviving 25-minute recording attests, the atmosphere was miserable. George was absent, John hated Barrow's script, and Paul was unable to rally the others into a spirited performance. Things only picked up towards the end of the evening when they ad-libbed around a piano. None of this session was used, and the flexi-disc material would be recorded under George Martin's supervision at Abbey Road in November.

Paul McCartney: Killer

2011-09-14T14:49:00.003-04:00

Cleveland disc jockey Jerry G. Bishop (real name Jerry Ghan) toured with the Beatles on their entire August 1965 North American tour, interviewing them in-depth at most stops. His recordings were compiled on an LP considered for release on Capitol in 1966, which only made it as far as the acetate stage.

In the early 1980s, two picture disc albums of Jerry's interviews were issued; unfortunately most of the material is difficult to pin down to any specific date, but here is a 41-minute composite of all the undated material presumed to be from 1965.

Another reporter who asked intelligent questions was newsman Larry Kane, and he supplied interview tapes for the TV special The Beatles At Shea Stadium. The recordings date from both the 1964 and 1965 tours, and can be heard over documentary footage of the concert.

Another Brand New Day

2011-09-09T16:11:00.003-04:00

The Beatles' Summer 1965 tour wrapped up in San Francisco with two riotous concerts at the Cow Palace on August 31st. An earlier blog post covered most of the day's events, but here are 21 minutes of vintage concert coverage from radio station KEWB-AM.

On September 1st, the Beatles' party flew back to London, arriving around 5am the following day to settle back in their homes for six weeks before reassembling to record Rubber Soul. Before they left San Francisco, Jerry G. Bishop taped their farewell messages to American fans, promising a return visit in 1966.

Bowl-out

2011-09-08T15:43:00.003-04:00

The Beatles' Los Angeles visit concluded with two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, on August 29th and 30th, 1965. On the first day, they held a press conference at the Capitol Tower in Hollywood, concluding with a local TV interview and the presentation of gold discs for the Help! soundtrack album.

The concerts were recorded professionally by Capitol, and bits of the August 30th show were released in 1977 on the LP The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl (the recording of the 29th suffered from technical flaws). The latter show was partially filmed by a newsreel crew, and some short color home movie footage also exists:

And what were local fans doing during the band's week-long Los Angeles stay? Circling overhead in helicopters, of course!

I Forgot To Remember To Forget

2011-09-07T14:00:00.004-04:00

Another highlight of the Beatles' 1965 Los Angeles trip was their summit with Elvis Presley, on the evening of August 27th. A thorough examination of that meeting can be found here:

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_elvis_meets_the_beatles.html

In subsequent years, none of the Beatles would recall jamming with Elvis, however informally, but their memories were fresher the following day. Here they are in San Diego on August 28th describing the Elvis meeting to Larry Kane. They also spoke about Elvis with Jerry G. Bishop that day, in chats following the San Diego press conference.

California Dreaming

2011-09-06T15:12:00.004-04:00

When asked which city they were looking forward to revisiting on the 1965 US tour, The Beatles invariably chose Los Angeles. As they had the previous summer, the group rented a Hollywood mansion for the duration of their stay, including five days off from August 23rd through the 27th.

Other than putting in an appearance at a party on the 24th, thrown by Capitol president Alan Livingston, the Beatles had no obligations, and spent most days lazing by the pool. One day, John, George, and Ringo shared an LSD trip with David Crosby and Roger McGuinn of the Byrds and actor Peter Fonda; they night, they had a private screening of the film Cat Ballou.

Disc jockey Jerry G. Bishop had been covering the tour for WKYC in Cleveland (and apparently for BBC Radio's Top Of The Pops), and he took advantage of the break to assemble and narrate several "reports from Los Angeles".

Bonus: We've heard Beatle farewells to Larry Kane, here are some greetings.

Capitol-ists

2011-09-05T11:04:00.002-04:00

The Beatles played two shows at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon on August 22nd, 1965. The flight there from Minneapolis was terrifying, as an engine caught fire shortly before landing. Immediately afterwards, they had to answer inane questions at an airport press conference.

Between shows, they relaxed backstage, socializing with Carl Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and chatted with disc jockey Jerry G. Bishop. John's throat was still in poor shape, but would heal over the subsequent five-day break in Los Angeles.

Jerk With A Badge

2011-09-01T14:25:00.004-04:00

The Beatles' sole trip to Minneapolis on August 21st, 1965, started on a high note and rapidly went downhill.

Upon their late-afternoon arrival, they held a press conference at the venue, Metropolitan Stadium. Much to his delight and John's envy, George was presented with a brand-new 12-string Rickenbacker guitar at the end of the conference. The proceedings were broadcast live on WDGY radio, and filmed for local TV news.

During the concert, the usual opening number, "Twist And Shout", was cut from the setlist due to the rough state of John's throat. After the show, police enforced a midnight curfew at the Leamington Motor Inn, in particular evicting a girl from Paul's room, much to his dismay. Inspector Donald R. Dwyer was interviewed about the incident a couple of days later.

An Eloquence That Is Ineloquent

2011-08-31T16:39:00.003-04:00

From Atlanta, the Beatles and company flew overnight to Houston, Texas, where their plane was swarmed by fans on the runway upon their 2 a.m. arrival. After a few hours of sleep at the Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel, they held a press conference, and then performed two shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum, with John's throat in rough shape.

The next city was Chicago, where John croaked his way through two more concerts at Comiskey Park. BBC Radio's Brian Matthew accompanied the group from New York through Chicago, accumulating material for a Light Programme special, The Beatles Abroad. In addition to interviewing the group at each stop, Matthew spoke with fans along the way. The raw tapes of his New York interviews can be found in an earlier blog post.

Live In Grabblebeebe

2011-08-30T16:21:00.003-04:00

The second stop on the Beatles' 1965 North American tour was Toronto, a city they had visited in 1964. Once again, they were playing Maple Leaf Gardens, performing two shows on August 17th. Between the concerts, a press conference was held backstage.

From there it was on to Atlanta, a visit covered in an earlier blog post, where they played Atlanta Stadium on the 18th. As a bonus, here is a montage of farewells from Larry Kane's copious Beatle chats throughout the '64 and '65 tours, including one in Atlanta.

Shea You Love Me Too

2011-08-29T14:26:00.003-04:00

The pinnacle of the Beatles' concert career, albeit a distant and lonely pinnacle, was their August 15th, 1965 performance at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York. Before they left the Warwick Hotel for Shea, the Beatles were interviewed by "Lord" Tim Hudson from KCBQ in San Diego.

Opening acts were King Curtis, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Brenda Holloway, and Sounds Incorporated, and the entire show was filmed for a TV special, The Beatles At Shea Stadium, broadcast on BBC-TV March 1st, 1966, and ABC-TV in America January 10th, 1967.

Acting as emcees were various "Good Guy" disc jockeys from local radio station WMCA, who kept the crowd of 55,600 busy with jingle singalongs between acts. Ed Sullivan was actually given the honor of introducing the Beatles' set, and the moments that followed were captured stage-side by WABC, as well as by Jerry G. Bishop, covering the entire tour for WKYC in Cleveland.

Re-raising Kane

2011-08-26T16:33:00.003-04:00

As covered in a previous blog post, the Beatles arrived in New York City for their 1965 tour on August 13th, holding a press conference at the Warwick Hotel and appearing on WABC with "Cousin" Bruce Morrow.

As he had in 1964, Miami reporter Larry Kane joined the group on tour in 1965, and he interviewed Paul, Ringo, and George following the press conference. Kane also chatted with roadie Mal Evans, who reminisced fondly about his greatest fights.

August 14th saw the Beatles tape their final performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, at CBS Studio 50, for airing September 12th to kick off the new season:

Shortly afterwards, Larry Kane spoke with Paul in an attempt to quash the latest rumor of his secret marriage to Jane Asher.

Help! Is On The Way

2011-08-25T11:11:00.002-04:00

On July 29th, 1965, the Beatles attended the Royal World Premiere of Help! at the London Pavilion. The next day, they were interviewed by Dibbs Mather during rehearsals for their live August 1st performance on Blackpool Night Out:

Meanwhile, America was ramping up for the opening of the film and the Beatles' imminent visit.

United Artists produced a series of radio commercials to promote Help!, with some ads targeting teenagers and others aimed at their parents.

The August 15th concert at Shea Stadium was being hyped by DJs such as Cousin Brucie on WABC and Lee Gray on WTRY, Albany.

Graham & Bernard Webb

2011-08-24T15:11:00.002-04:00

From France, the Beatles flew to Italy, performing in Milan on June 24th, Genoa on the 25th, and in Rome on the 27th and 28th. An Italian reporter from RAI interviewed the group, possibly at a press conference in Rome on the 28th.

It was back to France on the 29th, for a concert in Nice on the 30th, then on to Spain on July 1st. They were interviewed by Australian reporter Graham Webb on July 2nd in Madrid, prior to their concert at the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas. After one last show at a bullring in Barcelona the next night, the Beatles returned to London to rest up for their next big American tour in August.

Tres Bien Ensemble

2011-08-23T13:14:00.003-04:00

Paul McCartney began June of 1965 on holiday with Jane Asher in Portugal (where he finished composing "Yesterday"). On the 11th, news of the Beatles being awarded MBEs broke, and Paul was summoned back to London a day early to join his bandmates in a press conference.

The subsequent week was spent at EMI Studios recording "Yesterday" and other numbers for the new single and LP, while John occupied much of his spare time promoting A Spaniard In The Works.

On June 20th, the group flew to France, where they would perform two shows in Paris and two in Lyon. During their stay at the Hôtel George V, they were interviewed by Jacques Ourevitch for French radio. Chris Denning also caught up with the Beatles in Paris, chatting with them about the MBE honors, and talking to a fan on the street. (NOTE: some of Denning's interviews in this blog post are actually from the Paris recording, namely record requests for "Do You Want To Know A Secret", "I'll Follow The Sun", and "Thank You Girl".)

The Walrus and the Gryphon

2011-08-19T15:11:00.002-04:00

With principal photography on Help! completed, The Beatles had a chance to relax for a few weeks before setting out on a European tour.

On May 22nd, 1965, John and Cynthia Lennon accompanied Help! director Dick Lester and his wife to the Cannes Film Festival. On the 24th, just before they flew back to London, Lennon and Lester filmed an interview with Merv Griffin for his syndicated US TV show.

At some point during this hiatus, the band assembled (possibly at Twickenham during a post-sync session on May 18th) to record a rather silly interview to promote the movie. United Artists issued the result as an "open-end" recording on a promotional disc.

Lollysicles

2011-08-18T13:43:00.002-04:00

Filming for Help! was completed over the first two weeks of May, 1965. From May 3rd-5th, the musical numbers "I Need You" and "The Night Before" were staged on Salisbury Plain. On the 9th, location shots were captured around London, after which the Beatles and producer Walter Shenson were interviewed by Sandy Lesberg.

While they had been in a silly mood during that interview, the Beatles appeared to be stoned out of their gourds on the final day of principal shooting, May 11th. During filming at Cliveden House (standing in for Buckingham Palace), The Beatles participated in a relay race around the grounds of the estate, beating out a team of film crew members.

Visiting the set that afternoon was Buddy McGregor, a DJ from KNUZ-AM in Houston. Buddy announced the race for the benefit of his listeners, prior to conducting a cannabis-laced chat with John, Paul, and Ringo.

Grandma Awards

2011-08-17T14:38:00.002-04:00

From April 15th through 19th, The Beatles took a break from filming for Easter weekend, interrupted only by John and George's TV guest spot on Ready, Steady, Goes Live!

Shooting for Help! continued the following week, highlighted by the title song performance on the 22nd:

On the 28th, Peter Sellers stopped by the pub set (seen above) to film an insert for American television. The Beatles had won a Grammy Award for "A Hard Day's Night" (Best Performance by a Vocal Group), and Sellers presented the band with their trophies; the clip would be aired on NBC May 18th.

On the 29th, disc jockey Chris Denning was on hand to stockpile more interviews for his Radio Luxembourg series, The Beatles.

Relativity Cadenza

2011-08-16T15:30:00.003-04:00

Capitol Records pressed the "Ticket To Ride" single in the US with label copy reading "from the United Artists release Eight Arms To Hold You". By the time it was released on April 19th, that working title had been scrapped, as George Harrison confirmed to Jerry G. Bishop a week earlier.

The new title song, "Help!", was recorded on the evening of April 13th, 1965, a busy day for the Beatles. It began with filming at Twickenham, shooting the "relativity cadenza" scene in the morning, and then being interviewed for Finnish radio as Victor Spinetti, Roy Kinnear, and Leo McKern performed their roles.

The interviews, conducted by Hilkka Kantelinen, were aired on Kaleidoskooppi, and included chats with director Dick Lester and hairdresser Betty Glasow, now becoming a minor celebrity in the world of Beatle radio interviews.

Around 1:45 in the afternoon, the group took a break and piled into a BBC Radio mobile vehicle to speak via telephone with Keith Fordyce for the 100th edition of Pop Inn. Around this time, they also plugged "Ticket To Ride" with Brian Matthew, on the overseas radio series Top Of The Pops.

Withered Heights

2011-08-15T13:31:00.002-04:00

During the week of April 5th-9th, 1965, The Beatles spent their days filming Help! at Twickenham Studios. On the 6th, they received an award from Radio Caroline:

In addition to Caroline's Simon Dee, a DJ from Radio London interviewed the quartet on the film set; here is an interview excerpt with Paul from around this date, discussing the use of music in the movie.

The new Beatles single, "Ticket To Ride"/"Yes It Is", was released in the UK on April 9th, and the group spent the weekend promoting it. On the 10th, they videotaped an appearance on Top Of The Pops, miming to both sides of the disc. The original tape no longer exists, but half a minute was repurposed in a contemporary episode of Doctor Who:

On the 11th, The Beatles headlined the New Musical Express Poll-Winners' All-Star Concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley. The same night, they appeared live on ABC-TV's The Eamonn Andrews Show. In addition to lip-syncing both sides of the new single, they chatted for a full segment with Andrews and then appeared with panel guests Katharine Whitehorn and Wolf Mankowitz.

Acht Arms To Halten You

2011-08-11T13:28:00.002-04:00

On March 10th, The Beatles left the sunny climes of the Bahamas, arriving back at London Airport early the next morning.

Two days later, they were back in the air, heading for Salzburg, Austria, to begin shooting ski slope and other snowbound scenes for Help! During their stay in Obertauern, they jammed with the house band during a late-night party at their hotel (see photo above), reportedly to celebrate Assistant Director Clive Reed's birthday.

By March 22nd, they were flying back to London, where the remainder of Help! would be shot over the next six weeks. Sometime around the start of April, Radio Luxembourg presenter Dieter Weidenfeld visited the set at Twickenham Film Studios. Together with his associates Monika and Norbert, Dieter chatted individually with all four Beatles, speaking in both English and German. George even sang and played a bit of a German pop song, while John crooned a line from "Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand"!

Do The Dog, Man!

2011-08-10T15:32:00.003-04:00

The parade of American DJs continued to march through Nassau as filming for Help! continued into March, 1965. Murray the "K" hung around for a week or so, taping interviews and hoping for a cameo role.

Fred Robbins of Radio Luxembourg stopped by as shooting wound down on March 9th, recording a bit of audio-verité during a swimming scene. He also talked with George and Ringo at great length for his Assignment: Hollywood series.

Here is a bonus Murray the "K" interview with George, circa 1965 (date unknown), talking about his relationship with Pattie Boyd.

High-Heeled Knickers

2011-08-09T14:35:00.003-04:00

After resigning at the end of the North American tour in September 1964, Beatles press officer Derek Taylor had moved to Los Angeles, where he would represent the Beach Boys, Byrds, and other American artists before returning to London to work at Apple in early 1968.

Taylor flew from Los Angeles to Nassau along with Dave Hull, and recorded interviews on the set of Help! for broadcast on KRLA-AM. He also taped a special introduction for his reports, to be used on other radio stations. His lengthy Beatle interviews were conducted around March 3rd; in addition to the band, Taylor spoke with hairdresser Betty Glasow and producer Walter Shenson.

Hullp!

2011-08-08T13:12:00.003-04:00

Dave Hull of Pasadena radio station KRLA-AM had interviewed The Beatles extensively during their August 1964 visit to Los Angeles. At the start of March, 1965, Hull flew to the Bahamas to cover filming of Help!

His lengthy interviews (at least partially taped March 2nd) have been released, with all references to Dave's name spliced out, possibly because the interviews were syndicated to other stations for use by local DJs.

Happy BirthClay, George!

2011-08-05T10:20:00.002-04:00

February 25th, 1965 was the second full day of filming for Help! in the Bahamas. It was also George Harrison's 22nd birthday, and he celebrated with a party at the Balmoral Club in Nassau.

You can imagine how thrilled he wasn't to have the festivities interrupted by a phone call from an American DJ. Tom Clay from KBLA-AM, Burbank (formerly with CKLW) went to a lot of trouble getting through, battling international operators and a polite but annoyed Brian Epstein. George graciously spoke to Tom and accepted birthday greetings for a couple of minutes before returning to his party.

As Well As Loving

2011-07-22T10:47:00.002-04:00

From February 15th-20th, 1965, The Beatles were in EMI Studios recording eleven songs for potential use in their second movie.

On the 22nd, they flew to the Bahamas to begin filming, landing at Nassau Airport that evening where they mingled with American journalists, including familiar faces Larry Kane and Gene Loving of WGH-AM. Loving also spoke with Brian Epstein and a couple of fans.

February 24th was the first full day of shooting, as The Beatles were filmed riding bicycles along Interfield Road. Gene Loving chatted with John, Paul, and George between takes, and also recorded interviews with Brian Epstein, hairdresser Betty Glasow, director Richard Lester, and producer Walter Shenson.

Just Say That I Smiled

2011-07-20T13:52:00.002-04:00

On the sixth day of 1965, Murray The "K" phoned London and spoke with Paul and Ringo, who were in the midst of their Christmas Show run. Paul commented on the latest iteration of the rumor that he would be marrying Jane Asher.

Murray didn't think to ask about Ringo's marital plans, but it turned out to be sooner than anyone imagined. Ringo and Maureen Cox were wed on February 11th. The next morning, the newlyweds faced the multitudes briefly; the event was covered in an earlier blog post, but here is an extra bit from a Reuters newsreel. The joining of the Starkeys led fans to speculate on George's matrimonial future.

Eppy New Year

2011-07-19T16:45:00.003-04:00

OK, it wasn't exactly Brianmania, but The Beatles' manager did have a high profile in the winter of 1964-65. He even had his own fan club for a brief time! In addition to the publication and promotion of his biography, A Cellarful Of Noise, Brian Epstein began taping inserts for the NBC-TV series, Hullabaloo.

From a studio in London, Brian introduced and occasionally chatted with British acts; on the weekend of December 19th, 1964, he interviewed Dick Lester about plans for The Beatles' upcoming second film. This segment aired in the 5th episode of Hullabaloo, broadcast February 9th, 1965.

Here is a newsreel clip of Brian being interviewed at a New Year's Eve party, looking forward to 1965. And while we're on the subject, here is a vintage recording of Harry Shearer reading an excerpt from Brian's book, from the 1969 KRLA documentary series The Chronicles Of Pop. Picture Derek Smalls reading the passage for added hilarity.

Another Beatles Christmas Show

2011-07-18T16:57:00.002-04:00

The Beatles had closed 1963 with a highly successful run at the Finsbury Park Astoria, headlining a Christmas show mixing music and sketches. They weren't exactly anxious to repeat the feat, but Brian Epstein insisted, so Another Beatles Christmas Show was booked for the Hammersmith Odeon in 1964. Also on the bill were the Yardbirds, whose guitarist, Eric Clapton, would eventually form a lifelong friendship with George.

Rehearsals took place in the third week of December, and the show opened Christmas Eve, lasting through January 16th, 1965. During the first week of shows, the Beatles were interviewed backstage by American DJ Paul Drew, and British DJ Chris Denning. The latter was there to gather material for a new Radio Luxembourg weekly series, The Beatles, which would debut on January 3rd. The Beatles' initial contribution consisted of a halfhearted chat conducted while stuffing their faces, and some amusing record requests and dedications.

A Model Patient

2011-07-16T12:52:00.002-04:00

On December 1st, 1964, Ringo entered University College Hospital in London to undergo a tonsillectomy. Prior to checking in, he held a press conference, covered by ITV News and Reuters.

Anxious fans were kept apprised of Ringo's status via daily bulletins from Beatles Fan Club secretary Anne Collingham, and the CBC-TV news magazine This Hour Has Seven Days even devoted a full segment to the medical event.

A fully recuperated Ringo talked to ITV News again upon his discharge December 10th, taking a moment to deny rumors of George's secret wedding.

Poetry And Music

2011-07-14T13:48:00.003-04:00

Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's sketch/variety TV series, Not Only... But Also... made its debut on BBC2 January 9th, 1965. John Lennon agreed to participate in the premiere episode, reading and adapting selections from his book In His Own Write.

His first contribution was a filmed piece to accompany Moore's reading of "Deaf Ted, Danoota (and me)". Lennon, Moore, and Norman Rossington shot the whimsical footage on Wimbledon Common in the morning of November 20th, 1964.

Nine days later, John was in the BBC Television Centre to tape a lengthy segment for the show. The same trio in various combinations recited "About The Awful", "All Abord Speeching", "Good Dog Nigel", "Unhappy Frank", and "The Wrestling Dog". John also appeared during the show's closing theme song, "Good-bye-ee".

Not Tory?

2011-07-13T13:44:00.002-04:00

The Beatles finished recording Beatles For Sale on October 26th, 1964, then headed back on the road.

October 29th found them at the ABC Cinema in Plymouth, where they mingled with the press, including BBC reporter Michael Rinehold. Two nights later, they were at the Gaumont in Ipswich, where they chatted with Anglia TV correspondent John McGregor.

The tour concluded November 10th in Bristol, and the rest of November was filled with promotional appearances for their new single and upcoming LP. TV appearances included Thank Your Lucky Stars, Top Of The Pops, and Ready, Steady, Go! They also taped sets for BBC Radio's Top Gear and Saturday Club.

Cake Canaveral

2011-07-12T16:45:00.002-04:00

The UK tour rolled through Scotland from October 19th-21st, 1964, with shows in Edinburgh, Dundee, and Glasgow.

On the 20th, The Beatles filmed a very silly TV interview for Grampian Week, backstage at Caird Hall. Reporter June Shields did her best to keep them on track, as John ad-libbed a couple of "traditional Gaelic airs".

Don't Tell Harold!

2011-07-11T13:06:00.002-04:00

The Beatles began October 1964 with a TV taping for the US pop program Shindig, slotted in among several recording session dates for the LP Beatles For Sale and a new single.

The touring machine cranked up again on October 9th with the start of their UK Autumn Tour. On general election day, October 15th, they pulled into Stockton-on-Tees for a concert. At their hotel, a crew from the local Tyne Tees TV series North-East Newsview filmed an interview with the band about the politics of the day, a topic in which they showed obvious disinterest.