No Such Thing As An Ex-Beatle

The headline above, from the April 10th, 1970 edition of the Daily Mirror, marked the public demarcation of an estrangement which had been ongoing in private for several months. Paul had issued an information sheet with press copies of his McCartney album that contained some blunt statements about his feelings toward working with the other Beatles, and the media took this as a declaration of independence.

That same day, George was sitting down to film an interview with BBC1 for the religious series Fact Or Fantasy, broadcast on the 26th. Not only does George not refer to a split, he refers to himself as a Beatle during the conversation, mostly focused on spiritual enlightenment.

George's interview was filmed at Apple's Savile Row offices, where the usual Apple Scruffs and curious tourists were supplemented that day by dozens of reporters and photographers, as word of the Beatle breakup spread. CBS News dispatched Bob Simon of their London bureau to cover the story, and the raw footage of his report circulates. It begins with reaction from sad and angry Scruffs in the street (most of whom seem to blame Linda McCartney), and contains a lengthy interview with a shell-shocked (and frankly denial-ridden) Derek Taylor and his assistant Mavis Smith. At the end, Ringo is filmed leaving Apple and entering a car with Mal Evans, to the cheers of the fans outside.

Here are a couple of pertinent airchecks from April 1970: WKNR in Detroit bidding "a fond farewell to our Beatle buddies", and a BBC Radio preview (possibly on Scene And Heard) of three tracks from the McCartney LP, released in the UK on April 17th.

stolen: THE BEATLES (aka A Studio Recording)

Most of the earliest Beatlegs stemmed from the same sources: tapes of two acetates prepared by Glyn Johns, containing rough mixes of material from the "Get Back" sessions at Apple. Copies of the tapes were circulating during the last few months of 1969, particularly after broadcasts on several US "underground FM" radio stations in September.

By Christmas, the first generation of bootleggers had begun to press the material on vinyl, and the albums, packaged in plain white sleeves, were selling in head shops by January, 1970. The most famous, and possibly the earliest, was known as Kum Back, available in original and slightly modified knock-off forms within months.

These LPs, and others such as Dig It!, were based on "Acetate #1" (compiled January 30th, 1969). Material from "Acetate #2" (compiled ca. May 2nd) appeared around the same time on the untitled "Silver Album", so named due to its shiny cover. A couple of months later, Lemon Records came out with Get Back, an LP combining material from both acetates.

Note that all these albums were available prior to the official release of the Let It Be LP in May, leading the bootleggers to guess at the titles of many songs. Such was the case for the Catso Records release A Studio Recording, issued around March, and stamped on the cover (my copy, anyway) with stolen: THE BEATLES.

Side 1:

- Let It Be

- Get Back

- Don't Let Me Down

- I've Got A Feeling

- Dig A Pony

Side 2:

- Teddy Boy

- Two Of Us

- For You Blue

- Across The Universe

Power To The People!

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll, particularly those who left appreciative comments about the blog.

A clear majority wants to see me continue with solo interviews, so that's what I'll do. But enough people want the return of vinyl Beatlegs for me to throw those in from time to time. I think an interesting way to approach it will be to combine the two chronologically. Since the Beatleg industry began just as the group was disbanding, it'll be fun to chart the black-market releases alongside the solo careers.

I'll begin with a look at the pre-breakup Beatlegs...

Another Poll

As many of you guessed, I reached the end of the road for Beatles interviews, at least the group years (through April 1, 1970). I do have a decent amount of solo interviews, but haven't collected them nearly as thoroughly as the group material, so there are undoubtedly some gaps. The good news is that I've transferred most of my collection to an external hard drive, so it's simple for me to grab files and upload them.

If I do carry on with solo interviews, there will be little in the way of illustrations and descriptions to go with the posts, merely because I don't have time to research everything. I will at least identify the dates and locations of the recordings as accurately as possible.

I still have over a hundred vinyl Beatlegs left to upload, so I could start posting those again. Or I could alternate the two, or move on to something else entirely. Please vote in the poll at the top left of this page and let me know what you'd like to see, and leave suggestions in the comments for this post.

And if you haven't already, please check out www.multiplusbooks.com and pick up copies of Beatlegmania Volumes 3 and 4!

When The Night Is Cloudy

The "Let It Be" single was finally released March 9th, 1970 in the UK, and two days later in the US. On the 11th, George Harrison sat down with BBC Radio's Johnny Moran for a lengthy and wide-ranging interview covering George's recent studio activity with Jackie Lomax, Billy Preston, Doris Troy, and the Radha Krishna Temple, as well as the Let It Be album and film, and the Beatles' future.

A short extract of the interview was aired on Scene And Heard March 15th, but the majority was aired March 30th as a special, The Beatles Today. Because Phil Spector was still mixing and overdubbing the Let It Be album, the BBC opted to air a couple of tracks ("Dig A Pony" and "Dig It") from Glyn Johns's unused version of the LP.

The Sentimental Journey album came out March 27th in the UK, and Ringo spent the last half of the month promoting it. On March 25th, he chatted with David Wigg for Radio 1's Scene And Heard, with the interview aired in two parts on the following two Sundays.

On the 29th, Ringo appeared live on LWT's Frost On Sunday to introduce a promo clip of the LP's title track. Two days later, he and DJ Pete Murray spun records live on Radio 2's Open House; Ringo also taped an open-ended interview discussing Sentimental Journey track-by-track for Radio Luxembourg, aired April 11th.

Breathe

The second week of February, 1970, found all four Beatles busy with individual recording projects. George was in Trident Studios on the 7th producing and playing on a new Radha Krishna Temple single, "Govinda". Ringo was still occupied at EMI with sessions for Sentimental Journey, and from the 10th through the 20th, Paul was at Morgan Studios, supplementing his home recordings of the past few weeks with new material for his first solo LP, McCartney.

As ever, John was the busiest Beatle, promoting "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" while editing footage of the Montreal bed-in for a documentary feature scheduled (but not destined) to precede Let It Be in UK cinemas.

From February 8th through the 11th, Yoko's ex-husband Tony Cox was staying at Tittenhurst along with Kyoko, and was granted permission to videotape the couple's activities for yet another potential documentary. Although Yoko has held up any official release of the tapes, a sample of the February 9th video does circulate, albeit with tampered audio:

"Instant Karma" was promoted on Top Of The Pops February 5th with a hastily-assembled clip of footage mostly culled from the BBC's 24 Hours documentary of the previous December:

By February 11th, John and Yoko were in a BBC TV studio taping a performance (mimed apart from John's live vocal) of "Instant Karma" for use in future episodes of Top Of The Pops. Take 4 (in which Yoko holds up cue cards) was aired first, on the 12th, with take 3 (in which Yoko knits) following a week later.

A few days after it aired, John and Yoko fielded questions about their TV appearance, along with other listeners' queries, during an interview on Radio 1's Midday Spin, hosted by DJ "Emperor Rosko". The recording date is unknown, but it was most likely broadcast on the 21st of February.

The Shining

In a burst of inspiration the day after his return to London, John wrote a new song, "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)", gathered a new Plastic Ono Band at EMI Studios, and recorded the number, all on January 27th, 1970. Ten days later, the single went on sale in UK shops, and John and Yoko set out on another round of publicity (although all their promotional tours were blending into each other by this point).

Around the 30th of January, they were interviewed by David Bellan for the BBC World Service radio show Profile. On February 4th, they held a ceremony on the roof of London's Black Centre, where they donated their shorn hair to activist Michael X. Media reaction was sparse, but ITV News did send Peter Sissons to cover the latest "Lennon stunt".

February 6th saw the couple participating in another interview with David Wigg for Scene And Heard, broadcast on Radio 1 February 15th. And on the 7th, they joined Michael X in taping an appearance on London Weekend Television's Simon Dee Show, aired the following night.

We Have Got To Get It Together

On January 20th, 1970 in Denmark, John and Yoko traded in their lengthy tresses for close-cropped haircuts. During a stopover in Paris on the way back to London six days later, they were interviewed for a Reuters newsreel about the new look and the imminent "Let It Be" single.

The same day, Ringo took a break from recording Sentimental Journey to promote The Magic Christian in America. He and Maureen flew to Los Angeles on the 26th, where a press conference was held at the airport. The following day, Ringo taped a guest appearance on NBC-TV's hit show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

The movie premiered in Hollywood on January 29th, and Ringo made a quick trip to Las Vegas on the 30th to catch Elvis Presley's show at the International Hotel. At some point during his L. A. visit, Ringo filmed an interview with Sam Riddle for Get It Together, broadcast March 7th on ABC. He and Maureen flew to New York on February 1st, returning to London the next day.

Year One A.P.

John and Yoko spent Christmas week, 1969, at home in Tittenhurst, ready to usher in Year One A.P. (After Peace). On the 26th or 27th of December, they recorded a message for Canadian radio, promoting the International Peace Festival and sending hope to listeners of the planned "peace network" of radio stations.

Around the same time, as a thank-you to Ronnie Hawkins, who had loaned them his house outside Toronto, John recorded a "Short Rap" and "Long Rap" plugging Ronnie's new single, "Down In The Alley". That Christmas, Canadian radio listeners were also treated to a sneak preview of "Let It Be", as heard on these airchecks from CKLW-AM in Windsor, Ontario.

By December 29th, John and Yoko were back at London Airport boarding a flight to Denmark. They would spend New Year's and most of January, 1970 visiting Yoko's daughter Kyoko at the Ålborg farmhouse where Yoko's ex-husband Tony Cox was staying. Recordings from this visit are covered in an earlier blog post.

Live Peace In Toronto, part 3

John and Yoko's advertising campaign for peace continued on December 20th, 1969 with a visit to the University of Toronto, where they were filmed by CBS-TV in a long conversation with author and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan. The footage survives but does not yet circulate widely; however, a follow-up interview with a CBS News reporter does exist.

At 10:15 that evening, John and Yoko appeared live on CBC-TV's Weekend, broadcast from their Toronto studio. Host Lloyd Robertson talked with the couple and Rabbi Abraham Feinberg about the planned Peace Festival.

On December 22nd, the Lennon entourage boarded a train for Montreal, where a press conference was held at the Château Champlain hotel. From there it was on to the nation's capital, Ottawa, for a meeting with Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau on the morning of the 23rd. As John told the press afterwards, the hour-long summit was fruitful in terms of communication, if nothing else.

That night, John and Yoko flew back to Toronto, where they spoke with rock journalist Ritchie Yorke before returning home to London for Christmas.

Live Peace In Toronto, part 2

Day 2 in Canada (December 18th, 1969) was set aside for various reporters and journalists to visit John and Yoko at Ronnie Hawkins's farmhouse in Mississauga. They actually began the day by taping a message to fans in Japan, mostly spoken by Yoko in Japanese with John playing various riffs and songs on acoustic guitar in the background. This was released as one side of an extremely limited LP, Love And Peace, apparently issued by Yamaha.

CBC Television had a camera crew filming for several purposes. The first was an interview with Nick Steed and Ken Cavanaugh for the TV show CBC Weekday, aired that night. CBC was also producing a documentary, A Visit For Peace, which included another farmhouse interview along with footage of the previous day's press conference and John and Yoko riding a Motoski through the snow.

A reporter ("Bob") questioned John and Yoko the same day for an Associated Press newsreel, and yet another filmed interview at the farmhouse found John talking with a Canadian broadcaster about the promotional film for "Cold Turkey".

Live Peace In Toronto, part 1

The Lennons' last great push for peace took place in Canada the week before Christmas, 1969. On December 16th, they flew from London to Toronto and were driven to the home of Canadian rocker Ronnie Hawkins, who lent them his farmhouse as a base for their operations during the week.

The first event was a press conference on the 17th at the Ontario Science Center, where John and Yoko announced vague but ambitious plans for a three-day Peace Festival to be held at Mosport Park (a racetrack) in July 1970. Arguments with the promoter, John Brower, meant that the festival never took place, but the couple were optimistic about the prospects for "Year One A.P. (After Peace)". Here is a 55-minute composite recording of the press conference, from several sources.

That evening, John and Yoko welcomed Village Voice reporter Howard Smith to the farmhouse for a dinner-time interview covering dozens of topics: the "War Is Over" posters and peace festival, their recent trips to Greece and India, prospects for future Beatle tours, the MBE return, the Hanratty case, and more. The recording was broadcast on WABC radio in New York; as it lasts nearly 90 minutes, here it is in nine pieces:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

If You Want It

The Plastic Ono Band's LP Live Peace In Toronto hit UK and US shelves on December 12th, 1969. John and Yoko promoted the release with an interview for South African radio; most likely on the same day, they participated in a track-by-track examination of the album with Radio Luxembourg's Tony Macarthur.

The latest component in their year-long advertising campaign for peace was unveiled December 16th, when billboards and posters appeared in 11 cities worldwide declaring WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT - HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM JOHN & YOKO.

On the 15th, the couple explained the poster event to a Dutch reporter from AVRO-TV's Televiezer Magazine; the next day, they did likewise for a French newsreel crew.

The evening of the 15th, John & Yoko performed at a UNICEF benefit in the Lyceum Ballroom, backed by a Plastic Ono supergroup including George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and most of the Delaney & Bonnie touring band. Their performances of "Cold Turkey" and "Don't Worry Kyoko" were professionally recorded and later released on Some Time In New York City, but here is a partial (and poor quality) audience recording of the concert.

Earlier on the 15th, Ringo had recorded a special appeal for the Wireless for the Blind Fund, to be aired Christmas morning on BBC 1's Kenny Everett's Christmas Show. For the second year running, Kenny had been given the thankless task of assembling a Beatles Fan Club Christmas Message from various tapes submitted independently by the now Fractured Four. Only John and Yoko seemed to put much effort into their contribution, and as a result, they dominate what would be the final such disc, shipped to fan club members on December 19th:

Hey Bulldog

On November 26th, 1969 at EMI, John, Yoko and friends had gathered to overdub yet another layer of cacophony to their 1968 recording "What's The New Mary Jane". The new mix, coupled with another Beatles reject dating back to 1967, "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)", was scheduled for release on December 5th as a Plastic Ono Band single on Apple.

Whether John changed his mind or the other Beatles rejected the idea, the single was cancelled. Perhaps he was worried about a product glut, with "Cold Turkey", the Wedding Album, and Live Peace In Toronto all hitting the stores in an eight-week period. Also available as of December 12th was the long-delayed charity LP No One's Gonna Change Our World, featuring another Beatle leftover from 1968, "Across The Universe". Here is a December '69 aircheck of the song on WKBW in Buffalo (as the LP wasn't sold in the US, they were able to claim an "exclusive").

George spent the first half of December as guitarist on the Delaney & Bonnie & Friends tour across the UK and into Denmark. Several concerts were recorded professionally for release on an Atco LP, including the December 7th shows in Croydon. The MC's band introductions heard on the LP excises George's name, most likely for contractual reasons (he is credited on the sleeve as "Mysterioso"); here is the unedited introduction from the soundboard tape, including mention of George.

Meanwhile, Paul was keeping quiet at his home in London, contemplating his first solo LP, and Ringo was moving into a new house near Highgate. John and Yoko kept up their media blitz, calling for the reopening of the case of James Hanratty, hanged for murder in 1962. On December 10th, the Lennons posed for photos with Hanratty's parents and proselytized for peace in a filmed interview.

By far the most entertaining Lennon interview of 1969 was taped in early December for a radio documentary on the history of popular music, Pop Goes The Bulldog. John spoke at length and quite expertly with Don Chandler about the evolution of Beatle music, from skiffle, country, and R&B through Elvis and Little Richard, and up to John Cage and Stockhausen.

The World Of John And Yoko

Although they had been rather overexposed in the last nine months, at the start of December, 1969, two British TV companies produced features on John and Yoko.

ATV's was specifically about John, who was anthropologist Desmond Morris's choice for Man Of The Decade in a special broadcast December 30th, just as the 1960's were winding down. Morris visited the couple at Tittenhurst, their Ascot estate, filming an interview there on December 2nd.

Meanwhile, the BBC had commissioned an episode of their series 24 Hours devoted to "The World Of John And Yoko", to air December 15th on BBC1. A camera crew followed the Lennons around for five days (belying the title of the series), beginning on the 2nd by filming the ATV crew as they filmed John and Desmond Morris.

On December 3rd, John and Yoko were filmed at home, noodling on his Mellotron, and en route to Apple. December 4th again followed them from home to work, where they were interviewed by various journalists; an unused clip from this day was released in 2007 by Yoko, who owns all the rushes from the shoot. That evening, they were filmed during a session at EMI Studio 2, taping "Item 1" and "Item 2", two conceptual tracks of laughing and whispering for a potential Unfinished Music album.

December 5th found John and Yoko traveling to Suffolk to film Apotheosis 2, a short film from the POV of an ascending balloon. The BBC's camera even followed the Lennons into their hotel room that night, where they played a verbal round of "Fortunately/Unfortunately"; again, an outtake from this sequence was included in the 1988 film Imagine: John Lennon and on the Lennon Anthology boxed set.

Sink The Magic Christian

With The Magic Christian set for a Royal World Premiere in London on December 11th, 1969, Ringo set out to do a bit of pre-promotion for the movie.

On December 1st, he was filmed in lengthy conversations with Tony Bilbow for the BBC2 series Line-Up, broadcast nine days later (the eve of the premiere). The interview began in the back of a limo which picked up Ringo from 3 Savile Row and transported him and Tony to the Thames, where they (and the camera/sound man) entered a boat and paddled down the river.

On the evening of December 6th, Ringo taped an appearance for airing the same night on LWT's Frost On Saturday. David Frost talked with Ringo and co-star Peter Sellers sensibly about the picture for a few minutes, but when Peter's Goon Show comrade Spike Milligan (who had a cameo role in The Magic Christian) joined the panel, all hell broke loose, although it's not easy to decipher from the horrendous quality off-line audio tape which survives.

There also exists an extremely rare one-sided promotional LP for The Magic Christian, containing an open-ended interview with Ringo. I've never seen a copy or heard the contents - does anyone out there have it?

A Hypocrite On The Make

In mid-November, 1969, John and Yoko spent a couple of weeks on holiday, flying to Athens, cruising the Mediterranean with "Magic" Alex, and then stopping by India. John's first action upon returning to London was to send his MBE back to Buckingham Palace (just the medal, the honour was non-refundable), along with this message:

"Your Majesty, I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria - Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With love, John Lennon of Bag."

Reuters did send a newsreel crew to interview John at Apple on November 25th, but the novelty of his publicity stunts had begun to wear on the British press and public, and there was little outrage, comment, or reaction to the event.

With this in mind, John and Yoko decided to focus their December peace efforts on Canada (and by extension, the US, where John was still unable to visit). In the meantime, they were interviewed by reporter Ken Zelig on November 27th at their home in Ascot, discussing the MBE return, war in general, and the Christmas season. Around this time, they also chatted with Wolfgang Frank about their recent trip to Greece and a potential visit to West Germany.

You Can't Say Christ Was A Flop

At the end of October 1969, Paul and Linda McCartney were ensconced in their farmhouse in Scotland, trying to enjoy a vacation while dealing with the fallout from the "Paul is dead" rumors. Unscheduled visits from a camera crew (see below) and reporters from Life magazine made things difficult for a while, at least until the Life story hit the stands on November 7th.

Meanwhile, George Harrison was working at Trident and Apple studios with artists such as Billy Preston and Doris Troy, while Ringo had begun recording his own solo album, Starrdust (eventually retitled Sentimental Journey) at EMI.

John and Yoko were still plugging the "Cold Turkey" single and Wedding Album; an interview with Kenny Everett was aired November 8th on BBC Radio 1's Everett Is Here. Here is another interview from the same time frame, with John and Yoko talking about their first meeting and the recent Rock And Roll Revival concert in Toronto.

One He Die

The sublimely ridiculous rumor that Paul McCartney had died in 1966, only to be replaced by a double named William Campbell, had its genesis around the time of Abbey Road's release. The story was fuelled by "clues" on Beatles album sleeves and in song lyrics, uncovered by midwest American college students with too much time on their hands.

On October 12th, Detroit DJ Russ Gibb of WKNR was inundated with callers sharing their discoveries, and Gibb invented several new ones during the course of the broadcast. Two days later, a review of Abbey Road by Fred LaBour in the Michigan Daily college paper fleshed out the cover-up/doppelganger tale.

By the 21st, the story had broken nationwide, as this aircheck from Roby Yonge on New York's WABC proves. The following morning, Paul (or was it?) was headed for his farm in Campbeltown, Scotland for a family vacation. Reached there by Apple's Peter Brown, Paul dictated a quick statement declaring his existence, but it was too late.

WKNR put Russ Gibb on the case, and he talked with Apple spokesman Derek Taylor via transatlantic phone. John Lennon was also reached for comment (the tape played back on WKNR had John Small overdubbing the questions), and seemed to find the whole affair amusing, as well as irritating for stealing the spotlight from his own new releases.

WMCA in New York went one step further, sending Alex Bennett to London, where he caught up with Ringo on the 23rd. The drummer, just back from the USA where the whole tale had started, realizes the futility of trying to "prove" the fallaciousness of a fairy tale.

Finally, the BBC dispatched Chris Drake all the way out to Scotland in hopes of getting some comment from the deceased. His trek to Paul's remote farmhouse was rewarded with an exclusive interview on October 24th. Portions were aired in three different BBC Radio newscasts on the 26th and 27th; here is a composite of all known (off-air) recordings.

A Strange Family

On John Lennon's 29th birthday, Yoko Ono checked in to King's College Hospital due to complications with her pregnancy. Sadly, she miscarried three days later, derailing the couple's second attempt at having a child.

After resting for a week or so, she and John were back at Apple plugging their newest batch of Plastic Ono Band releases: the "Cold Turkey" single was issued October 24th, 1969 in the UK, with the Live Peace In Toronto album scheduled for November 14th (but delayed until December). Also out was their Wedding Album, a deluxe package covering their Amsterdam honeymoon/Bed-In (released October 20th in the US and November 7th in the UK).

John and Yoko recorded a radio commercial to plug the LP, and then met with journalists to talk up all these projects. On October 21st, they chatted with David Wigg for Scene And Heard; here is a composite of the raw tape and the October 26th BBC Radio 1 broadcast. Most likely recorded the same day is this interview for Dutch radio, in which John mentions the budding "Paul Is Dead" rumor. A second low-quality off-air recording from Dutch radio may stem from the same broadcast.

Beatle George

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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"

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?

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

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

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

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

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":