The Beatles had always been a group made up of four gentlemen who was each in his own right a very strong individual, and I think that's one major element that made them so great. There never before or since had been such a group as The Beatles. Sometimes thought of as the "four-headed monster", it was the unity of those four that projected such strength, and as such, they were an example of what good can come from people working together, and that the greater the person as an individual, together it was only all that much better when that kind of energy could be shared in unison.
They were also always progressing. My favorite quote from John Lennon concerning this was, "If The Beatles or the 60s had a message, it was 'Learn to swim. And once you've learned - swim!'"
Progress they did, and in 1968 their individuality finally came to that point where they were beginning to notice that the "four-headed monster" was starting to get in the way of each member's own personal growth.
Perhaps had Brian Epstein lived, he could have held them together as 'one' for a longer period of time. Perhaps that would have been a misfortune. There are so many variables to ponder that it kind of makes not a lot of difference and probably should take a back seat to what really happened.
For as disjointed, perhaps, as their next musical project would be behind the scenes, what became of it still shines as what appears (in my mind anyway) as yet another progression with their double LP that would be released at the end of the year. In fact, if I were forced to choose, I'd select "The Beatles" double 'white-album' as my favorite of all their releases. I'd have to be forced, however, because just as I don't have a favorite Beatle, there's really nothing they ever did that I don't find a special favor in somehow. I've loved it all! Such is the Beatles fanatic that I really am.
So with all of the ups and downs of 1968, buckle up and enjoy another (nonetheless) "great year with the forever Fab Four" as they journey through the spacial universe of their unending consciousness "on their way back home" to the beginnings of something that would start to materialize into the rest of their lives.
15 February 1968 - John & Cynthia, George & Pattie and her sister Jenny began The Beatles' long-planned trip to Delhi, India to study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at his ashram in Rishikesh. Mal Evans had flown ahead of them on the 14th to arrange the necessary transport for the group for their arrival in the morning of the 16th.
Upon their arrival, 'three battered, ancient Indian taxis' took them to their destination (as Cynthia described them.) Also recalled by Cynthia Lennon: "Our arrival at Delhi went very much unheralded. It was wonderfully refreshing and stress free."
Paul and Ringo would follow on the 19th.
Their arrival in India on February 20, 1968, wasn't as smooth as John, George and their wives' experience a few days earlier. The press was now onto their trip and reporters were on hand when they landed. Garlands of red and yellow flowers were placed around their necks. Mal Evans and Maharishi's assistant Raghvendra were there to greet them, but according to The Beatles Bible, Ringo was suffering from the pre-trip inoculations with pains in his arm and they first went to have him checked out at a hospital.
Eventually these very weary travelers made the long taxi drive to Rishikesh along bumpy dusty roads.
Ringo: "We had breakfast outside and monkeys used to come and steal the bread. After breakfast, we'd usually have a morning of meditation in groups, on the roof. Then after lunch we'd do the same."
John: "We're all going to India for a couple of months to study Transcendental Meditation properly. We want to learn properly so we can propagate it and sell the whole idea to everyone. This is how we plan to use our power now--they've always called us leaders of youth, and we believe that this is a good way to lead.
"The whole world will know what we mean, and all the people who are worried about youth and drugs and that scene--all these people with the short back and sides--they can all come along and dig it too.
"It's no gospel, Bible-thumping, singalong thing, and it needn't be religion if people don't want to connect it with religion. It's all in the mind. It strengthens understanding and makes people more relaxed. It's not just a fad or a gimmick, but the way to calm down tensions."
Paul: "An average day there was very much like a summer camp. You would get up in the morning and go down to a communal breakfast. Food was vegetarian (which is good for me now) and I think we probably had cornflakes for breakfast.
"After breakfast you would go back to your chalet, meditate for a little while, have a bit of lunch and then there might be a talk or a little musical event. Basically it was just eating, sleeping, and meditating--with the occasional little lecture from Maharishi thrown in.
"There were probably about a hundred of us. There would be a lot of flowers on the stage and then Maharishi would come in. It was almost magical. He would say, 'This is only a system of meditation. I'm not asking you to believe in any great God or any great myth. It's merely a system to help you to be calmer in your own life.'"
George: "Each year, Maharishi had a course for Westerners who wanted to become Transcendental Meditation instructors. Although I wasn't going to become an instructor, I wanted to go and have a heavy dose of meditation.
"Rishikesh is an incredible place, situated where the Ganges flows out of the Himalayas into the plains between the mountains and Delhi. There is quite a hefty flow of water coming out of the Himalayas, and we had to cross the river by a big swing suspension bridge.
"Maharishi's place was perched up on a hill overlooking the town and the river. It was comprised of Maharishi's little bungalow and lots of little huts that he'd had built quickly for the Westerners coming there, in a compound of about eight or ten acres. There was a kitchen with some outdoor seating and tables where we would all have our breakfast together. Nearby there was a large covered area with a platform where he'd give the lectures.
"If you go to India you can't wear Western clothes. That's one of the best bits about India--having these cool clothes; big baggy shirts and pajama trousers. They also have tight trousers that look like drainpipes."
Ringo: "We had a big party for George's birthday. It was crowed with people and we all got dressed up and had red and yellow paint on our foreheads."
John: "Regardless of what I was supposed to be doing, I did write some of my best songs while I was there. It was a nice scene. Nice and secure and everyone was always smiling."
Ringo: "We came home because we missed the children. I wouldn't want anyone to think we didn't like it there. I said it was like Butlins holiday camp, we had learnt by then that you could say anything and they'd print it. It was a good experience--it just didn't last as long for me as it did for them."
Regardless that he would be the first to leave India at the beginning of March, Ringo would continue to praise the act of meditation: "A lot of people are going to say that I left because I was disillusioned by it all but that just isn't so. The Academy is a great place and I enjoyed it a lot. I still meditate every day for half an hour in the morning and half an hour every evening and I think I'm a better person for it."
Paul: "Once he (Maharishi) had to get into New Delhi, and a helicopter came to the camp and landed on the beach down by the river. We all traipsed down in our kaftans and then it was, 'One of you can go up for a quick ride with Maharishi. Who's it going to be?' and, of course, it was John. I asked him later, 'Why were you so keen to get up with Maharishi?' - 'To tell you the truth,' he said, 'I thought he might slip me the Answer.' That was very John!"
John: "You can't be joyful unless you feel joyful, otherwise it's phoney. If you feel good you feel good, if you feel bad you feel bad. There's no way out. You can take drugs or get drunk, do whatever, but you're just suppressing the feelings. I haven't met anybody full of joy; neither the Marharishi nor any Swami or Hare Krishna singer. There is no constant. There's this dream of constant joy - it's bullshit as far as I'm concerned. There's no status, there's no absolute.
"Pain is something like food in a way, or life; pain and joy. They go into your body and unless you feel it or express it, it remains there like constipation. You can't get away from the pain. There's no escape from it, it's there, in your body somewhere. It'll come out in your nerves or how many cigarettes you smoke or what you do, it'll make you go bald, or whatever. It expresses itself in some form. There's no getting rid of it.
"I think we all go through heaven and hell every day; just accept that. To feel is to live. Life is made up of feeling all sorts of things. Every day's the same, there's some heaven and some hell. There's no completely joyful day. There's better days, worse days, and I think every day contains both. It's like the Yin and Yang or whatever you want to call it. It's both."
Paul: "Mike Love was in Rishikesh. Donovan was there. I can remember people like that. Mia Farrow was there, and her sister, Prudence. John wrote the song 'Dear Prudence' for her because she had a panic attack and couldn't come out of her chalet."
George: "The idea of the course was that it lasted however many weeks in Rishikesh, and then at the end of that period they shifted the camp up to Kashmir. This was something they did every year. But I'd planned to go just for the Rishikesh trip and then go down to the South of India to do some filming with Ravi Shankar. He was making a movie called 'Raga'.
"I kept telling Maharishi, 'No, I'm not going to Kashmir - I went there last year,' and he was saying, 'No, no, you coming to Kashmir.' I told him I was going south, and that's when John and I left. It was only really John and I who were there from the beginning up until the end of the segment at Rishikesh, and I think John wanted to get back because - you can see it historically now - he had just started his relationship with Yoko before we went out to India."
John: "Yoko and me, we met around then. I was going to take her. I lost my nerve because I was going to take my ex-wife and Yoko, and I didn't know how to work it. So I didn't quite do it."
Paul: "Being fairly practical, I had set a period for staying in Rishikesh. ...I thought, 'Wait a minute, I'll go for a month. Even if it's incredible I'll still come back after a month.' If it turned out to be something we really had to go back for, I would have gone back. But at the end of my month I was quite happy to leave.
"I thought, 'This will do me. If I want to get into it heavily, I can do it anywhere.' That's one of the nice things about meditation - you don't have to go to church to do it."
At the end of March, Paul, Jane & Neil Aspinall left Rishikesh for England.
Paul: "Yes, yes, I feel a lot better, except for the flight, you know. That's quite long. I'm a bit shattered, but the meditation is great!"
***
11 May 1968 - John and Paul arriving in America together for the first time since the Summer of 1966 to promote their new venture, Apple Corps. They were accompanied by 'Magic' Alex Mardas, Mal Evans and I believe Derek Taylor. According to the Beatles Bible they would stay at Nat Weiss's (their lawyer) apartment in New York City.
12 May 1968 - It was a Sunday, and strangely enough the only information I can come across concerning this day is that John and Paul were to attend an "Apple business meeting" which took place aboard a "Chinese Junk". I understand the word "junk" can be used in broad terms for a variety of sailing vessels including a "pleasure boat".
So John and Paul spent this day on a boat cruising the New York Harbor presumably discussing business! (I was very fortunate to come across as many images as I did for this day.)
It's been said this "Apple meeting" was to be specifically with Ron Kass who would be the USA representative for The Beatles' new company Apple Corps. I believe that is Mr. Kass across from John with Paul in the background.
L2R: John, Derek Taylor, Neil Aspinall and Paul
John and Paul
With Alex Mardas and Paul
L2R: Alex Mardas, Neil Aspinall, Ron Kass and Paul.
Alex Mardas, Neil Aspinall and Paul having some fun.
John, Mal Evans and Derek Taylor
John pondering away in 1968 around the same area he would, in the next few years, call his permanent residence.
Also on this day, John, Paul, Neil and Alex somehow managed to spend some time in Central Park walking around pretty much unnoticed.
13 May 1968 - As stated in Mark Lewisohn's "The Complete Beatles Chronicle" from 1992, John and Paul spent the day at the St. Regis Hotel that Monday, holding 'court' as it were, for interviews with the 'serious' press.
Oddly enough, the only thing that seems to come to light from this day is the TV filmed encounter with old friend Larry Kane, which must have been relaxing for John and Paul as Larry was one of the few trusted media 'supporters' of theirs. What is odd is as Mr. Lewisohn states, there is no transmission information for this interview so it may never have been 'officially' broadcast, yet it is all that seems to be available today.
Mr. Lewisohn also stated that the day the interview took place might have been the 14th, but since John and Paul wear different attire on that day, and others have seemed to nail the date down as the 13th, I'll go with that.
The following screen shots are from the Larry Kane interview. The first and last photos from this day were lifted from that wonderful blog Meet The Beatles For Real which I have to thank again because otherwise I'd have nothing.
Old friend and trusted confidant, Larry Kane.
Here is the Larry Kane interview with John and Paul from, we believe, May 13th, 1968 in the St. Regis Hotel, NYC
14 May 1968 - Today's first appearance was made at the Americana Hotel where John and Paul (along with Derek Taylor, Neil Aspinall and Alex Mardas) held what I believe was their biggest press conference of their American visit to promote Apple Corps.
I managed to find something on YouTube from this conference, but unfortunately the sound is bad, the video is choppy, and much is missing. I worked on the sound a bit and added some important quotes to fill in some of the 'dead' spots. (I did find some bits elsewhere that were arguably better quality, but it was just fragments and not really worth the effort trying to edit into this piece.)
14 May 1968 - For me, the highlight of the entire trip, and what makes it all worthwhile, is the following interview with John and Paul taped by Mitchell Krause for TV Channel 13 - WNDT New York, an educational station, which broadcast on the show Newsfront the evening of May 15th.
Although the video seems to be lost, the audio remains, and as mentioned in the article at the end of this link, it comes from reference tapes in the studio archives. (Note: The interview is close to 28 minutes in length.)
What strikes me about this interview is that it's down-to-earth, serious, and quite a breath of fresh air from the usual dumb questions they were asked. John and Paul were so easily swayed into responding emptily to those kinds of questions and were less likely to lead the way into something more substantial. If the interviewer, however, treated them intelligently, they responded the same in return, and here we finally have that.
The other thing I've noticed is that what John and Paul say in this interview is so timely. 50 years later, it's still relevant. They truly were ahead of their time. This could have been recorded yesterday.
Such was the viewing demand for this interview, it was repeated the following week, probably on May 24th, 1968.
(The above set of photos are unrelated and come from the TV interviews that took place earlier that day at the Americana Hotel. The Newsfront interview was most likely done at one of the Newsfront WNDT studios in NYC.)
14 May 1968 - Wrapping up the day, John and Paul wound up on The Tonight Show that was hosted that night by Joe Garagiola along with Tallulah Bankhead. While maybe not ground-breaking, I've found the interview to be far from the disaster most people have made it out to be. True that maybe this was an odd pairing (John, Paul, Joe & Tallulah) but given that, it doesn't sound to me that his questions were all that bad, nor did Ms. Bankhead come off to me as being 'upstaged' by John and Paul. In fact, I thought she was being quite courteous.
In any case, you can find out for yourself as although the video has been lost, once more, thankfully the audio survives and in pretty good condition, which you can listen to via this link:
John and Paul, The Tonight Show, 14 May 1968
15 May 1968 - I've not found any documentation on what John and Paul might have done on this day but they did leave New York for London that evening, arriving in the early hours of the 16th. They are shown here with Alex Mardas and Nat Weiss, their business attorney who had them as guests at his home during their stay.
...and such was the launch of Apple in America!
17 May 1968 - The world premiere of the film "Wonderwall" was held at the Cannes Film Festival on this day. George and Pattie with Ringo attended the event as representatives of the soundtrack music for the film which George had produced.
It has been said that at this time, George had expected the film producers to purchase the rights to his music for the film and release the soundtrack independently. When this did not happen, it was suggested the music become an Apple Records release, which it did in November of 1968.
John and Cynthia Lennon's Kenwood home.
"Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass
You know his faults, now let the foibles pass
Life is one long enigma, my friend
So read on, read on, the answer's at the end."
-George Harrison lyrics
Here we come to that tough part of the story. John had met Yoko Ono at her art gallery show about a year and a half earlier at the end of 1966. He became a supporter of her work, and he became intrigued by her enough to finally consummate their relationship while both were still married to their spouses.
History seems to be identifying the night they got together as May 19, 1968. It was like a date, John recalled, first making a series of recordings in John's Kenwood home while Cynthia was away. These recordings would become John & Yoko's first true collaboration together known as the "Two Virgins" LP released later that year. Then making love at dawn, the sun arose on a new destiny for the two of them.
Cynthia Lennon recalls the incident occurring before John and Paul left for New York to promote Apple. She, naturally, was blindsided, confused and bewildered because, according to her, at first John blew the entire thing off as being meaningless, then engaged in a seemingly honest evening of discussion with Cynthia ending with a passionate episode of love making with her after the fact.
Things weren't all rosy, however. When (as Cynthia recalls) John and Paul did go to New York she was shut out of the idea of going with him. Not wanting to be left home alone, she convinced John to go along with the idea of her visiting Italy with her mother, her mother's sister and her husband, and Julian. The hotel where she stayed, and was familiar with, was run by the Bassanini family, and Cynthia was treated quite nicely by the son, Roberto, who accompanied Cynthia and a waitress friend on a night out on the town.
While there in Italy, Cynthia claims "Magic" Alex Mardas arrived with news from John that he was going to divorce her and take Julian into his full custody. This would later include a pre-emptive strike by John declaring that Cynthia had committed adultery with Roberto Bassanini. (The timing is suspect a bit here as we know Alex Mardas was with John and Paul in NYC during their Apple promotion.)
In any case, it comes down to the fact that this was not going to be a good time for all the parties concerned. Looking back on it all I don't think any of it warrants a complete dissection from this point in time as one thing is clear, it was a huge turning point in the lives of at least two biological families, and certainly in the lives of the four brothers. Emotions would burn hard for many years to come, but in the end everyone concerned has had their moments of trying to make something positive out of the entire episode.
Regardless of the consequences, John and Yoko seemed to know what they wanted, and they both went for it. This brings up equally difficult questions. Do you go for what you want in life, even at the expense of others? Do you refrain so as to not cause heartache, yet in the process deny yourself the happiness you are seeking? How do you handle it moving forward? There is a birth and yet a death occurring at the same time. Is it possible to get away with it without the knowing and impending devastation it will cause, or do you simply drop the atom bomb and wipe out your past to pave way for the future you want?
Who can say what the complete truth of the situation was, except that I'm sure all were suffering in their own way. As outsiders, when we see someone suffering like this we can only hope that everyone concerned eventually, somehow, lands on their feet and are able to some day move forward. Love and support for all concerned is our best gift.
In this case trying to point out who was right and who was wrong does not help, especially from such a distance. Let them all tell their stories as they see fit, and if you wish to contribute to their well being, simply be a good listener.
(Note: The above photo of John was taken by fan Marilyn Demmen, some time in May, possibly very close to the time John and Yoko created "Two Virgins". It was taken from this website link: The Beatles in London)
22 May 1968 - This day saw the launch of a second Apple boutique called Apple Tailoring (Civil and Theatrical) with John and George attending at Club Dell'Aretusa in London. In history it is perhaps more notable as the first public appearance of Yoko Ono with John. Whether people like it or not, this is also the beginning of them both forever becoming known and linked as John&Yoko.
I can't help but feel that the four of them had decided the best way to keep the hysteria down and yet draw attention to what they were trying to accomplish was for no more than two Beatles at a time attend such launches. George, of course, attending with his wife Pattie.
According to The Beatles Bible the boutique was also shared with another clothing company, Dandy (or Dandie) Fashions which had been around since 1966 and was to be a part of Apple Tailoring. In the basement there was a hairdressing salon run by Beatles' hair stylist, Leslie Cavendish.
George and John outside George's home, reportedly May 1968
The link above is to 27 tracks that served as demos, and the blueprint for The Beatles 1968 double-LP which became known as "The White Album".
What I did with my copies was to try and take some time and make them sound as best I could, as most of the tracks only exist to the public as bootlegs, and therefore are several generations (perhaps) down from the master tape.
These recordings were made sometime in mid to late May of 1968, and it is believed mostly at George Harrison's Home. The Beatles Bible picks May 24th as the closest date to when they were made. There's some speculation as to whether they were all made on the same day. Mark Lewisohn's book in 1992 counted only 23 tracks, but 4 more showed up on The Beatles Anthology 3 in 1996.
In any case, for the 50th Anniversary of these recordings, I uploaded all known 27 and did what I could to add a little more to the sound listening experience without trying to alter the original feel of the recordings. Some of these are quite adequate, sound-wise, so there really is no point in doing anything with them. Some had a bit of distortion so I just did what I could to make it all as cohesive sounding as possible.
For example, it is understood that after performances were put down on tape, George Harrison mixed them all to mono and gave copies to the other guys for their own use. The tracks that appeared on The Beatles Anthology 3 were from the original masters, quite clear sounding, and in a very separated stereo, which was quite interesting but when heard next to the bootlegs the difference could be a bit jarring. I simply moved the two channels closer together so what is in stereo remains stereo, just not quite so far from the left-to-right channels, therefore closer to the feel of the other tracks within the collections which are in mono.
The list opens up with John's "Cry Baby Cry", the unreleased "Child of Nature", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", "I'm So Tired", "Yer Blues", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", "What's the New Mary Jane", "Revolution", then George takes over with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Circles", which he did not record proper until 1982, "Sour Milk Sea" which he gave away to Jackie Lomax, "Not Guilty" which was dropped form the White Album, "Piggies", John's "Julia", then Paul comes in with "Blackbird", "Rocky Raccoon", "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Honey Pie", "Mother Nature's Son", "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da", "Junk" which he used on his first solo LP, then John returns with "Dear Prudence", "Sexy Sadie", what would become "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Mean Mr. Mustard", "Polythene Pam" and we finish off with "Glass Onion".
NOTE: The studio was booked for the Beatles on May 14th, so they could start recording on the 20th. They wouldn't actually go in until May 30th, which it is believed when the following photos were taken.
A huge thanks to The Beatles Recording Facebook page! The above 5 photos were all lifted from that site. Check it out, it has a large selection of wonderful photos of The Beatles!
30 May - 4 June 1968: John may have been content to enjoy the ride for some of 1967, but in 1968 he was fired up and his vision seemed more clear. He was ready to make records again. To begin work back in the studio with his band, it would commence with "Revolution", his broadened view of what was going on in the world especially at that time, and how it was personally affecting him.
Takes 1-18 (there were no takes 11 or 12) were recorded for the rhythm track, with piano, acoustic guitar and drums, with take 18 becoming the foundation for the final track running well over 10 minutes in length! The final 6 minutes of the track began to fall into 'pure chaos' with 'discordant instrumental jamming, feedback, screaming -- the sound of a real revolution, if you like'.
Yoko Ono makes her debut appearance on a Beatles' track with her own moaning and 'off-the-wall' phrases such as, "you become naked".
Geoff Emerick recalls: "John brought her into the control room of number three at the start of the 'White Album' sessions. He quickly introduced her to everyone and that was it. She was always by his side after that."
John would add vocals on the 31st with Paul and George's backing vocals and Paul's bass overdubs.
John at this time was a bit indecisive whether he should really 'count' himself 'in' or 'out' of the 'impending' revolution so on June 4th he opted for both answers saying you could count him out/in. This time, however, he recorded his vocals while laying on the floor, in the hopes of somehow altering his voice.
Paul and George contributed a rather odd series of backing vocals which were a persistent repetition of the words, "Mama, Dada, Mama, Dada" to be used near the end of this 10 minute epic.
Ringo added another drum track and 'various percussion clicks', John supplied a tone-pedal guitar part, and Paul added more organ.
Two tape loops, one with all four Beatles singing, "Aaaaaaah" in a very high 'register' and a second loop of a 'rather manic guitar phrase, played high up the fretboard, but neither would be used.
All of this came down to a rough mono mix of Take 20 which was copied for John to take home at the end of the day.
Take 20 of "Revolution" in its original form can be found at the following link, along with a few surprises!
4 June 1968 - I've seen this photo used before as 'evidence' that John had become so deep into drugs and was now so stoned he couldn't even stand any longer, when in fact this was one of his continuing efforts to make his vocals sound different.
Brian Gibson, technical engineer on this session recalls: "John decided he would feel more comfortable on the floor so I had to rig up a microphone which would be suspended on a boom above his mouth. It struck me as somewhat odd, a little eccentric, but they were always looking for a different sound; something new."
Geoff Emerick elaborates: "He (once) suggested we mike his voice from behind his back rather than in front and next to his mouth. He was desperate to sound different. 'Why does it have to be there? Why can't it be there?'
"We tried it but you just couldn't get the presence; it sounded the same as ever, only more muffled, so we gave up and returned to putting his vocals through a Fairchild limiter, which we did for almost every Lennon vocal after 1966."
Here's some more information about "Revolution" from "A Hard Day's Write" written by Steve Turner.
5 & 6 June 1968 - History was made on these days as The Beatles began to record Ringo Starr's first official song called "Don't Pass My By". At this point it was initially labeled in the studio documents as "Ringo's Tune (Untitled)" and then "This Is Some Friendly" for reasons unknown.
We know the song goes as far back as 1963 because it was discussed on radio and if my memory serves me, I believe Paul even said he had a hand in writing the tune for Ringo to sing, so he may have taken a part in its origins even though Ringo is given sole credit.
The Beatles began with 3 takes for the basic rhythm track with Paul on piano, Ringo on drums. Then more piano and strangely enough, a sleigh-bell sound was added! Ringo then laid down his first vocal but that was wiped and replaced with a bass guitar overdub by Paul. Paul also recorded another bass part on the one vacant track left (from an earlier reduction mix), but those were wiped for another two Ringo lead vocals recorded on the 6th. After that, Paul re-recorded another two bass guitar overdubs on the two new vacant tracks that had been made available after yet another reduction mix.
Meanwhile, John and Yoko began spending time preparing tapes and loops of sound effects, some which were ones he made and some taken from the Abbey Road library collection. These sounds would be used for his "Revolution" track and some were to be used for the upcoming stage adaptation of his book "In His Own Write" directed by Victor Spinetti and set to open June 18th.
Here's some more information about "Don't Pass Me By" from "A Hard Day's Write" written by Steve Turner.
A version of the song from these recording sessions was released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
During this day (June 6, 1968) Kenny Everett visited the studio and recorded an 'interview' of sorts with John who was later joined by Paul and Ringo with George throwing in a few 'jabs' and I think I can even hear a bit of Yoko in the background. This was for broadcast on The Kenny Everett Show (June 9th) and it was typical Everett nonsense, which The Four were either willing to go along with, or is that a slight annoyance I hear coming across from them? They sometimes sound quite eager to send Kenny off with some resounding 'good-byes'. You can listen for yourself from the YouTube upload above.
This is the more complete version of the interview before it was edited and 'tinkered' with for the actual broadcast.
Even more strange, perhaps, this Kenny Everett recording was edited and actually released by Apple as a promotional disc in Italy later in the year called "Una Sensazionale Intervista Dei Beatles", which you can also hear above.
Also on June 6th, John and Victor Spinetti were filmed being interviewed for the BBC2 TV program Release which was broadcast on June 22nd. They talked about the National Theatre production of John's In His Own Write with Peter Lewis. As mentioned earlier Victor Spinetti was directing the show.
7-10 June: Beatles activities were wide and varied during these next few days. On June 7th George and Pattie would fly to California accompanied by Ringo and Maureen with Mal Evans for a stay in America that would last until June 18th.
George was making a guest appearance in a film by Ravi Shankar called "Raga" which wouldn't be released until 1971. Filming of George and Ravi would take place on June 10th and the 11th.
On June 8th, Paul would take on the role of best man at his brother Michael's wedding to Angela Fishwick. This would take place at St. Bridget's Parish Church in the village of Carrog in Merionethshire, North Wales.
On June 10th, John and Yoko were back at EMI working on more sound effects and tape loops to add onto the second half of his "Revolution" recording, which in turn would become known as "Revolution 9".
11 June 1968 - This continued into the 11th and while John resided in Studio Three, Paul was in Studio Two recording "Blackbird". The whole affair was very straight-forward, done in 32 takes (11 which were complete) with Paul alone on acoustic guitar and metronome, his lead vocal double-tracked in places.
Paul's simple recording did also, however, utilize sound effects. Singing blackbirds were supplied by "Volume Seven: Birds of Feather" from the Abbey Road archives. These, in particular, were recorded around 1965 by Stuart Eltham who remembers, "I taped that on one of the first portable EMI tape-recorders, in my back garden in Ickenham... There are two recordings, one of the bird singing, the other making an alarm sound when I startled it."
Six mono remixes were made of the song until #6 was labeled as 'best'. Take 4 was released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
11 June 1968 - This continued into the 11th and while John resided in Studio Three, Paul was in Studio Two recording "Blackbird". The whole affair was very straight-forward, done in 32 takes (11 which were complete) with Paul alone on acoustic guitar and metronome, his lead vocal double-tracked in places.
Photo from June 4th, 1968
Paul's simple recording did also, however, utilize sound effects. Singing blackbirds were supplied by "Volume Seven: Birds of Feather" from the Abbey Road archives. These, in particular, were recorded around 1965 by Stuart Eltham who remembers, "I taped that on one of the first portable EMI tape-recorders, in my back garden in Ickenham... There are two recordings, one of the bird singing, the other making an alarm sound when I startled it."
Six mono remixes were made of the song until #6 was labeled as 'best'. Take 4 was released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
Here's some more information about "Blackbird" from "A Hard Day's Write" written by Steve Turner.
I don't have much to say about the above links. (Actually, I believe I've found just a little bit more from another source, I might upload later myself.) They come up in Beatles' history, however, and roughly from about this time.
They are apparently pieces of film that were used to promote Apple. The quality is bad, however, the sound isn't quite so bad and so I've included the top link because it has a performance by Mary Hopkin with Paul giving her a 'plug' at the end of it. Other than that, there's not much to these. Even the clip of Paul and George Martin from the bottom link is limited, so it makes me wonder how close these bootleg videos are to the actual 'product' The Beatles had put together to promote their new company. I keep this open, however, in the hopes that something from a better source may some time make itself available.
The promotional film was shot on 16mm film, 'directed' by Tony Bramwell. At one point you can see and hear Dick James with Paul and John in the Apple office. 'Magic' Alexis Mardas makes an appearance promoting Apple Electronics. We don't have shooting dates but records indicate the first viewing was done June 21 privately for the executives at Capitol Records.
15 June 1968 - In September of 1967 John sponsored Yoko's exhibit at the Lisson Gallery in London called "Half-Wind Show". It consisted of 'everyday objects' such as a chair, washbasin or pillow all cut in half. There was a subtitle to the show and it read "Yoko Plus Me" which apparently referred to John, but remaining the anonymous backer, and not even attending.
On this day, however, John and Yoko came together in full public view participating at "an exhibit of sculpture at Coventry Cathedral by planting two acorns in pots."
John explains: "One faced east and the other faced west, to symbolize that East and West have met through Yoko and me. In 50 years' time people will understand what we're trying to say when there are a couple of lovely great oak trees up there rather than all those bits of old iron in funny shapes."
John was referring possibly to other entries in this "National Sculpture Exhibition" and most likely the circular bench that was made up of white wrought-iron that surrounded the two acorns. There was also a plaque that read, "Yoko by John, John by Yoko".
It has been said the acorns were taken by fans not too long afterwards and new ones had to be replanted and a 'round-the-clock' guard posted. There is another article I came across that stated this didn't really happen, so who knows? There is a story that the bench and acorns were moved 50 feet but I'm not sure why, and then both the bench and acorns were stolen. There's another story that states John didn't like 'the negative vibes' he had received in Coventry so after the acorns were stolen, he had the bench removed.
Apparently on October 14, 2005, Yoko returned to the site and coinciding with the city's annual Peace Month Festival, had two Japanese oak trees planted along with a replica of the bench to complete the work of art.
16 June 1968 - Paul and Mary Hopkin, whom Paul has taken under his 'wing' and was now promoting, appeared with Frankie Howerd on a David Frost TV program which was recorded at Stonebridge House in Wembley. The intention was to showcase British talent in America and so the show was made exclusively for the Americans but not broadcast until late February of 1969(!)
Frankie Howerd 'interviewed' Paul with questions written by David Frost leading up to an introduction by Paul's for his protégée Mary, who sang "House of the Rising Sun" and apparently one other song.
I can't find any photos or video from this show at this time, but do have some audio worth listening to that runs about 8 minutes which you can download from the link below:
Paul with Mary Hopkin in 1968.
Apart from this great photo of Ringo on horseback, there seems to only be a few tiny images available of his and George's trip to America, such was the secrecy of it held so well. As mentioned earlier, the two Beatles traveled together with their wives to the USA on June 7th, 1968 and apart from George appearing in some footage of Ravi Shankar's then-in-prodution film "Raga", not much else is known about their adventures.
There's something about them visiting Joan Baez at her home in Carmel, California on June 8th. The following photos below describe a stay at Pebble Beach as well during this time where they played golf and rode horses. I am not certain exactly where the information comes from and although I recognize Mal Evans, there also is a man identified as 'road manager Eric Storey'. For the life of me I can't find any information about Mr. Storey, nor have I heard of him before as being a Beatles road manager, but I'll take what information I can get regarding this trip.
This photo is described as having been taken of George by Ringo.
No mistaking Ringo and Maureen.
18 June 1968 - The press finally caught up with Ringo and George, but it was a bit late and their trip was over as they returned to England on this day.
Also on this day, John & Yoko attend the National Theatre's stage version debut of "In His Own Write", at the Old Vic Theater in London. Directed by Victor Spinetti and based on John's two books, according to The Beatles Bible it 'featured a character, Me, played by Ronald Pickup, whose thoughts and ideas were followed throughout the play. It (the play) followed two other one-act plays ("A Covent Garden Tragedy" and "An Unwarranted Intrusion") to form a triple bill.'
The appearance of Yoko with John was now beginning to cause a stir. The press asked, "Where's your wife, Mr. Lennon?". "I suppose I've spoiled my image," John is reported to have at some time reflected back.
20 June 1968 - "Revolution" had now grown so big the latter part of the track was split off into its own performance which would become "Revolution 9". Today a master 'take' would be formulated with John 'commandeering the use of all three studios at Abbey Road.' Basically, John was the producer (with Yoko by his side) and there were now people all over EMI Studios spooling loops onto tape machines with pencils, just as The Beatles had done back in April of 1966 for "Tomorrow Never Knows".
Mark Lewisohn in his book "The Beatles Recording Sessions" details some of what would be used for "Revolution 9":
- George Martin saying, "Geoff...put the red light on," with heavy echo
- A choir, supplemented by backwards violins
- A symphonic piece, chopped up and played backwards
- An extract from the "A Day In The Life" orchestral overdub, repeated
- A backwards mellotron (played by John)
- Miscellaneous symphonies and operas
Richard Lush remembers: "(John) was trying to do really different things...we had to get a whole load of tapes out of the library and the "number nine" voice came off an examination tape. John thought that was a real hoot! He made a loop of just that bit and had it playing constantly on one machine, fading it in or out when he wanted it, along with the backwards orchestral stuff and everything else."
Stuart Eltham recalls: "Abbey Road used to do taped examinations for the Royal Academy of Music. The tapes aren't around now." ..and so the identity behind the voice remains unclear to this day.
It was now Paul's turn to fly to America to promote the group's new company, Apple, but George was present this day joining John providing strange vocals for the new track, reading out 'bizarre lines of prose - in voices sometimes equally bizarre' along with Yoko who was humming at a very high pitch.
Some of their spoken words you can catch, some that Mark Lewisohn was able also distinguish were John's "personality complex", "onion soup", "economically viable", "industrial output" and some I recall, "financial imbalance", "the watusi", "the twist" and "take this brother, may it serve you well" along with George's "Eldorado" and together with John, "There ain't no rule for the company freaks."
Alan Brown remembers: "In 'Revolution 9' we had the STEED system of tape echo fed via a tape delay system. The track ran for so long that there is one point where the delay runs out and you can hear the tape being re-wound, live. Even that impromptu thing...contributed to the finished result."
On the next day, June 21st, the beginning half of "Revolution" would be completed and become "Revolution 1" with the addition of brass made up of two trumpets (Derek Watkins and Freddy Clayton) and four trombones (Don Lang, Rex Morris, J. Power and Bill Povey).
George added the lead guitar to "Revolution 1" and he and John then worked on the final effects overdubs for "Revolution 9" and both were remixed for stereo. "Revolution 1" received 7 remixes from take 22 and two remixes were done for "Revolution 9" with John reportedly having 'a marvelous time...pushing different images through on both channels and panning the words "number nine" across the stereo in fractions of a second'.
You can hear the added Brass overdubs along with George Harrison's electric guitar, both from June 21, 1968, from this link: "Revolution 1" [Bass and Guitar overdubs]
(Sorry, the photo above is George with an acoustic guitar. The overdubs are George on electric guitar.)
It's possible that with the huge volume of sound available to him, John may have found it easier to complete a stereo master first. Indeed when it came time to consider a mono version of "Revolution 9" the idea would be scrapped and for the first time a Beatles song would not get a proper mono mix, instead relying on the 'fold-down' method which simply mixed both channels of the original stereo down to mono.
When they returned to Abbey Road on the 25th of June, John would oversee more remixes of "Revolution 1" labeled 8-12 and the final work on "Revolution 9" would simply edit it down from 9 minutes to 8 minutes and 12 seconds.
I'm not precisely sure of actual origins of the track at the end of this link, but the claim is that it's a synchronization of the original mix with the stereo remix (#12) that was made on this day, June 25th. In any case, it is a different variation of "Revolution 1" from what was officially released.
George was busy in studio three producing (and playing guitar on) his own session for his "Sour Milk Sea" which he had donated to Jackie Lomax. His sessions had actually begun the previous day and would eventually be completed at Trident Studios.
Paul was returning home on June 25th from the States and so was not present. Writers tend to like to point out things which happened during these days to help support a 'disintegration' within The Beatles which in turn supports their eventual 'break-up'. One example is Paul being supposedly not happy with John's "Revolution" as it was with people quoting, "...I know it didn't get a fantastic reaction from McCartney when he heard it." They also point out that it was he himself that led the way for the group into experimenting with sound on "Carnival Of Light" at the beginning of 1967, with the suggestion that somehow he might be a bit put off that John was now taking that lead and making a Beatles record out of it while he had been away in America. (As mentioned earlier, The Beatles had already worked together with tape loops as "Tomorrow Never Knows" predates "Carnival Of Light" so that technique was not new to them.)
I offer a different perspective, one that supports Paul's protective interests in the image of The Beatles as a group. Yes, while he was away this new track had developed in his absence and so he had no say during its completion, and here he is now looking at 8 minutes of this sound collage possibly wondering how it is going to fit onto a Beatles LP. That's a lot of real estate for a record, and remember "Carnival Of Light" wasn't intended as a regular Beatles' release. Where was "Revolution 9" going to go? This was still very early in their new recording sessions and I don't believe they knew their next release was going to be a double LP yet.
When "Revolution 9" did come out, as stated in Mark Lewisohn's book, "...most listeners (were) loathing it outright, the dedicated fans trying to understand it." That "Revolution 9" didn't get a 'fantastic' response from him, I believe, should be understandable. Remember also, The Beatles were still coming off of the negative feedback they got from their film "Magical Mystery Tour", Paul in particular because it was his baby really. It was bad enough that the film didn't even get a release outside Britain after that, so he must have had some concern at how their next project was going to be perceived.
Mark Lewisohn notes that "Revolution 9" also had an effect on the staff at Abbey Road, as Brian Gibson recalls: "For weeks afterwards everybody was going around the building muttering, 'number nine, number nine, number nine'!"
Paul with Ken Mansfield, who would be the U.S. manager of Apple Records, at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, June 1968.
20-25 June 1968 - Two major milestones mark this trip to America by Paul. The first, and the main reason for his venture, was to solidify an agreement with Capitol Records in the States to distribute The Beatles' Apple Records label recording product. It was a big deal to get support for Apple in America. Apple, the company, would from here on out represent The Beatles as an entity.
The second milestone was Paul's encounter again with Linda Eastman. She would eventually become the love of his life and this seems to mark the beginning of their intimate relationship.
Much of the following information comes from The Beatles Bible and some from accounts by Capitol representative, Ken Mansfield.
On June 20, Paul flew out of England to attend a conference at the Capitol Convention in Los Angeles, the first stop being in New York as they couldn't get a direct flight to LA. According to Tony Bramwell, who was traveling with Paul, the first thing Paul did was phone up Linda Eastman to let her know where he'd be staying in LA so they could hang out together. Unfortunately, he could only leave a message on her answering service and according to Mr. Bramwell, he seemed a bit disappointed he could not reach her directly.
As with George and Ringo's visit earlier to America, there doesn't seem to be many photos available as once again, the secrecy behind Paul's trip was also held pretty well.
Paul managed to get to Los Angeles by June 21st where he stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel. According to Tony Bramwell they spent time in the pool that day and went shopping on Sunset Strip that afternoon. Then back to the pool that evening before heading off to a restaurant called Romanoff's a "Frank Sinatra favorite" where he was spotted by Sammy Davis Jr.. Paul was also accompanied by Ron Kass and Ivan Vaughn, the fellow who brought John and Paul together many years earlier as he was their mutual friend.
According to record label executive Ken Mansfield the Capitol Records conference was held on Friday, the 21st. As Mr. Mansfield states, "Every salesman, field representative, district and divisional branch manager, as well as all promotion and field merchandising managers were going to be in one room at the same time. In addition, all major executives and employees from The Tower (Capitol Industries' main offices) would be in attendance."
Mr. Mansfield claims it was Stanley Gortikov, head of Capitol Records, who inquired about getting at least one of The Beatles to attend and Paul apparently volunteered. He also claims that no one except Mr. Gortikov and the 'upper upper echelon' and himself knew they would be distributing Apple records and that they were going to 'sneak' Paul into town without anyone knowing. So no one had any idea that the 'big announcement' coming up with 'a special guest' would be about Apple with a Beatle in attendance.
At the conference the lights went down and Paul started walking down the aisle in total darkness. The lights were slowly brought up.
Tony Bramwell recalls: "A long gasp came out of the gathering as they began to realize that a real live 'in person' Beatle had walked into their midst. Paul, ever the diplomat, began waving, smiling, shaking hands, and giving 1960s-type high fives as he made his way to the stage.
"Simultaneously, as if by some cosmic cue, everyone started cheering, clapping, standing up, and shouting with joy. There was this incredible feeling of mutual affection between the men and women of Capitol Records and Paul McCartney. I stress mutual because it was a joy equally shared. Paul was a member of the group that had given these men and women great prestige, honor, and financial rewards in their professional and personal lives; and they were there before him, the men and women who had brought it all home for the Beatles in America.
"When the Capitol 'gang' quieted down, Paul made the announcement about Apple. The place went absolutely crazy! When they returned to their homes across the American landscape, you can imagine the effort they put forth to launch the new Apple venture."
All sources seem to agree that Paul was spending a lot of time with Linda Eastman by the 22nd of June. Mr. Mansfield says he had booked a bungalow for Paul at the Beverly Hills Hotel and spent this day with Paul at his place while he was working on new songs. Linda showed up at the door and blew past Mr. Mansfield "full force embraced him (Paul) in (another) doorway, push-pulled him through it, slammed it shut, and that was the last I saw of him or her that day."
Tony Bramwell says he, Ron Kass (another Apple American business man) and Ivan Vaughan found Linda waiting for Paul when they arrived at his bungalow after the Conference, which he claims was on Saturday the 22nd. Witnessing the pair 'falling for each other' they all attended LA's Whiskey-A-Go-Go for an evening party.
Ron Kass with Paul McCartney
On June 23rd, Paul and Linda spent much of the day together at the Beverly Hills Hotel with a lunchtime Apple party 'break' at Alan Livingston's home (Capitol Records president) and an additional afternoon visit to the home of Capitol executive Ken Fritz. For the rest of the day, however, Paul asked Mr. Bramwell "to turn down all other invitations so he could spend time alone with Linda."
Monday, June 24th for Paul would be devoted to only spending time with Linda along with Ron Kass, Tony Bramwell and Ivan Vaughan on a yacht that belonged to Warner Brothers' executive John Calley. If people asked about Linda, it would be said she was there only to take pictures, according to Mr. Bramwell.
They sailed to Catalina and 'dived off the sides of a sailboat into the clear blue sea where dolphons swam, sunbathed on the decks, ate bacon sandwiches and drank champagne."
That's Ivan Vaughn on the right, the man who was a mutual friend of John and Paul's and it was through him they met each other.
That evening they flew from Los Angeles back to New York then onto a connecting flight back to London arriving there on June 25th.
A story does seem to come up from different sources that maintains Paul was held up at the Los Angeles airport because of a 'bomb-threat' and that this may have been a ruse in order for his bags to be searched for possible drugs. None were found and whether or not Linda actually had some on her that escaped detection is up for speculation.
According to The Beatles Bible the purchase of this new building on 3 Savile Row went through on or around June 22, 1968 for £500,000. The 'five-storey property' would serve as Apple Headquarters until October of 1976. The Beatles would officially move in on July 15, 1968 with each group member having their own office. The fans, or Apple Scruffs, would remain congregated outside faithfully watching for a glimpse of any of The Beatles for a long time to come.
John in a snapshot presumably taken on June 26, 1968. Via Meet The Beatles For Real with many thanks!
26 June 1968 - All four Beatles had finally returned together at EMI and on this day they continued working on another track John had demoed back in May, "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", although officially it still didn't have a title yet.
Today they rehearsed, and their rehearsals were recorded as 'takes', lending to a more looser interpretation of their music instead of the usually more 'controlled' rhythm track. From these 'takes' they would begin to overdub what they felt was the best basic version.
Again, they weren't going to be pressured into making some kind of release date and although their Beatles Monthly Book mentioned they would be soon rush-releasing a new single, have a new LP out by September and possibly another for Christmas, I don't believe they held themselves to such a schedule. Product would come when it was ready.
(Also on the 26th it is believed that Paul added bass and Ringo drums to George's "Sour Milk Sea" produced for Jackie Lomax. The song also had Eric Clapton on guitar and Nicky Hopkins on piano.)
When The Beatles returned to the studio on the 27th, they started all over from scratch wiping everything from the previous day and wound up with six new takes. Take 6 was subjected to reduction mix 7 and then 8 and each time the song would be sped up upon replay shortening the original length from over 3 minutes down to 2 minutes and 29 seconds. In the end there were added drums, two different lead guitars, a 'vigorously shaken' hand bell and a chocalho.
It is interesting to note that the eventual title of the track comes from lyrics that were used as far back as the demo session(s) at George's home in late May which were 'a clear reference to (John's) relationship with Yoko.'
John recalls: "That was just a nice line which I made into a song. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love...everybody was sort of tense around us."
Another interesting quote from John: "In England they think I'm someone who has won the pools and gone off with a Japanese Princess. In America, they treat her with respect. They treat her as the serious artist she is."
Paul would overdub more bass guitar and John his lead vocal on July 1, 1968.
28 June 1968 - The flip side of John from 'gobbledegook rocker' to tender balladeer was highlighted on this day with the recording of "Good Night". It was clear from the beginning that John wanted Ringo as the lead vocalist for this children's lullaby, written for his his 5 year old son, Julian.
There were rehearsals and then early takes 1-5 done on this day with just John on acoustic guitar and Ringo's vocals, with each take 'opening with an unscripted preamble by Ringo like "Come on children! It's time to toddle off to bed. We've had a lovely day at the park and now it's time for sleep," or "Put all those toys away. Yes, Daddy will sing a song for you," or "Cover yourself up Charlie. Pull those covers up and off you go to dreamland!" Some of what was recorded on this day made it onto "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
More work would be done on the recording July 2nd with a new Ringo lead vocal and harmony backing vocals. George Martin took away two copies of the final take 15 so he could score the song for an orchestra and choir.
Working on John's "Good Night" with Ringo. These and more fantastic photos can be found at The Beatles Recording Facebook page.
30 June 1968 - Paul produces the Black Dyke Mills Band in their rendition of two of his own compositions, "Yellow Submarine" and the newer "Thingumybob" which would become one of the first Apple singles records. "Thingumybob", the A side, was also the theme music for a new LWT situation comedy series. This was all done in Saltaire, Yorkshire at the location of Victoria Hall and as you will see some of the sessions were outside and some recorded indoors.
These and more fantastic photos can be found at The Beatles Recording Facebook page.
NOTE: Paul was also filmed for a TV interview with BBC reporter Tony Cliff, which aired July 1 in the Yorkshire edition of the local news-magazine program Look North.
CAN YOU LOCATE RECORDING?
1 July 1968 - At the Robert Fraser Gallery in London John, with Yoko opened up a new art exhibition called You Are Here. It was said to be John's own dedicated "To Yoko from John with Love" and 'it featured a seemingly random display of charity collection boxes and round white canvas with "You Are Here" written in tiny letters in the center of it.' There also was an upturned white hat with a sign written by John saying, "For the Artist. Thank You'.
Added to the exhibition was a rusty bicycle that had been donated by students at Hornsey College of Art with a note, "This exhibit was inadvertently left out." John liked the idea and added it to the gallery space.
To begin the ceremony John & Yoko released 365 white helium-filled balloons into the evening sky, each stamped You Are Here on them while John proclaimed, "I declare these balloons high."
Apparently each also had a card attached which said "You Are Here" on one side and "Write to John Lennon, ℅ The Robert Fraser Gallery, 69 Duke Street, London W1" on the other.
Cards returned would receive a letter signed by John reading, "Dear Friend, Thank you much for writing and sending me my ballon back. I'm sending you a badge just to remind you that you are here. Love, John Lennon."
3, 4, 5 July 1968 - Paul's "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is begun on the 3rd of July and initially 7 takes of the basic rhythm track seemed enough. Paul was on acoustic guitar and Ringo on drums with Paul singing lead vocal off microphone as a guide. At first take 7 was deemed 'best' so Paul added a proper lead vocal and another acoustic guitar onto that as overdubs. Then it was decided to instead work on take 4 and another acoustic guitar overdub was added onto that.
On July 4th, the addition of vocals were given to take 4 with Paul on lead and backing 'la-las' by John and George. A reduction mix of this 4-track tape was made giving it an alternate 'take 5' label to which another Paul lead vocal was added.
On the 5th of July more overdubs were added to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" most importantly three saxophones (James Gray, Rex Morris and Cyril Reuben) and bongos (J. Scott).
Lost is the addition of a piccolo, played by an unknown musician. It was wiped and replaced that same evening with another guitar overdub which Chris Thomas recalls as, "Paul...deliberately overloading the sound through the desk so that is sounded like a bass."
Here's some more information about "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" from "A Hard Day's Write" written by Steve Turner.
I include these pages mainly for the story and photos which come with them. I suggest one take care in interpreting some of the information, however. The Beatles Bible, for example, states that "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" was just a 'family phrase' and did not actually have any particular meaning, which I believe I'd heard that elsewhere myself.
Also, where did John ever say he hated "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"? The fact so much time was spent on recording the track, that he may have begun to dislike but the song itself?
This version of the song was released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
8 July 1968 - According to The Beatles Bible a press screening of the new film "Yellow Submarine" was held at the 102-seat Bowater House Cinema in Knightsbridge, London. Paul, George & Ringo attended and it was the first time any of them had seen the completed movie. John was absent and a cardboard version of his cartoon self was propped up between the other three as a joke to 'fill-in' for John. (I don't know why John couldn't make it, but he did attend the group's recording session that day after this appearance by the other three.)
8 July 1968 - Interviews were made and photographs taken which were broadcast by the BBC and ITV news.
That afternoon all of The Beatles returned to EMI studios for another look at "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". It was decided to re-make the track, which was a first as this meant that the work previously done, including all of that with the session musicians, would be scrapped.
Twelve takes were done of this new version of the song with Paul on fuzz bass, Ringo on drums, George on acoustic guitar and John on piano.
Getting to John's supposed dislike of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da": Apparently his 'distinctive keyboard introduction' was recorded on this date 'born out of frustration as much as inspiration'.
Richard Lush recalls: "Looking back now it was great to be involved with the Beatles but there was a negative side. They spent so much time doing each song that I can remember sitting in the control room before a session dying to hear them start a new one.
"They must have done "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" five nights running and it's not exactly the most melodic piece of music. (Note this is Richard's take on the song, not John's.)
"They'd do it one night and you'd think 'that's it'. But then they'd come in the next day and do it again in a different key or with a different feel. Poor Ringo would be playing from about three in the afternoon until one in the morning, with few breaks in between, and then have to do it all over again the next night.
"After about four or five nights doing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" John Lennon came to the session really stoned, totally out of it on something or other, and he said 'Alright, we're gonna do 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'. He went straight to the piano and smashed the keys with an almighty amount of volume, twice the speed of how they'd done it before, and said, 'This is it! Come on!' He was really aggravated. That was the version they ended up using."
They continued on from 5pm to 3am that evening with a reduction mix of take 12, lead and backing vocals overdubbed on tracks three and four and 'Latin American percussion' (maracas and other assorted instruments) were superimposed onto newly vacated track two with a rough mono mix made of this take 13 taken away for Paul to listen to at home.
9 July 1968 - Again, writers like to point out the 'difficulties' within The Beatles to show where things were 'beginning to fall apart."
So John was possibly getting tired of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and perhaps had a bit of a fit the night before. He was also allegedly stoned, and if so you can add that to the equation. Maybe doing drugs was the reason he missed the press screening of "Yellow Submarine" earlier that day?
In any case, his supposed 'hatred' for "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" didn't stop him or the rest of the group on this day from doing more work on the song. It began with yet another re-make of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". Yes, a re-remake, as Mark Lewisohn likes to call it in his book, The Beatles Recording Sessions.
Is there more to this story, however? The first part of the evening ran from 4-9pm and Paul's re-remake of the song began with takes numbered 20 and 21 before he realized they weren't going in the right direction and so the rest of the evening was devoted to going back to the first remake and finishing that up instead.
Mr. Lewishon points out the musicians on this re-remake are 'in doubt', for the drumming sounds more like Paul than Ringo. Documentation to support that came from The Beatles Book magazine and Abbey Road which states there was another recording session going on that day by Solomon King for the single, "A Hundred Years Or More" which the magazine claims Ringo was at adding handclapping to the record as he had arrived early that day in the Studio. So he might have been busy over there when Paul started his re-remake. Anyone else who might have attended is not known as Mr. Lewishon states only that in the evening all four of the Beatles did come together to continue work on the previous re-make of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".
That they did with lead and backing vocals from the previous day wiped and replaced with additional 'laughing, joking, ho-hos, hee-hees and little asides.' Handclaps and vocal percussion were also added after another reduction mix which was jumped from take 13 to being called take 22.
The rest of the session was spent with The Beatles rehearsing a 're-make' of "Revolution" (of which the original would now be called "Revolution 1"). The re-make was begun because John wanted to say something about revolution so much that he'd hoped the track would make the next Beatles single, but the others thought it too slow and not commercial enough. To meet that demand, John worked on this more 'upbeat' version rehearsing with the rest on lead and rhythm guitars, bass, drums and John's lead vocal.
Note: The 3 photos above are from June 28, 1968. These and more fantastic photos can be found at The Beatles Recording Facebook page.
10 July 1968 - "Revolution", the single version is memorable for its opening distinctive sound of two distorted lead guitars.
Phil McDonald, tape operator remembers: "John wanted that sound, a really distorted sound. The guitars were put through the recording console, which was technically not the thing to do. It completely overloaded the channel and produced the fuzz sound. Fortunately the technical people didn't find out. They didn't approve of 'abuse of equipment'."
Ten takes were made and then an overdub was added to the 10th. That was now the 'best' basic rhythm track which also had handclaps and two separate very heavy drum tracks, "compressed and limited and generally squashed to sound hard and uncompromising."
Two reduction mixes were made of that and the later, take 13, had John's lead added on one track, a second vocal take on another, which created a double-track of his voice with another overdub of John's screaming introduction. More reduction mixing took it to takes 14 and 15 ready for aditional work on the next day.
Many thanks to The Beatles Recording Facebook page from which these photos were taken from. (Note, the top 3 are from July 11, 1968 and the bottom 'Ringo' photo from June 28, 1968)
11 July 1968 - John had taken home rough mono mixes of the two reduction 'takes' of "Revolution" settling on take 15 as 'best' and with that more tape reductions and overdubs were done adding electric piano and bass guitar. The piano part was actually played by Nicky Hopkins (who would go onto support John, George and Ringo in their solo efforts.)
Also three saxophones (most likely Rex Morris and Ronnie Scott, but the third player is still unknown) and bass guitar were added to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" with two rough mono mixes made from the 'new' take 23.
Note: For reasons not known, The Beatles requested three tapes made of out-takes and studio 'chatter' that occured during the course of recording and mixing "The Beatles". From this day the sound of Paul, George and Ringo in the control room of Studio two was preserved with them announcing 'remix 10' for "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" with 'different inflection and various accents'.
12 July 1968 - Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By" was completed today (excepting the piano introduction that was recorded on the 22nd). Violin was added played by Jack Fallon who was not only a musician but the booking agent who had booked The Beatles for "their first professionally-organized engagement in the South of England (Stroud) on March 31, 1962 and would continue to book them for more engagements in Swindon, Lydney, Salisbury with a return to Stroud."
Mr. Fallon remembers: "George Martin had jotted down a 12-bar blues for me. A lot of country fiddle playing is double-stop but Paul and George Martin -- they were doing the arranging -- suggested I play it single note. So it wasn't really the country sound they originally wanted. But they seemed pleased. Ringo was around too, keeping an eye on his song.
"I thought that they had had enough so I just busked around a bit. When I heard it played back at the end of the session I was hoping they'd scrub that bit out, but they didn't so there I am on record, scraping away! I was very surprised they kept it in, it was pretty dreadful."
People will notice the mono version of "Don't Pass Me By" differs from the stereo in that the mono is longer containing seconds more of Mr. Fallon's fiddle playing, including the bits he wasn't happy about.
Along with the fiddle Paul added more bass guitar and Ringo contributed more piano to "Don't Pass Me By". Four mono mixes finished it off.
After spending much time on "Don't Pass Me By" (they were working on it from 3pm-11pm) The Beatles returned at midnight to begin recording a final overdub for "Revolution" with John adding another guitar and Paul another bass guitar.
On July 11th, 1968 John Lennon found time to be best man (with Donovan) at Alexis 'Magic Alex' Mardas' wedding to Eufrosyne Doxiades, who was the daughter of a 'respected Greek architect'. The wedding was held at St. Sophia's Cathedral, a Greek Orthodox church on Moscow Road, the Bayswater area of London.
Also in attendance were George and Pattie Harrison and Yoko Ono.
15 July 1968 - With some time to think of it, John Lennon wanted further work done on "Revolution" and Paul still wasn't completely happy with "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". After a little more remixing of John's track, Paul re-recorded his lead vocal for his song along with 10 more remixes to be made.
To end the evening off, The Beatles began work on "Cry Baby Cry". From 9pm-3am in the morning they spent time recording approximately 30 unnumbered takes, or more accurately rehearsals, for the song which filled four 30 minute tapes. Most of these would be recorded over later in favor of 'proper' takes and work on other songs.
16 July 1968 - Those 'proper' takes made today of "Cry Baby Cry" amounted to 10 which consisted of a basic track of John's vocal with bass, organ, drums and acoustic guitar, the 'best' being take #10 with two reduction mixes, then onto take 12 George Martin added harmonium and John added piano. During the remixing process the acoustic guitar sound would be 'flanged'.
Unfortunately this day also marked a breaking point which began with engineer Geoff Emerick quitting The Beatles. (The Beatles would win him back in 1969, but for now, it was over.)
Geoff explains: "I lost interest in the 'White Album' because they were really arguing amongst themselves and swearing at each other. The expletives were really flying. There was one instance just before I left when they were doing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' for the umpteenth time. Paul was re-recording the vocal again and George Martin made some remark about how he should be lilting onto the half-beat, or whatever, and Paul, in no refined way, said something to the effect of 'Well you come down and sing it'. I said to George [Martin] 'Look, I've had enough. I want to leave. I don't want to know any more.' George said 'Well, leave at the end of the week' -- I think it was a Monday or Tuesday -- but I said 'No, I want to leave now, this very minute'. And that was it.
"I went down to the studio to explain it to the group and John said, 'Look; we're not moaning and getting uptight about you, we're complaining about EMI. Look at this place, studio two, all we've seen is bricks for the past year. Why can't they decorate it?'
"Admittedly the studio did need smartening up a little bit but I knew this was just an outlet for a bigger problem. They were falling apart."
Richard Lush adds: "They always had a bee in their bonnet about EMI being very organized and establishment. They thought that we were like that too, and of course George Martin was very suit and tie."
Technical engineer Martin Benge concurs: "They were never really at ease with all that (the obligatory white coated employees). I think they felt the place could be much more laid-back and relaxed and much less formal, but that's the way Abbey Road was in those days."
Take 1 from today of "Cry Baby Cry" was released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
17 July 1968 - If indeed The Beatles were suffering from a clear dose of reality as they began their final growth into self contained individuals, Beatlemania itself was far from over as witnessed by the crowds that gathered for the world premiere of "Yellow Submarine" at the London Pavilion on Piccadilly Circus that evening in mid July. The Beatles' popularity was still strong, even over a film they weren't really in, which depicted them from a viewpoint which was a total fantasy...most likely the way the world wanted them to stay. Traffic came to a standstill.
John arrived with Yoko, perhaps the first time she would witness such chaos, George with Pattie, Ringo with Maureen and Paul, this time on his own. Keith Richards was also there, and members of The Who, Status Quo and Grapefruit.
Keith Richards with Anita Pallenberg
According to The Beatles Bible after the premiere The Beatles attended a party at the Royal Lancaster Hotel that had a discotheque which had been renamed "Yellow Submarine" for the occasion, which it would remain as for several years to come.
18 July 1968 - Back into the studio about mid afternoon until late evening The Beatles finished off "Cry Baby Cry" with a new vocal by John overdubbed along with backing vocals, a new harmonium track, a tambourine and some sound effects.
That night, however, they began rehearsals for Paul's new song named after an English spiral slide from a children's playground, "Helter Skelter". Three of these 'takes' were recorded with the first one, a lengthy 10 minutes 40 seconds, the second running longer at 12-1/2 minutes and the third a Beatles record breaking 27 minutes and 11 seconds! The longest recorded Beatles' track. All were similar with very heavy drums, heavy bass, lead and rhythm guitars and a vocal by Paul, all recorded live with no overdubs.
While the lyrics were the same as what was used in the finished product, these recordings were not the same as released on the double-LP. These were tight and 'concisely played jam(s) with long instrumental passages.'
Techical engineer Brian Gibson remembers: "They recorded the long versions of 'Helter Skelter' with live tape echo. Echo would normally be added at remix stage otherwise it can't be altered, but this time they wanted it live. One of the versions of 'Helter Skelter' developed into a jam which went into and then back out of a somewhat bizarre version of 'Blue Moon'. The problem was, although we were recording them at 15 ips -- which meant that we'd get roughly a half an hour of time on the tape -- the machine we were running for the tape echo was going at 30 ips, in other words 15 minutes. We were sitting up there in the control room -- Ken Scott, the second engineer and myself -- looking at this tape echo about to run out. The Beatles were jamming away, completely oblivious to the world and we didn't know what to do because they all had foldback in their headphones so that they could hear the echo. We knew that if we stopped it they would notice.
"In the end we decided that the best thing to do was stop the tape echo machine and rewind it (before it got to the end). So at one point the tape echo suddenly stopped and you could hear blllrrrrippppp as it was spooled back. The prompted Paul to put in some kind of clever vocal improvisation based around the chattering sound!"
Here's some more information about "Helter Skelter" from "A Hard Day's Write" written by Steve Turner.
Note: It has been the general consensus that "Helter Skelter" was inspired by a recording made by "The Who" of which Paul read about. If it was "I Can See For Miles" (as has been speculated) which was released much later in the year, I offer a different perspective that puts "Helter Skelter" as at first just a possible contender for the next Beatles album at this stage, being mid July 1968, and they did not go beyond these three 'rehearsals' for quite some time to come.
The song wouldn't be revisited by The Beatles until September, so I offer up that what Paul read about might have inspired him to re-do "Helter Skelter" to what became the finished revved-up manic version. At this stage the track has a different feel. In any case, since The Beatles could rev-up "Revolution" why not "Helter Skelter"? They wound up eventually doing just that.
You can judge for yourself what you think of the early "Helter Skelter" by listening into these sessions as the 2nd 'take' was eventually 'pruned' down to under 5 minutes and released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
Looking through my 'archives' I happened across a copy of "Helter Skelter" [take 2] that appears to be the unedited version but clocking in at almost 12 minutes. (Mark Lewisohn stated it was 12'-35".) Someone apparently had uploaded it to YouTube eight years ago and I'd copied it before it got deleted. You can hear it by downloading it from this link:
19 July 1968 - Much of today was spent jamming same as the day previously with the most notable portion being a near six minute instrumental of George Gershwin's "Summertime" 'doubtless inspired by the 1958 rock version by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.'
Then they made some 'crude run-throughs of "Sexy Sadie", 'originally a bitter John Lennon song about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.' Although it was never officially recorded as "Maharishi" John can be heard demonstrating some of the initial ideas that made the foundation of the song with lyrics such as:
"You little t*at
Who the f*ck do you think you are?
Who the f*ck do you think you are?
Oh, you c*nt".
Paul would suggest 'that perhaps it was better that the song was now more sympathetic.'
Here's some more information about "Sexy Sadie" from "A Hard Day's Write" written by Steve Turner.
As would be typical of John, however, the Maharishi wouldn't be his only target. During their jamming, he came up with 'a new two-verse spur-of-the-moment "song" (which was) rather uncomplimentary to the memory of Brian Epstein and (also a pot shot) to his brother Clive.'
After some rehearsals of "Sexy Sadie" John finally shouted up to the control room, "See if we're all in tune, George!" and then what followed were 21 takes of the song with drums, guitars and organ the take lengths varying between 5-1/2 to 8 minutes.
According to Mark Lewisohn, "some of these versions were bluesy and quite lovely but few came to any thought-out ending." Yoko even suggested that perhaps they could do better and in the end John did say, "I don't like the sound very much for a kick-off. Does anybody?" The answer wasn't captured on tape, but indeed they wouldn't return to the tune until July 24th.
Take 6 of "Sexy Sadie" was released on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
20 July 1968 - Three days after Paul attended the premiere of "Yellow Submarine" alone, Jane Asher, while making an appearance on the BBC Television show Dee Time, let it be known that her engagement with Paul was over.
"I know it sounds corny, but we still see each other and love each other, but it hasn't worked out. Perhaps we'll be childhood sweethearts and meet again and get married when we're about 70," said Jane.
Paul would say later: "I always feel very wary including Jane in The Beatles' history. She's never gone into print about our relationship, whilst everyone on earth has sold their story. So I'd feel weird being the one to kiss and tell.
"We had a good relationship. Even with touring there were enough occasions to keep a reasonable relationship going. To tell the truth, the women at that time got sidelined. Now it would be seen as very chauvinist of us. Then it was like, 'We are four miners who go down the pit. You don't need women down the pit, do you? We won't have women down the pit.' A lot of what we, The Beatles, did was very much in an enclosed scene. Other people found it difficult -- even John's wife, Cynthia, found it very difficult -- to penetrate the screen that we had around us. As a kind of safety barrier we had a lot of 'in' jokes, little signs, references to music; we had a common bond in that and it was very difficult for any 'outsider' to penetrate. That possibly wasn't good for relationships back then.
"...I realized that she and I weren't really going to be the thing we'd always thought we might be. Once or twice we talked about getting married, and plans were afoot but I don't know, something really made me nervous about the whole thing. It just never settled with me, and that's very important for me, things must feel comfortable for me. I think it's a pretty good gauge if you're lucky enough. You're not always lucky enough, but if they can feel comfortable then there's something very special about that feeling. I hadn't quite managed to be able to get it with Jane."
22 July 1968 - So it was back to focusing on Ringo's songs. On this day they utilized the larger Studio One to accommodate the 26 musicians needed to orchestrate the overdubs for "Good Night". Unfortunately the names of the musicians are not known but the orchestra consisted of 12 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, 1 harp, 3 flutes, 1 clarinet, 1 horn, 1 vibraphone and 1 string bass. George Martin also added a celeste and piano.
"Good Night" was started over from scratch with all new takes beginning with the orchestra first being taped 12 times, the take numbers being (oddly) 23-34. This was begun in the early evening and then later four 'boys' and four 'girls' from the Mike Sammes Singers taped their choral arrangements. These were: Ingrid Thomas, Pat Whitmore, Val Stockwell, Irene King, Ross Gilmour, Mike Redway, Ken Barrie and Fred Lucas.
Then it was Ringo's turn to record his solo anew beginning around midnight. Although without the 'charming preamble' that had graced his earlier attempts, Ringo clearly still was having a lot of fun with laughter and jokes captured on tape in between takes.
To finish the night "a tinkling piano introduction to 'Don't Pass Me By' was added with four edit pieces," the best being #4. It was originally 45 seconds but would be edited down to just eight when the final mixing would be done much later in the year.
Note: Also recorded on this day was another introduction to "Don't Pass Me By" using a George Martin arrangement and the same orchestra, which would be called "A Beginning" but it wasn't used. It is said this piece had been utilized in the movie "Yellow Submarine" and so it had been recorded previously. It did make it to "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
23 July 1968 - "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey" gets a proper finish today with a new replacement of John's vocal from the original take 10.
Richard Lush remembers: "As usual, John was wanting his voice to sound different. He would say 'I want to sound like somebody from the moon' or anything different. 'Make it different!' And at that time there wasn't the range of instant effects available today."
There would be 3 reduction mixes for "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey" which took the song to take 12, and then backing vocals and handclaps were overdubbed onto that. Five mono mixes were made of this and six were made of "Good Night".
24 July 1968 - "Sexy Sadie" would be re-made today with an additional 23 takes which began with number 25. From 7pm-2:30am they would labor on this track, spreading the takes over three tapes, labelling take 47 as 'best' (for the time being.)
They also spent some time this session putting down on tape some sound effects, but it is not known what they were or what the purpose was for as the tape itself was taken away after it was made.
25 July 1968 - Finally it was George's turn. The session was a 'typical' one starting at 7pm and going until 3:15am in the morning and this first Harrisong to be worked on was "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Again things would run more like an evening of rehearsals with The Beatles doing several of these 'takes' and the recordings were all taken away for George to hear at home, except one 'proper' take which was a solo recording basically, with George's singular vocal and acoustic guitar and an overdubbed organ near the end.
Brian Gibson recalls: "The song changed considerably by the time they had finished with it. They completed the song on eight-track tape and this gave them the immediate temptation to put more and more stuff on. I personally think it was best left uncluttered."
It was indeed an 'exquisite' recording, this one and only take, which would remain unreleased until it showed up on "The Beatles Anthology 3" in 1996.
George Harrison says he was reading the "I Ching -- the (Chinese) Book of Changes", and decided to apply its principles of change to his songwriting. It "seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to everything else, as opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental," George would say.
At his parents' home in Lancashire, he picked a novel off the shelf with the intention of writing a song based on the first words that he came across. The words were 'Gently weeps' and so George began with that.
Even that would not be the end of the story for this version of the tune. In 2006, George Martin made an out-of-retirement contribution to the track when he was asked to write a string score for this early take that would be used for The Beatles "Love" recordings which would also be the soundtrack for the Cirque du Soleil "Love" performances in Las Vegas.
"I was aware of such a responsibility, but thankfully everyone approved of the result," George Martin would say of it adding, "'Yesterday' was the first score I had written for a Beatles song way back in 1965 and this score, forty-one years later, is the last. It wraps up an incredible period of my life with those four amazing men who changed the world."
As George's son Giles would point out, the added strings would be the only new recording on the "Love" record. "I was surprised to find that my dad was apprehensive about doing it, there's no one in the world better at this kind of thing, and even after all this time he still arranges with the same vitality and empathy that has made his work legendary."
The act Cirque du Soleil continues to this day to be a hit with the "Love" performances. To keep things fresh some of the musical presentations are re-imagined, and in 2016 to highlight some of the new changes made an equally exquisite video was created that accompanied the 2006 version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" which you can see from the link below:
George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
The next day, Friday July 26th, there was no Beatles recording session as John and Paul would be working together putting the finishing touches on a song which would be specifically recorded for the next Beatles single. It was essentially Paul's song, and as much as John would have liked to have "Revolution" the focus of their next release, he could not himself resist what was to become The Beatles' epic "Hey Jude".
Before the group would return to the recording studio on Monday, July 29th, however, that Sunday the 28th they would devote the entire day to probably the most involved 'Beatles photo session' ever that has since been dubbed as their "Mad Day Out"....
Please check out my next post "The Beatles of 1968 - Part 2" to continue the story!
