by Bob Spitz
“select”: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 114.
“They were the hardest-working entertainers”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“By the time we were getting drunk”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 183.
she’d suffered a nervous collapse: “Last Monday she went to a hospital with cuts on her arms.” New York Times, 7/25/64.
“Aw, fuck off”: George Harrison in D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 183.
“very edgy and nervous”: Ibid.
“was the epitome of great talent”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“a send-off”: Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.
“He tried hard to conceal”: Ibid.
“It had a disastrous effect”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.
“He was always putting pills”: Author interview with Billy J. Kramer, 12/16/97.
“Brian was far too uptight”: Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.
“on jukeboxes in a hundred thousand joints”: Kansas City Times, 10/18/64, p. 1.
“America was now very aware”: Neil Aspinall in Anthology, p. 146.
“and now it was perceived”: Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 66.
“Communist… pact”: “Beatlemania Analyzed,” Seattle Times, 8/22/64.
“It scares you”: Los Angeles Times, 8/19/64.
“I saw two girls”: “We Couldn’t Get into Beatlesville!” NME, 8/21/64.
“No sooner had the Beatles moved”: Walter Hofer, 3/83, AGA.
“total madness”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.
“Security was just awful”: Ibid.
“exasperated sheriff’s deputies”: “Youngsters Swarm Over Hotel,” Las Vegas Review-Journal (story and photo caption), 8/20/64.
“pinned in their dressing room”: “Beatles Bat It Out for Seattle,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/22/64.
“a frozen T-bone”: Author interview with Art Schreiber, 3/3/98.
“dull-sounding big beat”: Vancouver Sun, 8/24/64.
“screaming, weeping ecstasy”: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/22/64.
“It felt like an earthquake”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.
“They were real players”: Author interview with Bill Medley, 5/7/98.
“we don’t want [the fans] quiet”: John Lennon, 1966 interview, in Anthology, p. 150.
“vibrated like crazy”: Author interview with Art Schreiber, 3/3/98.
“After a few days of circling”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.
“Lennon was a fiend”: Author interview with Art Schreiber, 3/3/98.
George put it, “rattle”: “Pop stars shouldn’t rattle their audience.” George Harrison in Anthology, p. 145.
“We were being asked about it”: John Lennon, 1972 interview, in Anthology, p. 145.
“We couldn’t help ourselves”: John Lennon from 1968 and 1972 interviews in Anthology, p. 145.
“It was all perfectly respectable”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 198.
“Mal knocked on my door”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 3/15/02.
the Beatles steered clear: “… but no one caught anything.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/22/64.
A makeshift barricade: Author interview with lobby manager, Edgewater Hotel, 9/4/97.
Girls were eventually discovered: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/22/64.
Later the Beatles learned: “Ringo told me they did it, and how they were all very proud of it.” Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.
“explosive situation”: Variety, 9/9/64.
“to jam up against”: Vancouver Sun, 8/24/64.
“If you don’t stop”: Paul McCartney, from a bootleg recording, Empire Stadium, 8/22/64.
“It was pretty scary”: Author interview with Chris Hutchins, 8/6/97.
“Dozens of fans stormed”: NME, 9/4/64.
In Boston on September 12: Boston Globe, 9/13/64.
“The police were truly awful”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 224.
“surged toward the stage”: “Police Hard Put to Quell Charge of Beatle Fans,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, 9/16/64.
“as did a brass railing”: “Ohio Girls Rush Beatles and Police Interrupt Show,” New York Times, 9/16/64.
“Sit down, sit down”: “Bye Bye Beatles Fans, Police Sigh,” Cleveland Press, 8/15/64.
“hurricane of boos”: Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/16/64.
“It touched off a kind of screaming”: Author interview with Art Schreiber, 3/3/98.
Several windows were shattered: Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/16/64.
The police were reluctant: “The Beatles, now dressed again and not at all pleased at having to push on, did return and Cleveland got its concert.” D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 227.
“Welcome to you in the trees!”: Audiotape, Hollywood Bowl, 8/23/64.
“a gorgeous California night”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.
A lot of importance: “It seemed so important and everybody was saying things.” John Lennon, 1964 interview, in Anthology, 150.
“They were great as a live band”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 150.
“not much of the mop-haired”: “Beatle Fans—Hollywood Bowl Chapter,” Los Angeles Times, 8/24/64.
“almost too well behaved”: John Lennon in Jim Steck interview (audio), 8/25/64.
“best-looking” starlets: David Gerber in Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 100.
“very casual”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.
“We saw a couple of film stars”: John Lennon, 1966 interview, in Anthology, p. 150.
“was a very expensive”: George Harrison in D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 203.
“about eight feet tall”: Ibid., p. 150.
Ringo, who came dressed: “I had a poncho and two toy guns.” Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 150.
“I wish we had real guns”: NME, 10/11/64.
Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee: “John was receiving visitors like Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee.” Ibid.
“harangued and hassled”: Derek Taylor in Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 108.
“absolute privacy”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 204.
“It was bad from the get-go”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 3/8/02.
“Beatlemania [was] in full frenzy”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 204.
“the whole of Hollywood paparazzi”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 150.
“Tell him to drop his camera”: John Lennon, 1964 interview, in ibid., p. 153.
The next day, predictably: “Beatles Leave L.A. Gasping,” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 8/24/64.
In Baltimore: Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 194.
“That was horrendous”: George Harrison in D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 204.
But at the old Muhlbach: Author interview with Art Schreiber, 3/3/98.
“Older women would come up”: Ibid.
“After most shows, you couldn’t”: Wendy Hanson, 11/27/83, AGA.
“The Beatles hated that”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“reminded him of Brigitte Bardot”: Author interview with Art Schreiber, 3/3/98.
“This is it!”: Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 123.
the city hit them: “The Beatles reeled.” D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 207.
The Plaza Hotel now knew: “They stayed at the Delmonico because Ed Sullivan lived there and could get them a suite.” Sid Bernstein, from notes for Spitz, Making of Superstars.
But when their limo pulled: “Beatles Reach Town: It’s Fan, Fan, Fantastic,” New York Post, 8/29/64.
“a screaming success”: “Concentration of Screaming Teen-Agers [sic] Noted at Hotel,” New York Times, 8/29/64.
Paul had discovered him first: “We loved him and had done [so] since his first album which I’d had in Liverpool.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 187.
“And for the rest of our three weeks”: John Lennon, 1964 interview, in Anthology, p. 114.
“one of the mo
st memorable”: George Harrison in ibid., p. 112.
“I’m sure this kind of thing”: Paul McCartney in ibid., p. 158.
“I’d started thinking about”: John Lennon, 1970 interview, in ibid., p. 158.
“He made us feel”: White, Rock Lives, p. 199.
“I think it was Dylan”: John Lennon, 1970 interview, in Anthology, p. 158.
“When I met Dylan”: John Lennon, 1971 interview, in ibid.
“How about something… organic?”: Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 134.
“We first got marijuana”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 158.
“But what about your song”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 187. John says: “Bob Dylan had heard one of our records where we said, ‘I can hide,’ and he understood, ‘I get high.’ ” John Lennon, 1969 interview, in Anthology, p. 158.
“a skinny American joint”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 188.
“my official taster”: Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 135.
As Paul recounted: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 188.
“We were just legless”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 212.
“he’d been up there”: Rayl, Beatles ’64, p. 135.
“It may not seem the least bit”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 189.
“Get it down, Mal”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 212.
“He kept answering our phone”: John Lennon, 1969 interview, in Anthology, p. 158.
CHAPTER 27: LENNON AND MCCARTNEY TO THE RESCUE
“I’ll probably open”: Beatles press conference, Cow Palace, San Francisco, 8/19/64.
$5.8 million in U.S. rentals: United Artists, six-week rentals accounting.
By October 1964, EMI: “Sidelights: Profit Is Spelled with a Beatle,” New York Times, 10/25/64.
“largely due to Beatle [sic] records”: Time, 10/2/64, p. 112.
Variety also reported: “Epstein Values 1/4 Beatles Slice at $4,000,000,” Variety, 11/11/64.
Now he turned down $10 million: Ibid.
“this one in color”: Disc, 9/26/64.
It seemed ridiculous to try: “A lot of it was… thinking this was the way things were done if the record company needs another album.” Neil Aspinall in Anthology, p. 161.
“a lousy period”: John Lennon, 1964 interview, in Anthology, p. 160.
“Basically,” Paul explained: Paul McCartney in ibid., p. 159.
“the moon and June stuff”: Melody Maker, 2/1/64.
“We got more and more free”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 160.
“version of ‘Silhouettes’ ”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 147.
“too way out”: John Lennon in Melody Maker, 2/1/64.
“[wouldn’t] know quite what to make”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 175.
“No one was allowed to record”: Author interview with Tony Crane, 10/7/97.
“The ideas were there”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 159.
“played live so often”: George Harrison in ibid., p. 160.
“kick things around”: “We’d go up to a little room, get our guitars out and kick things around.” Ibid., p. 159.
“It was like a little blessing”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 174.
“was never a good song”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 148.
“a typical happy”: “Beatles Next Album,” NME, 11/13/64.
one of his favorite records: John Lennon, 1974 interview, in Anthology, p. 160.
“I told [the other Beatles]”: “Secrets of the House of Lennon,” NME, 12/4/64.
“lousy”/“sounded like an ‘A’ side”: “I said to Ringo, ‘I’ve written this song but it’s lousy.’ ” Ibid.
“a real gas”: NME, 11/27/64.
“We were just about to walk away”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 172.
“the first feedback”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 147.
“We finally took over”: John Lennon, 1973 interview, in Anthology, p. 193.
“all the deals were bad”: George Harrison in ibid., p. 290.
There was also the lingering suspicion: “There were stories of the Seltaeb people living very high off the hog in America… and at the same time not accounting and not paying to NEMS.” Geoffrey Ellis, Arena archives.
“a major ripoff”: “It had become apparent to him in London that this was just a major ripoff.” Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
543–44 “Seltaeb was not accounting properly”: Geoffrey Ellis, Arena archives.
J. C. Penney and Woolworth’s: “Woolworth’s returned $40 million worth of merchandise. Penney’s $28 million.” Nicky Byrne, 2/84, AGA.
“The reality is that the Beatles”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“a Mecca for the Mods”: Hewison, Too Much, p. 71.
“I can remember going down Carnaby”: Author interview with Ray Connolly, 8/7/97.
“I can’t overpitch this”: Cohn, Today There Are No Gentlemen, p. 67.
“popocracy”: Melly, Revolt Into Style, p. 74.
“It was a shouty, lively scene”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 133.
“It was the pub”: Ibid.
“golden boy”: “I was kind of a golden boy at this point.” Author interview with Lionel Bart, 1/16/98.
“Everyone who came in”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/2/97.
“I’ve sold myself to the devil”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 256.
“Cynthia wanted to settle John down”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 167.
There wasn’t an ounce of love lost: “She absolutely hated John.” Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.
“It was catastrophic for Cynthia”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.
They had bought a new Rolls-Royce: “Neither of us had passed our driving tests.” C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 119.
“I would frequently spend weeks”: Ibid., p. 122.
“sick and sleepy”: Ibid., p. 131.
“George was the worst runaround”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“wasn’t married to Jane”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 143.
“I got around quite a lot”: Ibid., p. 142.
“He was well jealous”: Ibid., p. 143.
“very impressed by… the clarity”: Ibid., p. 125.
“rubbing-up”/“They were on the way out”: Ibid., p. 127.
“the feebleness of the show”: “Beatles’ Act Great—But Not the Show,” NME, 1/1/65.
“Obviously this show”: “Time Out for the Beatles,” NME, 1/22/65.
“In the second sketch”: NME, 1/1/65.
“a mad story”: George Harrison, Beatles Book Monthly, 5/65, p. 9.
“smoking marijuana for breakfast”: Beatlefan, Nov.-Dec. 1966.
“Dick Lester knew”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 169.
“In a poll”: “Closeup: Beatle Drummer,” New York Post, 2/11/64.
“I Love Ringo” badges: Clayson, Straight Man, p. 85.
“In the States, I know”: Melody Maker, 11/14/64.
how “amazed” he was: “George was amazed.” John Lennon, NME, 2/19/65.
It was a hasty, intimate affair: “The following day George and I had a meeting… and after it Brian Epstein told us ‘officially’ in his car.” “Ringo as a Married Man—By John Lennon,” NME, 2/19/65.
“going to wear radishes”: “Beatles’ Ringo Wed Quietly in London,” New York Times, 2/12/65.
RICH WED EARLY: Paul McCartney in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 190.
“Maureen hated the spotlight”: Author interview with Roy Trafford, 11/3/97.
“We went to the Ad Lib”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
“He’s the marrying kind”: NME, 2/19/65.
“No matter what the consequences”: Will Wedding Bells Break Up the Beatles?” New York Sunday News, 3/15/64, p. 4.
John and Paul had written: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 193.
“twelve guitars”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 236.
“had about ten… all linked”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p.
128.
“We made a game of it”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
“It was a slightly new sound”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 106.
“Resentfulness, or love”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 149.
“the way Ringo played”: Ibid., p. 165.
“We sat down and wrote it together”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 193.
“John and I don’t work”: New York Herald Tribune, 12/26/65, p. 26.
John brought in most of: Miles, Paul McCartney, pp. 194–95.
“lyrical melodies dressed”: Riley, Tell Me Why, p. 20.
“impatient”/“real optimistic”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 150.
“just basically John doing Dylan”: Okun, The Compleat Beatles, vol. 2, p. 32.
“He was paranoid about”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 173.
“He’s a good P.R. man”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 61.
“He could charm the Queen’s profile”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.
“We were different”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 121.
“deep depressions”: Ibid., p. 150.
“I was fat and depressed”: Ibid.
“He was feeling a bit constricted”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 171.
“retrospectively”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 173.
“to complete it”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 199.
“non-stop” frivolous: Neil Aspinall in Anthology, p. 161.
“rather secretively”: Paul McCartney in ibid., p. 181.
“astonished”: “Beatles Astonished by Queen’s Award; Other Britons, Too,” New York Times, 6/13/65.
“The M.B.E., barely a notch above”: Author interview with Jonathon Green, 8/14/01.
“great commercial advantage”: “Furor Over Beatles,” New York Times, 6/20/65.
“doubtful if Queen Elizabeth”: Ibid.
“I was embarrassed”: Davies, Beatles, p. 207.
“It seems that the road”: The Sun (London), 6/14/65.
“irate”: “Donald Zec was irate.” Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/30/97.
“In the name of all”: Daily Mirror, 6/14/65.
Only the Daily Telegraph: Daily Telegraph, 6/13/65.
“I am so disgusted”: “Two British Heroes Protest Award of Honors to Beatles,” New York Times, 6/16/65.
Colonel George Wagg: “Mopheads, M.B.E.,” Newsweek, 6/15/65, p. 38.
while another disgruntled war hero: New York Times, 6/20/65.