The Beatles

Home > Memoir > The Beatles > Page 125
The Beatles Page 125

by Bob Spitz


  “superior authority’s wish”: “Irked by Award to Beatles, Canadian Returns Medal,” New York Times, 6/15/65.

  “a strange uptempo thing”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 200.

  “Auntie Gin’s Theme”: MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, p. 123.

  “dragging you forward”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 200.

  “larynx-tearing”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 59.

  Ringo had already recorded: “He recorded it but they didn’t think it had worked out very well.” Alf Bicknell in Leigh, Speaking Words of Wisdom, p. 38.

  “as simply as possible”: George Martin in Beatlefan, no. 86, p. 15.

  “remarkably controlled”: Coleman, Yesterday & Today, p. 43.

  “woke up one morning”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 175.

  “very nice”/“a nick”: Coleman, Yesterday & Today, p. 6.

  “it was all there”: Gambaccini, In His Own Words, pp. 17–19.

  “It was fairly mystical”: Coleman, Yesterday & Today, p. 7.

  “He hummed it several times”: Author interview with Lionel Bart, 1/16/98.

  “This one, I was convinced”: Coleman, Yesterday & Today, p. 6.

  “Jane was sleeping”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 204.

  “He said straightaway”: Coleman, Yesterday & Today, p. 18.

  “I objected to it”: George Martin in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 192.

  “We tried ways of doing it”: Leigh, Speaking Words of Wisdom, p. 39.

  “What about having a string accompaniment”: George Martin in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 192.

  “Mantovani”/“syrupy stuff”: Ibid.

  “It sounded a little too gypsy-like”: Coleman, Yesterday & Today, p. 45.

  “No, whatever we do”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 175.

  CHAPTER 28: INTO THE COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS

  “We’ve had LSD”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 177.

  This acid… had a distinguished provenance: Goldman, Lives of John Lennon, pp. 195–96.

  They got seated and ordered: Author interview with Gibson Kemp, 8/12/97.

  “Suddenly I felt the most incredible feeling”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 177.

  “half crazy”: “I remember Pattie, half playfully but also half crazy, trying to smash a shop window.” Ibid.

  “We didn’t know what was going on”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 73.

  “We were all screaming”: Ibid.

  Ringo, who was waiting: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 178.

  “It was just terrifying”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 74.

  “a light bulb”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 179.

  party with “some kids”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.

  “He loved the danger”: “I used to go gambling with Brian.” Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.

  “He was a heavy gambler”: Author interview with Terry Doran, 8/13/97.

  Toting Francis Bacon along: Author interview with Lionel Bart, 1/16/98; also Lionel Bart, Arena archives.

  “watched him drop $17,000”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.

  “I remember Brian putting his Dunhill”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 131.

  “the guy asked Brian”: Author interview with Lionel Bart, 1/16/98.

  “great purple bruises”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

  “You’re not going to believe this”: Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.

  “he came back with some hunk”: Author interview with Terry Doran, 8/13/97.

  “a fantastic character”: Author interview with Don Black, 1/18/98.

  “Norman Weiss… rang Brian”: Author interview with Vic Lewis, 1/20/98.

  “took on”/“were crumbling”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.

  “Instantly, it gave them size”: Author interview with Don Black, 1/18/98.

  “run the office”: Geoffrey Ellis, 5/83, AGA.

  “glorified office boy”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

  The Lucy Show: Author interview with Don Black, 1/18/98.

  “We were only trying to play”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 143.

  “the shrine at Lourdes”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.

  “Crippled people were constantly”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 142.

  571–72 “he had a habit of putting”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 142.

  “These lads have become”: “Beatles Blamed,” NME, 7/30/65.

  “I used to be”: Ibid.

  “definitely not tour Britain”: “Beatles Plan to Take Long Holiday,” NME, 8/6/65.

  “100 minutes”/“unfunny”: “ ‘HELP!’—But It’s Just in Fun,” NME, 7/30/65.

  “We need less exposure”: “John Lennon Slams the Critics,” NME, 8/6/65.

  “the Beatles had inspired”: “The Beatles Will Make the Scene Here Again, but the Scene Has Changed,” New York Times, 8/11/65, p. 40.

  “Things were changing”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 193.

  Little did they know: “Prisoners on Floor 33,” NME, 8/20/65.

  “happy hysteria”: “British Long-Hairs in City to Begin 3rd Tour of U.S.,” New York Times, 8/14/65.

  “farcical affairs”: Lewisohn, The Beatles Live!, p. 185 (caption).

  Governor’s Suite: “They were in the Governor’s Suite.” Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.

  “unfit to sing in public”: NME, 8/20/65.

  “sensed that something strange”: Spector, Be My Baby, p. 78.

  575–76 “It was alarming how hard-shelled”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.

  Chris Hutchins remembers sitting: NME, 8/20/65.

  “Four hours of constant rehearsals”: Author interview with Chris Hutchins, 8/6/97.

  “one of the most amazing cities”: Larry Kane interview, “The Beatles at Shea Stadium,” 8/13/65.

  “For the boys”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

  “It was terrifying at first”: George Harrison in Badman, Off the Record, p. 169.

  “I was caught up”: Geoffrey Ellis, 5/83, AGA.

  “It [was] organized”: Bob Whitaker in Badman, Off the Record, p. 168.

  Ed Sullivan, who was filming: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.

  “It seemed like millions”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 186.

  “Their immature lungs produced”: “Shrieks of 55,000 Accompany Beatles,” New York Times, 8/16/65.

  “a dozen jets taking off”: Chris Hutchins in NME, 8/20/65.

  “It’s frightening”: Ibid.

  577–78 “the pulsation of the electric guitars”: New York Times, 8/16/65.

  “not a minute more”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.

  “It was ridiculous!”: John Lennon, 1965 interview, in Badman, Off the Record, p. 169.

  During two numbers: “I wasn’t sure what key I was in in two numbers.” NME, 8/20/65.

  “You can see it in the film”: John Lennon, 1970 interview, in Badman, Off the Record, p. 170.

  “shattered all existing”: Variety, 8/18/65.

  “$100 a second”: “The Singers at Shea—$100 a Second,” New York Journal-American, 8/15/65, p. 4.

  “It happens every time”: “I Watched Them Facing Death!” NME, 8/27/65.

  “Flames were shooting out”: Author interview with Larry Kane, 12/24/97.

  “sat silently, with fixed”: NME, 8/27/65.

  Ringo, “pale-faced”: Ibid.

  “Beatles, women, and children”: Ibid.

  “we couldn’t relate to them”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 190.

  But Ringo was game: “We were all on acid.” Roger McGuinn in Badman, Off the Record, p. 175.

  “We were all ripped”: Author interview with Peter Fonda, 7/14/99.

  “The Beatles actually enjoyed”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

  “great feeling”: “I got i
n the swimming pool and it was a great feeling.” George Harrison in Anthology, p. 190.

  “He said, ‘You know, man’ ”: Author interview with Peter Fonda, 7/14/99.

  “a bit wasted”: “Peter Fonda seemed to us to be a bit wasted.” Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 190.

  “they could not be responsible”: NME, 8/27/65.

  “Keen to preserve their artists’ prestige”: “Elvis and Beatles!” ibid.

  “laughing… all in hysterics”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 191.

  partly from nerves: “It was very exciting and we were all nervous as hell,” John Lennon, 1976 interview, in Anthology, p. 191.

  “It was hero worship”: Paul McCartney in ibid.

  “If you guys are just gonna”: Hutchins and Thompson, Elvis Meets the Beatles, p. 86.

  “the other Cilla”: Ibid.

  “We all plugged in”: John Lennon, 1976 interview, in Anthology, p. 191.

  “It was a load of rubbish”: NME, 9/3/65.

  a bit too “wild”: John Lennon, 1965 interview, in Anthology, p. 187.

  Before the show, Wendy Hanson: Wendy Hanson, 11/27/83, AGA.

  “the dreadful crush of fans”: “Paul was worried by the dreadful crush of fans.” Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

  “Calm down!” Paul screamed: Time, 9/10/65.

  Paul even stopped the show: “Grand Finale,” Newsweek, 9/10/65.

  “At one point I glanced down”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

  “We survived”: Newsweek, 9/10/65.

  uninspired covers: NME, 10/29/65.

  “a little smasher”: Time, 9/10/65.

  “I won’t let Zak”: Lewisohn, 25 Years in the Life, p. 67.

  EMI insisted on the date: “John and Paul… had to force themselves to come up with more than a dozen new songs.” Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 63.

  The only song ready was “Wait”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 278.

  “being bored”: “Paul McCartney as Songwriter,” Herald Tribune, 12/26/65, p. 26.

  “You can’t be singing 15-year-old songs”: “Bards of Pop,” Newsweek, 3/24/66, p. 103.

  “We were expanding”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 194.

  “We were suddenly hearing”: George Harrison in ibid.

  They were all still influenced: “The sort of people we were listening to then were on Stax and Motown, black, American, mainly.” Paul McCartney in ibid., p. 198.

  “a very bitter little story”: “Tales of Abbey Road,” Beatlefan, no. 86, p. 16.

  John claimed he based the narrative: “It was about an affair I was having.” Sheff, Playboy Interviews, pp. 150–51.

  “[John] had this first stanza”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 270.

  “one of the stickiest”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 194.

  “the lyrics were disastrous”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 269.

  “crap”/“too soft”: Newsweek, 3/24/66.

  “like the line from ‘Respect’ ”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 194.

  “spent five hours that morning”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 163.

  “I thought of myself”: John Lennon, 1967 interview, in Anthology, p. 196.

  “I think… it was about the state”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 272.

  “that girl—the one”: John Lennon, 1970 interview, in Anthology, p. 196.

  “I had a complete set”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 151.

  But by the time he was finished: “I wrote it all down, and it was so boring.” Coleman, Lennon, p. 299.

  “filling out the rest”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 277.

  “two speeding trains”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.

  “feel comfortable”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 264.

  “Jane’s star was rising”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

  “being disillusioned”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 276.

  “It’s a question of value”: Herald Tribune, 12/26/65.

  “D’you remember that French”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 273.

  Chet Atkins–type: Ibid.

  “I had been listening to Nina”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 116.

  “I was in the studio”: George Martin, Arena archives.

  “Thank you, very much”: Martin, All You Need, p. 183.

  “a shock to the recording”: “Beatles’ Martin in Disc Deal,” NME, 8/20/65.

  “For the first time we began to think”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 69.

  “The studio itself was full”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 196.

  “a mind-blower”: Ringo Starr in ibid., p. 197.

  “He’d come up with amazing technical things”: John Lennon, 1975 interview, in ibid., p. 197.

  “They were incredibly inquisitive”: George Martin, Abbey Road archives, 9/23/96.

  “something baroque-sounding”: Ibid.

  “just manipulations of the resources”: George Martin in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 200.

  “This was the departure record”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 194.

  “Whilst projecting [them]”: Freeman, Yesterday, p. 5.

  “Well, you know they’re good”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 193.

  CHAPTER 29: JUST SORT OF A FREAK SHOW

  “Rubber Soul broke everything”: Author interview with Steve Winwood, 6/16/97.

  “Bards of Pop”: Newsweek, 3/24/66, p. 102.

  “a fine mass placebo”: New York Times, 2/10/64.

  “dated stuff”: New York Times, 1/4/64.

  a seriously stoned Peter: “Sellers was totally off his head on pot most of the time.” Mojo, 11/95, p. 49.

  The Music of Lennon and McCartney: Grenada Television archives.

  “a strong hold on each other”: Woman, 12/7/69.

  “all the daily newspapers”: Shotton, John Lennon in My Life, p. 101.

  At night, he languished: “The Lennon Interview,” NME, 3/11/66, p. 3.

  “Nothing made him happier”: Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.

  “People are saying things”: New York Times Magazine, 7/3/66, p. 13.

  “It was a very free, formless time”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 218.

  “wrecked”/“all these crazy ideas”: Ibid., p. 234.

  “taken out of circulation”: “George Pities Paul,” NME, 1/28/66.

  “have a fiddle around”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 208.

  “Ola Na Tungee”: Donovan in Badman, Off the Record, p. 227.

  “Often you just block songs out”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 269.

  “Dazzie-de-da-zu”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 208.

  “those words just fell out”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 282.

  Eleanor Bron: “I liked the name Eleanor.” Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 208.

  “John had a fling”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 283.

  Jane perform at the Old Vic: She was appearing in The Happiest Days of Your Life. Old Vic (Bristol) archives.

  except for the title: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 288.

  “The Americans seemed to be”: Norman Smith, Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 202.

  “What EMI did for them”: George Martin, Arena archives.

  “look over the recording studios”: “Beatles for Memphis!” NME, 4/8/66.

  “the Beatles just recorded whenever”: Southall, Abbey Road, p. 97.

  Paul recalled that the seed: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 229.

  “Whenever in doubt”: Leary, The Psychedelic Experience, p. 14.

  “I did it just like he said”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews.

  “was all on the chord of C”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 210.

  Martin “didn’t flinch”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 291.

  “rather interesting”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 210.

  “We worked very hard”: Paul McCartney in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 209.

  “It went round and round”: George Martin in ibid., p.
209.

  “little symphonies”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 291.

  Martin “listen[ed] to them at various speeds”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 210.

  “He wanted his voice”: Ibid., p. 211.

  “we suspend him from a rope”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 72.

  “By putting his voice through that”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 211.

  “It meant actually breaking”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 72.

  Stoned—which they were: “Quite a bit of marijuana was being smoked.” Neil Aspinall in Anthology, p. 212.

  “The group encouraged us”: Mojo, 1/96, p. 70.

  “thousands of monks chanting”: John Lennon, 1967 interview, in Anthology, p. 211.

  “knocked out”: Martin, All You Need, p. 156.

  “Well, John,” Martin replied: Ibid.

  “a very acoustic number”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 72.

  “It was a song about pot”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 209.

  not about acid: “It actually describes his experience taking acid.” Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 153.

  written to a great extent: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 290.

  John and George repeating: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 72.

  “a definite jazz feel”: Peter Coe in ibid., p. 79.

  “the mikes… right down”: Ibid.

  to launch it into orbit: “You’ll really be hearing six trumpets in that coda.” Les Condon in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 212.

  “heavier” rock ’n roll: “Paperback Writer had a heavier sound than some earlier work.” George Martin in Anthology, p. 212.

  “a guitar lick on a fuzzy, loud guitar”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 151.

  The only special effect: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 74.

  was “a co-effort”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 280.

  “couldn’t get a backing track”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 212.

  “big, ponderous, thunderous”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 280.

  The Beatles were halfway through: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 213.

  “I got home from the studio”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 167.

  “The Beatles weren’t quite sure”: George Martin in Badman, Off the Record, p. 208.

  “While they were out having a break”: George Martin, Arena archives.

  “And that was awful”: Ibid.

  “We were really starting to find ourselves”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 212.

  “We [wanted] to do something different”: John Lennon, 1974 interview, in Anthology, p. 205.

 

‹ Prev