The Beatles
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“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.