by Bob Spitz
“feeling would begin to vibrate”: “Soon this feeling would begin to vibrate right through me and started getting bigger and bigger and faster and faster.” Giuliano, Dark Horse, p. 92.
“hung out with him”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 231.
“he offered to give me some instruction”: Giuliano, Dark Horse, p. 93.
“how to sit and hold the sitar”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 233.
Shankar’s “disciple”: “George had not come as a Beatle but as my disciple.” Shankar, My Music, My Life.
“Sometimes [George] would play”: Giuliano, Dark Horse, p. 95.
“harmonizing with a greater power”: Ibid., p. 93.
“by various holy men”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 233.
“Ravi and the sitar were excuses”: Ibid.
“blood money”: “Just give him his blood money.” Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 216.
“Don’t do anything else”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“just indulging himself”: Author interview with Peter Brown; Arena archives.
“morbid,” often incoherent: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 217.
“Nothing I said or did”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.
The collapse, when it eventually came: “I didn’t see it coming.” Ibid.
“I stayed in the library”: Ibid., 12/2/97.
“a foolish accident”: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 217.
“I can’t deal with this anymore”: Peter Brown, Arena archives.
“But none of us, however shortsighted”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“You must be mad!”: Author interview with Ken Partridge, 1/18/98.
“He wanted to be Ziegfeld”: Author interview with Don Black, 1/18/98.
“terrible” musical: Ibid.
“During the week, we had Gilbert and Sullivan”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.
an ominous melancholy: “When John came back, he was in a serious funk.” Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“There was so much going on”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.
The future of the Beatles: “At some time or other that’s when I really started considering life without the Beatles—what would it be?” John Lennon, 1980 interview, in Anthology, p. 231.
“There were all those Chelsea people”: Green, Days in the Life, p. 76.
“We never had a painting as such”: Aitken, The Young Meteors.
to “liberate art as a commodity”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.
“a real happening”: “I told him it would be a real happening.” Ibid.
“I thought, ‘Hmm,’ you know, ‘sex’ ”: John Lennon, 1980 interview, in Anthology, p. 235.
“Well, watching telly”: Green, Days in the Life, p. 79.
“I was in a highly unshaved… state”: John Lennon, 1980 interview, in Anthology, p. 235.
sat in the car for “some time”: Les Anthony, 3/87, AGA.
“bullshit and phony”: Peter McCabe interview, 7/71, AGA.
“When he came in, it was like”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.
“flittering around like crazy”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 86.
“mirror to see your behind”: Unfinished Paintings and Objects, Indica Gallery catalogue.
“Is this stuff for real?”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.
“This is a joke”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 86.
“It looked like a black canvas”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, pp. 173–74.
“You take a magnifying glass”: Peter McCabe interview, 7/71.
“I argued strongly”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.
“Okay, you can hammer”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 88.
“I’ll give you an imaginary”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 327.
“My God,” she thought: Peter McCabe interview, 7/71.
“John was a fun drug-taker”: Author interview with Terry Doran, 8/13/97.
“first high-voltage superblues group”: Dalton & Kaye, Rock 100, p. 122.
“Show business will vibrate”: “Beach Boys Beat Beatles,” NME, 12/3/66.
“We’re all four fans”: “Paul and Ringo Talk about the Beatles,” NME, 12/31/66.
“This idea of jealousy”: Ibid.
pure “rubbish”: Ibid.
“two of the Beatles had approached”: Sunday Telegraph, 11/18/66.
“I think we were itching to get going”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 237.
“it was absolutely lovely”: George Martin interview, 12/5/80, in Okun, The Compleat Beatles, p. 40.
“I was spellbound”: Martin, Summer of Love, pp. 13–14.
Martin cursed himself: “Oh, how I wish I had caught that very first run-through on tape and released it!” Ibid., p. 14.
which took over forty-five hours: Lewisohn, Sessions, pp. 87–90.
“about 80% separately written”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 237.
“creative rivalry”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 70.
“were often answering each other’s songs”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 307.
“John and I would often meet”: Ibid.
“in the middle of the roundabout”: Lyric fragment from “Penny Lane.”
its euphonious name: “He’d been toying with the idea of writing a song called ‘Penny Lane’ because he liked the poetry of the name.” Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 91.
“painted in an exploding psychedelic”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 259.
“more like a play”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 237.
“The lyrics were all based”: Ibid.
“a small collection of gems”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 26.
“rooty-tooty variety”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 319.
Beatles performed at the Cavern: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 89.
“a bit of a shock”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 239.
“an old trap”: Ibid.
“Quiet honestly,” he admitted: “Most Way-Out Beatles Ever,” NME, 2/11/67.
“the Beatles have developed into”: “Other Noises, Other Notes,” Time, 3/3/67.
“The people who have bought our records”: John Lennon, 1967 interview, in Anthology, p. 241.
CHAPTER 31: A VERY FREAKY EXPERIENCE
“cheerful music for dope smokers”: Ward, Rock of Ages, p. 330.
the Beatles’ “playground”: “They loved the whole process of recording: the studio was a playground.” Martin, Summer of Love, p. 68.
“every trick brought out”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 242.
“because he wanted to sound like Elvis”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 53.
“dry, deadpan voice”: Ibid., p. 55.
“I noticed two stories”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 155.
“The verse about the politician”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 324.
“funny… little references”: George Martin in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 241.
“a little party piece”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 247.
“It was a crazy song”: Ibid.
“We’ll tell the orchestra”: Ibid.
“something really tumultuous”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 53.
“But ninety musicians”: Ibid., p. 56.
“with little or no input”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 310.
the theme of which John pinched: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 155.
“The top was all dark”: Julian Lennon in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 238.
“Wow, fantastic title!”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 311.
“very trippy”: Ibid., p. 312.
John had already begun playing: “The imagery was Alice in the boat.” Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 154.
“swapping psychedelic suggestions”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 242.
“trading words off each other”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 312.
&n
bsp; “People were running around”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 58.
“orchestral orgasm”: Ibid., p. 60.
“It was… remarkable”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/29/97.
“I just can’t believe it”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 96.
“a gigantic piano chord”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 61.
Daniel Barenboim’s piano: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 321.
It took nine attempts: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 99.
Newsweek’s critic: Jack Kroll, “The Beatles’ Waste Land,” Newsweek.
“got mixed together”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 247.
“very productive period”: Mojo, 11/95, p. 84.
“assembly[-line] process”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 242.
“I was in a real big depression”: Interview with Barry Miles.
Food no longer interested him: “John said he wasn’t eating much and was on a vegetarian diet.” Coleman, Lennon, p. 334.
“it was becoming almost impossible”: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 142.
“tensions, bigotry, and bad temper”: Ibid.
“I know Brian was convinced”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
gone broke in the process: “Here was a man who had been bankrupt twice.” Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“borrowed money from EMI”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.
“It was quite simple”: Robert Stigwood, Arena archives.
“sound younger… and be a teenager”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 35.
“joining up”: “Once, he told me he thought of joining up. But I’m sure it was another boyhood thing.” Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/16/98.
“It said the Hendersons”: John Lennon, 1967 interview, in Anthology, p. 243.
“Almost the whole song was written”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 318.
wanted a “fairground sound”: “The fairground sound, suggested by John…” Ibid.
“smell the sawdust”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 99.
“a pumping kind of sound”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 91.
“I selected two-minute segments”: Ibid.
“but, amazingly, they came back”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 99.
“John was thrilled to bits”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 91.
Paul had written during a nighttime walk: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 320.
“the one hard drug used”: Ibid., p. 383.
“I used to have a bit of coke”: Ibid., p. 384.
“looking back on it, Pepper”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 335.
John told Jann Wenner: “I never took it in the studio.” Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 76.
“accidental trip”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 385.
“By mistake this night”: Ibid., p. 382.
“I suddenly got so scared”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 76.
“George, I’m not feeling too good”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 109.
“swaying gently against my arm”: Ibid.
“I thought, Maybe this is the moment”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 382.
“a guy who wasn’t keen”: Ibid., p. 381.
“I always knew I’d have to keep”: Ibid., p. 185.
“spacy”/“very, very deeply emotional experience”: Ibid., pp. 380–81.
“It was a very freaky experience”: Ibid., p. 383.
“They ran down to the studio”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 109.
“Couldn’t really be any other”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 332.
“We had certainly not intended”: Ibid., pp. 332–33.
“We wanted the sleeve”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 248.
His best customers: Hewison, Too Much, p. 70.
“the most formative influence”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 243.
“not good art”: “He said, ‘It’s not good art.’ ” Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 248.
“In years to come”: Peter Blake, 8/83, AGA.
“No, not very much”: Ibid.
“It was just a broad spectrum”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 252.
“naughty” little choice: “That was John’s sense of humor. There had been the Christ controversy… so I think it was just John being naughty again.” Peter Blake in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 245.
Hitler—which managed to piss off Paul: “I didn’t agree with it, but he was just trying to be far-out really.” Paul McCartney in ibid.
“Whatever the others have”: Ringo Starr in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 244; Peter Blake, 8/83, AGA.
The legwork was left: “… so Mal and I went to all the different libraries.” Neil Aspinall in Anthology, p. 248.
“We made a rough kind of wooden frame”: Peter Blake, 8/83, AGA.
“so the delivery boy”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 344.
“We just chose oddball things”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 248.
“with goodies”: “So we wanted to pack it with goodies.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 340.
But production costs rendered: “It was a packaging problem.” Peter Blake in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 245.
“Joe Lockwood was furious”: Robert Fraser, AGA (undated).
that photo of Hitler: “Hitler is a definite no.” Martin, Summer of Love, p. 118.
“take Gandhi out”: Norman, Shout!, p. 291.
“We have some problems”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 338.
“It had the flowers”: Neil Aspinall in Anthology, p. 248.
friction between Brian and Robert Stigwood: “Brian had become disillusioned with Stigwood.” Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“He certainly couldn’t handle them”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.
“fell in love”: “Robert fell in love with them, especially with Barry Gibb.” Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“Brian became annoyed”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
Shirley Temple… wanted to approve: Anthology, p. 251.
“What would I be doing”: Peter Blake, 8/83, AGA.
CHAPTER 32: THE SUMMER OF LOVE
getting stoned with the Jefferson: “We went over to their place, smoking pot.” Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“golden… far-out”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 254.
“the idea tumbled together”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 350.
“Everyone would spend time”: Ibid.
“I still felt every now and then”: John Lennon in Anthology, p. 272.
“enjoyed the fish and chip quality”: Fawcett, John Lennon: One Day at a Time, p. 92.
“We didn’t see any way”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 272.
“Nobody quite knows”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 353.
“McCartney arrived at the studio”: MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, p. 203.
“references to drugs”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 353.
“the worst kind of musical cliché”: Riley, Tell Me Why, p. 237.
When the Beatles returned: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 111.
“a combination of two separate”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 155.
unable “to resist singing”: MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, p. 206.
“He knew he had to confront it”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“positively sick”: Ibid.
Paul felt strongly: He considered the Dick James deal “draconian.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 146.
“What about us?”: “Yeah, well Klein got the Stones a million and a quarter, didn’t he?” Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 248.
“fast-talking, dirty-mouthed”: Ibid., p. 247.
Brian refused to shake hands: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“fucked-up and all hazy”: “… which is what those pill do to you…” Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.
“felt that more and more”: Joanne Newfield Petersen, Arena archives.
“One nigh
t Peter had been”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“a rather grand farmhouse”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.
“more irrational, more incoherent”: Robert Stigwood, Arena archives.
“isolated themselves, not only”: Daily Mail, 5/12/67.
a small but “grandiose” party: “It was done in a very grandiose way.” Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“very Waspish, a real anti-Semitic Jew”: Author interview with Jerry Leiber, 7/11/95.
“She always insisted”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
it is more likely that they met: “The night I met Linda I was at the Bag o’ Nails,” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 432.
“the hottest ticket in town”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 152.
“Besides… I thought she was cute”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“zero[ing] in on Paul”: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 247.
“couldn’t help but notice”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“resembled an animated Victorian”: Melody Maker, 5/27/67.
“looked haggard, old”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 334.
“like someone out of a Scott Fitzgerald novel”: Melody Maker, 5/27/67.
“could be considered to have drug-taking implications”: BBC press release, 5/17/67.
“He’d decided this”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“perhaps all week”: “We picked Derek and Joan up after an all-night (or all week)… LSD trip.” George Harrison in D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 298.
“Everyone was getting along”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.
“The minute you walked through”: Author interview with Lionel Bart, 1/16/98.
“the mad hatter’s tea party”: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 145.
Peter Brown reports: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 255.
“she hadn’t taken anything”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 301.
“Wasn’t that always the case”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“Paul… didn’t… come”: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 254.
“This was to have been for Paul”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 300.
“I was downright scared”: Martin, Summer of Love, p. 151.
“remarkable”/“tremendous advance”: Sunday Times, 6/3/67.
“Any of these songs”: The Times (London), 6/4/67.