by Bob Spitz
“I thought we should probably have made”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 305.
“a bit heavy”: “I think, in a way, it was a mistake doing four sides.” George Harrison in Badman, Off the Record, p. 388.
“definitely rocking”: John Lennon in ibid.
“something as utterly simple”: “Beatles ‘Live’ by Paul,” NME, 10/12/68.
“prissy” all-white cover: “I would be inclined to do a very prissy thing, almost like a limited edition.” Richard Hamilton in Cooper, Blinds and Shutters.
“the most important musical”: The Times (London), 11/22/68.
EMI had considered rationing: Syndicated news report, 11/21/68.
“boring beyond belief”: “A Briton Blasts the Beatles,” New York Times, 12/15/68, p. 8.
“a major success”: “The Beatles: Inspired Groovers,” New York Times, 12/8/68, pp. 33–37.
THE BRILLIANT, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: NME, 11/9/68.
“It was a bombshell”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/7/98.
“the howl that went up”: John Lennon, 1969 interview, in Badman, Off the Record, p. 399.
“because… her work is naked”: Fawcett, John Lennon: One Day at a Time, p. 40.
“What we did purposely”: John Lennon, 1974 interview, in Anthology, p. 302.
“they all sat there”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 67.
“slightly shocked”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 302.
“Ah, come on, John”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 302.
“Ringo and Paul hated”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“a collection of bizarre sounds”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 374.
Disc, Melody Maker, and NME: DiLello, Longest Cocktail Party, pp. 63–64.
The “togetherness had gone”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 58.
“I decided to leave”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 69.
“the boys became of no interest”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 41.
“ ‘Goodbye to the boys’ ”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 354.
CHAPTER 36: DISTURBING THE PEACE
“After six years’ work”: Letter from Stephen Maltz, 10/23/68.
“a pitiful £78,000”: Goldman, Lives of John Lennon, p. 337.
“The deal among the Beatles”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
John, who had been tipped: “Don Short… had warned him”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 368; also confirmed in author interview with Don Short, 8/11/97.
“flushing handfuls of pills”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“It was a measure of their popularity”: Author interview with Ray Connolly, 8/7/97.
the bust “was a frame-up”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 368.
On November 8 John’s divorce: “John Lennon Divorced,” New York Times, 11/9/68.
“When Paul got bored”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.
“It wasn’t anything serious”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.
“broken off, finished,”: Dee Time, BBC-TV, 7/20/68.
“I loved [it in] New York”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
“Linda was showing me around”: Ibid.
“her womanliness”/“slight rebelliousness”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 517.
“It was great living”: Ibid., p. 521.
Capitol had shipped 3.5 million copies: “Apple’s Full of Sauce,” Washington Post, 12/29/68.
“Apple wasn’t being run”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 324.
“were all just living and drinking”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 155.
“if it carries on”: Disc and Music Echo, 1/18/69.
£18,000 or £20,000: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 155.
“Somehow… [we] needed a firm”: John Lennon, 1971 interview, in Anthology, p. 324.
“stick to music”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 543.
The Beatles also… courted: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
collectively as “animals”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 146.
“I think we should get back”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 372.
“Our jaws dropped”: Ibid., pp. 373–74.
“give it a couple of months”: Ibid., p. 374.
“The thing I miss most”: John Lennon, 1972 interview, in Anthology, p. 322.
George, however, “scoffed at” the idea: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 528.
“I’d hoped that by playing”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 322.
“virtually absolutely definite”: “Beatles ‘Live’ by Paul,” NME, 10/12/68.
“It will definitely be free”: “Beatles Holed-Up, Ringo Movie,” NME, 12/7/68.
“I think the original idea”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 315.
“go on an ocean liner”: Paul McCartney in ibid.
“being very expensive and insane”: Norman, Shout!, p. 357.
“The idea was that you’d see”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 315.
“a big barn”: Ringo Starr in ibid., p. 318.
“To be fair, no one had much enthusiasm”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“stoned all the time”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 118.
“going to try and create”: John Lennon, 1976 interview, in Anthology, p. 317.
“We put down a few tracks”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 118.
George… found it “stifling”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 316.
“I had always let him”: George Harrison in Badman, Off the Record, p. 411.
“Look, I’ll play whatever”: George Harrison in Let It Be (film).
“What am I doing here?”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 316.
“That’s it… see you ’round”: George Harrison in Let It Be (film), 1969.
“Our reaction was really”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 316.
“I think if George doesn’t come back”: John Lennon in Let It Be (film); also in Badman, Off the Record, p. 412.
“the biggest disaster”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 358.
“We bought some huge computers”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 291.
“the mixing console was made”: Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 164.
“very nasty twitter”: Martin, All You Need, p. 174.
“They were hopeless”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 318.
“You’d better put some equipment in”: Martin, All You Need, p. 173.
mobile four-track mixing consoles: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 533.
“I don’t want any of your production”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 317.
“all those rumors”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 80.
“terrible shit”: Ibid., p. 81.
“a bit like Martin”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 62.
“The facilities at Apple”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 318.
Meanwhile back at home: “Get Back” lyrics, Abbey Road demo.
putting out “negative vibes”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 316.
“It was a very tense period”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 535.
“a genuine plea”: Ibid., pp. 535–36.
“That’s me singing about Yoko”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 172.
“I don’t think he wanted much”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 316.
the band to be “very childish”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 59.
he “didn’t believe in”: “I don’t know when I realized I was putting down all these things I didn’t believe in.” Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 31.
“just [doing] it like a job”: Ibid., p. 51.
“fed up with the same old shit”: Ibid., p. 69.
He felt constrained: “We were limiting our capacity to write and perform by having it fit into some kind of format.” John Lennon, 1971 interview, in Anthology, p. 317.
“better than Picasso” Coleman, Lennon, p. 430.
the others were “inse
cure”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 47.
“sophisticated, intellectually”: Ibid., p. 52.
“Yoko had him under”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/8/97.
“they started picking on”: John Lennon, 1976 interview, in Anthology, p. 317.
“I started to feel it wasn’t”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 316.
“offset the vibes”: George Harrison in Badman, Off the Record, p. 415.
“the bullshit went out the window”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 318.
his crumbling relationship with John: “John was with Yoko full time, and our relationship was beginning to crumble.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 538.
“It was like having a guest”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, pp. 318–19.
Billy turned up at the studio: “We were trying to figure out where we could have a concert.” Billy Preston in Badman, Off the Record, p. 416.
“a little bit puzzling”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 319.
“Oh, that’s fantastic”: John Lennon in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 278.
“Nobody had ever done that”: George Harrison, in Anthology, p. 321.
“The Beatles had arranged for a camera”: Author interview with Jack Oliver, 10/28/99.
“Honestly, the music has got”: Let It Be (film), 1969.
“When [the police] came up”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 321.
“If anybody wants to sing”: George Harrison in Let It Be (film), 1969.
“You know this is a small”: Coleman, Lennon, pp. 370–71.
“a distant resemblance to Buddy Hackett”: Goldman, Lives of John Lennon, p. 328.
He’d met John once before: “I met him at the Rock and Roll Circus,” Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 142.
“broke, like Mickey Rooney”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 376.
In his exuberant autobiography: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 366.
“nervous as shit”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 144.
“the only businessman I’ve met”: John Lennon, 1969 interview, in Anthology, p. 324.
“One of the… things”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 42.
“I knew right away”: McCabe & Schonfeld, Apple to the Core, p. 123.
Actually, the letter read: Letter, John Lennon to Sir Joseph Lockwood, in Anthology, p. 324.
“a human being”/“an animal”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, pp. 146–48.
a million-dollar advance: “A figure that John repeated to me in the office the next day with pride.” Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 333.
“the only one Yoko liked”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 324.
“big-headed uptight people”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 67.
Paul was the one responsible: “They all thought Paul was the one who was going to hold it all together.” McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 72.
“all that Beatle stuff”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 138.
“Paul began complaining”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 27.
Paul discouraged her from attending: Ibid.
“Because we were all from Liverpool”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 325.
“fucked around by everybody”: McCabe & Schonfeld, Apple to the Core, p. 149.
it remained the top-selling album: Melody Maker, NME charts.
“it belied his innocence and honesty”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“Let’s get them both together”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 324.
“a piece of crap”: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 334.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve admired”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 150.
John had learned from Neil: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 148.
“How Lee kept his cool”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“interrupting everything he said”: Brown & Gaines, Love You Make, p. 335.
“Will you please stop insulting my husband”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 152.
CHAPTER 37: AND IN THE END…
“If you don’t tell anybody”: Author interview with Ray Connolly, 8/7/97.
“Why should we be asked”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“last bachelor among the Beatles”: “Beatles McCartney Planning to Marry,” New York Times, 3/12/69.
“Paul and Linda want it simple”: Apple press release 3/11/69.
“plunged through a mob”: “McCartney Marries, Teen-Age Fans Weep,” New York Times, 3/13/69.
John… expressed “surprise”: “I was very surprised with Linda. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d married Jane Asher.” McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 31.
“It was just Paul being Paul”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“I’d never seen George so angry”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“Why don’t you stay there”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“a load of money”: “I had, in fact, taken a load of money for them.” Alistair Taylor in Badman, Off the Record, p. 429.
“Intellectually, we didn’t believe”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 393.
“rationalize” the situation at Apple: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 545.
“gravy train”: McCabe & Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record, p. 66.
“were living like kings”: Ibid., p. 79.
“He’d been with us since 1962”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“But Paul refused”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.
In this case… a company check: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 546.
Asher… refused to give Klein: “He wasn’t going to take that shit from anybody.” Author interview with Jack Oliver, 10/28/99.
“as a protest against violence”: “The Lennons Bed Down for Nonviolence,” New York Daily News, 3/26/69.
“Instead of fighting it”: “Sgt. Pepper Makes a Pitch for Peace,” Los Angeles, 6/15/69, p. 14.
A “plea for peace”: “It is a plea for peace among people.” New York Daily News, 3/26/69.
part demonstration, part sideshow: “Everybody has their bags, and this is ours,” he told a reporter. “John’s and Yoko’s Peace Gimmicks Do Make Sense,” NME, 3/12/69.
“it’s no good working for money”: Los Angeles, 6/15/69.
“It came at a perfect time”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 397.
“We are trying to make Christ’s message”: Amsterdam press conference, 3/23/69.
“As you know, Mr. Allen Klein”: Letter, made part of Paul McCartney v. John Lennon, George Harrison, Richard Starkey, and Apple Corps., Ltd., English High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, 1971.
He kicked Allen out: “Did I tell him to get lost? No, I put it in slightly stronger terms.” McCabe & Schonfeld, Apple to the Core, p. 127.
“all royalties payable”: Letter from the Beatles to EMI, 3/3/69.
“I won’t sell!”: Evening Standard, 3/29/69.
John Eastman spoke for everyone: “I told him he was a bastard.” McCabe & Schonfeld, Apple to the Core, p. 154.
totaling about 14 percent: “The Beatles Besieged,” Time, 5/30/69.
“I’m not going to be fucked around”: McCabe & Schonfeld, Apple to the Core, p. 155.
“Paul was getting more and more uptight”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 154.
“We had great arguments”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 326.
“He’ll take fifteen percent”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 548; also in Anthology, p. 326.
“Monopoly with real money”: “Song Company of Beatles Resists a Take-Over Bid,” New York Times, 5/17/69.
“a monumental row”: McCabe & Schonfeld, Apple to the Core, p. 159.
It was a tremendous mistake: “I thought Paul had made a terrible miscalculation.” Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.
“Paul actually stopped coming”: Author interview
with Peter Brown, 12/12/97.
“total communication”: “This is an example of total communication.” John Lennon press conference, Sacher Hotel, Austria, 3/31/69.
“very fast living”: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 367.
Variety reported: Story syndicated in Go, 4/4/69, p. 10.
Jesus Christ Superstar: “Lennon Asked to Portray Christ,” New York Times, 12/4/69.
“I don’t know what people think”: NME, 3/29/69.
“paranoia”: “One of the things people don’t know about John is that a lot of his genius was a cover-up for his paranoia.” Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 552.
“containing two acorns”: John Lennon press conference, 3/28/69.
Then, on April 22: “Now It’s John Ono Lennon,” New York Times, 4/23/69.
“How would you like it”: Coleman, Lennon, p. 390.
“[They] were so lousy”: John Lennon, 1971 interview, in Anthology, p. 350.
“twenty-nine hours of tape”: Wenner, Lennon Remembers, p. 120.
“It was laying [sic] dormant”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 337.
a Beatles album “like we used to”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 551.
“Only if you let me produce it”: George Martin in Anthology, p. 337.
His original plan had been: D. Taylor, Fifty Years, p. 367.
“inadmissible immigrant”: “John Lennon Seeks a Visa to Visit U.S.,” New York Times, 5/16/69.
Declassified internal FBI memos: Wiener, Come Together, p. 85.
“I think I could probably write”: NME, 5/3/69, p. 3.
In fact, he was taking Paul: “I’ve just written a song called ‘Because.’ ” Ibid.
“straight out of Grapefruit”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 555.
“one of the most beautiful things”: “Abbey Road Heading for Fame,” Washington Post, 10/5/69.
George’s masterpiece, “Something”: “I thought it was George’s greatest track.” Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 340.
“wasn’t in the same league”: John Lennon, 1974 interview, in ibid.
“surprised that George had it in him”: George Martin in ibid., p. 340.
“came out of left field”: Paul McCartney in ibid.
“lambasting Allen Klein’s attitude”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 556.
“Golden slumbers kiss your eyes”: Dekker, “Golden Slumbers,” The Pleasant Company of Old Fortunatus, 1603.