Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Magical Mystery Mixing



These photo and other like them have always been a mystery to me.  I know that the Beatles are at an office in Soho watching the rushes from the Magical Mystery tour.   Or they are mixing something that has to do with the Magical Mystery tour film.    But then that leads to a ton more questions:

--Why does Paul have a guitar?
--What are they singing?
--Is there a recording of this?
---Why are there so many people in that room?
---Who are all those people anyhow.  the only ones I really recognize is Tony B. and Mal Evans
---What is the deal with that old man?  He is everywhere and no one really know who he was.  All I ever hear is that he was a street musician.   Why did the Beatles hang out with him?  What was his name?  And lastly....why does he always have flowery looking thing sticking out behind his ears?


See....I have a lot of questions.   And so when you have Beatle questions the only place to truly look is in your Mark Lewisohn book collection.  In reading his amazing research ( yes I bow at your feet Mr. Lewisohn....you are what makes us amateur Beatle historians strive)I read that on November 21, 1967 the Beatles were filmed while working with Roy Benson in the MMT cutting room.  There was this big stink about the Beatles lip syncing during the "Hello Goodbye" promo and how the Top of the Pops could not show it that night because of a law passed by the Musicians' Union in Britain.  So they were filmed here and that was supposed to "cover up" the mimicking parts of the promo, only it was never used for that purpose.

OK.  So maybe that explains the guitar, but it doesn't answer many more of my questions.   Oh well.   Nice photographs. 

8 comments:

  1. Just guessing, the old fellow might be might be Freddy Lennon, John's father who he came in contact around this time.

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  2. Nah I think it's the old coot from MMT on the bus who does tricks with his ciggie like rolling it into his mouth on his tongue and all that. Just a crusty old weirdo which is why he made it onto the bus.

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  3. hi sara, this was not an office. it was the studio in soho were they spent many weeks (absolutely FAB time for us "regulars" as we could be REALLY close to them and see them almost every day!) editing magical mystery tour. i am supposed to be working, so i can't look up the name of the studio (i don't know it by heart). the old man is bill, a street guy the beatles asked to come upstairs to the studio and used to hang out with them - he used to talk to us too. as for the people, the studio had at least 3 guys working there. i remember a roy and a mark (it's all in my diary). several of us were invited into the studio at different times to watch some scenes from the movie. that was FUN! i was once sent out to get tea for john and paul. little everyday things at the time that now seem almost unreal! (get back to work, lizzie!)

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    1. Thanks for your reply, Lizzie! I was just looking at pics from this day too :)
      I'd love to hear any anecdotes you have about Mal - would you be willing?

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    2. hi sagedaddy! it's late here in rio de janeiro and i have to be on a plane early tomorrow - going to a beatle event i've been invited to. i'll be in touch when i come back next week, ok?

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  4. Lizzie,
    You are a treasure trove. I just hope your book contains obscure bits such as this photo and the details to go with it. Stuff nobody would recall. Since most are dead or wont comment.
    j0j0

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  5. The guy with glasses and flowers was a local Soho character/busker called Bill Davis, the Beatles took a shine to. He appears in one of the "Hey Jude" clips as well.

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  6. Hi. I wrote some words about that old man (in portuguese, sorry), there are some photos:

    http://beatlescollege.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/o-velhinho-bebado-do-clipe-de-hey-jude/

    http://beatlescollege.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/o-velhinho-bebado-do-clipe-de-hey-jude-parte-ii-2/

    And this photo, too:

    http://beatlescollege.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/4109972564_69575e0b0d.jpg


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