Get Back Observations: Maureen loves The Beatles

 

Get Back Observation #3:  Maureen Starkey loved The Beatles.

Maureen was one of the original Beatle fans.   She would go to the lunchtime Beatles performances at the Cavern Club to see The Beatles perform.   She was a 15-year-old girl and had a crush on the new Beatles drummer, Ringo.   Maureen wasn't any different than any of the other Cavern girls.   She got there early and tried to get in the front to see The Beatles.   She hung around outside the Cavern and got Ringo's autograph at one point.    She was one of the earliest Beatles fans.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr

In time, Ringo asked her to dance at the Cavern and the two began to date.  As we all know, Maureen and Ringo were married and eventually had three children together.   

In the "Get Back" film, we see Maureen a few times.   One of the times happens to be the day that George quits and Paul jokingly tells her to learn a few chords over the weekend and she will be in the band.   It was also on that day and during the million and one discussions about where to have the final concert for the film.  One of the places mentioned that day was the Cavern Club.   The only voice you hear when that idea was tossed out, was Maureen with an enthusiastic "yeah!"    She loved the idea of seeing her favorite band back where she first saw them. 

The performance is on the roof of 3 Savile Row and Maureen is one of two Beatles wives that watch the performance.  You get the idea that she was not going to miss it.   It was cold and supposedly she gave her red jacket to her husband, but Maureen was rocking out the entire time.   Yoko looked pretty miserable on the rooftop.  John even asks her when it is done, if she was alright.   I think Yoko was cold and was not having fun.   Maureen was the complete opposite sitting next to her.   She was shaking her head and smiling the whole time.    The one song that she REALLY got into was "One After 909."  I realized that this was not a new song to her.   The Beatles performed "One After 909" at the Cavern Club.   I think that while they performed that song, Maureen was taken back a few years earlier to when she was 15 and at the Cavern.   However, she did not have to fight her way into the front seats -- she had the best seat in the house.     Of the people that witnessed the rooftop performance only two people -- Mal Evans and Maureen Starkey had also seen The Beatles perform at the Cavern in Liverpool. 

I'd always known that you could hear Maureen cheering at the end of the last "Get Back," and Paul says, "Thanks Mo!" to her.   However -- I just didn't realize how much she enjoyed the entire performance and that she wasn't Maureen -- wife of Ringo Starr during that show, but Maureen -- original fan of The Beatles. 

I purposely posted this today, December 30, in remembrance of Maureen.  

Playing in the yard

Photo by Cynthia Lennon

 

George rings out the old

 December 31, 1981

Looking for Kyoko in Houston

 

December 30, 1971

Paul McCartney: The Lyrics - a book review

 

Paul McCartney is never going to write his autobiography.   However, he has given us his authorized biography, Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, and now we have The Lyrics.     In this pair of books, Paul goes through most of his hit (and many non-hit) songs and explains his thoughts behind writing them while telling a bit of his own personal history along the way.     The book is organized alphabetically by song instead of chronologically.   So you could easily read a song written in the 1950s, and then the next song be written within the past five years.   I am accustomed to reading through the history of Paul McCartney in order, and it was a different look at his life and his music to go in alphabetically. 

Paul obviously did not "write" the book in alphabetical order.   He repeats some of the same stories throughout both volumes.   I think we read about Paul meeting John for the first time 3 times.   

Most of the stories told here are well-known and well-loved by those of us who have followed Paul's career during the past 60 years.  It is nice to have them all together in one place.   There are also a lot of little nuggets of information to discover.   I learned that Paul sees the days of the week as different colors.  I also learned that when he writes or sings a song, he sort of feels like he channeling a particular performer, such as Little Richard or Fred Astaire.    So he doesn't feel as if it is Paul McCartney performing, but this other person.   He got a lot of inspiration for lyrics or names in his songs from such a wide variety of places:  old songs from his childhood, plays he has seen, Greek mythology, artwork he has seen, etc etc.   The majority of his work is the influence of his mother and father.  

Paul really holds John in high esteem.   He obviously was very hurt when John asked for a "divorce" from the Beatles.  He was especially hurt because John seemed to have been so happy when he asked for the divorce.   One thing I didn't know was that they met together in 1972 and in-person decided to stop fighting with one another.    After that, John and Paul remained friends until John died.  Since John has died, Paul still thinks about him whenever he is writing songs and wonders, "What will John think of that line..."    I found all of the things he had to say about his relationship with John to be very fascinating.  

Paul made plenty of mistakes in the book.   It isn't a history book.  It is based on Paul's memory of the songs he wrote and the life he lived as of the year 2020.   One of the biggest errors he made was saying that after John asked for a divorce from The Beatles, he and John got together and recorded "The Ballad of John and Yoko."   We all know that was NOT how it happened.   Will anyone ever have the courage to correct him?  I don't think so.    He also made a statement about how the Beatles all decided to stop touring AFTER the concert at Candlestick Park.   He used to claim that it was after the St. Louis show, and in my book I discovered that it really happened on August 20, 1966, in Cincinnati after leaving the stadium after sitting around for hours for the concert to be postponed to the next day due to rain.   Regardless -- it was NOT after Candlestick.   I know in Paul's mind it doesn't really matter, but to Beatles history, it is sort of a big deal.   

What was the biggest surprise?   Paul REALLY does say "polygon" in "Hi Hi Hi."   I swore he said "body gun" and just claimed to say "polygon" to cover up the more racy lyrics.   But Paul talks about this misunderstanding and how it was really polygon all along.  Then you see the original hand-written lyrics, and sure enough -- it is polygon!    

That reminds me -- the photographs and other items in this book are amazing!  

Overall I wasn't super knocked out with The Lyrics.   A lot of the same old stories that we've heard Paul tell during interviews and concerts.   Yet it is an extremely important book for Beatles fans. 

This is one of those books that is now part of "The Beatles book canon" along with the Anthology, Mark Lewisohn's books, Hunter Davies book and a handful of others.   If you didn't buy one for yourself or get one for Christmas, you do not want to miss out.

https://amzn.to/3wD9CtF

Billy & George '74

 I am certain that I have posted these photos of Billy Preston and George Harrison on an airplane traveling somewhere in the United States during the Dark Horse Day Tour in 1974 before.  However, I really like these photos and think it is time to show them again.  

John wants to tell us something

 

Spot the Beatles and wives

 

Winter with Paul

 December 29, 1974 -  While John was at Walt Disney World, signing the papers to end The Beatles, Paul was greeting fans outside of the Stanshope Hotel. 

Hideo Nagura remember his Uncle John

 

I found on Youtube a man named Hideo Nagura talking about some memories of John Lennon, who he just thought of as "Uncle John."   Here is the transcript of what he had to say on the clip.  I'm having some issues getting actual video to link on here, but you can find it if you search for "Hideo Nagura and John Lennon" on youtube.  

With my mother being Yoko Ono's cousin, I was lucky enough to spend the summers of 1977-1979 with John Lennon in Karuizawa.  Little did I know that John was a superstar.  He was just a relative to me. 

I first became aware of who he was when he was assassinated in 1980, and my mother made an appearance on national television.  

This is a picture taken in Karuizawa.  You can see me on the right, next to John.  I was 14 when the picture was taken. 

My mother wrote an article detailing our memories with John, in this magazine, "Bungei Shunju." Here is a short excerpt on page 238.  "One time my daughter, who was in the 4th grade at the time sang a song by Pink Lady, a Japanese female pop music duo, in front of John.   John whistled and applauded, and with a serious face, expressed his yearning for a baby girl under Sean.  While joking that he'd want her to take after Yoko's nose, and not his. 

There is actually a backstory to this "Pink Lady" episode.  It's about the time my siblings and I sang their hit song, "Invisible Person."  John suddenly claimed that "Invisible Person" was his song.  Without knowing he was a Beatle, I responded, "No, no.  This is Pink Lady's!"  And the two of us ended up in an arguement.  Not until later did I realize that John was being reminded of the Beatle's song, "I Feel Fine."

Ringo and Barb: The Perm Years

 

Same Dad -- different daughter

 

Thirty-three and a third

 

Get Back Observation: Ringo likes to wear his old stage clothes

 Get Back Observation #2:   Ringo likes to wear the clothes he used to wear on stage with The Beatles, especially his colorful pink shirt from the 1966 tour. 

The fashions of the Beatles (and Glyn Johns) in Get Back have been a big topic of discussion since the documentary premiered.   One of the items of clothing that has gotten a lot of attention is the pink-flowered shirt that Ringo wears on January 21st.    It is a great, colorful shirt that really portrays the look of 1969.   Um -- or does it?     

This pink shirt was not a brand new shirt that Ringo got for Christmas in 1968.  It is one that he had in his closet since 1966.   As a matter of fact, all four of the Beatles owned this particular shirt.   The pink-flowered shirt was one of the shirts that they wore underneath the grey striped jacket (with a yellow & white shirt being another one).  

George and Ringo show off their pink shirts in these black and white photos taken backstage in Detroit on August 13, 1966 

Paul and George in Toronto on August 17, 1966 -- you can see the pink-flowered shirt underneath the jackets.

You also might not realize it, but Let it Be/Get Back isn't the first film where Ringo wears this shirt.  Look at what Ringo has on underneath his poncho during the filming of "I am the Walrus" in Magical Mystery Tour 

 addition thanks to MarkZap

Ringo also wore the same pink shirt during the January 1967 photoshoot for the Strawberry Field/Penny Lane single as you can see in this photo.

And just because I am a little bit obsessive about The Beatles clothing, I also noticed that Ringo wore the green suit jacket that The Beatles also wore during the 1966 tour one day at Twickenham.   Ringo could be seen wearing that jacket a lot after the tour.  This one isn't as cool to me as the pink shirt, but worth mentioning. 

The same green jacket -- this photo is from August 28, 1966 at Dodgers Stadium  

John and Yoko on their way to Cannes

 

George shows Paul how to play

 

The Christmas Show concert

 

That is one big bow tie, Paul

 

October 3, 1974 - That's Entertainment

Get Back Observation: The Beatles read a lot about themselves

 I have been watching the "Get Back" documentary carefully and have discovered a lot of interesting little tidbits of information.   I thought it would a fun new series for me to share with you the things I am discovering.  Some discoveries are sort of a big deal and others are not.   I do not expect anyone to agree with some of the things I found and my take on them.   This is just for fun.

Discovery #1  

The Beatles had a LOT of interesting reading information in the studio with them and frequently it has something to do with them.    Take a look at some of the reading material. 

1.  The Beatles Complete Works

(Published in January 1969 in the Netherlands)

This book that Yoko is seen reading appears to be a book of Beatles lyrics from 1963-1968 filled with Beatles photos along with the lyrics.  

2.  TeenSet magazine 

February 1969

Yoko is spotted reading the newest issue of TeenSet with John on the cover.   I have posted below the table of contents and a little of The Beatles article included.   

3.  The infamous Michael Housego article from the Daily Sketch

I would love to know who told Michael Housego anything about George leaving the Beatles.   We know all about the guys reading this story because we hear Paul performing the details of the article.   I found the actual story on reddit and will post it here.  (as always click to enlarge)

4.  Beatles Book Monthly 

January 1969   Issue 66

One of the first things you see The Beatles reading was The Beatles Book Monthly Issue 66 with Ringo playing the drums on the cover.   I really believe they read over BBM every month!

Here is some of what they were looking at. 

5.  Open City newspaper

Open City  was a radical underground newspaper from San Francisco from 1967-1969.  It was published by John Charles Byran.  It was best remembered for a column called "Notes of a Dirty Man."   I am not sure of the date of the newspaper the Beatles had.   It is NOT the January 24 - 30, 1969 issue.  But as you can see from this screenshot -- it has a story about the White Album (which still wasn't known as The White Album yet).  

Honorable Mention:

Weekend:  newspaper supplement

I cannot find much information about the paper that John and George are reading.  But the headline says "Wild Life:  Tragic Death of a Dancing Queen."  

This is a sampling of what I saw in means of newspapers and magazines.  There were other newspaper articles that were read aloud and other magazines laying around that I couldn't see exactly what they were.  Did anyone else notice any other reading material?