It's George and Ringo and 'Yesterday" Again...Almost (1971)

 It's George and Ringo and 'Yesterday' Again...Almost

By Bob Micklin

Newsday

August 2, 1971

    The right answer to why 20,000 of us jammed Madison Square Garden last night, and another 20,000 crowded the Garden yesterday afternoon, would be that we all really cared about what's happening to 7,000,000 refugees of a cruel civil war between East and West Pakistan. 

    The real answer is that most of us came to see half of what used to be the supergroup of all rock supergroups, the Beatles.  George Harrison and Ringo Starr performing together on a concert stage for the first time in six years. A backup band of super players such as high-priced talent as Eric Clapton on guitar, Leon Russell on piano and electric bass, Billy Presson on organ, Klaus Voormann and Jesse Davis on guitars, Jim Keltner on drums, and oh, those extra added attractions: Ravi Shankar and his classical Indian raga music as the opening act, and Dylan, Bob Dylan, the guest star of all guest stars, walked on stage about two thirds of the way through the evening, clutching his acoustic guitar, his harmonica strapped to his chest, joining with Harrison, Starr, and Russell, what had to be one of the great impromptu quartets in the history of rock concerts.

     Yes, that's why we were there. We knew that both concerts were charity events, fundraising sessions for those war victims. None of the musicians got a penny for his work. And after Shankar and his quartet of Indian virtuosos finished their opening set, grim movies of the plight of the refugees were flashed on two large screens over the stage. Yet few of us seemed to notice. We were too eager, too restless. We wanted to see those Beatles. Besides, we had done our part. The tickets were bought, and 40,000 people at two concerts meant at least $300,000 worth of aid for those tragic people whose images flickered on the movie screens.

     We were ready to be pleased. We expected one of the heaviest musical events we'd ever seen. We were not disappointed. It took us a while to relate to Shankar's hypnotic music, but Ravi told us at the onset that he expected that. "We are making no political statements," he told us. "We are artists." Shankar is a Bengali, and the Bengalis are getting the worst of it in the war. His fierce, terribly intricate playing revealed some of his feelings about that situation, and before he was through, his artistry had moved us, but Ravi knew what we really wanted. He finished his set in little more than a half hour and told us that he realized we were waiting to meet the Beatles. 

    They came out quickly: George in a white suit and orange shirt, carrying a white guitar; Ringo heavily bearded and dressed in all black; Clapton in faded denim, the rest of the band in casual attire. In addition to the featured side men, a band of seven horns and saxophones were on one side of the stage, a seven-voiced chorus on the other, a few guitar noodlings, and they were all into "Wah-Wah", one of Harrison's tough bluesy numbers from his hit solo album of last year, then into "My Sweet Lord", with Harrison on vocals and Clapton's whining guitar doing the obligato. We were enraptured. "Look at them", we said, and look at us listening to them. It's too much. We loved it, and when Billy Preston took the spotlight, we loved him too.

     But then there was Ringo. We knew from just a few bars of intro that he was going to do his hit song, "It Don't Come Easy." We cheered for Ringo sitting up there behind the band and pounding away on the drums in his simple Beatles style. We cheered his flat, unpretentious voice. It suddenly occurred to one spectator that we had really come to cheer, not to listen.

     Leon Russell. We were ready for him too. His sinister mustache, his impassive face, his long, long blondish hair. Leon Russell jumped into the Rolling Stones' " Jumping Jack Flash", blasting off with raw screams and taking us all with him on the excitement trip we had expected all the time. George returned us to the center. However, one of the nicest things about last night's concert was watching George Harrison. No matter who was playing, who was singing, George was the leader. 

    He followed Russell with a fine version of "Here Comes the Sun", played and sung quietly but with a gentle lyricism that was lovely. Scarcely missing a beat, he brought on Bob Dylan, and while the other musicians and singers left the stage, Harrison and Russell picked up guitars, and Ringo joined them with a tambourine, a magic moment. Dylan at the microphone, running down his classic songs. "A Hard Day's Rain Gonna Fall", "Blowin' in the Wind," "Mister Tambourine Man", "Just Like a Woman." While Harrison, Starr, and Russell provided the accompaniment. Dylan raised a clenched fist to all of us as we cheered him while he left the stage.

    The finale George back in the smoky blue-white spotlight to sing "Something", surely one of the greatest of Harrison songs. Oh how we cheered him as he and the others left the stage, to which they soon returned to give us a stomping version of "Bangladesh", a new Harrison song honoring the ambition of East Pakistan to establish a new nation, but that's not why we cheered. We cheered for the Beatles, or at least half of them, and for a beautiful concert. And then we filed out of Madison Square Garden into a sticky, humid New York City night, and we were happy.

Uncle Paul and Nephew Julian

 August 1, 2006 

Harrison and Friends Pack 'Em In (1971)

 Harrison and Friends Pack 'Em In

By Harry Davidson

Daily World

August 5, 1971

When it was originally announced that George Harrison would appear at Madison Square Garden on August 1, I knew I would have to find some way to be there. When the Beatles first burst upon the musical horizon in the mid 1960s, I was too young to be more than vaguely aware of their existence. Later, I became a part of the generation of youth which followed them. The Beatles led us into new, hitherto unexplored mediums of expression. That process found its natural extension in the George Harrison and Friends benefit for the refugees and victims of strife in Bangladesh, better known as East Pakistan. 

    10 hours before the tickets were to go, over 5000 young men and women were massed around the walls of the monolithic Garden. Under the circumstances, Garden officials wisely released the tickets for sale at midnight rather than at 10 a.m. the next morning. Almost 40,000 seats were grabbed up in the following several hours. 

    When Harrison walked on stage, the audience rose as if in honor of the era for which Harrison himself was in part responsible, which had catalyzed a new culture and lifestyle, and which had passed in many senses with the passing of the Beatles as a group. Perhaps the ovation would have been even greater if not for the act which preceded it. Ravi Shankar, the sitar player and motive force behind the benefit for his own countrymen, entranced the unusually respectful crowd with his music to open the concert. His recital, as he called it, was intended to make the audience aware of the pain, aspirations, hope, and joy of his people. If he was not entirely successful, my unaccustomed ear was often unable to appreciate the various subtleties of his craft, then the film clips portraying the suffering in East Pakistan more than compensated.

     Following the films, Harrison opened the show with "Wah Wah", in my opinion, the best cut on his million-seller three-record album. To my surprise, the live performance outdid the recording. On the other hand, it may have been because Harrison had brought together one of the most impressive combinations of artists since Woodstock, and even at Woodstock, the groups played separately, not at the benefit. Harrison's friends included Ringo Starr, former Beatles drummer; Billy Preston, the redoubtable keyboard man; Eric Clapton of Cream, lead guitar fame; Leon Russell, superstar pianist and mentor of Joe Cocker; Klaus Voormann, master European bass player; Badfinger, one of Apple Records' early group discoveries, as well as a host of others. 

    The ensemble then played Stars' hit "It Don't Come Easy", which was greeted with enthusiasm equal to, if not surpassing, the greeting to Harrison's music. Preston also did a piece, as did Clapton, and Russell overwhelmed the audience with his rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash." Finally, Bob Dylan played the old ballads and songs. It was his first live performance in two years. 

    The concert ended with Harrison's recent smash hit single entitled "Bangladesh." One has to have known and loved the Beatles and everything that went with them, all the rumors, all the fads, and all the mania, to realize what 20,000 cheering fans felt at that show. One can analyze Harrison to death, his involvement with Eastern culture, his religiosity and spiritualism, or his music. But what one will conclude then just won't come close to what comes from living the music of the man, the surrounding myths and idealizations notwithstanding. 

    15 minutes after the benefit ended, we still stood clapping and cheering. The first-hand close-ups and official histories have yet to be written. The magazine and newspaper treatises have yet to see print. The commercial recording and the next album have about a week before they are to be released, and the premiere performance of the screen version has yet even to be scheduled. I only hope that the mountains of discussion, which the George Harrison and Friends benefit richly deserves, will better describe the occasion than I have. I think I got too involved.

Lennon's Next Album (1971)

 Lennon's Next Album

By Michael Watts

Melody Maker

July 31, 1971

    "Commercial without compromise." That's how John Lennon summarizes his second solo album, Imagine, out on Apple in September. Lennon, who was in Britain last week as part of a major promotional campaign to push Yoko Ono's book Grapefruit, first published in 1964, but now out in a new edition, told the MM that the record is less of a personalized diary than the last one. 

    "It's better than the last one. It's not personal like that, but the technique and recording is a bit better," he said. "I mean, the last one was a good recording and well produced, but I think I've learned a bit more. I'm a lot lighter now. I'm not in the therapy. When I made it, I was feeling just happy, fairly happy, quite in love, and having a nice time."

     The album was produced by Lennon, Ono, and Phil Spector at Lennon's Ascot home, where he has an eight-track studio, and also features George Harrison, Nikki Hopkins, Klaus Vormann, Alan White, Jim Keltner, King Curtis, and Bobby Keyes. 

The tracks on side one: "Imagine," "Crippled Inside," "Jealous Guy," "It's So Hard", and "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier, Mama. I Don't Want to Die." Side two:  "Give Me Some Truth", "Oh My Love". How Can You Sleep?" "How" and "Oh Yoko". 

    Three of the tracks have a definite political orientation: "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier," "Give Me Some Truth" and "Imagine", although that's a nice ballad. "Crippled Inside" also carries some kind of message, according to Lennon. One of the lines goes, "One thing you can't hide is when you're crippled inside." He describes it as a "double bass and a C and W and very gay."

     His first solo album took 10 days to make. This one was cut in nine. He spent a week laying down the tracks at Ascot, and then put violins on four tracks during a two-day session in New York. These tracks, incidentally, were made in quadraphonic sound, although due to the scarcity of quad equipment, only a few albums will be put out using this technique; probably for friends. 

    The album is an example of Lennon's close affinity to the New York avant-garde. He was introduced some time ago by Yoko to members of the New York-based Fluxus, a group of artists founded by George Maciunas. When he took the tapes to New York, therefore, for the overdubbing, he utilized the electronic gadgetry of one of the members, Joe Jones, who has created a Tone-Deaf Music Company. This consists basically of a collection of musical instruments and electronic inventions, which play themselves rather on the lines of what Roger Spear or Bruce Lacy have created. Lennon used a number of toy violins made by Jones for the string overdubs. 

    "You just plug them in, and they all play. We got about 40 of these in the studio, and we recorded Yoko with them, and it's just fantastic. We used each set of instruments on eight tracks, and then recorded her voice with each individual set of instruments. We can jumble all those up, and then we did a sort of live show where me and Joe Jones were on the control box playing them. It's just a far-out scene."

     Imagine, in fact, will be credited to John and the Plastic Ono Band with the Flux Fiddlers, while Yoko's new album Fly, which is being released at the same time, will be the Plastic Ono Band with the Joe Jones Tone Deaf Music Company. 

    September is going to be a busy month for the Lennons. They are hoping that a film incorporating shots of the recording sessions, the impromptu Zappa concert in New York, and the book signing event at Selfridges a fortnight ago will be shown on TV here. 

    The Edinburgh Festival will be opening too with a Lennon film, Apotheos, which was shown at Cannes. This is a 20-minute movie consisting of the slow ascent into the clouds of a gas balloon, made in England last winter. It features, as its soundtrack, the receding noises of the English countryside as the balloon rises. "Then you see a whole white vision for miles, and the dogs barking in the distance. It's beautiful," says Lennon.

    His highest hopes, cinematically speaking, however, are reserved for a film called Erection, which is made up of still photographs taken over a period of nine months of a hotel being going up opposite the BEA terminal in  London's  Comwell Road. Said Lennon, "It's fantastic. I've just seen the rushes. It's gonna be the most famous film I ever do. I think it's gonna be one of them. That'll show them."

Waiting for a cab

 

July 31, 1976DAko

Paul-mania

 July 29, 2011

John read the news today (oh boy)

 

Pete Bennett -- Promotional Man of the Year (1983)

In 1983, Billboard Magazine declared Pete Bennett to be the Promotional Man of the Year.  They had a big article about him full of photographs of everyone he promoted throughout his career and he wrote a little bit about songs he promoted.  I pulled out the Beatles related content to share with you. 

Pete Bennett:  Promoting the Music of the Stars

By Pete Bennett

Billboard Magazine

October 8, 1983

The Beatles

 "Hey Jude:" You couldn't go wrong with such a record. The name reminded me of Saint Jude, and the record was destined to be a hit with the right promotion. 

"The Ballad of John and Yoko:" Because I liked John and Yoko, this record was very special to me, and the record went all the way to the top of the charts.

 "Come Together:" This was the number one record that I believed in very much. However, the B side of the record turned out to be another A side entitled "Something." Both sides turned out to be top records.

 "Let It Be": This album and single had special meaning to me because I was present at most of the recording sessions that took place at Apple Recording Studios in London. First time I heard "Let It Be" with its reference to Mary Virgin Mother, made a deep impact on me, and I was very proud to promote the album and single to the number one position. 

"The Long and Winding Road:" This particular cut was recorded during the "Let It Be" sessions in London by the great American producer Phil Spector. Having spent numerous hours and days during the editing process, the song made a long and winding impression on me. During the editing process, everybody was eating banana sandwiches and celery. However, Phil Spector and myself decided to eat out at a regular restaurant at the hotel where we were staying.

 John Lennon

 "Give Peace a Chance:"  This was John Lennon's first release as a solo artist. It was an extremely important record for him because it was not a Beatles record. The record was important to me because I was national promotion manager for the Apple label, and John Lennon was the label's president. John wanted to know if this record would make it to number one and if I liked it. I told him that I liked the record because it was a good sing-along song. I told John to sing the song with Yoko at the concert in Toronto. The song went over very well and became a national hit within a month.

 "Imagine:"  "Imagine" was a song I first heard at Phil Spector's house in California. My instant reaction to both Phil and John, was that if properly recorded, "Imagine" and the rest of the album would skyrocket to the top of the charts. My prediction turned out to be quite accurate as a result of my commitment to John, Phil, and Yoko to make this a top record. 

Paul and Linda McCartney.

" Another Day:" This was Paul McCartney's first solo effort outside of the Beatles. This was not an easy record to promote, but it was on me to make this a hit because John Lennon already had three top singles before Paul's first solo single on Apple. The record was promoted all the way to the top.

 "My Love:" I first heard this song when a tape was shipped to me from London, and my gut feeling was that Paul McCartney did not feel that it would be a number one record. I was so excited about this record's potential that I had acetates made that were sent to every major radio station in the country. I received a call from the Eastmans asking me what I thought of the record. I told them that this was a number one record. The record went to number one.

 George Harrison.

 All Things Must Pass: From this album, George Harrison's first solo effort, "My Sweet Lord", well produced by Phil Spector, came out as a single. George felt very apprehensive about coming out as a solo artist and not as a member of the Beatles. He was very nervous and was willing to do any type of interview and promotion in order to secure a number one album and single. While in New York City, George, Phil Spector, and I were mixing the All Things Must Pass album at Media Recording Studio. After the mixing was completed, I requested 50 acetates, which would be sent to all the key radio stations across the country, on an exclusive basis, even after all this, George was still concerned about being out as a solo artist. He asked me whether he would have a number one album and single like John Lennon did. I told him number one all the way.

 Concert for Bangladesh: While promoting the concert, the album, and concert film, as I promoted the records, I gave exclusive album and concert film to every number one radio station in every big city, which was a phenomenon to the motion picture business, one which I was the first to start. 

Ringo Starr

"It Don't Come Easy" Ringo was the last of the Beatles to come as a solo artist. When Ringo sent me the record on tape for reaction, I told him I loved it. He was very concerned whether I thought it was a hit record. I replied, "Yes, we will make it a hit." So I started on my heavy promotion again. I received a call from Ringo two weeks after the release, wanting to know what was happening with it. I told Ringo that the record had gone on 50 top radio stations. Ringo couldn't believe it. Two days later, I received another call from Ringo, and I told him the record had a bullet. He started to get convinced that he had a hit record. Ringo continued calling from London every two days to find out about the record's progress. Even John Lennon started calling. We did not miss, and I promoted this record.

The lovely Maureen

Photo by Terry Doran 

 

The photo was listed as being taken in 1971, but I dont' think Maureen's hair was in this style that early in the 1970s.  I think the photo was taken in 1974.  What do you think?  

All is A-OK with Paul

 July 28, 2006