Pepper Session

 

Conversations with John

 

Staring at George

 

George Harrison Interview (1967)

 George Harrison Interview

By Alan Walsh

Melody Maker

September 2 & September 9, 1967

    "You may think this interview is of no importance to me," said George Harrison across the table at NEMs Enterprises' Mayfair offices. You'd be wrong. It's very important. We have realized that it's up to everyone-- including the Beatles-- to spread love and understanding, to communicate this in any way we can."  George, radiant in a flowered shirt and trousers, long, flowing hair and bushy mustache lit up a dismal, wet London day by his clothes, his friendliness and the warmth of his replies. George spoke quietly but frankly about many subjects, from God to LSD, and the 90-minute conversation examined the whole existence of the most introspective Beatle.

Q: You've just returned from Haight Ashbury. What were your impressions of life there? 

George: Well, we were only in Haight Ashbury for about 30 minutes, but I did see quite a bit. We parked our limousine a block away, just to appear the same, and walked along the street for about 100 yards, half like a tourist, half like a hippie. We were trying to have a look in a few shops.

 Q: Who was with you? 

George: Pattie, her sister Jenny, a friend of Jenny's, Derek Taylor, Neil Aspinall-- our road manager, and Magic Alex, who's a friend. We walked along, and it was nice. At first, they were just saying 'Hello', and 'Can I shake your hand?' Things like that. Then more and more people arrived, and it got bigger and bigger. We walked into the park, and it just became a bit of a joke. All these people were just following us along.

 Q: One of them tried to give you. STP, I believe?

 George: They're trying to give me everything. This is a thing that I want to try and get over to people. Although we've been identified a lot with hippies, especially since all this thing about pot and LSD came out, we don't want to tell anyone else to have it, because it's something that's up to the person himself. Although it was like a key that opened the door and showed a lot of things on the other side, it's still up to people themselves what they want to do with it. 

    LSD isn't a real answer. It doesn't give you anything. It enables you to see a lot of possibilities that you may never have noticed before. But it isn't the answer. You don't just take LSD, and that's it, forever you're okay. 

    A hippie is supposed to be someone who becomes aware. You're hip if you know what's going on, but if you're really hip, you don't get involved with LSD and things like that. You see the potential that it has and the good that could come from it, but you also see that you don't really need it.

     I needed it the first time I ever had it; actually, I didn't know I'd had it. I never even heard of it. Then this is something that just hasn't been told. Everybody now knows that we've had it, but the circumstances were that somebody just shoved it in our coffee before we'd ever heard of the stuff. So we happen to have it quite unaware of the fact. 

    I don't mind telling people I've had it. I'm not embarrassed. It makes no difference, because I know that I didn't actually go out and try to get some.

 Q:  You never deliberately set out to take LSD?

 George: No, not really for me. It was a good thing, but it showed me that LSD isn't really the answer to everything. It can help you go from A to B, but when you get to B, you see C, and you see that to really get high, you have to do it straight. There are special ways of getting high without drugs -with yoga, meditation, and all those things.

    So this was the disappointing thing about LSD. In this physical world we live in, there's always duality, good and bad, black and white, yes and no. Whatever there is, there's always the opposite. There's always something equal and opposite to everything. And this is why you can't say LSD is good or it's bad, because it's good and it's bad, it's both of them, and it's neither of them, altogether, people don't consider that.

 Haight Ashbury was a bit of a shock, because although there were so many great people, really nice people, who only wanted to be friends and didn't want to impose anything or be anything, there was still the black bit, the opposite. There was the bit where people were so out of their minds trying to shove STP on me and acid. Every step I took, there was somebody trying to give me something, but I didn't want to know about that. I want to get high. And you can't get high on LSD. You can take it and take it as many times as you like, but you get to a point that you can't get any further unless you stop taking it.

     Haight, Ashbury reminded me a bit of the Bowery. There were these people just sitting around the pavement begging, saying, 'Give us some money for a blanket.' These are hypocrites. They're making fun of tourists and all that. And at the same time, they're holding their hands out, begging off them. That's what I don't like.

     I don't mind anybody dropping out of anything, but it's the imposition on somebody else. I don't like the moment you start dropping out and then begging off somebody else to help you, then it's no good. I've just realized through a lot of things that it doesn't matter what you are, as long as you work. It doesn't matter if you chop wood, as long as you chop and keep chopping, then you get what's coming to you. 

    You don't have to drop out. In fact, if you drop out, you put yourself further away from the goal of life than if you were to keep working. 

Q:  Have you any defined idea of what your goal in life is?

 George:  We've all got the same goal, whether we realize it or not, we're all striving for something which is called God, for a reunion complete. Everybody has realized at some time or another that no matter how happy they are, there's still always the unhappiness that comes with it. Everyone is a potential Jesus Christ. Really, we are all trying to get to where Jesus Christ got, and we're going to be on this world until we get there. We're all different people, and we are all doing different things in life. But that doesn't matter, because the whole point of life is to harmonize with everything, every aspect in creation. That means down to not killing the flies, eating the meat, killing people or chopping the trees down. 

Q: Can we ever get it down to this level? 

George: You can only do it if you believe in it. Everybody's a potential divine. It's just a matter of self-realization before it will all happen. The hippies are a good idea. Love, flowers, and that is great. But when you see the other half of it, it's like anything. I love all these people too, those who are honest and trying to find a bit of truth and straighten out the untruths. I'm with them 100%, but when I see the bad side of it, I'm not so happy. 

Q:  to get anywhere near what you are talking about. Do you believe you have to be a hippie or a flower person? 

George: Anybody can do it. I doubt if anyone who is a hippie or flower person feels that he is; it's only you, the press, who call us that they've always got to have some tag, if you like. I'm a hippie or a flower person. I know I'm not. I'm George Harrison, a person just like everybody else, but different to everybody else at the same time. You get to a point where you realize that it doesn't matter what people think you are. It's what you think you are yourself that matters, or what you know you are; anyone can make it. You don't have to put a flowery shirt on. 

Q: Could a bank clerk make it?

 George:  Anyone can, but they've got to have the desire. The Beatles got all the material wealth that we needed, and that was enough to show us that this thing wasn't material. We are all in the physical world. Yet we are striving for isn't physical. We all get so hung up with material, things like cars and televisions and houses, yet what they can give you is only there for a little bit, and then it's gone. 

Q:  So, did you ever reach the point where you considered getting rid of the material wealth?

 George: Yes, but now that I've got the material thing in perspective, it's okay. The whole reason I've got material things is because they were given to me as a gift. So it's not really bad that I've got it because I didn't ask for it. It was just mine. All I did was be me. All we ever had to do was just be ourselves. And it all happened. It was there, given to us all this, but then it was given to us to enable us to see that that wasn't it. There was more to it.

Q: Where do these beliefs fit in with the musical side of the Beatles? 

George: I'm a musician. I don't know why. This is a thing that I've looked back on since my birth. Many people think life is predestined. I think it is vaguely, but it's still up to you which way your life's going to go. All I've ever done is keep being me, and it's all just worked out. It just did it all ----magic. I just did it. We never planned anything. It's so obvious, because I'm a musician now, that's what I was destined to be. It's my gig. 

Q: George, can you tell me where the Beatles are musically today? What are you trying to do? 

George:  Nothing. We're not trying to do anything. This is the big joke. It's all Cosmic Joke 43. Everyone gets our records and says, 'wonder how they thought of that,' or 'wonder what they're planning next,' or whatever they say. But we don't plan anything. We don't do anything. All we do is just keep on being ourselves. It just comes out. It's the Beatles. All any of us are trying to do now is get as much peace and love as possible. Love will never be played out, because you can't play out the truth.

     Whatever I say can be taken a million different ways, depending on how screwed up the reader is, but the Beatles is just a hobby, really. It's just doing it on its own. We don't even have to think about it. The songs write themselves. It's just all works out. Everything that we're taking into our minds and trying to learn or find out, and I feel personally, it's such a lot. There's so much to get in, and yet the output coming out the back end is still so much smaller than what you're putting in; everything is relative to everything else. We know that now. So we got to a point where when people say there's nothing else you can do, we know that's only from where they are. They look up and think we can't do anymore. But when you're up there, you see you haven't started.

     Take Ravi Shankar, who's so brilliant. With pop music; the more you listen to it, the more you get to know it, the more you see through it, and the less satisfaction it gives you. Where in Indian music,  and Ravi Shankar as a person, it's exactly the opposite, because the more you're able to understand the music, the more you see there is to appreciate, the more you get back out of it. You can have just one record of Indian music and play it for the rest of your life. You'd probably never see all the subtleties in it. It's the same with Ravi Shankar. He feels as though he hasn't started, and yet he's doing so much, teaching so many people, writing film music, everything.

 Q:  Have you any idea what the Beatles will do next time you go into the recording studio?

 George: No idea. We won't know until we do it. We're naturally influenced by everything that's going on around us. If you weren't influenced, you wouldn't be able to do anything. That's all anything is-- an influence from one person to another. We'll write songs and go into the studio and record them, and we'll try and make them good. We'll make a better LP than Sgt. Pepper. But I don't know what it's going to be.

 Q: If you had a child, do you know what you would try to do as a father?

 George:  I haven't, and I can't really know what I'd do, but I do know I wouldn't let it go to school. I'm not letting fascist teachers put things into the child's head. I'd get an Indian guru to teach him, and me too. 

Q:   I believe the Beatles are thinking about making a film in which you create the visuals as well as the sound and music. 

George: Yes, we've got to the point now where we found out that if you rely on other people, things never work out. This may sound conceited, but it's not. It's just what happens. The things that we've decided ourselves and that we've gone ahead and done ourselves have always worked out right, or at least satisfactorily, whereas the moment you get involved with other people, it goes wrong. It's like a record company. You hand them the whole LP and the sleeve and everything there on a plate, all they've got to do is print it. Then all the crap starts. 'You can't have that', and 'You don't do this'. And we get so involved with trivial little things that it's all started deteriorating around us. 

    It's the same with the film. The more involved we get with film people, the less of a Beatles film tt's going to be. Take that Our World television show, we were trying to make it into a recording session and have a good time, and the BBC were trying to make it into a television show. It's a constant struggle to get ourselves across through all these other people, all hassling. 

    In the end, it'll be best if we write the music, write the visual and the script for the film, edit it, do everything ourselves, but then it's such a hell of a job that you have to get involved, and that means you can't do other things. But we'll have to get other people to do things, because we can't give that much time to just a film, because it's only a film, and there are more important things in life.

 Q: Do you think the film will come off in the near future? 

George: Yes, I think it'll probably all happen next year, sometime. 

The great and powerful Ringo

 

Magical Mystery Meet up

 

In his tunic

 

Will The Beatles Ever Die (1967)

 

Will The Beatles Ever Die?

Written By Go Magazine

Go Pop Annual '68

1968

    Shortly before Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tootled on its fifes, beat on its drums, marched around the corner, and straight into the hearts of Beatles fans all over the world. The same fans were asking the question, "Is it the end of the road for The Beatles?"

     At that time, the question was not nearly so unjustified as it might now appear; little had been heard from the acknowledged monarchs of pop for many weeks. A few stories had filtered out of London about what they were doing, but the very secrecy surrounding the four seemed to suggest all was not well. The first fearful whispers about the future of the Beatles were heard toward the end of 1966. The US tour during the fall of that year had not been the resounding success everyone had anticipated. Attendances at most of the cities they had played were lower than they had forecast, and so after they returned to England, rumors began... "The Beatles are breaking up." 

    This was quickly denied in London when the boys' management office said: "The boys are not splitting up, although they are working on individual activities at the moment. They'll be writing material for their next movie together. "

    One of the forecasts made at that time has so far been proved to been completely accurate. The forecast was that the Beatles had decided to call a halt to all concerts and personal appearance tours. What the forecast did not cover was the exact reason for this decision. Only when Sgt. Pepper arrived was the reason for this thinking made clear: the Beatles, as the world has known them, were gone. The new Beatles had arrived, and in doing so, had proved themselves to be among the number of the world's finest musicians of any era

     Sgt. Pepper showed the complexity of the Beatles' thinking, and this very complexity decreed that probably never again would they be able to capture in live performances the material they had put on record, and obviously, having reached such a level of recording perfection, they had no intention of undermining its effect by appearing on stage with three guitars and a drum kit. So Beatles fans breathed again. The kings had not abdicated. They were back, bigger and better than ever before. One could hardly have blamed the foursome had they decided to rest on their newly won laurels. Instead, they plunged into the most challenging commitment of their entire career. They decided to write, film, edit, and produce their own full-length movie suitable for screening as a television spectacular. Thus was Magical Mystery Tour born.

     Shortly before its premiere showing on Britain's National Network, The Beatles agreed to answer questions about the Tour and why they had decided to follow this path to further their career, and this is what they said.

 Q: How did Magical Mystery Tour come about? And why did you decide to handle your own production and direction? 

John: At the beginning of 1967, we realized that we wouldn't be doing any more concert tours because we couldn't reproduce on stage the type of music we started to record. So stage shows were to be out. We wanted something to replace them. Television was the obvious answer.

George: The point is, we can send a television show all over the world to be seen in countries we visited and in countries we've never played. Everyone everywhere can see Magical Mystery Tour while we're getting on with something else--- our next LP album, for instance.

 Ringo:  It was Paul's idea to make a TV show about a bus tour. He thought it up as long ago as April, when he was having a week's holiday in America. He started to work out the song "Magical Mystery Tour" on the flight back to London. Afterwards, we got down to talking about the things in detail. 

Paul: As we came close to the filming time, we realized we all had very specific ideas about the show. The best way to make sure things came out just the way we were picturing them was to direct and edit ourselves, just hiring the essential technicians to do what we wanted them to do. So if we are not satisfied with anything in the finished film, we have only ourselves to blame. 

Q: This was your first experience making a film. What were the problems? 

Paul: That was the marvelous thing....there weren't any real problems! For the first couple of days, when we set out with this big bus full of people, we took things easy, let the ice break slowly, let everyone get to know what it was all about. Things just came together after that. Of course, we weren't using the right jargon when we talked to the sound men and the camera crew, and they felt a bit strange to begin with. After a while, they got to the stage where they were as enthusiastic as the rest of us. The main thing was to get rid of all the traditional tensions and hang-ups, cut through the red tape, and get everybody interested in the whole effort. 

Q: How much of the film is truly spontaneous and unscripted? 

John: Well, from our point of view, we knew most of the scenes we wanted to include, but we bent our ideas to fit the people concerned. Once we got to know our cast, if somebody just wanted to do something we hadn't planned, they went ahead. If it worked, we kept it. There was a lovely little five-year-old girl, Nicola, on the bus. Because she was there, and because we realized she was right for it, we put in a bit where I just chatted to her and gave her a balloon. 

Q: Did any one Beatle come out as overall director?

 George: Not really, although, if you want to be exact about it, I suppose John and Paul did more in that line than Ringo and me. On location, we split the unit once or twice to do two scenes at once. Paul and Ringo went off to do a scene on the bus; John and I stayed behind to work on a separate scene. 

Q: Is it a show aimed at children or at your own fans?

 Ringo: It's aimed at the widest possible audience. There are different levels of entertainment in it. Magical Mystery Tour is for children, their grandparents, Beatle people, the lot. There are interesting things to look at and interesting things to hear. 

Q: Does this venture indicate that the Beatles want to move into film production?

Paul: If Magical Mystery Tour is successful, it means we'll use the same techniques to make the Beatles' next cinema film, and more television shows. It doesn't mean we want to direct non-Beatle films.

 Q: From the beginning to the end, how much time did the production take?

John:  Although we had an outline of ideas months in advance, all the real organization was done during the 10 days before we started the film. Filming took two weeks, apart from one or two odd extra bits we put in at the last minute. Then for the past six weeks, we've been working on the editing, sitting all day in a tiny room in Soho watching strips of film and cutting them about. Recordings were done at the same time.

     During that question-and-answer session, the Beatles gave the reasons for filming Magical Mystery Tour. They did not say when, if ever, they intended to go back into the recording studio to make a follow-up album to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Make no mistake: Magical Mystery Tour is not, and was never intended to be, a follow-up to the album of music from the show; it was simply that, and not a complete entertainment package like Sgt. Pepper.

     But then, even if the direct question had been put to them, it is a matter of conjecture as to whether they would have supplied a direct answer. As most people know, The Beatles have a very strong sense of humor, and when they do not consider the time is ripe for a straight answer, they will often offer a humorous explanation instead.

On the Bus

 

Pepper Period

 

Director Paul

 

The man with the foolish grin

 

Indian Music Press conference

 

Check out the girls in the left corner of this photo.  Are they excited to be sitting close to George Harrison or what? 

Writing Session?

 

Paul is Still Seeking (1968)

 Paul is Still Seeking, but George Has Found Great Faith

By Norrie Drummond

New Musical Express

1968

    As most people must have noticed, the Beatles have undergone a major change in the past year. The mop tops have gone and been replaced by four highly individual, creative personalities, the "yeah yeahs" and the "oohs" have given way to sitars and melotrons.

     The Beatle boots and round-collared jackets have been discarded and replaced by kaftans and beads. No longer is it news when they are seen at clubs or theaters. At last, the screams are fading away.

     To find out more about the great Beatles transformation, I visited Paul McCartney at his St John's Wood home recently. I told my taxi driver the address. "Oh, you mean where that Beatle lives?" he said. No more than half a dozen fans were waiting patiently at the massive iron gates of his house. 

    The gates were opened by his housekeeper, Mrs. Mills. ("She still hasn't given me a tune yet", says Paul), who led me into the lounge. 

    Paul's huge Old English sheepdog, Martha, bounded forward, leaped up, put both paws on my shoulder, and started chewing my tie. His three cats, Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, were crawling over each other underneath the television set.

     Paul, dressed in a green floral-pattern shirt and green slacks, sat cross-legged in a large, green velvet armchair. Mike McGear, Paul's brother, was just leaving with several kaftans over his arm. A large Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band poster was pinned to one wall. His book collection includes many works on yoga and meditation.

     At the moment, all four Beatles are on holiday, although they have been recording. "When I used to tell you we didn't know what our plans were, it was simply that we hadn't been told what we were going to be doing. Now we simply just don't know. "

    Mrs. Mills reappeared bearing cups of tea and a large cream sponge. "The only thing lined up for us is the TV show," said Paul, stirring his tea. "But we're still trying to work out the format. We've also been recording the past few nights, and our next album will probably come from the TV show."

     Anything that The Beatles now indulge in, they obviously do for love, not for money. "We can now sit back and pick and choose what we want to do. We're not going to turn out records or films just for the sake of it. We don't want to talk unless we've got something to say.

     "When you don't have to make a living, a job has a different meaning. Most people have to earn a wage to live. If you don't, you take a job to relieve the boredom, but you do something which gives you pleasure. We enjoy recording, but we want to go even farther. I would like to come up with a completely new form of music. Invent new sounds. I want to do something, but I don't really know what.

     "At the moment, I'm thinking things out. There seems to be a pause in my life right now, a time for reassessment."

    I ask Paul if he ever regarded himself as being rather like a retired man of 65, who was now only pottering around, dabbling in his favorite hobby. To a certain extent, he was inclined to agree. "I don't regard myself as having retired, but what do most people do when they retire? As you say, they become wrapped up in a hobby, either that or they find another job. I would like to do something else, but what that will be, I don't know."

     Despite the fact that three of the Beatles are married, and they are, all four of them, very different individuals, they still have that same bond of loyalty to each other that they have always had. They're still each other's best friends.

     If they are asked to do something as a group and any one of them doesn't want to take part, then the scheme is dropped. "If three of us wanted to make a film, for instance, and the fourth didn't think it was a good idea,  we'd forget about it, because the fourth person would have a very good reason for not wanting to do it."

     In the past year, Paul has become a much more introspective person. He is constantly striving to discover more about himself and about other people. What is Depression? Why do people become bored? What is the ultimate goal? These are questions to which Paul has tried to find the answers in books on meditation and lectures by men who know more about it than he does. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is playing a big part in developing the Beatles' minds. He is the man who gave them strength when they heard of Brian Epstein's tragic death.

     "I'm more tolerant now than I was, and I feel more at ease myself, but I am now less certain about many things," said Paul. "In some ways, I envy George, because he now has great faith. He seems to have found what he's been searching for. 

    "When we went to India, we were amazed. So many people living in terrible poverty-but everyone was so happy. They were always laughing and smiling, even though most of them were starving. For people in the Western world to understand why these people can be so happy is a very difficult thing.

     With John. George,and Ringo, Paul will be flying to India again shortly to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi. 

    To a certain extent, Paul's music is his greatest emotional outlet. "Ravi Shankar discovered himself through his music, and I suppose in many ways we are too."

     This is apparent in their latest albums, which feature many tracks based on personal experiences. But how far can one go with any new art form, be it music, film, or theater? Will the great general public accept it? 

    "We've never set out with the sole intention of trying to please people. It's been wonderful that so many have appreciated what we've done. We don't want to come to a point where we wave cheerio to anyone. We want to take them along with us. "

    Paul McCartney certainly is more at ease now and much more tolerant and understanding, but he's still searching for something. Whether or not he'll ever find it, I just don't know, but he is determined to somehow.

When a Beatle Had to be Carried From His Bed (1967)

 

When a Beatle Had to be Carried From His Bed

No author listed

New Musical Express

1967

    Dawn had not broken. A sleek but mud-splattered Rolls-Royce trundled from a deserted courtyard of a shuttered Spanish villa. Two figures stared silently through dark, smoked windows as the Rolls gathered speed along narrow, empty roads. They wore an odd assortment of Second World War army uniforms and listened to the unbroken Arabic wailing from radio Tangier on the car radio.

     A bizarre happening?  Not at all!

    It was just the beginning of another hectic day, shooting of the film How I Won the War for sleepy-eyed John Lennon and actor Michael Crawford. "I don't think John had ever been up that early before," joked Michael, recalling the three months they spent together in Spain filming the scenes for the film in which John goes solo.

     Grinning, Michael said, "We had to carry him from his bed to his Rolls. We had to be on the set by eight. It meant that we had to be up before six some days to be on location for eight. John didn't want any special treatment. He was just one of the boys, and he mucked in with any arrangements. But I think it was a bit of a strain for him getting up that early."

     John played Michael's army batman in Beatles filmmaker dick Lester's anti-war film. Michael believes John mentioned the film and the lyrics of  "A Day in the Life." Michael and John became good friends after meeting at the premiere of Dick Lester's award winning film, The Knack which starred Michael and Rita Tushingham. 

    Said Michael, "John and I never bothered to change out of the army uniforms at the end of the day's shooting. John's hair was very short for the part of Private Gripweed. He wore rimless glasses and a long army greatcoat. I wore knee-length khaki shorts and shirt. For my part."

     John's offbeat appearance shielded the famous Beatle from too much local publicity. "He had a fairly peaceful time," reported Michael, "but it's easy to understand how little privacy The Beatles have. When we were filming in Germany, we were mobbed all the time. I say 'we' because we were with John. We suffered the same as John. It's terrifying. John had to literally crouch down in the Rolls to avoid being seen. We never had a moment's peace when we were out. I remember we were alone by the side of a lake, like the ad for 'Players.'" laughed Michael. "We were sitting there silently when we saw some photographers skulking about in the bushes. When we were filming in Spain, the locals knew something was happening when they saw the Rolls, but we didn't have much trouble. At weekends when we were at the villa, locals sometimes sauntered through the main gates looking for John."

     John and Cynthia and Michael and his wife, Gabrielle, and young daughter Emma, shared a luxury villa owned by film tycoon Sam Spiegel on the outskirts of Almeria. Ringo, and Maureen stayed with them for six weeks. "It was a dreadful place," groaned Michael. "There was nothing to do in the evenings. John and I had a running joke about who would be the first to catch the night train to Madrid. We didn't do much in the evenings except play Monopoly and Risk. We were very tired after a day of filming, and we didn't go out much. Sometimes, Dick Lester and John had a jam session on the piano. John was always good company. He was never dull."

     Surprisingly, cricket became a favorite outdoor pastime for John and Michael, and the film team. Explains, Michael, "When there were breaks in the film, we found a hard stretch of sand and set up a wicket. John enjoyed the game and became a good bowler at the end of the filming." 

     John wrote "Strawberry Fields" and worked on another song. 

    Recalled Michael, "John shut himself in his bedroom and worked out melodies on a guitar. I heard him playing the same bar over and over again until he got the right sequence. It was marvelous listening to how a song was created. I think he was writing 'Strawberry Fields' while we were on the Spanish location. It was a very pretty tune without the technicalities of the actual record. I like the recording, but I must say I like the original treatment best."

     Michael is sure  that John used the sound of the night train to Madrid or something similar on "Strawberry Fields." Crawford smiled. "John was the first to catch the night train to Madrid. He was away two days before us."

     He paused: "But the end of the recording certainly reminded me of the last train to Madrid. John always said he was going to write a song about THAT train!"  

Hendrix and Harrison (FAKE)

 

I don't think this is a real photograph of Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison.  It looks sort of cut and paste to me.  But -- I could totally be wrong and so I thought I would post it and share it to the masses and get your thoughts. 

Joker spotter at Cavendish

 

Paul's Here! (1967)

 

Suddenly the door bursts open and other photographers dash in.  Jane keeps her eye on our man, while Mum and Paul watch the others. 

And now, bearded Mal Evans spots the camera as Paul and Jane look at the cake. 

Birthday cake, followed by photographer Howell, is brought to the table. Note that Paul spots the camera

Present were other members of the Bristol Old Vic company, as well as Beatle road manager Mal Evans and Jane's mother Mrs. Margaret Asher. That's Jane's Mum at Pau's left. 
All photos taken by Duane Howell

Paul's Here! (DB's Exclusive Coverage of Paul McCartney's Secret Visit with Jane Asher!)

No writer listed

(Teen) Datebook

July 1967

    "It's Jane's show, and I don't want to steal any of her spotlight," Paul explained to us when he slipped in and out of the US for a secret five-day stay. 

    

    But Jane's 21st birthday party almost turned into a public spectacle when Denver photographers forced their way into the restaurant. Since the damage was already done, we contacted Denver Post photographer Duane Howell and arranged for exclusive use of the photos on these pages.

     Says Duane, "I found out the party was at the Quorum Restaurant and arranged for the owner to ask if a picture was okay. They said absolutely not! So I decided to wait by the kitchen. Nobody paid much attention to me, and as the waiter took the birthday cake into the private room, I followed and started shooting like mad.

     "A few other photographers had pushed their way in through the other door and came in as the cake was presented, and about a minute and a half, McCartney's bodyguard (editor: he means road manager, Mal Evans) escorted me out the front way, I might add.

    Besides celebrating Jane's birthday, Paul managed to get in some business conferences with his American agents, then he secretly took off for San Francisco, London, and the finishing touches on the new LP.

McCartney Attends Miss Asher's Party

By Del Carner

The Denver Post

April 6, 1967

    Are Beatle Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, actress Jane Asher, getting married soon?  That was a question Wednesday night in the wake of a 21st birthday party for the actress at the Quorum Restaurant. A party attended by McCartney, who flew to this country from London earlier this week to be with her.

     No one would talk for publication, least of all the two young principals. But a reliable source who attended the party said, "It wouldn't surprise me if they got married very shortly."

     The birthday party, hosted by the actress's mother, Mrs. Margaret Asher, was for the company and cast of the Bristol Old Vic Repertory Company, which opens a three-day engagement at the Auditorium Theater Thursday night. Miss Asher plays Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, which will be performed Sunday night. She also appeared in Measure by Measure on Friday night.

     McCartney, perhaps the best looking of the Beatles, flew into town Wednesday, apparently from Dallas, where Miss Asher had spent Tuesday. McCartney came to the party sporting a coal black mustache and a double-breasted sports coat with a large yellow and black striped tie. 

    During the dinner, he sat between Miss Asher and her mother, a strong-willed woman who left no doubt in anyone's mind as to who was in charge of things. She cautioned several people not to discuss with anyone outside the room the relationship of her daughter and McCartney. On more than one occasion, she made it clear that there were to be no photographers or reporters admitted to the banquet room. 

    However, photographers from the Denver Post, Associated Press, and a London newspaper gained admittance just as Miss Asher's large birthday cake was served. The company booed and hissed the newsmen (good-naturedly, it seemed).  McCartney's unidentified bodyguard got up from the table and firmly escorted Post photographer for Duane Howell from the room.

     Miss Asher didn't appear to be upset, nor did McCartney. Both seemed to forget all about the incident once the newsman had left. Throughout the dinner, which consisted of a French vin rose wine, (Remy Dupont 1964) and chicken served in burgundy wine with wild rice.

    McCartney said very little. His conversation was low-key and centered on Miss Asher, whose long red tresses complemented her jet black cocktail dress. Among the presents Miss Asher received at the party were a large black pocketbook with a horn-rimmed handle, a brightly colored parasol, and a small single record phonograph player. 

    She also was given a large, oversized birthday card signed by the cast. The cake, decorated with 21 candles, simply said, 'Happy birthday, Dear Jane.' She also received a congratulatory telegram from Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, and Peter Asher, her brother, who is half of the Peter and Gordon rock-and-roll duo. 

    After the dinner party, the guests, led by Miss Asher and McCartney, danced in the Quorum Senate Lounge. Slight speculation in the Post on Wednesday that McCartney was in town, and rumors, which were rife throughout the day, less than a dozen teenage fans turned up at the Quorum to get a glimpse of the famed Beatle. Where McCartney is staying in Denver isn't known, but he and Miss Asher were scheduled to take a skiing trip to the mountains on Thursday.

Brian Epstein Talks about the Beatles! (1967)

 Brian Epstein Talks about the Beatles!

By Gloria Malerba

(Teen) Datebook 

July 1967

    After many futile attempts, I finally got to see Brian Epstein while he was in New York. Seeing him for the first time since the Beatles tour certainly did bring back exciting memories of my days with George, John, Ringo, Paul, Brian, Mal and the rest of the Beatle camp.

     I no longer remember the frustrations of covering such a tour, only the pleasant memories. And really found myself wishing they were going to be here again soon. So I asked Brian to please to clear up these horrible rumors about our fab Beatles breaking up-- a thought too dreadful for words! 

    Brian said, smiling, "These rumors are simply ridiculous. I asked the Beatles to say nothing on the subject, because it was all so stupid."

     Relieved. I finally noticed that Brian was certainly looking very Carnaby-mod in an A-line double breasted navy blue coat and his six inch long sideburns. 

    When I asked about the articles quoting Paul as saying that they were breaking up and each wanted to go his own way, Brian said, "Well, I think they had a very hard time last year. We visited countries to which we had never been before, Japan, the Philippines. It was very difficult for them.

     "Then, of course, on the American tour, all that business about the bigger than Jesus Christ quote certainly wasn't very pleasant. This too put them under such terrible pressure and strains, which all contributed to turning them against touring again. However, I don't think you'll ever get me or any of the Beatles to categorically state that they will never tour again.

     The tours of the past have been completely unsatisfactory, except for the financial end. And they never worry about money--they leave that to me.

     I will say, if they do tour again, and I can't see any reason why they may not, I don't think it will be in the concept that we're used to. It will be one which we will be creatively satisfying to them."

     About the Beatles next film, Brian said, "We now have a very definite idea which needs developing, but right now, there's little I can really say about it."

     Brian said the boys work very hard recording. "They work five days a week, just like everybody else, except that they work at night."

     I asked Brian to give my very best wishes and fond hellos to each of the Beatles and tell them that they would always be welcome in America.