Beatles Good even when they're not

Beatles Good Even when They're Not
From KRLA the Beat

If you're a Beatles fan, there's a good chance that you almost left home on January 7, 1966.  Why? Because the following is a good example of what happened on that particular date.  In homes all across the nation, and especially in California, the number one Beatles stronghold in America.

The time was 7:30pm the scene, your living room.  The cast of character, your family.

Mom and Dad looking bored on the sofa.  Little Brother draped over a chair.  You sitting cross-legged in front of the telly.

The event?  Something you'd been waiting for all day, all month, practically forever.

The Beatles' debut on "Hullabaloo."

When you heard the familiar theme song, you started holding your breath.  But host Roger Smith was first on the bill.

You like Roger Smith.  He's a nice guy.  Cute, too.  But you seriously wondered if he would ever finish the opening number.

Finally, he finished.  and finally, the Beatles began.

George and Ringo came on the screen first.  Kidding around before the start of the frist song.  Then they were joined by Paul and John and "Day Tripper" filled the room.

But, after a line or two, a new sound was added.  Somewhere behind you, Little Brother was talking.  You turned around, aghast, "shhhhh!" you hissed.  But Little Brother does not give up easily.

"Why aren't they in color?" he hissed back.

"They just told you you why, " you snapped in a stage whisper, trying to speak and concentrate on the Beatles at the same time.  "This is a film clip from London."

That shut him down for the moment, but just as you turned your rapt attention back to the foursome, Mom piped up.

"Ringo isn't really playing the drums."  she announced.

You sigh wearily.  "I know.  They aren't really singing either."

Dad snorted, "That for sure."

"Dad" you wailed, "I mean they're lip-syncing their record!"  Then you returned to George who was flirting into the camera and flexing his long fingers as they flew about the neck of the guitar.

"Wow" you breathed. "Look at that."

"He isn't really playing," Mom reminded patiently.

"Amen," amended Dad.

"He is so," you quivered.  "You do play and sing when you lip-sync.  What I mean was that no one hears you."

"We should be so lucky," offered your little brother, but before you had a chance to throw something at him, the song was over.

Unfortunately, the conversation was not.

"Why didn't they wiggle?" inquired Mom.

"They never wiggle," you answer shocked.

"I suppose they never stomp or scream either," remarked Dad.

"No, they don't."

"That hair is terrible," continue Little Brother.  "John looks like a camel."

Well, that did it.  That's when you decided to leave home.  Right after the Beatles' second number.

All was silent in the living room until Paul was two bars into their encore.

Then Mom spoke, "What's a day tripper?"

"Mother!"

Then Dad spoke, "do not address your mother in that tone of voice."

"Please!  I'm trying to watch the Beatles!"

Then Little Brother spoke, "You're trying all right. Very."

Then when you were about to burst into tears, Mom, Dad and Little Brother burst into laughter.  And you joined them.

No one talked during the rest of the song and you made a swift and solemn promise to love John Lennon for the rest of your life.

"They aren't too bad, " Dad admitted when you snapped off the telly.  "And what-his-name, the guy at the piano.  He's funny."

You smiled fondly and decided not to start packing after all.  Those Beatles were really something, you thought to yourself.  In the short time it had taken to sing, "We can work it out" they had done exactly that  You were right.

The Beatles had once again proven why they are the most powerful and popular stars in history.  Because they are the best even when they're at their worst.

If they weren't at their worst on "Hullabaloo" they came close for several reasons.

Being live performers, they aren't used to the lip-syncing process and this caused a few mistakes.  The process was used only because the production of a sound tape would have been too expensive and too time consuming.  But after a goof, the Beatles just forged ahead and most viewers didn't even notice the error.

During "Day Tripper" the photography left a lot to be desired.  They appeared to be on two separate spliced-together films, with George and Ringo on one and Paul and John on the other.  This may have not been the case, but whatever was, in order to get all four Beatles on the screen at once, the camera had to pull back so far, it was difficult to see any of them clearly.

However, this mattered little thanks to a series of breath-taking close-ups.  The two part clip contained some of the finest footage ever shot of Paul McCartney.  He looked so adorable, he probably heard the screams all the way to London.

And George Harrison fans surly must have come apart at the seams.  He looked even more handsome than ever before.   The perfect balance of the appearance was supplied by Ringo and John.

Ringo's dead-panning and kooky antics were jolly good fun.  John's mugging into the camera was the frosting on the cake and the ice-breaker.

In some living rooms, the scene was more hectic than the one we "visited."  A Beatle fan's reaction to the foursome depends upon her degree of involvement.


If you just love the Beatles, you watched in fascination.  But if you REALLY love Paul or George or John or Ringo, there's panic intermingled with your fascination.  A panic that stems from caring about someone who's so close and so far away.

A lot of tears were shed in front of the TV sets that night.  And a lot of worried parents looked on with a mixture of amazement and concern.

John dried many of those tears and quelled a lot of fears.  His wry humor changed the mood by saying "surely you don't think we take ourselves seriously."  It also helped many parents realize that Beatlemania is not an unnatural or unhealthy thing.

That is it, instead, a perfectly natural reaction to four totally irresistible individuals.

For a group which had none of the technical elements on their side that night, the Beatles accomplished a lot.

But the most important thing they did was agree to appear.  Accepting what payment the show could afford to give us a mid-term boost and making it a little easier for us to wait until summer for the real thing.

yeah, yeah yeah

Spending a day with Beatle family in England

I decided to re-post this story for a number of reasons.   The first one being that when I originally posted it on this blog in 2009, my copy of the story was badly creased and some of the words were missing and I had to put ??? in place of the real words.   I now have found a copy that is easier to read.   The second reason is that the photo of Patty with the Harrison family has been popping up on facebook this week and no one seems to know who is in the photos or when/where it was taken, so I hope by re-posting the photos and story, it will help clear things up.  Lastly----it was originally posted over 6 years ago---and it is such a sweet story that it is worth sharing once again!

Reader spends a Day with Beatle family in England
The Beat: April 8, 1967

(Editor’s note: If you’re lucky enough, it can be done. Beatle fan, Patty Juliono spent a fantastic day at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Harrison. A surprise twosome greeted Patty inside the house and the following is Patty’s story of the day she’ll never forget. We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.)

I’ve been writing to Mrs. Harrison ever since I got her address a few years ago, and I have always gotten an answer from her. Last February I went to Paris with my father. Before I left, I wrote Mrs. Harrison a letter telling her that I was coming to Europe and if I ever came to England I would love to see her. When I got to Paris I was surprised to find a letter from her. She said she would love to see me and gave me directions on how to get to her house.



I called her the day we were going to Germany. She sounded so nice. I told her about coming to see her. I asked what would be the best day, Saturday or Sunday. She said either so I picked Sunday. I had to hang up then because we had to hurry to the airport. We had to move the meeting to Saturday because we had to leave on Sunday so we could go to Switzerland on Monday because I had to start school.

When I called she wasn’t home, so my father called later and asked her. She said it was just fine and that she was looking forward to meeting me. So on Friday, March 4, we landed in London, England. I was so excited! I couldn’t believe I was in England! All Friday we went sightseeing. I even had lunch at an English pub!

The next morning we got up at eight, had breakfast then took the bus to the London airport. We had to fly from London to Manchester and then take a train from Manchester to Warrington. When we got to Manchester, my dad decided to take a taxi to Warrington. When we got to Warrington, we had to stop at the train station so we could call Mrs. Harrison and ask how to get from her house from the station.

My dad called and when he got off the phone he had a smile on his face. I asked him why he was smiling – he didn’t say anything. What he was smiling about was that George had answered the phone and he was just thinking what would happen if I had called and George answered the phone. All the way to her house I kept saying wouldn’t it be neat if George was there.

Finally we turned down the road to Mrs. Harrison’s house. Mrs. Harrison was out in the front waiting. I got out of the taxi and gave Mrs. Harrison a box of candy I had brought her. We walked into the house. The door leading into the living room was made of glass. I looked through and saw someone sitting there. Then Mrs. Harrison opened the door and who should be sitting there but Patti --- she is so pretty in person.

Mrs. Harrison introduced us and we sat and talked. And then my dad came in and I introduced them.  Then Mr. Harrison came in and we all started talking. I asked Patti if she had gotten a lot of mean letters from girls after she had married George. She said that she got a few saying “I hate you so much.” After awhile my Dad looked up and smiled and then said, “Well, here’s our boy.” I turned around and there stood George with a big smile on his face! 

He came over and shook my hand then sat in the chair next to me. He offered everyone a cigarette –even me! I joked and started to take one. He laughed and said, “Aren’t you too young?” I never did get one.

My dad and George started to talk about Vietnam. Patti and I just sat and listened and threw in our two-cents once in awhile. Then George started talking about the police protection they get when they’re in America. He said the English police were better. He told me how he had seen policemen take kids and hit them with their clubs. He said English policemen don’t do that. 

Then Mrs. Harrison called us in for a small lunch. We had tea sausages, cheese and bread. I sat between Mrs. Harrison and Patti and George sat across from me. Mrs. Harrison showed me a scrapbook of fans from all over the world. I found a lot of pictures of kids from the United States. I even found a picture of me!

After we ate, I cleared off the table and helped Mrs. Harrison with the dishes. Then my dad suggested we take pictures before the sun went down. We took six pictures outside. After we took the pictures, George’s two brothers, Peter and Henry came with their wives and George’s little niece and nephew, Janet and Paul. We got one picture of Janet. She was very shy. We started talking about cars because George just got a new car which was out front. I think it was a GTO. George started talking about the Munster’s car.

Around five o'clock my dad said it was time to go.  I didn't want to, but we had to catch a train at 5:30.  Mr. Harrison decided to drive us to the train station. I really hated to say good-bye. George and Patti stood in the doorway holding hands. George’s brothers all shook my hand and said they enjoyed meeting me. I told Mrs. Harrison I really had a wonderful time. She was glad.

I got in the car and we drove out the driveway. I turned around and saw Mrs. Harrison standing there waving good-bye. I’ll never forget that day. I really couldn’t believe I had met one of the Beatles!

I did learn one thing about George – he is supposed to be a real good cook. His father told me. Well I still write to Mrs. Harrison and she writes to me. Maybe someday I’ll meet her again. 

The Beatles go to a party--did the exclusive party backfire?

I have posted this story before, but since it has been 50 years since the dud of a party occurred, and I found larger photos, I am re-posting it.    

From KRLA  Beat Magazine  published September 18, 1965

When Alan Livingston, president of Capitol Records tossed a Hollywood party in honor of The Beatles, during their recent stay in California, all stops were pulled to make the event – hosted by Livingston at his Hollywood Hills Home – as snotty and glamorous as they come in Tinseltown.

Crème de la crème was the guest list:  Vince Edwards and wife Kathy Kersh (they’re back together again and Mrs. Edwards is expecting), Dean Martin, Jack Benny, Bill Cosby, Polly Bergen, Haley Mills, Suzanne Pleshette, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Stewart, Rock Hudson, and Gene Barry to mention a mere few.  Press was barred and Beatle fans were kept at a distance by courteous but firm police.

From all indications the planned event had earmarks of a whale of an evening in a town that’s had more than its share of gay parties.

But something must have backfired.

 Only three Beatles attended.  George Harrison, in fact, was discovered by BEAT reporters at the Columbia Records Hollywood Studios, an interested spectator at a recording session by the Byrds.  John Lennon was observed leaving in evident boredom (see photo) before 9:30 p.m.  Around 9:45, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney followed John back to their secluded mansion on Benedict Canyon Road – or elsewhere, perhaps, to livelier happenings?

 

 

What happened?  We probably shall never know.  But we can conjecture that the boys weren’t any too happy to see fans shivering outside the Livingston house in the night chill while they had to endure the boredom inside.

 

 With the press barred, how then did the BEAT obtain these exclusive photos?  Easy.  BEAT photographer, Chuck Boyd, intrepid and resourceful, merely disguised himself as a punch bowl.   He returned empty, of course, but certainly not empty-handed.

Let's Talk with Paul

The last of the four part series of interviews with individual Beatles and Derek Taylor and Dave Hull on the beach in the Bahamas in March 1965.

Dave Hull wins the "Beatle Award"  (who gave him this award? How can I win the Beatle award?)

 

 

 

 

Let’s Talk with Paul

KRLA the Beat interview

April 21, 1965

Derek:  Paul McCartney just came down on the sands.  He probably looks the smartest of the three this morning.  He’s got on grey trousers, light blue jacket, blue checked shirt, deep take film makeup, and I think his feet are bare.  Good morning, anyway, Paul.

Paul: ‘Morning, Derek?

Derek:  How have you been?

Paul:  Well, you know, Derek, what it’s like…fine dandy, everything’s going great.  You knew I’d say that, didn’t you?

Derek:  Well, you see, I just sort of let you walk through the opening, because I don’t need to tell you what to say, and never did.  Or did I.

Paul:  No. Of course you didn’t, no.

Derek:  How many people are in this film who were in the last film besides you, Paul, besides the Beatles?

Paul:  Victor Spinetti was in the last one—he was the TV producer – and this time he’s one of the baddies.  Dick Lester and Walter Shenson, really.  I think that’ all.  The actors are all different except for Victor Spinetti.

Derek:  I don’t know whether the plot has ever been published so I don’t  want to go into tremendous detail because it would spoil things; but could you just give me a bit run-down what it’s all about?

Paul:  Yeah, it roughly people trying to get hold of Ringo’s’ ring for some reason or other, so that he can be sacrificed or something.  It’s very funny.  And they keep trying get a hold of him and get the ring and we keep trying to rescue him, etc. etc and it goes on.  It fills ninety minutes worth of screen time. 

Derek:  There are a lot of new songs.  I think in “A Hard Day’s night” there were six or seven brand new ones. How many in this one?

Paul:  There’ll be about the same – six or seven new ones.  In  actually fact I don’t’ think we’ll stick in old ones  like we did in “A Hard Day’s Night.”  I think it’s better if we got some completely new songs. 

Derek:  You mean you wouldn’t use any old ones as background music?

Paul:  I don’t think so.  We might as well --- we’ve recorded eleven new songs.

Derek:  Those are actually already on tape are they/?

Paul:  Yes, and the could all be done for the film.   What Dick Lester is going to do is pick the best seven --- the seven he likes best – or that fit best in the film.  And if we do need any background music we’ll put the others in.

Derek:  George Martin, presumably, is cooperating completely on the score ad the background and that sort of thing?

Paul: Nobody’s got round to the score yet because we’ve only just done the numbers and he’d write the score around the numbers.  Anyway we’ve only just started filming so there’s no particular panic for that. 

Derek:  No.  I think when I last saw you when I left you in December, there were no songs at all.  Is that right?

Paul:  Right.

Derek:  You must have worked pretty hard since then.

Paul:  No. Not really.   We just sort did a couple a week.  I know I wrote a couple on holiday and John wrote a couple on holiday too.  And we did a lot together.  So when we go back we have quite a bit ready.  We have about fourteen songs in all to record.  We’ve done about eleven of them  There are still one or two that we haven’t done  actually .  Might do those when we get back to England.

Derek:  It’s widely known now that a lot of the songs which bear both your names were, in fact, written by one or the other on your own, and then arranged jointly later.  Of the songs in the film, are several of them single records or have you written them alone or are they joint endeavors. 

Paul:  Well there are a couple of single efforts and couple of joint.   What normally do, though, even if I go away and write a song…normally the reason I write it on my own is ‘cause its daft to sit around waiting for the other one to came up and finish the song.  If you happen to be off on your own you might as well finish it off yourself, cause we don’t’ have words and music as you well know.   So what normally does happen is that if I get stuck on the middle of the song, I‘ll give in, knowing that when I see John he’ll finish it off for me.  And it’ll be a fifty-fifty thing.  That’s what happens even with a lot f the single efforts.  I just sort of forget about the middle eight until I see John and then say, “I need a middle eight for this one” and he says, “Right.  Okay!”

Derek:  I think “I saw her standing there” was written almost entirely by you, but John put in one word which sort of made it right.

Paul:  Yeah, that’s it.  What happened was, he took out one word, which would have made it very wrong.  The first two lines…I did it going home in a car one night, so I wasn’t really thinking too much about it.  The first two lines, originally were “she was just seventeen and she’d never been a beauty queen,” which just sounded like it rhymed to me. 

Derek:  How’d you happen to write a line like this?

Paul: You try writing a song going along in a car and, I don’t know, you sort of think of things like that.  Anyway , when I saw it the next day and played it through to John, I realized it was a useless line.  So we sat down and tried to think of another line which rhymed with “seventeen” and meant something.   We eventually got “you know what I mean,” which means nothing…completely nothing at all.

Derek:  On the other hand it’s not an embarrassing line like “beauty queen” would have been.

Paul:  No, but on the other hand it could have been a deep and sort of involved line, “you know what I mean,”  you know, seventeen year old girls….you know…..great…you see.  It’s just a Liverpool expression as it were, Derek.

Derek:  That’s what I thought, a Liverpool expression.  A lot of your songs could actually be conversation piece  Liverpool:  “She loves you, “  “I saw her Yesterday,” and that sort of thing.

Paul:  Yeah.  Actually there was some fellow in England who was thinking of doing that, speaking our songs just to use them.  Call John Junkin.  Do you know him?  He was in our last film, played “Shake” the road manager.

Derek:  Yes.

Paul:  He wanted to do a record of something like “She love You….Yeah….Yeah?”
  etc.

Derek:  Probably work, I think.

Paul:  It might do, yeah.

Derek:  But it seems to me it might be the only thing left to do now…an exploitation of Beatle material.  I would like to say that during the time I was with the Beatles I never saw any professional jealousy.  Paul came along with a song that became the “A” side, and John had one which he thought might have been the “A” side.  There was never any sort of nonsense or a back biting or jealousy.  Paul, for instance came up with “She’s a woman,” and thought it was an “A” and other people did, and then John came up with “I feel Fine,” so Paul’s “She’s a woman” went on the back.  Did you mind?

Paul:  I didn’t mind at all.   In fact, I wouldn’t have liked it to have been an “A.”  As it happened afterwards, it was quite well received.  A lot of people just thought I was singing too high.  They thought I’d picked the wrong key.

Derek:  Probably less commercial anyway.

Paul:  Yes, might have been.  I don’t know.  You get those people who come up and say, “Why did you sing it that high, you should have done it in a lower key,” because it sounds like I was screeching it.  But, ladies and gentlemen, that was on purpose, honest.   It wasn’t a mistake, honest.

Derek:  Maureen Cleve, who is a London journalist, had a very good line in the piece on the disc and when she wrote, “How can a dirty great voice like that come out of such a face?”  I think it’s often surprising that with a face like yours…sort of angelic face…the face of a delinquent choir boy, someone once said…that you have actually got many voices.  One of them you might call a “colored voice.”  That was your “colored voice” in “She’s a woman,” wasn’t it?

Paul:   No, it was my green voice.

Derek:  What would you call your anti-lovely voice?

Paul:  I don’t know…soppy, I suppose.

Derek:  Away from song writing since you’re now actor….

Paul:  Me James Cagney one, isn’t it?

Derek:  Yeah he’s playing a James Cagney face, which isn’t recording too well on tape.  Could you give us a James Cagney line?

Paul:  No.  I’m afraid not.

Derek:  Would you do us a quick imitation of any of your friends?

Paul:  Any of my friends?  I couldn’t really.  I’m not very good on these imitations.

Derek:  You don’t’ like being prompted to do it. 

Paul:  You’re right.

Derek:  I see Bob Freeman over there.

Paul:  He’s done the cover for our latest album in England.  I don’t think it was in America, was it?

Derek:  No, it wasn’t, but the disc is on sale in America.

Paul:  But they changed the cover.

Derek:  They did.  But the English disc has another name, “Beatles for Sale” and has a bonus of two numbers over and above the American album.

Paul:  That’s it, you see, better value.  Buy Britain, folks, buy Britain!

Derek:  When you come back to America you know you’re going to Hollywood again…

Paul:  Yes, see you there.

Derek:  Well, I’ll see you there if not before.  Thank you very much indeed, Paul and it’s nice to see you again.

Paul:  Okay Derek, see you.

Dave: Hi Paul.

Paul:  Hi Dave.

Dave:   the last time you were in Hollywood you appeared to be a little put out with me because of the addresses I gave out. 

Paul:  I was, yes.

Dave:  Are you still put out with me?

Paul:  Well for that, yes.

Dave:  you still think I’m a rotten guy, do you?

Paul:  No, I just didn’t like the idea, of your giving everybody’s addresses out just because if you’re trying to keep quiet ever—not that I particularly am – but if I was trying to keep quiet and you were giving the addresses out it would be a big drag, you know. 

Dave:  Really the addresses I gave were your folks’ addresses, as you know, and not your hotel.

Paul:  That doesn’t matter at all, I don’t mind.   It’s just that I know a lot of people who have sort of been cursing you  because it’s caused them a lot of inconvenience.  It’s okay, and it’s good news for you to give our addresses out, I agree.  I would probably do the same thing if I were in the same position.  But if you were in my position and other people’s position, you’d probably think the same as me giving out addresses as I thought then.  Actually it doesn’t worry me too much.  I don’t hate you or anything because of it.  In fact, we’re quite good friends.

Dave:  What about your getting around the islands here.  Have you been other places besides Nassau? Have you been jumping around the island?

Paul:  Well, we’ve been out here on Paradise Island and to Nassau and a little bit around the island location with the film.  We’ve been out to nightclubs in the town.  It’s pretty quiet here, you know.  Nobody seems to bother you.  There doesn’t seem to be  an awful lot of people actually on the island.  It’s a quiet place.  So we’re having it pretty easy.

Dave:  The people who do bother you, are they mostly Europeans or Americans?

Paul:   Mostly Americans, really.  I think mainly because the main lot of the tourists here are American.  The natives here don’t bother much.  They just sort of go out and…”Ho-ho the Beatles.”  And they have big grins on their faces.  That’s good enough for them.  But the people ask you for autographs I think mainly are Americans or Americans living here or American tourists.

Dave  Do you have many problems getting around when you’re on vacation?

Paul:  It depends on where you go.  Last time I went to Tunisia and had no problems at all.  It’s so quiet here, really.   As I was telling Derek before about the phones.  They’re cut off in Tunisia it’s ridiculous.    I mean a man from a newspaper came around when we were in Tunisia and spoke to me and everything and it didn’t get back to England.  It was ridiculous.

Dave:  You mean nothing of the material got out?

Paul: No, because all the liens were so bad.  I couldn’t speak to anyone in England.  It was a fluke if you managed to get a good line to England. 

Dave:  Isn’t it a please, though, if you’re away on vacation?  You get away…

Paul:  Yeah, right, it was this time.  I enjoyed it.   Went away for two weeks, lazed around, went to the little soukhs, which are little market places the Tunisian’s have.  In fact, this very pair of sandals was bought for one dinar.  It’s about fifteen shillings in English—I think about two dollars.

Dave:  When you go on vacation do you turn into a tourist like most tourists do?

Paul:  Yes, mainly.  Like Tunisia I did.  Sometimes you don’t.  You go to somewhere where it’s not so quiet, then you don’t really get a chance to go out and turn into a tourist.  I was completely tourist with a movie camera and snapshots.

Dave:  When you are returning to Hollywood—of course the itinerary hasn’t’ been planned yet, meticulously-but I understand you’re going to do a couple of shows in Hollywood, then you’re going to San Francisco, then you’re returning to Hollywood for a couple of days’ vacation.  Is that true?

Paul:  I think that’s true.  I’m not really sure about the itinerary myself yet, but that sounds like it.

Dave:  Were you interested in seeing Hollywood?  Remember last time you didn’t a chance to see much.   You were locked n the house and really didn’t…

Paul:  Well that was good enough really.  We saw Bel-Air and we stayed in a nice house in Bel-Air and we enjoyed ourselves.  That was good enough.  That was really all I wanted.  Like when I went to New York we saw skyscrapers.  That’s about all we wanted to see in New York.  In Hollywood we wanted to be in Bel-Air for a bit.

Dave:  When you returned, Derek told me you were impressed with the performance at in Hollywood and also that you were impressed with the other place, and that was the Red Rock Stadium in Denver.  Is that correct?

Paul:  Yes, actually we were impressed with a lot more places than that.  But we enjoyed Red Rock.  It was funny because it’s the mile-high city and the air is different a mile high.  It’s must harder to breathe.  We felt sort of drunk or something on stage.   We were sort of falling about.

Dave:  Because of the oxygen, I suppose?

Paul:  Somebody said it was that.  Sounds feasible.  Might not be true Might be we were just imagining it.  Very hard to sing.  I couldn’t get any breath.  None of us could get any breath.

Dave:  When you return to Hollywood, a great many stars, as you know, listen to KRLA…any particular stars you’re looking forward to seeing this time.  You really didn’t get a chance last time…

Paul:  We met Burt Lancaster last time and he’s a great fellow…marvelous bloke and his kids great.

Dave:  What about some of the others. Of course during the lawn party in Beverly Hills you met a lot of them.  But are you looking forward particularly to being with some particular star, this time around?

Paul: Well, I’ll tell you…I’m just like anybody else.  When I meet any stars.  I haven’t changed that much that it doesn’t impress me.  I always say, “Great” you know, seeing them in the movies or “I saw him on television” But I’m always impressed.  So it doesn’t matter, really, who I meet.

Dave:  We’re on the air at this time, broadcasting to Hollywood.  Is there anything particularly you can think of to say to the fans—the millions of fans in Hollywood and Los Angeles and Southern California?

Paul:  All I can say is—it sounds corny—but just thanks for being nice last time and wanting to come and see us.  Because it still knocks me out if people want to come and see us.  It’s great.  I don’t’ think anyone can get that blasé that they don’t care who comes to see them.  So I just like to say thanks to everybody and everybody who looked after us while we were there, and to people like Bert Lancaster who invited us over to his house.  We had a great evening.  In fact, to everybody in Hollywood who came to see us or who met us at one time or another    Even the people who didn’t meet us who brought our records.  Great.

Dave:  I want to thank you, too Paul, for taking moment to talk with us.

Paul:  Okay Dave.

Derek and Dave's turn with John

Next in the four part series from KRLA Beat Magazine is Derek Taylor and Dave Hull's interview with John Lennon.  Notice that an interview with Marueen Cleve caused some misunderstanding in America....John should have learned in 1965 to be careful what he says to that woman.  Haha1

Beatles Rumors Ended!

KRLA Beat Magazine

April 14, 1965

Derek:  John Lennon, in dark glasses, white trousers, blue Plimsolis, black socks, lilac shirt and multi-colored jacket.  Lovely to see you again, John, after about 3 months.

John:  Good to see you, Derek, in your grey shirt, blue tie, grey trousers and tweedy thing.

Derek:  How many songs have you written for the film, John?

John:  Altogether we’ve written fourteen but only seven will be in the film, Derek.

Derek:  could I have a few titles?

John:  Uh, no.

Derek:  Why?

John:  Because they don’t’ like giving title out until they’re published.  People might write songs with the same title and confuse the market. 

Derek:  How many songs were there in “A Hard Day’s Night,” how many originals?

John:  I can’t remember.  They were all originals.

Derek:  What I mean by originals was how many were created especially for the film?

John:  Oh, I don’t know how many of them were --Say eight out of ten., if it was ten.  But all of these are for the film in this one.

Derek:  Are you taking the same plans to introduce the songs naturally as part of the plot?

John:  I think it’s very easy in this film.  A lot of them are going to be behind-the-scenes, like the running the in the field in “Hard Day’s night.”

Derek:  Sort of background music?

John:  Yeah, and a lot of them are going to be just potty.  We’ve done a lot of mad stuff.

Derek:  The script, which I had a look at this morning, looks rather eccentric.  The end of the operation, I pressure is to get a different sort of film from “Hard Day’s Night.”

John:   Yeah and we’ve done it, haven’t we?

Derek:  Well, from the look at the set you have—sitting on the beach in holes in the sand and people in khaki uniforms, red sashes and red turbans---some of them carrying guns and some of them carrying shovels.  Over by the water’s edge Leo McKern, the British actor, is standing looking like a Polynesian high priest.  The whole scene is pretty wild.  John hasn’t’ been doing too much this morning.    I presume you got up later than Ringo?

John:  Ringo got up about 7:00, I got up at about 9:00, which is late for a film.  It’s early for me.

Derek:  How do you come to terms with getting up so early when normally you are late risers and late to bed?

John:  Well, we just go to bed about 12:00 every night.  We go out at 6:00 and pretend it’s 11:00 and night, and come in at 12:00, you see.

Derek:  Are you finding it fairly easy to move around in the Bahamas?

John:  Oh yeah, it’s not bad at all.  Just the usual tourists.  Aside from that it’s not bad.

Derek:  Did you have a big send-off at London Airport?

John:  Yes.  It was very big because it was a half day for the schools.  There were about eight or ten thousand there.  It was like the crowd we had when we got back from America.  It was very good.

Derek:  That’s probably the biggest send off. Well you have had huge crowds going in.  Normally you don’t get a big crowd to see you out. 

John:  No, that’s right.  That’s probably the biggest send-off we’ve had.

Derek:  The Beatlemania level in England, if you forgive the phrase, I know you don’t like the phrase, is still pretty high.  It’s very high in America, too.

John:  Good.

Derek:  When are you due back in America?

John:  I think it’s about the autumn or fall, as they call it, I think.

Derek:  There are a few other things I would like to talk to you about, John.  Like killing a few rumors.  Is it still true that you have only one child?

John:  I have the only one child and none on the way.

Derek:  There are an awful lot of rumors about you having been in Hollywood recently, with Cyn, and that wasn’t true either?

John:  No, I  haven’t been in America seen we were last there.

Derek:  When you leave here where will you be going?

John:  To England for two days and then to Austria for a week, and then back to England for the rest of the film.

Derek:  That you very much, John.  I’ll turn you over to Dave now.

Dave:  How  are you John?

John:  Fine, Dave, how are you?

Dave: How’s Cynthia?

John:  She’s great.

Dave:  Good, good.  How do you like the weather down here?  I understand you’re not too happy with it.

John:  It’s too humid for me.    It’s not bad.  It’s better than rain, I suppose.

Dave:  The weather’s quite different back in England right now.  Rather grey, isn’t it?

John:  I think they’re having a bit of snow here and there.

Dave:  What about the movie.  How do you feel about it compared to “Hard Day’s Night.”  Is it somewhat the same for you?  Are you having less work to do?

John:  So far we’ve had less to do but it’s only in the first week.  But you know, it’s okay.

Dave:  What about your part in “Hard Day’s Night.”  You know a lot of it was spontaneous.  The part in the bathtub, you recall you talked to me last time…are you doing the same here or are you sticking to the script?

John:  We’re sticking to the script until there’s an opportunity of, you know, going away form it.  We’ve done a bit that has nothing to do with the script.  Filmed little bits that the director thought might come in handy for something or other.  Whenever a situation arises we do it.

Dave:  Are you thinking of a great deal of things yourself, John?

John:  Well, we’ve hardly done anything on it.  It’s mainly been people chasing Ringo.  So far we haven’t done much at all.

Dave:  What about your new book?  “A Spaniard in the Works” is the title. It’s being published by whom?

John:  Simon & Schuster, I presume.

Dave:  They’re the ones who published your other one.  Is it almost the same as your other one?

John:  Well, it’s pretty similar, yeah.  Better, I think, because it’s developed a bit bigger.  The drawings are better and it’s longer…there’s more of it. 

Dave:  Well that’s good.  I know it will make your fans happy.   Your other one was a very successful book.  Is this one done on short stories again?

John:  Yeah, but the stories…but there are none that are really short.  They’re all about four or five pages long.

Dave:  Are these new stories or are they ones you did a long time ago?

John:  They’re brand new.

Dave:  The title is “A Spaniard in the Works.”  Now, you’ve made a play off the word spanner.

John:  Spanner is a wrench in America.  When you “put a spanner in the works” you louse everything up.  In America you say “put a wrench in the works.”

Dave:  Yes, toss a wrench in the works.  How do you use the play off words for the title of the book?

John:  It’s the title of one of the stories about a Spaniard, who gets a job in Scotland, that’s all.  I thought everybody knew the expression.  I didn’t know they had a different expression in America.

Dave:  Well, we do.  Usually we say, “don’t throw a monkey wrench in the works,” or “don’t throw a monkey wrench in the machine.”  But now we understand.  You use “a spanner” and “a Spaniard “to play off words.  It’s very clever.

John:  Thank you.

Dave:   What about sales?  The book is published?

John:  No, it’s not published yet.   Won’t come out for another month, I don’t think.   It’s finished and everything’s done.   They’re just putting it together in the publishers. 

Dave:  Did Paul get a chance to write the front?

John:  There’s no introduction on this one.  They’re thinking of putting the same introduction again exactly.  They thought it didn’t need one this time or they didn’t want one.  There were enough page as it was. 

Dave:  What about the people here?  Have you have many problems getting around the Bahamas?

John:  No, it’s not bad at all.  There are not many people here.

Dave:  What about your night life.  Are you enjoying any night life here?

John:  We’ve been to a couple of places.  They clubs aren’t sort of wild.  We wouldn’t bother normally with them but they’re the only places to go so we have to go to them.

Dave:  You and Paul and George are more or less protectors during the movie.  You’re trying to keep him from  being chased by these different people?

John:  He comes in possession of this ring and whoever wears it has to be sacrificed by this big mod that Derek described before, and we’re trying to save him and get this ring off his finger.  They’re other people trying to get it off for various reasons.  It’s very complicated.  Basically what it is is to stop him getting sacrificed. 

Dave:  John, there’s been a controversy in the States concerning one tune out of your recent “Beatles for Sale” album.  The tune was also on the “Beatles ‘65” album released in the States.  Most magazines say that it’s Paul doing the tune “Rock n Roll music” and I’ve continued to say it’s you.  Will you please straighten this out for us once and for all?

John:  It’s definitely me.  There’s only one voice on it and it’s me.   On the British album, you see, they explain who sings what exactly, and who sings the harmony.    They seem to miss it off in the American one, which is silly.   It saves all the messing.  I heard one on the radio last night who said George was singing and it was me and Paul.  There were about eight voices on it and it’s all me and Paul.  It’s mad.   They should print it on the album like they do in England and there wouldn’t be any messing.

Dave:  On these trips that take you away from your family don’t you miss Cynthia and Julian a great deal?

John:  Yeah, I miss them like mad.  I was going to bring them out here but they’d just be hanging around all the time because that’s all there is.

Dave:  You kept your son out of the press.  Has that been your own doing or is it that the press is not really interested in your son?

John:  I don’t’ know.  They want pictures, I suppose, but I’m…you know…he’s going to have enough problems as it is being my son without getting pictures in when he’s a kid.  I don’t like family pictures anyway.

Dave:  When you go away for any length of time and return, do you find he’s developed new traits that you weren’t aware of before?

John:  Oh yeah, they change all the time at that age.  He’s only two.  Mainly new words he’s learned.  Quite good fun to see what he’s learned.

Dave:  You made a statement that I understand was more a put-on than anything else.  I thought at the time it was a John Lennon put on, but most of the American press are not aware of your talent of kidding and that was when at the marriage of Ringo and Maureen when you and your wife drove up in your Rolls Royce, and you said that George had driven over on his bicycle.  You were putting on the world, weren’t you?

John:  Yeah.  Did that get around?  I didn’t know.

Dave:  Yes, it made press all across the nation.  Everybody was saying, “which was the Beatles who arrived on a bicycle?”  but he really didn’t, did he?

John:  No.  It was just a joke.  He came with me in the Rolls.  We just said it to a friend of ours, 

Maureen Cleve, on the phone and we thought she’d know.  But it was so early in the morning that she probably didn’t think.  She just wrote it down.  I forgot to apologize to her, but it’s got around the world.

Dave:  Well it was a surprise to everyone, Ringo’s marriage.  I know it wasn’t a surprise to the Beatles because I knew for some time he’s been very much in love with her.  How long as it before they really got married did they plan on it?  Actually the marriage date?

John:  I haven’t a clue.  I knew there was something in the air but I went on holiday so I was way out of touch.   Nobody was in touch.   And I just got back and they suddenly said the date is in two days’ time.  I said, right.  It was quite a shock to us, too because we knew he was going to get married but not exactly when.

Dave:  your last holiday was spent were?

John:  St. Moritz, Switzerland, skiing.

Dave:  the fact of the matter is, I saw a picture of you sitting down in the snow.  You had fallen while skiing.  Did you take your wife?  And Julian?

John:  I didn’t take Julian because he’s too young to learn to ski.  They learn about four.  I’ll take him about four.  I took my wife.  It was great.

Dave:  Was it publicity set up or did you really fall down?

John:  Well I fell down a few times but that actual photograph I couldn’t fall over.  When they waited for the fall, I kept doing it right, so the ski instructor told me I had to downhill and fall over as well.  So I did fall over.  I did fall over a lot.  Obviously everybody does. 

Dave:  Are you really a good skier?  An average skier?  How do you rate yourself?

John:  Well, both my wife and I did well because we had a private instructor, you see.  The people who were in big classes were doing the same stuff at the end of two or three weeks.  And we were going down from the tops, so I suppose we were above average.  It takes a long time if you’re in a big class of forty.  They can’t teach you properly. 

Dave:  Well, I don’t’ want to bug you anymore.  I know you ‘d like to relax for a second.  Thank you so much, John.

John:  Good to see you again, Dave.