Wings over Holland (Part 1)

 Wings over Holland

Beatles Unlimited

March/April 1976

Written by Henk Hager

 

 

Standing in the Hall

Excitement at “Beatles Unlimited” headquarters on Wednesday, March 24:  Paul McCartney and Wings were expected from Germany at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam at 17.10 hours.

By car, we (Erik and Henk) went to the airport supplied with photocameras, food, blankets, information sheets, and a pile of Beatles Unlimited issues.  At 16.30 hours we arrived at Schiphol and immediately checked when and where Paul and Co would arrive.  The monitors showed that Lufthansa flight 090 from Hamburg would indeed arrive at 17.10 hours.

The luggage would be transported on lane 1.  We went to the doors near lane 1 and found out they were locked.  So it would be possible that Paul would come through customs, walk to the right to get the luggage, and walk back to the middle and come through the middle doors.

We noticed a small group of men standing in the hall, whom we suspected to be people from the record company, but who later turned out to be bodyguards for the group.  There were also six or seven drivers dressed in black standing in the arrival hall who seemed to match the black eight-seat Mercedes limousines.

With some attentive listening and some sneaky questions, we found out that they were the drivers of the Wings company, ready to take the group to the Amtel Hotel at Amsterdam.   They had not agreed yet as far as the fastest way to the hotel.

What struck us was that there were no other fans to welcome Paul.  The Dutch Beatles Fan Club Group had directed its members to the Amstel Hotel as they thought they would get the closest look at the group there.

AT 17.06 hours the monitors stated that flight 090 from Hamburg had landed.  It would not take about 15 minutes for Paul and Co to get from the plane, through the customs, to the arrival hall.

At 17.20 we saw a large group of people coming through the customs, steeped in the light of the group we could see Paul, Linda at his side.  Paul was wearing jeans, a fur coat, and violet sunglasses and as expected he walked to luggage lane 1 and then walked back to the middle doors.  A group excited air-hostess grouped in front of the doors with flowers.  Reporters walked to the doors with cameras ready.

 

That I would be Around to See It All Come True

While Erik went to the right side of the doors, I waited a couple of steps from the doors on the left side.  The door opened and the group of people (Paul, Linda, children, Jimmy, Joe other members of the Wings-party, reporters, and people from the record company) came out. 

“Smile Joe!” I said and Joe waved toward the camera.   “Hey, we got a fan here!”  I heard someone say behind me.  It was the diminutive Jimmy McCulloch, who had walked in front of Joe, but being so small had walked underneath my camera.  “Hi Jimmy!” I said.   I took some pictures of Paul and Linda, who suddenly stopped walking and went back through the doors, into the customs hall.

It appeared they had to do a special entry from the film cameras of Veronica, who are doing a special on Paul in May. 

While they were doing this Jimmy and Joe were standing lost and forgotten on the side, waiting for the Big Boss to get to the cars.  I turned around and took another shot of them.

Paul and Linda slowly walked outside and I was walking right behind them as we walked through the sliding doors.  Outside I quickly ran around the party and took a pic of Paul as he got into the car.   I tried to get some other shots but didn’t get much of a chance.  I had to run to Erik’s car to keep in touch with the large Mercedes Paul and Linda were in.

 

Band On The Run

Erik drove the car from the parking meters in front of the car the group was in.  We suddenly realized Denny Laine was not in that car and neither of us had seen him.   We drove from the airport to the motorway to Amsterdam.  I opened the sunshine roof of the car and took some shots of the Mercedes driving about 200 metres behind us.  When we got to the Motorway our fear that the limousine would appear too fast for Erik’s little Daf seemed to come true, for hardly had we taken the way to Amsterdam when the Mercedes started overtaking us, despite a 100 kilometers speed limit in Holland.  Erik quickly opened the window at his side and took a picture of the car as it passed by.   To our surprise, this piccy turned out quite nice, for you can see Paul is smiling at us.

The Mercedes was surrounded by some other cars.  The Radio Veronica film-team, a car from the Cine-centre, a car with bodyguards, a car with people from the record company, and a second Mercedes with a middle-aged gentleman, probably some high record company executive.

To our relief the cars didn’t drive as fast as they did in the first few kilometers, so we managed to keep in touch with the rest.  Erik’s car even managed to get to 125 km, which enabled us to overtake Paul’s car but quickly slowed down again in order to let the black-eight-seater take the lead again.  For, the group was going to the Amstel Hotel, and we didn’t know which way they were going to take through Amsterdam, and we didn’t want to take the risk of getting stuck in the middle of the peak hour.

So, when we left the motorway near the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, we were quite close to THE car.  The drive through Amsterdam was quite exciting.    The driver of Paul’s car didn’t mind the 50 km speed limit, and neither did he take many notions of the red traffic lights.   We lost the car twice, but so did some of the other cars following the group, and they seemed to know which way the Mercedes was taking to the hotel.  Erik had the greatest trouble keeping up with the speed of the others, but he kept in touch and managed to avoid a collision twice.

Near a road block, the car stopped for traffic lights and Erik said, “Attention, we’re almost there!”   And indeed, just past the road block the car took a quick turn to the right where a group of fans was waiting in front of the hotel.  Erik stopped the car and I ran out to the hotel.

 

I am Your Singer

“Hello, how are you,” shouted Paul, waving to the fans.  I couldn’t get to his side of the car, so I waited on the other side where Jimmy got out.  “Jimmy, one more picture please,” I said and he waved to the camera again.  Hardly anybody noticed him for everyone was staring at Paul and Linda.  Paul didn’t give any autographs but quickly went into the hotel, leaving the group of about 50 disappointed fans.  

After a few minutes, I saw a man with a familiar face pushing a yellow car, just 20 meters from the hotel.   It was Denny Laine, who had come in a second car with his wife and the rest of the band.  In the consternation of Paul’s arrival, the people of the Cine-centre had left their car in the middle of the street leading to the entrance of the hotel.  Therefore, Denny’s car had to stop on the corner, and they all had to walk the last few metres to the hotel.  Denny was just fooling around a bit, pushing the car, and when the fans noticed him, he was besieged by fans asking for autographs.

Denny took his time giving autographs unlike Paul and the others.  Throughout Wings visit, it would appear that Denny is enjoying his membership with Wings very much while remaining as normal as you can expect.  Not the airs of a pop-star, but an ordinary nice singer in a rock n roll band.

 

I Feel Like Letting Go

We left the hotel at about 18.45 to get something to eat and when we got back at 19.30 the people that had been waiting there since Paul’s arrival told us that Jimmy and Joe had left in the meantime in one of the limousines. 

Paul’s bodyguard Koos had told us that Paul was planning to go out for the night, probably to a concert.  The nightporter of the hotel told us that Paul would be leaving at about eight.  And at 19.50 hours, Paul, Linda, and Heather came out.  The small group of fans waited eagerly at the bottom of the stairs.  I walked to the side to take a shot of the three of them coming down the stairs, pushed, and….my flashlight didn’t work!!!   “Shit!” I said.  “Ooooooh, shit, shame on you,” Paul and Linda said.   They gave some autographs and left accompanied by Koos.  Destination:  probably the Rory Gallagher concert at the Jaap Eden Hall in Amsterdam.   That is what at least what we thought at the time.   It turned out they went to see Neil Young at the Ahoy Sports Palace in Rotterdam, where they were to play the next night.

We went away again to have some coffee at Har van Fulpen’s place discussing some Beatles matters.  On the way back we bought some bottles of Bols Old Genever (Dutch Gin) to give to the group (Erik paid).

When we got back to the hotel the nightporter told us Denny Laine had ordered a taxi.  A few minutes later Denny and his wife came out.  I asked him for an autograph, hoping Erik would take a good photo of the two of us.  Alas, only Denny is in the picture, together with my hand.  They left by taxi, waving at us.

Who’s that Coming Round That Corner

In the meantime, we were the only people waiting at the hotel.  It started raining so we went to sit in the car for a while.   At about eleven o’clock, two girls arrived at the hotel.  They were carrying rucksacks and handbags and looked very worn out.  They turned out to be Sheila from England and Madeleine from the States.  They were following Wings on the entire European tour.  They had seen the two concerts in Copenhagen on Saturday and Sunday and the Berlin gig on Tuesday.  On Friday they would be leaving for Paris to see the last concert on Saturday.  They knew most people of the Wings company and were able to tell some things about the other concerts.

We waited for some time keeping ourselves warm with some rum (Erik had cola). 

At last at a quarter past one Denny arrived by taxi looking quite happy.  I gave him a bottle of Bols saying “We’ve got a present for you Denny.”   “Ah, genuine Bols, thank you very much,” he said.  Then he signed the Wings ad on the back of Beatles Unlimited issue 1:  Thankx Hankx for the Gin, Denny Laine.

Hardly had he finished his autograph when one of the black limousines drove around the corner.  I left Denny standing there with my mag, leaving Erik to take the mag over.  I rushed to the Daf to get another bottle of Bols.  By mistake, I took a bottle with a damaged label, which we had planned to give to Jimmy or Joe (silly, but it’s true). 

This damaged label would help me to recognize the bottle later on a picture of Paul on the cover of the Rolling Stone….no sorry, Muziekkrant Oor.   Paul and Linda (with Heather) had gotten out of the car and walked to the entrance.   I walked up to them and gave Paul the bottle saying, “Hi Paul, we’ve bought you a present.”  “Hmmmm Bols, thank you!”  “You’ll share with Linda, won’t you?”  “Hmmmm….” He said signing the ad on the mag Erik had given to me in the meantime.  He handed it over to Linda and started talking to the two girls, “Hi foreign aliens, what are you doing here?”

Linda meanwhile signing the mag said, “Hey that’s from Junior’s Farm, isn’t it?”  “Yes,” I said.  “It’s from the ad from the Melody Maker.”  They went inside with Paul saying “Goodnight.”

They talked in the lobby for a few minutes and then went upstairs to their rooms.   It must have been room 14, 15, or 16 (that’s what the staff said), anyway, it was the corner room on the street side, first floor.  The reason they came home so late from the concert which must have ended somewhere around eleven, was that they went to dinner at the Dreyselhoek Restaurant at Opmeer, somewhere between Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

 

Wino Junko Can’t Say No

At about two Brian Brolly (manager) arrived with Henry Audier (Dutch EMI) and they told us Paul was already back (which we knew of course).   For the 3^rd time that night, we started a discussion with a waiter at the hotel, who couldn’t understand why we waited at the hotel.  WE waited when at last Jimmy and Joe arrived at a quarter to three, together with some members of the band and some girls who apparently were not in their company when they left.

Joe walked right up to the door, but I managed to give Jimmy a bottle.  “Well, that’s going to come in very handy!” he said looking through his violet sunglasses (at a quarter to three in the morning in the rain).  He signed the mag with the message “Best wishes Hank, Jimmy McCulloch” signing it right through Linda’s autograph, but let’s not blame him, he seemed to be in a certain state.  

While Shelia and Madeleine talked to Thaddeus Richard we went to the car to our “night accommodations” at Ja van de Bunt’s house.  Joe’s bottle of Bols is still standing in our office.  “If you want it, here is, come and get it.”

 

Interview with Billy Preston

 

The Get Back film has brought Billy Preston back into the spotlight again.  Billy was an amazing musician and person.   He always seems like a happy man with a wonderful smile, great fashion, and someone that tried to spread peace, love, and kindness to everyone.    And obviously, he had a big amount of talent -- his keyboard playing is great beyond words.  I spotted this interview with him from 1985 with Beatles Unlimited and thought it was interesting.   

Interview with Billy Preston

By Mees Van Ditzhuyzen

Beatles Unlimited

August 1985

Billy Preston is always a welcome guest on the European continent.  He manages to hop over quite regularly to do some concerts or promote a new record.  IN May Preston visited the Netherlands to sing his new single “Here There and Everywhere” on a few TV programs and do some live shows in discotheques.  A good opportunity for us to have a talk with probably the only man to work closely with both Beatles and Stones.  The interview took play on 14 May 1985 at “De Bios” in Amsterdam.  Special thanks go to Indisc Records for their kind cooperation and to Arthur Mathezing for his editorial assistance.

 

Q:  First a few questions about your cooperation with The Beatles.  Was the first time you met them in Hamburg?

B:  I met them a little bit earlier than that, in Liverpool, probably a week before Hamburg.  They were on a show with Little Richard and Sam Cooke and that’s who I was touring with.  We became friends because they would always come up to me and ask me about Little Richard and Sam and America and everything.

Q:  Did you lose sight of them for all those years until 1968 or 1969?

B:  No, I ran into them again in L.A. when they first came there, on their first trip to America, and I saw them in San Francisco, and we hung out and I went to the Cow Palace concert with them.  Then I didn’t see them anymore until 1969 when I was in London with Ray Charles.  He was doing a concert at the Festival Hall and George Harrison was in the audience.  He didn’t know I was in the show and kept wondering if it was me.  He sent a message backstage for me to call Apple the next day.  I did and he invited me over.  When I went down to the studio they were recording and asked me to sit in.

 

Q:  Up until then you had made some records with organ instrumentals for Capitol, so you had to change labels.

B:  Yes.  That happened overnight.  They asked me if I wanted to be on Apple and I said that I did but that I was on Capitol.  The next day they said, “You are now on Apple.”

Q:  What that, your music changed as well.

B:  That was the first time I had a chance to sing and to do my own songs that I had written.  It was a great outlet for me.

Q:  There is a story that George Harrison wrote “What is Life”, especially for you but that in the end, he recorded it himself.

B:  You mean “My Sweet Lord?”

Q:  No, it’s on the same album.

B:  He never told me that.  We did kind of help him with “My Sweet Lord.”  It originated in a dressing room.  We were on a tour with Delaney and Bonnie and they asked me how to write a gospel song.  So I started playing some gospel changes and that’s how the song became a song.

Q:  No influence from “He’s so Fine?”

B:  No.

Q:  You’ve played with the Stones for six or seven years, and with several Beatles on a couple of albums.  Yet there’s a lot of influence from the Beatles:  covers, a tribute on your latest album.  But I don’t see any influence from the Stones.

B:  That may be on the next album.  I’ll get around to all of them, they’ve all been an influence to me.  The tribute was to thank them for giving me the opportunity.

Q:  What was touring with the Stones like?

B:  Oh, it was fun.  Wild times, all the time.

Q:  People were surprised you played with the Stones.  After all their lifestyle was very different from yours.

B:  Yes, very much so.  But it was exciting for both of us.  The first time they ever played in the key of E Flat was when they played my song “Outa Space” They were thrilled because of that.  When I did that song in the show and started dancing, Mick Jagger would come out and chase me around the stage and he had a thing he used to swing over the audience.

Q:  Are you still in contact with the Stones?

B: I haven’t seen them lately, because I’ve been busy working on my own stuff.  I had to kind of shy away from being with them sometimes because they took up a lot of time, and I had my own career.

Q:  You played with the Beatles on a few McCartney songs and after that, you played with John, George, and Ringo on their solo albums.  But you never played with Paul.

B:  Paul was always in Europe, and I didn’t have a chance to catch up with him.  The last time I saw him was at a Stones concert, but we said we’d get together, but in practice, it’s very hard.

Q:  Still he did invite a lot of superstars for “Broadstreet.”

B:  A lot of times they just don’t know where I am.  Ringo thought I lived in New York.

Q:  Speaking of superstars:  you weren’t involved in the USA for Africa project.

B:  I was over in Europe when they recorded that, so I missed out on that.  But I just did something similar with all the stars who were born in Texas, Charlie Pride, and a lot of football players.  It’s also a tribute for Africa, but it hasn’t been released yet.

Q:  You worked with Syreeta a lot, but you’re not on their latest album.

B:  My sweetheart, she’s great.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it this trip because she’s recording right now.  Her latest album is a solo album.  We’d like to do something together again, but at the moment we are both trying to get our careers going.  Sometimes when you do too much together people think that you are a permanent due.

Q:  Stairsteps, an old George Harrison group, have a lot of musicians on your albums.

B:  The group was great.  I saw them years ago when I first went to New York to the Apollo Theater.  They were little kids then.  I ran into them a little while later and they’d broken up and quit the business.  I got them together again, introduced them to George and he encouraged them to do an album, which I co-produced for them.  A couple of them are still playing today, making disco records.

Q:  And then of course there’s Ray Charles, the man who started it all.

B:  Ys, that’s my idol, man.  We have plans to do something together, but again the schedules are so hard to work out.  But as soon as possible we’ll get together.

Q:  On your more recent albums there were no superstars  There was a trend for a while to invite a whole lot of guests on albums.  For instance, you have worked with Stevie Wonder, Joe Walsh, the Crusaders…

B:  I will do something like that eventually, but on my latest album I concentrated on doing most of it myself.  With the synthesizer and everything, you don’t really need a whole lot of musicians.

Q:  Do you have any idea how many records you’ve made?

B:  I’ve been recording since I was 16, and I’m 38 now.  So maybe an album a year.

Q:  You were with A & M Records for a long time, then things were a bit messy:  Motown Records, Mirror Records, two gospel LPs.  Why was all that?

B:  I had been with A & M for 7 years which is a long time.  It ended because it seemed they had done as much as they could do and that we couldn’t get any further.  Sometimes it’s good to change because I work with a lot of different audiences, and that gives me a variety of things to play, and sometimes it’s hard to be pinned down.  Some people don’t work together unless they’re on the same label, and you have to look for the right combination of people, and someone who will back your records, things like that.

Q:  Did Motown give you an entrance to all the Motown stars?

B:  They worked pretty much together as a team, but it was hard for me to be an individual in that type of situation because I never worked that way.  I did try, but it didn’t work.  I had to move on.

Q:  Will your new album have only your own songs or will there be covers?

B:  Most of them I’m writing together with other writers, mostly lyricists.  I write all the music, and sometimes I have an idea, a verse, a chorus, or something like that and I have them finish it with me.  There’s about three songwriters I work with pretty regularly  One is Ralph Benatar, and there’s a lady, Sylvia Smith, who’s another good lyricist to work with, and there’s Bruce Fisher.

Q:  Do you have any plans for more film music?  You were involved in “Fast Break.”

B:  Yes, we did a film called “Blame it on the Night,” but I don’t know when it’s going to be released.  It’s a kind of rock n roll film.  Mick Jagger had some time to do with it, writing the screenplay or something.  And I make a cameo appearance in it.

Q:  Do you think you attract different audiences, doing gospel music on one end and disco on the other?

B:  I don’t know.  I like music.  Period.  Different people like different kinds of music, but I’ve been blessed to play all kinds, and I like playing classical music as much as playing reggae or anything else.

Q:  Classical music?  Any favorite composer?

B:  Rachmaninov.  My first classical piece was by him.  I have a song called “Minuet For Me” on one of the albums for A & M.

Q:  Does your involvement in gospel music mean that you’re religious, and how do religion and play with the Stones go together, with their rather rough reputation?

B:  They’re very sweet people, underneath the image. I asked them why everyone thinks they’re devils, and they said “We just let it happen.  That’s our publicity, that’s what made us famous.”  They are really nice guys, but I always preach to them.  I believe in God.   I believe that everything that happened for me has been a blessing from God because I never auditioned or sought fame or anything like that.

Q:  Did you have discussions with George Harrison about religion?

B:  Yes, he shared Krishna with me.  In fact, in his studio, he has a picture of Jesus, one of Krishna, of Buddha, everybody.  He’s sharing his beliefs with me.  Not that I’m going to cut my hair and shout “Hare Krishna” all day long.

Q:  Is there another life next to music?

B:  No.  Music is my life.  I’ve been playing since I was three years old.  I never worked at any other job, I don’t know anything else but music.

 

George does not like punk or disco - visit to Brazil

 

George Harrison in Brazil ‘79

Beatles Unlimited

March/April 1979

 George was the first of the Beatles to come to Brazil.  The reason for his trip was the Formula One Race that took place at Interlagos, Sao Paulo. 

 

The Arrival:  Since early in the morning of January 31, 1979, the Rio’s International Airport Galeao was taken by hundreds of people of all ages, who waited impatiently for the ex-Beatle George Harrison (rumored to arrive at 7:45a.m.), but the Concorde didn’t land in Rio until 4pm.  George, who arrived through the main gates of the airport, accompanied by his pal Jackie Stewart, got frightened by what he saw.  At first, he did not understand what it was all about.  The screaming girls crying his name and the constant blinding lights of the flashbulbs in his direction were enough for him to try and “escape.”  The police had to interfere in order to calm the place down so that George would be able to get into a waiting car.  “Never thought I was famous here,” declared George later to the press.  He stayed in Rio one day at an unknown place (said to be the house of the millionaire Jorge Guinle).  The next morning George set out for Sao Paulo where he stayed at the Hilton Hotel.  Soon people found this out and surrounded the entrance of the hotel equipped with their cameras in hope to catch a glimpse of George.

 

The Visit:  George’s intention was to remain unnoticed, going along with the arrangements at the Boxes of the cars in peace, but instead, he spent most part of the time running away from the fans (which he is very good at) and the photographers, who could not let him alone.  He said, “You should photograph the cars.  They are more important than I am.”  However, George did give his autograph to many who asked him.  Back in Rio, Harrison gave two collective interviews.  One to Globe Television and one to the Manchete magazine.  He also talked to many D.J’s including pressmen from Bandeirantes Radio Station and Cidade.  Always very polite, he answered all the questions and posed for photos.  He talked about many things:  Beatles, religion, sports, his previous records, music in general (he said he hated Punk), his involvement with Formula One, and the song “Faster” that he wrote, dedicated to Ronnie Petterson.  He said he liked Brazil very much and intends to come back in 1980. 

 

The following answers George gave at several press conferences during his stay in Brazil.  The interviews were transcribed by Erik M. Bakker and edited by Evert Vermeer.

Q:  The 60s, do they still mean anything?

G:  Well they are past aren’t they?  What is left is in the history books and from what we’ve learned and if we learned anything from it, it means something.  If we haven’t, it is best to forget them.  There were quite happy times and turbulent times, a lot of wars, a lot of change.

Q:  Is anything left of these changes?

G:  Yes.  I think so.  For a start, it made some young people, and older people as well, more conscious of the fact that you don’t have to be particularly limited in your ideas.  It opened up ideas like everybody is asking me about Indian music or Indian philosophy.  15 years ago at the beginning of the 60s, people would think you were a freak if you did yoga exercises.  But now a huge percentage of the world does yoga exercises.  I think the 60s did help to broaden understanding.  You know, when someone liked long hair or didn’t wear a tie, people used to think they were broken.  One thing was a disappointment.  At the end of the 60s, beginning of the 70s, the idea of “All you need is love,”; which was a good idea disappeared and it all got back into disco music and music for idiots.  People started fighting again and all that.  So I hope maybe the 80s may bring back “start planting flowers” again and having a bit more love really.

Q:  Do you think there ever will be any group which will substitute the Beatles?

G:  Well, there may be groups that can sell as many records.  But the Beatles were unique because of the four personalities.  “The Beatles” was bigger than the four people separately.  There is always someone like Sinatra and Elvis and the Beatles, and maybe somewhere down the line there will be something bigger, but not now.   Not like the Bee Gees, they make good records but they don’t’ have whatever it was the Beatles had.

 

Q:  Are there any unreleased tracks by the Beatles?

G:  “Not Guilty” is on the new album, actually.  I wrote that song for the White Album in 1967 and I forgot all about it.  I remembered it last year and we re-recorded it and it’s really nice, it is good, sort of jazzy.

 

Q:  Which one of your songs do you like best?

G:  I don’t know, whichever you like best, is the best for me.  “Something” was good for me because it had about 150 cover versions.  It is nice if other people make recordings of your songs.  But there are some other songs that are better.  There is a song on the last album I  think was as good as “Something,”  “Learning How to Love You.”  And there is a song on the new album, “Your Love is Forever,” which is as good as “Something.”  But it might not be as popular because it was The Beatles who made “Something.”

Q:  We heard your latest record is dedicated to races?

G:  Only one song out of the ten songs.  One song is about my wife, one song is about the moon.  But all songs are about different things, and well, there is one song about races, because when I went to the races all the time, everybody kept asking me “are you going to write a song about it?”  and so, in the end, I thought I’d better write a song.  It took me 6 months thinking how do I start because I just didn’t want to write about engines and wheels and noises.  So I had to think of a way of approaching which had some meaning.  It’s called “Faster” and I think the words are good because it is abstract, it is not about one person.  It could be about anybody and not just about cars and engines.  It is about the circus around it you know, and the feelings people have and the jealousy, all that sort of things.  The song really was inspired by Jackie Stewart and Nikki Lauda, and I got the title from a book Jackie had written back in 1973.

 

Q:  What is your opinion of Brazilian music?

G:  You know, I like the more wild music.  I don’t mean noise or discotheque.  More original music.  If Warner Brothers have any good Brazilian music in their catalogue, I’ll take them home with me and study them.  You know, in Europe, for 150 or 100 years it was very popular to do the rumba, samba and that sort of thing, so in broad contents, everybody is aware of Brazilian music, conga drumming, that type of thing.  But I must say I’m very ignorant when it comes down to more specific things.

Q:  Do you think disco music as a relation to Brazilian music?

G:  No, no.  Disc music is a result of people who are very determined of making a lot of money.  It’s like a recipe.  When you want to cook something, you just follow the instructions.  If you want to make a disco hit, just follow the instructions, you have the bass drum, the cymbal, the violin going and that’s called disco.  Rubbish!

Q:  What about Punk music?

G:  Rubbish, total rubbish.  Listen to the early Beatles records.  They were simple too, but it still had much more depth and meaning.  It was innocent or trivial, but it still had more meaning than Punk music which is destructive, aggressive.

Q:  Did you have any more problems with “My Sweet Lord” lately?

G:  Well, in America it’s all become a complete joke because the man who wrote the song “He’s So Fine.”  They were suing me about, died years ago and the company was taken over by his accountants, who were suing me for all this money.  What happened was that we were going to court and the judge told them, there was no way that I copied that song, but because of the similarity, we must talk about a compensation.  Then the mother of the songwriter starting suing her own company who was suing me.  And then, Allen Klein, who used to be the Beatles’ manager that we got rid of (Klein had been suing us for years and then we made a settlement), and he was unhappy having no lawsuits again the Beatles.  So when that man died, he bought the case. So it’s Klein against me.  But Klein was the one who was promoting “My Sweet Lord” so it is a very funny position and the judge doesn't like it.  Ten years ago, Klein did interviews saying that MSL had nothing to do with this other song.  And now it’s the other way round just to get some money off me.  So, it is just a joke, but for a few years, it made me depressed.  Having to go to court and do these things, it’s terrible.  It’s a pain in the ass.

August 1976

Paul, Linda and Heather walking from the printer back to the car.  Photo by Jan Slagt

 

Paul and Mary inside the printing room.  Photo by Jan Slagt

August 1976

By Erik M. Bakker and Henk Hager

(Beatles) Unlimited

September/October 1976

Monday, August 16 (1976) Erik got a phone call from Annemieke van Fulpen, wife of the chairman of the Dutch Beatles Fan Club.  She told him that she just had heard the news that Paul and Linda were coming to Holland to visit a printer at Deventer, where the book Linda's Pictures was printed.   The first thing Erik did was contact bodyguard/driver Jan Slagt who was reluctant in confirming the news, but finally admitted it was true, but stressed that all people concerned with the visit had strict orders not to disclose anything about this visit.  Strange, as a day later the visit was announced in a Deventer newspaper. 

But to keep good friends with Jan (and Paul and Linda) it was decided we would not "tail" them on this visit.  Jan promised to shoot some pix if possible and try to remember details for later. 

The next thing Erik did was rush to Henk's place to put a parcel together with some magazines, stickers, Bole gin and a letter.  Erik delivered it at the Slagt residence, where he arranged to return on September 2 to hear Jan's story:

Paul, Linda and the Kids arrived on August 19 at Schiphol Airport, a day later than expected.  They arrived straight from their Scottish farm where they had rested after their USA tour.  Paul told Jan he had not expected to see him again so soon after the Wings visit in March.  Paul decided to go straight to Deventer.  Linda was very anxious to see the first test prints of her book.

At Deventer they first looked around the printing rooms where the presses had just started rolling, printing the first page of the book.  They were presented with some expensive books on famous Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Van Gogh, in which Linda showed great interest. 

After that, they went on their way back to Amsterdam.  Linda told excitedly about their farm and their eight horses.  Then Paul asked if the radio could be turned on.  It was Thursday between 7 and 8 p.m. and Jan Slagt turned on Hilversum 3, the Dutch pop station.  And which program was on?  The Beatles Story!  In this show, the Manilla incident of 1966 was discussed.  Heather was listening and asked Paul if it was all true.  Paul said it was true, but that none of the Beatles got hurt.  Everybody was listening attentively to the program.  When it was over Paul said it had been very interesting. 

In Amsterdam, they drove to the house that allegedly belongs to Ringo, though Ringo claims it is not his.  As far as we know it belongs to a close friend of Ringo.  Anyway, Paul had heard the story from Jan in March and had asked Ringo if the family could stay there on this visit. Ringo, of course, agreed and had even taken the keys to Scottland and given information about the house.

After they got to the house they did some shopping.  The shop servants were looking at each other with looks of "are they or are they not?"  They bought some fruit and vegetables and went back to the house.  Later that night they did a short tour of the city

The next morning they also did a short tour of Amsterdam.  After that, they went back to Schiphol.  On the way, while Jan had to wait for traffic lights Paul and Linda saw old Dutch tiles on some houses.  They were delighted about them and decided next time they would like to buy some for their farm.  At 1:30 p.m. they left for London again. 

A House Hippie on Tour

 

Richard Dilello is someone that I have always found to be an interesting person in the Beatles history.   Besides his book (which I have always had a difficult time reading) and his mid-1970s Beatles convention appearances, Richard has basically disappeared from The Beatles world.   This interview was conducted in 1976.  

A House Hippie On Tour

And Interview by Evert Vermeer/Erik M. Bakker

(Beatles) Unlimited

September / October 1976

 

During the Seattle FWCBF Convention, we made acquaintance with Richard Dilello, writer of the book The Longest Cocktail Party, on the cover of which he is referred to as “Former house hippie” of Apple.

BU:  The burning question arises, what is a house hippie?

RD:  My function with Apple was in the press – and publication office.  I was originally hired to take care of the press-cuttings on the Beatles and the other Apple recording artists.  Then my function extended to other things, to keep the tea-cups filled, to keep the drink cabinet filled and to roll marijuana cigarettes and more of those tasks.

BU:  How did you come to Apple?  Did you know anyone in the Beatles business before?

RD:  Yes, I did.  I knew The Beatles publicity officer, Derek Taylor.  And I went to him in the summer of 1968, saying “Derek, I need a job and I would like to stay in England very much and can you help me? So Derek said “I will try” and he did.  He went ahead and he got me working.  He gave me a salary job.

BU:  Did you like The Beatles music at that time?

RD:  Yes, I love The Beatles very much and I was a very big fan of theirs and I still am.

BU:  Yesterday you mentioned Jimmie Nichol in your lecture.  What do you know about him?

RD:  What I mentioned about him was that the Beatles always asked him how he was and how things were going and his reply was “It’s getting better, yes, I’ve got to admit, it’s getting better, yes, it’s getting better all the time.”  And that line became a very famous song.  I don’t know what became of Jimmie, though.

BU:  Whenever The Beatles were in their offices, what did they do?

RD:  They would have conferences, John and Yoko mostly did a lot of talking with the press.  They would review their financial status and take care of their social life and see about paying bills and that kid of things.

BU:  Did all The Beatles have their own officers?

RD:  Yes, each Beatle had his own office for a while.

BU:  What was your opinion about Allen Klein?

RD:  I did not like Allen Klein very much.  I didn’t think he would make a good business manager for them. I thought he was a dishonest person and it would seem to be that a lot of people agreed with that.  I remember George Harrison saying to me once that he thought Klein was the greatest and was really going to open things up for the Beatles and the terrible things people said about him was just not true. 

BU:  some of the wives of The Beatles used to pop around.

RD:  Very infrequently, at least Maureen Starr and Patti Harrison stayed out of the limelight.  We know about Yoko and Linda, they loved to be photographed and loved to be seen and they were not at all shy and retiring.

BU:  What about Badfinger?

RD:  They have broken up.  Joey Molland has a group called Natural Gas and Tom Evans also has his own group.  As you know, Pete Ham died.  He was in a depressed state of mind, not really because of the last unsuccessful tour of the States, as you say here.  IT was more due to the fact that they had made so much money and were ripped off by their managers.

BU:  How was your reaction on Mal Evans’ death?

RD:  I was only momentarily shocked.  It just seemed a very bizarre and sad kind of thing to happen, and totally unnecessary.  I could not understand how a 40-year-old man could become so depressed over circumstances which I would consider to be inconsequential and too unimportant to allow your life to be ruined I mean, it was nice to work for The Beatles but to have your whole life affected by that afterward, have your whole vision so limited of what the world is.  There is more to like than The Beatles and that whole scene.  I remember somebody asking Mal Evans about Pete Ham’s death at a Beatles Convention last year in New York and Mal said “I can’t understand why anybody should want to kill himself.”  I wanted to ask him how he could say something to unfeeling, as it was Mal who took Badfinger to Apple and had so much influence on them.  Two months later Mal was dead, more or less by a sort of suicide as well.

BU:  Did you know any of The Beatles reactions?

RD:  No one attended the memorial services and I didn’t see anybody’s reaction in any paper.  They probably just said, “That’s too bad.” 

 

 

This interview was made on Sunday, July 18, 1976.  Seeing that we “borrowed” some of his photographs for the Apple Story in our last issue, Richard had not given us permission to use them as yet.  We will hear from his attorney as soon as he has found one.

After Richard “left” Apple, he wrote his book which took him 4 months from December 26, 1970, to April 1971.  At the moment he lives in L.A. and he is a photographer, especially for record sleeves. 

BU would like to thank Richard very much for the opportunity to write and publish this interview.

 

 

 

Interview with Jimmie Nicol (1984)

 

Jimmie Nichol has always been quite a mystery.  Jim Birkenstadt unraveled much of the Jimmie mystery in his book, The Beatle Who Vanished.    Jimmie was only heard from a handful of times since he departed from the Beatles in 1964.   One of those times was when he appeared at a Beatles convention in 1984.   I found an interview Jimmie did with Evert Vermeer (EV) for Beatles Unlimited and was published in April 1985.   I am going to just share the part of the interview that is Beatles-related.

EV:  It has been said that technically you were a better drummer than Ringo Starr. 

JN:  Without being unkind, Ringo Starr isn't really a drummer.   On some of the recordings he played really well, he's got a good feel when they get together.  But the Beatles weren't  the greatest band.  In fact, as a group, they were pretty bad.  

EV:  Well, some of the live appearances may have been appalling, but the atmosphere was there. 

JN:  Well, they didn't really care about live concerts.  And the equipment didn't match the acoustics.  Nowadays you can hire a company to handle just the sound acoustics, but they didn't have that. 

EV:  Are you doing anything at all in music now?

JN:  Oh yes, I'm composing and recording my own music now, but just as a hobby, because I'm mainly concentrating on my company.  I have to be able to create the right environment to make music. 

EV:  Would you say those days with The Beatles helped you on in your career, or do you see them as  a disadvantage?

JN: No, nothing in life has been a disadvantage to me.  And if it has, I've always turned it into an adventure. 

EV:  How did you feel you fitted into the act with the other three Beatles, who had been a close unit for eight years or so?

JN:  As I said at the convention, I'm not prepared to disclose that now.  But that will come out in the book, because I think that's very interesting. 

EV:  But you must have had the feeling you were more or less the odd man out. 

JN:  In retrospect, analyzing what actually happened, I get that impression as well. 

EV:  It must have been a fascinating experience to be inside that circle for a while. 

JN:  It was disappointing.  Not fascinating, because I had been used to it before.  When rock n roll first hit I was touring with screaming kids.  That was another reason why they chose me.  They knew how I would act as a person coming into a pre-made image. 

EV:  But you had to be a bit of an actor playing a Beatle?

JN:  They didn't want to admit, even though it was written in black and white, that there was anybody else playing the drums except Ringo.  They wanted to present The Beatles as The Beatles, as a whole.  Obviously, they were extremely afraid of a failure on the tour, of an outsider coming in. 

EV:  There is a photo of you leaving Australia after Ringo got back, on which you're waiting for your plane.  You look awfully lonely on that. 

JN:  Oh yes, that's a beautiful picture.  Well, if you look at that photograph, that answers your question.

EV:  Did you feel you were being dropped at that point?  And afterward, did you ever hear from Epstein or any of The Beatles?

JN:  No, not at all.  Ringo came back one day and I left the following morning.  I will include my suppositions in the book.  Obviously, because I was part of the internal politics, I saw and heard many things, but I never commented on them.

EV:  Were you contracted for the whole tour?

JN:  No.  It was on a daily basis, actually.   I never knew from one day to another whether I would be going onto these different countries.  Probably, that put a lot of pressure on me, this situation makes you uneasy, and I wasn't as mature as I am now. 

EV:  How were you received by the fans?  Did they accept you as a Beatle, or did they really make you feel like a stand-in?

JN: Basically, the fans had no choice. It was either The Beatles with me or no Beatles at all.  But of course, no one is indispensable.  If I hadn't been the right person in the right place at the right time and with the right background, obviously someone wise would have done the job.

EV:  Was there any audition?

JN:  Just one rehearsal in the studio with George Martin.

EV:  After you went back to England, did you ever meet anyone?

JN:  No.  Never. One time I was playing in a club in London, and George happened to come in one evening with a lady friend, and he sent the waiter with a drink.  But I declined the offer.

EV:  ....??

JN:  My dear sir, I have my self-respect.  I will not be bought by anyone, even if it's to my disadvantage.

EV:  Did you feel George wanted to make up for something?

JN:  Ooooh yes, of course.  We both knew what had happened.  It was one of those situations where no words have to be spoken.

EV:  Do you have any fixed ideas about your book yet?

JN:  No.  There's a lot of work to be done.  We want to be in complete control of everything.  The book does have potential and distribution possibilities worldwide but won't have a bad publisher.  It will not be a Beatles book, although commercially speaking, the Beatles will be the selling point. 

EV:  Aren't you afraid that some fans will be offended by any negative remarks in the book like some of them were by things in Peter Brown's book that harmed their idea of The Beatles?

JN:  I think negativeness can be taken by rational people.  Of course, the dirty bits will be good for the sales, but it would be pretty sensationalism.  But my intention is not to do an expose-the-Beatles type of book.  That's all been done before. 

Somewhere in Australia

Somewhere in Australia
By Graham Moyle
Beatles Unlimited
1982


George paid a short visit to Australia recently.  The visit was purely informal.   It was the first time George was in Australia since 1964.

As some of you may be sorry to hear, it was not for any sensational reason that George flew over.  The truth is that he was looking towards buying land, or maybe a farm, either in Queensland or New South Wales.   His visit was very hushed-up, and not too many people knew about his arrival.   George had hired some bodyguards (Bob Jones Co.) who usually look after rock stars.  However, at the last moment abandoned his plan, because they would, after all, only bring more attention to his visit.

George first landed at the Queensland airport in early March (1982), believed to be with his wife and son.    After the plane had landed, George and company were away in a helicopter in a flash.   He stayed with Bobby Jones (no, another one), a racing driver on the Gold Coast, in his penthouse, and that same week moved to the farm of another friend of his, tourist entrepreneur Keith Williams, whom he met through their mutual friend, racing-driver Jackie Stewart.

The second week George was spotted in New South Wales, where he invited the WEA staff out to lunch.  (If only George knew how THAT record company treated his releases:   with no promotion at all, his latest LP hardly made the charts, although it was still the peak of all his WEA releases).  But then, I suppose WEA sucked up to George all the way while he was in Australia.

After this, he travelled down to Melbourne, Victoria, where he stayed with yet another one with that surname, Alan Jones, world champion racing driver, on his farm for a few days, and then landed back in Queensland from where he flew off in the last week of March.

Now, if you ask me the question whether George did acquire land or not, I have to admit I don't' know.  If so, it would be probably mean that he would live in Australia at least a few weeks every year, which would put Australia a bit more into the picture, Beatlewise.

The reason why George wants to buy a farm in Australia, at least "somewhere in the South Pacific" is that he's taken up gardening since he bought his Friar Park estate at Henley.  He's specifically interested in growing tropical plants, and British weather being what it is these days, this would mean buying another garden somewhere else.

The trip seems to have been pretty tight and well-planned, as newspapers didn't pay too much attention to this visit.  One magazine that did manage to get an interview was the Australian Women's Weekly, who published it in their April 28th issue, and although none of the information lay very far outside of the sphere of George's private life (which, unfortunately, still seems to be all that women's magazine care about) I;ll  mention one or two facts form the article for those interested:

George and Olivia are both semi-vegetarian, which means they do eat chicken and seafood.  Son Dhani, now 3 1/2 years old, is a total vegetarian.  His name, by the way, does not mean "wealth" as was first reported, but "dha" and "ni" are two notes of the Indian music scale.  Sort of "do-re" one might say.   He speaks upper-class English contrary to his parents.

George is still financially involved in the Hare Krishna movement.   He donated a mansion to them in Hertfordshire worth about $500,000.  The interview also says that he often does anonymous donations to people and institutions, such as the Monty Python team (which is not exactly a secret) and to Barry Sheene, to whom he once is said to have offered $280,000 NOT to take up Formula One racing because George thought it too dangerous for his old friend.

Also, Ravi Shankar and he are still trying to get the proceeds of the Bangladesh concert (now 11 years ago) to the people who are still so desperately in need of it.

Beatles Unlimited

George is signing copies of the Fanzine "Beatles Unlimited" in Brazil in 1979.  

Wings over Holland

We read so much about fans in the UK and the US that followed the Beatles or waited for them, that it is nice to see a story from a different country.   In March of 1976, Wings toured Europe for a small sets of  concert dates.   This is a story about how Erik Bakker, one of the editors of the fanzine, The Beatles Unlimited spent 43 hours waiting and seeing Paul and the rest of Wings.

It was from the April 1976 (issue #14) issue of "With a little help from my friend," but there is a note that says 'this article is a very short abstract from Beatles Unlimited 6, a special 32 page issue on Wings in Holland'   So if anyone has that magazine, there is a much longer story in there (hopefully  I will locate it one of these days).

Paul and Erik (March 26)

Paul and Linda with Henk as they leave the hotel on March 25

Wings Over Holland

By Erik M. Bakker

When on March 24 (1976) and company finally came through the customs at Schiphol Airport there were some 20 people waiting in the hall.  A group of security-men, a few excited air hostesses and some ten taxi-drivers, and of courses the editors of Beatles Unlimited (Henk Hager and myself).  As we were the only fans, we were able to take the first of our over 800 photographs made in those 43 hours. 

I drove my car at high speed through the Amsterdam peak-hour to stay close to the black eight-seater limousine Paul, Linda and Children, Jimmy and Joe were in.  We managed to stay behind them, thus being able to shoot some pictures of the arrival at the Amstel Hotel where some 50 fans were present to welcome Paul and Wings.   Not one of those fans was as “loyal” as I was, for I am the only one who followed Wings the whole 43 hours of their visit.  Henk “dropped out” after the concert and didn’t join in the last day of their stay.

In the evening we saw Paul, Linda and Heather again giving some autographs as they were leaving for the Neil Young concert at the Ahoy Sports Palace at Rotterdam.  Jimmy and Joe already left earlier and Denny and his wife came out at about ten to have dinner.  In the meantime we had bought some bottles of Bols Old Genever (Dutch gin) which we gave to the members of the band.  The first was Denny who arrived at 1:15am signing a BU issue, then Paul and Linda who arrived just after Denny.  Jimmy and Joe didn’t return until a quarter to three. 

The next day we saw some people of the company coming in and going out, a.o Joe, who wanted to do some shopping.  Joe talked to us and posed for a whole series of pictures. 

In the afternoon we followed the black limousine again and in a hectic pursue to Rotterdam we nearly collided in the confusion of the arrival.  The concert was due at eight, but at 7:30 we were in the hall, talking to the security men we had gotten to know in those two days and decided to say in the middle aisle near the stage when at last the concert started at 20.10 hours.

It was a great concert.  The show started with the Venus and Mars/Rockshow/Jet medley followed by the programme as we knew it from the British and Australian tour.  Only alteration were three new songs from “Speed of Sound”, Let ‘em in/Silly Love Songs/Beware my love.  Highlights were “Live and let die,” “Yesterday” and “Lady Madonna.”

The next day I was back again early at the hotel and they came out at about 12 o’clock.  Again I followed Paul’s limousine through the busy traffic and again managed to keep in tough and overtook them on the highway to the airport.  When Paul stepped into the hall of Schiphol Airport, I gave him two sets of Beatles Unlimited and told him issue 6 would be a special on Wings.  Linda also joined in and asked about the special.  Waving at us, the group went to the customs and disappeared from our sight.  

An unforgettable experience, 43 hours of Wings in Holland.