McCartney Shuts Off 'Non-Beatles' (1966)

 McCartney Shuts Off 'Non-Beatles'

By Hunter Davies

The London Sunday Times

September 28, 1966

    Paul McCartney was in his new mansion in St. John's Wood. He lives alone. A Mr. and Mrs. Kelly look after him. Nothing so formal as a housekeeper and butler. Their job, he says, is just to fit in. 

    The house has a huge wall and an electrically operated black door to keep out non-Beatle life. Inside, there is some carefully chosen elderly furniture. Nothing flashy or even expensive-looking. The dining room table was covered with a white lace tablecloth, very working-class posh.

     McCartney, along with John Lennon, is the author of a song called "Eleanor Rigby." No pop song of the moment has better words or music. 

    "I was sitting at the piano and I thought of it, just like Jimmy Durante. The first few bars just came to me, and I got this name in my head: Daisy Hawkins picking up the rice in a church where a wedding has been. I don't know why.

     "I can hear the whole song in one chord. In fact, I think you can hear a whole song in one note if you listen hard enough. But nobody ever listens hard enough. Okay, so that's the Joan of Arc bit. I couldn't think of much more, so I put it away for a day. Then the name Father McCartney came to me, and all the lonely people. But I thought people would think it was supposed to be my dad sitting knitting his socks. Dad's a happy lad, so I went through the telephone book, and I got the name, Mackenzie.

     "I was in Bristol when I decided Daisy Hawkins wasn't a good name. I walked round looking at the shops, and I saw the name Rigby. You got that? Quick pan to Bristol. I can just see this all as a Hollywood musical. 

    "Then I took it down to John's house in Weybridge, we sat around laughing, got stoned, and finished it off. I thought of the backing, but it was George Martin who finished it off. I just go bash bash on the piano. He knows what I mean. 

    "All our songs come out of our imagination. There never was an Eleanor Rigby. One of us might think of a song completely, and the other just adds a bit, or we might write alternate lines. We never argue. If one of us says he doesn't like a bit, the other agrees. It just doesn't matter that much. I care about being a songwriter, but I don't care passionately about each song. 

    "'Eleanor' is a big development as a composition, but that doesn't mean 'Yellow Submarine' is bad. It was written as a commercial song, a kids' song. People have said, "'Yellow Submarine?' 'What's the significance? What's behind it?' Nothing. Kids get it straight away. Kids have got it. It's only later they get messed up.

     "I tried once to write a song under another name just to see if it was the Lennon-McCartney bit that sold our songs. I called myself Bernard Webb. I was a student in Paris and very unavailable for interviews. The song was "Woman" for Peter and Gordon. They made it a big hit. Then it came out it was me. I realized that when I saw a banner at a concert saying 'Long Live Bernard Webb.'

     "We need a properly controlled experiment to find out how much our names really mean now, but I can't be bothered. I can't really play the piano or read or write music. I've tried three times in my life to learn, but never kept it up for more than three weeks. The last bloke I went to was great. I'm sure he could teach me a lot. I might go back to him. It's just the notation, the way you write down notes. It doesn't look like music to me. 

    "John's now trying acting again, and George has got his passion for the sitar, and all the Indian stuff. He's lucky, like somebody's luck who's got religion. I'm just looking for something I enjoy doing. There's no hurry. I have the time and the money. 

    "People think we are not conceited, but we are. If you ask me if I wrote a good or bad song, I'd be thick to say bad, wouldn't I? It's true we're lucky, but we got where we are because of what we did.

     "The girls waiting outside-I don't despise them. I don't think fans are humiliating themselves. I queued up at the Liverpool Empire for Wee Willie Harris's autograph. I don't think I was being stupid. 

    "I can go out and around more than people think without being recognized. People never really believe it's you. They don't really expect to see you in the street, so you can get away with it.

    "I think we can go on as the Beatles for as long as we want to. Writing songs, making records, we're still developing. I've no ambitions-- just to enjoy myself. We've had all the ego bit, all about wanting to be remembered. We couldn't do any better than we've already done, could we?"

Yesterday and Today (The 'maneuvering swine' interview - 1985)

 

Yesterday and Today

By Hunter Davies

Found in the Southern Illinoisian

(originally published in a British women's magazine "Woman." )

December 26, 1985 

The Editor's Note:  After the Beatles broke up, John Lennon was openly critical upon McCartney, but McCartney chose to remain silent. Later, McCartney opened up to writer Hunter Davies, who wrote The Beatles. What has appeared in recent news accounts is a quote by McCartney who said Lennon was a "maneuvering swine and has become Martin Luther Lennon." McCartney has since said his quote was taken out of context. What follows is the story behind the headlines. The feelings McCartney had for Lennon, whom he called "a jealous man who was paranoid about McCartney's songwriting abilities."

Written by Hunter Davies

     Not long after John's death, I had some strange conversations with Paul. He seemed so upset by so many things, not least of which was John's death. This was in May 1981, and I jotted down in a diary some of the things he told me. 

    John's death on December 8, 1980, had grown into a sort of cult, with instant books appearing, and the papers were still full of it. Many people in praising John were putting down Paul, or so it appeared.

     Paul rang me on May 3, 1981, and went on for over an hour, all about how hurt he was. He said he was fed up with all these people going on about him and John and getting it all wrong, only he knew the truth. It wasn't anything like the things being said. 

    Paul had a go at me for having gone on some TV news program after John's death. In my tribute to him, I had said that John was more the hard man with the cutting edge, while Paul was more soft and melodic. 

    But what had really got Paul upset that day was an interview with Yoko in which Yoko was quoted as saying that Paul had "hurt John more than any other person."  Paul thought they were amongst the cruelest words he had ever read. "No one ever goes on about the times John hurt me,"said Paul, "when he kept calling my music 'muzak'. People keep on saying I hurt him. But where's examples? When did I do it?

     "No one ever says. It's just always the same, blaming me. Could I have hurt John more than anyone in the world? More than the person who ran down Julia, John's mother, in a car?

     "We were always in competition. I wrote Penny Lane, so he wrote Strawberry Fields. That's how it was. But that was in competitions. 

    "I can't understand why Yoko was saying this. The last time I spoke to her, she was great. She told me she and John had just been playing one of my albums and had cried."

     What did he think then might have hurt John? "There's only one incident I can think of which John has publicly mentioned. It was when I went off with Ringo and did, "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" It wasn't a deliberate thing. John and George were tied up finishing something, and me and Ringo were free, just hanging around. So I said to Ringo, 'Let's go and do this.'

     "Nobody knows how much I helped John. Me and Linda went to California and talked him out of his so called Lost Weekend when he was full of drugs. We told him to go back to Yoko. And not long after he did. He never gave me an inch, but he took so many yards and feet.

     "He always suspected me. He accused me of scheming to buy over Northern Songs (the company owning rights to many Beatles songs) without telling him. I was thinking of something to invest in. And Peter Brown (the Beatles personal manager) said, 'What about Northern Songs? Invest in yourself.' So I bought a few shares, about 1000 I think.

     "John went mad, suspecting some plot. Then he bought some himself. He was always thinking I was cunning and devious. That's my reputation. Someone who's charming, but a clever lad.

     "I do stand back at times. Unlike John, I look ahead. I'm careful. John would go on for the free guitar and just accept it straight away in the mad rush. I would stand back and think, 'but what's this bloke really after? What will it mean?' I don't like being the careful one. I'd rather be immediate like John. He was all action. John was always the loudest in any crowd. He had the loudest voice. He was the cock who crowed the loudest. 

    "Me and George used to call him the cockeral in the studio. I was never out to screw him, never. He could have he could be a maneuvering swine, which no one ever realized. Now, since the death, he's become Martin Luther Lennon. But that really wasn't him either. He wasn't some sort of holy saint. He was still really a debunker.

     "We grew to be equals. I made him insecure. He always was really. He was insecure with women. You know, he told me, when he first met Yoko, not to play for her.

      "I saw somewhere that he says he helped on 'Eleanor Rigby', yeah, about half a line. He also forgot completely that I wrote the tune for 'In My Life', that was my tune. But perhaps he just made a mistake on that, forgot.

     "I didn't hate John. People said to me, when he said those things on his record about me, 'you must hate him.' But I didn't. I don't. We were once having a right slagging session. I remember how he took off his granny glasses. I can still see him. He put them down and said, 'It's only me, Paul.' And then he put them back on again, and we continued slagging. 

    "That phrase keeps coming back to me all the time. 'It's only me.' It's become a mantra in my mind.

     "Until I was about 30, I thought the world was an exact place. Now I know that life just sputters along. John knew that he was the great debunker. He'd be debunking all this death thing now."

The McCartney Story from Beatle To Wings (By Hunter Davies)

 

The McCartney Story From Beatle to Wings

By Hunter Davies

The Cincinnati Enquirer

May 16, 1976

 (Former Beatle Paul McCartney and Wings, including his wife Linda, appear at Riverfront Coliseum Thursday, May 27 as part of their first American tour. This is  McCartney's first US visit in 10 years. Before the American tour began,  Sunday Times of London writer Hunter Davies interviewed the McCartneys at their London home. The interview proved to be one of the most thorough ever done with the ex-Beatle. By special arrangement, the Enquirer presents that story.)

    The last time Paul McCartney played in America was 10 years ago with a group called The Beatles. It was in San Francisco on August 29, 1966, their last public performance anywhere in the world. Now, McCartney has returned to play in the USA. He will be with a group called Wings. Will they love him like they used to love him? Will they love Linda McCartney? She is his lady wife, and she plays in the band with him. 

    Will the US critics be snotty about Linda and her lack of musical experience, just as the UK critics were snotty, not to say bitchy, when Mrs. McCartney first burst into flight with wings some four years ago?

     Their London house in  Saint John's Wood is the one that Paul bought 1000 years back in his days of Beatlemania. He's the only one to have stuck to the same house. Just as he's the only one of the four to have stuck to the same wife.

     Paul is a conservative. He doesn't like people saying that, but he is. He's disgusted that Britain is in the Common Market, and he's disgusted that it's gone decimal.

     Mr. and Mrs. McCartney are very much family people, and their three children are very much evidence. There's Stella and Mary, age four and six, and Heather, age 13. The house is nicely scuffed, and the Margrittes, of which there are three, are now surrounded by child art and picture postcards stuck in the side of the frames. 

    Linda can get nervous, despite what some fans think when they see her performing on stage, aggressive and assertive, strutting in her Rod Stewart hairstyle. She is worried about America. He tells her, "There is nothing to worry about." They've turned down many offers to tour America in the past two years, waiting their time, perfecting their act. Now, says Paul, they've got it right. 

    They've got a good band, in fact, an excellent band, despite what the snotty critics once said. Wings have made it. Their album  Band On the Run, won a Grammy Award in 1974 and was voted the best group performance in the world.

     "When the Beatles split up," says Paul, "I felt on the rocks. I've been accused of walking out on them, but I never did. It's something I'd never do. One day, John left, and that was the last straw. It was a signal for the others to leave."

     It's strange that Paul should have been so widely believed to have been the cause of the breakup. When they finished touring, they packed it in, out of boredom, and concentrated on records. Only Paul had been the one who had continually tried to get them on the road again. He kept them together as a group, setting up Apple and moving into film. 

    Perhaps he had been a bit bossy at times, but he certainly wanted the Beatles to continue. "The Beatles were like a blanket of security. Everything just went right ahead, and we never thought of contracts or problems. Then the job folded beneath me. Suddenly, I didn't have a career anymore. I wasn't earning anything, and all my money was at Apple, and I couldn't get it out because I signed it all away."

     He retreated to Scotland, to his cottage near Campbellton. And the fans spread a rumor that he was dead, that he became a recluse, seeing no one and  not doing anything. "I stayed up all night, went on the booze, hit the ciggies. I used to watch the TV and see another 500 Scots being laid off, and for the first time in my life, I could understand their problem. They would have said that I had money, of course, so I wasn't like them. But that wasn't the point. I lost all my security. I had no idea what I was going to do. There seemed no point in joining another group, not after all that. Ladies and gentlemen, follow that. I was out of work, and the ghosts from my past came back from those early days when relations and friends said we'd never do anything anyway, and we should get a proper job. "

    Then the big legal rows began. All of them sorid, all of them nasty as the four Beatles started slanging each other in and out of court, Paul was the main instigator of the legal trouble because he disliked Alan Klein, who had taken over Apple and their contracts. Paul wanted the help of Lee Eastman, an eminent New York lawyer who also happens to be Linda's dad. 

    "That's what really made them angry. They thought I was just trying to get in my in-laws. I couldn't believe it, after what we'd all been through in 10 years, I thought they knew me.  That I'd never do anything for those reasons. I was told to get free. I couldn't sue Klein. I had to sue John, George, and Ringo instead.

     "What a trauma. Unemployed and up to my ears in a high court case. I think we were all pretty weird at the time. I'd ring John and he'd say,' Don't bother me'. I rang George, and he came out with some 'effing and blinding', not at all. Hari Krishna. We weren't normal to each other at the time." 

    The case dragged on for what seemed like years, but eventually Paul got his freedom. "I'd always been very fuddled on the law, but I'm glad I went through it. I now read contracts. I even read Mike's, (Mike McGear of the Scaffold, Paul's brother). I found a clause in one of his contracts, a very small print which said, 'If you sue and we lose, you pay'".

     During the legal trouble, Paul was slowly getting back to music, bringing out albums under his own name, just as the other three were doing.  He was also writing songs for other people and for James Bond films, but he began to realize that he was missing most what he liked the best about the Beatles: singing. "My main thing I like doing is singing. I'm a man who sings. A man who sings every day, is a man who sings every day. That man is a singer. Then I met Denny Laine again, an old mate who used to play in the Moody Blues. We used to have some good laughs. We have the same sort of background, grammar school, but both yobs at school, we decided to start up a new group on our own, and we got another guitarist and drummer, but they weren't right for them, I suppose. But with me into lawsuits and everybody, I was trying to make a sort of comeback."

     They called themselves Wings and produced their first album, Wild Life. "The name Wings just came into my head. When Linda was having Stella, she was in King's College Hospital where she'd had Mary, and I went round with my camp bed, as I'd done before, to watch the birth. This time, it was a cesarean, and I wasn't allowed in. I sat next door in my green apron, praying like mad."

    "Wings of an angel," says Linda, "That's what he was thinking about."

     Later on while they were in their Scottish  cottage, they got talking one night about the next stage in Wings development: live performances.  

    Playing in the studio was one thing. And what a singer likes to do is sing in front of an audience. Yet, how could Paul go back to trailing around the world now that he was a family man, a man who didn't want to leave his wife and family?

     Linda, who used to be a photographer and had never played an instrument or sung in public in her life, wasn't immediately excited when Paul suggested she should tour with the band. "He went on and on about it, saying he was dying to get back to performing, but wanted me to join in. Can you imagine standing on the stage, the curtain going up, the audience still waiting? You made it sound so glamorous that I agreed to have a go."

     Paul got Linda to do little bits of keyboard work on Ram, Wings' next album.  He showed her how to press the keys. He'd never been taught the piano himself, but he felt confident enough to teach his wife. "We had a few rows as he tried to teach me; he really put me through it. When everything went wrong. I used to say, 'I thought you knew how to make a group. ' I never realized how hard it was." Linda said.

     "I did think now and again about getting in professional musicians, getting in Super session men. I could have asked the best in the world to play with me," said Paul, "but I wanted Wings to be our sound. I wanted the amateur approach.  Something we could make ourselves and then work on. Ringo got blown out at our first recording session with The Beatles, and now look at him. "

    There were rows and bickering in the group with further changes of personnel. "I could sense a feeling among the others of Linda holding us back," said Paul, "I could feel this."

     Linda said, "They thought I was getting the best bits without being any good."

     "I didn't worry, really." says Paul, "She'll improve. She's an innocent talent. I like the idea of innocent talent. That's all rock and roll music is, innocent music."

    Came the  time when they felt ready to unveil themselves to the public. In a recording studio any innocent can have the rough edges disguised, or do it 100 times until, by chance, one rendition is right in the flesh. All can be revealed to protect Linda from the ace, reporters from Melody Maker, the New Musical Express, and others.  Paul decided not to reveal their plan. Wing's early singles back in 1972, such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb", weren't greeted with much rapture. 

    John was quoted in the pop papers as saying that Paul sounded like Engelbert Humperdinck, beyond which there is no nastier comparison. "I was in Scotland when I read this in  Melody Maker. I was depressed for days. We got in the van and went up the M1 looking for a university. I thought we'd practice on students first and  play on campus as they say in Africa.

     "Nottingham was the first university we arrived at. So we sent the roadie to the Student Union. He said, 'I've got Paul McCartney and his group in the van outside. Can they play at your next dance?' They said, 'Yes', and put the announcement over the tannoy while we went to get digs in Nottingham for the night. 

    "It was 50 pence at the door, and a guy sat at the table taking the money. The kids danced, and we all had a good time. The students' union took their split and gave us the rest. I'd never seen money for at least 10 years. The Beatles never handled money. I felt like Duke Ellington diving out the money. We walked around Nottingham with 30 pounds of coppers in our pockets."

     Musically, they progressed slowly. The records got more acclaim. They began to move into Europe on small tours. They took the kids with them everywhere, traveling by dormobile. They recorded Band on the Run in Lagos, Nigeria, having asked EMI for a list of their studios in hot climates. They thought the kids would like the sun.

     "Perhaps, I did have doubts now and again about Linda on keyboard. I did once say to her in a row that I could have had Billy Preston. It just came out. I said I was sorry about an hour later.

     "I knew she wasn't going to be liked, and I knew it was my fault for encouraging her to do it. I could have done a smart bit of PR during the time she was being criticized, got ourselves on Parkinson and let the world see what a lovely, modest human being she is. But I thought, 'sod 'em.'. I don't have to explain her away. She's my wife, and I want her to to play.  But she had to take a lot of stick.

     "I decided not to defend Linda. Let them find out what we were trying to do. I said nothing, just as I said nothing during all John's tirades against me, I've had enough press to last me more than a lifetime. They now seem to like us, at least in Britain, they do. I know in America, the press will be sitting in the front three rows, their pencils ready, but it doesn't really matter what they say. I'm not as precious about Wings as I used to be.  If it folds, hard luck. I'll be very upset. I'll say, sod it, but we'll survive.

    " I feel very secure with Wings now. I even sing Beatles songs on tour. I shied away from them at first.  They were too big for us. I knew the audience would be thinking, 'Oh, not as good as the Beatles'. Now I sing about five in every show. "

    He'll probably do five Beatles songs in most of their American concerts over the next two months, the five he usually sings are "Blackbird," "Lady Madonna", "Long and Winding Road", "Just Seen a Face" and "Yesterday."

     It doesn't sound much of a life for three young kids or their mother being trailed all over America. Paul says he gave Heather, the eldest, the choice, and she chose to tour. He, long ago, gave up the one-night hotel stop, which they did in their Beatle days in America. They're hiring three houses, one for the West Coast, one for the East, and one for the middle. Linda will be home each night to do cooking and to be the mom.

     Paul is proud of the quality of his family life, though at times he can sound positively schmaltzy or even perhaps that he protects too much. "It probably is schmaltzy. I'm from that sort of family. We were very close with aunties and uncles, always coming in, singing songs at parties. I saw John and Yoko last time I was in New York, and I happened to mention, for some reason, our family singalongs. He said he never had them. He didn't have the sort of family life I had, being brought up by his aunt, having his mother killed in a car outside his house. Yoko didn't either. She had to make appointments to see her dad. I now realize how lucky I am to have a close, loving family."

     After breakfast, Paul and Linda drive to the recording studio to finish off their latest album, Speed of Sound. They record in EMI Abbey Road studios of blessed memory, where so many Beatles records were produced. The ghosts of Sergeant Pepper still linger on.  Next door is the synagogue where the memorial service for Brian Epstein was held. There is, as ever, a gaggle of girls outside waiting for Paul, perhaps even waiting for Linda, now that she's a star. These days, they're very well behaved, no screaming, shouting, or pushing. They stand like pupils, waiting for a favorite teacher, and then line up quietly for autographs, politely asking Paul to smile for their little cameras. 

    Denny Laine arrives in a fur coat. Paul has written a song for him on the album, "The Note You Never Wrote", giving him a chance to show off his voice. There's a silly love song called "Silly Love Songs". There's a moving one called "Warm and Beautiful" and a jumpy number, "Wino Junko", written by Jimmy McCulloch. Then there's Linda's solo, her first solo song on a Wings album. Paul has written it specifically for her. It's called "Cook of the House." You never know, it could catch on. It might mean that Linda, the nonmusician wife, has finally made it. 

    "What worries me most about America is that we'll have to start again," said Linda. "Rolling Stone will be waiting for me. I'll obviously be criticized, and I'll hate it. I'd love to put the critics up on stage and see them do better. You lose a few years of your life on stage. You live on your adrenaline when it's over. I want to crash out and go and live in Scotland for a while. We've got to do America to prove we can do it. But after that, I hope we'll just stick to occasional concerts, playing at a big festival or a little club. I don't want to spend my life touring."

     "America will be okay," says Paul. "I told you, there's nothing to worry about."

     "There will be all those stupid questions, the same old stupid questions," said Linda.

     "It doesn't matter. John was best with the smart answers. But any jokes go down, well, they'll ask 'What brings in her?', and you'll say you came on a jumbo and they all go 'Ho, ho'.  You don't have to be an Oscar Wilde."

     "It's really tired old questions that get me. Do you ever see John or the Beatles getting back together? I go mad when I hear them 100 times a day."

     For those interested, yes, they do see John when in New York, and yes, they chat like old friends, but that's about it. As for coming together as the Beatles, that seems highly unlikely. They've all moved on to different things, different lives. They see little point in playing in public again.

     Linda naturally gets most upset at the continual harking back to the Beatles days and era she never knew. "I mentally go backwards, I'm going to feel schizophrenic," But Paul, having shied away from it at first, now takes it in his stride, if rather wearily. "I'm pleased with Wings. As I'm happy as when I was playing with the Beatles. Not happier-- as happy. No more, no less. What I have got now is an extra with the family. I had chicks in the Beatles days, and now I have kids. I don't miss the old way of life at all."

Paul draws his friends

 

Hunter Davies has this drawing that Paul did of George and John on display at the British Museum.  I think his "John" is good.   I often forget that Paul is talented in art until I see things like this. 

The Beatles and the Historians - a Book Review

 

Paul and Linda with Hunter Davies and family 

The book The Beatles and the Historians by Erin Torkelson Weber is the most thought-provoking Beatles book I have ever read.   This book digs into the way The Beatles has been portrayed through the past 50 years in books and publications. 

There are four areas that she touches on:  the official narrative (the 1960s), the Lennon Remembers narrative (1970s), the Shout narrative (1980s), and the Lewishon narrative (1990s - today).

The official narrative was pushed mostly through the publication of Hunter Davies Official Beatles Biography.   It painted the Beatles as four best friends that all got along.   Lennon and McCartney were the power writing music team and they were all one big happy group.   

The Lennon Remembers narrative ruined that image of the Beatles after his infamous 1970 interview for Rolling Stone.  Of course, the Lennon Remembers interview is not a really valid historical document.   John was very angry and was using drugs at the time of that interview.  John himself recounted much of that interview and he is known to not be a very good source for reliable history of The Beatles --- he mixes things up in all sorts of interviews.   John just didn't have that great of a memory.  Nonetheless, the Lennon Remembers quotes appeared in books in the 1970s and beyond. 

Next comes the Shout narrative, which is what I always called the "St. John" period.   This perspective is that John Lennon did nothing wrong.   He was this peaceful guy all the time.  Paul McCartney was painted as the mean guy -- the one that broke up the band.   John was the talented with the clever lyrics and Paul's writing was "basic."    This era also basically ignored George and Ringo in books.   

That leads us up to the Lewisohn narrative.   Starting with his Beatles Recording Sessions book, Mark Lewishon started to dig deep into the Beatles' history and setting the records straight with The Beatles' history.   

That is just a short overview of the four parts of this book.   Having been a fan since the late 1980s, I remember many of the narratives and books that she discussed.   The progression of the history is really interesting and how things have grown to today is just amazing.   One thing that I found especially interesting is how she stated many Beatles books are written with a positive light on one Beatle over another in accordance to that author's favorite Beatle.   The author found this to be true with not just memoirs of those who knew the Beatles personally but also with others who did not know the four of them.   When I think about this -- it is really true.  Most books either lean heavily on Lennon or heavy McCartney.   

The only part that I didn't like was how the author kept comparing the Beatles' history with the history of World War I.   I just wasn't following that comparison.    I also wished that she had mentioned that listening to the tapes of the interviews (such as Lennon Remembers) is very different than reading it.  Hearing the tones of John's voice and the way he says the words makes for a vastly different narrative. 

I really enjoyed this book.  It was a heavy read.   It isn't one of those light Beatle books that I read quickly and just enjoy.  This one took me several weeks to read because it gave me so much to think about.   Check it out!

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon where you can purchase this book.   I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara 

https://amzn.to/49TgLUT

Beatles lyrics - a Book review

After reading George Harrison's I me Mine,  I became interested in learning more about the Beatles hand-written lyrics.   I recalled a book that came out a few years ago that I never got around to reading, Beatles Lyrics:  The Stories Behind the Music, Including the Handwritten Drafts of More than 100 Classic Beatles songs by Hunter Davies.

The handwritten lyrics of "A Hard Day's Night" by John Lennon were written on a birthday card for Julian's 1st birthday

Hunter Davies was the official Beatles biographer, and as part of his research for his book, he was able to get ahold of many of the hand-written lyrics of the Beatles songs.  He kept these over the years and has them displayed at the British Museum in London.  He wrote a book on the Beatles lyrics, not just to show his collection, but also to highlight the collections of others to have a comprehensive book of Beatles handwritten lyrics. 

Having all of the Beatles' song lyrics that were handwritten in one book is great.   It is so neat to see the words of the songs written out by one of the guys and to see what they had laying around to scribbled the new thought out words.   It is fascinating to see what they scratched out and decided not to use in the song. 

Davies goes through each song in the Beatles' canon chronologically. He breaks down the reasons why the song was written and whatever stories go along with each song. For serious Beatles fans, this will be old hat and I found myself skimming through it.  I don't need to read yet again that Yesterday was originally "Scrambled Eggs."  But there are also some gems hidden in the book.  Since Davies was the Beatles biographer, he spent quite a bit of time in the studio with them in 1967. There is a section in the "Sgt. Pepper" part of the book where he prints his notes from some of the sessions. I really enjoyed reading about John and Paul working on writing "with a little help from my friends."  Davies also includes quite a bit of humor in this book, but you have to catch the subtlety of it.  

This is a book fans really need to have on their bookshelf, however it isn't one that I see anyone picking up and reading over and over again.  It is great to flip through and look at the Beatles' handwriting and read some of the stories, especially on your favorite songs.  I am glad that Davies took the initiative and time to track down all of this information and put it in book form.

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book.  I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

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Chat with a modern "Legend"

This story was taken from the  London Sunday Times but I have the U.S. printing of it from the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle dated October 2, 1966.

Paul McCartney, Beatle
Chat with a modern "Legend"
By Hunter Davies

Paul McCartney was in his new mansion in St. John's Wood.

He lives alone.  A Mr. and Mrs. Kelly look after him.    Nothing so formal as a housekeeper and butler.  Their job, he says, is just to fit in.

The house has a huge wall and an electrically operated black door to keep out non-Beatle life.  Inside there is some carefully chosen elderly furniture.  Nothing flashy, affected or even expensive-looking.  The dining room table was covered with a while lace tablecloth.  Very working class posh.

McCartney, along with John Lennon, is the author of a song called "Eleanor Rigby."  No pop song of the moment has better words or music.

"I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it.  Just like Jummy (sic) Durante.  The first few bars just came to me.  And I got this name in my head -- Daisy Hawkins, picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been.  I don't know why."

"I can hear a whole song in one chord.  In fact, I think you can hear a whole song in one note, if you listen hard enough.  But nobody ever listens hard enough."

"OK, so that's the Joan of Arc bit.  I couldn't think of much more, so I put it away for a day.  Then the name Father McCartney came to me-- and all the lonely people.  But I thought people would think it was supposed to be my dad sitting knitting his socks.  Dad's a happy lad.  So I went through the telephone book and I got the name McKenzie."

"I was in Bristol when I decided Daisy Hawkins wasn't a good name.  I walked round looking at the shops and I saw the name Rigby.  You got that?  Quick pan to Bristol.  I can just see this all as a Hollywood musical...

"Then I took it down to John;s house in Weybridge.  We sat around laughing, got stoned and finished it off.  I thought of the backing but it was George Martin who finished it off.  I just got bash, bash on the piano.  He knows what I mean.  

"All our songs come out of our imagination.  There never was an Eleanor Rigby.

"One of us might think of a song completely, and the other just add a bit.  Or we might write alternate lines.  We never argue.  If one of us says he doesn't like a bit, the other agrees.  It just doesn't matter that much.  I care about being a song writer.  But I don't care passionately about each song."

"'Eleanor' is a big development as a composition.  But that doesn't mean 'Yellow Submarine'  is bad.  It is written as a commercial song, a kid's song.  People have said 'Yellow Submarine?'  What's the significance?  What's behind it?  Nothing.  Kids get it straight away.  Kids have got it.  It's only later they get messed up.

"I tried once to write a song under another name, just to see if it was the Lennon-McCartney bit that sold our songs.  I called myself Bernard Webb--I was a student in Paris and very unavailable for interviews.   The song was 'Woman' for Peter and Gordon.  They made it a bit hit.  Then it came out it was me.  I realized that when I saw a banner at a concert saying 'Long Live Bernard Webb.'

"I really can't play the piano, or read or write music.  I've tried three times in my life to learn, but never kept it up for more than three weeks.  The last bloke I went to was great.  I'm sure he could teach me a lot.  I might go back to him.  It's just the notation - -the way you write down notes, it doesn't look like music to me."

"John's now trying acting again, and George (Harrison) has got his passion for the sitar and all the Indian stuff.  He's lucky.  Like somebody's luck who's got religion.   I'm just looking for something I enjoy doing.  There's no hurry.   I have the time and the money.

"People think we're not conceited, but we are.  If you ask me if I wrote good or bad songs, I'd be thick to say bad, wouldn't I?  It's true we're lucky, but we got where we are because of what we did.

"The girls waiting outside.  I don't despise them.  I don't think fans are humiliating themselves.  I queued up at the Liverpool Empire for Wee Willie Harris' autograph.  I wanted to do it.  I don't think I was being stupid.

"I can go out and around more than people think without being recognized.  People never really believe it's you.  They don't really expect to see you in the street, so you can get away with it.

"I think we can go on as the Beatles for as long as we want to, writing songs, making records.  We're still developing.  I've no ambitions, just to enjoy myself.  We've had all the ego bit,  all about wanting to be remembered.  We couldn't do any better than we're done already, could we?"

Truth is Stranger than fiction: Eleanor Rigby

Sheet music for Eleanor Rigby, drawn by Klaus Voorman 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the song, Eleanor Rigby.    It is a song that is still much loved among fans of the Beatles as well as music fans in general.    Paul McCartney sang it in his 1984 film "Give my Regards to Broadstreet" and continues to perform the song in concert to this day.  


Paul began writing the song earlier in 1966 and explained to Hunter Davies in a 1966 interview how he got the idea:

‘I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it. Just like Jimmy Durante. The first few bars just came to me. And I got this name in my head – Daisy Hawkins, picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been. I don’t know why. …

So as the legend goes---Eleanor Rigby started off as Daisy Hawkins.   However, that doesn't really fit with the tune and Paul was looking for another name.    He didn't have to look far---he was acquainted with a woman  named Eleanor, as he explains,

We were working with  Eleanor Bron on ‘Help!’ and I liked the name Eleanor…I’d seen her at Peter Cook’s Establishment Club in Greek Street, then she came on the film ‘Help!’ so we knew her quite well, John had a fling with her…it was the first time I’d ever been involved with that name.”

So the first name of the lonely woman in his song was set, but how about that last name, Rigby?
In January of 1966, Paul was visiting Jane in Bristol when she was doing a play and saw a wine and spirits shop with a good name

 

I was in Bristol when I decided Daisy Hawkins wasn’t a good name. I walked round looking at the shops and I saw the name Rigby. You got that? Quick pan to Bristol. I can just see this all as a Hollywood musical ...

‘Then I took it down to John’s house in Weybridge. We sat around, laughing, got stoned and finished it off. I thought of the backing, but it was George Martin who finished it off. I just go bash, bash on the piano. He knows what I mean.

And that is the story Paul has always told about Eleanor Rigby.     He even says in his 1966 interview with Hunter Davies, 

‘All our songs come out of our imagination. There was never an Eleanor Rigby.

But Paul was very wrong about that.   There WAS an Eleanor Rigby and she lived in Liverpool.  She was born in 1895 and died at the age of 44 in 1939,  before any of the Beatles were even born.  The odd thing about this is not that Ms. Rigby had lived in Liverpool and died there,  the strange thing is that she was buried at the cemetery located next to St. Peter's church in Woolton. 

Her grave stone is actually very close to John Lennon's uncle George's grave.    Of course this was the very church where Paul McCartney first met John Lennon during the church fete.    Who would have ever thought that the place where Lennon and McCartney met had on the grounds the name "Eleanor Rigby?"     Surely Paul had seen the name on the tombstone and wrote the story around the name?

Paul has always denied this has he said in 2000, 

"It was either complete coincidence or in my subconscious,  “I suppose it was more likely in my subconscious, because I will have been amongst those graves knocking around with John and wandering through there.  It was the sort of place we used to sunbathe, and we probably had a crafty fag in the graveyard…but there could be 3000 gravestones in Britain with Eleanor Rigby on.  It is possible that I saw it and subconsciously remembered it…So subconscious it may be – but this is just bigger than me.  I don’t know the answer to that one.  Coincidence is just a word that says two things coincided.  We rely on it as an explanation, but it actually just names it – it goes no further than that.  But as to why they happen together, there are probably far deeper reasons that our little brains can grasp.”

I have always just thought this was a really, really strange coincidence and just chalked it up to yet another "strange but true" story of the Beatles.

Sgt. Taylor

I love that he is holding a copy of the Beatles by Hunter Davies

When Michael met the three Beatles

I am sure most (if not all) of you have see the photos and read the story of Michael Herring in the Daily Mail online this weekend.   And while it has been everywhere, the story really needs to be housed here at Meet the Beatles...for real, don't you think?  First I am going to share it for what it truly is...a wonderful story of a fan who met three of the Beatles (for real) and had a once in a lifetime experience.   And then I will have a response after it.  

Same photo without watermark, but blurry and small

Autograph of Ringo and John that Michael obtained that day.  Is that supposed to be a swastika under John's name?  oh John!

They are extraordinary pictures of the Beatles in their heyday, images never published before. 

And, it is claimed, these photographs reveal for the first time a bombshell moment in the band’s history that has left Beatles experts baffled.

It is 1968 and John Lennon coolly stares into the camera. Alongside him, George Harrison has in his shirt pocket a resignation letter from Paul McCartney – apparently written a full two years before he would eventually quit.

That is the claim of Michael Herring, who took the pictures as a 19-year-old art student during a magical day other Beatles fans could only dream about.

Mr Herring says he took these intimate pictures of the Beatles after turning up uninvited on John’s doorstep, later sharing a car ride with him to George Harrison’s house to see the Beatles recording – and witnessing the opening of a letter said to announce McCartney’s resignation.

US-born Mr Herring’s adventure began when he ‘doorstepped’ Lennon at his Surrey mansion, Kenwood, on May 28, 1968, after getting the star’s address through a friend. 

Mr Herring, who at the time was studying art in Kensington, West London, said that to his surprise he was invited in.

‘John opened the door and said exactly these words: “Well then, what’s it about?”,’ he recalled.

Mr Herring said he won Lennon over by joking: ‘John, I wish you could be me so that you know what it feels like to meet you.’ He was promptly invited in for breakfast.

Mr Herring sat down to eat with the singer and Yoko Ono – who ‘never spoke a word and was just mumbling into a cassette recorder’ – and then his luck got even better.

Impressed with Mr Herring’s knowledge of Yoko’s artwork, Lennon invited him to the band’s rehearsals for the White Album, which would be released later that year. 

They jumped into Lennon’s Mini and drove to Harrison’s Surrey bungalow, Kinfauns – adorned with psychedelic murals – to find George sitting on his lawn, playing the guitar. It was here that Mr Herring captured his series of evocative images.

‘George looked up and said, “Who’s this, then?”’ Mr Herring, 67, recalled. ‘John said, “This is Michael. He’s an artist. I found him in me garden.” They were chatting and the topic they were talking about was Paul. It appeared there was some question over whether Paul was going to show up for the rehearsal.’

In the house, Mr Herring was introduced to Ringo Starr and Harrison’s girlfriend Pattie Boyd.

And then came the arrival of a hand-delivered letter.

Mr Herring said: ‘There was a knock on the door. George opened it and there was a personal delivery guy. He handed him this pale blue letter. George read it and passed it to John.

‘I understood it was a letter from Paul’s attorney saying Paul wanted to quit the band. It was as if they were expecting he wasn’t coming that day. They didn’t seem that surprised. I can only paraphrase, but I recall George saying, “It’s from Eastmans and he’s not coming. Paul is quitting.” ’

Eastmans may have been a reference to the New York law firm Eastman & Eastman, the family business of Lee Eastman, father of the future Linda McCartney, who Paul had met in 1967. Linda’s brother John would later play a central role in steering 

Paul’s exit from the band.

The Beatles spent the rest of the day rehearsing in a small room and only broke to enjoy vegetarian curries. Mr Herring said he saw no drugs or alcohol.

Later, Lennon gave Mr Herring a lift back to the station, Mr Herring capturing one final iconic photograph as Lennon glanced into the car’s rear-view mirror.

Mr Herring kept his day with the Beatles under wraps for 47 years, only going public when he contacted a Manchester auction house, Omega Auctions, to enquire about selling his photographs and other memorabilia. The rare items are expected to fetch in excess of £10,000 when they go on sale on March 24.

Last night, Mark Lewisohn, a leading authority on the Beatles, said Mr Herring’s photographs were ‘fantastic because they capture a moment in history’.

But he cast doubt on the revelations about Paul’s resignation letter, saying: ‘There’s no way that can be accurate because the Eastmans had no part in Paul’s life until his relationship with Linda began in October 1968, and there was no way Paul was quitting at this point. They had a number of sessions at George’s house and Paul was certainly at most of them – maybe not this one – because we have the recordings.’

But he added: ‘This does not undermine the general story, which I do believe.

Mr Herring, a retired illustrator now living in Australia, insists his memories of events at Harrison’s house are correct.

A spokesman for Paul McCartney did not comment last night.

Alright so there is Michael's incredibly wonderful story.    And yes---it has some surface errors.   Pattie was George's wife in 1968, and not his girlfriend.   I believe that this s Michael Herring's memory of what happened in May 1968 and I believe that most of it is true and that all of it is true to him.  As with all fan stories, there is often more there that meets the eye (as they say in Help!)

Hunter Davies gave a response to Michael's story that I want to look at.   I truly respect Hunter Davies and I admire him for digging into this story and looking at it deeply.   That is what Beatle historians do.  We sift through the stories and dig down into the truth by asking questions.   Davies asked some great questions, although I do not agree totally with him. 

Questions 1:   Would John Lennon invite an unknown fan into his home just 9 days after he and Yoko got together?

I have to say that this isn't very far-fetched to me.   We have seen on this blog that John would from time-to-time invite fans into Kenwood.   This story is very, very similar to that of David Goggin in that he was an American in at Kenwood to meet John, John invited him in for a meal and then drove him to get George and to attend a Beatles recording session.    He even referred to Michael as someone he "met in the garden" just as he did David.    I am not sure what just getting together with Yoko would have to do with anything, really.   John didn't have plans with Yoko that day--he had plans with the Beatles.   I have no problems with this part of the story.

Question 2:  Would George have invited a fan in his home in 1968?   Here is a quote from Davies, "George would not have invited strangers into his house. By 1968, he hated being a Beatle and hated even more being asked about being a Beatle. Fans would get short shrift."    Before I began this blog, I would have read that statement and said, "Yeah...that's George totally."   However, I have to kindly disagree with Hunter Davies on this point.    We have seen time and time again that George Harrison was the most willing of the four Beatles in invite a fan inside of his home.    There are stories from 1968 and 1969 (Pat Kinzer and Sue B comes to mind) of fans coming to Kinfauns and George spends time with them and in some cases inviting them inside of Kinfauns!    I think a lot of it had to do with George's upbringing with his parents.   They were so super kind to the fans, that I think George felt like it was his duty to be the same way.   I really think that George disliked fans in large groups, but really liked getting to talk to fans on an individual basis.    

 

Question 3:  Did the Beatles allow strangers in on recording sessions?   I agree with Davies on his point that it was an extreme rarity for the Beatles to allow an outsider to sit in while they were recording anything.   It was done very, very rarely.    We know that David Goggin sat in during the recording of "I am the Walrus."    Yoko sat in during the recording of "Fool on the Hill."   There must have been something about Michael Herring that John, George and Ringo trusted to allow him to sit in while they were working on the White album demos.

 

Question 4:  Did Paul really resign from the Beatles on May 28, 1968?    I think we all agree that there is no way that Paul resigned from the Beatles.    Wouldn't he have said something about it in the Anthology?   Wouldn't it have been mentioned way before 2015?    So what was that letter business all about?   Here is my theory:    Between May 20-29, 1968 the Beatles met at Kinfauns and made demos of the White album (if you haven't heard the full bootleg sessions you need to...amazing!).  Paul was there prior to the 28th and said to others that he might not be able to make it on the 28th for the next session.    Paul was extremely busy in May of 1968.  He and John had just returned from New York to announce Apple, Paul was working with the band Grapefruit on their promotional film (filmed on the 26th), and he was sort of juggling three women (Jane, Francie and Linda).   So the three didn't think Paul was going to show up.  He might have said that he would try to make it.    The letter comes from Paul saying that he wasn't going to be able to make it and George makes a joke saying that Paul has quit the band.   He says the Eastmans bit because it was a joke.   Paul had just spent time with Linda Eastman in New York.   John had probably given Paul a hard time about Linda's dad being a lawyer.   It was a joke between the three of them.   However, Michael didn't know that.  He took what was said at face value.  Paul had quit the Beatles.   There were always rumors about one of the Beatles quitting.    Paul wouldn't have been involved with the Eastmans in May of 1968---he barely was in a relationship with Linda.   

 

Question 5:  Why did Michael Herring wait so long to share his story and photos?    Well---the photos have been out there.   They just haven't been so crisp and detailed.   But I had seen some of them before.   Sometimes Beatle fans do not wish to share their stories.   They want to keep them private and to themselves because they like to hang onto it.    I personally don't understand it, but I do respect it.   

 

 

The John Lennon Letters: A book Review

Being a big John Lennon fan, when I first heard about the Hunter Davies book, The John Lennon Letters, I knew that I HAD to get it!  The things John wrote always fascinated me, be it lyrics to his songs, one of his books or one of the many fan letters I had read over the years.   As a matter of fact, whenever a letter John had written went up for auction, I always saved the photo of it for my files, just because I enjoyed reading them.

The book is very interesting. It is for those of us in the world who are major John Lennon fans.   It isn't for someone who has just a slight interest in John because they like the song Imagine.  This book is to be read alongside Lennon biographies such as the one by Ray Coleman.  Personally I feel that the new Hunter Davies book helps fill in some blanks and paints a more complete picture of the 40 years John was on this earth.  

The book is full of letters, notes, autographs and things that John wrote to other people. It is called "The John Lennon Letters."  Davies uses the word, "letters" loosely and includes basically anything John wrote in a means to communicate to others.  He has things that he wrote to his family members, things written to fans, to magazines, to Beatle insiders, and to his personal assistants. Nothing in the letters particularly"shocked" me.  I am sure that we all read the M.M. letter war that went on between John and Paul.    While I was reading through that section, I had to think that if this were to occur today, it would have been a Twitter or Facebook war between these two.  But the way it was done in the 1970s was through the rock magazines. 

As one might expect from me, my absolute favorite part of the book was the letters that John wrote to his fans. It amazes me that seriously throughout his entire career as a performer, John was writing to his fans.  Sure, not nearly everyone got a response, but it is amazing that he even took the time to respond to anyone.    And with just a few exceptions, he was always very kind to the fans. I also enjoyed reading the letters that John wrote to his family in England. These letters added a certain amount of "human" to John.  He was bragging about his son and asking for photos of the family, just like any father might do.   He showed concern for his family, and he truly missed him. It was just a nice thing to read.

I have read that people think it is "boring" to read most of the things in this book.  It might be asked, "Why would I want to read John Lennon's grocery list?" I didn't mind the lists.  It really put the whole "househusband" thing into perspective.  And I liked knowing that he needed to get cat food.

The only thing that I disliked about the book was the errors that I found.  I respect Hunter Davies as the only person who was officially the Beatles biographer.  His 1968 biography was groundbreaking at that time. His book on the Quarry Men is very good.  He is one of the people who I consider to be in the amazing Beatle authors book club.  So, I was very shocked to see a few glaring mistakes in this book.   The first one was a doozy.  He puts the date of John Lennon meeting Paul McCartney as June 15, 1957.   How he made this mistake on the date is beyond me.  There is one entire book about every single detail of what happened on the day John met Paul (July 6, 1957).  Another big error is the picture of John taken November 14, 1973 in Los Angeles is placed right before the chapter on 1967-1968 with a caption of "John at home by the pool at Kenwood."  (cringe!)    What really confuses me when I find this type of mistake is how books on the Beatles get published with such big errors?   Aren't there people that are supposed to correct that sort of stuff?  However, these mistakes do not take away from the letters written in the book.

I just loved this part of the book: a letter from John and Yoko to Kyoko from the summer of 1970!

I also must mention that our friend, Lizzie Bravo, is mentioned in this book!  It is well worth getting for that reason alone!  If you want to know what John Lennon wrote to Lizzie on the back of this photograph, then you need to get the book.  

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book.  I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

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