Paul interview from late 1977

I spotted this interview in the February 1978 issue of "The Write Thing."     It was an interview Paul McCartney did on Capitol Radio in London by Roger Scott on November 12, 1977.   Anthony Luscombe transcribed it for the fanzine.

I am also including the photos that were on the page with the interview, as they were from November 1977 at Abbey Road Studios.     The color one came from a slide. 

Photo by Silvia Purbs

Scott:  The single does say on it "From the album..." is it going to be on an album?

Paul:  No, it's just independent actually.

Denny:   the whole thing has been to try and make a few singles as well as albums.  All we've ever done is make albums and put out singles from them, which is a bit boring.  We'd rather have something separate.

Paul:  This one didn't really fit with the album.  We'd got enough stuff; enough new tracks -- we'd got more than we need, kind of thing.  We just thought it seemed very singley.  When we'd done it all the pipers said, "Ah, yes, got to be a single, that one."  It was up to them, so we had to do it.

Scott:  Wings is now you and Linda and Denny.  Where are you going to go from there?  I imagine that the next time you go out on tour you're not going to try and do it like you did it before.

Paul:  Maybe, but we'll wait and see.  All we've got planned at the moment is to finish this album, and then we haven't bothering thinking about it beyond then.

Scott:  It was so superb, that last tour-- the concerts, everything, was just perfect.

Paul:  Thanks, Rog.  I like him.  I like his show.  He plays good music.  One of the best.

Scott:  Even though it was perfect, I imagine you wouldn't want to go out and do it again, what would be the point?

Paul:  Oh, we wouldn't do the same.  We're interested now in doing more the small clubs.  Plastic bags on our heads -- that sort of thing.

Scott:  What about the repackaging ripoffs?

Paul:  Oh what?

Scott:  All the old stuff.

Paul:  What--Beatles stuff??

Scott:  Yes.

Paul:  If I was still in the Beatles I'd be worried by all of that.  I'd care how they repackaged it and how they did it all, but I'm not in them and the record company has all the tapes and they're allowed to do it.   I'm more into the new stuff   I can't be bothered.  To tell you the truth I haven't even heard "Hollywood Bowl."   Terrible admission.  Geoff keeps telling me to hear it.   He did it.   He says it's good.

Scott:  Did you hear the Hamburg Tapes?

Paul:  No.  I've got a lot of those tapes anyway in my private collection.  Not the repackagings.  I've got the original demos.  I've heard them -- I mean I must have heard them -- I was on it.   I don't knock the old Beatles stuff.  I love to hear it on the radio.

I think the Beatles, actually, we were always aware of having all this unreleased stuff, and I suppose we always thought if anything happened to us, like Buddy Holly, someone would bring out all the old tapes, rehashing them, putting strings on them, so we were always careful never to have anything unreleased.  By the time we finished I think we'd put out everything we'd recorded -- very nearly.

Scott:  How about the "Sgt. Pepper" film?

Paul:  I've just heard that George Burns sings "Fixing a Hole."  Sounds interesting.  Geoff Emerick is working on it.  He's broken off form it to come and do this album for us and he likes it -- says it's going to be great.

Scott:  You're really into collecting catalogues aren't you?

Paul:  Well, when you earn money you've either got to give it to the government or spend it on something.  It's Catch 22.  I don't want to buy a lot of big buildings, so it was the normal thing to do.  Norman Petty just happened to be selling the Buddy Holly stuff.  EMI was interested, Allen Klein was interested and secretly, I think that is what got me interested.  I wanted to have them, not to be greedy, but to look after those songs and do something for them.

Photo by Silvia Purbs 

Scott:  Have you got the Decca stuff?  "Sheik of Araby" "September in the Rain?"

Paul:  Yes, actually I like that stuff.   It really shows that we were a little rock group to start off and we went towards ballads and more complicated psychedelia but all these tracks were just rock.

Scott:  Were you more of a Holly fan than a Presley ran?

Paul:  No, equal, no all of them really the thing about Holly was that if you were a new young songwriter it was easy to pick up on his stuff because there were never many chords.  Elvis something had very many chords, not his early stuff, but when he started doing "Love me Tender."  Buddy's stuff was all in A, D and E or maybe E, A, and B, and we knew these chords, so the first 50 tunes we wrote were all like that.

Scott:  There's a Wings movie that you're fiddling around with at the moment.

Paul:  Yes, we shot some things on tour when we did the "Wings over America" tour and some of its very nice, but the sound isn't that good.   We're working a lot on the soundtrack trying to get it sounding better.

Scott:  This will be for TV?

Paul:  Yes, I think it'll be a special for TV.

Scott:  But a long version, I heard, for the fans?

Paul:  Well, I don't know.  What we thought was first of all put together a kind of documentary-cum-concert for TV and then if the concert stuff really looks good then we'll put all that together for just a concert film.

Scott:  What kind of new music are you listening to at the moment?

Paul:  Not much, actually, we're working on our own stuff and by the time I get home I don't want to listen to much.  I just switch on the telly and switch off my mind.  I haven't bought any new albums for a while, actually.   My daughter's into punk, so I hear a bit of that.

Scott:  Does it make any impression?

Paul:  It's alright.  I quite like it.  I like what they're doing -- the attitude, and I like the look, but for me it's just another style.  It's not my style.

Beatles Help!

July 29, 1965:  The Beatles arrive at the London premiere of Help!   

Beatles Love Bahamas, but Feeling far from mutual

I thought this newspaper article from 50 years ago today was quite interesting!

Photo by Henry Grossman

photo by Henry Grossman

 

Beatles Love Bahamas, but Feeling far from mutual

Tuesday March 9, 1965

Ocala Star-Banner

Back home in England the Beatles may be great, but since their arrival here they’ve done little to endear themselves to the press or public.  

The entertainers got off to a bad start last December when Beatles George Harrison arrived with his girlfriend, Patti Boyd for a hush-hush week’s stay with Dr. W.T. Strach, the Beatles’ business manager.

Efforts by local officials then to keep reporters and fans away led to a near-riot at the airport.

When the four mop-tops arrived Feb. 22 to film a movie, they gave local fans the slip by being whisked from their plane in an automobile, not allowing even a glimpse of them.

Charges of “ignoring their fans” were denied by Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ personal manager, who claimed this was an arrangement by local authorities.

But the Beatles’ behavior here is generally resented.  They’ve refused to pose for any photographers and fans have been unable to get autographs as the entertainers rush back and forth in fast cars and dodge autograph seekers. 

Photographers have been subjected to foul language and the public generally has come in for similar treatment. 

Tony Howard, their publicity manager, today denied reports that Ringo had burned the hand of Pete Gardner, manager of a restaurant, with a lighted cigarette.

“When I told Ringo about it, he went into a fit of laughter, saying he couldn’t understand how anyone would think he could do such a thing,” Howard said.   “The whole thing was just a joke.”

Howard admitted that Ringo did gesture toward Gardner’s hand with a cigarette but he said he had no intentions of burning him.

In spite of the bad press they have received here, Howard said the Beatles loved the Bahamas and plan to return for a holiday as soon as their schedule permits.

Commenting on adverse publicity, Howard said, “I think they’ve come to expect this kind of thing.  It probably happened because the people were getting a bit bored with all the nice things which have been said about the Beatles and the newspapers were just looking for a new angle.   The boys feel that recent statements about them in print are quite wrong or vastly exaggerated and as far as they are concerned, they’ve clear consciences and nothing to regret.”

Filming of the movie, so far unnamed, has proceeded on schedule and the Beatles are due to leave Wednesday.  Full preparations are being made to allow fans a good view of the Beatles on their departure.  They will arrive at the airport an hour before scheduled takeoff

During the weekend the Beatles broke their daily “work and bed’ routine and dined with Sir Harold and Lady Christie on Friday and tourist minister Sir Stafford Sands on Saturday when they met the governor of the British Crown Colony, Sir Ralph and Lady Grey.

Yesterday...these two pictures were from yesterday...

The memorial service for our dear Victor Spinetti was held in London yesterday.    Those who were in attendance say that it was a very nice service.  There was a mixture of readings and music, including a reading of "The Fat Budgie" and the song "in my life."  Paul McCartney was there and he read something he had prepared about his memories of Victor.   Afterwards, Paul mingled outside of the church for a bit and posed for photos with a few fans.  Then Paul was off to the Magical Mystery Tour showing.   Busy day for Paul on October 2nd!

photo:  Richard Porter

Remembering Victor Spinetti

Just as the rest of you Beatle fans, I was sad to hear the news of Victor Spinetti's passing.   I heard Victor speak for the first time at my very first Beatlefest in 1994.   I was 17 years old, a die hard second generation fan and was shocked that someone who was in three Beatles movies was speaking about his time with the Beatles.  Victor was great at storytelling and when he told the stories about the Beatles, you could picture what was happening in your mind.   He made the Beatles become real and not just images on a screen.   Victor returned to the Chicago Fest in 2007, where I posed with him for a photo and had him autograph his book for me.  

Me with Victor Spinetti at the Fest for Beatle Fans Chicago in 2007

Victor's autograph on his book for me.

A fan-taken photo of Victor and Jane Asher in New York in 1971

It is a sad realization that has the years tick by, more and more figures in the Beatles story are passing away.   Those of us who are young will have to endure this for many more key people as well as Paul and Ringo themselves.   I hate to be a downer and bring this up, but it is a very sad fact.   I just hope that we are able to pass our love for the Beatles onto the next generations who won't have the opportunity to hear people who knew the Beatles personally speak at conventions, or see Paul or Ringo in concert....

Anyway...onto more about Victor Spinetti.   One of my favorite tales that Victor tells is about the Victor Spinetti Fan Club that ran by a fan in the United States.   I found that this fan was a girl named Patti Gallo.   Patti was (and still is) a true Beatlemaniac.  She lived in Philadelphia in 1964 and on September 16 of that year she saw Victor perform in the play (in which he won the Tony award for the same role on Broadway in 1965) Oh what a lovely war.   Keep in mind that this was just months after Victor was in the Beatles film,  A Hard Day's Night.   It must have been mind-blowing to see the actor that was in the Beatles film just month after its release.   So anyway, Patti meets Victor at the stagedoor, where he tells her some wonderful Beatles stories.   And in October of 1964, the Official Victor Spinetti Fan Club of America was created.

I am not too sure what it took to be in such fan club or what you got for being a member, but Victor did send the fan club the Beatles autograph on a an in-flight menu during the making of Help and (and this is the biggie) the fuzzy sweater from the movie A Hard Day's Night!   When I heard Victor speak at Beatlefest in 2007, someone asked him whatever happened to that sweater and he stated that he wasn't sure as he gave it to the Victor Spinetti fan club in the 1960's.   I wonder where it is today. 

Read more about Patti at her website


And then here is the funny part of the story of the fan club.  Told by Victor himself

"The same thing happened to the Beatles, once. I was on a plane once with them. We landed in New York, just to refuel, that is all. We were not allowed off the plane. And suddenly an immigration officer got on the plane and said, 'Is there a Victor Spinetti here?' John said, 'They're deporting you, you bloody wop. Ellis Island awaits.'

 " 'Yes, I am he,' I said. 'Would you come to the door of the plane, please,' the man said, 'and wave, because your fan club is at the airport.' The Beatles cried, 'His fan club!?' It was like that joke about the Pope. I'm standing next to the Beatles at the door of the plane, waving with the lads, and these people were shouting, 'Victor! Victor!'
"John said, 'Hey, Vic, we're really impressed, think we could join?' So I wrote to the lady who ran the club, and the Beatles and Brian Epstein all got a card saying they were members of the Official Victor Spinetti Fan Club of America.

Of course he did more than just Beatles movies (although I am glad that he did because knowing hs name and the 3 movies he was in allowed me to win a Beatles trivia contest once.)  Many years ago I was listening to the London soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar and I was really enjoying Pilot's song.  It has always been one of my favorites from that musical, but I just really thought it sounded good.  So I looked at the liner notes and sure enough, Victor Spinetti was playing Pilot!   He also was the voice of Mr. Thomus for the cartoon version of the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (which is loved as a kid!).  

So here is to you Victor Spinetti....with a ring like that I might -- dare I say it --- rule the world!

Satisfaction Guarunteed...

Photo removed at the request of the copyright holder/ photographer
Alistair, John and Mike McCartney

Photo removed at the request of the copyright holder / photographer
"Gizza ciggy Al"


Photo removed at the request of the copyright holder / photographer
John Lennon, during the shooting of MMT, finds time to pose for a fan (1967)




Ringo rehearses an entrance



Victor Spinetti and Paul

At Beatlefest this year, I bought a book called "Hello Goodbye: The Story of Mr. Fixit." It is about Alistair Taylor. The reason I bought this book is because 1. I didn't have it. 2. There were only $4.00 per book. I saw some rare photos in the middle of the book of a concert in 1963 that I didn't have and I figured that 4 bucks was worth the price of the photos alone! There also were some fan photos from Magical Mystery Tour. Most of them I already had in my files (in color), but not all of them. Here is what it said about the photos and the photographs themselves with captions from the book.

In 1967, an American fan, Barbara Burton, was invited to the filming of Magical Mystery Tour at West Mailing. These are her pictures.