April 7, 1979
An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Just Call me "Lucky"
Just Call me "Lucky" (Finding a Beatle in a Haystack)
By Vickie Smallwood
The Harrison Alliance Issue #82
October-December 1992
To borrow an often-used song title, "With a Little Help From My Friends," Barbara Pazmino and I were able to attend the Dylan Tribute Concert on October 16 (1992). We had no intention of really looking for George because, with everyone in town at once, one might say it would have been like looking for a Beatle in a haystack!
We had met up with friends from Chicago and Cincinnati that weekend and sometimes luck is on one's side. And this was one time that we really walked into a windfall! Passing by one of New York City's more luxurious hotels on Sunday afternoon, we happened to spot a small band of faces, some of them familiar. That was all the encouragement we needed to join them to wait and see what would happen next. Our wait wasn't very long, as who should be the two next people to stroll out the door, but none other than Olivia and Dhani Harrison! Even if you didn't recognize Olivia, there's no mistaking Dhani. While Dhani has his mum's coloring, he's George all over again! They stopped for a brief moment and smiled at us. it was just long enough for those of us with cameras to take one quick photo. They got into a van and drove away.
We waited for what seemed like forever when finally, after what felt like weeks on end, George came out. Up close, you could see that he had gained a bit of weight and looked better than ever! He also looked like he had a more healthy color to his face.
Unfortunately, for the few of us that are truly fans, there always seem to be a couple of "rotten apples" that have to spoil things, and they all rushed over to George. Anyone's chance of ever asking for an autograph were instantly ruined. Some of us did manage to get a couple of quick photos as he got into a van. As the van pulled away from the curb amid shouts of "Great show, George!" and "Hope you tour soon, George!" much to our delight, George blew kisses to the ladies gathered on the wall. From then until the van was out of sight and out of earshot, "We love you, George!" rang out in the frosty air.
Concert for TM
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| Photo taken at the rehearsal |
April 4, 2009 - Ringo and Paul perform in concert together.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
It Ain't Fair John Sinclair....
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| Yoko and John meet John Sinclair and his wife |
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| John Sinclair's release from prison in December 1971 |
John Sinclair passed away on April 2, 2024 from congestive heart failure at the age of 82. John Sinclair may have left this world, but fans of John Lennon will never forget him because he is forever immortalized in the song written about his situation. Even though the "got to got to got to" part gets annoying, you have to admit that it is a catchy song.
Of course, John Lennon wrote the song after learning about Sinclair's prison sentence. He received 10 years in prison for giving an undercover police officer 2 joints (hence the line "they gave him 10 for 2). Which, even for 1969 (when he was sentenced), seems extreme. I am sure with John's issues with immigration due to his marijuana bust, he had empathy for John Sinclair. And so he wrote the John Sinclair song and performed it during the Rally in Ann Arbor, Michican. I often wondered what Sinclair's thoughts were during the concert. Well -- come to find out, a radio station was broadcasting it live and he was in his cell listening to it on a transistor radio. Here is what else Sinclair had to say:
It was scary, he said, since he used his weekly call to his wife, Leni, to call in to the concert and have his words broadcast throughout the arena.
“I was terrified, because I thought as soon as the guards found out, they’d carry me off to the hole,” he said, breaking into a hearty laugh. “But I was lucky, because they were listening to the basketball game instead.”
“Then I figured all weekend I figured when the warden came in and heard the report of the phone call, my goose would be would be cooked."
Still, Sinclair recalled, it was worth the risk.
“I felt like I had the chance to speak with people who were supporting me from the penitentiary was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
From what I can tell, the two Johns only met in person once (see photograph above). John remained an activist throughout his life and he managed the band MC5.
John Sinclair will be missed by many people, but he will never be forgotten.
The Baby Buggy trailer
April 3, 1964
How was this supposed to tie back to A Hard Day's Night? I guess it was just meant to get fans excited about the upcoming Beatles movie.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Swedish Radio Interview with George (1975)
GH: M-A-Y, with a line over the A, M-A-Y-A, and Maya, when you translate it literally, 'that which is not.' Maya, you know, it's like, I'll just go back, I'll try and do it quickly, to go back into the thing of meditation, the thing that I learned, it's like to say this state of consciousness we're in is only the effect of some very subtle cause; so it's like to say, this is what the Maharishi used to demonstrate, he'd have a flower, and he'd say 'you see there's a stem, and then the leaves and the petals and all the pieces of the flower. The stem's made of sap, the leaf's made out of sap, and the petals are made out of sap. It's all sap. See, the cause is sap, but the effect is petals, left and stems, see.' So this is very, um, in some ways, quite deep, sort of philosophical thing.
Usually, what I would do is make it, write a song and the melody, and usually get the idea of the words. Sometimes, I even write them all at the same time. The words I usually have to think more about than the music, and sometimes I can write a whole song musically, with, say, one verse and chorus, and then I'll leave it and then come back and finish off the other verses.
INT: Yeah, I think your verses are getting more and more complicated. I mean in a good way, but...
GH: Yeah...
INT: more and more thought out. Y'know?
GH: I don't know.
INT: And that lots of, the circle around, you know?
GH: I like the things to mean a lot of different things at the same time.
INT: Yeah, that's what I was trying to say...right.
GH: Yeah, I like that but...
INT: Double meaning.
GH: Yeah
INT: What about 'Bye Bye Love'? Why did you do that one?
GH: I'll tell you what happened with that. One night, I was just at home playing the guitar with Tommy Scott. Tommy Scott's a sax player. He was playing the bass, and we were just sitting around the fire playing songs, and we started playing, and for some reason, I changed. I just started singing ' Bye Bye Love' but changed the melody into more like a sort of blues. You know how it goes (George sings Everly Bros. version): 'Bye-bye love, bye-bye happiness...' I changed it (George sings his version), 'Bye-bye love, bye-bye happiness...' It's more like it's making it mine and more like it's sort of a blues thing. We just played that for a while, and for some reason, it just stuck in my mind. Then I decided that would be funny to record it. And as I recorded it, I did it all alone. It was great for me, as you know, I've got a recording studio in the house, so I didn't have any engineers or anything. I just did it., I have a rhythm machine to keep the time, and then I just played it on the guitar, then I later added the drum and all the bass and the synthesizer. It was a good exercise for me in recording without any help. And then, I got more involved with it and started writing more about what was happening with my wife. And that was it.
INT: Does she mind?
GH: No, she loved it! (laughter) I sent Eric and Pattie a copy of it and they loved it!
INT: The papers all tried to make a big thing out of it.
GH: Well, you know....
INT: A revenge thing.
GH: No. Look, if you've split up with your wife, they automatically want you to hate each other so they can write about it.
INT: To make a better story.
GH: So that song spoiled it for them because they're always trying to catch you doing something. I learned from the past that if you have something to hide. I make everything so there's nothing to hide anymore. I've never had a private life for ten years, so I mean, I just got used to it. The thing the press doesn't understand, that they can't understand, is that I could be happy she is with Eric.
INT: No...
GH: 'Cause he is one of my best friends. Well, why not? That's fantastic! I was just with her yesterday and the day before. We're great friends, and I love Eric. The last time I was in Sweden was with Delaney and Bonnie.
INT: I saw that concert.
GH: Yeah? With Eric....
INT: They were in Stockholm, in concert...
GH: Yeah, we played Stockholm and Gothenburg
INT: It was great.
GH: Yeah, I enjoyed that. I enjoy being in a band. The only problem for me is if I am the leader of the band, it's hard because there is so much pressure put on you if you are in the front.
INT: Do you ever miss the old times of being in a band? Of being with the Beatles?
GH: I don't know. I think all of the Beatles miss playing in a band but not necessarily playing in the Beatles because that was a long time ago now, and the times have really changed. Four people in the band, it was hard. We'd be playing concerts to 20 thousand to 70 thousand people, and in those days they didn't know how to mic everything. Now, you can play with little amplifiers and put it through the sound system and get good sound, but in those days, we just had little amplifiers and had 20 thousand people shouting at us. You couldn't hear a thing, and it was frustrating. And now the audiences are better. They listen more, but the Beatles are very limited because our music, even the last Beatles tour, was a bit difficult trying to play things. I remember trying to do things like 'Paperback Writer,' which we'd got into 8 track recording, and it's hard to play four, just two guitars, bass, and drums to play things like 'A Day in the Life,' And 'Strawberry Fields Forever,' we couldn't do it, because it's a studio recording. So you get a better chance of doing it if you have a few more people in the band. So that's why I just love this band I was with. It was fantastic with the horn players. It's nice to feel a good band behind you.
INT: What sort of music do you listen to yourself? If you have time?
GH: Well, I like the Indian classical music. That's my main thing. But then I like some blues singers. I prefer the old blues from the '30s and not the modern and the today people. I just love Smokey Robinson. Do you know Smokey Robinson? There's a lot fo stuff like that I like. There's Tamla/Motown and I like Dylan and the Band. There's all kinds. There's so much really that I think I prefer Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan and Indian classical music.
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