John arrives

 

Leaning in the doorway

photos taken by Jürgen Vollmer

 

Approximately April 22, 1961 

I have always heard the blurry figures in front of John are Stu, George and Paul but I am not sure if that has been proven. 

Have Troubles Altered the Public Image of the Beatles? (1969)

 Have 'Troubles' Altered the Public Image of the Beatles?

By:  Glen Goodey
Associated Press

April 29, 1969

      These are changing times for The Beatles. "Once we were everyone's darlings," said George Harrison, "but it isn't like that anymore."

     "They hate us, "Ringo Starr adds. "It's shocking the way some sections of the public have turned on us. It's completely unmerited."

     What's happened to the Beatles image?

     George, Ringo, and the other Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, haven't given a public performance together in two years, although they have continued to make hit recordings, and their joint business enterprises have run into problems. 

    George and John were recently fined on drug charges. John and his Japanese bride, Yoko Ono, drew some barbed comments from British newspapers when they spent their honeymoon ostensibly as a sleep-in for world peace and invited full publicity.

     Amidst all this activity, Ringo Starr was busy on a separate career as a movie actor, but he has not turned his back on his fellow Beatles. In an interview, he insisted that the Beatles were retaining their fans and that their financial affairs were being straightened out. The interview was on the set of The Magic Christian a film that pairs Ringo with actor Peter Sellers.

     Dressed in a brown suit, extravagant bow tie, and frilly shirt, Ringo talked as much with gestures as with words between mouthfuls in the studio canteen, his hair hung in long folds over his shoulders, and his Mexican-type mustache drooped over his mouth. He looked heavier than his 150 pounds distributed over his five-foot-eight frame. 

    "Despite the critics, we are as popular as ever," insisted Ringo. To back up his point, in the Electrical and Musical Industries-- EMI, who cut the Beatles' discs, reported the group's recording of "Hey Jude" last fall sold 750,000 copies in Britain alone, equaling sales of previous releases. 

    In 1965, The Beatles were decorated with the Order of the British Empire for promoting British exports. "We've done a lot for this country," Ringo said. "We don't necessarily want any thanks, but at least we don't want to be criticized every step of the way.

     "Just because John leads a different sort of life than most people, that doesn't give everyone the right to attack him out of hand. I would never be seen in the nude," added Ringo. "John can get away with it, but I never could."

     Ringo denied rumors that the group was breaking up. He said he did not expect them to perform together in public again, but insisted they would remain together for recordings, films, and broadcasts.

     "We shall branch out and pursue our individual careers, but we shall always be the Beatles. I won't say we will last forever, but we will go on for a very long time-- unless we get shot or something."

     Observers of the Beatles trace the beginning of their eccentric ways to the death of their manager, Brian Epstein in 1967. "Yes, his death did affect our career tremendously," said Ringo. "Now we have to do everything he used to do in the office. It's very hard. Not only are we the Beatles, but we're our own managers and agents. There could never be anyone to replace him. We have appointed certain people to do certain things, but no one could do all that he did, and we wouldn't want them to."

     The Beatles launched their own company called Apple in early 1968 to promote films, records, and clothing. In January, John Lennon said it had turned sour, and unless something was done, they would be broke within six months. 

    "Apple would have been broke," said Ringo, "but we wouldn't. It was a bit mixed up. At one time, we were employing lots of people we didn't want, but we pruned it down, and it's on the right line now."

 Ringo, whose real name is Richard Starkey, is 28

Ringo on Holiday

 

Getting Kyoko

 April 22, 1971 

Ringo at home

 

Conversations with John

 

Bank Street early 1973

 

Here is a room in the Lennons' Bank Street Apartment we rare see in photos.  

Having Friends and Admirers in High Places (1976)

 

Having Friends and Admirers in High Places

By Peter Jones

The Bolton News

April 20, 1976

    One way to get on in the music world is to have friends and admirers in high places, as Ravi Shankar has underlined. His particular mate and mentor is ex-Beatle George Harrison, and the partnership has proved potent. 

    Without Harrison's encouragement, the 55-year-old Indian would probably be unknown in the Western world. Instead, he's now internationally accepted as a great sitar player, has his records produced by Harrison, and is signed to Harrison's own Dark Horse label.

     Referring to his eldest brother, Uday, a brilliant musician, Shankar recalls, "When I was just four years old, I'd stay alone and play with his musical instruments and lose myself in thrilling stories. I'd act out plays in front of the mirror, playing hero, lover, and villain in turn.  

    

    "Even when I went to school at the age of seven, I carried a whole world of imaginative fantasies around in my head. My invented universe grew ever larger as I read more and more books. Later, my fantasy world, my loneliness, my efforts to grasp something unreachable, all found expression in my mystic."

    

     At the age of 10, Shankar, with two brothers and his mother, accompanied Uday to Paris with a small group of Indian dancers and musicians. Into that touring group came Ustad Allaudin Khan Sahib, who was to have a tremendous influence on Shankar. Says Shankar, "I became his guide, interpreter, and helper. He'd often say to me that he felt I had much talent and would love to teach me, providing I gave up the sparkle and easy fame of my life in Europe and spend many years with him in his own little town of Maibar."

     Shankar did just that. He became Khan Sahib's disciple, living in isolation, submitting himself to years of discipline and devotion, and he finally emerged to become a phenomenon in both Eastern and Western music worlds.

     As a young man, he recalls, "I heard the disdain and misunderstandings felt by some Western musicians for the Indian music form. I realized that I had to go out into the big, wide world and explain what our art and culture was all about. Those teaching experiences are among the happiest and most inspirational of my whole life. I truly value the empathy and respect of young Americans trying to understand in depth Indian music."

      Shankar met and talked with George Harrison, and he asked the ex-Beatle to give help to the millions of displaced refugees of Bangladesh. And that led to the still remembered Concert for Bangladesh with East musical meeting West. But then Shankar also made a big impact at the Monterey Pop Festival, at Woodstock, and at the biggest concert venues all around the world. 

    If Shankar is deeply immersed in Indian culture, he is also happy to try daring new ideas. One of the most widely acclaimed was his concert for Sitar, an orchestra premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Andre Previn.

    His long standing friendship with Yehudi Mennhin has resulted in a couple of innovative albums. For George Harrison, he did an album called Shankar Family and Friends, which featured just about every possible type of music.

    Shankar works with Indian instruments like sarod, madal, tabla, terang, manjira, and his own sitar, but also includes saxophones, acoustic and electric guitars (usually played by G. Harrison) and classical musicians. 

    Shankar remains surprisingly young at heart. His association with George Harrison has no doubt helped. When the Beatles started dabbling in Indian traditions and transcendental meditation, they opened up a whole new area of music. The result is that Ravi Shankar is now idolized by many young people, along with the Bay City Rollers, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd!

Back when Ringo still signed