Tag Archives: John Lennon

The John Lennon Letters – New Book

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“John Lennon lived and died in an era before computers, emails, twits, tweets, and twitters, hence he handwrote or typed letters and postcards to his family, friends, fans, strangers, newspapers, organisations, lawyers and the laundry.  Most of his letters were funny, informative, campaigning, wise, mad, anguished, poetic.  Sometimes they were heartbreaking.  We know from his lyrics and his two books of poems that he had a way with words, but his letters have up to now never been collected and published, and in many cases their very existence has remained unknown.” – Hunter Davies

In the month that should have seen John Lennon’s 72nd birthday comes a great new and very insightful book – “The John Lennon Letters”:

This book features almost 300 letters that were recovered by famed Beatles biographer Hunter Davies with the help of major auction houses in the UK and US.  They include a page from the “Daily Howl,” a  homemade newspaper John created when he was 12 or 13; a page from a homemade book John penned at age 11; letters to relatives including his mother, father, son, half-sister, cousins and aunts; to his first wife Cynthia (including his first ever written correspondence to her which was a homemade card celebrating their first Christmas together); early fan letters, countless items to friends, journalists, dignitaries, record executives, and of course to the other Beatles.

It is all compiled and edited by Hunter Davies, who this week gave an interview to Australian radio host Philip Clark on the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast program:

The book reveals Lennon’s emotional states – highs and lows – and much about his songwriting. It includes hand-written Beatles set-lists, drawings, lyrics to never-recorded songs, and even grocery lists from the later parts of his life.

It is the first-ever compilation of John Lennon’s musings and paints a unique, intimate, and rather emotional portrait of one of music’s – and the world’s – most beloved and enigmatic figures.

(click images to see larger versions)

“The John Lennon Letters” is published by Little, Brown and Company.

John Lennon’s Poster Replicated – Mr Kite!

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This is nice.

The Beatles tune “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” was inspired by an 1843 circus poster that John Lennon purchased at an antiques store and hung in his music room.

Now London designer and Beatles superfan Peter Dean has recreated this poster in obsessive detail. He went so far as to collaborate with a wood-engraving artist and had the final poster letterpress printed. The short film (above) has been made about the project. You can find a larger format version of it and a lot more info on a cool website at:  http://kiteprint.com

And for more info Peter’s email is:  mail@kite.com

“A Hard Day’s Night” Chord Cracked – Maybe…

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The  Sydney Morning Herald and other Australian news providers are today (via the Press Association) reporting on one of the often-mentioned Beatle mysteries – the opening chord of the song  “A Hard Day’s Night”:

The SMH says:  “It is one of the most famous sounds in the history of rock and roll. The clanging, opening chord at the start of the 1964 Beatles hit A Hard Day’s Night is instantly recognisable. Yet, as many musicians have discovered, every attempt to reproduce it seems to sound wrong.

A British mathematician now claims to have got closer than anyone else to solving the decades old musical mystery. Dr Kevin Houston, from the University of Leeds, used sophisticated software to split up the sound on the record into its component frequencies.

Presented on a computer screen, a pattern was revealed showing which notes were most prominent. The results suggest a much simpler solution than one proposed four years ago by another scientist from Canada.

Professor Jason Brown, from Dalhousie University, maintained that missing guitar notes were replaced by Beatles producer George Martin playing a piano. Buried in the background behind the guitars, the piano is hard to hear. Yet according to Prof Brown it provides the vital musical spark that makes the chord so distinctive. Dr Houston does not dispute that the piano is there, but challenges its importance.

His believes George Harrison was playing a straightforward F add9 on his 12-string electric Rickenbacker guitar, rather than the unusual fingering indicated by Prof Brown. At the same time, Harrison appears to have had his thumb curled round the neck of the guitar, pressing down the bottom E string at the first fret. This is a common technique among self-taught pop and rock guitarists.

Dr Houston also established that John Lennon was playing the same chord on an acoustic guitar. On the stereo track, Harrison and Lennon are heard on different speakers.

The wonders of music and mathematics! Dr Houston takes us through it all in detail here:

The SMH continues:  “The opening chord to A Hard Day’s Night is a mystery,” said Dr Houston, who was speaking at the British Science Festival. “It turns out that nobody really knows what it is. People who do know are a bit cagey about it. George Martin probably knows quite well but I think he’s quite happy not to tell people. “I wouldn’t like to say that we’ve definitely got it right, but I think we’ve put the record straighter. It makes mathematical and musical sense.”

Both are implausible, according to fellow mathematician, teacher and guitarist Ben Sparks who was taking part in Saturday’s presentation. “It beggars belief to say George Harrison was dodging the first string; its laughable,” he said. “Trying to play four strings in the middle of a 12 string is bloody hard, and most musicians would think it’s ludicrous to have John Lennon play just a high C.”

A question mark still hung over the role of Paul McCartney’s bass guitar, said the mathematicians. Whether he was playing a full note, or a harmonic, or both, remains a puzzle.” (ends)

Meanwhile….Paul McCartney has been in France being presented with France’s highest cultural award, the Legion of Honor, by French President Francois Hollande:

Paul looked pleased. Nice tapestry in that room, too!


The Art & Music of John Lennon

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Visiting my local discount bookstore again this week turned up this interesting read – “The Art and Music of John Lennon” – by Peter Doggett.

Peter Doggett writes a Beatles blog called You Never Give Me Your Money, which is also the title of a book he released in 2009/10, a critically-acclaimed history of why the Beatles split, and what happened over the next 40 years. Doggett knows his stuff. He’s the author of a number of books, and was the editor of the famous and respected “Record Collector” magazine between 1983 and 1999. He’s a regular contributor to “Mojo” magazine as well.

This updated edition of “The Art and Music of John Lennon” (published in 2005) includes additional material, some of it discovered and released after John Lennon’s death. The book aims to be a complete catalogue and history of Lennon’s work as a musician, writer and artist – a definitive portrait. It includes details on each then available officially released recording; a UK and US discography; details on home demo recordings from the early Beatle years onwards; studio out-takes; live recordings; collaborations with other artists and interview material.

The book also examines Lennon’s non-musical work: his films from “How I Won the War” to the avant-garde work he did with Yoko Ono and on to more recent documentaries, videos and promotional clips. There’s a complete catalogue of writings from “A Spaniard in the Works”, prose and poetry, and letters to magazines and friends, as well as artwork, erotic lithographs and other drawings and paintings.

There are also some great photographs inside, some of which I’ve never seen before, like the one on the lower right-hand side taken at Tittenhurst Park:

(click on the image to see a larger version)

If you want to see a bit more of the book, Amazon has one of those “Look Inside“ the book pages with more.

Beatles With Records – Part Twelve

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A few people have sent in some more images of the Beatles either as a band or as solo artists being photographed with those things they sold so many of – records and CDs.

This first one, from Beatles Blog reader Ariel Caceres,  is a stunner – a photograph of John Lennon I have never seen before. Ariel says this was taken  on 24 October, 1973 during the filming of a TV commercial to publicise John’s “Mind Games” LP. There are some more images documented here:
If anyone knows more about the background to this shot just get in touch. Why is John kneeling and holding a copy of his 1973 LP “Mind Games”? Why is a man dressed as a fairy godmother casting a spell over him? And who is the bearded gentleman? Please write in and let us know:

(click on the image to see a larger version)

I think you’ll agree that it is an extraordinary photograph! Lennon is clearly doing something to publicise his latest record at the time (below), but what is going on in the scene above?

Our friend Claude Defer in France has once again been busy in his archives and has sent through some more images of the Beatles photographed with records.

First, a photograph of George with sleeves of his “33 1/3” album (from 1976) behind him:

Next comes Paul and Linda (in Bruxelles according to Claude – on July 2, 1992). They’re signing a copy of the “London Town” LP from 1978:

You can see in Paul’s hand the rear cover of the LP:

You can also just see that the man at the right in the photograph is holding a copy of the Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson picture-cover, 12-inch single from 1983, “Say, Say, Say“. You can see the rear of the cover:

Claude also sent in a picture which was already shown in the Beatles With Records – Part Seven, but he’s kindly included the full set of George Harrison photos taken at the same location of George looking at, and signing, a copy of the Beatles “Help!”:

And a final photo, another one from Ariel. This time not of a Beatle, but a Beatle son. It’ s Julian Lennon holding what could be a book – or is it a 45 rpm picture-cover record? The photo is kind of faded and I’m not sure:

He definitely has in his hands something with this image on the front cover:

If you know what this item could be let us know at beatlesblogger@gmail.com, or simply submit a comment in the space provided below.

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

The Beatles Discomania – A Great Book

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Time for another gem found during my recent brief visit to Paris (see the previous France visit posts here, and here).

At the Gilbert Jeune bookstore I found this wonderful book by French writer and Beatles fanatic Francois Plassat:

“The Beatles Discomania” is a fantastic career-spanning summary of the Beatles output as a band and also as solo artists. It brings the story right up to the end of 2011 with details of the John Lennon Signature box set and his other re-issues, the Paul McCartney “Archive” series gets a mention, Ringo’s “Y Not”, and the George Harrison documentary “Living in the Material World“.  As you can see in the images below this is a lavishly illustrated with extensive album cover images and memorabilia spanning a wide range of releases. It is a very attractive book to own – even though I don’t speak French!

It turns that François Plassat works in graphic design and it shows as the text and image layout throughout this book is excellent. He created an agency called China Night which he led for more than twenty years . After writing a book about  Paul McCartney (released in October 2010 – see below), Plassat’s most recent work “The Beatles Discomania” is about  fifty years of the Beatles releases.

The book is a large format, soft-back  which has been stylishly and sensibly laid out. It was published by JBz & Co in France in 2011. The book is full of information on all the recordings released by the group as well as the solo releases of each band member. There are sections on Apple Records, George Martin, etc. This is a true guide to the complete musical output of the Beatles, a carefully laid out goldmine of information. Bring on the English translation!

Here are some images giving just a taste of what’s inside and the attention to detail in the illustrations and photographs:

Author Francois Plassat has also written another book “Paul McCartney: L’empreinte d’un Géant”, which translates as “Paul McCartney: The Footprint of a Giant”:

If you speak French (and we have some followers of the Beatles Blog in France) then you might be interested in these two interviews with author Francois Plassat about his amazing book “The Beatles Discomania”.

Here’s the rear cover:

John Lennon – Une Vie en Images

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I was fortunate recently to visit Paris, France and while there of course I had to have a snoop around for Beatle books and records. I had a couple of successes and over the next couple of blog posts I’ll detail what I found there….

In Paris there is a fantastic chain of discount bookstores called Gilbert Jeune:

They have a number of outlets all around the Place Saint-Michel, right across the road from the River Seine and just near where we stayed. In one of the stores they were stocking a number of Beatle and Beatle-related titles and I very much liked the look of this one:

“John Lennon – Une Vie en Images” translates roughly as “John Lennon – A Life in Images”. This is a large format softback book – very thick and heavy and printed on quality paper. The text by John Blaney is in French but as the book is largely made up of photographs of John Lennon that’s not so much of a drawback for me (I don’t speak French!). It actually makes this book a little more unusual and interesting if anything.

John Blaney comes with some cred. He’s a contributor to Shindig magazine and has written extensively on the Beatles, and Lennon and McCartney as solo artists. His books include “Paul McCartney – The Songs He Was Singing”; “John Lennon – Listen to this Book”; “Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone”; and “Beatles For Sale: How Everything They Touched Turned to Gold”. (You can read more about Blaney on his Amazon author page).

Amazon also carries this review of “John Lennon – Une Vie en Images” from the Booklist site: “Although this biography-in-photographs appears in conjunction with the thirtieth anniversary of John Lennon’s tragic death at 40, it concentrates on what Yoko Ono describes in her preface as her husband’s “magical” life. While Ono remembers Lennon as a “curious and highly intelligent man,” Blaney writes of Lennon’s “butterfly mind,” shorthand for his brilliance and impatience. In his extensive commentary accompanying hundreds of remarkably elegant private and public photographs, Blaney notes that while the always-photogenic Lennon appears to be “a confident, happy, normal young boy,” everyone knew he was exceptional. Creative, charismatic, ambitious, daring, and sensitive, Lennon concealed his terrible grief over his mother’s death when he was 17 behind a caustic and aggressive demeanor and struggled with his repressed feelings as the tempest of fame engulfed the Beatles. Image and narrative track the group’s rapid rise and evolution and Lennon’s discovery of his soul mate. Blaney writes, “Ono transformed Lennon; she filled him with confidence, inspiration and energy.” This superior photographic record of Lennon and his and Ono’s love, activism, and mutual artistry is strikingly romantic and poignant.” — Donna Seaman

Amazon has a “Look Inside”  page for the English version of this book. It  gives a much better idea of the great photos, layout  and content.

Further research when I got back home revealed that this book has also been published in English, but with the title  “John Lennon – In His Life”:

It was published in Germany as “Being John Lennon – The Visual Biography”:

And in Italian as well, this time with the title “John Lennon – A Revolution in Music”:

The French edition is a nice addition to the collection and a great memento of my first visit to Paris. Next post will feature some more French Beatle finds….

Beatles-related Items at a Book and Record Fair

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A local community radio station (2MBS-FM) often holds fundraising book, CD and record fairs to raise some much-needed cash in order to keep going.

There’s just been another one and I was able to score a couple of Beatle-related items of interest. I got in on the first day and before things had been picked over too much.

They didn’t have much in the way of vinyl, but there were masses of CD’s and books this time – and as the CD’s were so daunting (so many of them) I headed first to the books as they’d kindly identified a “Music” section. The very first thing I grabbed was this:

It is a hardback copy of Ray Coleman’s 1984 biography (I think initially released in two volumes?) in one, very thick book (640 pages). Its a little bit worn, but in pretty good shape seeing it is a US first edition from 1985. This is published by McGraw Hill, and for $6.00 looked like a good read. I know that Coleman (who died in 1996) had mixed reviews for this work. I didn’t have a copy of this book in the collection. Now I do.

Also in the books section I found this:

Yes – it is a little bit beaten up and well-used – but it’s an original UK paperback edition from 1965 (published by Mayflower Dell). It is a “novelisation” by author Al Hine of the Beatle’s  “Help!” movie from the same year.  I purchased this little Beatles book because I’d also very recently scored a copy of the “novelisation” of “A Hard Day’s Night” at another record fair.  This makes a matching pair…..and also it was just $6.oo. A bargain.

The final find was hidden away in amongst the many CD’s on offer. I’ve already  got this Paul McCartney release on LP but not the CD version. It comes with a bonus track – “”Ou Est Le Soleil”:

(click on the image for a larger version)

This is the UK pressing on MPL/Parlophone and comes from 1989. There’s a sticker on the back that says it was sold by the “Compact Disc Den” in the regional city of Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia. So it has had something of a journey to end up in my collection! But isn’t that often the way?

Happy collecting.

“Shoulda Been There” and “Shivering Inside”

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So, I got home from work today and had this interesting email waiting for me in the inbox:

Hello there, Beatles Blogger!

Jude Southerland Kessler here. I was doing some research on Robert Freeman and The Beatles and came upon your wonderful site. Thanks for all you do!

I’ve been working for the last 26 years on The Lennon Series, a 9-volume expanded biography of John’s life. The first volume, “Shoulda Been There”, (covering 1940-Dec.1961) came out about 4 years ago. And the second volume, “Shivering Inside” (covering Dec. 1961-mid-April 1963) came out in 2010.

Right now, I’m working on the third book, “She Loves You” (mid-April 1963 – end of 1965) now. All total, the series will take 46 years of research and writing to complete.

If you have a moment, I’d be honored if you’d check out the website at www.johnlennonseries.com. And thank you for helping me with my research! I’ll be sure to include you in the acknowledgments for “She Loves You”.
All the Best!
Cheers,
Jude

Thanks so much for getting in touch Jude – and good luck with the huge Beatles writing and research task you have undertaken. I’m staggered by your 9-book, 46 year project!

For those wanting to find out more there’s an interesting text interview with Jude Southerland Kessler at Daytrippin’ Beatles Magazine. You can also listen to an extensive interview at Happy Nat’s The Beatles Rarity.

To learn more go to www.ontherockbooks.com.  Click here to have a bit of a look inside the Kindle edition of “Shivering Inside”.

Beatles With Records – Part Nine

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Part Eight in this series looking at “The Beatles With Records” was intended to be the last – but I’ve just been contacted by a reader named Ben Summer (he  also has a very cool website) who has done a great job in identifying the record that John Lennon is carrying here in around 1967:

I’d posted this shot in “The Beatles With Records – Part Three” back in August last year. Turns out it’s an LP called “Electronic Music“, that came out in 1966 on Turnabout Records, featuring Walter Carlos among other composers:

Coincidentally, this disc has also been discussed in the last day or so by the community of record collectors at the Steve Hoffman Music Forum, who also correctly identified it as the “Electronic Music” LP.  Thanks to everyone for the information.

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7 , 8, 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.