#live george and ringo reaction

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 1.1

So disclaimer: I took screenshots instead of photographing my screen this time, but the quality of footage is a thousand times worse so the images are still mostly shit. But anyway, here we go :)

We're going to have to keep a tally on how many times they refer to their relationship in romantic terms. Less than a minute in, Paul has used the description, “great love affair.”

And John's right on his heels with “the sexual equivalent of . . . People in love.” So there's 2 already. Oh boy.

That opening montage of John and Paul just living for the light in each other's eyes should actually be the official music video for “I wanna hold your hand.”

Also I wonder how many songs they have about hiding. Someone's got to have a list somewhere right?

I adore the absolute lack of reaction to John manhandling Paul.

And then This Look. He's in love with him, ladies and gentlemen.

I remember seeing somewhere that this footage was literally right after they'd finished “she loves you.” Which was pretty recently after Bob Wooler, which was right after Barcelona. And if you're like me and you think that song is secretly about their relationship? If Paul's just been singing “she said you hurt her so, she almost lost her mind, but now she says she knows you're not the hurting kind. She said she loves you” at you, after all of that? Of course John's acting like a fucking puppy dog.

Poor George tally number 1

Excuse me??? John wants to live in the Beatle apartment instead of with his actual literal wife until Paul decides to move in with his girlfriend? What? He's so insane. Cynthia, you're lucky Paul's a fucking social climber.

I think it's indicative of two things that Paul said “screw secret girlfriends” while John happily went along with secret wives. One: different levels of security in masculinity (John doesn't have gay eyebrows etc) and two: different relationships. Jane and Paul's relationship was a smart career move for both of them and I think, being upper-class, and having her own career, and not being a mother, Jane was in more of a position to have a say.

Every time I watch that footage of Ken Dodd asking about their parents I physically cringe. Poor poor babies. Do your research you idiot! I don't think that ever happened again. I wonder if Brian made sure of that.

Paul literally talks like such a husband here. “We've thought about it, and probably the thing that John and I will do . . .”

Obsessed with Paul shouldering himself between George and John after George's little joke shove. It's so protective and yet so subtle. Exactly the same strong posture and easy smile as when he stepped between John and that interviewer during the Jesus scandal.

Poor George tally number 2 (you can't quite tell from the pic but John is shoving him out of the way because how dare he put his suitcase by Paul's?! That's John's suitcase's spot!!)

All the Beatles were cuddly with each other. It's one of the cutest bits about them, the puppies in a basket aspect. But I think we'll need a “noticable spacing difference” tally for this rewatch, too, and here's the first.

Paul wearing John's hat for attention and it fully and completely doing the job? They're so embarrassing!

I actually love that John's imitation of his upper-class Scottish family (which Paul can't do) is actually much more convincing than his broad Liverpudlian (which Paul nails in two variations, one based off his own family) I'm obsessed with the class dynamics between them.

Poor George tally three. He shares this one with Ringo. That moment when Paul's pretending to interview them about their purple hearts and cuts them both off with, “thank you. Mi-mister Lennon,” and John and Paul proceed to completely forget the other two exist for who knows how long – certainly longer than the videographer was willing to record.

I find John sliding into Paul's raspy “tiiight yeeeah” with his very turned on “mmmMM it's been a hard” extremely suggestive. I'm sorry but I do.

It's like he thinks if he looks away for too long he's going to disappear or something. Which. Now that I said that. Yeah. That is what it is. Poor separation-issues baby.

Ringo: Paul, you wrote a beautiful song and you sing it great. John: yeah and you're SEXY! Let's not forget that, everyone.

Am I crazy to obsess over every little musical similarity in their songs? Yes. Can I help it? No. The little “oh-oh ohoho” in the If I Fell demo is exactly the same as in Imagine and (frothing and writhing) it means something I can feel it! I just have no idea what.

I also find the lyric change from “i hope that she won't cry” to “i hope that she will cry” extremely interesting. There's always a heterosexual explanation. Trust me, the straights are the Simone Biles of mental gymnastics. But while the published lyric can be read as a man bitter toward his ex girlfriend hoping to hurt her by flaunting his new relationship, the demo version is trickier. Could it be that he doesn't want to hurt his wife's feelings by letting her know he's in love with someone else? But who else could John Lennon possibly have been in love with at the time?

“Too too much in love. Woah, too too much in love with you.” My heart

[meatlesbeating]

On the Beatles' different reactions to their growing worldwide fame in early 1964:

Already, their fame had transcended their craft; they became the single most popular entertainment story in the world and learned to live their lives in a goldfish bowl. The first concentrated dose of fame in London was a little hard to take. It wasn’t the limousines or the glamorous nights spent table-hopping at the Ad Lib with Mick and Chrissie Shrimpton and Verushka that were hard to get used to, but the omnipresent photographers, the reporters, and sycophants who hung on their every word, who analyzed their every nuance and gesture in the next day’s editions. While the Beatles were a little put out at being spied on constantly, they read all the newspaper accounts of their activities voraciously—Paul in particular didn’t miss a thing—and further took on the characteristics the reporters assigned to them. They became caricatures of themselves, partly because it was the only way to hide whatever privacy was left, and partly because it was expected of them.

John wore his new mantle of fame most uneasily. While Paul and George could bask in the adulation, and Ringo seemed only happily bewildered, John felt slightly betrayed by it all. Here he was, the rebel, the iconoclast, who had become a plaster icon himself. John was being singled out as the great intellect, because of his wit and easy verbal facility in press conferences and interviews. Suddenly, all the wise-ass, mean-tempered humor he had exhibited as a youth that had gotten him into so much trouble was being interpreted as wit. It became, in a way, more difficult to insult people who didn’t know him, because he sounded so pithy and bright.

The Love You Make, Peter Brown (1983)

[girlpanthera]

You mentioned Ringo would try to get them to take meds after George lost it too, so I was wondering if he would ever get to a point where he would make them food just to slip them pills?

Sleeping pills, anti-psychotics, etc etc.

Do you think they'd catch on eventually? Like maybe one night he slips them sleeping pills and they end up getting a full night of sleep (which is uncommon cause of the cats with trumpets). Do you think they'd catch on eventually? How would they react to this??

also... I can't wait till we see more of John, mainly cause I'm curious of his reactions to how George & Paul are acting.

I feel like ringo wpukd get to that point, yeah. even to the point of crushing up pills and mixing them into drinks till they dissolve. at first he attempted to just give it to them flat out with the idea it can stop the Cats Of Every Color, which George almost agreed to. Because unlike paul, George isn't a fan of the hallucinations until much later on, and he only seems to favor the wild women as they give him comfort. I'd imagine it like this:

TW: SA MENTIONS, ED, SH

ringo began getting worried about the delusions. originally he played Paul's stories off as just ptsd and overall head trauma from the affects of the hard drugs they took. At first he didn't care much, because he viewed paul as "johns" work. but now that paul was back and john remained at war, and the delusions "spread" to George, he realized he had to do something. Originally he just started with sleeping medications and some light antipsychotics he could get his hands on. he was tired of George and Paul running around the house at night and George waking him up to sleep next to him because "the little blue, red, and yellow kittens found their way into the kitchen and were toasting all of the bread they owned to make honey sandwiches with the crusts cut off"

George willingly took these medications the first few times, despite having bad nightmares and always waking up to Paul being erratic and angry he could sleep, there was no problems. It was when ringo offered the pills to paul that things got bad. Paul realized George had been medicating himself, which made him angry. as soon as he was offered the pills he lashed out, hitting ringo and screaming at him, trying to force ringo to take all of the pills to "just get rid of him" with the logic that "if he wanted to live in a false reality that's only brought on by pills he can, and he can stay there forever, cause he and Geo weren't going to do that"

it ended with Paul self harming and dragging the restless and sleep deprived George away to go to the fields, leaving ringo battered and bleeding. This is when ringo began writing letters to John, informing him of this all.

After the incident with Paul finding out george was medicated, Paul got more obsessive of him than before. originally, george had personal space from time to time, but now Paul clung to his hip. he woukd lay on him and force kisses and other sexual things on george as a form of trying to "see if he could trust him again"

this distressed george, cause not only was he too sleep deprived to properly fight back or even differentiate this from reality, but it was just shock and fear he was going through, so he let it happen and simulated affection for Paul despite being scared shitless.

The wild women eventually come into play here, as one night after being discarded by paul, George was just laying in the field in shock. He heard the agitationg noise of the small squeaky trumpets before the kittens of every color poked up around him and pointed to him. george frantically looked around to see why exactly the kittens pointed at him and that's when he became acquainted with a few wild women who came to comfort him. He thought they were very beautiful, as he had seen them before but they only offered comfort to Paul. The wild women let him lay on them and they cleaned him up and brushed his hair, guarding him while he slept. This was comforting ti george ans made him love the wild women, but the fact that they had never interacted with him before until now meant that there was a line that was crossed.

George would agree with ringo to take some medications through food so paul couldn't tell, but when he realized that also lessened the visits of the wild women he ended up refusing food. This caused him to starve himself in refusal alongside paul, who seemed quite cheeky and entertained by this. George depended on the wild women to give him food and care for him, and he began enthusiastically allowing paul to cut him or be rough with him just so the kittens of every color would see him battered and bring the wild women to him. the wild women never said anything to him, they only cared for him. paul would eat some of the food, getting medicated every so often, so he began getting his own food and even threatening to drug ringo back. this was around the time when John wrote to ringo, informing him of his injury and that he would be back. this was also the time paul tried to get ringo to join him and george, but ringo strictly refused. Though he didn't say specifically why, ringo had seen paul do some stuff to george that horrified him...and he felt a guilt for not helping george as he and George had history, and George was his special person before he had got sick..

SORRY THIS WAS LONG AND RANTY BUT YES HERES NEW STUFF WOO

[zilabee]

- Ringo teasing Glyn about not getting to bed last night <3

George: Do you know about that? They collect all nice-looking things and make a garden around where they are, just with all the groovy things they find. It's great.

- George literally checking if Ringo even knows what an octopus's garden is. I love that he does a bit of work on it, and then immediately tries to get it to resolve! Everything must resolve. Even octopuses. It's such a beautiful happiness of a song. I love George M coming to smile at it. I love John wandering in in his sailor's hat. <3

- Oh my god everyone is so lovely with Heather today, maybe it would be actually nice if they just went to live in a commune and raised children together. Somewhere sunshine and easy.

- I love that John wants Paul to do 'that old gospel ending that Elvis did', and gets moody that Paul ignores him, and then sings it softly right up and at him.

- Paul on drums while Ringo's sitting right there next to him... We don't get to see how that came about so I'm going to assume it was fine.

- I hope Heather's little wrinkled face is a genuine reaction shot to Yoko's singing, because I think it's lovely how interested and confused by it she looks. I love that a bit later she goes and sits with John and Yoko because they're on the floor, and then does some Yoko style singing with them. I think it's so freeing and beautiful for her, and I just think all girls should see women make noise that way. And John incorporating her into the song, and this face when she sees someone watching:

- EVERYTHING SHOULD BE SONGVID. FOR ALWAYS EVER MORE. PLEASE THANK YOU.

- John and Yoko dancing, GM with a maraca, Paul chucking Heather at the ceiling, Mal having a little dance! SO LOVELY.

Heather: Mr Sock... Mr Sock? Mr Sock? Glyn: Er yes, Mrs Sock.

- GM trying to make them rehearse new songs. Beatles thinking they maybe just won't though.

- I love when Paul says he might add strings to Long and Winding Road, and GM teases them about how they've been on about doing things SIMPLE and in ONE TAKE and then John's constantly 'we can just cheat there' and Paul's constantly 'well we'll add orchestras obviously!'

- Paul feeling every bit of Billy's playing. - Billy feeling every bit of Paul's delight.

John: Very strong dream. We both dreamt about it... Amazing. Different dreams, you know. I thought you must have been there. I mean, I was touching you. George: Was it sexually oriented? Paul: Oh, you know, John, don't worry about it. John: There's nothing to worry about.

ANSWER THE QUESTION, JOHN.

[takeasadsongandanalyzeit]

One After 909

This is a John song, though Paul strongly disputes that it was John's alone. These are the first times 909 makes an appearance, but we'll discuss later appearances as they appear in the recording catalogue. This was eventually included on Let It Be, but it was originally recorded on the second of the Forthlin Road tapes, in June/July 1960.

There are two versions on the tape.

Version 1:

This appears to have John singing lead, and Paul singing high harmony. This is the way the song is done going forward as well.

However,

Version 2:

In this version Paul seems to be singing lead with John singing high harmony. It makes sense that they would try recording the song in different configurations, but it's interesting to hear Paul sing lead on a John song. Makes us wonder if maybe Paul was telling the truth and it wasn't just a John song.

The drums are most likely being played by Paul's brother Mike, and the bass would be Stu.

The strumming (in both versions) is clearly meant to evoke a train sound, we assume this was an invention of Paul's. (This guess is largely based on Paul's train-like drum pattern he got Ringo to do for "Ticket To Ride").

Lyrics:

Well, my baby says she's trav'ling on the one after 909 She said move over honey I'm travelling on that line She said move over once, move over twice Come on baby don't be cold as ice. Said she's trav'ling on the one after 909

Well I begged her not to go and I begged her on a bended knee, She said you're only fooling around, she's only fucking around with me. I said move over once, move over twice Come on baby don't be cold as ice. Said she's trav'ling on the one after 909

Picked up my bags, run to the station Railman says you've got the wrong location yeah pick up my bags, run right home Then I find I've got the number wrong yeah

Said she's trav'ling on the one after 909 I Said move over honey I'm travelling on that line she said move over once, move over twice Come on baby don't be cold as ice. Said she's traveling on the one after 909.

Picked up my bags, run to the station Railman says you've got the wrong location yeah pick up my bags, run right home Then I find I've got the number wrong yeah

She said she's trav'ling on the one after 909 woo Move over honey I'm travelling on that line woo Said move over once, move over twice Come on baby don't be cold as ice.

Said she's trav'ling on the one after 9 0, Said she's trav'ling on the one after 9 0, Said she's trav'ling on the one after 9 0, Said she's trav'ling on the one after 9 0,

We'll leave discussion of Paul's 1969 reaction to the song (seen in Peter Jackson's Get Back) until much later.

Though we have one really outrageous theory. In John's 1980 Playboy interview he said:

"That was something I wrote when I was about seventeen. I lived at 9 Newcastle Road. I was born on the ninth of October, the ninth month [sic]. It’s just a number that follows me around, but, numerologically, apparently I’m a number six or a three or something, but it’s all part of nine."

So in some way maybe the song has to do with his birthday. 9 09 would be the American way to notate a date, which makes sense considering the song was based on American train songs, according to Paul in Barry Miles' Many Years From Now

It has great memories for me of John and I trying to write a bluesy freight-train song. There were a lot of those songs at the time, like ‘Midnight Special’, ‘Freight Train’, ‘Rock Island Line’, so this was the ‘One After 909’; she didn’t get the 909, she got the one after it! It was a tribute to British Rail, actually. No, at the time we weren’t thinking British, it was much more the Super Chief from Omaha.

If the song is somehow related to John's birthday, even though John was born in the 10th month, not the 9th, though maybe that's why it's the one after 909 would be 1009, maybe it isn't as straight forward as we think. Also between George's dad was in charge of bus routes in Liverpool, and Paul was obsessed with buses. It's possible the 909 was a real bus that held personal significance.

ADDITION:

When we first listened to this track, we didn't have much to say on the track itself, but now that we can hear it clearer, it's very clear that the lyrics they say aren't "fooling" but "fucking."

There are all sorts of studio chatter audios where they swear, but it rarely happens in songs, so this is kind of unique and exciting.

It's also worth noting that Paul is at least a word behind John the entire first half of the song. Maybe the song isn't as old as Paul said, maybe it was new in 1960, or maybe this was just the first time Paul wasn't just playing on it. We can speculate but can't know for sure, but what we do know is, for some reason Paul didn't know the lyrics very well.

[okwritingandpain]

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da: The Beatles x Reader

Chapter 25 (The Paul Ending)

"Who first?" Paul asked, tapping the book.

Who did she want to see? There was Ringo, George, and John, but she felt that there was something that she needed to do first. 

"You." She said, rubbing her arms for comfort. She had felt bad for Paul...he had lost many people in his life and she failed not losing herself the first time. Once things were fixed then everything was perfect for him, right? John and her had started something in the past, but she knew Paul had liked her too. Even George, but...she had to make it up to him. 

"Me?" Paul asked, confused. "Why would you want to see me? Haven't you seen me enough?" He gave a small smile as his words faded. He looked as if he was fighting back the urge to say something. Something important that he just couldn't say no matter how much he wanted to. He turned to a blue door that was covered in riding gear and horseshoes. Y/N gripped the scrapbook tightly and walked over to the door he had looked at. Paul frowned and followed her. She opened the door to reveal a mesmerizing sight of the countryside. While it wasn't a large area, it was certainly impressive. Two horses were eating hay in a small stable next to the door. 

"You have to be F****** joking!" She freaked, "You have a whole stable and..." Paul was taken aback by her language. He was not used to her speaking this way. 

"Uh...yeah. It's a hobby and all." He said with a nervous smile. Y/N couldn't believe her eyes and based off of Paul's reaction he couldn't believe her reaction. 

"That's so cool! We can go over your scrapbook pages and ride horses!" She cheered, opening the book as she tried to find Paul's page. 

"Have you ridden horses before?" He asked, nervously. 

"A little when I was younger." She replied as Paul grabbed the book from her. 

"Here we are." He said, handing the book back. The section was called, "On the run with Paul and Y/N" which was a bit cringy in her opinion, but sweet nonetheless. There were pictures of Paul and the band during Beatlemania along with pictures that consisted of Y/N and her apartment. They mostly featured her and the other band members more than Paul...mostly because he was the one taking the pictures. 

"This is amazing." She smiled, looking over what felt like thousands of pictures. Paul chuckled as he walked over to one of the horses and petted its sides.

"That's years of work for you, luv." He said, retrieving a saddle from the stable. "You want to go for a ride?" He motioned to the horse and Y/N's face lit up  with excitement.

"Really?" She asked, closing the book and running over to the stable. She quickly retrieved the saddle and watched Paul put the saddle on his horse. Y/N tried to replicate it best she could. Paul ended up having to help her, but she shrugged it off as she finally got the chance to actually ride the horse. She had the largest smile as she rode on the horse. 

"How is it?" Paul asked, watching her steer the horse. It had been a while and her riding skills were definetly rusty. 

"Wonderful!" She replied with a grin. Paul just smirked as he led the horse over the countryside. Y/N still didn't know how this was possible, but why care? It was cool! Everything was as calming as a cool spring shower. It felt as if the world was at peace just for a moment. Y/N thought about the scrapbook and how she longed for the old days. The days when they all were living normal lives out in Liverpool. Paul hummed to himself as they looked out across the land. "What are you humming?" She asked. 

"Maybe I'm Amazed." He replied. 

"Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time..." She sang, making Paul cringe.  

"You don't have to sing that, Y/N." He acted embarrassed. 

"Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you. Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time. You hung me on a line..." She sang it softer than Paul did. She thought it fit better for the mood and Paul still looked like he was trying to block out her song. When had he become so embarrassed by singing. Paul's face began to fade as he looked younger again. "Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you..." She stopped singing as she didn't want him to suffer more. He sighed. 

"Maybe I'm a man. Maybe I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something..." He added, reluctantly. He couldn't deny the smile spreading on his face though. 

"That he really doesn't understand..." She laughed as his face turned red like a tomato.

"Maybe I'm a man. And maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me. Baby, won't you help me understand?" He sang louder and prouder. His confidence seemed to be building as the Paul Y/N remembered came back. She then let out a chuckle. 

"No." She simply said. Paul looked taken aback for a moment before catching on to what she meant. 

"You're a sly one." He smirked, turning back towards the stables. He looked down at his hands and let out a gasp. "My hands..." He muttered. 

"Yeah, guess who's younger again." She said, nervously. It was still nerve racking to see Paul young again. It was natural, but still very unnatural at the same time. 

"What are we going to do!" He freaked, "This isn't how it's supposed to be! Is the timeline even more messed up!?" Paul began to panich which made his horse start to panic. 

"Paul, calm down." Y/N reassured, noticing the horses discomfort. "Get off the horse--" Paul jumped off the horse. He almost fell, which would have been scary if he was still old. The horse ran back towards the stable and Y/N shook her head with a laugh. "Calm down! Don't worry about that right now. We'll fix it if we need to." 

"If we need to to?" 

"Did I stutter?" She smirked and he shook his head. 

"What am I going to do with you?" 

"What are you amazed?" She held back her laugh as he let out a chuckle. 

"Maybe I am amazed." He replied, motioning for her to follow him back to the stable. 

"Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time. Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you." She continued singing to herself. Paul kept glancing back at her.

"Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song. Right me when I'm wrong..." He helped her off the horse and she smiled at him. 

"Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you..." She kissed him on the lips which made his eyes grow large. He let out a chuckle. 

"I didn't quite expect that, luv." He blushed, "Thank you for everything." 

"No, thank you." She hugged him. Paul embraced her and she felt at ease again. Everything had come full circle and it made the experience worth being there. Who knows what more could be in store. Who knows what lies ahead. Either way she was happy to be with Paul and he was happy to be with her. 

[mydaroga]

Marianne Faithfull remembered Paul's reaction to the idea:

John wanted them all to live together on an island. I remember him talking about it, saying, 'What has to happen is that all of us, the Beatles ...' and of course for Paul this was a nightmare, the last thing Paul wanted to do was live on some fucking island, whether it was in Ireland or Greece, wherever it was, with John, George and Ringo and their wives and their roadies, and Mal and Neil, all on an island. This was John's vision and they all had to do this. And of course Paul was, 'Yeechhhhhh.' There were going to be a few other people, like John Dunbar. But it was just awful for Paul and I remember him talking about this and saying, 'Well, I guess they'll never get it together.' Paul was really much more sophisticated than John ever was.

Marianne Faithfull, Many Years From Now

It's unclear to me how explicit Paul was with Marianne here. Because in his present-day telling, he's a bit more blasé:

There was some story of buying a Greek island or something. It was all so sort of abstract but the first thing we had to do is go to Greece and see if we even liked it out there. The idea was get an island where you can just do what you want, a sort of hippie commune where nobody'd interfere with your lifestyle. I suppose the main motivation for that would probably be no one could stop you smoking. Drugs was probably the main reason for getting some island, and then all the other community things that were around then - 'Oh, we'll paint together. We'll do this. I'll chop wood.'

I think that if you're going to write a great symphony or you're going to rehearse the greatest string quartet in the world, it's fair enough to cut yourself off. It's just a practical matter; give yourself lots of time and if you're going to do that, then why shouldn't it be in Greece? It was a drug-induced ambition, we'd just be sitting around: 'Wouldn't it be great? The lapping water, sunshine, we'd be playing. We'd get a studio there. Well, it's possible these days with mobiles and ...' We had lots of ideas like that. The whole Apple enterprise was the result of those ideas.

...

PAUL: We went on the boat and sat around and took acid. It was good fun being with everyone, with nippier moments. For me the pace was a bit wearing. I probably could have done with some straight windows occasionally, I'd have enjoyed it a bit more.

So did he think it was a good idea? Did he go along because he knew John wanted it and the best way to get around things John wanted that he didn't was to wait him out? Did Marianne hear him grumble,or did she just infer, and if she could, why couldn't the rest of them?

'It's a good job we didn't do it,' Paul said, 'because anyone who tried those ideas realised eventually there would always be arguments, there would always be who has to do the washing-up and whose turn it is to clean out the latrines. I don't think any of us were thinking of that.'

[genderlessginger]

Get Back, McLennon: Day 8 Part 1/3 (or 4)

This began McLennon and is now an in-depth Get Back project. Earlier posts will be updated and reblogged as I get to them.

If you've missed a day, read the other Get Back posts here.

I am posting these day-to-day because Tumblr limits 30 photos per post.

During Day 7, George left the Beatles. John, Paul and Ringo come back to the studio and lose their collective minds.

Over that weekend, the Beatles meet, including Yoko and Linda, to discuss the future of the band. It does not go well and tensions are worsened.

On Day 8, Ringo is the first to arrive. For the first 1-2 hours, there is uncertainty on whether the rest of the band will come at all. Ringo, while concerned, does seem more hopeful than the other guys. He said that the meeting went alright, there was "a lot of good stuff" but...

This is not how Paul, or John, saw it. Ringo is almost always the most optimistic of the group.

Daffodils (my favorite!) were delivered for George by the Hare Krishna. MLH laughs so hard at it and it grosses me out.

Do you like India?

Paul and Linda arrive.

Paul bites a record to shake Denis O'Dell's hand. It's important to document such historical moments.

"Have you heard from John?"

-------

CLARIFICATION AND CONTEXT: I really want to break this down but some editing and order here is not how it unraveled in the Nagra tapes (in real life). Unfortunately for you, me and Dupree, I am too lazy to pull up the Nagra tapes today. So I'm going to break it down from exactly how we see it with a clarification that Paul and Linda were making more fun of Yoko than was seen on the doc. The conversation, in some parts, was considerably lighter than it is shown in the doc.

HOWEVER this does not change Paul's reactions or body language and y'all know i'm going bizarro so let's go.

-------

Paul walks in smiling and seemingly optimistic, winking at people. Hasn't showered in weeks, doesn't know how to brush his teeth, looking hot as hell and pretending nothing is wrong. Classic McCartney.

Can we get a quick round of applause for Linda for living with this? Even I, the biggest believer in McLennon of all time, love Linda (just love JP more). Thank you Linda, and I'm sorry. I'm sure he smelled.

As Paul sits down, the conversation immediate turns to John. Paul is under the impression that John is a) already there or b) is on his way. (narrator voice) Paul was incorrect.

Paul seems tired but relatively unworried.

The conversation turns to the meeting from the day before. Linda believes that Yoko spoke for John and "half the stuff" she said are things John does not believe. (Cue all Beatles fans raucously agreeing).

Geo left in the middle of the meeting, saying, "I'll see you."

Paul stands up for John and Yoko.

"They're trying to, like, be as near together as they can. They want to stay together, those two. So that's alright, let the young lovers stay together."

Paul seems to come to a point that he reconciles John has already chosen Yoko, or it's a matter of time until he will.

"We got a lot out of the Beatles."

There's a silence here, both in the documentary and in the tapes. I'm going to honor that silence here in my post.

The silence is heavy.

Ringo doesn't say much, as usual. But the footage of him is damning. Ringo is "prone to melancholy" and the way he's described himself over the years sounds like he really struggles with depression and abandonment issues. (I've researched and read more about Richy than JPG).

"Why do you build me up, buttercup, just to let me down?"

Paul hugs and collapses in on himself a lot in general. I have a whole ass pinterest board studying it. This isn't a moment quite like that, but when Paul starts singing "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations while they're waiting for John to call or show up.

"Why do you build me up, buttercup baby, just to let me down and mess me around?

And worst of all, you never call, baby, when you say you will. But I love you still. I need you."

Linda holds Paul's hand, bringing him out of that collapsing-in position. Paul continues to sing and whistle the song throughout this conversation.

Paul explains that they aren't as close as they used to be because they stopped touring (UGHHGHHHHHGDHGHHSAFH)

He's explaining this calmly, logically. He's approaching this very much like the PR, Elder Statesman of the group, the role he's had since the media really picked up. It's Paul's job to be the logical one between him and John. And it's Paul's job to present the united front to the world because Brian Epstein is no longer here to do that.

Because Paul is in this role, it's clear he thinks he's processing all of this information. And it's clear to anyone paying the slightest amount of attention that he is not.

Paul defends the fuck out of John and Yoko, even to the point that it does not make sense. He mentions that it's hard to make songs with Yoko there because he's trying to write songs that she'll like (to me, this reads like, "I'm nervous she's there because I want to write something JOHN likes, if she likes it, I can keep status quo, keep John happy, keep the group together, buy me more time to patch this up").

Neil, Mal and MLH try to get through to Paul about compromise. This is not entirely on Paul. John needs to compromise. The fact this is coming from Neil means quite a bit.

In yet another case of Paul "Doesn't Hear The Words He Says Out Loud" McCartney, he says

"We really do need sort of a central daddy figure."

Which I know isn't dirty and he didn't meant it dirty BUT CMON WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT?

Essentially, Paul is saying that they need Brian or a boss, someone who is in a place of a authority over John, who can say, "Leave the girls at home."

I was hoping to get this part in before I ran out of photos so here's what's coming on Part 2:

Dedicated to @omgmclennon

[thestarsarecool]

John Lennon: Please, Your Majesty, Can Our John Have A Free Pardon?

Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 19 January 1974

Heavy breathing over the phone as ANDREW TYLER gets the lowdown from LENNON in L.A. Genius is police harassment, says the Walrus

DEAR QUEEN:

I don't know if you ever read the New Improved NME – if not, maybe some hepcat of the Royal Household will pass on the word.

Now that you've seen young Anne married off to her heartthrob cavalier, and what with Charles playing googlies with Lady Jane all around, maybe you'll have time to reflect on the dilemma of one John Lennon, a Liverpool slum-kid genius who used to play in The Beatles and who, at the peak of his career, committed a kind of revolutionary hara-kiri when he returned your MBE medal.

It was a far out medal, your majesty, ace Organic and nice on the chest, but it wasn't actually you as a mum and companion of the horses he was getting at. It was all that Services To Exports/Build A Better Britain/Screw the Man On The Factory Floor bit that brought a lump to his shaving bowl.

Anyway, after the medal-dumping ceremony he kept getting visited at queer hours by squadrons of policemen and, before you could say cold turkey John was being court-martialled for possession of marijuana – a substance he swears was absent from his life around this time.

He now lives in New York City but because of his record the authorities over there won't give him a Green residents' card, which means if he leaves the country he'll never be allowed back in.

So now, our Queen, it's all down to you. All you have to do is say "OK, you nurds, enough's enough. I pardon thee John Lennon, on your feet and have a nice new year", and everything's back to normal.

John's not one to beg and grovel at your Royal appendages, but on the phone recently he did say it would be a great way out. So what do you think? There's a whole bunch of us who'd love to see John over here again for the odd visit.

And you know something, it's the only thing preventing John. Paul, George and Ringo working together again. Paul, you see, also got busted for substances and he's not allowed into the States any more. Ironic, isn't it?

Love, etc.

"I WOULD HAVE thought I've done more good for Britain than harm, wouldn't you?" John enquired over a faint line from Los Angeles.

Yes, I would have thought so.

"Did I tell you about the commerical we've done for the new album? Hah. It's great. We have the Queen plugging the record for us. It starts inside the house with a gate swinging open, over a red carpet and then inside. It's all done in very good taste, Your Majesty. It's a friend of mine in drag, as it were.

"There's 'Land Of Hope And Glory' and someone says" (in a plummy warbling voice) "'I've been asked to do this commerical. It relates to a gramophone record...' and it goes on like that. I'm hoping her Majesty will be able to laugh at it."

He won't say who the friend is but here's a clue. He works for Apple and he's a real queen. The correct answer is not Allen Klein.

"A few vodkas and it was all over." John reports. "His identity will be revealed by himself. I'm not sure how much he wants people to know about it."

Did he see the bonding of Mark and Anne and was he profoundly moved?

"Who?"

Young Mark and Anne.

"Oh yes."

What was your reaction to that?

"I didn't really have one."

Did they show it over there?

"Yeah. They had it on from two o'clock till dawn, or something. So we had the single. We didn't get to see the album though. I thought they looked all right. But I didn't really feel that much about it. I thought Anne's figure looked nice. They should have held it in Belfast, though.

"I was thinking of writing to the Queen, you know. I hope she reads NME. Yeah. I was after a pardon for being planted by the cops and being hassled for three years and everything that happened. That's one way to solve the problem.

"That so-called bust I was involved in has left me with a criminal-record. That's the legal reason they're trying to throw me out. If that was taken away there'd be nothing they could do."

Now here's a weird twist to the murky affair. The cop who starred in the Lennon bust has, himself, been incarcerated for four years for perjury relating to a drug bust case.

Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher has has just been put down for four years. At the trial all sorts of stuff came up. Conspiracy and the like.

But Lennon suspects the case of the malfunctioning blue meanie is unlikely to directly affect his own case...

"The thing is, that in those days we were clean. We didn't have any stuff. But they kept on hassling and hassling and bothering Yoko and the deal was that if they left Yoko alone – and she was pregnant at the time – I'd cop a plea.

"And now the real answer is for me to get a pardon...but because I'm a naughty boy I don't suppose they want to give me one."

What he's still trying to figure out all these years later is what those gloating reporters and photographers were doing outside his place when he and Yoko were being escorted to their cells. Jack Warner and Edgar Lustgarten had always intimated that an arrest was a reasonably private business...restricted to the "guilty parties" and the officers concerned. Why the jamboree?

Lennon has an explanation: "A friend of mine from Fleet Street gave me a call after he'd overheard a cop in a pub saying how he was going to get The Beatles. Yeah, was was gonna get The Beatles. Which meant me. I mean, he's not about to bust Ringo or Paul. I was really up for grabs what with Two Virgins and living in sin with a foreigner and all."

Is our Queen about to be sympathetic to Lennon's plight? Can she relate to her stone-turning expatriot? They'd hardly make suitable tango partners but they do have at least one common point of interest: The Goons.

Yessir. Like Prince Charlie, Sister Margie and Tony Legsstrong-Jones, the Queen is alleged to have chuckled along with the Goons after her Sunday joint...not unlike Lennon who recently reviewed The Goon Show Scripts for the New York Times.

"It was a bit like doing a school essay." he say. "But like all my generation I was really drawn to The Goons. In many ways they influenced The Beatles as much as rock 'n' roll – Elvis and Little Richard. They were, to my generation, what we were to the next.

"I admire them all – but I've always reckoned Spike was the real lunatic."

WHAT ABOUT the trench-coat warfare. Is he still being visited and molested by the American gendarmerie?

"A year or so back they were following me around everywhere I went But I suppose they must have got bored going to the studio and hanging around for hours at a time. And they were tapping my phone. I think they wanted me to know they were doing it too because I kept hearing heavy breathing. It scared me at first but now it's a bot of a joke.

"No, I wasn't on Nixon's list of unfriendlies but I was on somebody's list, that's for sure."

There's a pattern to it all, he suggests. Not necessarily a coordinated conspiracy but a series of connected happenings that have numbered all the leading 60's cult figures.

Lennon's marooned in America, McCartney outside of it. The Stones are having to tread very lightly indeed, and Hendrix, Morrison and Joplin are dead.

"If they can separate all the big names in pop they effectively cut off the, quotes, "revolution" at its source. No more Woodstocks. No more mass gatherings. The real changes aren't gonna come from politicians. It's going to come from the artists and musicians.

"Even Bowie is a threat in a way."

Explain yourself, sir.

"Well, if you get Bowie on TV and somebody switches on in Ohio or Bradford and they see this person looking out at them, it's going to affect their whole way of life. He doesn't have to say Power To The People Right On. He is the message in himself. It's like holding a mirror up to society. It makes people react in a specific way that's better than having them half dead listening to Sandy McPherson.

"I just think it's all great. I'm not saying I'd do it but people like Bowie are an extension of rock 'n' roll. He still rocks like shit and keeps us going until the next phenomenon, ho ho, which is going to be this year, isn't it?"

Maybe the very next sensation will be curvaceous Ringo whose single is hot stuff in the States and whose album leapt into the Billboard charts at 4 – two better than John's Mind Games.

"I sent him a telegram last week saying: 'Congratulations. How dare you. Write me a hit song.'

"It's the first real pop album he's made and it's a good album. He deserves it. He's going to need all the royalties he can get to paper Ascot" (The home he just bought from Lennon). "He's going to need that hit just to keep up the garden."

JOHN'S OWN album didn't receive quite the same dazzling response, although it's nowhere near the bunch of horselicks Tony Tyler suggested in his review a few weeks back. Tracks like 'Out The Blue', 'I Know (I Know)' and 'Bring On The Lucie' are sumptuous groovers that fairly parallel his work on Imagine. Honest.

Was he after the grumbling T. Tyler's noodles?

"I'm going to send 'im a deaf aid and a book of instructions on How to Write. Obviously I'd prefer it if he, or whoever it is, liked it – but I'm not about to cut my throat, if that's what you mean.

"A lot of times you get critics reviewing themselves, so if they do slag you off it doesn't mean anything or, if they overdo the praise bit, that means nothing either.

"Praise is never satisfactory unless you can be sure the person has actually listened to your work and knows it inside out. I'm not saying people should spend their lives making in-depth appraisals of me albums – but praise, or the other thing, doesn't count for much unless they've take the time to understand what you're doing."

Right On.

Actually John was due for a critical trampling. After the suffocating Best Album In The Universe stuff tipped over Imagine and The Plastic Ono Band LP, coupled with the knifings Paul has had to deflect since The Split. Lennon only had to put one foot wrong – as he did with Sometime In New York City – for the blades to be turned on him.

Critics were feeling remorse at the way they growled at McCartney and Lennon was the obvious target upon which to assuage their embarrassment.

"I would say New York City stands as a piece of work. It sold 200,000 instead of half a million. The whole thing's relative. If I'd been a smaller artist I'd have been pleased to get that amount of sales. I have no regrets...only that it didn't get a lot of airplay on the so-called FM stations of the Left.

"The only one that really got into it was Pacifica which has heavy programmes on politics, lesbians and things like that – anything people want to do. It's a pretty good station. Nationwide. They've even got tapes of Yoko and me from the Sixties singing Japanese folk songs."

Talking of oldies, he is now well into his Oldies Mouldies album, currently being waxed at A & M in Los Angeles with a spellbinding cast of several millions. On the guest list so far are, among others: Steve Cropper, Jim Keltner. Hal Blaine, Jose Felciano, Leon Russell, Jeff Barry, Barry Mann, and Jesse Ed Davies.

We called George the other day and said he was having a great time and wish you were here. George said he was on his way and hasn't been heard of since. Paul, of course, won't be able to make it.

"Yeah, I miss Paul a lot. It's been a year since I've seen him. He came over with Linda to me place in New York. Course I'd like to see him again. He's an old friend, isn't he?"

He says he can move around a bit more freely now...for meals and odd visit to the movvies.

"I still get recognised though. I think it's me nose. But I can generally go to the movies. The last film I saw was Behind The Green Door. (An extraordinarily rude film.)

How was it?

"The first 45 minutes were interesting, then it got a bit boring. When you've seen one cock you've seen them all."

[pennielane]

I cant help but feel irritated whenever i come across john's early 70s rs interviews where he trash-talks paul out of spite （´＿｀）

Yeah i get that he was angry then but did he really have to tarnish paul's reputation in the process of venting it out??

I mean the 'paul is boring and inferior' narrative still lives to this day thanks to that and seriously its frigging infuriating sometimes

... am i being a toxic fan??

No, you’re not being a toxic fan. It’s a natural reaction. But I think it’s important to remember the context of John’s hurtful comments about Paul. I’m not the best with timelines, but I’m assuming his spewing shit about Paul was before the three of them realized that Allen Klein was actually the bad guy? I’m going to proceed on the assumption that that’s the case. As such, remember that John, George and Ringo were wholly duped by AK. They really, truly thought they were doing the right thing by going along with him, and that Paul was, in ~classic Paul fashion~ (in their eyes), trying to clamp down on them (*cue George’s death glare during Two Of Us in Get Back Part 1*). John and Paul had never experienced that level and severity of “divide” between them before. And, not that I’m trying to blame Paul at all (I’m really not), but Paul made a habit of enabling John’s changing behaviours throughout the years, the best example being how outwardly understanding he was about Yoko joining the group in the Let It Be sessions no matter how much it inwardly might have annoyed him. All of that to say, this was probably the first time in any significant, non-musical way (because obviously they had their musical differences but they were still so interconnected on that level that it didn’t seem to matter as much), that Paul “defied” John. I’m speculating here, but I’m sure John felt hugely betrayed by that. Throw in drug use and a generalized crusade to Get His Feelings Out in the early 70s, and John’s disparaging comments about Paul make a lot of sense. And instead of feeling annoyed, I just feel bad for the guy. He was losing his best friend over something he really, truly believed in. He was losing the band he had built with his best friend that changed the world. The “dream is over”, as he sings in God. So yeah, I try to remember how genuinely hurt John was during that time, and it helps with any annoyance I might feel about him unfairly shitting on Paul.

Also I disagree that the “Paul is boring and inferior” narrative still lives on but that’s a discussion for another day.

[get-back-homeward]

the 2023 reissue of the beatles’ red album is out as of midnight last night. the glow up that Love Me Do got has me very excited to hear what this new separation tech can do to their earliest songs. i’ve long been annoyed with the old stereo mixes for their 1963 songs and typically force them to mono to avoid feeling lopsided hearing vocals in one ear and not the other. my father doesn’t even acknowledge that the stereo mixes exist and still clings to his original mono versions. i can’t blame him as i always favor the live versions over these mixes. but i heard they were adding more 1963 songs for this reissue, and in a fit of blind belief from the Love Me Do reveal, i broke down and preordered a copy. will i regret my purchase?

so here’s my first reactions to the 1963 tracks (first 10 after Love Me Do):

Please Please Me 🤔🤔🤔

hmm, my first thought is that it may be a bit too much separation? there was already quite a lot in the 2009 album version, but i don’t care for how much echo is on that one. i think this fixes the echo for me, so along with the stereo fix i’m counting it as an improvement. next to the 2009 mono mix, this one lifts the vocals slightly to hear each part better. i still like the live versions of the song best as it’s just the kind of song (proto garage rock?) that sounds best a bit dirtied up. i love hearing john’s half laugh so clearly at 1:33 after the lyrics flub, but the drums are the highlight for me. man, ringo was a force of nature on this track.

I Saw Her Standing There 🤩🤩🤩

i legit screamed. this is an experience. giles bringing his dad’s initial idea for the first album to life? there’s so much space here, it sounds like you’re in the middle of the cavern! along with the stereo fix, the echo on the handclaps that distracts from rest of the song is gone.

Twist and Shout 🎯🎯🎯

not too much of a change, just the right little tweaks here to elevate the clarity of each part. george’s guitar never sounded better. the clarity of john’s vocals is so wild i swear you can hear him spit. this mix is worthy of the song john ripped his throat out for. excellent addition.

From Me To You ❤️❤️❤️

gosh, john and paul’s vocals are so crystal clear. more dimension than the old mono version. the harmonica ending 😘

She Loves You 🤓🤓🤓

i don’t hear a clear difference on this. it’s still a bit fuzzy and flattened. maybe the drums are a bit clearer with more dimension, and bass slightly more upfront. the vocals sound especially fuzzy though, perhaps because they didn’t have the original master copy to work with. that was also the case with Love Me Do and its quality had me hoping they could CPR this one too but alas. i think the past masters 2009 version is better than this.

I Want To Hold Your Hand 😑😑😑

i’m no expert on this one but sounds unchanged to me. maybe the hand claps have more echo? and paul’s harmony is more distinct?

This Boy 😱😍🫠

immaculate. i am deceased. talk to me from the great beyond.

All My Loving 😘😘😘

it’s incredible how much different the balance sound makes. paul sounds so much clearer now. stereo fix aside, it doesn’t sound too much different until the backing vocals and george’s guitar solo. the last bass note sounds incredible.

Roll Over Beethoven 👏👏👏

this reissue fixes the main problem with the original red album: the lack of george songs. the original didn’t have covers but the additions here make this one feel like it belongs. i hear a bit of fuzz in the opening, but it clears up quick. listen to that guitar go! the 9 yo in me is dancing like a fiend over this. i never heard the handclaps so well. everything sounds more distinct, vocals, bass, drums, in a way you can appreciate each part but without feeling too intrusive. also an excellent last note.

You Really Got A Hold On Me 😍😍😍

vocals in both ears!!! just the biggest dumb grin on my face. crystal clear the whole way through, but especially on the climax. whew. that start-stop ending has never hit harder.

overall, i am delighted. even if all the rest of the mixes are crap, this new version is still worth it for the fixes to the 1963 songs. for me, the glow ups for This Boy and You Really Got A Hold On Me alone are worth the sticker price. it was an excellent decision to include covers. a wonderful way to celebrate 60 years.

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 1.3

Okay can anyone explain the “false hotel registration” thing to me? Does it mean they registered under a false name? So Paul registered under a false name so he could go fuck a girl in his room without getting in trouble with the press? I'm confused. Didn't they bring girls to their rooms all the time without getting in trouble? It doesn't make sense. Why did he feel the need to register under a different name?

Paul, talking about American conservatism, “So many organizations over here that are nuts anyway.” John, “Yeah, they're so far right they just–” tape ends. They really were brave, though. To say what they thought and risk losing what they'd only just got. I wonder who cut the recording. 

Journalist: Paul, are you planning to marry Jane Asher? John: scream ‘no.’ Go on. Lol John certainly says what he feels doesn't he?

Paul making fun of the racist question. Good job bud. 

The whole “Yesterday” thing is crazy. Like, what a feat, first of all. I think we forget how unbelievably successful the song was.

Second of all, I know John's reaction was childish and mean, but his feelings were valid if you just look at the treatment and reception of “Ticket to Ride”  (John's dead mum song). Like objectively yesterday is a better song, but still.

Oh, John. Poor thing. 

If “Girl” is secretly about Paul . . . yeesh. It's so obsessive and adoring and simultaneously so disappointed and disparaging. John always has such impossible standards for Paul. “She promises the earth to me and I believe her, after all this time I don't know why.” Um… maybe because he literally did give you the world? At so many points I find myself asking, “what more could Paul possibly have given John?”

People always take this quote as a sexuality thing, but couldn't it also be a conscience thing? Revulsion at taking advantage of the fact that all these women are fans? At the scale of his infidelity? I don't know, am I giving him too much credit?

The thing about Paul, John – and though it drives you insane, it's a big factor in why you love him -- is he's not going to be bullied into anything. If he decides to take LSD it's going to be on his own terms. And I know you think it'll bring you two closer, and you're right, but peer pressure just doesn't work on him. There's no point. You know that.

I LOVE Paul and the Indica. Designing the wrapping paper in secret up in his little attic room, covering over the shop windows so he can do his handyman work building shelves and painting in peace. It's Linda's Paul pre Linda, you know?

John is so good at PR as in making something sound as beautiful and important and powerful as possible. Which is something Paul absolutely relied on John to do and clearly could not do on his own after the break up. Look how John makes them almost into prophets here.

"I really wanted to live in London but I wouldn't risk it." Another thing to make John envious of Paul and resentful of Cynthia. I really wish those two had just never got married. 

“I don't object to people having a lot of money, I never did. But I do object to people being stony broke and starving.” RIP John, you would've loved the American “left” of today. But you can't have the former without the latter, sorry.

This picture always gets me. It's ridiculous. Pattie and George. Mo and Ringo. John and Paul. With Cynthia awkwardly by herself. It's funny. It's adorable. It's crushing. And with that quote? It's impossible.

I think Tara Browne is overlooked. Paul brought him home for Christmas. That's a big deal. And John hated him enough to laugh when he read about his death. That's also a big deal. Paul and his messed up social climbing obsession. I do think it's worth pointing out, though, the difference between Paul’s LSD trip with Tara and his trip with John. More on that later.

I really do think they were all staunchly anti-racist for their time, you know, besides John's racist jokes and drawings… but Paul particularly. And I have to wonder where that came from. Did he have empathy for people being judged on appearance and background? Was it partially due to his idolization of black artists? Did Little Richard maybe say something to him about racism in America? Anyone have any thoughts?

Actually, same, John. 

Okay and I have to share my hot take on the whole Jesus scandal. It's this: the American right doesn't actually care about Jesus. They care about protecting their hegemony. They didn't like that the Beatles were openly and stubbornly integrationist. They didn't like Paul's comment about their inhumane racism. But they couldn't openly counter that without showing their hand. So they used the Jesus comment as an excuse. If they play the religious persecution card, they get to paint themselves as the victims and therefore the good guys while they take down anyone who challenges the status quo that keeps them in money and power (aka the Beatles). 

Maybe I should've had a “poor baby” tally because the number of times I've said that about John in these comments has got to be tally-worthy. I would've driven around in a gorilla suit with you, honey!

It is actually amazing that there hasn't been more speculation on Paul's sexuality with all these serious boyfriends. 

Paul tells a story about a time he flew a plane, and how much better he liked it than being a passenger. First off. Imagine being a pilot and just being like “oh, you've never touched a joystick in your life, but you're Paul McCartney? Sure, go ahead. Fly the plane.” But also. His control issues and his confidence are both off unreal. No one in their right mind would feel more safe flying a plane – as someone with a complete lack of experience – than when a licensed pilot is flying it. 

Okay I literally JUST learned that Here There and Everywhere says, “how good it can be” not could. Can. And it's one of those in my "for sure this was about John" folder. Okay then. Wow.

The thing is they really did compliment each other's songs a lot more than modern Paul makes it seem like. So I wonder what it was about the “Here There and Everywhere” compliment that made it so special to Paul?

This footage where John is hiding behind McCharmley. I love protective Paul and how different he is to protective John and how much they needed each other. 

Hall of Fame quote: “what composer do you respect the most?” “I dunno really. John Lennon.” “Paul McCartney.”

[the-world-is-treating-me-bad]

Thoughts and First Impressions on The Beatles Discography: A Hard Day's Night

Alright, it has been absolutely too long, but I'm back with my music reviews! Unfortunately I was led away from the path of light and only listening to new albums after reviewing what came before them after @no-need-to-be-alone put on Beatles for Sale in the car and I was captivated.

Living in sin means that I've actually listened all the way through to Pepper, so I'm gonna be posting a bunch of reviews in the next couple days in order to atone and catch my reviews up to my listening reality. I'm sorry it's been so long! I don't know if anyone reads these or was wondering where they went, but now you know!

As a reminder, the versions that I'm listening to are the 2009 stereo remasters, either on Spotify or downloaded from iTunes. Now, my opinions!

A Hard Day's Night: Iconic for a reason! That opening chord is awesome. I love the drum keeping it going fast, and the cowbell. The harmonies are gorgeous and so is the middle eight. Just a kickass start to an album. Also the bass and guitar solo!!!! And that new riff for the fadeout.

I Should Have Known Better: HARMONICA! Just so groovy and happy. And that change into a minor key for the middle eight is beautiful. Very low key, but that makes it nice! Good good guitar solo as well. And the bits where you just have John's voice over the rhythm section with the sparse guitar strums... oh baby.

If I Fell: Oh I love this song so much. The harmonies the harmonies the harmonies!!!!!!!!!!! I find it to be in line with This Boy in a lot of ways but also different! The drum part is gorgeous and light, I love the hi-hat and rim knocks just carrying it all through. The bass (what I can hear of it) is very nice. Also the bit in the second chorus where John loses his breath and falters is cute.

I'm Happy Just to Dance with You: Another groove, and we have George singing! The toms on the drums are awesome. Love the harmonies on the middle eight. Good vibes, man.

And I Love Her: OAGH. The bongos, the claves, the nylon string guitars! PAUL! It's so good it's so good. Reminds me of their version of Til There Was You. Also the one bit where there's no double tracking on Paul's voice so it stands out!!! The slide on the guitar solo. I love it. and I love the change to a whole different chord at the end.

Tell Me Why: A rowdy one! Just a good time to listen to, and I love the bit where they all try to sing high. This one is very voice-forward, and kind of feels like all the music is pushing right at you.

Can't Buy Me Love: The spiritual opposite of Money (That's What I Want) lol. Another well known one, and a fun song to listen to. The instrumental bits are great, and the energy is grooving.

Any Time at All: I love this one! The energy is amazing, and I love the way it opens with the drums. And the vibes in John's voice, especially in the chorus. The piano is such a good presence in this song.

I'll Cry Instead: More of a folksy/country vibe to this one! Having cheated and listened ahead, I can see this as a precursor to what they did in Beatles For Sale and Help! Also I can actually hear the bass???? And it's grooving along. I really like the bits where it's just John and the bass and tambourine.

Things We Said Today: This one is also awesome! Love a minor key, and I love the harmonies that shift the key to major before it comes back. The chorus comes in with a different vibe entirely too, and I love how the different sections of this song make it move through the different time periods and moods in the narrative of the lyrics.

When I Get Home: Another energetic one, where John is just going for it vocally. The whoa-a-o-hiiii's are awesome. Also I love the middle eight here. Love a song that doesn't fade out.

You Can't Do That: The title of this song was my reaction upon learning that Ringo does not sing a song on this album, which i consider to be an utter betrayal. However, this song fucking SLAPS. The guitar intro is fabulous, I love the cowbell, I love how there are bits where everyone is on the same rhythm together. The fucking harmonies on this song!!! And the sort of call-and-response of it all. Just amazing. I also love how prominent George's voice is.

I'll Be Back: This song is amazing. This song is AMAZING!!!!! The harmonies again are gorgeous. The chorus is beautiful, the middle eight is amazing. The guitars are so so so so nice. I love the going back and forth from major and minor, and just. I love this song. I love this song!!!!! Also after I listened to this I listened to the Anthology take where it's in 3/4 and my brain exploded.

And once again, that is the album! As previously mentioned Ringo does not lend his voice to a single song, which I think should be illegal, but I am somewhat soothed by the knowledge he'll get to sing his cowboy songs for the next little while.

Just a very solid album overall, and really strong, showing the good idea that was doing an album of only Lennon-McCartney songs. A Good Fun Time was had listening to this, and there's really no songs that stick out negatively in my mind.

Anyways, on we go to a couple of singles and then Beatles For Sale! As usual, if you like my opinions, or want to chat, or see the other stuff I post, feel free to give me a follow! (and you can even reblog this ;) )

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

ahh thanks for finding the photos quote !!

really appreciate your response and i agree with you that i don’t think john was necessarily out here playing 5d chess as an elaborate scheme but that he was looking for a change tho perhaps did not have a fully formed map of what that might look like or rather how that would inevitably alter the band dynamics long term.

and tbh, i kinda understand that, seeing as george and ringo weren’t too affected by his decision at the onset. they continued to talk and work together subsequently after johns i want a divorce comment. it didn’t seem to change much in terms of their relationship and speaking terms.

that said, on the other hand, i understand paul taking that comment at face value, seeing as john was explicitly directing that comment to him as a response to his suggestion (i think your daft, etc.)

just jumping to another similar related point, but this incident and reaction to it actually makes me think of the story paul has told countless times about him and john having very heated rows where it would reach a tipping point, then John would slowly pull down his glasses and say to paul “its only me.” and it makes me think of something pete shotton once mentioned about john, that as friends the moment you took what john said serious, you were done for. and so maybe there’s a variation of that somewhere inasmuch as john wanting to separate himself from the entity that has enveloped his whole teen/adult life to that point (the beatles) but not entirely forgo his relationship with paul (or george and ringo for that matter). and he probably thought it wouldn’t change things (by that i mean their overall friendship and love for each other) too much, and that inevitably paul would come around just like they always did after a fight and not take his divorce words as the end all be all that Paul did take it as. For that i think of his comments in the st. regis interview from 1971 where he’s told the reason paul took things to court to end the partnership is because john had said he wanted a divorce, to which john replied that’s a stupid reason to go to court lol.

and in the end, i do agree with one of your subpoints that perhaps if paul had offered another possible alternative to the then current setup of the beatles, john would have been open to reconsider. derek taylor says as much in an interview shortly after paul “announces”the breakup “if paul were to approach john and say, ‘let’s do it together again’, he probably would; with no more words, he probably would do it.”

Sorry for all the word salad, if it’s bothersome i won’t send anymore long asks, just had a lot of thoughts !

Agree with most of this, tbh, although I think probably John did foresee some sort of change in his relationships with the band quitting, I just doubt he fully saw all that entailed. My kind of General Take on John and Paul is they were sort of living this post-nuclear lifestyle with how great a role their intra-band relationships played alongside their family life but they kind of.... idk decided on not pursuing that. Sorry for talking about my Nuclear Family take again but not elaborating much lol.

Anyways John is such a difficult guy to read at times cause he legit doesn't seem to have Had A Plan most of the time lol.

[70snasagay]

I HAVE MORE

Here here here here here here

(Some might not work or might be repeats my phone threw a hissy fit when i tried to send this)

so funny story tumblr decided to log me out while i was writing the answer so i had to copypaste everything i had into my notes app and then copypaste it back once tumblr stopped whining so here are all my original reactions to everything

OMG MORE THANK YOU

1st: ah classic paul, ruining his vocal chords

2nd: ANJKNVFJKVFD relatable especially with the earlier songs it's always just one beatle singing and one guitar and half a drum it's so underwhelming

3rd: OMG I LOVE THIS SONG but it's truly all over the place but i'm here for it. kinda reminds me of how all over the place live and let die is as well as band on the run

4th: NOOOO POOR RINGO at least he has george

5th: YES 10/10 fun fact and i'm pretty sure the original takes were released with the super deluxe editions so i gotta listen to them

6th: those are all correct opinions EXCEPT FOR THE BERATING OF THE JESUS LOOK THAT ONE WAS EXCELLENT TOP NOTCH also what happened to the man bun era are we not reviewing that,,

[the-invisible-queer]

You can never listen to the jonas brothers again

OR

never listen to the Beatles (or any beatle solo work or bands that contain a Beatle like the wings or travelling wilburys)

Why the fuck would you do this to me?

My initial reaction was to say I'd cut off the Beatles until you said I can't listen to any solo work

I can obvs live without John and Ringo (sorry Ritchie)

BUT GEORGE AND PAUL'S WORK?!?

Fuck

This is the hardest question I've ever gotten

It's like asking me would you rather never breathe or never eat ever again

I'd die either way

I literally cannot cut off Jonas Brothers even if I wanted to

These are my lifelines

The artists I listen to when I'm in my darkest hours

You're literally asking me to choose between Paul and Joe which is impossible

Is there a secret third option where I just shove a dagger in my heart Juliet Capulet style?

F U C K

I guess my final answer is cut off The Beatles and any solo or other bands related 😭