Beautiful Boy

As requested, here is a very large post containing all the childhood photos of John that I could find. All of these are my own scans, except for the first picture of John's birth certificate, the cute photo of him smirking (as he continued to do all his life), and the contact sheet of his Dovedale Primary pictures, age six. He was such an adorable child. I like the photo of John with his Uncle George--I believe that may be the only picture of him that I've seen. I wish there were more pictures of John with Julia, his mother.

I love reading John's musings on his childhood--how he was always different, exceptional and feeling as if no one was recognizing the special gift he had. He perceived things others could not, dreaming surrealistic dreams in vivid Technicolor, which are the tale-tell signs of a gifted child. "No one I think is in my tree/I mean, it must be high or low."

Luckily, John shared his talent and visions with the world so we could have his music, art, and poetry to enrich our lives.

A train and a room and a car and a room...

If you are interested in more gorgeous photos of the Beatles from the set of A Hard Day's Night, in addition to other locations, pick up Yesterday: The Beatles Once Upon a Time, with photos taken by Astrid Kirchherr and Mac Scheler. The top seven pictures of John are in that book in excellent quality. The other pictures are from the Beatles Film magazine of 1964.

Two other recent photo books that are absolutely essential to Lennon fans: Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon by May Pang and John and Yoko: A New York Love Story by Allan Tannenbaum. The candid shots of John taken by May Pang are so delightful, intimate, and beautiful. The highlights for me are the pictures of John with his cats Major and Minor (as well as the photos with Julian, Ringo and Paul, needless to say).

About the Awful

Except for the last two pics (from the Beatles' Australian trip, which I just threw in for good measure) this set of screen captures originate from two of John Lennon's TV appearances relating to the publication of In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. I've posted them out of order--hope you won't hold that against me.

The screen captures of John with Norman Rossington and/or Dudley Moore are from his late '64 taping of Not Only...But Also, which aired in January of '65. This is a hilarious show--John, Norman, and Dudley (in an earlier taped film) act out John's poem "Deaf Ted, Danoota (and Me)," John holds a cute and lively dog as he and Norman recite "Good Dog Nigel," Dudley and Norman narrate "Unhappy Frank," and John and Norman recite "The Wrestling Dog."

The other captures are from a live June 1965 broadcast of the British show, Tonight. John appears to enjoy this interview, as host Kenneth Allsop treats him with respect as an author, not just as a Beatle. John explains to Allsop that he tried writing a longer story but he had so many characters that he became confused. When Allsop responds that this happens to other writers, too, John chuckles and repeats "Other writers!" It seems as if he was surprised to be considered a "writer."

I apologize for the poor quality of some of these screen captures; unfortunately, my source material is quite poor, and this is as good as it gets. The caps sourced from the Anthology are the best from this series.

("About the Awful" refers to John's pun-titled autobiographical blurb from In His Own Write.)

Get Back To Where You Once Belonged

This post comes courtesy of my good friend Jeff, who made it possible for me to have an original copy of the Beatles' Get Back book. There are a plethora of gorgeous Ethan Russell photos in the book that I will get around to scanning in the near future. Some may be common, but I hope you'll enjoy them in a higher resolution. Love seeing Mal in these pics.

I am very sorry for the lack of updates lately; I've been very busy and just haven't had the time. Another deadline for Ugly Things is quickly approaching, as it is now a biannual publication. You can click the link to the right if you'd like more info about the magazine.

As summer approaches, I'll have more opportunities to work on the blog.

Cheers!

Trading Cards

I enjoy collecting various Beatles-related items, so I thought I would share large scans of a few trading cards from my collection. (Click photos to enlarge.)

The first set of Beatles trading cards are termed "Series One" and consisted of numbers 1 through 60. I'm missing 11 cards from this set. In "Series Two," (61 - 115) I'm missing 25, and the most complete set I have is from "Series Three"--I'm only missing five out of numbers 116 - 165. I have a few Color Cards, Diary Cards, and A Hard Days Night cards as well. From more recent years, I have a complete set of the 1993 River series, and a few of another set released around that same time period. I also love to collect Beatles books (I'm up to 141 now) and Beatles magazines from any time period.

If you'd like, please comment on some items from your own collections!

Paul's Teen Screen Magazine

To celebrate the fact that Heather Mills has been completely discredited as a delusional fantasist, vindictive liar, etc. (qualities we already knew she had; however, it's quite nice when a judge confirms it), here are several scans from the 1964 Teen Screen magazine completely devoted to Paul.

I do feel very sorry for little Bea, caught in the middle of all this. Paul has remained dignified throughout, emerging with his integrity in tact by always taking the high road even as Heather attempted to trash his reputation. I'm sure he must feel a sense of relief now.

You Know, Her Life Was Saved By Rock 'N' Roll

If you'll pardon the Velvet Underground reference on a Beatles blog, I find this to be true in my case. I think that's why I feel such a connection with Patti Smith. Every time I hear her speak or read an interview with her, I find myself elated--"She knows exactly how I feel! She's a woman, and she feels the same way as I do!" She finds the words to express it in such an uplifting manner, as if one's soul could soar to unheralded heights listening to Little Richard. And I believe it can, too. There is a great power in all music, a power that plugs into the basis of our being, something primal yet something transcendent. All in all, rock 'n' roll = joy.

I've been thinking of Tom Hanks' intense speech concerning the DC5 at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony last Sunday. Some have criticized it as being a bit over the top; I didn't perceive it that way. I felt chills run up and down my arms and tears form in my eyes during his speech. Of course, I was not alive during those bleak days after President Kennedy's assassination. I did not witness the British Invasion first hand. Yet, I can still relate to what Mr. Hanks was illustrating--this music is pure, unadulterated joy. It captures the joy of being alive; there's always hope, there's always love, there's always something to believe in. When the world is bleak, when everything seems grim--your life can be saved by rock 'n' roll because in that music, in those lyrics, there is a celebration of all aspects of life. The sacred and profane meet in the human experience, and it's all there in this music. It's rapturous to the converted, and Mr. Hanks, like a rural preacher, allowed the spirit to overtake him last week. Hallelujah, indeed!


The above photos were taken as the Beatles recorded their second single (and first number one), "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" on November 26, 1962.