John's Psychedelic Home Movies

Tonight's post is comprised of screen captures from the unique edit of the "A Day in the Life" promo as it appears in the film Imagine: John Lennon. These Kenwood home movies have a decidedly psychedelic flavor to them. I particularly love the frame of John and Julian, both dressed in orange, embracing with their backs to the camera. We also see John's beautiful black cat Pepper, who is also featured in the 1968 Ethan Russell photographs of John and Yoko. By slowing down the video and capturing certain frames, I noticed things that pass by so quickly for the first time. I hope you enjoy this closer look.

Seeing John and Ringo together at Kenwood during this time period immediately brings to mind the hilariously stoned skits/songs they recorded in John's home studio. Terry Doran (from the motor trade) also appears on the tapes. John noodles on his Mellotron, and all engage in nonsense humor and song. Some titles include "Pedro the Fisherman," "Chi-Chi's Cafe" and "Daddy's Little Sunshine Boy." A few of these home tapes are in circulation, though some remain privy to only a select group.

With A Little Help From John, Paul, George, Harry, Elton...

I've always felt that Ringo was the member of the Beatles most hurt by the break up. He always appeared to have a genuine love for the other three, and they seemed to return the sentiment. Even at the height of John and Paul's acrimony toward each other, Ringo wrote an affectionate song pleading for a sort of reconciliation between the factions. "Early 1970" is among his most endearing songs, written from the perspective of the affable drummer on the sidelines, enhanced by George's signature slide. The self-deprecating way Ringo sings about his limited musical abilities certainly adds to the charm of the song.

Throughout his solo career, Ringo's life-long friends have encouraged and supported him, contributing songs, producing, singing, playing. Often the party atmosphere of the sessions emanate through the tracks--everyone seems to be having fun, enjoying each other's company, and that joy is translated to the listener.

I've been very fortunate to have received a promotional copy of Ringo's forthcoming greatest hits CD entitled Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr. What immediately struck me as I began listening is how I found myself smiling uncontrollably as the music played. I think that most will be pleased with the remastering on the CD (I do not know who did the mastering)--although the songs have been mastered louder than on the previous '90s issues, it is not excessive. Several of the songs are improved--"Photograph" is particularly different, almost as if remixed. The background vocals are more upfront, and subtle elements of the instrumentation are more noticeable, i. e., I think I hear castanets in the mix!

Harry Nilsson sounds fantastic in the new mastering of "You're Sixteen," and the double-tracking on Ringo's lead is more prominent as well. (The beloved Nicky Hopkins' really rocks on this track!) The same can be said for "Only You"--Ringo's voice is stronger on the remaster. I love hearing John's voice peek through as the song draws to a close.

As for the track listing, I feel that the best of Ringo's later output was selected, including the Beatlesque "Weight of the World" and his tribute to George, "Never Without You." (Hearing George's melodic solo on "King of Broken Hearts" gets me every time.) Only two tracks from the '80s were selected-- the Harrison-penned "Wrack My Brain" from Stop and Smell the Roses and a remake of "Act Naturally," a 1989 duet with Buck Owens.

I highly recommend the deluxe edition CD/DVD of this title to any Beatles fan. It's an essential addition to the canon of solo recordings. Here are links to pre-order the Photograph Deluxe Edition or the Photograph Standard CD.

Press Release:
Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr

On August 28th EMI is set to release Photograph: The Best of Ringo Starr which celebrates the entire solo catalog of one of the world's brightest musical luminaries, Ringo Starr. The album features 7 top ten hits from Ringo's catalog and for the first time in Starr's career his entire EMI catalog will be available digitally. Aside from Photograph, the other albums set to be released include Sentimental Journey (1970), Beaucoups of Blues (1970), the platinum-certified Ringo (1973) and gold-certified Goodnight Vienna (1974) as well as six Ringo Starr ringtones will make their global digital release debuts across all the world's major digital sales providers.

Track listing:

1. Photograph

2. It Don't Come Easy

3. You're Sixteen (You're Beautiful and You're Mine)

4. Back off Boogaloo

5. I'm the Greatest

6. Oh My My

7. Only You (And You Alone)

8. Beaucoups of Blues

9. Early 1970

10. Snookeroo

11. No-No Song

12. (It's All Down To) Goodnight Vienna

13. Hey Baby

14. Weight of the World

15. Dose of Rock 'N' Roll

16. King of Broken Hearts

17. Never Without You

18. Act Naturally - Buck Owens, Ringo Starr

19. Wrack My Brain

20. Fading in and Fading Out

I should be back to posting more regularly. Not only did I have to endure a hard drive crash, but as soon as I installed a new drive, my modem was hijacked by an insidious dialer called "Delsim" which proceeded to prevent me from connecting to the Internet as it dialed expensive long distance phone numbers to foreign countries! Please protect your own computers from trojans, viruses, and spyware so you won't have to go through this nightmare yourself. (I recommend AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5 and avast! anti-virus.) I still need to reinstall screen capture programs, and a new scanner is headed my way. Until then, I'm posting some Ringo pictures I found at the LiveJournal Beatlepics community--a wonderful resource! Thanks to all who share their pictures there. The picture below the cover of the new CD was taken May 31, 2000, the night I saw Ringo & the All-Starr Band in concert in Nashville.

My Hard Drive Crashed

I suppose some of you have been wondering why this blog hasn't been updated recently. My hard drive crashed on Thursday, and I'm patiently awaiting a new one to arrive. I am posting from another computer at the moment. Once I get everything up and running again, I have some very special posts planned.

Stay tuned this week for a sneak-peek review of Ringo Starr's upcoming greatest hits release (due to arrive in stores and on iTunes August 28th)!

Thanks for your patience and understanding. I'll see you in a few days...

I Found Out

Thanks to my good friend Jeff, I now have the above picture of John singing and playing a gorgeous Gibson J-200 flat top jumbo, just like the one George began using during the White Album sessions. Like the Gibson Hummingbird, this model, with its flower designs on the pick guard, is the stuff of legend. Country bumpkin Bob Dylan can be seen proudly holding what is rumored to be George's own J-200 on the cover of Nashville Skyline.

(Jeff kindly gave me his copy of the 1978 edition of The Beatles: An Illustrated Record by Roy Carr and Tony Tyler--a respected and sought-after book--and this is where I found the above photo.)

Earlier I watched a fascinating documentary on the history of Gibson guitars, so I felt inspired to scan this rare photo of John for the archives. (What John in wearing here shows where Sean received his fashion sense--I've seen recent photos of Sean in the same attire!) I have also been listening to the No-NR CD version of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band while scanning and reflecting on the events of the past two days. I don't think this photo of John, with his newly shorn hair, is actually from the POB sessions, however. He cut his hair in February of '70, and the POB sessions didn't begin until September. This could be around the time of "Instant Karma!" though, so just ignore the filename I gave the photo!

This blog is also a personal one; I'm usually inspired to write my entries and reveal a bit of myself through my musings on the Beatles, Lennon, or music in general. Currently, I am very disappointed in someone I once held in high regard--a person I felt a real connection with, someone I thought would always be a friend. I feel very betrayed and (actually) shocked that this person would hurt me in such a fashion. We all experience deception in our lives, so this is nothing new, and it could have been much worse. Things have a way of working out, and I realize finding out now instead of further down the line is really a positive thing.

"I'm moving on, moving on you're getting phony." Y.O.

Anyway, I'm also making icons for message boards, Live Journal, etc. using Adobe Photoshop. Subjects include Syd Barrett, the Sonics, the Smoke (UK), the Pretty Things, the Move, Soft Machine/Kevin Ayers, Small Faces, Spirit, Skip Bifferty, the Rolling Stones, Kaleidoscope (UK), the Kinks, John Coltrane, etc. Let me know if you're interested by posting a comment here.

Thank you, and good night...

Sitting in an English Garden

Here is a series of interesting photographs, apparently taken outside at John's Weybridge home in the summer of 1967 (I say this because the mock tudor home appears in the background). The fisheye lens, yellow-tinted photographs are especially unusual and appropriate for the slanted perspective of the psychedelic experience. It's exceptionally heart warming to see everyone together, enjoying the warm sunny weather. There's Brian Epstein in perhaps one of his last photographs, smiling, looking at what appears to be film negatives and chatting with Pattie Boyd. Neil Aspinal can be glimpsed over John's shoulder, reading as John plays a small banjo. Paul and Martha are occupied--Paul appears to be holding a sheet of paper with his feet as he figures out some chords for a new composition. As Paul noodles around on the guitar, John lounges, reading quietly. Everyone seems relaxed and contented; I would have loved to be there just to observe and drink in the sun with them.

A Special Thank You To Ivan Vaughan

In the minds of Beatles fans everywhere, the day John Lennon met Paul McCartney stands as the historic occasion, truly the most important event in Beatles' (and perhaps all of popular music) history. This is where it all began. All of the significant anniversaries we've been commemorating would have never happened without this meeting of two geniuses whose differences complimented each other in such a way that it can be described as nothing short of magic. Today we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Woolton Garden Fete, July 6, 1957. If it hadn't been for mutual friend Ivan Vaughan (who shared the exact same birth date as Paul), John and Paul may have never had this meeting, and Paul may have never had the opportunity to show off his skills ("Twenty Flight Rock," tuning by ear, remembering lyrics) to John. As Quarry Men member and friend Pete Shotton relates in his book John Lennon In My Life: "We were joined in the deserted hall by Ivan Vaughan and a chubby, baby-faced classmate of his. I had thought John might be interested in meeting this guitar-toting friend, who not only was one of the Liverpool Institutes's biggest Presley and Little Richard fans, but also knew how to tune his instrument. The kid's name, it turned out, was Paul McCartney " (p. 53). You'll see some pictures of Pete (with his blond locks) with Ivan and band mate Len Garry in pictures above.

Shotton reflects upon the fateful meeting in virtually the same way as Paul in his beautiful song for John, "Here Today": They were "playing hard to get." "In their initial encounter, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney acted--at first--almost standoffish. John (as I already knew) was notoriously wary of strangers, while Paul, in his polite way, impressed me with his cool reserve. But shy he wasn't, and the awkward silence was finally broken when he got out his guitar and began to play. John was immediately impressed by what he heard and saw" (p. 55). After some lengthy consideration, John consulted with Pete about asking Paul to join the Quarry Men. Some time later, Pete saw Paul cycling through the neighborhood, and asked him to join.

Amazingly, audio from the Woolton Fete Quarry Men's performance exists, though in very poor sound quality. Part of "Puttin' On The Style" has been in circulation for quite some time; however, the BBC recently aired previously unheard snippets of the aforementioned song and also "Baby Let's Play House." I scanned the reproductions of the Garden Fete program and the Quarry Men's business card that accompanied the Lennon Legend book compiled by James Henke to post today.

Unfortunately, Ivan Vaughan passed away in 1993; lifelong friend Paul McCartney wrote a special poem in his honor, which appears in Paul's Blackbird Singing book. A most sincere "thank you" goes out to you today, Ivan.

Some Additonal Pictures