Beatles Interview Series: 1971 - Lennon/McCartney Public Feud

In our tenth and final part of our Beatles Interview Series, we'd like to end with the very public war of words between John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1971.

PAUL: "I just want the four of us to get together somewhere and sign a piece of paper saying it's all over and we want to divide the money four ways. No one else would be there, not even Linda or Yoko or Allen Klein. We'd just sign the paper and hand it to the business people and let them sort it out. That's all I want now, but John won't do it. Everybody thinks I am the agressor but I'm not, you know. I just want out."

"The Beatles never actually copped for all this money, everyone else did. I wouldn't care but you think we could have a new deal now. You'd think they'd release us. They've made a lot of money and we could shake hands and part company but now we can't. I'm being sued for a million pounds in New York by Northern Songs. It's so complicated."

"There was a bit of hype on the back of the (Let It Be) sleeve for the first time ever on a Beatles album. At the time, the Beatles were very strained with each other and it wasn't a happy time. It said it was a 'new-phase Beatles album' and there was nothing further from the truth. That was the last Beatles album and everybody knew it... (Allen) Klein had it re-produced because he said it didn't sound commercial enough."

"John's whole image now is very honest and open. He's alright, is John. I like his 'Imagine' album but I didn't like the others. 'Imagine' is what John is really like but there was too much political stuff on the other albums. You know, I only really listen to them to see if there's something I can pinch." (laughs)

"'How Do You Sleep'? I think it's silly. So what if I live with straights? I like straights. I have straight babies. It doesn't affect him. He says the only thing I did was 'Yesterday.' He knows that's wrong. (Paul motions to the studio below) I used to sit down there and play, and John would watch me from up here, and he'd really dig some of the stuff I played to him. He can't say all I did was 'Yesterday' because he knows and I know it's not true."


“You know I was asked to play George’s concert in New York for Bangla Desh and I didn’t. Well, listen. Klein called a press conference and told everyone I had refused to do it -– it wasn’t so. I said to George the reason I couldn’t do it was because it would mean that all the world’s press would scream that the Beatles had got back together again and I know that would have made Klein very happy. It would have been a historical event and Klein would have taken the credit. I didn’t really fancy playing anyway. If it wasn’t for Klein I might have had second thoughts about it but I don’t know, really. Allen’s a good talker. The others really dig him, but I’ve made the mistake of trying to advise them against him and that pissed them off. I think they might secretly feel that I am right though."

"John wanted to do a big thing in Toronto (9/13/69 concert, Toronto Rock and Roll Revival) but I didn't dig that at all. I hear that before he went on stage he was sick, and that's just what I didn't want. Like anybody else I have been nervous because of the Beatles thing."

"John and Yoko are not cool in what they are doing. I saw them on television the other night and thought that what they are saying about what they wanted to do together was basically the same as what Linda and I want to do."

"Before John was leaving the Beatles, I was lying in bed at home one night and I thought we could get a band together, like his Plastic Ono Band. I felt the urge because we had never played live for four years. We all wanted to appear on a stage but not with the Beatles. We couldn't do it as the Beatles because it would be so big. We'd have to find a million-seater hall or something."

"I wanted to get in a van and do an unadvertised concert at a Saturday night hop at Slough Town Hall or somewhere like that. We'd call ourselves Rikki and the Red Streaks or something and just get up and play. There'd be no press and we'd tell nobody about it. John thought it was a daft idea."

"My best playing days were at the Cavern lunchtime sessions. We'd go onstage with a cheese roll and a cigarette and we felt we had really something going on. The amps used to fuse and we'd stop and sing a Sunblest Bread commercial while they were repaired. I'd walk off down the street playing my guitar and annoying the neighbors. I couldn't do that now, but it's what I want to do with this new group."

"We just don't know how we are going to do. I don't want to start with a Wings concert at the Albert Hall with the world watching and analyzing. I just want to play a small dance, and rock a bit."

"We will start just by turning up at a place we fancy visiting, and just play a straightforward gig. We might use another name to keep it quiet. We have rehearsed and we can play live together. In fact it sounds quite good. It doesn't really matter that much."

"I don't want Wings to become a media group, with our signatures on knickers which are sold for promotion. I don't like that now. I was happy with that situation in the Beatles, but it died in the end. We are starting off as a new band, but if we ever get to be huge like the Beatles it will be very different." 

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John replied with an open letter, written to Paul, in the pages of Melody Maker.


"Dear Paul, Linda et all the wee McCartney's,

Thanks for your letter.

1. We give YOU money for your bits of Apple.
2. We give you MORE money in the form of royalties which legally belong to Apple (I know we're Apple, but on the other hand we're not.).

Maybe there's an answer there somewhere, but for the millionth time in these past few years I repeat, 'What about the TAX?' It's all very well, playing 'simple honest ole Paul' in Melody Maker but you know damn well we can't just sign a bit of paper.

You say, 'John won't do it.' I will if you indemnify us against the tax man! Anyway, you know that after we have OUR meeting, the fucking lawyers will have to implement whatever we agree on, right?

If they have some form of agreement between THEM before WE meet, it might make it even easier. It's up to you, as we've said many times, we'll meet whenever you like. Just make up your mind! Eg. two weeks ago I asked you on the phone, 'Please let's meet without advisors, etc. and decide what we want,' and I emphasized especially Maclen (Lennon and McCartney's songwriting company) which is mainly our concern, but you refused, right?

You said under NO CONDITION would you sell to us if we didn't do what you wanted, you'd sue us again and that Ringo and George are going to break you John, etc. etc.

Now I was quite straight with you that day, and you tried to shoot me down with your emotional "logic." If YOU'RE not the aggressor (as you claim) who the hell took us to court and shat all over us in public?


As I've said before, Have you ever thought that you might POSSIBLY be wrong about something? Your conceit about us and Klein is incredible. You say you "made the mistake of trying to advise them against Klein and that pissed them off" and we secretly feel that you're right! Good God! You must know WE'RE right about Eastman.

One other little lie in your "It's only Paulie" MM bit: Let It Be was not the first bit of hype on a Beatle album.  Remember Tony Barrow? And his wonderful writing on "Please Please Me" etc. etc. The early Beatle Xmas records!

And you gotta admit it was a 'new-phase' Beatle album, incidentally written in the style of the great Barrow himself! By the way, what happened to my idea of putting the parody of our first album cover on the Let It Be cover?

Also, we were intending to parody Barrow originally, so it was hype. But what is your LIFE article? Tony Barrow couldn't have done it better. (And your writing inside of the Wings album [Wild Life] isn't exactly the realist is it?) Anyway, enough of this petty bourgeois fun.

You were right about New York! I do love it; it's the ONLY PLACE TO BE. (Apart from anything else, they leave you alone too!) I see you prefer Scotland! (MM) -- I'll bet you your piece of Apple you'll be living in New York by 1974 (two years is the usual time it takes you -- right?)

Another thing, whadya mean BIG THING in Toronto? It was completely spontaneous. They rang on the Friday, we flew there, and we played on Saturday. I was sick because I was stone pissed. Listen to the album -- with no rehearsal too. Come on Macka! Own up! We'd never played together before! Half a dozen live shows with no big fuss. In fact we've BEEN DOING what you've said the Beatles should do.  Yoko and I have been doing it for three years! (I said it was daft for the Beatles to do it. I still think it's daft.)  So go on and do it! Do it! Do it! E.g. Cambridge 1969, completely unadvertised! A very small hall. Lyceum Ballroom, 1969, no fuss, great show -- thirty piece rock band! "Live Jam" out soon! Filmore East, 1971, unannounced. Another good time had by all -- out soon!! We even played in the streets here in the Village (our spiritual home!?) with the great David Peel!! We were moved on by the cops even!! It's best just to DO IT.
I know you'll dig it, and they don't even expect the Beatles now anyway!

So you think 'Imagine' ain't political? It's 'Working Class Hero' with sugar on it for conservatives like yourself!! You obviously didn't dig the words. Imagine! You took 'How Do You Sleep' so literally (read my own review of the album in Crawdaddy.) Your politics are very similar to Mary Whitehouse's -- 'Saying nothing is as loud as saying something.'

Listen, my obsessive old pal, it was George's press conference -- not 'dat ole debbil Klein' -- He said what you said: 'I'd love to come but...' Anyway, we basically did it for the same reasons -- the Beatle bit -- they still called it a Beatle show, with just two of them!

Join the Rock Liberation Front before it gets you.

Wanna put your photo on the label like uncool John and Yoko, do ya? (Aint ya got no shame!) If we're not cool, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU?

No hard feelings to you either. I know basically we want the same, and as I said on the phone and in this letter, whenever you want to meet, all you have to do is call.

All you need is love
Power to the people
Free all prisoners
Jail the judges
Love and peace
Get it on and rip 'em off

John Lennon

P.S. The bit that really puzzled us was asking to meet WITHOUT LINDA AND YOKO. I thought you'd have understood BY NOW that I'm JOHNANDYOKO.
P.P.S. Even your own lawyers know you can't "just sign a bit of paper." (or don't they tell you?)"

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In hindsite, both John and Paul regretted the "feud" and admitted that through it all, the still loved each other.  Or, maybe that's just this author's opinion.  ;-)


PAUL circa-1994: "When John did 'How Do You Sleep?' I didn't want to get into a slinging match. Part of it was cowardice. John was a great wit, and I didn't want to go fencing with the rapier champion of East Cheam -- But it meant that I had to take shit -- It meant that I had to take lines like 'All you ever did was Yesterday.' I always find myself wanting to excuse John's behavior, just because I loved him. It's like a child, sure he was a naughty child, but don't you call my child naughty. Even if it's me he's shitting on, don't you call him naughty. That's how I felt about this and still do. I don't have a grudge whatsoever against John. I think he knew exactly what he was doing and because we had been so intimate he knew what would hurt me and used it to great effect. I thought, 'Keep your head down and time will tell,' and it did because in the 'Imagine' film (Imagine John Lennon, documentary) he says it was really all about himself."

JOHN 1974: "It's not about Paul, it's about me. I'm really attacking myself. But I regret the association... well... what's to regret? He lived through it. The only thing that matters is how he and I feel about these things and not what the writer or commentator thinks about it. Him and me are okay."

JOHN 1974: "When I slagged off the Beatles thing, it was like divorce pangs and, me being me, it was 'Blast this! Fuck the past!' I've always had a bit of a mouth and when a thing begins that way you have to live up to it. Then Paul and me had that fight in the pages of MM. It was a period I had to go through. I sort of enjoy the fight at the time -- that's the funny thing. Now we've got it all out and it's cool. I can see the Beatles from a new point of view."

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from original source material

Beatles Interview Series: 1970 - The Breakup

In part nine of our 10-part Beatles Interview Series, we continuing exploring the break up of The Beatles.  

First, we will look at the opening shot, which was fired by Paul in the press release for his advance, promotional copies of his first solo album, McCartney, from April 9, 1970.  Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience writes, "While John Lennon had privately left the Beatles months earlier, it was from this interview that the story of a Beatles' split spread instantly as news headlines around the world. On April 10th, the Daily Mirror ran a front-page story with the bold print headline, 'PAUL IS QUITTING THE BEATLES,' while CBS News in America declared, "The Beatles are breaking up."

  
Q: "Did you miss the other Beatles and George Martin? Was there a moment when you thought, 'I wish Ringo were here for this break?'"
PAUL: "No."
Q: "Assuming this is a very big hit album, will you do another?"
PAUL: "Even if it isn't, I will continue to do what I want, when I want to."
Q: "Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?"
PAUL: "No."
Q: "Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?"
PAUL: "Time will tell. Being a solo album means it's 'the start of a solo career...' and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both."
Q: "Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?"
PAUL: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know."
Q: "Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?"
PAUL: "No."

-----------------------

With the public still reeling from the news of a Beatles split, George Harrison took a quick trip to New York City in May, and was interviewed by WABC-FM radio's Howard Smith.  Below you will read a snippet from that interview.

Q: "You think the Beatles will get together again, then?"
GEORGE: "Uhh... Well, I don't... I couldn't tell, you know, if they do or not. I'll certainly try my best to do something with them again, you know. I mean, it's only a matter of accepting that the situation is a compromise. In a way it's a compromise, and it's a sacrifice, you know, because we all have to sacrifice a little in order to gain something really big. And there is a big gain by recording together -- I think musically, and financially, and also spiritually. And for the rest of the world, you know, I think that Beatle music is such a big sort of scene -- that I think it's the least we could do is to sacrifice three months of the year at least, you know, just to do an album or two. I think it's very selfish if the Beatles don't record together."
 
Q: "But everything looks so gloomy right now."
GEORGE: "It's not, really. You know, it's no more gloomy than it's been for the last ten years. It really isn't any worse. It's just that now over the last year -- what with John, and lately with Paul-- everything that they've thought or said has come out, you know, to the public. It's been printed. It's been there for everybody to read, or to comment about, or to join in on. Whereas before..."
 
Q: "But the things...The feelings had been there all along?"
GEORGE: "No, I wouldn't say that. In different ways, you know. We're just like anybody else. (laughs) Familiarity breeds contempt, they do say. And we've had slight problems. But it's only been recently, you know, because we didn't work together for such a long time in the Yoko and John situation. And then Paul and Linda. But it's really... It's not as bad as it seems, you know. Like, we're all having a good time individually, and..."
 
Q: "There seems like there's so much animosity between Paul and..."
GEORGE: Yeah."
 
Q: "You know, you three... I mean, it sounds like he is saying it's all over."
GEORGE: "But it's more of a personal thing, you know. That's down to the management situation, you know, with Apple. Because Paul, really -- It was his idea to do Apple, and once it started going Paul was very active in there. And then it got really chaotic and we had to do something about it. When we started doing something about it, obviously Paul didn't have as much say in the matter, and then he decided... you know, because he wanted Lee Eastman his in-laws to run it and we didn't. Then that's the only reason, you know. That's the whole basis. But that's only a personal problem that he'll have to get over because that's... The reality is that he's out-voted and we're a partnership. We've got these companies which we all own 25 percent of each, and if there's a decision to be made then, like in any other business or group you have a vote, you know. And he was out-voted 3 to 1 and if he doesn't like it, it's really a pity. You know, because we're trying to do what's best for the Beatles as a group, or best for Apple as a company. We're not trying to do what's best for Paul and his in-laws, you know."
 
Q: "You think that's what the key fight is over?"
GEORGE: "Yeah, because it's on such a personal level that it is a big problem, really. You know -- You imagine that situation if you were married and you wanted your in-laws to handle certain things. You know, it's like -- It's a difficult one to overcome because... well, you can think of the subtleties, you know. But he's really living with it like that, you see. When I go home at night I'm not living there with Allen Klein, whereas in a way, Paul's living with the Eastmans, you see. And so it's purely... it's not really between Paul and us. You know, it's between Paul's advisors who are the Eastmans and our business advisors which is Allen Klein. (pause) But it's alright."
 
Q: "Aw, I don't know!"
GEORGE: (laughs)
 
Q: "I'm not as optimistic."
GEORGE: "Yeah, it's alright. All things pass... away... as they say."
 
Q: "I somewhat detected some kind of animosity between Yoko and Linda. Is that part of what it's about?"
GEORGE: "Ahh, I don't know. I don't think about it, you know. I refuse to be a part of any hassles like that. You know, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare. And it'll all be okay, you know. Just give 'em time because they do really love each other, you know. I mean, we all do. We've been so close and through so much together that it really... to talk about it like this, you know, we'll never get any nearer to it. But the main thing is, like in anybody's life, they have slight problems. And it's just that our problems are always blown up, and uhh, you know, shown to everybody. But it's not really... it's not a problem. It's only a problem if you think about it."
 
Q: "So you don't think there's any great anger between Paul and John?"
GEORGE: "No, I think there may be what you'd term a little bitchiness. But, you know, that's all it is. It's just being bitchy to each other, you know. Childish. Childish."

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from radio interviews and from the reprinted interview in The New Musical Express - issue #1214

Beatles Interview Series: 1969 - Beatles on the Brink of Splitting

In part eight of our Beatles Interview Series, we explore the beginning of the end of The Beatles.  

First up, a bit of an interview given by Ringo on January 21, 1969 to BBC Radio-One's "Scene and Heard" program:

DAVID WIGG: "Last week was quite a controversial week for the Beatles."
(In reference to John Lennon's remarks that had appeared in 'Disc and Music Echo' newspaper a few days before in which Lennon stated: "Apple is losing money. If it carries on like this, we'll be broke in six months.")
RINGO: "Yeah."
DAVID: "How close are you? We've had reports that you're not as close you used to be, and that the Beatles aren't as rich as everyone thought they were and they might have to close down Apple."
RINGO: "Well... shall we take them one at a time?"
DAVID: (smiling) "Yes."
RINGO: (chuckling) "Alright, what was the first one?"
(laughter)
DAVID: "Are you as close?"
RINGO: "Yes. You know, there's that famous old saying, you'll always hurt the one you love. And we all love each other and we all know that. But we still sort of hurt each other, occasionally. You know... where we just misunderstand each other and we go off, and it builds up to something bigger than it ever was. Then we have to come down to it and get it over with, you know. Sort it out. And so we're still really very close people. What was the second one?"
DAVID: "Do you see the Beatles going on like they are at the moment for a long time in the future or do you see a split very soon?"
RINGO: "It depends what you mean as a split, I mean, we split..."
DAVID: "Go your separate ways."
RINGO: "Completely, no. We'll never go... Oh, I can't say never. But I mean, we won't go our separate ways after this album. And we'll always be tied up with each other in some way, because we signed a lot of papers. It says we stay together for 20 years or something. And Apple closing, you know, is... is silly. We have spent a lot of money, because we don't earn as much as people think. 'Cuz if we earn a million then the Government gets 90 percent and we get 10,000. And we, we didn't sort of realize how much we were spending, you know. Like, someone pointed out, to spend 10,000 you have to make a 120. But we just spent it as 120. So what we're doing now is tightening up on our own personal money and on the company's money, you know. We're not just giving as much away on handouts and things like that, you know, and as many projects. We're gonna cut down a bit till we've sorted ourselves out again and do it properly as a business."

----------------------

Then, on September 19, 1969, David Wigg conducted an interview with Paul McCartney at the Beatles' Apple Offices in London, for the same program, BBC Radio-One's "Scene and Heard."  Here is a snippet from that interview:

Paul McCartney and David Wigg, 1969, Photo Credit: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1969.0919.beatles.html

DAVID WIGG: "How much interest and how much control do you have over Apple, now that you have a new manager in Mr. Klein?"
PAUL: "The four of us have it."
DAVID: "Are you like businessmen?"
PAUL: "No, I don't like doing the business bit that much. But you can't avoid it. See, the thing is like, we were once a band, just a band. But then, because we were successful, you can't help it being successful. Money comes in. You can't help that, again. When money comes in, income tax is to be paid. So you can't really help just turning into a businessman 'cuz someone says to you, 'Where's your income tax, mate?' You say, "well, I better go on to someone,' you know. 'I hope I've got a bit to pay you' and stuff. So you got to get all that together, you know. So, it's just force of circumstance. You can't help it."
DAVID: "Paul, what about the future of Beatles? I happen to know that the organizers of the 'Isle Of Wight' pop festival are going to ask you and the rest of Beatles if you will top the bill next year at the Isle Of Wight. Now, what's your reaction to a thing like that? Are you likely to go back on stage and perhaps do a show like that?"
PAUL: "I don't know, you know."
DAVID: "Does it appeal?"
PAUL: "I've never known. I didn't know when we were playing the Cavern that we'd be on the Royal Variety Performance. And after that all the papers said, 'Well, what's left for them.' So then we went to America. They said, 'What's left for 'em' then, you know. And we got into making better albums and stuff. I mean, I just don't know what's gonna happen. It'll be alright though."

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Finally, December 13, 1969, John Lennon gave an interview to New Musical Express, entitled, "Beatles Are On The Brink Of Splitting."  Here are a few excerpts from that interview:

JOHN: “The Beatles split up? It just depends how much we all want to record together. I don’t know if I want to record together again. I go off and on it. I really do.

“The problem is that in the old days, when we needed an album, Paul and I got together and produced enough songs for it. Nowadays there’s three if us writing prolifically and trying to fit it all onto one album. Or we have to think of a double album every time, which takes six months.

“That’s the hang-up we have. It’s not a personal ‘The Beatles are fighting’ thing, so much as an actual physical problem. What do you do? I don’t want to spend six months making an album I have two tracks on. And neither do Paul or George probably. That’s the problem. If we can overcome that, maybe it’ll sort itself out.

“None of us want to be background musicians most of the time. It’s a waste. We didn’t spend ten years ‘making it’ to have the freedom in the recording studios, to be able to have two tracks on an album.

“It’s not like we spend our time wrestling in the studio trying to get our own songs on. We all do it the same way… we take it in turns to record a track. It’s just that usually in the past, George lost out because Paul and I are tougher.

[...]

“You have to realize that there’s a peculiar situation, in that if ‘Cold Turkey’ had the name Beatles on it, probably it would have been a No. 1.

“ ‘Cold Turkey’ has got Ringo and me on it, and yet on half the Beatles’ tracks of ‘Abbey Road,’ I’m not on, or half the tracks on the double album – and even way back. Sometimes there might be only two Beatles on a track. It’s got to the situation where if we have the name ‘Beatle’ on it, it sells. So you get to think: ‘What are we selling? Do they buy it because it’s worth it, or just because it says ‘Beatles’?

“George is in the same position. I mean, he’s got songs he’s been trying to get on since 1930. He’s got to make an album of his own. And maybe if he puts ‘Beatles’ on the label rather than George Harrison, it might sell more. That’s the drag.

“Of course we could each make an album and call it ‘The Beatles,’ but that would be cheating. And that’s not my scene."

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from radio interviews and original magazine issue

Beatles Interview Series: 1968 - The Beatles White Album Session

In part seven of our 10-part Beatles Interview Series, we'd like to share an interview that took place on June 5, 1968 at Abbey Road Studios during the recording of The Beatles White Album.  This is an informal interview conducted by one of the Beatles' favorite radio personalities, Kenny Everett of the pirate radio station, Radio London, according to Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience.  Though this interview is primarily with John, the others do eventually make an appearance and in fact, this would be one of the last interviews in which all four Beatles appeared together.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon working on one of the songs on The White Album.

JOHN: "So, we better turn the guitaring down a bit, little. So, Kenny, how are you goings?"

KENNY: "Oh, it's wonderful. Listen. First a few questions, then I'd like you to sing me a jingle. A goodbye jingle."

JOHN: "Okay, a goodbye jingle."

KENNY: "What can we expect from you in the next few months? I've heard you're working on it."

JOHN: (comical whisper) "Alot of brown paper bags, Kenny."

KENNY: (laughs)

JOHN: "We're working very hard on that at the moment, the boys and me."

KENNY: "Anything tuney?"

JOHN: "Oh yeah. There's alot of tunes we've found in the bags, actually."

KENNY: "I got told that you don't actually come in here with the idea of doing an album-- it just sort of 'falls out' at the sessions."

JOHN: "Mmm. Well, we have a vague idea, you know, Ken."

KENNY: "Yes."

JOHN: (strumming and singing) "'As I was only saying the other day-- we have a vague idea, but very vague-- What's up? Very vague.'"

KENNY: (laughs)

JOHN: "Just a bit of laughter, ladies and gentle-phones."

KENNY: "Have you done any actual complete numbers?"

JOHN: "No. We're halfway through the second uncomplete number now."

KENNY: "You don't actually do them whole complete, finish with them, and then start another one?"

JOHN: "See, we got to a stage with one where the next bit is (additional) musicians, so we'll have to write the musicans' bit. You see, you see."

KENNY: "Do you ever get to, umm-- you've done your bit and you decide it would be good on its own, and then forget the musicians?"

JOHN: "Oh yeah. Yeah."

KENNY: "Yeah."

JOHN: (slide guitar and singing) "'Somebody stole my gal/ Somebody stole my pal.'"

KENNY: "Can you sing me a goodbye jingle? It doesn't have to rhyme or anything."

JOHN: (slide guitar and singing) "'Goodbye jingle/ Goodbye jingle goodbye/ Goodbye.'"

(laughter)

KENNY: "Wonderful. (laughs) Are there any particular records at the moment..."

JOHN: "Oh yeah, let me think-- Nilsson. One of Nilsson's."

KENNY: "Which one, particularly? As you know we've played quite a few of them."

JOHN: "Yes. Oh, let me think, Ken, for the moment. Uhh... 'River Deep Mountain Dew.'"

KENNY: "Yeah?"

JOHN: (strumming and singing) "'When I was a little baby my mama used to SMASH me in the cradle/ Pickin' those old cotton fields back home/ When mama was a little bitty baby she used to SMASH me in my cradle/ When I was a little bitty baby back home.'"

KENNY: "That was impressario John Lennon playing for you. And now, a few words from him."

JOHN: "Enzay cuzum dadey stobidacho, Charlie. Masik consip. Wezamarchi chewano wita tomata tawiaty. Wertum moriaty conan dia. Kenny Everetto, M B E."

KENNY: "So that's what India taught you?"

JOHN: "Exactly."

KENNY: "Did you come back with anything incredibly fantastic?"

JOHN: "Yes. A beard."

KENNY: "Yeah. I met Donavon the other day on a show, and he looked a little better for it."

JOHN: "Yes, it was very healthy, you know."

KENNY: "I got a photograph of you in the Daily Mirror standing in a sheet. You look very peaceful."

JOHN: "That's called a benuse, Kenny, and I got it from Moracco." (laughs)

KENNY: "Really?"

JOHN: (jokingly) "Standing in a sheet-- What do you mean?"

KENNY: "It looked like a sheet."

JONH: "Well they do. Benuses look very, very like sheets, see, so the lower classes in Moracco don't feel too put out-- having only the sheets to wear."

KENNY: "Do you have anything to say about anything you've recorded so far?"

JOHN: "We've just done two tracks, both unfinished. The second one is Ringo's first song that we're working on this very moment."

KENNY: "He composed it himself?"

JOHN: "He composed it himself in a fit of lithargy."

KENNY: "And what do you think about it?"

JOHN: "I think it's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard since Nilsson's River Deep Mountain Dew. (strumming and singing) 'Kenny Everett/ It's the Kenny Everett show.'"

KENNY: "Are you composing this straight out of your head?"

JOHN: "This is ad nausium-- straight from the mouth that bit me."

KENNY: "I don't know how he does it, friends."

JOHN: "Neither do I, friends. He's sitting here cross-legged on the amplifier, strumbling away. I hope we're gonna hear this, listeners, because we have alot of fun doing 'em, but never quite hear them, listeners. Never quite hear them when you get home."

KENNY: "Well, I will play this completely, all the way through, just for you."

JOHN: "Right."

KENNY: "What kind of guitar is that? It's very strange looking."

JOHN: "A fretless guitar."

KENNY: "How's business with Apple?"

JOHN: "Oh, it's... I mean, what can I say? I couldn't ask for any more tapes, or bits of paper."

KENNY: (jokingly) "They won't get that, either. But still..."

JOHN: "So, wonderful radio wonders...!"

KENNY: "Ask me a few questions."

JOHN: "Okay, Kenny. What are you doing?"

KENNY: (pause) "Well, at the moment, I'm having a daily show come on soon."

JOHN: "Really? So they haven't sacked you? I was getting you a job with the Isle of Man. I put in a word for you with Ronald Manks."

KENNY: "If you were stranded away on a desert island, what one grammophone record would you take with you, excluding the Bible and Sgt Peppers for obvious reasons."

JOHN: (laughs) "One grammophone record? Uhh... (pause) It hasn't been made yet."

KENNY: (laughing) "You don't think there's any records worth taking?"

JOHN: "Not all the way to a desert island."

KENNY: "When you produce something of such high standards as your last album, don't you think that you've really got to strive to produce something a bit better?"

JOHN: "No. It only got high because everybody said how high it was. It's no higher than it was when we made it."

KENNY: (laughs) "Yes. There are hidden meanings in that one, ladies and gentlemen."

JOHN: (comical voice) "No. What I mean, Kenny, is that it doesn't pose a problem. It was so long ago we've forgotten what it was about anyway. And let me put it this way..."

(long silence)

KENNY: "That's it? (laughs) Hey, listen. You were saying, last time I met you, that you hadn't really had a chance to listen to Sgt Pepper because you'd been so busy making it."

JOHN: "I don't think I ever did listen to it, since we made it, properly. I heard bits of it. I mean, I played it just after we made it, and that's it really. (laughs) But I like to hear it on the radio."

KENNY: "Alright, shall I play it?"

JOHN: "Yes, that'd be nice."

KENNY: "Ladies and gentlemen, Sgt Pepper!"

JOHN: "Mmmm."

KENNY: "Do you think Paul and you could do a duo-harmony jingle?"

JOHN: "Well, you'd have to get him."

KENNY: "Paul? Can you come and do a goodbye jingle?"

PAUL: "Oh! Why, sure Kenny!"

JOHN: (strumming and singing) "'Goodbye to Kenny Everett/ He is our very pal.'"

PAUL: (singing along) "'Jingle, jingle. Very pal. Jingle.'"

JOHN: (sings) "'Goodbye Kenny Everett/ And old Mount Everett, too.'"

JOHN AND PAUL: (singing) "'And it's a goodbye rousing cresendo!'"

KENNY: "Thank you, John. Thank you, Paul"

JOHN: "Wonderful."

PAUL: (giggles like singer Tiny Tim) "Ooo-hoo."

JOHN: (excitedly) "Play Tiny Tim! That's what you gotta play! Tiny Tim! He's the greatest ever, man! You see if I aint right, Kenny Everett! He's the greatest fella on earth! Play Tiny Tim, gentle-readers."

KENNY: "Tiptoe Through The Tulips."

PAUL: "He's real."

JOHN: "He's real, man. We saw him."

PAUL: "I mean, he's good with it. It's like-- it's a funny joke at first. But it's not, really. It's real and it's true."

JOHN: "He's great. (sings) 'Tiny Tim for President/ Oh, Tiny Tim for Queen!'"

KENNY: "Thank you, Ronald."

JOHN: (to George) "He'd like to interview with my cohorts for a following few month show."

GEORGE: "What is it?"

JOHN: "The Kenny Everett Show."

GEORGE: (excitedly) "Oh, great! Well, it's nice to be on the air again! Beatle George speaking from the EMI Studios."

PAUL: (Tiny Tim giggle) "Ooo-hoo!"

KENNY: "It's my last show next week."

GEORGE: "Is it? Got the sack, did you?"

RINGO: (pounding on drum and singing) "'Goodbye Kenny, it's good to see you back/ Goodbye Kenny, we hear you got the sack!'"

GEORGE: "You've got an LP, there."

(laughter)

PAUL: (Tiny Tim voice) "Ooo-hoo, it's nice to be here!"

KENNY: "Okay Henry, wrap it up."

PAUL: (American accent) "Goodbye Kenny, and thank you for all you've done for us in the past."

KENNY: "It's been a pleasure."

PAUL: (American accent) "You're wrong, Kenny. It has NOT been a pleasure!"

JOHN: "Repeat-- Not! N, O, T, O!"

KENNY: "Give us a rousing chorus of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' in jazz tempo."

JOHN: (singing) "Strawberry Fields Forever... cha ch-cha cha!"

PAUL: (singing) "Let me take you down... pah pah, 'cuz I'm going to-- ahh! Strawberry Fields-- ahh! Nothing is real."

JOHN: "Ho-hay! Hep me!"

PAUL: (singing) "And nothing to be going with!"

JOHN: "Hoop-hay. I tell ya, pooo-ahhh!"

(laughter)

KENNY: "That's the end. Let's go out like that!"

(the tape speed switches to chipmunk voices)

JOHN: (yells) "What speed is it?!!"

KENNY: "Seven and a half."

JOHN: "Oh, you crumbs!"

(laughter)



 

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from an audio copy of the interview

Beatles Interview Series: 1967 - Sgt. Pepper's Launch Party

In keeping with the Sgt. Pepper theme of this week (check out the latest podcast here), part six of our Beatles Interview Series includes an interview that took place on May 19, 1967 at Brian Epstein's flat in London.  Guests of the party included several prominent radio personalities as well as influential music journalists.  Among the guests was Kenny Everett, representing BBC Radio.  According to Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience:

"Everett was part of the program 'Where It's At,' hosted by Chris Denning. Everett would manage to record a few brief conversations with John, Paul and Ringo throughout the evening. Clips from Everett's recording would be used for a special edition of the program the next afternoon -- featuring a sneak preview of select tracks from the not-yet-released album, intercut with Everett's brief interview segments from the night before."

PAUL: (introducing the opening of the program) "This is Paul McCartney saying 'This is where Chris Denning's at.' This is where it's at, Chris. Take it!"
JOHN: (introducing the title track, in hushed announcer voice) "We're sitting in the hushed semi-circular theatre, and waiting for the Seargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to come on. (suddenly louder, excitedly) And here they come now playing the first number, ah let's go! (pauses, then to Kenny) Alright? I can't do it for 'em all or I'll be dizzy."
(Songs heard: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, With A Little Help From My Friends)

KENNY: "Well, by George, in the studio we have old Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame. Ringo, what have you been doing since I last saw you in America a year ago?"
RINGO: "Umm, very much."
KENNY: (mock-disbelief) "Really?"
RINGO: (laughs) "Uhh, well, I went on holiday... We made an LP... We've made a few more tracks, so we've been busy."
KENNY: "What do you think of this new LP? It's a bit strange compared to the others. Would you term it 'Psycho-Deeelic'?"
RINGO: "Only if you want to think of it as psycho-deeelic."
JOHN: "Now we'd like to play you one. It's a sad little song. (pause) Where's it gone?"
PAUL: (giggles)
JOHN: "Oh, this is it, yeah. Picture yourself on an old-fashioned elephant. Lucy in the sky for everyone, now."
(Songs heard: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Fixing A Hole)

KENNY: (regarding the effects used in the studio) "How long would you say... you got into technical details like phasing?"
JOHN: (excitedly) "Oh, phasing is GREAT!"
PAUL: "Double-flanging."
JOHN: "Double-flanging, we call it. Now there you go, right? We're on the same thing. Flanging is great. We're always doing it."
KENNY: "You used it on 'Lucy In The Sky'..."
JOHN: (giggling) "You name the one it isn't on! You know, you name it!"
PAUL: (laughing)
JOHN: (giggling) "You spot it, you get a prize! You get a Sgt. Pepper badge!"
KENNY: (jokingly) "I'll pick a moustache."
(Songs heard: Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, When I'm Sixty-Four)

KENNY: "How many takes did you usually do on this album before you got the perfect take?"
PAUL: "We did quite a few on each one. But, uhh, it's just 'cuz it's changed, you know. In the old days of the LP 'Please Please Me,' we went in and did it in a day, 'cuz we knew all the numbers and we'd rehearsed them and done 'em. We'd been playing them for about a year. But nowadays we just take a song in, and all we've got is the chords on the guitar, and the words and the tune. So we've got to work out how to arrange it, and that. So we do a lot of takes on each one."
(Songs heard: She's Leaving Home, Lovely Rita)

KENNY: "Do you like to have a lot of people in the studio when you're recording, or do you like to do it completely alone?"
PAUL: "It doesn't matter. We had a lot of people on some of the tracks, and sometimes we use 'em, you know, and ask them to clap, and that. Depends if it's good people who don't hassle anyone and don't try and mess the session up. Then it's great, you know, 'cuz it's good company."
KENNY: "I hear you had the Rolling Stones in this session."
PAUL: "They came down 'cuz we had a lot of people there, you know, 'cuz it was a big session and we wanted to make a happening happen. (giggles) And it happened."
(Songs heard: Sgt. Pepper (Reprise), Getting Better, Good Morning Good Morning)



 

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from audio copy of the radio program

 

Beatles Interview Series: 1966 - The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios

In part five of our Beatles Interview Series, we would like to share an "interview" that happened on this date in 1966, exactly 49 years ago today, December 20.  The Beatles had stopped touring by this time, so interviews that included all four together were already becoming much fewer and farther between.  The interview below was not conducted with each Beatle together, but instead, as each of them arrived at Abbey Road Studios individually, for a recording session.  According to Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience, "The evening's session included John, Paul and George overdubbing the background harmonies for the song 'When I'm Sixty Four.' Ringo also added the large 'bell' percussion to the recording."

Q: "Are the Beatles going to go their own ways in 1967, do you think?"
JOHN: "They could be, you know, on our own or together. We're always involved with each other whatever we're doing, you know."
Q: "Could you ever see a time when, in fact, you weren't working together?"
JOHN: "I could see us working not together for a period, but we'd always get together for one reason or another. I mean, you need other people for ideas as well, you know. And we all get along fine."
Q: "Will you be doing films on your own next year?"
JOHN: "Uhh, no. I don't want to make a career of it. I did it (How I Won The War) just 'cuz I felt like it, and Dick Lester asked me and I said 'Yes.' And I wouldn't have done it if the others hadn't liked it, you know. They said 'fine' because we were on holiday anyway."
Q: "Do the others have film ambitions on their own?"
JOHN: "No, nobody's particularly interested in it. And I'm not all that mad on it, you know."
Q: "What do you really want to do?"
JOHN: "I don't know. I just want to do a few things, you know."
Q: "You haven't really decided exactly what?"
JOHN: "No. I'll try a few things. I just found out a bit more about films doing that."
Q: "The songwriting team thing will keep going on whatever happens, will it?"
JOHN: "Yeah, we'll probably carry on writing music forever, you know-- whatever else we're doing. 'Cuz you just can't stop, you know. You find yourself doing it whether you want to or not."
Q: "But you think the tours, like the American tours, and the English one..."
JOHN: "Well you know, there must be a point where they don't work anymore because they're not to do with what we're doing, record-wise or film-wise."



Q: "Paul, good evening. Could I just have a brief word with you?"
PAUL: "Yeah."
Q: "If you never toured again would it worry you?"
PAUL: "I don't know. No, I don't think so."
Q: "It wouldn't worry you."
PAUL: "'Cuz the only thing about that, you see, is that uhh... Performance for us-- It's gone downhill, performance. 'Cuz we can't develop when no one can hear us, you know what I mean? So for us to perform-- it's difficult. It gets difficult each time... More difficult."
Q: "You mean, they don't listen to you and therefore you don't want to do that?"
PAUL: "Oh yeah, we want to do it. But uhh, if we're not listened to, and we can't even hear ourselves, we can't get any better. So uhh, we're trying to get better with things like recording."

The Beatles recording in Studio 2 at EMI Recording Studio, 1966.

 RINGO: (yells to the crowd) "Merry Christmas!!"
Q: "Can I ask you a few questions?"
RINGO: "Yes."
Q: "What's all this about The Beatles are going to do less together in the New Year?"
RINGO: "Umm, yeah. The thing is, you see, to do things together-- the four of us-- it's gonna be the old things all over again, you know, so..."
Q: "You don't want to do that."
RINGO: "No, we don't want to do what we've done already. So the thing is, because of the film, you know-- we can't get a decent script and we're still trying for one. If we don't do that, we'll possibly all do something else different for next year."
Q: "On your own."
RINGO: "Yes. But I mean, it's not like breaking up. We'll still be coming back together at the end of it."
Q: "Do you foresee a time when, in fact, The Beatles won't be together and that you'll all be on your own?"
RINGO: "No."
Q: "Have you got tired of each other?"
RINGO: "No."
Q: "Have you got anything lined-up on your own? Film parts for example?"
RINGO: "Umm, well there may be one if we don't do one together early next year. I'm sort of out of it there because, with John and Paul, they can still write even though we're sort of not working together. And George can, you know, learn his sitar and do things like that. And I've just been sitting 'round."
Q: "Getting bored?"
RINGO: "Uhh, no. Getting fat." (laughs)
Q: (laughs) "Are you fed-up with being Beatles and Beatlemania?"
RINGO: "The thing is-- We can't do a tour like we've been doing all these years, because our music's progressed and we've used more instruments. It'd be soft-- us going on stage, the four of us-- trying to do the records we've made with orchestras and, you know, bands and things. So, if we went on-stage, we'd have to have a whole line-up of men behind us."
Q: "Are you getting bored with being The Beatles after all this time?"
RINGO: "No, I'm having a great time. (laughs) Merry Christmas to you. Long time since I've seen you."
Q: "Thank you very much, Ringo."
RINGO: "That's alright. Thank you."
Q: "Are you going to work now?"
RINGO: "Well, I'll see what they're up to. I think it may be tea-time with any luck."
Q: (laughs)

(George was the last of the four Beatles to arrive, and had the least to say that evening.)
Q: "Hi, can I stop you?"
GEORGE: "Well..."
Q: "I just want to ask you-- Do you think that in the New Year you're going to be going your own ways instead of being a group?"
GEORGE: "No. No."
Q: "No?"
GEORGE: (continuing through the doorway) "Definitely not."
Q: "What about another word?"
GEORGE: (from a distance) "There aren't any more words." 

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from video copy of archived film footage

Beatles Interview Series: 1965 - Beatles Playboy Interview

As part four of our series, The Beatles Interview Series, we have an especially great interview, and one of our personal favorites: A candid conversation with England's mop-topped millionaire minstrels, a Playboy interview conducted by Jean Shepherd. (Article ©1965 Playboy Press)  This is a particular favorite because in this interview, Paul and John seem to have switched places, where Paul seems to be quite candidly speaking his mind, while John has adopted the role of the PR guy.

Beatles Interview Series: 1964 - Beatles Chicago Press Conference

As part three of our series, The Beatles Interview Series, we have for you, a press conference The Beatles held in Chicago in 1964 after someone in their camp decided to land the plane in a more secluded spot at the the airport, away from, and to the disappointment of, the large crowd that had spent many hours waiting on the boys' arrival.  According to Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience, "The Beatles felt they were being incorrectly blamed for the incident by reports in the Chicago news, and sought to set the record straight.  This press conference was held at the Stockyards Inn on September 5th 1964 before the Beatles performance at Chicago's International Amphitheatre."

 

Fans lined up, waiting at Midway Airport in Chicago.  1964

PAUL: "It was yesterday we heard about it. Umm, we heard that we had to land at a secret spot on the airfield. I'm not sure whether it happened or not today. Did it? Was it a secret place today?"
JOHN: "It was a different one from the one we were meant to land at, but luckily somebody found out, you see, so somebody did see us."
PAUL: "Yeah. The only thing is, you know, if we come in sort of secret..."
RINGO: (regarding the reporter) "I don't think he's getting it, you know. He's looked away. Are any of these (microphones on) in the P.A.? Then you can tell him."
PAUL: (laughs) "If we come in secretly and there's people there to see us at another place..."
Q: (rudely) "Can you ALL speak?"
JOHN: "Yeah, but we can't all speak at once, can we? And as he's answering the question, what's the point of us all butting in?"
PAUL: "True."
JOHN: "'Cuz you're finding it hard enough to understand him."
Q: "What was your impression of the Chicago skyline?"
JOHN: "Oh, yeah. Good."
Q: "That's it?"
JOHN: "Well, it looks like any other, you know."
Q: "We thought it was rather distinctive."
JOHN: "Oh, well... each people... you know-- Everybody likes their own hometown, don't they."
Q: "You've been on this tour for quite some time now in America, and I'm sure you've learned quite a bit. If you had it to do again, and chances are you're planning that, what would you change, if anything?"
JOHN: "Well, we'd probably just go to different cities-- not go to the same places we've been to."
Q: "Are you satisfied with the security? Are you satisfied with the arrangements that were made?"
PAUL: "Yes."

JOHN: "Yeah, it's been quite good, except for the slip-ups where we don't see the fans."
Q: "And you say this is not your fault."
JOHN: "It's never... we never arrange anything. The only thing we arrange is what numbers we're gonna sing."
Q: "Whose fault is it?"
JOHN: "I don't know. It could be-- it's different people. Half the time it's the police or half the time it's-- I don't know, you know. There's always somebody that does something."
Q: "Don't you think it's done for your good?"
PAUL: "But see, if anybody thinks..."
RINGO: "They think it is."
JOHN: "They think it is, but it isn't. It's harmed us all in the end anyway because the poor fans that have been there for twelve hours think, 'Why aren't they coming to see us.'"
PAUL: "See, the worst thing from our point of view is that it looks as though it's us who's done it, too. And, uhh... I was watching the TV last night, and on the news they just showed all the fans sort of disappointed. And they didn't actually say anything about who's fault it was, but they just said, 'Police commissioner so-and-so said the Beatles WANTED to land there.' And they said no more. That really sounded as though we'd said, 'Please don't let us amongst all those fans. We hate them,' which is completely untrue, you know. We definitely asked to meet them or at least drive past 'em, and they told us, 'No.'"
 

Beatles at a press conference in 1964.

Q: "Quite a few of the girls are concerned about John's throat. How is it today?"
JOHN: "Well, it's better than it was yesterday. It's not ninety percent, but it's..."
Q: "Have you fellas given any thought to what you're going to do when the bubble breaks, so to speak?"
PAUL AND GEORGE: (laugh)
JOHN: "Well, we're gonna have a good time."
GEORGE: "We never plan ahead."
Q: "How about your retirement or buying into a big business..."
JOHN: "We already are a big business, so we don't have to buy into another one."
Q: "Well, I'm talking about if this business should wane slightly."
GEORGE: "We'll start planning when it starts to wane, but at the moment we'll just let it go on as it is."
PAUL: "Anyway, yeah. We've never made plans for anything, so there's no real reason to make plans now."
Q: "Well, in your particular case, do you think you'll go into songwriting as a business?"
PAUL: "I should imagine that John and I..."
JOHN: "Well, it is. Paul and I make more money out of songwriting than we do out of doing everything else. So we'll just carry on with that, probably."
Q: "What do you do with all your money?"
JOHN: "Put it in a bank... or the accountant looks out for it. We have people to look after it."
Q: "Are you just going to save it?"
JOHN: "Well, I don't know."
PAUL: "No."
JOHN: "He does tricks with it. That's his job."
(laughter)
GEORGE: "And anyway, it wasn't legally ours until we paid tax on it. So the money's got to keep in the accountant's place until he's paid tax."
PAUL: "At the moment it's pretty hard to spend it, you know. We all came away with about a hundred and fifty dollars each."
JOHN AND PAUL: "And we've still got it."
PAUL: "I haven't spent a penny or a cent."
Q: "There was a report today that amongst your fans is the Internal Revenue Service."
BEATLES: (laugh)
Q: "They're supposed to be following you around. Have you noticed them around anywhere?"
JOHN: "I haven't seen any of 'em. No."
(laughter)
PAUL: "Now, mind you, you gotta pay it. But umm..."
Q: "What do you think of the American girls as opposed to British girls?"
GEORGE: "They're the same only they speak foreign-- I mean, with a different accent."
PAUL: "They're all good, you know."
GEORGE: "They're the same everywhere, basically, aren't they. They just talk different."
Q: "Alot of the girls seem to feel that you prefer the celebrity-type woman better than the average girl."
JOHN: "That's the first time we've heard it. I mean, are you making that up, or does somebody say that?"
Q: "No, I've heard it before."
PAUL: "Well, John's married to a non-celebrity, so there you go."
Q: "Have you dated any American girls since you've been here?"
PAUL: "Yeah."
RINGO: "A couple."
PAUL: "Yes, I mean... you know, dated 'em but..."
GEORGE: "We can't really, you know. On this tour we don't get much time, you know, to do anything except go to each place and perform."
JOHN: "I haven't even seen any celebrity girls. Have you?"
GEORGE: "No, I haven't seen any."
Q: "Will you tell us why you think you are so popular?"
JOHN: "We don't think about it. We get asked that, you know-- somebody asks us that everyday, and we've no answer."
Q: "Do you want to go to the Soviet Union for a tour?"
GEORGE: "No, I don't."
Q: "Where would you like to go that you haven't gone yet?"
JOHN: "Home."
(laughter)
Q: "You don't like the U.S.?"
JOHN: "I mean, we haven't been home for months-- so you say, 'Where do we wanna go?' We'd like to go home next."
PAUL: "But see, you're trying to put answers into our mouths. We like the U.S., I mean..."
GEORGE: "We wouldn't be here..."
PAUL: "We wouldn't be here if we didn't. We've been here once before, we liked it, and we came back. It's a great place, you know, but naturally you get homesick. You would if you were in England for a long time..."
JOHN: "Maybe HE wouldn't!"
PAUL: "...maybe you wouldn't."
Q: "Do you think the kind of music you're doing was fostered here and became popular over there, and consequently you made it popular again back here?"
PAUL: "Yeah."
JOHN: "The only difference is, we write it now. It's the same music."
Q: "Do you boys sense that the American boys might be a little jealous of you?"
GEORGE: "The American boys?"
JOHN: "Do you mean the teenage boys or..."
Q: "The fans."
JOHN: "No. I mean-- they buy us."
PAUL: "Not the ones we've met, anyway, you know. They're not."
JOHN: "There's quite a few of them waving at airports and things."


 

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from audio copy of the press conference

Beatles Interview Series: 1963 - Beatles Appearance on Juke Box Jury

As part two of our series, The Beatles Interview Series, we would like to share something a bit different.  In 1963, The Beatles appeared on the UK television show, Juke Box Jury, where panelists voted whether the latest songs were going to be a "hit" or a "miss."  According to Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience, "The video of the Beatles' appearance on Juke Box Jury seemingly no longer exists. Luckily, the audio from this television appearance has survived" and it is from this audio, that this "interview" was transcribed.  There was a rumor late in 2013 that there was a lot of lost footage from the 1960s found at a Nigerian television station and that this episode of Juke Box Jury might have been among the recovered footage, but no word since then.  Here's to wishful thinking!

Song heard: Kiss Me Quick - Elvis Presley
PAUL: "The only thing I don't like about Elvis now is the songs. You know, I love his voice. I used to love all the records like 'Blue Suede Shoes' and 'Heartbreak Hotel,' lovely. But I don't like the songs now. And Kiss Me Quick, it sounds like Blackpool on a sunny day."
(laughter, followed by applause)
RINGO: "I didn't like it at all, no."
GEORGE: "I must admit I didn't like it very much. Not at all. It's an old track. And I think, seeing as they're releasing old stuff, if they release something like 'My Baby Left Me' it'd be number one. Because Elvis is definitely still popular, it's just the song's a load of rubbish. I mean, Elvis is great. He's fine. But it's not for me."
JOHN: "Well, I think it'll be a hit because it's Elvis, like people said. But I don't think it'll be very great. (comically) I like those hats, though, with 'Kiss Me Quick' on it!"
(laughter)
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: HIT)

Song heard: Hippy Hippy Shake - The Swinging Bluejeans
RINGO: "I liked it. I thought it was good. But it's not as good as the original by Chan Romero. It still swings, and it should sell. I hope it does, anyway."
GEORGE: "I think it could possibly be a hit, because I know for a fact that The Hippy Shake's a very popular song around here. We used to do it ourselves."
(John laughs comically, the crowd of fans cheer)
GEORGE: "I know a lot of the groups around here do this song, and they're expecting somebody to come up with a new version of it. I think it could possibly be a hit. I like the way the Bluejeans did it, but I still prefer Chan Romero's version."
JOHN: "Yeah, I think it'll be a hit because they sort of re-made it for the last one, and it's better. Especially without that banjo. I like Bill Harry's version as well. I think it'll be a small hit, at least."
(laughter)
PAUL: "I think it'll be a hit too, because I don't think it matters much about the Chan Romero record being greater, 'cuz I don't think many people will remember the fact that he did it, and he wrote it as well. You know, I don't think people will remember. They'll just think of it as a new song."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: HIT)

Song heard: Did You Have A Happy Birthday - Paul Anka
GEORGE: "Well, I had a happy birthday, yeah."
(laughter)
GEORGE: "But I mean, If I'd have heard the record first, I maybe would have cut that out."
(laughter)
GEORGE: "You know, I definitely don't like it. It's not for me. (jokingly) And I didn't get the flowers either that he sent me."
(laughter)
JOHN: (jokingly, at the top of his voice) "I LIKE IT !!!"
(laughter)
JOHN: "I don't like these sort of sob songs, and it sounds as though he's on tremelo, technically. You know, it sounds a bit wobbley. Anyway, I don't like it."
PAUL: "Well, I don't like it either, because of that little crack in his voice. He sounds, you know, off his head."
(laughter)
PAUL: "Instead of 'Happy Birthday' it's (comically) 'Woo woo woo!'"
(laughter)
PAUL: "It's a bit off, and I don't like it."
RINGO: "Uhh, I didn't like it at all. It's such a big drag, man, the way it sounded, you know."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: MISS)

Song heard: The Nitty Gritty - Shirley Ellis
JOHN: "Uhh yeah. I like it. I thought it was somebody else. I've never heard of Shirley Ellis. I like all those kind of things. I'll buy it. But I believe it won't be a hit."
DAVID JACOBS: "Who did you think it was?"
JOHN: "At first I thought it was Mary Wells. I liked that."
PAUL: "The same as he said. In fact, I will say exactly the same 'cuz I agree with him. I love these kind of records but I don't think this one will be a hit, 'cuz I dunno... It doesn't say anything."
RINGO: "You know, we all like this sort of thing. I'd buy it, but I don't think it'll be a hit."
GEORGE: "Well, it definitely won't be a hit, in England anyway. It probably will be, or probably is already in the States. But I don't think it'll be a hit. The public haven't got 'round to that sort of stuff yet. When they do, I mean, that would be..."
DAVID JACOBS: "So, you mean you think that our teenagers are behind the Americans in their tastes?"
GEORGE: "Yeah I mean, just lately they've been going for some more way-out stuff, and Rhythm and Blues, and THIS sort of thing we've always liked. We've liked it for years. And it still hasn't caught on in England."
PAUL: "Well it's just that people who buy the records, their taste doesn't match the teenagers generally. Lots of teenagers love this kind of music but don't buy it, because they don't buy records."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: MISS)

Song heard: I Can't Stop Talking About You - Steve And Eydie
PAUL: "Uhh, yeah. I don't think it's a good'n. It's alright. That kind of thing is catchy. It may be catchy, but I just don't think it's good, generally."
RINGO: "I like it, you know. I think she carries them, actually."
(laughter)
GEORGE: "I think it's equally as good as (sings) 'da de-de-de-de de-de da-deee.' It's great, I like it, the sort of relaxed style of both. Yeah, I like it and I think it's a hit."
JOHN: "I don't like it as much as their last one. I don't even like it... I usually like everything Goffin and King write, but not this one. It's too sweet, you know. de-da-de, you know. A bit Christmassy, maybe. I don't like it, though. It'll be a vague hit."
DAVID JACOBS: "A vague one."
JOHN: "A vague hit."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: HIT)

Song heard: Do You Really Love Me Too - Billy Fury
DAVID JACOBS: "Do you really love me too, Ringo?"
RINGO: "Not you."
(laughter)
RINGO: "I didn't like it, you know. I've never bought one of his records, but he's very popular, so it's just uhh... no."
GEORGE: "Not bad, but it was okay, but I wouldn't buy it. And I thought the guitar is just exactly the same as Cliff's. In fact, it's only about a note difference."
JOHN: "He just said the bit about the beginning, didn't he, being like Cliff's one. The tune's not bad. It's quite pleasant. It's one of those you gotta hear again... uhh, tomorrow."
(laughter)
PAUL: "I quite like it, and the same things John said jokingly. The only thing I thought, as well as the guitar bit being like the Cliff Richard bit, the tune is just a little bit like (sings) 'Well I feed the cows and I milks the sheep and I...'"
(laughter, followed by applause)
PAUL: "But I still think it'll be a hit."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: HIT)

Song heard: There I've Said It Again - Bobby Vinton
GEORGE: "Umm, it's quite nice, but I mean, I don't think the record buying public buys this sort of stuff, I mean, the majority -- which will make it a miss. But you know, it's quite alright. I wouldn't buy it me-self."
JOHN: "Uhh, well, I dunno. What is Bobby Vinton doing? He's bringing the oldies back. He might do it, but people always cover them over here. But especially anything old. You know, everybody does it all at once. And he missed it with the last one here. (loudly, comically) I THINK HE'S GONNA MISS IT WITH THIS ONE TOO!!"
(laughter)
PAUL: "Umm, yeah. I think the thing about bringing back old songs and doing them these days, teenagers don't really want old songs brought back. I'm sure they'd like to have songs that they can call their own instead of bringing back their mum and dad's songs."
DAVID JACOBS: "Well now, just a minute. What about Frank Ifield and all that lot?"
PAUL: "Yeah, okay."
GEORGE: "What about Mule Train?"
(laughter)
PAUL: "Yeah well, you're probably right. But I'm sure that if you could get songs these days as GOOD as the old ones, only new songs, that would be ten times better."
JOHN: "Frank Ifield... that's just practically the same as the old."
DAVID JACOBS: "I might tell you that I'm terrified of disagreeing with you chaps, you know, in front of all these people. However, let's see what Ringo says. Ringo."
RINGO: "I liked it, you know. It's nice and smooth. And if you're sort of staying in one night, put it on."
(laughter)
RINGO: "But yeah, right. It won't sell."
DAVID JACOBS: "Thank you, Don Juan Starr."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: MISS)

Song heard: Love Hit Me - The Orchids
DAVID JACOBS: "Three Coventry school gils called the Orchids on 'Love Hit Me.' John Lennon."
JOHN: "Well you know, it's just a big cop, or pinch. It sounds... If it had come out before the Crystals and the Ronettes it would've been great. They've even got that, what is it... castanets?"
RINGO: "Tambourine."
JOHN: (loudly, giggling) Tambourine, is THAT what it's called!!"
(laughter)
JOHN: "It's quite nice, but it's sort of the British version, you know, which... although the song's original, I think. But it sounds... doesn't sound right."
PAUL: "It's okay. It sounds great for an English record, though, you know. Because about a year ago, if someone had brought this out and said 'Listen to this record,' I don't think you would've believed that it was an English one. It's marvelous, the sound things. And I think it's great. I like it."
RINGO: "It's good, you know. I wouldn't buy it. It may sell a few but not that many."
(Beatles laugh)
GEORGE: "I thought it was quite nice. I liked the idea of the British records sort of being on the way to boom-chicka-boom-chicka, all this. I like the American stuff like the Crystals, I mean, even though it is a pinch, you know. I'd rather they pinch the Crystals than carry on doing the stuff they've been doing."
(Beatles vote by holding up cards. Consensus: MISS)
DAVID JACOBS: "They say that it will be a miss, which in fact is most unfortunate, because we do have sitting in the audience three young ladies called The Orchids. Stand up, young ladies. There they are"
(crowd applauds)
GEORGE: (jokingly) "Sorry! Didn't mean it!!"
JOHN: (switching his card) "I'll change it to hit!"
(laughter)
JOHN: "I'll buy it! I'll buy two!"
DAVID JACOBS: (laughs)
JOHN: (comically) "I didn't know you were here!"
DAVID JACOBS: (laughing) "John thinks it's a lousy trick but we'll get on to the next record."

Song heard: I Think Of You - The Merseybeats
(As time was running out in the program, the Beatles did not share their comments on this song, but simply held a quick vote. Consensus: HIT)
DAVID JACOBS: "This is where I say that unfortunately we have to take our leave of you. So, on behalf of the Jury, that's John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. Don't forget to join the Beatles later at 8:10 on BBC television tonight. And join us at the usual time next week for another session of Juke Box Jury. Goodnight."

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from audio copy of the television appearance