Move over, Ms L!

Hi all, wondering why you are looking at this jumbled up page? This is due to the fact that Facebook didn't like our url since it starts with wog, so we have been forced to move the blog. This was some time ago, and we have placed a script which would automatically send you to our new location. Obviously, this hasn't worked for all of you, since we have just finished moderating some of your comments which appeared on this site recently, and not on our new (and improved!) site. So what we're saying is head on over to our new site, and update your bookmarks!

Saturday 22 December 2018

Next year's McCartney archives

Back to the Egg for 40th anniversary release next year
Rumour section: I heard recently that the two remaining Wings albums, "London Town" and "Back To The Egg" are next up, and will be released to the 2019 Christmas market. Let's just hope that a Wings live 1979 edition will be included with the regular DeLuxe and not in a very limited edition special edition like the Wings 1972-73 disc was. Wings members Steve Holley and Laurence Juber have both given their input years ago to the "Back To The Egg" re-release.

Meanwhile, the archive edition of "Flaming Pie" has also been finished for years, but has yet to be scheduled.

Also, and this is not a rumour, Mike McCartney is working on the ultimate version of his "McGear" album, which was a Wings album as good as any, just with Mike handling the vocals and writing the songs.

Here's a Wings live rendition of "Wonderful Christmastime" to get you in the mood for the festive season, hopefully one of the tracks up for official release next year.


Tuesday 18 December 2018

Who cares? I do.

Still from the music video of "Who Cares".© Nasty Little Man
Paul McCartney has premiered his new music video on Apple Music, expect it to appear on YouTube and elsewhere soon. The song, "Who Cares?" from his 2018 album "Egypt Station" stars McCartney as a psychiatrist and hypnotist, and Emma Stone as his patient.

Read a bit more over at Variety.

Update: Shortly after we posted this, the video appeared on YouTube. Shot on 65mm Kodak Film with Panavision Cameras, 'Who Cares' features a message of universal positivity rendered in vivid colourful detail.

"My hope is that if there are kids being bullied — and there are… Maybe by listening to this song and watching this video, they might just think it’s not as bad… that it’s the kind of thing you can just stand up to and laugh off and get through.” - Paul


What a night!

Sunday night at the O2 in London. Photo by MJ Kim © MPL
When Paul McCartney announced the European leg of his "Freshen Up" tour, I didn't even think about it. I had booked a three week family holiday in USA months earlier, so I knew I wouldn't be home when he was due to play Copenhagen, Denmark, which would be the closest to where I live. I happily accepted this fate, even though I would indeed have liked to see and hear him with the new horn section. When the tickets went on sale, it was quickly sold out - within minutes in Denmark, Liverpool and London, which were the ones I monitored.
A large contingency from Norway travelled to Denmark for his gig there, and a couple of them even attended the soundcheck. I kept tabs on this, because even as I was vacationing, I was involved in putting together the "Norwegian Wood" Beatles magazine, which I am editor-in-chief for. After three weeks, it was time to go home, and we landed in Norway on Saturday, December 8.

Assuming my duties as a blogger was not on the agenda for a few days, I had too much to do elsewhere. Meanwhile, McCartney and his gang descended upon Liverpool on December 12th, and through Facebook and friends in Liverpool, I was kept up-to-date about the concert. It was Quarryman drummer Colin Hanton's 80th birthday on the day Paul played in Liverpool, and the two old band mates met up again backstage, thanks to the organisational skills of Freda Kelly. Upon playing "In Spite of All The Danger", which featured Colin on the original recording, Paul mentioned him during the introduction at the show. Very nice. I don't think they had seen each other for the past sixty years. There was some anticipation now that Paul was in Liverpool, was he going to show up at Roag Best's new Beatles museum? I don't think he did.

Anyway, come Friday the 14th, I got word that a friend suddenly had a spare ticket for McCartney's show in London on Sunday the 16th, just two days later. His mate could no longer accompany him, due to sudden illness in the family. A couple of phone calls later, I had a flight booked and Sunday morning I was on my way to London!

I did actually have three Norwegian friends to meet in London, all of whom I had been to previous McCartney concerts with. In fact, I had recently made a list of all the times I had seen McCartney play live since I first saw him on Live Aid in 1985, and the count stopped at 29. This was going to be my Macca gig no. 30!

Two creative employees at London Transport have been using their service announcement boards in funny ways lately, and this is what the board at the North Greenwich station looked like at the night of the concert. #allontheboard

Arriving in the rain to London's O2 Arena
I knew we didn't have very good tickets, we were all going to sit in the nosebleeds of the 20 000 capacity arena, I heard it was the biggest indoor venue in the world. Still, we counted ourselves lucky to be there, and there were rumours about a special guest appearing on stage tonight. We were all hoping that it was going to be Ringo. This because the last time we all were in the O2 at a Christmas McCartney gig back in 2009, we had spotted Ringo in the audience - and one of us actually shook his hand!
Arriving at the gig, we noticed Sir Peter Blake being wheeled in, as one of Sir Paul's guests.

Sir Peter Blake arrived at the same time as us.
We took a look at the merchandise, but we only bought a couple of programmes, I didn't bother to get anything. My collection is already bigger than I'm able to keep on hand.

The programme was £25
More merchandise
A big merchandise stall just by the entrance had the biggest selection - I think they even had the green vinyl "Egypt Station" - but also the biggest queue, so none of us bothered.

So we found our seats, and this is what the view was from where we were sitting:

The O2 is a huge venue
The people on the stage looked really tiny from as far back as we were, and even the big screens were partly obscured by the stage lights rig. Very early on in the show, we heard rumours that Ringo had been spotted in the audience. Good news travel just as fast as bad news.

In the audience: Ringo Starr and Rami Malek, who starred as Freddie Mercury in the film Bohemian Rhapsody
The gig was great, and fortunately, in concert Paul's voice sounds deceptively good, quite better than when one reviews the recordings of it. The addition of a horn section was very successful and added a great new dimension to the songs they were featured in, like "Letting Go" and "Got To Get You Into My Life". Now how about adding a string quartet, Paul? The Wings songs went down really well with the audience, as always in London. Lots of Londoners were Wings fans back in the seventies. There was a generally good feeling in the audience anyway, even the new songs were cheered and applauded. I streamed some songs on Facebook from my iPhone.

Of course, Paul's stage banter was the same as always, with the same old stories, but at least he acknowledged it this time, as he told us he had met a Japanese fan who had attended 121 McCartney concerts. So he did mention that the stories he told were mainly meant for those who hadn't seen him in concert before.

There must have been a few of those, because after the rousing singalong of "Hey Jude" quite a number of people made their way to the exits, even during the song. Of course, we knew better, and were still hoping for that "special guest". By now of course, you will all know that the special guests this evening turned out to be Ron Wood and Ringo. After a nice version of "Wonderful Christmastime", featuring the Capitol Children's Choir, Paul introduced "Ron Wood from the Rolling Stones" to big cheers, but when he introduced Ringo, the whole audience got on their feet and gave the biggest round of applauds of the evening. I filmed and streamed the whole thing on Facebook, and also posted it on The Daily Beatle Facebook page, but as my view was from way back in the arena, I have found another nice video for you, edited from several sources.


And here's Paul's own, abbreviated video:



It was really touching to see the two remaining famous Beatles friends back on stage together, something I had personally witnessed just once before, at the Concert For George.

Evening Standard's five star review of the concert

The editor seemed to think there's a war going on between the Beatles and the Stones.

Wednesday 14 November 2018

Two new books

Brian Southall's "White album" book.
A couple of new books have come our way, from Brian Southall and Peter Checksfield.

The first one of these, "The White Album: The Album, The Beatles and the World in 1968" by Brian Southall is divided in two parts, one part is specifically about the Beatles and their "White album", the second about world events in that revolutionary year in history. Southall was EMI's head of press for a number of years, and earlier Beatles related books of his has been "Abbey Road: The Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studio" from 1982, "Beatles Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection" from 2010 and last year he also wrote a book about the Sgt Pepper album. This new book is the second in this new series.


The sections, known as A-side and B-side are described like this: A-side: Definitive guide to the album, the recording and the events surrounding it. B-side: The political situation that was unfolding as the band drew inspiration from the world around them, and also looks at all the aspects of the album, including artwork, influence and legacy.

The chapter about the artwork for the album.

The book is richly illustrated with around 150 colour and black and white photos, hardcover, 192 pages and is published by Carlton books. The foreword is written by Chris Thomas, the de facto producer of many of the "White album" songs while George Martin was away on vacation.

Another illustration from the book.

The other book is a totally different beast. A giant tome in soft covers, detailing television appearances by pop artists and groups from the UK: "Channelling The Beat!: The Ultimate Guide to UK '60s Pop on TV" is not illustrated at all, but is a handy (albeit heavy) reference book to quickly find some TV appearance when you need to.

Peter Checksfield's book has forewords by some of the artists who appear in the book.
The Beatles are represented with a chapter detailing their television appearances, but that's already been written about by Mark Lewisohn in his "The Complete "Beatles" Chronicle" as well as by Volker Path and Jorg Piper in their "The Beatles - Film & Tv Chronicle 1961 - 1970". So this book will mostly be finding an audience who wants to know more about all the other British sixties artists and groups who appeared on television. Performances that survive either in an official capacity or circulate among collectors are noted when known.

Sample page from the book
Profiled are over 150 artists of the era. These include the post ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll of Cliff Richard, Adam Faith and The Tornados; the beat explosion of The Beatles, The Tremeloes and Herman’s Hermits; the rhythm ‘n’ blues of The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things and The Who; and the psychedelia of The Pink Floyd, Procol Harum and Traffic, not forgetting the girl singers such as Cilla Black, Billie Davis and Dusty Springfield.Amongst the 100’s of legendary shows featured are the UK’s "Ready, Steady, Go!", "Top of The Pops" and "Thank Your Lucky Stars", the US’s "The Ed Sullivan Show", "Shindig!" and "Hullabaloo", Europe’s "Beat Club", "Popside" and "Twien", and lots more.
The first page of The Beatles
With more than 700 pages, this independently published book will be of help to any writer about the pop culture of the sixties, and of course a valued source for fans of the music. Although a regular contributor to the Record Collector magazine, this is Pete's first book.  Also, check out his website: peterchecksfield.com.

Via a movie short called ‘Look At Life – Sound Of A City’, colour footage shot at a taping of "Ready Steady Go" survives The programme itself was never taped or shown in colour.

RIP, Stan Lee

Stan Lee with Marvel's Beatles Story.
November 12, 2018, 95 year old Stan Lee passed away, the year after his British-born wife had died. Born in 1922, Lee was the brains behind the Marvel Comics many superheroes, co-creating many of the characters which today are well known movie and TV heroes, like Spider-Man, the X-Men, The Avengers and Daredevil.

For years, the Beatles made cameo appearances in Marvel Comics, and in 1978, Marvel published the Beatles' story in comic book form.

The Beatles Story
David Anthony Kraft wrote the script and the drawings were done by a couple of future superstar artists: George Perez and Klaus Janson.

Back in 2005, Stan suggested a collaboration for Ringo. Stan the man wanted to make a superhero of him. It was going to be an animated series, which Ringo would voice. The two of them made headlines that day, but nothing came of it. At the time, Stan said: "Ringo is beloved worldwide for his commitment to people and his singular wit. Our Ringo superhero character will combine these qualities, along with secret powers which people generally didn’t know about because he has kept them secret, until now."

In 2012, Stan remembered what happened: "We were going to do something together--an animated cartoon, he wanted to be a superhero. Ringo, you're a sweet guy--you ain't no superhero. But we were going to come up with something funny. The best thing that came out of it was that we took a photo where I'm playing the drums and he's reading Spider-Man. We had four or five meetings. I had a bunch of ideas, he didn't like 'em--he had a bunch of ideas that were horrible! We just didn't make it. We're good friends, but we've never done anything."

Ringo reads up on Spider-Man as Stan Lee takes care of the drums.

Apparently, Stan had pitched the same idea to Paul McCartney. Paul said this when remembering Stan: "I was  lucky enough to meet him. He came over to my office and we sat around for a while chatting about comic books and my admiration for his work. Actually he was suggesting making a superhero who would wield a Höfner bass guitar. The guitar would have super powers and we spent some time imaging what those could be. He had a great sense of humour and I must say the idea of becoming a guitar wielding superhero in one of his comic books was very appealing."


Paul McCartney and Stan Lee met up again during Superbowl

McCartney, who was the comic book fan among the Beatles, once composed a song featuring two Marvel characters, "Magneto and Titanium Man".

Wings performed "Magneto and Titanium Man" during their world tour of 1975-76 featuring Jack Kirby's drawings as backdrop.
Beginning with the first Spider-Man film in 2002, Stan Lee has made cameos in Marvel films, the last of which was in the current movie, "Venom". This was actually part of his contract, a special clause in the agreement specifies that Stan must appear in any film based on one of his characters.

Pop culture wouldn't have been what it is today without Stan "the man" Lee. Excelsior!

Tuesday 13 November 2018

NPR Music: Interview with Giles Martin

In this interview with Giles Martin, you'll hear some of the early demos, outtakes and remixes. But he begins by describing the process of making of the "The White Album," how it turned out to be a much-less planned and much more organic process than ever, and how that frustrated George Martin.

Ringo: On the road, new book and award

Ringo announces his plans.
Press release:

SIR RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL STARR BAND ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR 2019, INCLUDING SPECIAL 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR (1989-2019)

Ringo’s new book Another Day In the Life, his third with Genesis Publications, to be released in Limited Edition and available in November 2018 and wide to follow in April 2019

Monday November 12, 2018 – Today Sir Ringo Starr announced tour plans for 2019 with his All Starr Band, featuring Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Gregg Rolie, Warren Ham, Gregg Bissonette and the return of All Starr alum Hamish Stuart.

The first leg begins in March with one US show at Harrah’s Resort Southern California on March 21st before the band head to Japan, starting in Fukuoka on March 27th and ending April 11th in Osaka (full dates listed below). August 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of Ringo and His All Starr Band and they will hit the road for a celebratory tour which will kick off at Caesar's in Windsor on August 1st and then head to Ravinia near Chicago, Illinois to play two shows with the Beach Boys August 3rd and 4th and two shows at Nashville’s historic Ryman in Tennessee on August 7th and 8th. The tour will conclude September 1st at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California, nearly 30 years to the day when the inaugural All Starrs completed their first tour on September 3, 1989. (A full itinerary will be announced soon).

This month Another Day In The Life, Ringo’s third book with Genesis Publications, will be released in Limited Edition, while the hard cover will available in wide release in April 2019. Pre-orders for the limited edition can be made at www.ringobook.com. Following in the series that began with the sell-out success of Postcards From The Boys (2003) and Photograph (2013), this book will include previously unpublished photographs, captioned with Ringo’s observations and anecdotes. Reflecting his love of music, travel and nature, Another Day In The Life shows us the world as seen through Ringo’s eyes. From Los Angeles to Tokyo and everywhere in between, many of Ringo’s observational images celebrate the quirkiness of life.

November will also see Ringo honored when he receives the Humanitarian Award from the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF on “Giving Tuesday,” November 27, 2019 at their annual Snowflake Ball in New York City (see below for more information).

In a fitting comment taken from his upcoming book, Ringo wrote, "It's about changing one second so that people think peace and love, it's something I learned from the Maharishi. If you do something for good, the trees, the grass, the whole planet will support you - you're always loved. I live in that world."

That message of universal Peace & Love has become synonymous with Ringo, who has for over 10 years celebrated his birthday with a Peace & Love event. This July 7, 2019 will see it return to Los Angeles, and further details will be announced soon.

Ringo and His All Starr Band Tour -- Japan Dates:

Wed Mar 27 Sun Palace Hall, Fukuoka, Japan
Fri Mar 29 Uenogakuen, Hiroshima, Japan
Mon Apr 1 Tokyo Electron Hall Miyagi Sendai Japan
Tue Apr 2 Shimin Center, Koriyama, Japan
Wed Apr 3 Hitomi Kinen Kodo, Tokyo, Japan
Fri Apr 5 Dome City Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Tue Apr 9 Zepp, Nagoya, Japan
Wed Apr 10 Archaic Hall, Japan, Osaka
Thu Apr 11 Orix Theatre, Osaka, Japan

For more information please visit: www.ringostarr.com

Wednesday 7 November 2018

The Beatles' YouTube event


YouTube Music is collaborating with Universal Music and Apple Corps Ltd. to host an evening dedicated to The Beatles. The panel event - set to be streamed live from London on The Beatles YouTube channel at 7pm GMT on Wednesday 7th November - will feature commentary and insights from Giles Martin, the Grammy Award®-winning producer of the White Album’s new anniversary edition; Dan Stubbs, Commissioning Editor for the NME; Felix White, former guitarist of The Maccabees; Andy Bell, guitarist of Ride; Miles Kane, soloist & singer from The Last Shadow Puppets and Georgie Rogers, presenter, DJ; and music journalist from BBC 6 Music, Soho Radio and Foundation FM.

The panel will be moderated by Matt Everitt of BBC 6 Music and Miles Kane will also share a live, solo acoustic performance of "I’m So Tired".

During the discussion and Q&A, the expert panel will delve into the White Album’s newly remixed and expanded anniversary edition, the album’s songs and musical ambition, its continued influence in contemporary music, and whether such an album could be created in today’s musical landscape.

In addition, there will be live commentary from The Beatles YouTube channel so fans around the world can get their questions answered by the panel.

Link: The Beatles official YouTube Channel

Tuesday 6 November 2018

Review of the DeLuxe Edition of The Beatles' "White Album"

The Beatles
Yesterday, Marshall M. Fish published a web article with his review of The White Album Super Deluxe Edition box set. Here's a link to the article: review.

The review doesn't really go into details, it just gives an overview of what comprises the boxed set, describing what the Esher demos are, what constitute the Sessions discs and what the book is like.

One thing left unmentioned is the surround sound mix, but you can find Mark Smotroff's review of this here. Part two of Smotroff's review is about the outtakes and demos, you'll find that review here. And part three, dealing with the new stereo remix is to be found here.


The Super DeLuxe 50the Anniversary Edition 

Don't forget to "tune in" to The Beatles' official YouTube channel tomorrow, Wednesday 7th at 7.pm GMT!

Friday 2 November 2018

Glass Onion - 2018 mix

A couple of days ago, The Beatles published a teaser for the new "Glass Onion" video, which at the time was accessible only from Apple Music. Yesterday they published the video in full on YouTube.


Rather a clever video, based on the white album poster. So, what do you think about the new stereo mix of the song? As a bonus, here are some other versions:


This request was posted on The Beatles' Facebook page today.

The Tokyo police film

The Beatles in Tokyo, 1966.
It certainly looks like the police making security films around rock concerts was in vogue in 1966. So far we've seen police films around the Munich, Essen and Hamburg concerts of The Beatles, and now it seems we're in for a Tokyo police film as well.

In a news story from Japan Times, it is reported that a group of fans lost a battle to release such a film uncensored. The police wanted to blur everyone's faces, except for the Beatles themselves, before releasing the film.
Here are some quotes from the news story:

The superfans took their battle for the film — recorded by police as a security measure — all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing it was a "historical document."
Police had offered to release the footage, reportedly about 35 minutes long, but only after blurring the faces of everyone in the film except the Beatles, citing privacy reasons.
Two lower courts backed the police against a group of citizens from Nagoya who wanted the entire film released uncensored, saying it would be almost impossible to identify people in the footage more than 50 years later.
But the long and winding legal battle ended last week when the Supreme Court rejected their argument, the group announced.
A lawyer for the group seeking the footage said it would have huge historical significance for Beatles enthusiasts.
"It is a document that should be made available from a historical standpoint," lawyer Satoshi Shinkai told the Asahi Shimbun daily.

This news story made headlines in Japan, helped by the fact that Paul McCartney is currently holding four concerts in the country.

Thursday 1 November 2018

When limited is really limited

Paul McCartney and Wings - 1971–73 Limited Edition Box Set
Remember when we used to laugh about the notion of limited edition releases? We laughed mainly because when the "limited edition" Traveling Wilburys CD boxed set of 2007 sold out everywhere, the record company simply pressed up another bunch, quite indistinguishable from the first run! A third pressing shifted the box colour from grey to blue.

We laughed at the Record Stores Day "limited" editions which are still available from online shops, years after the initial release!

RSD release of the classic Long Tall Sally EP

However, latecomers to last year's release of the Christmas singles collection found that they had waited too long, at that it really had been a limited release.
Last Christmas you could buy this boxed set of Beatles Christmas singles.
The boxed set is currently being resold at inflated prices, Amazon.com acts as a reseller and has it available for $132,45.

Wings Over Europe
Lately, we have found that the upcoming boxed set from Wings featuring both the DeLuxe Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, plus a CD and assorted items to commemorate Wings' 1972 tour of Europe is largely unavailable, even at this pre-ordering stage.

Wings Over Europe boxed set
The limited edition boxed set have been available to preorder from Musicvaultz Canada, and UDiscover in Great Britain and Germany, as well as from the official USA Paul McCartney store, priced at $399.98. As far as we can understand, this boxed set will not be available through physical stores, and only from Universal Music, who are also running the official Paul McCartney online stores.

However, currently it seems that it's sold out from three of these locations, the exception being the USA shop. Readers from Europe have informed us that they have been able to order from the US shop, as long as they select payment by Paypal.

However, the UK UDiscover Store has it as "First edition - sold out", indicating that perhaps a second edition will eventually be made available.
UPDATE: The US Paul McCartney Store now has the same status.
Links:
Paul McCartney US Shop (USD $399.98 - in stock)
Musicvaultz Canada (CAD $554.99 - Sold out)
UDiscover Great Britain (GBP £319.99 First edition - sold out)
UDiscover Germany (EUR 369,99€ Sold out)

Last Night But Two!

In one of the comments of our recent blog post about the Furore magazine, someone was asking for a picture of the 'Mr Kite' poster. Piet Schreuders has kindly sent us his image of the poster, as pieced together by lots of photos he took while visiting the John & Yoko Double Fantasy exhibition in Liverpool. The poster is displayed in a glass box in a dimly lit corner of the museum. It is quite impossible to take close-ups of it, due to the glass box, and even the poster itself is framed in glass which reflects its surroundings. When Schreuders visited the Museum of Liverpool in August, he took about 50 pictures of it, and this is a composite of those.

The original poster, as photographed by Piet Schreuders.
As we all know, the poster advertises 'The last night but three' of Pablo Fanques' Circus in Town-Meadows, Rochdale. Schreuders was wondering whether other posters of that week's performances might have survived, even though that despite a worldwide interest to find one, none had come to light for 51 years. But then he found this, a poster of the same circus in the same town, two days later, February 16th, 1843 -- the Last Night But Two!

Last night but two! poster found by Piet Schreuders
Depicted in the Furore magazine, who has kindly given us permission to post these pictures. Coincidentally, and possibly unknown to Lennon, the engraver who made the woodblocks depicting the acrobats was a fellow Liverpudlian, Thomas Fife.

In order to fully appreciate these vintage posters, you should click on the images to make them bigger, and by right-clicking them and selecting "open in another window" you will also be able to study the details even closer.

The size of the original "Benefit of Mister Kite" poster is 530 x 270 mm (including the frame), and the reproduction poster included with the super DeLuxe Sgt Pepper edition from last year is a bit smaller, but keep the proportions of the original, which none of the earlier reproductions managed to do.

This blog has pursued the tales of this circus poster earlier, here are links to two of our stories:
2012 Mister Kite - poster recreated
2017 Mister Kite reproduction poster

Wednesday 31 October 2018

Beatles for geeks


Furore #24, January 2019.
The other day I was sent a highly interesting Beatles magazine. Interesting for geeks like me, I mean. Furore is a gazette compiled and designed by Piet Schreuders and published at highly irregular intervals since 1975. Issue number 24, with publication date January 2019 is a Beatles special. You may remember Piet Schreuders as the co-writer of The Beatles' London as well as from a recent film he compiled of Beatles locations in Stockholm, Sweden. As you understand, Piet is interested in "then and now" pictures of historic locations. Endorsed by Mark Lewisohn, who has also written one of the articles in the magazine, here's what he says: "The world’s most interesting publication dedicates an entire issue to the world’s most interesting subject, and approaches it from the most oblique and fascinating angles. There’s something for everyone here. Don’t be shy – buy."
The contents of this Beatles special:


  • COVER STORY – Andre Barreau describes the exact spot where Fiona Adams photographed the Twist and Shout cover picture;
  • Mark Lewisohn writes about the jobs the Beatles had before they were Beatles;
  • Lucas Ligtenberg and Piet Schreuders describe the unforgettable canal tour of Amsterdam, 6 June 1964, and reveal who jumped onto the Beatles’ boat;
  • The original poster of ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!’ is finally on public view, take a look at the various reimaginations of the poster and see how they compare with the original.
  • Har van Fulpen studies the Beatles’ signatures, real and almost real;
  • Piet Schreuders revisits the beach near Weston-super-Mare where Dezo Hoffmann created his classic Beatles photos;
  • The photo sources of Richard Hamilton’s ‘White Album’ poster revealed;
  • How The Analogues re-created ‘Revolution 9’;
  • Piet Schreuders shows some of his ‘then-and-now’ photos he made for The Beatles’ London and Adam Smith picks out a few memories of this immortal project


Spread from magazine
116 pages – full colour – GBP 15 / USD 19.50 / EUR 16,95 / JPY 2200

Ordering: Furore

Tuesday 30 October 2018

The Lennon McCartney fake romance

Real photo of John and Paul. Photo: David Bailey
Someone out there on the internet has an agenda: to make the Lennon-McCartney relationship closer than it was. I have no clue why, but this is equivalent to fan fiction, only done by editing photos. Typically, a photo of John and Paul standing together will be edited by moving them closer to each other. And sometimes very close, like the following example:
Real photo of John and Paul in the studio, singing into the same microphone.

Someone's wet dream, accomplished by photo editing.
This photo spreads like wildfire on social media and Pinterest. The latter is also usually the culprit when people are posting photos with a wrong caption. When you image search with Google, photos from Pinterest will show up with a caption or quote taken from another photo on the same Pinterest board.
But let's stick with the topic, here's another example:

Top: real photo, bottom: same photo, edited.
We have nothing against gays here, but we are against fakery unexplained. And that's the trouble with these photos, they are usually presented without any explanation and people who are not used to seeing the originals are fooled. I have come across several of the faked photos in this blog post on Facebook, where the person who posted has believed them to be real. Fortunately, the Facebook groups I have seen them in have had experienced fans pointing out that there's something wrong with the picture.

A magazine cutting, photo taken at the George V Hotel near the Champs Elysées, Paris, France, 1965.

Ringo obscured because the photo enthusiast wanted to bring Paul closer to John.
I started out writing about the Beatles to correct mistakes and myths. The Beatles history is full of myths, which has been corrected by later accounts by either members of the band, people who were close to them or historians with documented proof. And yet, the myths just continue. Why? Both because some myths make better stories than the truth and because the people in general are not likely to read articles that expose the myths as untrue. Still, I keep on fighting this losing battle, which is why I am posting this.

Photo taken during the filming of Strawberry Fields Forever

Fakery of same.
This particular direction in the world of Beatles fan fiction is called "McLennon", so you'll find more examples if you do an internet search for that. Fan fiction usually resides at internet sites like Tumblr and Deviantart and their like. Places that often contain wonderful images, but when they go astray like this, people are taking them at face value.

Yes I know, by posting these photos here, even more people are going to spread them via their Pinterest boards etc without any comment. Yet, I urge you to, whenever you find one of these images that tries to imply a Lennon-McCartney romance, comment by posting a link to this blog post. I even made a shortened link for you to use: https://tinyurl.com/lmw281f
See what I did there? Thank you.

If you want to suggest that something was going on, there's always real photos to choose from.