Post by gee on Jun 19, 2015 11:51:45 GMT
Not Hollies orientated I know, but still of interest - notably re EMI's primitive stereo versions, I thought members might be interested in one of the last interviews John Lennon gave two days before his untimely death....
I recently dug out my old tapes of 'The Lennon Interview' with Andy Peebles (broadcast in 1981 on BBC Radio One) and copied it from old 'dodgy' W.H. Smith C.120s (which were always prone to getting 'chewed up' !) onto the far more modern TDK D.90s
all a bit 'antiquated' now I know but I have a twin Cassette in my system so old tapes recordings can be at least preserved
I edited OUT ALOT of Yoko - sorry any fans but to me she was always quite dreadful as an artist ! - for me John and Yoko were musically something like pairing up Beethoven and Tiny Tim (with his 'funny voice' and ukelale !)
I concentrated on John's parts of the long interview that Radio one got FIVE hour shows out of, with songs included
John mentions The Hollies once (nothing unkind) during the interview - he says:
'Plastic Ono Band was always simply a "concept" not a proper band with members as such, it's not a group 'name' like 'Wings' or 'Hollies'....'
John has alot of clear memories of the Cavern & working at the BBC with producer Bernie Andrews etc
One interesting thing, John is talking about the 'Red' and 'Blue' Beatles albums ('1962-66' & '1967-70') and says how his only stipulation was that he wanted Beatles producer George Martin to oversee them so that the correct versions properly mastered were included as alot of early stuff sounded very odd on some recent sets
- John goes on to say he could never understand why EMI in their stereo mixes put the vocals on one channel & say drums or other instruments on the other (!) - Hollies fans will know what John meant only too well ! - John said he always meant to ask George Martin about that...he says;
'I always thought in mono anyway so the stereo mixes never concerned me, until later I heard them, they sounded very odd...' (!)
some early Beatles songs on the first two albums - plus even 'We Can Work it out' (1965) and even a track or two on 'Sgt Pepper' (1967) had the vocal out on one channel sounding very odd (some Cliff/Shadows stereo tracks, like 'On The Beach' plus other Merseybeat stereo albums by The Swinging Blue Jeans & The Fourmost etc had that type of odd presumably 'cheap' stereo too)
John adds his only other input to the 'Red' and 'Blue' albums was he asked them to use the later photo that he had asked Linda (McCartney) to photograph them - for the ill fated 'Get Back' project originally - once again standing up on the balcony at EMI's Manchester Square building on the same level as Angus McBean's original photo of them taken for the first 'Please Please Me' LP back in 1963, John thought both photos would look good used on the 'Red' and 'Blue' albums - I do agree !
John explains much of his songs were done very 'tongue-in-cheek' - he says 'I am the eggman' could have been about a pudding basin ! and FAR too much was read into lyrics that were often him only clowning about !
He says 'How Do You Sleep ?' was all about HIS own resentment to Paul - much relating to their 'sibling rivalry when younger' re their competitiveness & pushing each other on as opposed to the later legal wrangling - and NOT about Paul himself on any personal level as a guy (and a friend again by 1980) ...and that he'd never go about thinking like that all the time ! (that might be John in retrospect trying to get himself 'off the hook' somewhat re his being spiteful back in 1971...and a bit of a hypocrite in truth re The Beatles break up etc) - interesting to hear John's own view there
John speaks of the 'Live Peace in Toronto' gig how himself (guitar,vocal), Eric Clapton (Lead guitar), Klaus Voormann (Bass guitar) & Alan White (Drums - later of Yes and who played the powering drums on 'Instant Karma !') had to rehearse' their Rock & Roll set on the plane flying to Canada !
plus being in 'The Dirty Macs' - Lennon (guitar,vocal), Eric Clapton, (Lead guitar),Keith Richards (Bass) & a drummer whose name John couldn't remember (John 'Mitch' Mitchell of Jimi Hendrix experience !) performing on The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus (then largely 'forgotten' but since released on DVD)
John spoke of how he got to know Eric Clapton through George being friends with the guitarist as John never 'jammed' in the blues music clubs like George did as he wasn't a good enough musician !
nor did he hang around with the arty crowd of actors and writers/directors/producers etc as Paul did via his girlfriend Jane Asher
John spoke of getting to know both Elton John (whom his last live performance was with singing Paul's 'I Saw Her Standing There')
....and David Bowie (hence their collaboration on 'Fame')
John was told by Andy Peebles (a decent interviewer) that John Peel wanted to know John's opinion of the 'new wave' scene (Madness, B.52's, Pretenders, Blondie, Sex Pistols - more 'punk' than 'new wave' we would now think...but it's 1980 remember)
John asked if John Peel had gone bald yet ? (LOL !) then said he enjoyed the 'new' music...but this led into praise of all things Yoko (yawn) - indeed a GOOD bit of the latter part of the interview was John heaping far too much lavish praise on Yoko as if she alone started avant garde, new wave, punk, etc...anything of note in music !
in retrospect some 35 years on it sounds terribly sad in many ways - he was totally besotted with her & the 'pin striped suited' exec businessman she later became would have STUNNED him I can't help but feel (the very 'establishment' concept that they initially formed Apple in order to get around !)
tellingly John admits he owned (then) NOTHING of The Beatles back catalogue, had scant (25% I think) songwriting & publishing royalties, and THEY (all four) had virtually zilch control over what EMI/Capitol did which clearly saddened and annoyed him....
John said when he went to compile his 'Shaved Fish' album ('best of...') he discovered no one knew (or cared he felt) where his master tapes to 'Power To The People', 'Cold Turkey' etc had gone...he had to use 'dubs' to create new versions !
Poignantly John spoke of how wonderful it was to live in New York, how peaceful it all was, how he could go out, go to a restaurant etc, quite undisturbed....just the odd autograph hunter but NO 'hassles' or fans mania as back in the sixties in Britain (in the days when he needed a car with 'blacked out' windows & to go shopping at Harrods etc at midnight !)
John says how in NY he & Yoko were so 'accepted' (this is recorded on Sunday 6 December 1980 - about 48 hours before his tragic death...)
John spoke of them being called 'Peaceniks' by Nixon's government - as if in them wanting Peace there was 'something WRONG' with them...!
(we now know the F.B.I. or C.I.A. - or both - 'tapped' Lennon's telephone !)
John said re 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)' that the Xmas message was a happy one...BUT there will always be a war going on, people being shot (!) or tortured somewhere...so the song was a timeless message 'war is over IF you want it...'
nothing really changes does it...?
Besides The (frankly rather grating) endless Yoko Ono 'butt kissing' John's memories & attitudes were SO refereshing & interesting, he clearly was a man who had great humour, didn't take himself that seriously (unlike some others did of him !) and did not believe in 'rose coloured specs' - he frankly spoke of the good and bad people the Beatles had dealings with, those who helped them & a few who went against them at times - and how he UNDERSTOOD the feelings of his three fellow Beatles when he had Yoko joining them in the studio during 'Let it Be' (by 1980 John clearly had resolved alot of his personal 'issues')
John came clean re his 'Lost weekend' (nine months) how he, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon & Ringo boozed themselves to death...until having to deliver 'Pussycats' (Nilsson), 'Walls And Bridges' & 'Rock 'n' Roll' albums finally made him come to his senses and 'sober up' !
John spoke of the 'pain' Phil Spector was walking off with his masters for 'R & R' album...and the hurry to finish it off once he'd got them back - cutting ten songs in as many days !
John spoke of looking at his old photo in the doorway in Hamburg on the 'R & R' album cover and felt he was 'going out singing the same R & R songs he'd been singing when he came into the music business all those years ago...a weirdly Karmic 'full circle' type of thing...
He NEVER said half the things quoted to him either....about 'having made his contribution to society' etc when he quit music for five years or so to raise his son Sean. John said often his 'answers' to questions...were set to a bunch of completely DIFFERENT questions when they later appeared in print !
(so don't always believe what you read as 'quoted' by stars in the music press...!)
It was strange (days indeed !) listening to John Lennon some 35 years on....MUCH of what he said re the world & politicians etc is even MORE relevant & accurate today, his clear memories and recollections re The Beatles, Liverpool, Merseybeat & the swinging sixties in general were fascinating - and to hear his engaging humour once more - John said how much he LOVED 'Fawlty Towers' & 'that guy' (John Cleese) is a genius knocking out those half hour scripts so fast etc....
John said he'd have loved to have been a decent comedy actor and would have preferred to be in 'The Pythons' or 'The Goons' over The Beatles anyday !
John said he already had the next album ('Milk And Honey' it transpired) planned and his mind was already looking to the album after that...he forsaw ALOT of music making work ahead of him & Yoko in the 80's, he had the real enthusiasm to get going making music again following the positive response to 'Double Fantasy' album (that's rather 'lump in the throat' inducing to hear him say at the end...)
I just thought people might be interested to hear John Lennon's ACTUAL views once again (as opposed to all the 'sactimonious piffle' spouted about him post 8 December 1980 'canonising' and 'Beautifying' him for 'Sainthood' etc).
- something I'm certain John would have so utterly DETESTED
- 'just gimme some truth' !
I recently dug out my old tapes of 'The Lennon Interview' with Andy Peebles (broadcast in 1981 on BBC Radio One) and copied it from old 'dodgy' W.H. Smith C.120s (which were always prone to getting 'chewed up' !) onto the far more modern TDK D.90s
all a bit 'antiquated' now I know but I have a twin Cassette in my system so old tapes recordings can be at least preserved
I edited OUT ALOT of Yoko - sorry any fans but to me she was always quite dreadful as an artist ! - for me John and Yoko were musically something like pairing up Beethoven and Tiny Tim (with his 'funny voice' and ukelale !)
I concentrated on John's parts of the long interview that Radio one got FIVE hour shows out of, with songs included
John mentions The Hollies once (nothing unkind) during the interview - he says:
'Plastic Ono Band was always simply a "concept" not a proper band with members as such, it's not a group 'name' like 'Wings' or 'Hollies'....'
John has alot of clear memories of the Cavern & working at the BBC with producer Bernie Andrews etc
One interesting thing, John is talking about the 'Red' and 'Blue' Beatles albums ('1962-66' & '1967-70') and says how his only stipulation was that he wanted Beatles producer George Martin to oversee them so that the correct versions properly mastered were included as alot of early stuff sounded very odd on some recent sets
- John goes on to say he could never understand why EMI in their stereo mixes put the vocals on one channel & say drums or other instruments on the other (!) - Hollies fans will know what John meant only too well ! - John said he always meant to ask George Martin about that...he says;
'I always thought in mono anyway so the stereo mixes never concerned me, until later I heard them, they sounded very odd...' (!)
some early Beatles songs on the first two albums - plus even 'We Can Work it out' (1965) and even a track or two on 'Sgt Pepper' (1967) had the vocal out on one channel sounding very odd (some Cliff/Shadows stereo tracks, like 'On The Beach' plus other Merseybeat stereo albums by The Swinging Blue Jeans & The Fourmost etc had that type of odd presumably 'cheap' stereo too)
John adds his only other input to the 'Red' and 'Blue' albums was he asked them to use the later photo that he had asked Linda (McCartney) to photograph them - for the ill fated 'Get Back' project originally - once again standing up on the balcony at EMI's Manchester Square building on the same level as Angus McBean's original photo of them taken for the first 'Please Please Me' LP back in 1963, John thought both photos would look good used on the 'Red' and 'Blue' albums - I do agree !
John explains much of his songs were done very 'tongue-in-cheek' - he says 'I am the eggman' could have been about a pudding basin ! and FAR too much was read into lyrics that were often him only clowning about !
He says 'How Do You Sleep ?' was all about HIS own resentment to Paul - much relating to their 'sibling rivalry when younger' re their competitiveness & pushing each other on as opposed to the later legal wrangling - and NOT about Paul himself on any personal level as a guy (and a friend again by 1980) ...and that he'd never go about thinking like that all the time ! (that might be John in retrospect trying to get himself 'off the hook' somewhat re his being spiteful back in 1971...and a bit of a hypocrite in truth re The Beatles break up etc) - interesting to hear John's own view there
John speaks of the 'Live Peace in Toronto' gig how himself (guitar,vocal), Eric Clapton (Lead guitar), Klaus Voormann (Bass guitar) & Alan White (Drums - later of Yes and who played the powering drums on 'Instant Karma !') had to rehearse' their Rock & Roll set on the plane flying to Canada !
plus being in 'The Dirty Macs' - Lennon (guitar,vocal), Eric Clapton, (Lead guitar),Keith Richards (Bass) & a drummer whose name John couldn't remember (John 'Mitch' Mitchell of Jimi Hendrix experience !) performing on The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus (then largely 'forgotten' but since released on DVD)
John spoke of how he got to know Eric Clapton through George being friends with the guitarist as John never 'jammed' in the blues music clubs like George did as he wasn't a good enough musician !
nor did he hang around with the arty crowd of actors and writers/directors/producers etc as Paul did via his girlfriend Jane Asher
John spoke of getting to know both Elton John (whom his last live performance was with singing Paul's 'I Saw Her Standing There')
....and David Bowie (hence their collaboration on 'Fame')
John was told by Andy Peebles (a decent interviewer) that John Peel wanted to know John's opinion of the 'new wave' scene (Madness, B.52's, Pretenders, Blondie, Sex Pistols - more 'punk' than 'new wave' we would now think...but it's 1980 remember)
John asked if John Peel had gone bald yet ? (LOL !) then said he enjoyed the 'new' music...but this led into praise of all things Yoko (yawn) - indeed a GOOD bit of the latter part of the interview was John heaping far too much lavish praise on Yoko as if she alone started avant garde, new wave, punk, etc...anything of note in music !
in retrospect some 35 years on it sounds terribly sad in many ways - he was totally besotted with her & the 'pin striped suited' exec businessman she later became would have STUNNED him I can't help but feel (the very 'establishment' concept that they initially formed Apple in order to get around !)
tellingly John admits he owned (then) NOTHING of The Beatles back catalogue, had scant (25% I think) songwriting & publishing royalties, and THEY (all four) had virtually zilch control over what EMI/Capitol did which clearly saddened and annoyed him....
John said when he went to compile his 'Shaved Fish' album ('best of...') he discovered no one knew (or cared he felt) where his master tapes to 'Power To The People', 'Cold Turkey' etc had gone...he had to use 'dubs' to create new versions !
Poignantly John spoke of how wonderful it was to live in New York, how peaceful it all was, how he could go out, go to a restaurant etc, quite undisturbed....just the odd autograph hunter but NO 'hassles' or fans mania as back in the sixties in Britain (in the days when he needed a car with 'blacked out' windows & to go shopping at Harrods etc at midnight !)
John says how in NY he & Yoko were so 'accepted' (this is recorded on Sunday 6 December 1980 - about 48 hours before his tragic death...)
John spoke of them being called 'Peaceniks' by Nixon's government - as if in them wanting Peace there was 'something WRONG' with them...!
(we now know the F.B.I. or C.I.A. - or both - 'tapped' Lennon's telephone !)
John said re 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)' that the Xmas message was a happy one...BUT there will always be a war going on, people being shot (!) or tortured somewhere...so the song was a timeless message 'war is over IF you want it...'
nothing really changes does it...?
Besides The (frankly rather grating) endless Yoko Ono 'butt kissing' John's memories & attitudes were SO refereshing & interesting, he clearly was a man who had great humour, didn't take himself that seriously (unlike some others did of him !) and did not believe in 'rose coloured specs' - he frankly spoke of the good and bad people the Beatles had dealings with, those who helped them & a few who went against them at times - and how he UNDERSTOOD the feelings of his three fellow Beatles when he had Yoko joining them in the studio during 'Let it Be' (by 1980 John clearly had resolved alot of his personal 'issues')
John came clean re his 'Lost weekend' (nine months) how he, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon & Ringo boozed themselves to death...until having to deliver 'Pussycats' (Nilsson), 'Walls And Bridges' & 'Rock 'n' Roll' albums finally made him come to his senses and 'sober up' !
John spoke of the 'pain' Phil Spector was walking off with his masters for 'R & R' album...and the hurry to finish it off once he'd got them back - cutting ten songs in as many days !
John spoke of looking at his old photo in the doorway in Hamburg on the 'R & R' album cover and felt he was 'going out singing the same R & R songs he'd been singing when he came into the music business all those years ago...a weirdly Karmic 'full circle' type of thing...
He NEVER said half the things quoted to him either....about 'having made his contribution to society' etc when he quit music for five years or so to raise his son Sean. John said often his 'answers' to questions...were set to a bunch of completely DIFFERENT questions when they later appeared in print !
(so don't always believe what you read as 'quoted' by stars in the music press...!)
It was strange (days indeed !) listening to John Lennon some 35 years on....MUCH of what he said re the world & politicians etc is even MORE relevant & accurate today, his clear memories and recollections re The Beatles, Liverpool, Merseybeat & the swinging sixties in general were fascinating - and to hear his engaging humour once more - John said how much he LOVED 'Fawlty Towers' & 'that guy' (John Cleese) is a genius knocking out those half hour scripts so fast etc....
John said he'd have loved to have been a decent comedy actor and would have preferred to be in 'The Pythons' or 'The Goons' over The Beatles anyday !
John said he already had the next album ('Milk And Honey' it transpired) planned and his mind was already looking to the album after that...he forsaw ALOT of music making work ahead of him & Yoko in the 80's, he had the real enthusiasm to get going making music again following the positive response to 'Double Fantasy' album (that's rather 'lump in the throat' inducing to hear him say at the end...)
I just thought people might be interested to hear John Lennon's ACTUAL views once again (as opposed to all the 'sactimonious piffle' spouted about him post 8 December 1980 'canonising' and 'Beautifying' him for 'Sainthood' etc).
- something I'm certain John would have so utterly DETESTED
- 'just gimme some truth' !