US release of the Paul McCartney LP McCartney (Apple). Songs: The Lovely Linda, That Would Be Something, Valentine Day, Every Night, Hot as Sun / Glasses, Junk, Man We Was Lonely, Oo You, Momma Miss America, Teddy Boy, Singalong Junk, Maybe I'm Amazed, and Kreen-Akrore. 47 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #1.
The New York Times reports Catholic and Protestant youth groups have adopted the Yellow Submarine as a religious symbol.
The album McCartney was released in the United States to mostly disappointing reviews. Paul recorded this album alone mostly at home playing all the instruments and doing all the vocals with Linda contributing some. The biggest stand out song to this day is the beautiful tribute to Linda “Maybe I’m Amazed”. Like Neil Young said when inducting Paul into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “I loved that record because it was so simple.”
The Beatles' single Let It Be is #1 in the US charts for the second straight week.
Also, Therapist Arthur Janov suggests to John Lennon that he should pay a visit to his first wife, Cynthia, and their son, Julian. But the family get-together is halted when Cynthia’s housekeeper informs the party that “Yoko has just called and is threatening to commit suicide unless John returns home immediately.”
-UK release of Paul McCartney's LP McCartney (Apple). Songs: The Lovely Linda, That Would Be Something, Valentine Day, Every Night, Hot as Sun / Glasses, Junk, Man We Was Lonely, Oo You, Momma Miss America, Teddy Boy, Singalong Junk, Maybe I'm Amazed, and Kreen-Akrore.
And this....
John Lennon says in Rolling Stone (in regard to the release of McCartney: “I’m telling you what’s going on. It’s John, George and Ringo as individuals. We’re not even communicating with or making plans about Paul. We’re just reacting to everything he does. It’s a simple fact that he couldn’t have his own way, so he’s causing chaos. Paul was the same with Brian (Epstein), at the beginning. He used to sulk and God knows what. It’s always been the same, only now it’s bigger, because we’re bigger.”
On this date in 1966...
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
Eleven uninterrupted hours, 2:30 pm-1:30 am, completing "Rain", overdubbing tambourine, bass and more vocals, then doing tape-to-tape reductions to add yet more overdubs. Four mono mixes, the third marked "best", were produced at the end of the session. (Rain was first mixed into stereo on December 2, 1969)
Back on this date in 1963.....
The Beatles at the Riverside Dancing Club, Bridge Hotel, Teme St. Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire
On this date in 1965...
Alisa Ave. St. Margaret's, Twickenham, Middlesex
The first time the Beatles are seen in "Help!" is when their Rolls Royce pulls up in a suburban residential street, they get out and proceed to enter four adjacent terraced houses here in Ailsa Avenue (located not far from the studio) - Ringo in number 5, John 7, Paul 9, and George 11, while, across the road, two women bystanders (Dandy Nichols, later to star in the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, and Gretchen Franklin), ponder on the boys' remarkable normality and whether or not they would appreciate a wave.
What neither they nor the world could see was that, on the inside, the four houses had been knocked into one enormous communal area - although this, of course, was shot on a set at Twickenham. While in Ailsa Avenue this day the Beatles also shot some street scenes.
The group were not involved in shooting on the 15th and then they and the crew enjoyed a long Easter weekend break, re-convening a the studio on Tuesday, April 20th.
Back on this date in 1963.....
Studio E, Lime Grove Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London
After 11 appearances on British independent television, the - at last - was the Beatles debut on the national BBC network, a video recording for "The 625 Show", transmitted from 6:25 to 6:50 pm on Tuesday, April 16th and billed as featuring "up and coming young talent".
The recording took place at the Corporation's Lime Grove Studios in West London, a 10:30 to 11:30 am band call, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm and 2:15 to 3:45 camera rehearsal and 4:30 to 6:00 final rehearsal preceding the 7:30 to 8:15 pm taping.
The Beatles performed three songs on the program, "From Me To You', "Thank You Girl", and "Please Please Me". The latter song closed the show and so the Beatles were enjoined by the entire cast: singer Jimmy Young, singers/guitarists Rolf and Tino, singer Bobbi Carrol, singer/guitarist Hank Locklin, guitarist Wout Steenhuis, a four-piece orchestra led by Micky Greeve, pianist Johnny Pearson and musical conductor Edwin Braben.
This taping of "The 625 Show" precluded the Beatles from making an adverstised personal appearance (though they weren't scheduled to perform) at a football club dance held this night at the Civic Hall in Uppermill, near Oldham, Lancashire. Instead, the Beatles stayed local to London, going to a party thrown at his North Harrow home by the Shadow's guitarist Bruce Welch. Here they met Cliff Richard for the first time.
Let It Be - #1 on this date
While the Lennons remain in London, they are still able to take part in a conceptual (and quite possibly imaginary) Fluxus Group arts festival in New York, called “Fluxfest.” The festival is set at the Canal Street, Greenwich Village store of Fluxus member Joe Jones. The first week of the festival is called “Do-It-Yourself by John and Yoko,” and is set to open with a Lennon-Ono Impersonators gathering. Also on display: “Two Eggs by John Lennon.”
The legendary rock band the Beatles spent the better part of three years breaking up in the late 1960s, and even longer than that hashing out who did what and why. And by the spring of 1970, there was little more than a tangled set of business relationships keeping the group together. Each of the Beatles was pursuing his musical interests outside of the band, and there were no plans in place to record together as a group. But as far as the public knew, this was just a temporary state of affairs. That all changed on April 10, 1970, when an ambiguous Paul McCartney “self-interview” was seized upon by the international media as an official announcement of a Beatles breakup.
The occasion for the statements Paul released to the press that day was the upcoming release of his debut solo album, McCartney
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.”
Nothing in Paul’s answers constituted a definitive statement about the Beatles’ future, but his remarks were nevertheless reported in the press under headlines like “McCartney Breaks Off With Beatles” and “The Beatles sing their swan song.” And whatever his intent at the time, Paul’s statements drove a further wedge between himself and his bandmates. In the May 14, 1970, issue of Rolling Stone, John Lennon lashed out at Paul in a way he’d never done publicly: “He can’t have his own way, so he’s causing chaos,” John said. “I put out four albums last year, and I didn’t say a f***ing word about quitting.”
By year’s end, Paul would file suit to dissolve the Beatles’ business partnership, a formal process that would eventually make official the unofficial breakup he announced on this day in 1970.
This printed interview appeared on April 9th 1970 as a press release in advance promotional copies of Paul McCartney's first solo album entitled 'McCartney.'
There have long been misconceptions that Paul had written the questions himself. Paul told the Canadian magazine 'Musical Express' in 1982, "That's one thing that really got misunderstood. I had talked to Peter Brown from Apple and asked him what we were going to do about press on the album. I said, 'I really don't feel like doing it, to tell you the truth,' but he told me that we needed to have something. He said, 'I'll give you some questions and you just write out your answers. We'll put it out as a press release.' Well of course, the way it came out looked like it was specially engineered by me." This was also confirmed in Peter Brown's book 'The Love You Make.'
In the press release interview, Paul answers questions about the future of the Beatles, concerns about the Beatles' new management, as well as questions about the writing and recording of his first solo album.
Paul is asked if the release of the 'McCartney' LP is a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career, to which he replies that it is both. But when asked if he is planning a new album or single with the Beatles he answers in the negative. When questioned if he forsees a time when Lennon and McCartney will become an active songwriting partnership again, he answers directly and simply, "No." Is his break with the Beatles temporary or permanent? Paul's responds that he does not know. When asked the reason for his break with the group, Paul lists: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family."
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."
The 'McCartney' album would be officially released to the public in the UK on April 17th 1970, just nine days following the release of what would be the Beatles final LP, "Let It Be'.
- Jay Spangler, www.beatlesinterviews.org
Q: "Why did you decide to make a solo album?"
PAUL: "Because I got a Studer four-track recording machine at home - practiced on it (playing all instruments) - liked the results, and decided to make it into an album."
Q: "Were you influenced by John's adventures with the Plastic Ono Band, and Ringo's solo LP?"
PAUL: "Sort of, but not really."
Q: "Are all songs by Paul McCartney alone?"
PAUL: "Yes sir."
Q: "Will they be so credited: McCartney?"
PAUL: "It's a bit daft for them to be Lennon/McCartney credited, so 'McCartney' it is."
Q: "Did you enjoy working as a solo?"
PAUL: "Very much. I only had me to ask for a decision, and I agreed with me. Remember Linda's on it too, so it's really a double act."
Q: "What is Linda's contribution?"
PAUL: "Strictly speaking she harmonizes, but of course it's more than that because she's a shoulder to lean on, a second opinion, and a photographer of renown. More than all this, she believes in me - constantly."
Q: "Where was the album recorded?"
PAUL: "At home, at EMI (no. 2 studio) and at Morgan Studios (WILLESDEN!)"
Q: "What is your home equipment (in some detail)?"
PAUL: "Studer four-track machine. I only had, however, one mike, and as Mr. Pender, Mr. Sweatenham and others only managed to take 6 months or so (slight delay) I worked without VU meters or a mixer, which meant that everything had to be listened to first (for distortion etc...) then recorded. So the answer - Studer, one mike, and nerve."
Q: "Why did you choose to work in the studios you chose?"
PAUL: "They were available. EMI is technically very good and Morgan is cozy."
Q: "The album was not known about until it was nearly completed. Was this deliberate?"
PAUL: "Yes, because normally an album is old before it even comes out. (A side) Witness 'Get Back.'"
Q: "Why?"
PAUL: "I've always wanted to buy a Beatles album like people do and be as surprised as they must be. So this was the next best thing. Linda and I are the only two who will be sick of it by the release date. We love it really."
Q: "Are you able to describe the texture or the feel of the album in a few words?"
PAUL: "Home, family, love."
Q: "How long did it take to complete?"
PAUL: "From just before (I think) Xmas, until now. 'The Lovely Linda' was the first thing I recorded at home, and was originally to test the equipment. That was around Xmas."
Q: "Assuming all the songs are new to the public, how new are they to you? Are they recent"
PAUL: "One was from 1959 (Hot As Sun). Two are from India - 'Junk' and 'Teddy Boy,' and the rest are pretty recent. 'Valentine Day,' 'Momma Miss America' and 'Oo You' were ad-libbed on the spot."
Q: "Which instruments have you played on the album?"
PAUL: "Bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano and organ-mellotron, toy xylophone, bow and arrow."
Q: "Have you played all these instruments on earlier recordings?"
PAUL: "Yes, drums being the one that I normally wouldn't do."
Q: "Why did you do all the instruments yourself?"
PAUL: "I think I'm pretty good."
Q: "Will Linda be heard on all future records?"
PAUL: "Could be. We love singing together and have plenty of opportunity for practice."
Q: "Will Paul and Linda become a John and Yoko?"
PAUL: "No, they will become Paul and Linda."
Q: "What has recording alone taught you?"
PAUL: "That to make your own decisions about what you do is easy, and playing with yourself is very difficult, but satisfying."
Q: "Who has done the artwork?"
PAUL: "Linda has taken all the photos, and she and I designed the package."
Q: "Is it true that neither Allen Klein nor ABKCO have been nor will be in any way involved with the production, manufacturing, distribution or promotion of this new album?"
PAUL: "Not if I can help it."
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."
Q: "What do you feel about John's peace effort? The Plastic Ono Band? Giving back the MBE? Yoko's influence? Yoko?"
PAUL: "I love John, and respect what he does - it doesn't really give me any pleasure."
Q: "Were any of the songs on the album originally written with the Beatles in mind?"
PAUL: "The older ones were. 'Junk' was intended for 'Abbey Road,' but something happened. 'Teddy Boy' was for 'Get Back,' but something happened."
Q: "Were you pleased with 'Abbey Road'? Was it musically restricting?"
PAUL: "It was a good album. (number one for a long time.)"
Q: "What is your relationship with Klein?"
PAUL: "It isn't. I am not in contact with him, and he does not represent me in ANY way."
Q: "What is your relationship with Apple?"
PAUL: "It is the office of a company which I part own with the other three Beatles. I don't go there because I don't like offices or business, especially when I am on holiday."
Q: "Have you any plans to set up an independent production company?"
PAUL: "McCartney Productions."
Q: "What sort of music has influenced you on this album?"
PAUL: "Light and loose."
Q: "Are you writing more prolifically now? Or less so?"
PAUL: "About the same. I have a queue waiting to be recorded."
Q: "What are your plans now? A holiday? A musical? A movie? Retirement?"
PAUL: "My only plan is to grow up!"
On this day back in 1964
Twickenham Film Studios, Twickenham
Shooting resumed at Twickenham today did not require the Beatles, the movie's Strauss operetta scene being filmed.
No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Let It Be. The song enters the Hot 100 at No. 6, higher than any previous entry on Billboard's pop singles chart.
Handwritten letter from Paul McCartney to Sir Joseph Lockwood. He was the head of EMI. The letter is dated April 6, 1970. He's asking for a copy of the "Deed of Assignment" dated Jan.12th, to be sent to him"immediately!" He is asking about Beatles royalties. This was sent from his home on Cavendish Ave. in London.
John Lennon had quit The Beatles on September 20, 1969 announcing his decision to leave the band at a meeting in London.
This was kept quiet because they had just signed a huge royalty increase with Capitol Records.
This letter was 4 days before Paul told the world that The Beatles were basically finished by a press release announcing his solo album on April 10, 1970. Paul McCartney signatures from this period are rare. This is an inter-office memo, and these rarely enter the market.
On this day, Ringo Starr appeared on the BBC Radio One show Scene And Heard. The show was broadcast live from 3-4pm. Starr was interviewed by host Johnny Moran.
On this day back in 1963.....
BBC Paris Studio in London and Roxburgh Hall, Stowe School, Stowe, Bucks
Having taped sessions for two programs in the Light Program radio series, "Side by Side" only the previous Monday, the Beatles returned to the BBC this day, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm to record a third. (An option for a fourth appearance in the series, to have been taped between 2:00 and 6:00 pm this day, was not taken up, however)
The Beatles and the Karl Denver Trio did not bother to re-record their duet of "Side by Side", the BBC using the April 1st tape for this transmission, which took place between 5:00 and 5:29 pm on Monday, June 24th. (It was unusual for the Corporation to keep recordings so long before broadcast, and this was certainly the longest any Beatles tape remained "in the can"). Listeners to the show heard the group perform "Too Much Monkey Business", Love Me Do", "Boys", "I'll be on my way" and "From me to you".
"I'll be on my way" is of particular interest for it was the Beatles only studio environment recording and known public performance of a Lennon-McCartney song given exclusively to Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas for record release; they taped their version at EMI Studios on March 14the and released the track on April 26 as the B-side of "Do you want to know a secret", another - though not so exclusive Lennon-McCartney original.
The late afternoon live engagement at Stowe, the boy's public school, was probably the Beatles most unusual concert appearance of all, and was booked as a direct result of one Liverpudlian boy's interest in his home-town group.
A private school of just a few hundred boys: one of its students, David Moores. Moores, who had grown up around Liverpool, wanted to see his hometown band. So, in January 1963, he wrote to Brian Epstein. This set in motion a series of fairly formal letters of negotiation between Epstein and Moores, ending in their mutual agreement, in a signed contract, that the Beatles would play the school for their more or less standard fee of 100 quid.
Back on this date in 1963....
The Playhouse Theatre, London
The Beatles first recording for the BBC Light Program radio show "Easy Beat", hosted by Brian Matthew and taped weekly in front of a teenage audience at the Playhouse.
The Beatles rehearsed from 5:30 pm and took part in the continuous recording from 8:30 to 9:45; the program was then transmitted between 10:31 and 11:30 am on Sunday, April 7th. Their contribution was three songs: "Please please me", "Misery" and "From me to you".
As well as performing music, John and Paul took part in the program's record review panel spot "Going Up?" (Along with Laura Lee and Clare O'Rourke), giving their opinions of new singles by Bert Weedon, Cleo Laine, The Vernons Girls, and Tommy Roe.
Today was the final day’s work on The Beatles’ last album Let It Be. It was a stereo mixing and edit session for three songs.
Phil Spector worked in room four of EMI Studios, with balance engineer Peter Bown and tape operator Roger Ferris. The three songs worked on were The Long And Winding Road, Across The Universe and I Me Mine.
Some further work was also required on the latter two tracks. Spector edited then slowed Across The Universe, changing the key from D to C#, and combined two stereo mixes of The Long And Winding Road – the edit can be heard at 1’26”.
After the session acetates of the completed album were sent to each of The Beatles for approval. Although he later expressed bitter resentment at Spector’s work, Paul McCartney is said to have initially been happy with the treatment of the recordings.
Today’s recording was significant for one other reason: it was the final recording session to feature a member of The Beatles; at least, until the Anthology recordings of the 1990s. Ringo Starr was the only Beatle to participate on this day, playing drums on each of the three songs alongside the orchestra.
The musical scores for The Long And Winding Road were arranged and conducted by Richard Hewson, while Across The Universe was done by Brian Rogers. John Barham scored the vocals for The Long And Winding Road and Across The Universe.
In addition to Ringo Starr, there were 18 violins, four violas, four cellos, one harp, three trumpets, three trombones, two guitarists and 14 singers. In all there were 50 musicians in Abbey Road’s studio one, which cost EMI a sum total of £1,126 and five shillings.
The Long And Winding Road originally had Paul McCartney’s lead vocals and piano on separate tracks, John Lennon’s bass guitar, George Harrison’s guitar, Billy Preston’s electric piano, two tracks for Starr’s drums, and a spare track for backing vocals.
Phil Spector reduced these seven tracks to five by combining one of the drum tracks with Lennon’s bass guitar, and Harrison’s and Preston’s instruments on another. Although it has been reported that he erased part of McCartney’s vocals, this did not happen, although he did omit a half-spoken section from the final mix.
John Lennon and George Harrison wrote a letter to Paul.......
Dear Paul, We thought a lot about yours and the Beatles LPs – and decided it’s stupid for Apple to put out two big albums within 7 days of each other (also there’s Ringo’s and Hey Jude) – so we sent a letter to EMI telling them to hold your release date til June 4th (there’s a big Apple-Capitol convention in Hawaii then). We thought you’d come round when you realized that the Beatles album was coming out on April 24th. We’re sorry it turned out like this – it’s nothing personal. Love John & George. Hare Krishna. A Mantra a Day Keeps MAYA! Away.
The letter was sealed in an envelope marked “From Us, To You”, and left at Apple’s reception for a messenger to deliver to McCartney’s home at 7 Cavendish Avenue. However, Starr agreed to take it round in person. “I didn’t think it fair some office lad should take something like that round,” he reasoned.
By this time McCartney had long tired of arguing over Apple’s future, and the various parties were more likely to communicate by letter or through their managers rather than face-to-face interviews. McCartney had recorded his album in secret, under the pseudonym Billy Martin, choosing to keep the news from the press and his former bandmates for as long as possible.
McCartney might once have agreed with the logic behind the decision to postpone his album, but after months of acrimony he was in no mood for conciliatory agreements. The contents of the letter left him furious, and Starr received the full brunt of his anger.
Paul McCartney - "Ringo came to see me. He was sent, I believe – being mild mannered, the nice guy – by the others, because of the dispute. So Ringo arrived at the house, and I must say I gave him a bit of verbal. I said: ‘You guys are just messing me around.’ He said: ‘No, well, on behalf of the board and on behalf of The Beatles and so and so, we think you should do this,’ etc. And I was just fed up with that. It was the only time I ever told anyone to GET OUT! It was fairly hostile. But things had got like that by this time. It hadn’t actually come to blows, but it was near enough.
Unfortunately it was Ringo. I mean, he was probably the least to blame of any of them, but he was the fall guy who got sent round to ask me to change the date – and he probably thought: ‘Well, Paul will do it,’ but he met a different character, because now I was definitely boycotting Apple."
Starr described the situation in an affidavit read out in court during the 1971 hearings to end the Beatles partnership.
I went to see Paul. To my dismay, he went completely out of control, shouting at me, prodding his fingers towards my face, saying: ‘I’ll finish you now’ and ‘You’ll pay.’ He told me to put my coat on and get out. I did so.
Starr was immensely upset by the exchange, and reported back to Apple. Lennon and Harrison agreed to let McCartney’s album come out as planned, and delayed the release of Let It Be. While McCartney had scored a superficial victory, his relations with the drummer took a number of years to fully recover.
They eventually sent Ringo round to my house at Cavendish with a message: ‘We want you to put your release date back, it’s for the good of the group’ and all of this sort of shit, and he was giving me the party line, they just made him come round, so I did something I’d never done before, or since: I told him to get out. I had to do something like that in order to assert myself because I was just sinking. Linda was very helpful, she was saying, ‘Look, you don’t have to take this crap, you’re a grown man, you have every bit as much right…’ I was getting pummelled about the head, in my mind anyway.
Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The McCartney album was issued in the UK on 17 April 1970, while Let It Be was eventually released on 8 May. On 10 April a press release for the solo album caused a sensation by seemingly confirming that The Beatles had finally split up.
The world reaction was like ‘The Beatles Have Broken Up – It’s Official’ – we’d known it for months. So that was that, really. I think it was the press who misunderstood. The record had come with this weird explanation on a questionnaire of what I was doing. It was actually only for them. I think a few people thought it was some weird move of me to get publicity, but it was really to avoid having to do the press.
Paul McCartney
Anthology
Phil Spector spent most of the day working on an idea which was never used: a 16-second tape loop using part of the instrumental break from George Harrison’s For You Blue. He overlaid snatches of dialogue from members of the public recording during The Beatles’ rooftop performance.
Several of these vox pops were used in the Let It Be film. In the end, however, Spector rejected the idea for the Let It Be album. Indeed, only one brief piece of dialogue from the entire film soundtrack reels made it onto the LP: John Lennon introducing For You Blue with the words “Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members”.
John Lennon sends a phone message that is broadcast to a gathering of 8,000 demonstrators at Victoria Park, Bethel Green, East London. The demonstration is being held to advocate nuclear disarmament. During the message, John reveals that Yoko is again pregnant, the baby being expected in October (but she will miscarry again later in the year).
Back on this date in 1965.....
Alpha Television Studios, Aston, Birmingham
Taping of the Beatles' final personal appearance on ABC Television's weekly pop series Thank Your Lucky Stars, the show which had launched them on national TV in January 1963 but which was now in steady decline. (It ended on June 25, 1966, by which time it was no longer screened by all of the ITV regions.)
On this occasion, while it was still fully networked, the Beatles returned to the scene of that debut, Alpha Television Studios in Birmingham, and mimed performances of three songs, "Eight Days A Week", "Yes It Is" and "Ticket To Ride", before an extremely entusiastic studio audience. Paul and Ringo were also interviewed by the show's host, Brian Matthew, and the program was broadcast on Saturday, April 3rd, (5:50-6:35 pm)
This was the fourth day for Phil Spector’s working on Dig It and assembling snippets of dialogue to be used in between songs.
Two versions of Dig It – a largely improvised song let by John Lennon – were recorded, on January 24 and 26th, a year before in 1969. A segment lasting just 49 seconds was extracted from the second of these.
A slightly longer version appearing in the Let It Be film. The full version, however, lasted for more than 12 minutes and featured Billy Preston on organ and George Martin on shaker. The brief section used by Spector was from 8’52” to 9’41”.
After he had finished work on Dig It, Spector trawled through the Apple Studios tapes for dialogue to intersperse between the songs. One of these, Lennon saying “That was ‘Can You Dig It’ by Georgie Wood…”, was appended to the end of Dig It, and provided an apt introduction to Let It Be.
Although eight snippets of dialogue were mixed on this day, only two others were used: “I Dig A Pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids…”, which began the album ahead of Two Of Us; and the “Thanks Mo”/”I hope we passed the audition” remarks, giving the effect that that the version of Get Back used was from the rooftop performance rather than the studio.
On this date, producer Phil Spector—called in to save the Get Back/LIB project—remixed "Let It Be," adding his signature orchestra and choir. He used the more rocking January 4 solo instead, and also added an extra chorus at the end. This would become known as the "album version" of the song.
Today was Phil Spector’s second day of creating stereo mixes from the Let It Be tapes involved work on three songs.
Although best known for his echo-laden Wall of Sound production techniques, Spector was positively restrained during this session. The first song to be mixed was George Harrison’s For You Blue. This was done in a single take, although Spector then made seven further attempts at remixing the intro; the two parts were later edited together.
Also on this date, Ringo Starr is interviewed for the BBC’s Scene And Heard on Savile Row, London.
The first edition’s interview began with Starr discussing “the soul brother” John Lennon, whose fearlessness the drummer expressed admiration for. “He could jump off the Eiffel Tower and I’d approve it,” Starr said.
Wigg asked if The Beatles’ wives had much influence over their husbands’ activities. “Some of them have more than others,” Starr replied. He described Maureen Starkey’s main strength as looking out for the group’s British fans, an example of which was her pressing for the proposed January 1969 concert to be held in England rather than abroad.
Starr spoke of his interest in developing an acting career, saying that he had already made a name as a comic actor. He also spoke of his debut album Sentimental Journey, and of the dancing in the promotional film for the title track.
On the subject of the rumours of The Beatles’ split, Starr claimed the group was as united as ever, and blamed the music press for generating controversy.
The 5 April edition focused on Sentimental Journey, with Starr describing the circumstances surrounding the recording and praising the timeless nature of the songs. He explained why different arrangers were used to introduce variety into the project, and said he was considering the title track and Whispering Grass for future single releases. The latter song was played at the end of the interview.
Wigg continued interviewing the former Beatles into their solo careers, with the last of his interviews taking place in December 1973. An album containing extracts from his recorded interviews was released in the United Kingdom in January 1976, and two years later in the United States.
-As John and Yoko carry on with their Primal Scream therapy in California, Fluxfest continues with “Measure by John and Yoko,” an exhibit in which the vital statistics of the spectators comprise the art.
Back on this date in 1965......
Twickenham Film Studios, St. Margaret's, Twickenham
At last, shooting began on home territory, Twickenham Film Studios in the west of London suburb of St. Margaret's, where A Hard Day's Night had been shot at the same time in 1964. Working a similar schedule - something like 8:30 am - 5:30 pm daily, the Beatles filmed here and on location until Sunday, May 9th. Including the Bahamanian and Austrian sections, but discounting occasional days off, this second Beatles film was shot in 11 weeks, three more than A Hard Day's Night.
Today the Producer Phil Spector was brought in to work on the tapes.
Earlier in the year, January Phil Spector had worked with John Lennon and George Harrison on the Plastic Ono Band’s Instant Karma!, during a recording session held at Abbey Road’s studio two. Bringing in Spector was Harrison’s idea, and the partnership evidently worked well. Spector worked in room four of the EMI Studios building. Harrison and Allen Klein were also present, a situation that remained for most of these final sessions for Let It Be.
Spector began by making six stereo mixes of I’ve Got A Feeling. The first of these was a studio recording made on 28 January 1969; the second mix, which was used on the LP, was from the 30 January rooftop performance.
Lennon’s Dig A Pony was next. Again recorded from the rooftop, Spector removed the “All I want is…” lines that bookended the song; they can be heard in the Let It Be film. Two mixes of the song were made.
It took Spector three attempts at making a stereo mix of One After 909. After that he turned his attentions to I Me Mine, again mixing the song three times before he was satisfied with the results. Spector also repeated a section of the song, increasing its length from 1’34” to 2’25”.
The Beatles’ studio recording of Across The Universe, made in February 1968, was the next to be tackled. Eight mixes from take eight were made. Both this song and I Me Mine would be remixed again on 1 April, however, along with brass, strings and choir overdubs.
I got on quite well with Spector except that he wanted tape echo on everything, seemed to take a different pill every half an hour and had his bodyguard with him. I explained to him that this was a British recording studio and that he was safe, but the bodyguard used to come along and sit outside the door… he wasn’t there by the end though, I think Spector felt safe in the end.
Although it is doubtful he knew of Spector’s involvement at this stage, Paul McCartney was also at EMI Studios on this day. Between 3pm and 7pm he made master copies of the McCartney album. Booked under the pseudonym Billy Martin, the session took place in studio three.
Source: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
