The Beatles (181 page)

“
The idea was that you’d have
”: Neil Aspinall in
Anthology,
p. 258.

According to several well-placed insiders
: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/18/98; also author interviews with Peter Brown, 12/12/97, and John Dunbar, 1/13/98.

the son of a major
: Goldman,
Lives of John Lennon,
p. 295.

Magic Alex, as John dubbed him
: “This is my new guru, Magic Alex.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 374.

“
Alex wasn’t magic
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 258.

“
Magic Alex invented invisible paint
”:
Ringo Starr in ibid., p. 290.

“
We didn’t really call anyone’s bluff
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 375.

paying £95,000
: Brown & Gaines,
Love You Make,
p. 261.

“
my earthly age
”: “The Guru,”
Newsweek,
12/18/67, p. 67.

Later he fell under the spell
: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 402.

“
a method of quickly and easily
”: Davies,
Beatles,
p. 232.

Ringo was visiting Maureen
: “At that time, Maureen was in hospital having Jason and I was visiting.” Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 260.

“
After having such an intense
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 263.

“
a little bit of emptiness
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 400.

“
He said that by meditating
”: Ibid., pp. 401–2.

“
to further the experience
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 262.

“
thought he made a lot
”: Paul McCartney in ibid., p. 260.

“
It takes time to come down
”: John Lennon in Badman,
Off the Record,
p. 301.

Brian was also invited
: “Brian was going to come at some point… he was going to join us there.” Paul McCartney,
Arena
archives.

John making the call himself
: “John called Brian late that night.” Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
It was the best damn thing
”: Author interview with Bryan Barrett, 1/9/98.

a staging of three short comedies
: “3 Bellow Plays Are Precipitated,”
New York Times,
3/8/66.

“
That very weekend
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

“
four or five young… guys
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
I was struggling
”: “Cynthia Lennon: In Her Own Words,”
Hello!,
5/28/94.

George drew the blinds
: Davies,
Beatles,
p. 231.

“
Tell him to let you on!
”: C. Lennon,
A Twist,
p. 147.

Peter Brown put an arm
: “I put her into Neil’s car.” Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
You just sit there
”: John Lennon, 1967 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 261.

“
like a prescription
”: George Harrison in ibid., p. 263.

“
It has been specifically chosen
”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.

Mal Evans divulged that his mantra
: “We found out we all had the same word.” Ibid.

“
you get a sniff
”: John Lennon, 1968 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 261.

“divertissement”
: Brown & Gaines,
Love You Make,
p. 268.

“
something of a tight ass
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
Many bottles of wine
”: Brown & Gaines,
Love You Make,
p. 268.

“
Clearly, he’d just woken up
”: “He said that he had gone to bed late and take [sic] quite a number of sleeping pills.” Peter Brown, H. M. Coroner’s Report, B. S. Epstein, 9/9/67.

“
It wasn’t unusual for Brian
”: Joanne Newfield Petersen,
Arena
archives.

“
So? What’s new?
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

John Gallway arrived
: time determined by H. M. Coroner’s Report, 9/9/67.

Blood streamed from his nose
: Inspector George Howlett in ibid.

“
Is there any brandy
”: Joanne Newfield Petersen,
Arena
archives.

“
He’s lying on the bed
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
We’ve got to get hold of Clive
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

“
The Beatles had to be told
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
This is a terrible shock
”: Press conference transcript, Bangor, Wales, 8/27/67.

“
confusion and disbelief
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 264.

“
traipsed off to the Maharishi
”: Paul McCartney,
Arena
archives.

“
Our friend’s dead
”: Ibid.

“
to love him and let him go
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 264.

“
Well, Brian is just passing
”:
Press conference transcript, Bangor, Wales, 8/27/67.

“
We’ve fuckin’ had it
”: Wenner,
Lennon Remembers,
p. 52.

“
We did the first show
”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.

“
I believe it was an accident
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 265.

“
very sinister circumstances
”: Paul McCartney in ibid.

“
His father, Harry
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

“
Our main concern
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

the Beatles, who had been asked
: “The Beatles were asked to stay away.” Brown & Gaines,
Love You Make,
p. 273.

“
There was a big power grab
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

Brian had left no will
: “He died in August without making a will.”
Daily Sketch,
1/6/68, p. 7.

“
the Beatles were shocked
”: Brown & Gaines,
Love You Make,
p. 275.

The Beatles had flirted
: Lewisohn,
Chronicle,
p. 261.

“
They didn’t know where any of the money
”: Neil Aspinall in
Anthology,
p. 268.

Mystery Tour
segments 1 through 8
: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 358.

“
John had spent an afternoon
”: Ibid., p. 356.

John has said as many as twenty
: “He’d already written
twenty
songs.” Sheff,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 157.

“
[Paul] said, ‘Well, here’s a segment’
”: Wenner,
Lennon Remembers,
p. 54.

written, he claimed
: Sheff,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 156.

“
a beautiful poem
”: Ibid.

“
The words don’t mean a lot
”: “What a Groove It Is Growing Older, Says John Lennon,”
Disc and Music Echo,
12/16/67.

only “I am the eggman
”: Burdon,
I Used to Be an Animal but I’m All Right Now,
p. 139.

“
organized chaos
”: Lewisohn,
Sessions,
p. 122.

beginning with electric piano
: “In the studio, we began with electric piano and Ringo’s drums.” John Lennon in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 257.

“
so weird
”: John Lennon, 1974 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 273.

eight violins, four cellos
: Lewisohn,
Sessions,
p. 127.

“
have their heads
”: Ibid., p. 122.

The Beatles, however, were clearly pleased
: “It was a fascinating session. That was John’s baby, great one, a really good one.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 357.

“
It was this idea of a fool
”: Ibid., p. 365.

“
We literally made it up
”: Ibid., p. 360.

“
John would always want a midget
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 272.

“
We would get off the bus
”: Ibid.

Brian’s “social secretary
”: Author interview with Nat Weiss, 1/28/98.

Neil lacked “sufficient clout
”: George Martin in
Anthology,
p. 268.

“
was out of his class
”: Martin,
All You Need,
p. 171.

On one side of a table
: Details provided by author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
A joint company doesn’t work
”: Robert Stigwood,
Arena
archives.

“
They would be willing to put money
”: “Clive Epstein—New NEMS Boss,”
NME,
9/9/67.

“
We shook hands
”: Ibid.

“
was a very reasonable price
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 268.

seven subsidiaries were formed
: Lewisohn,
25
Years in the Life,
pp. 97–98
.

“
There was an enormous sum
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

Clive Epstein and Harry Pinsker
: “I suggested to the boys that they buy freehold property and go into retail trading.”
Observer,
9/1/68, p. 12.

“
So we’d sit around the boardroom
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

“
selling records was dismissed
”: Brown & Gaines,
Love You Make,
p. 280.

“
How fucking boring!
”:
Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

“
You can just imagine
”: McCabe & Schonfeld,
John Lennon: For the Record,
p. 103.

“
We’re just going to do
”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.

George got involved with
: “Mime Ban Hits Beatles Clip,”
NME,
12/2/67.

Paul opened discussions
: “Stones Play It Cool on Possible Beatles Tie-Up,”
NME,
10/21/67.

Magic Alex was commissioned
: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 442.

“
groovy clothes
”: McCabe & Schonfeld,
John Lennon: For the Record,
p. 105.

“
something that we’d want
”: Ibid., p. 103.

“
dressing in such interesting clothes
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 443.

“
The aim of the company
”: “A Is for Apple,”
Observer,
9/1/68, p. 7.

“
sell everything white
”: “Paul came up with a nice idea, which was ‘Let’s sell everything white.’ ” John Lennon, 1970 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 270.

“
a beautiful place
”: NEMS press release, 10/3/67.

“
horrified”/“Give it to them
”: Harry Pinsker in Badman,
Off the Record,
p. 329.

“
they wear gypsy headdresses
”:
New York Times,
11/21/67.

“
have an image of naturel
”:
Sunday Times,
11/5/67.

“
You should move to London
”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.

“
eating majoun and smoking hashish
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 444.

“
the clothes looked more like
”: Ibid., p. 445.

“
They refused to tell
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

“
The painting was gorgeous
”: Paul McCartney in
Anthology,
p. 270.

But the City of Westminster’s
: “The Fool… decided to ignore officialdom.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 445.

“
There was no direction
”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.

“
It was a mess
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

It reminded them of Beatlemania
: “Many of the old fears returned. This, again, was Beatlemania.” D. Taylor,
Fifty Years,
p. 322.

with 450,000 advance orders
: “Beatles ‘Magic’ Disc-book Held Up,”
NME,
12/9/67.

“
There was plenty of stock
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
It was
disastrous
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

“
There was no plot
”:
Daily Mail,
12/28/67.

“
Nobody had the vaguest
”: McCabe & Schonfeld,
Apple to the Core,
p. 94.

“
It looked awful
”: George Martin in
Anthology,
p. 274.

“
the most expensive home movie
”: Coleman,
John Lennon,
p. 362.

“
thought it was dreadful
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/10/97.

“
I saw it four times
”: Paul Fox in Badman,
Off the Record,
p. 335.

for the paltry fee of £9,000
: “Fox offered him the derisory sum of £9,000.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 366.

“
Sod it,” he thought
: Ibid., p. 367.

“
Appalling!
”:
Daily Mail,
12/26/67.

“
It was worse than terrible
”:
Evening News,
12/26/67.

“
rubbish… piffle
”:
Daily Mirror,
12/26/67.

“
blatant rubbish
”:
Daily Express,
12/26/67.

734–35 “
Whoever authorized the showing
”:
Daily Sketch,
12/26/67.

“
perhaps slightly to [his] own surprise
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 440.

“
a marriage of four minds
”: C. Lennon,
A Twist,
p. 134.