The Beatles (194 page)

For a brief period, the Apple Boutique wore a forty-foot psychedelic mural painted by the Fool before neighborhood shopkeepers demanded its removal. December 1967.

© H
ULTON
-D
EUTSCH
C
OLLECTION
/CORBIS

By 1969, it had come to this: dispassion—along with Yoko Ono—in the recording studio.

M
IRRORPIX

Shielded by police officers, Paul and Linda make their way through a throng of fans following their marriage in London. March 1969.

© B
ETTMANN
/CORBIS

Visiting with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1967, shortly after his lecture at the Hilton in London.

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IRRORPIX

John and Yoko celebrate their impromptu marriage with the Rock of Gibraltar as a dramatic backdrop. March 20, 1969.

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IRRORPIX

Not all the Beatles agreed that Allen Klein should manage them, but they all understood his unique charisma.

P
HOTO
: J
OHN
K
ELLY

C
AMERA
P
RESS
(JBA) L
ONDON

The final concert on the rooftop of Apple Records, as the Beatles, with Billy Preston, perform together—joyously—for the last time. January 30, 1969.

M
IRRORPIX

B
OB
W
HITAKER
/C
AMERA
P
RESS
L
ONDON

*
Their first child was a boy
,
who died soon after birth.

*
Hunter Davies maintains
that the first song John learned was “That’ll Be the Day”; however, since it was not recorded with the Crickets until February 1957, the premise remains highly unlikely.

*
This is clearly an exaggeration.

*
In 1912, he tumbled off a wall and punctured an eardrum.

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“Runnin’ Shoes” (Decca, 45-F 11403), by the Trad Grads.

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Len Garry’s performance on the washtub bass required no musical accomplishment.

*
A red lamp, with a little paraffin light inside, used by night watchmen at road-construction sites.

*
Duane Eddy and the Rebels.

*
The song was written in 1956, soon after his mother’s death, although McCartney remains vague about a correlation between the two events.

*
By the Applejacks, a Birmingham band, in 1964.

*
Despite Baker’s belief, John told friends that he was initiated into sex at the age of fifteen by a cousin.

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A boxy tape recorder, an MSS disc cutter, an amplifier, and a four-channel mixer.

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British release dates often differ from U.S. chart appearances.

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The class immediately prior to the sixth form.

*
A few days after departing for Hamburg, the test results arrived, revealing that Paul had failed every subject but art.

*
Willy Limper included free drinks in their salaries, but after the first week so much vodka, whiskey, and brandy was consumed that he limited them to free beer.

*
This refers to the apparent disregard of his painting and the break in formal studies.

*
Without a bass
at his disposal, Paul was forced to play his guitar upside down and restrung with piano wire to imitate the sound of a bass.

*
John also broke
his little finger in the skirmish.

*
Paul was left-handed, Stuart right-handed.

*
On a different occasion, they recorded “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

*
The German version, subtitled
“Mein Herz ist bei dir nur”
; the British version wasn’t released until January 5, 1962.

*
Stuart, who had remained in Germany, sent it to George.

*
In a datebook he carried
at the age of fifteen, under “Personal Memoranda,” the only entry (aside from his address and birth date) is “hat size,” under which he scrawled: “73/8.”

*
On Brian’s birth certificate, her name was listed as “Minnie Epstein formerly Hyman.”

*
According to Harry, on the eve of publication he couldn’t remember her last name. “I thought, ‘It’s a color,’ and I just put Black. After it appeared, she told me, ‘It’s Cilla White, but I like what you put. I’m going to keep it.’ ”

*
His Liverpool College of Art roommate, Rod Murray, recalled how Stuart had occasional severe headaches while enrolled at school. “
Stuart fell over
from time to time. We thought he just has a bad sense of balance.”

*
Interestingly, Paolozzi attempted to convert Stuart into a sculptor, and they undertook several welding projects together.

*
Oddly enough, Brian never put his signature to the contract.

*
She eventually showed up there two weeks later.

*
The rest of the bill featured
Tex Roberg, Roy Young, the Bachelors, and the Graduates.

*
A form of tag.

*
The birth certificate
, registered on August 31, 1962, records the boy’s name as Vincent Rogue Best, listing Mona and John Best as parents.

*
Ron Richards rejected “P.S. I Love You” because there was another record in the charts with that title, published by Campbell, Connelly, his former employer.

*
Later shortened to “Thank You Girl.”

*
The scheduled headliner was originally Duane Eddy, who bowed out for contractual reasons.

*
Over the years, Cynthia has provided various times for Julian’s birth—at 6:00 A.M. and at 7:45.

*
Cynthia’s name does not appear in Brian’s autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise.

*
To his credit, however, Shannon became the first American to cover a Beatles record, cutting “From Me to You” the moment he arrived back in the States.

*
John’s recollection was that Wooler said, “
Come on, John, tell me
about you and Brian—we all know.”

*
In various memoirs, Paul insists that it was Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but accounts by John, Oldham, and members of the Stones prove otherwise.

*
The set included “From Me to You,” “I’ll Get You,” “She Loves You,” and “Twist and Shout.”

*
A paper-thin sequel to The Mouse That Roared, sans Peter Sellers, which had not yet been released.

*
John told Jann Wenner, “
And Brian came up with
Allen [sic] Owen.”