“A body of work was produced that I don't believe he alone could have produced, or I alone could have produced. It was only me that sat in those hotel rooms, in his house in the attic; it wasn't Yoko, it wasn't Sean, it wasn't Julian, it wasn't George, it wasn't Mimi, it wasn't Ringo, it wasn't Miles. It was me that sat in those rooms, seeing him in all his moods and all his little things, seeing him not being able to write a song, and having me help, seeing me not able to write a song and him help me.”
Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles
Nowhere man: The final days of John Lennon. Robert Rosen
Prisoner of Love: Inside the Dakota with John Lennon. Peter Doggett | Release cancelled in 2021
Lennon in America. Geoffrey Giuliano
You know, these people like Eastman and Dick James and people like that, think that I’m an idiot. They really can’t see me; they think I’m some kind of guy who got struck lucky, a pal of Paul’s or something…
(John Lennon, December 1970, interview with Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone)
Don't want your love anymore Don't want your kiss, that's for sure I die each time I hear your name Here she comes, Cathy's clown
Do with this what you will. I’ve been busy lately and went on a trip so a large majority of this was done while waiting in airport/museum bathrooms. It was very entertaining to read about these stories though.
Paul & Linda McCartney photographed by Robert Rosen, April 22nd, 1982.
❝ There was a Music Awards Party at Abbey Road, the famous recording studio. It was 1982 and I crashed it. Paparazzi were outside, it was snowing and they were there freezing with their zoom lenses. My snappy was in my pocket, the security guy saw me and because I always liked to dress well must have mistaken me for a pop star. He said, "Hurry up inside the awards are starting," and whisked me through the doors. Next thing I know I am inside standing next to Paul and Linda McCartney. We began a conversation and I asked to take a shot, they were in a joyous mood and most accommodating as you can see. On the third click they kissed - I got it! That photo went worldwide and I sent them a print to say thank you. Six months later I bumped into them again, but didn't assume they would remember me; however Linda called to me, "Darling are you ignoring us? Come on, give me a hug." It meant so much to me, maybe more than anything, that she loved that photograph. ❞
— Robert Rosen
“So he gave me a tree as a present. It's a big fir tree, and it's by my gate. As I was leaving my house this morning [December 11], I get out of the car, close the gate and look up at the tree and say, 'Hi, George. ‘“—Business Insider
“John used to go on and on about George. About what a nice boy he was and how I’d like him. He went to great lengths to impress me with George. ‘Give you anything, George’, he’d say.” -John’s Aunt Mimi
“I was going to Boston because my daughter had a brain tumor, and I said, ‘I’ve got to go to Boston.’ And he said, ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ Those were the last words I heard him say.” —Living in the Material World
“There were moments when it felt like we were the only two people in the world. The love we had was real and beautiful.” —Wonderful Tonight
“George and I shared a connection that went beyond words. It was a quiet understanding, a deep love that didn’t need to be spoken.”
— “Concert for George”
“It’s impossible to not feel his presence every day. The things he taught me, the way he lived, it’s all still here. I carry that love with me wherever I go.”
— People Magazine
“Like a film flashing by, everything comes to my mind since I met him more than 30 years ago. His childlike quality, his shy but naughty little smile, his passion for all the music he loved and the serious quest for religion“—George Harrison: Behind the locked door
“George was a good friend of mine, a true friend. He had a lot of love in him, and it was always a joy to be around him. I miss him deeply.”
— Rolling Stone (2001)
Thank you for leaving so much love behind George. Your a bright light that we all miss immensely. Rest in peace now George, we love you!❤️
“George was younger, the little one. He was very sweet, with his little tooth and the cocky songs he was singing. He was really cute, and was an essential part of the team. When all of them were harmonising together was incredible!”
— Klaus Voormann, “Hamburg Days” (1999)
“When he has that funny grin on his face, so that his little Dracula-tooth was showing — that was it! There he was, this little cocky underage boy singing cocky little songs like “C[‘mon] every body” or Joe Brown’s “I’m [Hen]ery the eight[h], I am” and then he played his little guitar solos, unmistakable George, nearly breaking his fingers on this cheap guitar, he hated so much. He couldn’t wait to earn enough money, to at long last be able to buy an expensive guitar. So when he got his first Grets[c]h, he proudly showed it to everybody. 1971 George let me have this Guitar. I loved it. Finally I had to give it back to him, which I think is perfectly right. He gave me a beautiful tel[e]caster as a replacement. Ain’t that great?”
— Klaus Voormann, “Hamburg Days” (1999)
“…George grinned his cheeky, crooked boyish grin beneath his thick brown head of hair. He was irresistible, and not just for the girls.”
— Klaus Voormann, on the first time he saw The Beatles; translated from “Warum spielst du Imagine nicht auf dem weißen Klavier, John?” (2003)
The whole idea of calling it ‘Lennon-McCartney’ instead of Paul Lennon and John McCartney… other way round…
Paul McCartney interviewed by Joe Smith, 22 October 1987
Hold up ,,, Mal called Paul his love in his diaries?
Yes. In his autobiography. He also analyzed their relationship in his diaries. For some context, here's a longer passage from Ken Womack's book, Living the Beatles Legend (Chapter 31).
As January 1970 came to close, Mal began drifting into an emotional slide that had been developing over the past several years. "Seem to be losing Paul," he wrote on January 27. "Really got a stick from him today. He let me down," and ominously added "Fixing a hole," "Pepper," and "directorship" to a growing list of disappointments. Apparently, the conversation had turned yet again to the issue of Mal's servile role in Paul's life, with the roadie believing that the association was bounded by friendship and love. "A servant serves," Mal wrote, "but he who serves is not always a servant," he added, echoing John's philosophy from December 1968. "Love is as sharp and piercing as a sword, "Mal reasoned, "but as the sword edge dulls — you sharpen it. So love's keenness needs honing — needs honesty." *
[...]
On February 11, Mal joined John and Yoko for a lip-synched performance of "Instant Karma!" on Top of the Pops, with the roadie, clad in beige suit and a light-green tie, playing the tambourine. By this juncture, Mal's long-standing relationship with Paul was in freefall. A few days earlier, he have been awakened by a 1 p.m. telephone call from the Beatle. It went "something like this," he wrote in his diary:
Mal: yeah? Paul: I've got time at EMI over the weekend. Would like you to pick up some gear from the house. Mal: Great, man. That's lovely. Session at EMI?! Paul: Yes, but I don't want anyone there to make me tea. I have the family – wife and kids there. Mal: [thinking to himself] Goes my poor head, "Why????" **
By the next week, Mal found himself behind the wheel of the Apple van, moving Paul's gear from EMI Studios to Morgan Studios, another Northwest London facility where Paul could work incognito. At one point, Neil cornered Mal about Paul's surreptitious recording sessions, demanding to know more. "Where's Paul?" he asked, to which Mal tersely replied, "Not telling you."
In other instances, Mal ordered a Mellotron for Paul, while keeping him fully stocked with plectrums and other gear. In late February, Paul asked Mal to move everything back to EMI, where he was set to record "Maybe I'm Amazed" in Studio 2. For Mal, everything came to a head at 7 Cavendish Ave., when "my long love, Paul, to whom I have devoted so many years of loyalty, turned around to me and said, I don't need you anymore, Mal." *** *, ** : Evans, "Diaries." [1963—1974.] 10 vols. Malcolm Frederick Evans Archives. Entries from Jan 27 & Feb 5, 1970.
***: Evans, Mal, 'Living the Beatles Legend: Or 200 Miles to Go.' Unpublished MS, 1976. Malcolm Frederick Evans Archives.
The Beatles and their fans: Some interesting facts that Lizzie Bravo, a brazilian fan who lived the beatlemania in 1967/1968, said. I translated from the interview that Lizzie gave to "Pitadas Do Sal" in 2021. May Lizzie rest in peace. ♡
Paul McCartney lived near Abbey Road so he walked around and sometimes barefoot.
The Beatles called their fans "luv" and always said hello/goodbye even if they were in the car.
When Lizzie was invited to record Across The Universe with the band, Paul McCartney asked her to sing something "in brazilian" but she was so nervous that she couldn't.
It was hard to distract John Lennon and Paul McCartney when they were together. They talked a lot in private, laughed a lot, and even finished each other's sentences. "They lived in their own bubble" Lizzie about Lennon-McCartney.
When Lizzie met John Lennon for the first time (her favorite beatle), she started crying and Mal Evans hugged her and gave her a chocolate.
George Harrison wrote Apple Scruffs for specific fans, not for all the fans who stayed in the studios.
George Harrison also wrote letters to these 3 fans in particular, thanking them for their support especially when he was starting his solo career.
Once, John Lennon was leaving Paul McCartney's house and when he said goodbye to Lizzie, who was waiting for him outside, she said "I love you" spontaneously. John smiled and waved.
Lizzie said they never seemed as mad as people sounded.
The fans did a marathon every day: They ran to Abbey Road, saw The Beatles and in the end of the afternoon they ran to Paul McCartney's house to see John Lennon go there - something he did a lot.
Sometimes they arrived together in the studio in the same car.
There were 20 or 30 fans waiting to see them everyday! It depended on which beatle would arrive before or after.
Lizzie said that The Beatles were very humble, kind and didn't even seem like the renowned band they were (and are!).
Drawings by Paul McCartney of John Lennon and George Harrison | 1967
You can immediately spot John Lennon’s sideburns and glasses, as well as George Harrison’s distinctive hair and eyebrows. The artist of the exquisite pen sketch? Their bandmate Paul McCartney.
It was 55 years ago today (or thereabouts) when the Beatle was asked by the journalist Hunter Davies how Lennon and Harrison had looked when they played in their previous incarnation, the Quarrymen. Rather than answer the question, McCartney grabbed a notebook and drew them.
Beatles’ biographer donates his magical mystery hoard The Sunday Times | 25 September 2022