"Magical history tour ... unseen Beatles' pictures discovered" in The Times archive

One of the unseen photos published in today's Times (p7)

I got back from seeing "Edge of tomorrow" (very good) just in time to catch "Later ...".  Jools in conversation with Hank Marvin lists all the guitarists Hank has influenced including ... George Harrison.  Mike won a guitar signed by Hank (& Bert Weedon).  He was presented with it in Derby by the Barron Knights (I remember being kissed by the lead singer of the other band that played that night - Marmalade)! I sold it with some of his other instruments, kinda regret that now - but I'll always keep the two guitars he actually played: a Martin and an old red fender.

How to revise for your A-levels in style ... in a Beatles t-shirt (in KEC Library)

Mick and Mo came over for a drink tonight.  We normally go to the Anchor, but for a change we went to The Sycamores.  Although it lacks the atmosphere of our favourite Burbage pub, I'm rather glad that we did - because on it's wall it has two pictures of the Beatles! 

A wet Bank Holiday Monday so started the day with a little shopping in Hinckley.  I went into The Works in search of something to read and found an early work by George Martin: "Armageddon Rag".  I wouldn't have expected the man behind "Game of Thrones" to write about the Beatles but as I flicked through the first few pages  this sentence jumped out:

 "Your readership thinks that the Beatles were the band Paul McCartney was with before Wings" (p5).

Beatles jigsaw in The Works, Hinckley

I also found a ... Beatles jigsaw whilst looking for a birthday puzzle for Dad.  But it's not really his style.

Aaron Johnson as John Lennon 2009

I spent a few minutes browsing Pat's "History" magazine - this film still from "Nowhere Boy" illustrated its little "icon of the century" feature (Vol 12, p 92)

"Things we said today" was played on Lisa Tarbuck's R2 show this afternoon - once again I hear an appropriate song on the 24th of the month.  Doubly so this time, as Mike's band, "Stranded", often performed it.  I can still hear him now.

Some of Mike's favourite sketches appeared on tonight's TV celebration 50 years of comedy on BBC2 - including the Dudley & Cook Tarzan audition.  The Rutles (Eric Idle's spoof Beatles band from nearby Rutland) made a brief appearance as well!

I popped into Dunelm Mill on the way to the station tonight (to get out of the rain) and browsed for awhile.  A framed print told me "All you need is love".  Not sure if this is a proper Beatles reference but it certainly made me think of the song.

"I want to hold your paw". I saw a student wearing this T-shirt in the Library today - a lighter moment in an otherwise hectic day.  I would have liked a photo but didn't want to disturb her - she was busy revising for a sociology exam.  But a search on Google Images found it ... and others on the same theme.    

En route to checking yesterday's unsolved crossword clues this phrase caught my eye: "Paul McCartney netted $1 million for performing at a 50th birthday bash for US TV exec Wendy Whitworth" (The Times. 19.5.14. T2, p5). It was in an article about how stars trade celebrity for cash;  pleasing to read that Paul gave this pot of money to charity.

On the verge of leaving the house this morning when I heard on R2 "I'll follow the sun". A few minutes ago I looked the song up on Wikipedia:

"One day, you'll look to see I've gone." There is an unwillingness on the part of the song's narrator that adds a tenderness and tragedy to his leaving: "And now the time has come, and so, my love, I must go. And though I lose a friend, in the end you will know ..."

A song to remind me is never far away - not that I'll ever forget.

A Beatle hat trick in The Times "Saturday Review": James McAvoy is to star in a relationship drama "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" (p9), P J O'Rourke in his new book "The Baby Boom" admires the music but "points out that, given that neither Bob Dylan nor John Lennon were fellow boomers, it wasn't really their music at all" (p12);  and if you'd rather listen to music, then read about it, The Times recommend "Oasis: I am the Walrus. From the anniversary edition of "Definitely Maybe", a sprawling sneering live version of their favourite Fab Four cover (p21)

Saturday, 17th May

Another ice cream in Argent's Mead park, another Beatles tune playing from the bandstand - this time "Yesterday"

Radio 2 woke me this morning with a trailer for a new History of Rock n' Roll series.  It mentioned Bill Haley's "Rock around the Clock" and claims it was the first rock n' roll song heard by Lennon and McCartney and is important for that fact alone because it inspired the duo to pick up guitars.

Clocked another student, Romany, wearing a Beatles T-shirt today: black & white photo image on a grey background. But no time to take a pic.

I had a chat with John (IT guy at work and Anker Radio DJ).  We got talking about music and he mentioned Kylie's Abbey Road album.  I thought it may be a Beatles cover LP.  Apparently not, but it did lead John to list all the Beatle tribute acts he'd seen including the BeatLegs (never heard of this bunch) and the Bootlegs.

Day off work to paint, garden and receive loft insulators so limited opportunities for references but Pat came to help and told me a crowd where singing a Beatle song as they marched to support the "Bring our girls home" campaign on the news last night. He's not a music fan so couldn't identify the song. Beatles, Nigeria and kidnapped girls: never thought they'd soundtrack such a tragic story.

I'm going to a meeting tonight about closing branch libraries but checked what I might missing on TV first. "Nowhere Boy",  the biopic about John Lennon's early life,is on Film4.  I remember going to Warwick Arts Centre to see this with Mike and the rest of the band.  I think we enjoyed it more than they did!

I missed "Later ..." at the weekend so watched it tonight.  Aloe Blacc performed and talked to Jools about his first appearance on the show and how thrilled he was to see Paul McCartney singing along and clapping.

Finishing off Saturday's T2 crossword tonight.  Delighted that 6 Down is: "One of the Beatles (5)". Answer: Ringo

A wet day, a late morning reading The Times "Saturday Review".  "It was the year of proto-pop culture, when we all became more arty, tarty, gay, feminist, psychedelic, transatlantic, pro-Beatled and pop-psyched" (p13).   So says the reviewer of "1965: The year modern Britain was born"  (by Christopher Bray).  I rather like the term pro-Beatled - must try to slip it into conversation!

"Let it be" seems to be getting a bit of airplay lately.  Today I heard it on the Dermot O'Leary R2 show at about 4.45 pm - while I updated my CV (which I last amended a year ago to the day - spooky)

A new mag. seen in my local WHSmith



Apparently the Beatles are coming!  I don't think they have ever been away.

They popped up again in the evening.  Barry Manilow was on "The Graham Norton Show".  I was shocked by his appearance and was interested to know his age.  So I looked him up on Wikipedia: "In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously ... equalled only by ... The Beatles" [and five other acts].  And he's 70 years old.


 



It's my birthday today and the message inside this card (from my boss) reads  "It's been a hard day's night".

It's BCAF week and tonight it was Burbage Live - six pubs, six bands.  As always Mick and Mo came over; Keith too with his brother, Mick.  We had a good evening - 3 pubs, 3 bands: some years we miss the music altogether!  We finished in the Constitutional Club - as we walked in the door I heard "Back in the USSR" and  one of the singers was Nick Mayne, brother of Tony (Mike's dear, departed friend). Only disappointment - no chips on the way home (it was too late)

Pat came to see me tonight - back from his business trip to India.  Lots of tales to tell, including an evening out to a Hard Rock Café in Bangalore that was decorated with pictures of ... George Harrison.

Breakfast in bed with Saturday's supplements.  I found out that it costs £97.50 to get to Hamburg by train "there's a charming historic old town to explore ... plus tours around the Beatles' old hangouts from the Fab Four's time in the city" (Times: Weekend. Germany by train ... p30). 

I also discovered that Mark Ellen (rock journalist) "is an amiable, McCartney-esque figure" who has recently published a vivid memoir "Rock Stars stole my life! A big bad love affair with music" (Times: Saturday Review p12).

But I did already know that the Everly Brothers had a profound effect on the Beatles.  A trailer advertising a R2 programme on the pair reminded me today.  Mike was a big fan of the Everlys: we saw them a couple of times and he used to sing their songs with his close friend Steve Cartwright in a group called Earl and the Shiltones!

Moore with Lennon & Yoko

I had breakfast in the garden then sat in the sun reading yesterday's news in The Time.  Apparently 91-year old Baroness Trumpington is not a pop fan.  In the Quick Fire section of a two-page interview she's asked "One Direction or The Beatles?" Her answer "I think they're all bloody awful" (p31). 

Jack Henry Moore would probably have chosen the latter.  He died last month. An impresario of avant garde music in Swinging Sixties London, his obituary (p78) highlights his close association with Lennon and Yoko. He had a vast archive of sound and video recordings of the pair and he "hosted Ono's first happening" and helped to produce "The Alchemical Wedding (1968) at the Albert Hall.  Lennon and Oko appeared in a bag...It was intended to make the audience think". I bet it did! I remember seeing a clip of a "bag performance" and finding it ridiculous

Later in the day I turned the radio on and was rewarded with a Beatles Triple  on the Paul O'Grady R2 show(which I nearly missed as I was about to plug the hoover in):  Hey Jude, Hello Goodbye and Let it Be.

I watched about 45 mins of last night's show - some good covers.  Paul and Ringo in the audience with Beatle family members and a host of celebrity fans. A bit too "sentimental" and "groupie-ish" for my liking but will "catch up" with the rest sometime.

I heard two more Beatles songs today.  The first was Jamie Callum singing a jazzy version of "Can't buy me love" whilst I had a picnic in the park (they play music over the bandstand speakers). More piped music in B & Q. I caught "Eight Days a Week" just as I was leaving the store with another tin of paint.

"The Beatles: The night that changed America - A Grammy Salute". Stars perform Beatle songs to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four's appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" .  The programme starts in a few minutes - sounds star-studded and interesting but it goes on til late; not sure if I'll make it to the end (ITV). 

I woke up knowing it was going to be a difficult, challenging day ... and to Paul McCartney singing "accentuate the positive ..."!  (R2)