REMEMBERING JOHN LENNON 2012 W/GUEST MICKY DOLENZ 9AM

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2 2 REMEMBERING JOHN LENNON 2012 W/GUEST MICKY DOLENZ 9AM 2

3 3 The Beatles - In My Life - Rubber Soul Lead vocals: John with Paul Recorded October 18, 1965 and written primarily by John, who called it his first real major piece of work. Of all the Lennon-McCartney collaborations only two songs have really been disputed by John and Paul themselves -- Eleanor Rigby and In My Life. Both agree that the lyrics are 100% Lennon, but John says Paul helped on the musical 3

4 4 bridge, while Paul recalls writing the entire melody on John s Mellotron. The gorgeous piano solo is provided by George Martin. To give his solo a harpsichord sound the producer played the piano at half speed and an octave lower so that when played at regular speed it would be in the correct key for the song. On U.S. album: Rubber Soul - Capitol LP The Beatles - Across The Universe - Let It Be Lead vocal: John Recorded February 8, 1968 for The World Wildlife Fund charity LP Spike Milligan from the Goon Show. Prior to leaving for an extended trip to India to study Transcendental Meditation in early 1968, the Beatles recorded several new songs to fill the sides of their upcoming single, which would be released while they were away. John had originally wanted his new composition, Across The Universe, for the A-side of the single but was still not happy with the mix of the song. When the Beatles sat down to decide which two of their new recordings should be used, John preferred Across the Universe remain on the shelf for the time being, giving Paul s more commercial Lady Madonna the A-side. Across The Universe was written entirely by John and was recorded February 4, 1968, in eight takes. Overdubs were recorded on February 8. Comedian and author Spike Milligan had been at Abbey Road when the group was working on the song and some months later inquired about it. He was surprised to learn that Across the Universe was sitting unreleased in EMI s vault, so Milligan asked Lennon to donate the song to a charity album he was organizing for the World Wildlife Fund. Milligan was a British comedy legend who, along with Peter Sellers, starred in The Goon Show, one of John s all-time favorite programs. Lennon not only gladly contributed the song to be used on the charity album, but arranged to have the songwriting royalties from the recording given to the World Wildlife Fund. This charity album version, known by fans as the Wildlife version, was released in December Although it is popularly believed that the two versions of Across The Universe are different recordings, they are not. Both the Wildlife version and the Phil Spector re-produced version are derived from the same February 8, 1968, master tape. For the charity album, the sound of birds was added and the tape was sped up to give it a higher pitch. On April 1, 1970, Spector stripped some elements from the original February 8, 1968, master tape, slowed it down and added an orchestra and choir. The instrumental line-up is John on acoustic guitar, Paul on piano, George on tamboura and wah-wah guitar (second and third refrains only) and Ringo on drums. John Lennon Grow Old With Me - Milk and Honey 84 Taken from another Robert Browning poem, grow old with me, the best is yet to be, is another heartbreaking reminder that we lost an incredible song writer, too soon, with music that should go on for another hundred pages but this solo Beatles Bible is much, much shorter than it should. What a shame! 4

5 5 As we grow old with John.who we lost 32 years ago this weekend 9.10 Break The Beatles Ain t She Sweet Anthology 1 Recorded Germany Summer 1961 The Beatles - Please Please Me Please Please Me (McCartney-Lennon) Lead vocal: John and Paul The Beatles second single release for EMI s Parlophone label. Written entirely by John Lennon in the bedroom of his Aunt Mimi s home on Menlove Ave., Lennon has said it was his attempt at writing a Roy Orbison song. In fact, the original version was a slower, bluesy version which producer George Martin recalls as being rather dreary. Because Martin was insisting on releasing their previously recorded cover of How Do You Do It? as their next single, The Beatles rearranged Please Please Me as an up-tempo song with harmonies and harmonica and then stood their ground to get it selected as their second single. Martin agreed to issue 5

6 6 this Beatles original as the next single, shelving How Do You Do It? for another month, when it again came up for consideration for a single release. This was the first record owned by Elvis Costello, who was in the Beatles Fan Club when he was eleven. The 45 rpm single was released January 11, 1963 and topped two of the UK music industry s three sales charts, compelling EMI to order a full album of songs from the band. It was the first Beatles release to list the songwriters as McCartney-Lennon. Both sides featured the credit in that last name order. Released three different times in the U.S. on Vee-Jay. The coupling of Please Please Me and Ask Me Why caused many to take notice of The Beatles, and particularly Lennon and McCartney's burgeoning songwriting partnership. It led to Dick James approaching them to found Northern Songs, their music publishing company. On U.S. albums: Introducing The Beatles (Version 2) - Vee-Jay LP The Early Beatles - Capitol LP The Beatles - Money (That s What I Want) Live Stockholm Sweden`63 (Bradford-Gordy) Lead vocal: John Originally recorded by Barrett Strong and released as a single on Motown s Tamla and Anna labels in 1959 and 1960 respectively, peaking at #23 in It was a part of The Beatles live repertoire from 1960 to On July 18, 1963, the group, with George Martin on piano, performed the song live in the studio -- vocals and all -- for six full takes, the final take being deemed the best. Although The Beatles involvement with the recorded track lasted this one day, George Martin continued to add overdubs and tinker with his piano part until the song was completed to his satisfaction on September 30, On U.S. album: The Beatles Second Album - Capitol LP The Beatles - I Don t Want To Spoil The Party - Beatles For Sale Lead vocal: John and Paul Written primarily by John, who called it one of his favorites. Recorded in 19 takes (only five of which were complete run-throughs) on September 29, The B-side of the Eight Days A Week single in the U.S., issued February 15, On U.S. album: Beatles VI - Capitol LP 6

7 7 The Beatles - A Hard Day s Night - A Hard Day s Night Lead vocal: John with Paul The Beatles seventh single release for EMI s Parlophone label. The title is a Ringoism, coined by the drummer sometime in 1963 and used by John in his book In His Own Write. With the film nearly completed the last bit of business was to give the film a name. The project was being filmed with the working title Beatlemania. On April 13, 1964 The Beatles met with key personnel from the studio and bounced title ideas. It was felt they d find no better suggestion than Ringo s offhand remark it s been a hard day s night and John volunteered to write the title song that evening. The next morning he brought the song in and taught it to Paul. Paul cleaned up the middle section and the two played it for producer Walter Shenson. Two days later The Beatles would formally record the song. It was a rarity for an outsider to be allowed in the studio or control booth while The Beatles rehearsed and recorded. An exception was made for the director of the A Hard Day s Night film, Richard Lester. Lester was in the control booth and offered many suggestions during the morning while this key song was worked out, much to the dismay of producer George Martin. It was 7

8 8 Lester s suggestion that the song open dramatically (as it would open the film), and fade out at the end in a cinematic way. He got his wish. George s striking a G suspended 4th chord on his 12-string Rickenbacker make this record instantly recognizable in its opening two seconds. Released as a single in the UK on July 10, 1964, it went straight to #1. On U.S. album: A Hard Day s Night - United Artists LP The Beatles - Help! - Help! Lead vocal: John The Beatles tenth single release for EMI s Parlophone label. Recorded during a three-hour session on April 13, Written mostly by John with some help from Paul. In 1965 George Harrison was interviewed about the upcoming single, saying it s probably the best single we ve done. Harrison said the group was really pleased with the song, and described it as being more involved than previous Beatles songs. It has a counter melody going on as well as a main melody. In 1980 John Lennon said, The whole Beatle thing was just beyond comprehension. I was eating and drinking like a pig and I was fat as a pig, dissatisfied with myself, and subconsciously I was crying for help. When Help! came out, I was actually crying out for help. I didn't realize it at the time. I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help. So it was my fat Elvis period. You see the movie: he - I - is very fat, very insecure, and he's completely lost himself. Lennon has pointed to 1967 s Strawberry Fields Forever and Help! as his only honest songs with the Beatles. The song was number one in the U.S. for three weeks, and in the UK it spent four weeks at number one. On U.S. album: Help! - Capitol LP 8

9 9 The Beatles - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Rubber Soul Lead vocal: John Originally recorded on October 12, 1965, The Beatles decided to scrap this version and re-record the song nine days later, on October 21. George Harrison provides the sitar, the first appearance of the instrument on a Beatles recording, though the sitar can be heard in the instrumental introduction on the American version of Help! Written mainly by John with some lyrical assistance from Paul. John: I was trying to write about an affair without letting me wife know so it was very gobbledegook. I was sort of writing from my experiences, girls flats. Paul has said that the ending lyrics, so I lit a fire, refer to the house being burned down in an act of revenge by the spurned lover. Bob Dylan did a slight parody of the song on his 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde. Check out the song 4 th Time Around. On U.S. album: Rubber Soul - Capitol LP Some Beatles featuring the then John Winston Lennon who would become John Winston ONO Lennon in the years to come.. QUIZ #1 (after read back) 9

10 10 * What was the working title of the first song recorded for the Revolver album we ve gone over this many time before class you should known this by now! KLOS (not The Void) 9.42 BREAK A/Mark 1 The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows Revolver sessions Lead vocal: John The first song recorded for what would become the Revolver album. John s composition was unlike anything The Beatles or anyone else had ever recorded. Lennon s vocal is buried under a wall of sound -- an assemblage of repeating tape loops and sound effects placed on top of a dense one chord song with basic melody driven by Ringo's thunderous drum pattern. The lyrics were largely taken from The Psychedelic Experience, a 1964 book written by Harvard psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, which contained an adaptation of the ancient Tibetan Book of the 10

11 11 Dead. Each Beatle worked at home on creating strange sounds to add to the mix. Then they were added at different speeds sometime backwards. Paul got arranging credit. He had discovered that by removing the erase head on his Grundig reel-to-reel tape machine, he could saturate a recording with sound. On U.S. album: Revolver - Capitol LP The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever - Non-LP track Lead vocal: John The Beatles fourteenth single release for EMI s Parlophone label. Recording began on November 24, Written in Spain by John several months earlier while he was filming the Richard Lester-directed film How I Won The War. The beautiful Take 1 of this Lennon classic can be heard on the Anthology 2 album. It is entirely different than the finished version. Strawberry Fields was actually a Salvation Army home in the neighborhood where Lennon grew up. John used to go to parties there and it always brought back happy memories to him. One of the only two honest songs that John says he wrote for the Beatles. The other? Help! The Beatles - A Day In The Life - Sgt. Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band Lead vocals: John and Paul Work began on January 19, 1967, for what is quite possibly the finest Lennon- McCartney collaboration of their songwriting career. On this evening, following some rehearsal, Lennon rolled tentatively through four takes, drawing a road map for the other Beatles and George Martin to follow. Lennon on vocals and Jumbo acoustic guitar, McCartney on piano, Harrison on maracas and Starr on congas. Sections were incomplete and to hold their space Mal Evans stood by a microphone and counted from one to 24, marking the time. To cue the end of the middle eight overdub section an alarm clock was sounded. There was no Paul McCartney vocal yet, merely instruments at this point where his contribution would be placed. On January 20, Paul added his section, which he would re-recorded on February 3. Lennon told Beatles biographer Hunter Davies that the first verse was inspired by a story in the January 17, 1967, edition of the Daily Mail about the car accident that killed Guinness heir Tara Browne. John: I didn t copy the accident. Tara didn t blow his mind out, but it was in my mind when I was writing that verse. The second verse was inspired by Lennon s work on Richard Lester s film How I Won The War. According to Paul, the third verse came from a Daily Mail article published on January 7, 1967, about 4,000 potholes in the streets of Blackburn, Lancashire. 11

12 12 The Beatles - Sexy Sadie - The Beatles Lead vocal: John On February 19, 1968, the Beatles left the comforts of the UK for an oft-postponed extended trip to Rishikesh, India. Arriving the next day, they had come to learn the powers of mediation under the direction of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Academy of Transcendental Meditation. The compound was located 150 feet above the Ganges surrounded on three sides by jungle-covered mountains. Students would live in stone cottages. Each cottage had twin beds and modern bathroom facilities. George Harrison had been enlightened by the Indian culture and the Maharishi s teachings and invited his band mates to immerse themselves in it as well. But instead of rejuvenating the other Beatles, the trip became tedious. Ringo and wife Maureen left Rishikesh after 10 days, complaining of missing their children and not liking the food. John and Paul turned it into a songwriting vacation, much to Harrison s irritation. Paul and girlfriend Jane Asher returned to England on March 26. In April, things came to a head when a rumor circulated that the Maharishi had made sexual advances toward at least one of the women at the compound. 12

13 13 The Beatles - Come Together - Abbey Road Lead vocal: John The Beatles twenty-first single release for EMI, and fourth on the Apple Records label. When John and Yoko were in Montreal staging their second and last Bed-In For Peace they were visited by Timothy Leary, an outspoken proponent of LSD. During their visit, Leary and his wife participated in John and Yoko s hotel room recording of Give Peace A Chance, singing on the chorus. Timothy is even name-checked in the lyrics. He asked John to write a song titled Come Together Join The Party for his bid to become governor of California. Lennon obliged and responded with lyrics such as: Come together right now/don t come tomorrow, don t come alone/come together right now over me. Lennon recorded a demo for Leary, who started using it as his campaign song. After being imprisoned for possession of marijuana in late 1969, Leary dropped out of the gubernatorial race, which was won by Ronald Reagan. Lennon reworked and expanded the song for the Beatles. NEWS w/ Jackie HERE BREAK Instant Karma!/Who Has Seen The Wind? (single) (John Lennon and Yoko Ono) February 21 st, 1970 John Lennon Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) Inspired by a conversation with Yoko s ex-husband, Tony Cox in Denmark two days earlier John woke up and started banging out a new tune on the piano which he completed in an hour. Within hours, John wrangled musicians and producer, Phil Spector to record the song. It was put to tape later that evening and the track was released ten days later. 13

14 14 One of the stars of our KLOS XMAS Show & fresh off the road with the Monkees. Micky Dolenz!!! A message from Yoko Ono to our BWTB listeners read by Micky Dolenz: Dear Friends It's Time for Action, Action is Peace. Think Peace, Act Peace, Spread Peace, IMAGINE PEACE! Together we have the power to change the world. I LOVE YOU!! Yoko Ono Lennon December 8th

15 15 John Lennon Imagine Imagine 71 John s most famous anthem, and one of the most memorable songs of all time, this was to be considered John s Yesterday. It was inspired by Yoko s poem Cloud Piece from It continues to have massive radio play to this very day and was infamously censored (and retracted) by Clear Channel following the 9/11 attacks. This was John s dream no religion, no wars, no possessions his utopian ideal. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)/Listen, The Snow Is Falling (single) (John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band) November 24 th, 1972 John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band Happy Xmas (War Is Over) This is one of the most popular Christmas Holiday tunes of all time. John used the basic melody from Peter, Paul & Mary s Stewball, with a terrific backing vocal from the Harlem Children s Community Choir 15

16 16 BREAK Micky Dolenz Good Morning Good Morning Remember Hollywood Vampires - Wikkipedia The Hollywood Vampires From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Hollywood Vampires was a group of famous male rock stars in the 1970s. The hazing to get into the club was to outdrink all the [citation needed] members. In one interview, Alice Cooper lists members including Bernie Taupin, Harry Nilsson, Micky Dolenz, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon. [1] 16

17 17 One photograph from an Alice Cooper: Prime Cuts documentary includes: Micky Dolenz,Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson, Alice Cooper, and Jack Cruz. [who?] Alice Cooper from Alice Cooper: Prime Cuts:...The Speakeasy and Tramps were the place to be in London. There was a little loft at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in LA (W. Hollywood), they only had that for the club: the club was myself, Keith Moon, Ringo, Micky Dolenz, Harry Nilsson, it was that crowd, every night those same people. Every once in a while John Lennon would come into town orkeith Emerson and they would be honorable members of the night. They still have a plaque there at the Rainbow, where it says 'The Lair of the Hollywood Vampires.' Harry & Ringo w/ producer John Lennon doin` Dylan.(heavy) HIT IT! Harry Subterranean Homesick Blues Pussy Cats ` BREAK 17

18 18 The Beatles - Run For Your Life - Rubber Soul Lead vocal: John The first song completed when sessions for Rubber Soul began on October 12, John Lennon lifted the opening line ( I d rather see you dead little girl than to be with another man ) from Baby Let s Play House, popularized by Elvis Presley. On U.S. album: Rubber Soul - Capitol LP The Monkees Let Dance On The Monkees Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz Backing Vocals by Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Tommy Boyce and Ron Hicklin Guitar: Wayne Erwin, Gerry McGee and Louie Shelton 18

19 19 Organ: Bobby Hart Drums: Billy Lewis Recorded at RCA Victor Studios, Hollywood, July 6, 1966 (2 7:30 pm) Produced by Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart and Jack Keller Recorded right here in Hollywood. And before that a song not recorded in Hollywood. QUIZ #2 Hohner guy on the phone HERE Scott Emmerman Director Marketing and Sales HOHNER, Inc. Here s the question he was supposed to ask Q/ How did John Lennon acquire the harmonica he plays on "Love Me Do"? A/John stole the harmonica from a music shop in Arnhem, a Dutch town near to the German border. 19

20 20 The Beatles - Love Me Do Please Please Me (McCartney-Lennon) Lead vocal: John and Paul The Beatles first single release for EMI s Parlophone label. Released October 5, 1962, it reached #17 on the British charts. Principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958 and Recorded with three different drummers: Pete Best (June 6, 1962, EMI), Ringo Starr (September 4, 1962), and Andy White (September 11, 1962 with Ringo playing tambourine). The 45 rpm single lists the songwriters as Lennon-McCartney. One of several Beatles songs Paul McCartney owns with Yoko Ono. Starting with the songs recorded for their debut album on February 11, 1963, Lennon and McCartney s output was attached to their Northern Songs publishing company. Because their first single was released before John and Paul had contracted with a music publisher, EMI assigned it to their own, a company called Ardmore and Beechwood, which took the two songs Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You. Decades later McCartney and Ono were able to purchase the songs for their respective companies, MPL Communications and Lenono Music. Fun fact: John Lennon shoplifted the harmonica he played on the song from a shop in Holland. On U.S. albums: Introducing The Beatles (Version 1) - Vee-Jay LP The Early Beatles - Capitol LP The Beatles - Girl - Rubber Soul Lead vocal: John 20

21 21 Written primarily by John, the song was completed in two takes on November 11, The song is notable for the naughty backing vocal (Paul and George repeating the word tit ) and John s heavy breathing during his vocal. John called this one of his best. On U.S. album: Rubber Soul - Capitol LP BREAK #9 Bumper Madness John Lennon - #9 Dream - Walls And Bridges 74 This track had started out with the title of Walls and Bridges. It was later renamed as it is much more fitting, and continues John s fascination with the number nine. May Pang provide backing vocals ( John s ) while a message to George Harrison can be heard (as the two men had been arguing). The Beatles - I m Only Sleeping Revolver Lead vocal: John Written by John and Paul at Kenwood, John s estate in Weybridge, in one writing session. Recording of the backing rhythm track began at 11:30 p.m. on April 27, John recorded his lead vocal on April 29. Both the vocal and backing track were recorded at variable speed. It was during the recording of I m Only Sleeping that The Beatles discovered the backwards guitar. On May 5, 1966, as the band continued working on the song, George painstakingly transcribed the notes in his guitar solo and flourishes and then wrote them out backwards. He then played them in that reverse 21

22 22 order. The tapes were then superimposed BACKWARDS in the mix, playing the solo notes and embellishments in the correct order, but maintaining the eerie backwards sound. I m Only Sleeping was one of three songs issued in America six weeks prior to their official release in the UK. American and Canadian Beatles fans heard I m Only Sleeping, And Your Bird Can Sing, and Doctor Robert first on Capitol Records Yesterday And Today album, issued June 20, The rest of the world had to wait until the first week of August for them to appear on the Revolver LP. On U.S. album: Yesterday And Today - Capitol LP Micky Dolenz & John Lennon Beautiful Boy Puts You To Sleep / Double Fantasy 80 An ode to his son, Sean this is one of John s greatest songs and is a sad reminder of how much he could have accomplished, had he lived. This track contains the famous line in a Robert Browning poem, Life is what happens to you while you re busy making other plans This included slide guitar, by the one and only, Hugh McCracken BREAK Tune in next Sunday for a our big BEATLES RELATED WORLD PREMIRE OF SOMETHING I CAN T TELL YOU ABOUT 22

23 ALSO NEXT SUNDAY we ll have the author of a cool new book called The Essential Songs of the Beatles Solo Careers and his name is : Andrew Grant Jackson we ll have some fun putting together Beatles LP s that never were but could have been. 23 John Lennon Long Lost John - Anthology From the 8-track Plastic Ono Band sessions Previously unavailable version, although John had done this before during the "Let It Be" sessions. John HELP!

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