The Beatles (171 page)

Read The Beatles Online

Authors: Bob Spitz

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography / General, #Music / Genres & Styles - Pop Vocal

BOOK: The Beatles
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Bad to Me
”: “Billy J. Kramer—So Much Melody,”
NME,
7/19/63.


Tip of My Tongue
”: Released on Piccadilly no. 7N 35137,
NME,
8/2/63.


answering song
”: “I’d planned an ‘answering song.’ ” Paul McCartney in
Anthology,
p. 96.

a “crummy idea
”: Ibid.


brilliant… one of the most vital [songs]
”: George Martin in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 125.


Oh my God, what a lyric!
”: Lewisohn,
Sessions,
p. 32.


No one played it
”: Author interview with Paul Marshall, 8/28/97.


stone-cold dead
”: Dave Dexter, Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 134.


They didn’t pay anything
”: Author interview with Roland Rennie, 8/7/97.


Sometimes, you know, I feel
”: “Close Up on a Beatle: Paul McCartney,”
NME,
10/7/63.


Beatles fever
”:
Melody Maker,
10/26/63.


a staggering 235,000 copies
”:
NME,
8/16/63.


sitting round a big fire
”: “There’s nothing better, for me, than a bit of peace and quiet.” “Close Up on a Beatle: George Harrison,”
NME,
8/16/63.


I’m not really interested in sport
”:
NME,
8/9/63.

Ringo “didn’t have a large vocal range
”:
Paul McCartney in Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 148.


If he couldn’t mentally picture
”: Ibid., p. 152.

The boys had been on the way
: “We’d go to his office and window shop on the way.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 154.


Mecca
”: “It was where all the guitar shops were.” Paul McCartney in
Anthology,
p. 101.


Well, Ringo’s got this track
”: Ibid.


a throwaway
”: “We weren’t going to give them anything great, right?” Sheff,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 145.

They played what they had
: Wyman,
Stone Alone,
p. 150.


So Paul and I just went off
”: Sheff,
Playboy Interviews,
p. 145.


Can I have that song?
”: Author interview with Billy J. Kramer, 12/16/97.


their act [was] fast
”:
Boyfriend,
10/63.


We were like kings
”: John Lennon, 1974 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 101.


This is it! London!
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 120.

CHAPTER 23: SO THIS IS BEATLEMANIA


there was nothing bigger
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 102.


My mum, Annie
”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.


various decoy routes
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

BEATLEMANIA
!
:
Daily Mirror,
10/14/63.


Screaming girls launched themselves
”: “Siege of the Beatles,”
Daily Herald,
10/14/63.


It was
exactly
the story
”: Author interview with Don Short, 8/11/63.


impropriety
”: “I said there had been no impropriety in this association. To my very deep regret I have to admit that this was not true.” Letter from John Profumo to Harold Macmillan, 6/4/63.


considerable sexual license
”: “Even during the Victorian high noon, the upper and upper-middle classes had always allowed themselves considerable sexual license.” Melly,
Revolt Into Style,
p. 37.


All over Britain… incredible scenes
”: “This Week’s Beatlemania,”
Melody Maker,
11/2/63.


hundreds slept in the streets
”: Ibid.


midnight panic
”: “It’s really here…
BEATLEMANIA,

Sunday People,
11/27/63, p. 1.

girls “fainted—and got hurt
”: “And 50 policemen were struggling to control the singing, screaming crowd.” Ibid.


Thousands of girls battled
”: “60 Teenagers Hurt in Cinema Stampede,”
Sunday People,
11/3/63.


thousands[,] of screaming fans
”: Davies,
Beatles,
p. 182.

By coincidence, “the commotion
”: “We couldn’t believe all the commotion at Heathrow Airport when we arrived.” Ed Sullivan in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 140.

430–31
Sullivan had some idea
: “Instead of paying the $5,000 that had been asked originally, [Sullivan] was forced to ante up $50,000.” Goldman,
Elvis,
p. 203.

Cliff Richard… had “died
”: Davies,
Beatles,
p. 192.


He was fourteenth on the bill
”: John Lennon, 1967 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 116.


We prefer to wait
”:
Melody Maker,
6/15/63.


a fuckin’ shitty pop movie
”: Wenner,
Lennon Remembers,
p. 79.

during his first meeting with the Beatles
: “We piled into a cab and went to EMI Studios, where we gathered in an empty office.” Walter Shenson, 4/84, AGA.


Oh, I don’t know
”: “I met with them; John was the spokesman.” Author interview with Walter Shenson, 4/22/99.


I really found myself
”:
Ibid.


I’ll do it for
nothing!
”: Ibid.


We laid out the terms
”: Ibid.


He was talking percentages of
record albums
”: Walter Shenson, 4/84, AGA.


He wanted to see a script
”: “I was dreading the day that someone finally said, ‘What are you going to make?’ ” Ibid.


the most banal nonsense
”: Author interview with Walter Shenson, 4/22/99.


And Brian came up with
”: Wenner,
Lennon Remembers,
p. 79.

Shenson was appalled
: “I said, ‘
Why
Alun Owen?’ ” Walter Shenson, 4/84, AGA.


I think it should be an exaggerated
”: Author interview with Walter Shenson, 4/22/99.


They were nervous
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.

BEATLES ROCK THE ROYALS
:
Daily Express,
10/5/63, p. 1.

434–35 “
it was impossible to go home
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 109.


Overflowing ashtrays
”: Braun,
Love Me Do,
p. 52.


It was such a buzz
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 109.


There was no homeliness
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 103.


obligatory period of post-war austerity
”: Wheen,
The Sixties,
p. 14.


So many factors commingled
”: Green,
Days in the Life,
p. viii.


It seemed great to me
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 115.

Although by no means an intellectual
: Author interview with Lionel Bart, 1/16/98.


an intuitive brightness
”: “Now I’m bright enough but mine is an intuitive brightness.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 106.


Coming in from the provinces
”: Green,
Days in the Life,
p. 48.


Every man who ever met Jane
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.

a pale, creamy complexion
: “Her mass of Titian-coloured hair cascaded around her face and shoulders, her pale complexion.” C. Lennon,
A Twist,
p. 121.


We thought she was blonde
”: Paul McCartney in
Anthology,
p. 110.


She was smart and sexy
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/8/97.


something about seeing them together
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.


Both of them came with plenty
”: Author interview with John Dunbar, 1/13/98.

every night “out and about
”: “They were always together.” Ibid.


It was really like culture shock
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 106.


For a young guy
”: Ibid.


I invited the whole industry
”: Walter Hofer, 3/83, AGA.


a good TV attraction
”: Ed Sullivan in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 140.


plus five round-trip
”: Ibid.


to get over this hurdle
”: Author interview with Roland Rennie, 8/7/97.


But L.G. wasn’t asking anymore
”: Author interview with Paul Marshall, 8/28/97.

According to a 1997 interview
: “For whatever reason, I said, ‘Okay.’ ” Alan Livingston,
Arena
archives.

700,000 copies
: “Advance orders for the disc…”
NME,
11/3/63.

Even at Capitol
: “For an artist that had a following, you might press twenty-five, fifty thousand.” Alan Livingston,
Arena
archives.


After a while,” Bernstein recalled
: Spitz,
The Making of Superstars,
p. 190.


Girls are fainting
”: “Beatsville,”
Melody Maker,
11/9/63.


rampaging fans
”: Lewisohn,
25 Years in the Life,
p. 29.


Getting them inside
”: “Beatsville,”
Melody Maker,
11/9/63.

In Sunderland
: “The Beatles manage their escape from the Sunderland Theater,” Braun,
Love Me Do,
p. 43.

George Martin arrived backstage
: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.


a great album
”: “Here They Come Again—Stand By for New Records,”
Melody Maker,
11/23/63.


a knockout
”:
“Beatles Tell the Secrets Behind Their Golden Tracks,”
NME,
11/15/63.


The second album was slightly better
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 107.

It was influenced, John recalled
: “He described [it] as ‘me trying to do a Smokey Robinson.’ ” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 148.


We were all very interested in American music
”: Paul McCartney in
Anthology,
p. 107.


one of the all-time great poets
”: Wenner,
Lennon Remembers,
p. 168.

Paul “sounded like a woman
”: George Harrison in Braun,
Love Me Do,
p. 49.


a failed attempt at a single
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 83.

something “artistic
”: “
With the Beatles
is the first [album cover] where we thought, ‘Hey, let’s get artistic.’ ” George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 107.

Freeman posed the Beatles
: Freeman,
Yesterday: The Beatles,
p. 8.


shockingly humorless
”: “Certainly EMI were strongly opposed to its use.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 157.


it would damage their image
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.


I’d never seen anything like it
”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/8/97.

On that first day alone
:
NME,
11/29/63.

The Cavern sponsored the chartered excursion
: “We had about 30 Cavernites on that plane.” Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

By the last week in November
:
Record Retailer,
11/28/63.

The next week “She Loves You
”:
Disc,
11/30/63.

NME
’s album chart
: “Best Selling LPs in Britain,”
NME,
12/4/63.


the switchboard just went totally wild
”: “Carroll James Remembers,”
Beatlefan,
April-May 1984, pp. 8–9.


There came a time
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.


the craziest Xmas greeting
”:
NME,
12/6/63.


Thank you, Ringo
”:
The Beatles Christmas Record,
Official Beatles Fan Club, 12/63.


Somebody asked us
”: Ibid.


I started getting jelly babies
”:
Disc,
April 1964.


it felt dangerous
”: “It was like being in a zoo on stage!” Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 106.


gone
right off
jelly babies!
”:
The Beatles Christmas Record,
1963.


on the cusp of showbiz
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 135.


genuine
”: In Michael Braun’s
Love Me Do,
Paul observes: “Quite a few people mention the word genuine” to describe the Beatles. “Which we’re not,” John responds (p. 32).


a resident show
”: Author interview with Peter Yolland, 1/12/98.

Delfont suggested he accept
: D. Taylor,
Fifty Years,
p. 101.


drive him crackers
”: Ibid., p. 102.


a shambles, just chaos
”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.


quite revolutionary
”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.


When I left Liverpool
”: John Lennon, 1971 interview, in
Anthology,
p. 109.


brand-new Jaguar XK-E
”: Author interview with Frieda Kelly Norris, 10/5/97.


My idea was to make the Beatles
”: Author interview with Peter Yolland, 1/14/98.


I used to wake up
”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.

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