New Footage of John Lennon & George Harrison, also with Alan White!!

[Man In The Mountain]

New & exclusive 2018 Raw Studio Mix video with never-before-seen footage....



Story:
https://www.npr.org/sections/allsong...eorge-harrison

Today we have some incredible, never-before-seen footage of John Lennon recording his seemingly cutthroat song, "How Do You Sleep?" It's a song he released in 1971 and directed at his former Beatle bandmate Paul McCartney. Here's just a sample of the lyrics:

A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years

This previously unseen video, which includes the raw studio mix of the audio, completely unadorned, comes ahead of the Oct. 5 release of a 6-CD box set, Imagine - The Ultimate Collection. John Lennon's second solo album, Imagine, was released in Sep. 1971, just about two years after The Beatles went their separate ways. John Lennon said that this song was a response to lyrics on Paul McCartney's own solo album, Ram, that Lennon felt were directed at him. (Give a listen to "Too Many People" and "Back Seat of My Car" and you'll hear what Lennon was referring to.) Yoko Ono, who sat in on and co-produced these recording sessions, wrote to us to say that "John wrote many great songs, some tender and some mean... ... people thought this was about Paul, and Paul seems to have thought that too, so too bad it wasn't played too much."

[Sean]

This is pretty magical footage. Seems odd to see George sitting in with the Ono band. What's behind that? Is he on the album?

[GuitarGeek]

This is pretty magical footage. Seems odd to see George sitting in with the Ono band. What's behind that? Is he on the album?

If I remember correctly, George is indeed on Imagine, on several songs, in fact. I didn't know either, not really being that much of a fan "John Lennon, solo artist", until about 15 years ago, when a documentary called Gimme Some Truth was released, featuring footage that was shot during those sessions. As far as "what's behind that", I imagine John wanted George's guitar style on the record, so he called him up and said "Fancy playing on my record?"

I kinda have the impression things weren't as between The Beatles, post-break up, as most people might think, given how many times they worked together. There's lots of instances of two Beatles playing together at various times, such as on Imagine, as well things like Ringo playing on a couple of Paul's records, as well as at least one of George's, etc. I remember asking on another forum if there were ever any instances of three Beatles playing together, after 1970, and as I recall there were a couple examples, as well as I believe one instance of all four appearing on ar ecord, but it was one of those "They weren't in the same studio together" things. Obviously, there's Free As A Bird, but I think there was something back in the 70's that had all four, but again, their parts were overdubbed individually. And I had forgotten about George's All Those Years Ago, his tribute to John, which Ringo and Paul played on.

[ThomasKDye]

I remember asking on another forum if there were ever any instances of three Beatles playing together, after 1970, and as I recall there were a couple examples

"I'm the Greatest," on Ringo, features John and George as well. It was written by John especially for Ringo to sing. In that case they were all three in the studio at the same time.

Of course, there's "All Those Years Ago," which was written by George for Ringo. Ringo played on it but didn't like the song, so George reappropriated it after John Lennon was killed and rewrote the lyrics as a tribute to John. Paul then came in and sang backup, so yeah, in this instance they weren't all together.

[Paulrus]

Imagine you are at the Lennon’s home, Tittenhurst Park in Ascot, England. It's night. It's the last week in May in 1971 and you are their special guest, sat in a chair in the very center of the their recording studio, Ascot Sound Studios. John Lennon is sat in front of you, teaching the musicians one of his latest compositions. He is talking and singing and playing the same wood-finish Epiphone Casino electric guitar he played on 'Revolution'. A bearded George Harrison is in front of you, to the right, playing electric slide on John's pale blue Fender Strat. Just behind you and to your right, Rod Lynton with Ted Turner from Wishbone Ash are strumming chords on twelve string acoustic guitars, and directly behind you to the right, John and George's old friend Klaus Voormann is playing his deep hand-painted Fender Precision bass. Behind you to the left, Alan White (who would later join Yes) is playing his Ludwig silver sparkle drumkit, and in front of you to the left, John Tout from Renaissance is playing chords on the Steinway upright piano, and to his right, Nicky Hopkins is improvising on the red-top Wurlitzer Electric Piano, literally days before he leaves for Nellcôte to play on Exile on Main Street with The Rolling Stones. You are listening to the band playing 'How Do You Sleep' and all the hairs are standing up on your arms.

Woah. I spotted Klaus Voormann and Nicky Hopkins but didn't realize the guys from Wishbone Ashe and John Tout were also there. Alan is such a puppy.

And I think George was there partly in solidarity with John because as I recall the lawsuits between Paul and the others were really starting to fly around this time.

And WTF, is John in his pajamas?

[JJ88]

Harrison played on several songs on Imagine. His involvement in this track though was deemed by some as a 'statement' given who the lyric was aimed at.

Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues was on Imagine as well...I guess him and Lennon knew each other from the 60s tour they did.

[Trane]

This is pretty magical footage. Seems odd to see George sitting in with the Ono band. What's behind that? Is he on the album?

How Do You Sleep was always one of my fave Post-Beatles Lennon track (along WCH), so it's pure bliss for me... and yes, finding George (didn't recognize him at first, with his hair thrown sideways) in there is surprising, almost anti-Paul-ish, given the lyric attacks (unless he wasn't aware of that slant)

I kinda have the impression things weren't as between The Beatles, post-break up, as most people might think, given how many times they worked together.

interesting ... Maybe I'd like to hear more on this, coz I thought that the rift was mainly between Paul and John, but at first it was George that benefitted it most with his early solo albums (he'd even started before the break-up, as there was two 60's solo albums to his name - which I'm still trying to find/listen to) that achieved mega success

Woah. I spotted Klaus Voormann and Nicky Hopkins but didn't realize the guys from Wishbone Ashe and John Tout were also there. Alan is such a puppy.

And I think George was there partly in solidarity with John because as I recall the lawsuits between Paul and the others were really starting to fly around this time.

Recognized Hopkins on piano, but thought (wrongly) of Dougie Thompson on bass, but I didn't spot Turner and Tout at all.

TBH, I never really paid attention to the Post-Beatles ambiance of the ex-Fab Four, but this thread is lighting a spark of interest... Can you expand on how they were going on with these lawsuits, please?

Harrison played on several songs on Imagine. His involvement in this track though was deemed by some as a 'statement' given who the lyric was aimed at.

I'm a little surprised that Geogre is on that song, given the direction the lyrics took, almost as taking sides with John.

[progman1975]

This footage is on the Imagine DVD released several yrs ago

[happytheman]

New & exclusive 2018 Raw Studio Mix video with never-before-seen footage....



Story:
https://www.npr.org/sections/allsong...eorge-harrison

[i]Today we have some incredible, never-before-seen footage of John Lennon recording his seemingly cutthroat song, "How Do You Sleep?" ]

Not sure about "unseen".. I have a VHS titled Imagine where they take you thru each song from the album.. some of the cuts are pre MTV music videos and others where they are in the studio rehearsing the songs before performing (as I recall this clip of How do you Sleep is included).. there a classic clip where John plays Imagine on the piano in front of the guys before going into the process of rehearsing.. of course a lot of this could very well be staged just for the video much like the movie Imagine where the guy shows up at the front door after being camped out on Lennon's property.. who really believes that wasn't staged.. Nonetheless it's fascinating footage..
Re: question of how often did they show up on each others recordings.. Of course Ringo was on Johns first album, George not only shows up on Imagine but on Sometime in New York City he's credited on the Live Jam cut under a pseudo name George Harrisong, and as I recall on Ringo's album Ringo they all appear at some point on songs from that album.. just never together in the studio at the same time. And for the bootleg collectors in the group there was that infamous time in LA during John's "lost weekend" were Paul was in the room along with Ringo, Harry Nillson, Stevie Wonder and a whole host of musicians.. the copy of those sessions I have are awful..

[Guitarplyrjvb]

That's some nice slide playing by George. Voorman looks like he's going to nod off!

[Gruno]

This footage is on the Imagine DVD released several yrs ago

That's the first thing that came to mind for me. Excerpts from this do appear in that film.

[Paulrus]

TBH, I never really paid attention to the Post-Beatles ambiance of the ex-Fab Four, but this thread is lighting a spark of interest... Can you expand on how they were going on with these lawsuits, please?

From Wikipedia, in 1969...

New strains developed between the band members regarding the appointment of a financial adviser, the need for which had become evident without Epstein to manage business affairs. Lennon, Harrison and Starr favoured Allen Klein, who had managed the Rolling Stones and Sam Cooke; McCartney wanted Lee and John Eastman – father and brother, respectively, of Linda Eastman, whom McCartney married on 12 March. Agreement could not be reached, so both Klein and the Eastmans were temporarily appointed: Klein as the Beatles' business manager and the Eastmans as their lawyers. Further conflict ensued, however, and financial opportunities were lost. On 8 May, Klein was named sole manager of the band, the Eastmans having previously been dismissed as the Beatles' attorneys. McCartney refused to sign the management contract with Klein, but he was out-voted by the other Beatles.

...Lennon announced his departure to the rest of the group on 20 September, but agreed to withhold a public announcement to avoid undermining sales of [Abbey Road].

...McCartney was unhappy with [Phil Spector's] approach [to Let It Be] and particularly dissatisfied with the lavish orchestration on "The Long and Winding Road", which involved a fourteen-voice choir and 36-piece instrumental ensemble. McCartney's demands that the alterations to the song be reverted were ignored, and he publicly announced his departure from the band on 10 April 1970, a week before the release of his first, self-titled solo album.

...McCartney filed suit for the dissolution of the Beatles' contractual partnership on 31 December 1970. Legal disputes continued long after their break-up, and the dissolution was not formalised until 29 December 1974, when John Lennon signed the paperwork terminating the partnership while on vacation with his family at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

[ronmac]

I'm pretty sure George knew exactly what "How do You Sleep?" was all about. Yes, it was John's answer to Paul in response to the two Ram tracks. Plus, there was a picture of a beetle fucking a beetle on the cover.

Yes, all four did contribute to "Ringo," but not all four at once.

Three Beatles (sans John) performed at Eric Clapton's wedding, from what I understand. That's as close as they got to a reunion. Cream also played there.

And, yes, the recording of Paul and John together in '74 is not very good. But, to call it a "session" is inaccurate. It was a loose jam with lots of coke being passed around.

I agree that the so-called "feud" wasn't what the rest of the world made it out to be. John and Paul still loved each other.

[JJ88]

McCartney admitted to one Ram song being about Lennon/Ono- 'Too Many People'. I think Lennon also took 'Dear Boy' and '3 Legs' as personal slights, as well as the repeated lyric 'we believe that we can't be wrong' in 'The Back Seat Of My Car'. But none of these are anywhere near as explicit as 'How Do You Sleep'.

I remember reading some transcript (it's in the Many Years From Now book) though where it seemed to me that a certain producer was stirring the pot between John and Paul, making negative comments about Paul's solo work and trying to get John to do the same.

The 'Toot And A Snore In 74' jam is indeed bloody awful, only Stevie Wonder briefly singing 'Cupid' has any life in it!

[GuitarGeek]

Three Beatles (sans John) performed at Eric Clapton's wedding, from what I understand. That's as close as they got to a reunion. Cream also played there.

George, Paul, and Ringo, I believe, played, with Eric filling out the quartet. Yes, that's right, George performed at his ex-wife's second wedding reception. Good gig if you can get it.

As has been mentioned before, Paul and Ringo played on All Those Years Ago, George's tribute to John. And all three of them participated in the Free As A Bird session.

And, yes, the recording of Paul and John together in '74 is not very good. But, to call it a "session" is inaccurate. It was a loose jam with lots of coke being passed around.

OK, that's something I'd been wondering about for some time. I saw a documentary probably about 10 years ago, about John's time living in the US. When they get up to talking about the "lost weekend", there's a point where May Pang talks about John and Paul spending time together in LA, and how for awhile, it kinda sorta looked like they might do something together, musically. I wonder if there's any truth to that, i.e. how close did they actually come.

If they actually jammed together, that implies they might have been at least attempting to feel each other out, to see if there was enough common ground or whatever for a collaboration. Or maybe they were just having fun, and it was just in May Pang's mind (or maybe a few other people) that there was any serious possibility that John and Paul might actually say "Let's do a record together!".

I agree that the so-called "feud" wasn't what the rest of the world made it out to be. John and Paul still loved each other.

Well, you can file that along with "The Beatles broke up because of Yoko and/or Linda". Yeah, I know Linda's name usually doesn't come up the way Yoko's does vis-a-vis the band's breakup, but as you indicate, there was disagreement over hiring a new manager, with Paul wanting to put forward his new in-laws, so just as one could theorize (incorrectly, of course) that Yoko was "responsible" for breaking up the Beatles, that onus could also be put on Linda (again, incorrectly). I even saw the matter brought up in an interview with her back int he late 80's, so clearly someone in the entertainment news department at CBS, I believe it was, felt it was an issue worth dwelling on 20 years after the fact.

But as we now all know, the breakup was something that was coming, already a couple years earlier. Things were already falling apart during the White Album sessions, and it wasn't because Yoko was there.

But having said that, John really shouldn't have Yoko hanging around while band business was going on. That was just a relaly dumb idea, I don't care how much he was in love with her. No musician wants to hear his bandmate's significant other "constructive criticism" about what you're doing (unless you're playing in either Pat Benatar's backup band, or Quarterflash, because ya know, in that case, the significant other is also in the band).

[Paulrus]

Yes, that's right, George performed at his ex-wife's second wedding reception. Good gig if you can get it.

No kidding. File that one under "The Weird Lives of Rock Stars of the 60s".

But having said that, John really shouldn't have Yoko hanging around while band business was going on. That was just a relaly dumb idea, I don't care how much he was in love with her.

I think it was mostly as he later was quoted: "I don't have to tell my wife how my day at work went", but perhaps also a bit because he knew exactly how much it would drive a wedge between himself and the others and likely accelerate the breakup. I think he wanted out more than he showed or let on.

[GuitarGeek]

No kidding. File that one under "The Weird Lives of Rock Stars of the 60s".

You seriously didn't Eric and George were married to the same woman? Or do you just mean that you didn't know George played at Eric and Patti's wedding reception? Patti Boyd has an interesting place in music history. How many women get to say she inspired not one, but two men (one of them a Beatle) to write songs about her?!

I think it was mostly as he later was quoted: "I don't have to tell my wife how my day at work went", but perhaps also a bit because he knew exactly how much it would drive a wedge between himself and the others and likely accelerate the breakup. I think he wanted out more than he showed or let on.

Yeah, I suppose I could see that, but if he wanted out, why didn't he just leave? Or is that not how they do it in Liverpool?

[Jerjo]

I gotta say that in retrospect, Paul was right. Allen Klein was one of the biggest thieves in the business and this is an industry with an extremely high bar. He must have been a pretty impressive fast-talker to snooker both the Beatles and the Stones.

[Paulrus]

You seriously didn't Eric and George were married to the same woman? Or do you just mean that you didn't know George played at Eric and Patti's wedding reception?

I mean that Clapton was the guy who took Harrison's wife away, and yet George seemed pretty OK with it.

Patti Boyd has an interesting place in music history. How many women get to say she inspired not one, but two men (one of them a Beatle) to write songs about her?!

I know. To be honest I don't get the appeal, but whadevah...

Yeah, I suppose I could see that, but if he wanted out, why didn't he just leave? Or is that not how they do it in Liverpool?

I think it just goes to show how monolithic they still were as a band and as an organization in 1968 that even thinking of breaking up was some serious shit. I also think they understood that it wasn't just their lives that would be affected, but also Mal's, Neil's, and all the other people at Apple.

[GuitarGeek]

I mean that Clapton was the guy who took Harrison's wife away, and yet George seemed pretty OK with it.

Yeah, I forget which magazine it was, but back in the 90's, there was a cover story on Clapton in one of them, that began with a list of "50 Reasons It's Great To Be Eric Clapton". Somewhere in the middle was something like:

30. Best friends with George Harrison
29. Married George Harrison's ex-wife
28. Still best friends with George Harrison!

Ya know, I hadn't thought about it before, but George was a pretty deeply spiritual guy, so maybe part of that is learning how to "let go" of things like that are beyond your control.

I know. To be honest I don't get the appeal, but whadevah...

Well, she was a good looking woman back in the day. Haven't seen any pictures of her recently, but she was one of the "It" girls of the "Swinging London" or whatever. I gather that Pattie's written her memoirs in recent years, and according to Wiki, she now feels the real reason Eric wanted her was because she was "unattainable" or whatever.

I think it just goes to show how monolithic they still were as a band and as an organization in 1968 that even thinking of breaking up was some serious shit. I also think they understood that it wasn't just their lives that would be affected, but also Mal's, Neil's, and all the other people at Apple.

OK, I guess could see that. It makes sense that he'd be concerned about how his actions would affect others in the band's inner circle in that fashion. He probably knew the end was in sight, but maybe he was doing things to sort of expedite what he already saw as inevitable.

I gotta say that in retrospect, Paul was right. Allen Klein was one of the biggest thieves in the business and this is an industry with an extremely high bar. He must have been a pretty impressive fast-talker to snooker both the Beatles and the Stones

And The Who, apparently. I haven't heard it talked about much, but Townshend has that incident depicted in the first verse of Who Are You happened the morning after a 13 hour meeting with Klein, followed by a night on the tiles with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols. Townshend referred to Klein as the "rock leech-godfather".

On at least one occasion, John apparently even admitted that Paul was right about Klein. Apparently, Klein pissed off George by failing to register the Concert For Bangladesh project as a not for profit effort, and thus, the tax exempt status of the concert, album and filmed was denied, which needless to say, seriously undermined the whole purpose.

The man was a complete sleaze, using every opportunity to rip off virtually every one he did business with.

[JKL2000]

That's some nice slide playing by George.

Yeah, damn nice!

Voorman looks like he's going to nod off!

But in a good way.

I don't know all this later Beatles history, but I really enjoyed this and want to hear more.

[JJ88]

Tensions had been in the air with The Beatles for a long time before the final split (Starr and Harrison having both briefly left) but it's long been my opinion that the business side/Klein was what put the final nail in the coffin.

I gotta say that in retrospect, Paul was right. Allen Klein was one of the biggest thieves in the business and this is an industry with an extremely high bar. He must have been a pretty impressive fast-talker to snooker both the Beatles and the Stones.

The mess made with The Rolling Stones' Decca catalogue is a taste of what could have happened to The Beatles. Meanwhile the entire output of one record label, Cameo Parkway, was unavailable for decades.

[Jerjo]

The sound on that vid is pretty sweet. Every instrument is clear and the bottom end is gorgeous.

The mess made with The Rolling Stones' Decca catalogue is a taste of what could have happened to The Beatles

Imagine if half the Beatles catalog was restricted to the point that the Stones' Decca catalog is.