HUNT'S BEATLES BLOG

Welcome to the Beatles Blog for History 207: The Beatles and the Sixties!

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LECTURE 22: YESTERDAY & TODAY: RZA of Wu-Tang Clan has long been a huge fan of The Beatles, and even wrote his song “The Heart Gently Weeps” as a tribute to the band (featured on Wu-Tang’s fifth studio album, 8 Diagrams, from 2007). Here’s the music video to “The Heart Gently Weeps.” It’s a compelling modern rap version of a Beatles classic. There used to be on YouTube – until it got taken down – a wonderful video of RZA telling a great story about wanting to make a version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and meeting George Harrison’s son, Dhani Harrison, and getting him involved in the project. The two instantly hit it off, and RZA convinced Dhani to play rhythm guitar on the song. The result is a compelling variation of Harrison’s masterpiece. 

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LECTURE 22: YESTERDAY & TODAY: The late, great Davy Jones (1945-2012) of The Monkees, always so delightful and funny, shares his memories of The Beatles and reveals his deep love of the band and its music. He’s a great raconteur. His comments about The Beatles being a “manufactured” band are very insightful, and not what you’d expect from someone who uses that label to describe them. Jones is very reverential toward the band. You’ll enjoy this wonderful interview! 

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LECTURE 22: YESTERDAY & TODAY: The late, great Tom Petty and legendary Black Sabbath co-founder Ozzy Osbourne discuss The Beatles, in this documentary clip from The Time/Life History of Rock and Roll, a series made in the 1990s. Both Petty and Osbourne were huge fans of the band, and this is a rare moment for Ozzy when the otherwise irreverent rocker shows a great deal of deference and respect for another band. Plus, how can you not love Oz’s Batman hat? In all seriousness, this is but one example of The Beatles’ lasting influence on countless musicians from an array of genres.

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LECTURE 22: YESTERDAY & TODAY: The Beatles are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Paul McCartney couldn’t be there that night, but Ringo Starr and George Harrison, as well as Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon, appeared at the event and all gave brief speeches. Alas, Paul McCartney couldn’t make it. At the time, as mentioned in an earlier blog entry, Harrison had a #1 hit single on the Billboard Hot 100, “Got My Mind Set On You,” which – it turns out – would be the last #1 hit by an Ex-Beatle to top the charts. George’s sweet words of reconciliation are deeply moving. And Sean Lennon’s comments are a delightfully irreverent wrap-up to the previous speeches. 

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LECTURE 22: YESTERDAY & TODAY: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones inducts The Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 20, 1988. “We went through some pretty strange times. We had a sort of – a lot of rivalry in those early years, and a little bit of friction; but we always ended up friends. And I like to think we still are,  ‘cause they were some of the greatest times of our lives, and I’m – I’m really proud to be the one that leads them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

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LECTURE 22: YESTERDAY & TODAY: In December 1980, “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen, delivered a moving talk at the start of his Philadelphia concert about John Lennon (1940-1980). “ "I'd just like to say one thing, I appreciate it and it's a hard night to come out and play tonight when so much's been lost. The first record...the first record that I ever learned was a record called 'Twist and Shout' (cheers), and if it wasn’t for John Lennon, we’d all be someplace very different tonight. It’s a hard world that asks you to live with things that are unlivable, and it’s hard to come out and play tonight. But there’s nothing else to do.“

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: No lecture on the solo years of The Beatles would be complete without John Lennon’s Utopian, era-defining anthem “Imagine,” released in the fall of 1971. The song went on to become one of his best-known hits -- in or out of The Beatles -- and revealed his more humanistic and visionary side, As we’ve seen in the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006), and as Lennon’s biographers point out, the singer-songwriter musician had, by this time, become radicalized by his support for the anti-Vietnam War movement and nonviolence in general, and “Imagine” marks the summit -- or high point -- of his leftward shift. The song has since become the stuff of legend, used in movies (e.g., the critically acclaimed The Killing Fields from 1984), documentaries, tributes, and protests. Most recently, it was used by actress Gal Gadot and a group of entertainers in March 2020, who sang the song online as a sort of reassurance of our collective humanity in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked a bit of a backlash. But oh well! It just goes to show the song’s enduring power over the decades. It remains instantly recognizable and widely loved. This is the promotional film for “Imagine,” starring John Lennon and Yoko Ono, made in 1971.

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: “Cold Turkey,” a single released in 1969 by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, is one of the most powerful songs ever written about drug addiction. Lennon performed the song with Plastic Ono Band (which on the single included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr) at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival held at Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto on September 13, 1969. The festival included such diverse acts as The Doors, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Chicago, Alice Cooper and Jerry Lee Lewis. Drummer Alan White played with Plastic Ono Band in Toronto, otherwise the lineup on the single (Clapton, Voormann, Lennon) remained the same. Lennon wanted the song to be included on ABBEY ROAD, but that didn’t happen, so he released it as a single. It enjoyed modest chart success, even though it’s now remembered as one of Lennon’s grittiest and most intense songs. When Lennon returned his MBE to Queen Elizabeth II in 1969, he included a note stating, “I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts.” This remarkable live performance was filmed at Madison Square Garden in New York City on August 30, 1972.

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: If there’s a hero in History 207, it’s Julian Lennon, the first son of John Lennon. If you watch this 2010 segment of CBS Sunday Morning, you’ll find out why. PLEASE (please, please, please) WATCH IT!!! It will make me so happy if you do. Julian is a remarkable musician, photographer, artist and human being. The relationship between Julian and Sean Lennon is profoundly touching.  It’s a poignant, deeply moving story of brotherly love, redemption and finding the courage to forgive. 

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: Here’s the CBS Evening News coverage of George Harrison’s death in November 2001. Harrison was only 58 when cancer killed him. Note that he died in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which are the lead story here. Yet the focus shifts quickly to Harrison, a music legend who packed a lot of living into those 58 years, more than many people pack into 80 or 90 years. Perhaps his most profound line in this segment is: “It doesn’t take long from being 17 to being 57. Forty years just goes…” <snaps> “…like that.”

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: I bet you won’t have dry eyes when this is minute-long video clip is over. Ringo Starr recalls his final conversation with George Harrison in 2001. Ringo’s deeply moving – and unexpectedly funny – closing line is priceless. Talk about a gentle soul. Ringo is as sweet as they come.  And this remembrance puts his sentimental side on full display. Full disclosure: I always try to have a box of Kleenex nearby when I watch this segment.

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: Here is the entire episode of NBC’s TODAY SHOW from December 9, 1980, which takes us right back to that harrowing Tuesday morning after John Lennon was murdered outside of the Dakota Apartments by deranged gunman Mark David Chapman, while a horrified Yoko Ono looked on. That terrible, ghastly, unimaginable moment – dark beyond description – was followed by days of mass gatherings, candlelight vigils, tributes and various ceremonies. Mourners took comfort in the widespread sense of grief that countless kindred spirits felt around the world. This fascinating broadcast offers a memorable window into the past. Please watch it in its entirety if time permits.

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: Want to hear some fantastic Paul McCartney music from the 1980s? I thought you did! “Take It Away” (1982) rivals anything Paul did in the 1970s (in the opinion of this Beatle blogger).  The music video (shown here) enjoyed ample amounts of airtime on the new music sensation of the era, MTV. And check out who’s drumming for Paul in this video! The video for “Take It Away” also features George Martin (who performs on the song) at 2:25, and the late, great actor John Hurt. The song is featured on Paul’s TUG OF WAR album.

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Lecture 21: CARRYING ON: Promotional film for the delightful Wings song, “Silly Love Songs” from 1976. The song is contained on Wings’ fifth studio album, WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND. Almost as successful as its predecessor, Band on the Run, Wings at the Speed of Sound included a number of memorable songs, including this one and “Let ‘Em In,” and marked a time when Paul McCartney’s solo career flowered, both artistically and commercially. The promo film is loads of fun, with scenes of the band’s touring, and the footage of Paul and Linda McCartney together is particularly touching. 

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LECTURE 21: CARRYING ON: Promotional film for Wings’ 1974 smash hit (actually released in December 1973), “Band on the Run,” featured on the band’s hugely successful album of the same name from the previous year. BAND ON THE RUN, came after a string of solo albums by Paul McCartney that enjoyed mixed critical acclaim and generated few major solo hits. Band on the Run changed all that. The album, in many ways, was a conscious throwback to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and – as you can likely tell from the promo film (especially at 3:25) – drew a great deal of inspiration from Pepper. Also, keep an eye out for Brian Epstein at 3:16. Thanks to hits like “Band on the Run” and “Jet,” Band on the Run (the album) proved to be one of the most commercially successful albums of the 1970s.

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LECTURE 21: CARRYING ON: Other than “My Sweet Lord,” George Harrison’s biggest hit was this catchy, joyful 1987 song “Got My Mind Set On You,” a remake of a largely forgotten tune from the early 1960s originally performed by R&B singer James Ray. The song introduced Harrison to a new generation of listeners, and reached the top of the charts around the same time The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. The song also marked a moment when Harrison came out of seclusion to return to the music world, and would be followed up by his stint with the Traveling Wilburys, his collaboration with Bob Dylan, the late, great Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and the late, great Roy Orbison (who, alas, died before the Wilburys could release their second album). 

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LECTURE 21: CARRYING ON: The music company representing The Chiffons’ 1963 song “He’s So Fine,” BRIGHT TUNES MUSIC, sued George Harrison for plagiarizing the hit with his song “My Sweet Lord.” What do you think? Do you year the similarities? Interestingly, The Chiffons recorded a wonderful version of “My Sweet Lord” in 1975 (check it out on YouTube if you get a chance!). Ironically -- and tragically -- the songwriter who came up with the tune, Ronnie Mack, actually died in 1963, at the age of 23. In addition to writing “He’s So Fine,” Ronnie also inspired the Motown Holland/Dozier/Holland hit “Jimmie Mack,” made into a popular Top 10 hit in 1967 by Martha and the Vandellas.