man of a thousand voices

30-SOMETHING. SHE/THEY. I POST BEATLES. MOSTLY PAUL. FREQUENT ARMCHAIR ANALYSIS. 18+ ONLY PLZ.

[undying-love]

"I'm not writting a love song to him"

"Here Today was a love song about my relationship with him."(2001)

"It was a love song, really, not to John but a love song about John, about my relationship with him. (2004)

"Here Today is a love song to John." (2021)

------------------------------------------

Lol, "not to John, but about John".

[talking-perfectly-loud]

tbf the context is they’re talking specifically about “Maybe I’m Amazed” and Howard says he thinks that song was for John rather than Linda (iirc)

[zilabee]

As a fellow Beatles fan (I assume), how do you still love the boys despite some of the bad things they have done, allegedly done, and/or are tied to but we don’t know if they have actually done?

I love them and their antics, but this trips me up every now and then

oh anon.

you correctly assume my fellowship.

we perhaps need a master post to link people to all the answers every beatles blog has to this same anonymous worry.

but my thought pattern is:

a) everyone's terrible it's not just the beatles

and by 'everyone' I mean men. I do get where you're coming from, I have my days, but at the same time it almost surprises me what a big issue this is for people, because all men are awful*. Pretty much any man put in the beatles situation would have been at least as awful - and many worse - than the Beatles.

I'm not saying that to mean 'so they're not that bad!' I'm saying it to mean that every man around you is as bad as they are. Yes even the modern ones. So the thing you're actually dealing with is 'the awful nature of men'... so it's hardly even a question about liking the Beatles and coping with that. It's just about existing in a world where you know what men are like - and coping with that. So you cope with it however you generally make peace with the fact that men don't like women very much... and if you struggle with that you have to read the books where we keep actual feminism, not tumblr.

b) it doesn't matter that much

your enjoyment of the beatles isn't going to bring about world ruination, you don't need to be some pure moral absolute, you're not going to hurt anyone by finding joy in some dickhead from the sixties! you don't pick your favourite with your moral compass, y'know? turning away from them isn't going to change anything that happened, or make anyone feel better, or even make you a better person with more inner peace. you're fine.

it's just about not getting defensive or pretending things didn't happen, or somehow arguing like it doesn't even matter that they hurt people because they could have been worse, or pretending it's all blown up from nothing. that's when fandom becomes a bit shit and ridiculous. it's just very possible to be aware of the terrible things the beatles did and still feeling the thrill of the universe flood through you when Paul screams.

* The bots will find me! The bots will "not all men!" me. You don't have to worry about it or do it yourself, the bots will do it. I will be suitably told off for generalising about the terrible menfolk who are statistically + anecdotally + factually definitely worse than the womenfolk, and I'll be reminded that just because it's true doesn't mean you can just say it, because we're meant to pretend. So you can just scroll by and not worry that I might not get told.

[anotherkindofmindpod]

Fine Tuning further listening

Mark Lewisohn Podcast and Interview Recs

Audio for most of these interviews can be found on Mark Lewisohn, a Beatles Historian, a beautifully maintained fan-made YouTube channel that has archived almost all of the interviews on this list. 

Interviews are linked directly to Apple podcasts, when possible. (YouTube links also included when applicable.)

Interview with Jean Louis-Polard, 2014 Topics of note: Neutrality and lack of bias

Fabcast podcast, 2017 013 MARK LEWISOHN (YouTube) Topics of note: The 80s and Paul McCartney’s solo career

Humans in Love podcast, 2018 #1 (Part One) Beatles Authority Mark Lewisohn Topics: Paul’s reaction to John’s murder

Fab4Cast podcast, 2019  Talking to Mark Lewisohn: #1 Writing The Beatles' History and #2 Spring 1969 (YouTube links: #1, #2) Topics: Heroin; Allen Klein; the Liberty Bell; John and Yoko’s wedding; Paul and Linda’s wedding

Nothing Is Real podcast, 2019 The Mark Lewisohn Interview #14 Part One and #15 Part Two  Topics of note: Tensions with Apple

Interview with Giljs Groenteman, 2019 Topics: Unbridled enthusiasm for John

I Am the EggPod podcast, 2019 The Star-Club tapes (YouTube) Topics: John’s leadership; intention to make all his research accessible after the books are published

From Me To You podcast, 2020 Mark Lewisohn In Conversation w/ Richard Courtney (YouTube link) Topics: Philip Norman; today’s “anti-John stuff” 

Let It Roll podcast, 2020 Mark Lewisohn in Conversation w/Nate Wilcox (YouTube) Topics: The “no greater buddy” incident; Lewisohn defending Paul

Let It Be Beatles podcast, 2020 Mark Lewisohn - The Complete 2020 Let It Be Beatles Interview Podcast (YouTube) Topics: The benzedrine incident; John’s threesome with Royston Ellis; the 444 meeting and Geoff Emerick.

Fans on the Run podcast, 2022 Ep 73. Mark Lewisohn  Topics: Working for Paul; tensions with Apple

[talking-perfectly-loud]

I listened to the Nothing Is Real podcast and WOW. He is really, REALLY openly salty about Apple in Part 2. He may be right to feel that way, I guess, although his insistence that the Beatles should be GRATEFUL to him (??!?!?) and TRUST him because he's not "just some bloke" is a bit...? Like, bro, EVERYONE outside the inner circle is "just some bloke" to the Beatles. You are not special to them!!!!

Idk, it comes off weirdly entitled to me. Repeatedly insisting your work should be acknowledged as the ultimate of compliments... whatever. I think it's up to the recipient to determine whether something is a compliment or not. Also, your relationships with Neil and Derek are... totally irrelevant? to how the Beatles themselves should feel about you? When those advocates were gone, apparently it turned out that the Beatles and heirs themselves... don't like you too much, actually. Or trust you. Or feel "fortunate" to receive your "compliments." I understand that is disappointing and probably legit hurt your feelings, but people get to distrust whomever they want for whatever reason. And they are THEIR archives, which I assume they don’t just throw open to other authors either. So, what you’re complaining about is not getting special treatment (anymore). Not a great look.

Anyway, clearly this constitutes a significant conflict of interest. Common sense says it does, and certainly the official guidelines for professional historians says so too (as thoroughly illustrated in this post by mythserene.) 

Whatever. I don't know. Maybe Mark Lewisohn is totally unswayed by his own personal feelings. Maybe it's totally normal and professional for historians to call their subjects "you bastards" on the airwaves? (He called them bastards in another interview too; don’t remember which one.) But still, this is a MAJOR issue that needs to be kept in mind. This is all very very personal to him. By his own admission! We don't have to dismiss or condemn him for this, of course, but EVERYONE should keep it in mind.

Here are the bits of the NIR podcast I found most blatant, between minute 24 and 32. My own transcript of that portion is below cut. (Bolding for emphasis is mine. Italics reflect speakers' tone of voice.)

"I think they are fortunate to have anyone write their biography in this way."

"It's the ultimate in flattery for the Beatles... if only they knew it."

"I'm trying to write the book that matches that Truth, in every sense, as the ultimate of compliments to them."

"So it's the ultimate compliment to them, and it grieves me that this is not recognized by them."

"Anyone who reads [the trilogy] will understand the Beatles in a way that they couldn't get that understanding in any other form."

"Now people [at Apple] have agendas and I'm someone's agenda."

"My biggest beef with Apple these days is the cowardice of how they've operated with me." 

"George took against me---which was just ludicrous,  cuz you know, he charged me with offenses I'd never done."

"You bastards. I'm trying to write your book here." "I thought, 'Mm! Right, now I know who I'm dealing with here.' But it's so unnecessary, it's so ridiculous. I'm trying to write their story and they're stopping me. And I'm someone that they can trust and did trust. I'm not just some bloke they don't know."

Transcript starting from minute 24 below cut:

NIR: But it's the point of being a historian, I mean, you think of books like Robert A. Caro's series of books on Johnson, which I know you've been compared to before. But we're looking at a historical piece. It's not a rock bio in the traditional sense. It's there for history. This is the one for the ages—

ML: Yes. Yes.

NIR: That's your aim, isn't it?

ML: It's the ultimate in flattery for the Beatles... if only they knew it.

NIR: We were talking about this before and I know I've heard you say that [The Beatles] met the right person with George Martin as a producer and Brian Epstein as a manager. But with you, they've met the right biographer. Maybe, as you say, they don't know it. But in the long run, [inaudible] cometh the hour.

ML: That's very nice of you to say. You know... thank you. That's all I can say to that: thank you. I know I'm good at what I do, and you do need to know where you're strong and you need to know where you're not strong, as I said earlier. And I know I'm good at this job, and it happens to require a set of skills that I happen to have. And that's just the way it is.

And it would be nice if they were a bit more open-minded about that. I think they are fortunate to have anyone write their biography in this way, whether it was me or somebody else. But it's different now because people have agendas and I'm someone's agenda.

NIR: I think it's a biography that's worthy of the subject and the subject is worthy of this biography. I don't really think of it as being a rock biography. You're a historian rather than a biographer. I think that's really the difference between what you're doing and what every other biographer---whether it's of the Beatles or the Stones or any other band---I mean, every other book seems to be just a quick trot through a chronology when you compare it with...

ML: They so deserve this. They really really do deserve this, they absolutely merit a book like this, which is gonna be like 5000 pages by the time it's done. And I've said this before but I'll say it again. To me the Beatles represent Truth. With a capital T. I think they were incredibly true to themselves at the time when they were going through all of this. I know John said things like in the Wenner interview about the things they had to compromise and put themselves through. But you look at any Beatles interview, you look at any bit of newsreel film... He's obviously remembering certain sharp incidents, moments, that he's then enlarging as being representative of a whole period.

But you look at the Beatles as they go through the 1960s. I don't just mean by albums, I mean by every bit of newsreel film, every photograph, every interview they gave at any time, they were always being completely true to who they were, and doing it their way. And that for me is one of the reasons why they sustain and will continue to sustain, because something that true and that organic and that honest is going to always rise above anything else.

And I'm trying to write the book that matches that Truth, in every sense, as the ultimate of compliments to them. Because if you really want to know the Beatles, you need to know them on every level and get the truth on every level. And by that I don't mean anything as crass as I'm gonna be exposing this or that. I mean the truth of the moments they went through, and the whole of the story that they had, all of those years, much of which was not just within their control but was people reflecting on them, how they altered people's lives and so on. But to set that down and to get it as right as possible, is something that they deserve.

And anyone who reads---ultimately, when the trilogy's finished---anyone who reads it will understand the Beatles in a way that they couldn't get that understanding in any other form. So it's the ultimate compliment to them, and it grieves me that this is not recognized by them, but I can't control other people's thinking.

NIR: No.

ML: All I can do is be straight.

NIR: Do you think... I would be surprised if at some point... I mean, we've sort of got to face the fact that there will come a day when Paul isn't with us and Ringo isn't with us, but the organization will evolve and prevail. But it would be nice to think that perhaps at that point, this becomes recognized by the organization. That the people, the individuals you're writing about, can't see it.

ML: I don't know that it's them. I dunno. Because Apple is a lot of people, Apple is a number of people who sit on the board. But it's also ultimately 4 owners still, and I don't know who it is---actually I do know who it is, but I'm not saying who it is---that will be ensuring that I'm kept at arm's length. And hopefully that will change in time.

NIR: You were saying about the importance of independence, but have you ever had a sense that people have been told, "don't speak to Mark Lewisohn?"

ML: Yes, yes, yes. My biggest beef---and I might as well say it---my biggest beef with Apple these days is the cowardice of how they've operated with me. Because I had a very strong relationship with Neil Aspinall and Derek and was part of 19 projects that made them a lot of money. Not just thanks to me, of course, but they wanted my input and valued my expertise enough to hire me and pay me and thank me for my services.

But about three years ago I was pursuing... actually it happened three times, three different archival inquiries that I was actually pursuing and in each case, inexplicably, when I thought I'd jumped every last hoop that needed to be jumped in order to gain access, it would suddenly be shut off to me. With no explanation. On one of those occasions somebody---and obviously I won't say who---said to me, "I shouldn't be telling you this, but we've been told not to cooperate with you. And we can't let you see anything." And I went, "Who told you that?" And it was Apple. And I just thought, "You bastards. I'm trying to write your book here, and I'm trying to get it as right as possible by going to paperwork that no one's ever looked at and is gonna enhance the telling of this story even better, and you're not letting me see it, and you don't even know what it is you're not letting me see! You don't even know, you don't know anythingabout what's in that archive, but I'd like to see it so I can write your story better.

And so I wrote a challenging email and I said, "I understand you're blocking me now." And I got a one-line dismissal back from my email and I just thought, "Mm! Right, now I know who I'm dealing with here."But it's so unnecessary, it's so ridiculous. I'm trying to write their story and they're stopping me. And I'm someone that they can trust and did trust; I'm not just some bloke they don't know.

NIR: Well, I was gonna say: they had that relationship, and is it just that the people with whom you had that relationship, that closeness with---Neil and Derek---aren't there anymore? It's just the organization has changed?

ML: It doesn't help. Because when George took against me---which was just ludicrous, cuz you know, he charged me with offenses I'd never done---I had people like Derek and Neil to go in and defend me. Didn't make any difference, because even Derek and Neil couldn't change his mind on things. But nonetheless I did have advocates, and I don't have advocates there now. And of course, they're not obliged to be nice to me or use me, but I think they've behaved... I think they've behaved badly.

[ulmbybreathless345]

Understanding Lennon/McCartney (2018)

This 5-part series is the most intimate, comprehensive biography ever made on John and Paul. Told almost entirely through their own words an

Understanding Lennon/McCartney is now on Letterboxd! Check it out and leave a nice review (if you're so inclined).

[delightfullyatomicfest]

From Liverpool The Fifth Beatle

[finalgirlabigailhobbs]

music is sex the way it's made possible through penetration (plugging your earphones or headphones in, sliding a cd into the cd player) or frottage (vinyl players/gramophones). educate yourselves

[elafranco2024]

Robert Fraser may have been a controversial personality, his flaws and mistakes, some notorious, but he was also a handsome, intelligent and cultured man and undeniably important and dear to Paul McCartney.

His early death due to AIDS should be a reason for compassion and not malice or cruelty. Unfortunately, humanity has not yet learned that only through love and compassion for all living beings, Planet Earth will be a good place to live and we will all be happier.

#personal

[javelinbk]

Paul McCartney is a Disney princess: Bambi edition

[got-ticket-to-ride]

Who would you pick as your partner if you are going to rob a bank?

John Lennon

Paul McCartney

George Harrison

Ringo Starr

Voting ended onDec 10, 2023

[couchnapping]

"assless chaps" 🙄back in my day we just called them the english

[paper-mario-wiki]

was gonna say "The Assless Chaps" would be a great name for a band but i think thats just the beatles.

[i-am-the-oyster]

Someone hasn't seen @pauls1967moustache's seminal post

mick jagger looked like a gargoyle

✨ can't trust a big butt and a gemini ✨

[nat-20s]

As an adult I think me and all my friends should all have matching schedules and work like 20 hours a week and also everyone lives within 15 minutes of each other why is that so much to ask

[fatadoggy]

[zilabee]

(If George wanted to be a fireman and Ringo wanted to cut hair, was Penny Lane just a dreamland AU that Paul wrote about them all where he slips between the real world and his emotional support fantasy universe where they all stayed in Liverpool and got jobs near each other and the sky was blue?  Did John secretly yearn towards banking?)

[twinka]

Paul McCartney, a cockblocker extraordinaire.

[twinka]

It kept bothering me what happened between those two shots, so I dug up a couple of other photos of the same occasion and when put in a chronological order it’s even more awkward:

[stand-by-me-john]

Im dying

[crumblingcookies]

‘There’s a weird guy over there — keeps staring at us. Now he looks like a real Cavernite to me.’ On turning, I was to see Paul standing there, unshaven, with a denim jacket thrown over his shoulder and chewing on a toffee apple.”

[giveyourhearttosomebody]

[ceofjohnlennon]

Paul McCartney and Mary McCartney, 1970. ㅡ From "RAM Deluxe Edition/Paul McCartney Archive Collection."

[luvmacca]