This blog is an off-shoot of @takeasadsongandanalyzeit
@ilovedig and @arewetheoysters are collaborating to analyze all of the available songs recorded by the Beatles, starting with home made tapes.
As we work on that project we keep finding new and exciting information and sources that we want to share, but don't really fit in that blog, so we've created this one!
We could be posting this on our own accounts, but it's nicer to have it all in one place together.
Also, this blog is kind of a companion blog to our other one. You don't necessarily need to read that blog to enjoy this one, but you will understand a lot more of that blog if you read this one. Many of these theories do play heavily into how we interpret a song.
We won't have a schedule and we won't be sticking to one topic either. As the title suggests, these are tangents.
And tangents that most people might not know about but certainly aren't talking about. So if it's some common narrative you probably won't find it here.
Things you will find here:
Evidence to suggest the girls were queer too
More info about Hamburg than you ever thought you'd have
Lots more McHarrison than either of us ever imagined existing (or caring about)
Paul and Stu anyone?
What do you know about Peter Asher?
And so much more
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, give us a follow!
One thing I can promise is that your Beatle world views might be altered slightly, or more than slightly, ours were.
There are a couple more bonus moments coming soon, but, as far as the timeline goes, this is the end of the Paul and Icke saga.
As you'll read below, Icke and Paul saw each other one more time. Though, they're both still alive, so maybe that will change at some point in the near future.
It was almost twice, or more, but Icke was self conscious that Paul wouldn't remember him.
I myself had two more opportunities to meet Paul McCartney. The first time was in Scotland in 1988. I had long been married to Uta and she was pregnant with our first child. The car we had brought along was a Renault, a fairly long car, where we were transporting a canoe which wouldnāt fold, so it didnāt look very elegant. We had came to a town called Campbelltown, to meet our friend Mary who we had worked with at Amnesty international in Jagerberg . Mary remembered visiting us and seeing a picture of Paul, and told us that her mother had worked for him, at his estate which was not far from here. I said to Uta; ācome on, letās go and drive to see himā. But she did not want to go, so therefore I drove there alone. On the way, I had a rethink about what I was actually doing. The estate was guaranteed to be a tourist attraction for journalists and fans, so Paul would likely always have bodyguards on duty. If I were to arrive in my completely filthy Renault with a monster of a canoe on the roof, I wouldnāt stand a chance to get past the bodyguards. They would think that a lousy jerk was coming, who has no reason to be here. That I was once a friend of the famous Paul McCartney, they simply wouldnāt believe. The estate was quite a way away, but I stopped the car and really thought this through - should I carry on with this adventure, or would it be best to simply turn around and just go home. The humiliation that I could be turned around and sent awayā¦ I would never get over . For a while I fought with this, backward and forward, then I turned the car around and drove back at a snails pace.
So the last opportunity where I met Paul was in 1991 at the world premiere of Get Back*, directed by Richard Lester. After the press conference, I met him and his wife Linda in a room at the back of the cinema. In the room with me was Astrid Kircherr, Ulf Kruger and Achim Reichel and his wife, who had won a place at this meeting in a competition. During our chat, I mentioned my adventure in Scotland. Even though it was embarrassing to talk about this in front of people, I told Paul that I had planned to visit him, and that I was fearful of the consequences, didnāt trust my courage enough and therefore turned around. He said, āOh for Gods sake Icke, thatās such a shame. I would have found it amazing if you had actually visited meā. It sounded like he really meant it. Iām still angry at myself over this, sometimes Iām too much of a doofus for this world.
* Get Back (1991) is a concert film documenting Paul's world tour in 1989/1990
Original german
Ich selbst hatte noch zwei Gelegenheiten, Paul McCartney zu treffen. Das erste Mal in Schottland, im Jahr 1988. Ich war schon lange mit Jutta verheiratet und sie war schwanger mit Lena. Unser Auto war ein Renault R 18, ein ziemlich langes Auto, auf dem wir ein Faltboot transportierten, das sich nicht mehr falten lieĆ. Das sah nicht sehr elegant aus, aber in der Beziehung waren wir uneitel. Wir kamen in eine Stadt namens Campbelltown, wo wir Mary besuchen wollten. Mit ihr hatten wir in LĆ¼tjenburg bei Amnestie International zusammengearbeitet. Mary sagte, wir hatten mal eine Sitzung bei euch in JƤgerberg, wo ich ein Foto von Paul McCartney gesehen habe.
Meine Mutter arbeitet bei ihm, er wohnt nicht weit von hier auf einer riesigen Gutshof. - Ich sagte zu Jutta, komm, da fahren wir mal hin. - Aber sie hatte keine Lust, und deshalb setzte ich mich allein ins Auto. Unterwegs machte ich mir erst richtig klar, was ich da eigentlich vorhatte. Der Gutshof wurde unter Garantie von vielen Touristen, Journalisten und Fans heimgesucht, deshalb war zu erwarten, dass Paul einige Bodygards aufgestellt hatte. Wenn ich da in meinem total verdreckten Renault mit diesem Monstrum auf dem Dach auftauchen wĆ¼rde, hƤtte ich doch keine Chance, an den Bodygards vorbeizukommen. Die wĆ¼rden denken, da kommt ein verlauster Penner, der hat hier Ć¼berhaupt nichts zu suchen. Dass ich mit dem berĆ¼hmten Paul McCartney mal befreundet war, wĆ¼rden die mir niemals abnehmen. Der Gutshof war noch gar nicht zu sehen, da hielt ich schon an und Ć¼berlegte, ob ich mich tatsƤchlich auf die Geschichte einlassen sollte. Oder ob es nicht besser war, einfach umzukehren. Die DemĆ¼tigung, abgewiesen und wegge. schickt zu werden, wĆ¼rde ich nicht Ć¼berleben. Eine Weile kƤmpfte ich noch mit mir, war ich hin- und hergerissen, dann wendete ich den Wagen und fuhr im
Schneckentempo wieder zurĆ¼ck.
Die letzte Gelegenheit, bei der ich Paul traf, war 1991 die erwƤhnte Weltpremiere des Films Get back von Richard Leister. Nach der Pressekonferenz traf ich mich mit ihm und seiner Frau Linda in einem Hinterzimmer des Hamburger Passage-Kinos. Mit dabei waren auĆerdem Astrid Kirchherr, Ulf KrĆ¼ger, Achim Reichel sowie eine Frau, die das Treffen in einem Preisausschreiben gewonnen hatte. In unserem GesprƤch kamen wir irgendwann auch auf das Erlebnis in Schottland zu sprechen. Obwohl es mir vor dieser Gesellschaft etwas peinlich war, erzƤhlte ich Paul, wie ich geplant hatte, ihn auf seinem schottischen Gutshof zu besuchen, und dann aus Angst vor der eigenen Courage wieder umgekehrt war. Er sagte, Mensch
Icke, das finde ich richtig schade, ich hƤtte es doch absolut toll gefunden, wenn du mich besucht hƤttest. Das klang so, als ob er es ehrlich meinte. Deshalb Ƥrgerte ich mich jetzt nochmal Ć¼ber mich selbst. Manchmal bin ich einfach zu doof fĆ¼r die
Welt.
Thanks as always to the wonderful @didwemeetsomewherebefore and her mum for the translation of Icke's autobiography.
The video for "Free As a Bird" is chockablock with references to Beatles songs. We believe every one of their songs is in there somewhere, maybe even including songs that they didnāt release, and weāre working on putting together a comprehensive list.
However, true to form, we got waylaid by a tangent. (Stick with us to the end, we promise it's worth it).
In the scene representing "Paperback Writer" a book is seen on the table closest to the camera:
Tragically this is the clearest shot of the book (you can watch the video here, the book appears at the 3 minute mark). It seems as though it has been intentionally blurred. Weāre not ones to back down from a research challenge though!
We tried all the obvious things: itās clearly not Aliceās Adventures in Wonderland, for example, but we werenāt having much luck finding a book with a two-word title (first word slightly shorter), whose author had a longer first name and shorter surname. (Did you know there are 1.5 million books in the Penguin archive collection?)
So we contacted [email protected] (because of course we did). They got back to us quickly, and were very helpful.Ā
Dancing penguin figure (only used between 1940 and 1950)
Is quite rare, so that really narrows the search.Ā
She suggested that, since it doesnāt appear to have āgenre markersā on the sides, it would be from 1947 or later. However when you watch the video there may be compression artifacts (smudges) remaining of genre markers that are on the book, but not clearly visible (more on that later).
She proposed Silas Marner after having done a bit of research on her own (have we mentioned what a star she was?):
Just on first glance, only one of these books really had the shortness of the surname seen in the video,
But just to be sure, since the book in the video is blurred and very under saturated, we tried to replicate it:
Silas Marner, Holy Terrors
Paper Houses, Peter Waring
These are the settings we used if anyone wants to check our work:
And that blurred and compressed, the āfictionā marker really is more like a smudge, so we feel confident that we don't need to find a book with no genre marks.Ā
Hereās that screenshot of the book again, to save you scrolling back to the top:
Only one of these books has the right surname length. We actually measured with a ruler on screen, and the ratio of length between the Author names on our mystery book is 2.333. The ratio between Forrest and Reid (in the font on the Penguin edition): 2.3. Given the inaccuracies of measuring on a screen thatās remarkably close.
We found it. The book is Peter Waring by Forrest Reid.Ā
After watching the relevant section of the video through, with this book in mind, weāre now totally convinced this is the right book. (Please let us know if you can find another candidate!)
But why? Why that book? Itās not like theyād ever mentioned it, as far as we could find, at least.Ā
Hereās where it gets interesting.
Peter Waring (1937) is a full-scale revision of Reid's earlier Following Darkness (1912) in which Peter, a sensitive boy with literary inclinations, grows up unhappily in the household of his father, a cold village schoolmaster in Newcastle, County Down, and among his Belfast relatives whom he finds intolerable.Ā
'An acute and subtle story of adolescence. . . . A delicacy and a grave beauty which make their own quiet appeal.' TimesĀ
'Reid has written one of the finest studies of the mental, sexual, spiritual life of the adolescent without ever mentioning the words.' Glasgow Herald
Sound like the family background of anyone we know? (hint: replace father with Aunt)
But, oh wait, it gets better.Ā
Forrest Reid was a gay man (very repressed by many accounts but seemingly just ace, or the equivalent at the time, by others) who wrote novels about the queer adolescent experience, more emotional than sexual, in the early 1900s.Ā
He was good friends with EM Forster, another queer writer of his time and other suspected but never confirmed queer writers as well such as Arthur Greaves. His works are not really well known still, and frankly werenāt even well known in the 50s and 60s, except in queer circles, according to our research.Ā
Perhaps the choice of this specific Reid book is related to one or more of the Peters in their circle? Shotton, Best, Brown, and Asher. That's a lot of Peters!
As we said at the start, in the music video the book appears in a scene depicting the song "Paperback Writer". And you know what fits better than āLearā in the lyrics of that song?Ā
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Reid
And I need a job
So I wanna be a paperback writer
Paperback writer
(note: Lear never wrote any novels).
Knowing how they liked plays on words (read, Reid), half rhymes (Reid, be), and internal rhymes (Reid, need) we think itās very likely the novel in the first draft of the song was by a man named Reid.
In 1966 the Beatles returned to Hamburg, this time as international mega-stars. Icke and several of their other Hamburg friends greeted them at the train station, and were later invited in to meet them backstage.
Paul spotted Icke at the train station and called out to him before the band were rushed through. Later, at the venue, Paul made sure that Icke was invited back to spend time with the band.
George brought up Till There Was You at this meeting, and Icke explained that there had been some confusion, but we don't know if Paul ever found out. (more info at the end of the translation)
Thanks as always to the wonderful @didwemeetsomewherebefore and her mum for the translation of Icke's autobiography (original German is at the end).
The tour was booked from the 24th - 26th June; three days in three cities. Through the press photographer, Peter Bruchmann, I found out the Beatles would be arriving at 5 30 am on a special train at the Ahrensburg station, so I got up at 4 in the morning not to miss this moment. As the train approached, I stood very close to the edge of the platform. A mass of journalists, fans and other commuters also stood on the platform. It was terribly noisy and nobody could understand a word anyone was saying. Luckily, I found a favourable place on the platform - facing the wagon in which the Beatles were basically stood right outside my nose. I saw the guys standing at the window and Paul saw me too. He moved his lips as though he wanted to say something to me, and pointed to the front where they were going to disembark. Unfortunately this was about 10 meters deep with people who were all trying to see the band. I tried with all my might to push through but I was still stuck in the middle. It was just impossible to get through. The Beatles had already disembarked. They were corralled straight away by the bodyguards who had freed a walkway through the crowd. However, Paul managed to turn around, he called to me, āWeāll see you later!ā, and then they ran at speed through the walkway, out to where the cars were standing, surrounded by journalists and fans who were waiting for them. They were taken with a police escort to the Castle Tremsbuttel, where they were staying the night.
The fact that Paul could even see him even with so many people is remarkable, and even though they hadn't seen each other in 3 years, and had no idea he would even be there, is a testament to how much Icke meant to Paul. Spoilers for the next part, but he never did forget Icke.
There is also footage of the train station arrival here, and interviews from earlier in the week with Icke, Bettina, and others in Hamburg here. A lot of stories we've already shared in this series are included, and some that we haven't as well.
The whole thing happened so quickly that on the way home, I thought it had been a dream. On the way back in the car, I asked myself, what did Paul mean when he called out to me? How should I approach him, how was it going to work that we would see each other when the instructions had been so vague. The two concerts were scheduled for 3pm - 4.45pm and then 7pm - 8 45 pm. In between both concerts there were press conferences being held, to which unfortunately I wasnāt invited. I managed to get a ticket for the second concert, but I still hung around for three hours with the other fans in the hall. Suddenly on the loudspeaker I heard my name. āIcke Braun is asked to come to the deskā. I thought to myself, what do I need to come to the desk for? but I went anyway. A man was standing there who I had met before - he was from the newspaper, Der Bild. He told me that Paul McCartney wanted to speak to me, then turned around and went into the conference room and I followed him. Already outside I could hear John Lennonās voice and as the door opened, I saw him joking with the journalists. As everyone was only speaking English, I didnāt understand much of it. The Beatles were sitting on a podium together with a man I didnāt know. Later I discovered that that was Neil Aspinall who was the personal assistant to the Beatles.
George saw me and waved me to his side. I went a bit nearer to the stage but kept my distance. Why should I stand around on the stage looking stupid when I had nothing to say? So I stayed where I was and waited until the end of the conference until I said hello to the guys. A few journalists then left the room but most stayed. When the Beatles came down from the stage, George asked me āhow are you and what are you doing with yourselfā? I said, āyes Iām good, Iām now married!ā, John heard that and called, āWhereās your wife, letās see your wife!ā and Neil said to me; the Beatles wishes must be obeyed! So I called Evelyn and told her the Beatles wanted to meet her. She was able to come straight away because we had talked about something like this happening.
We wonder if John wanted to see her to see how much she looked like Paul, which, if you look at the picture above, there is a bit of a resemblance (she's between Icke and Ringo, the woman on the other side of Paul is Kathia Berger).
We withdrew into a little room, and suddenly I saw that there was Kathia and Bettina from the the Star Club. I must have overlooked them amongst all the chaos. When Evelyn appeared, she was the first to be introduced to the Beatles. Everything revolved around her and as they were all speaking in English, I stood by looking stupid, and I also took the chance to go to the toilet. in order to do that, I had to go through the hustle of journalists who were waiting to grab one of the Beatles. When I came back from the toilet, they were begging me to take them back into the conference room. One said, if you take me with you, I will give you 1000 Marks.ā ā When I got back to the Beatles, I asked if I could bring a few people in to meet them, but John and the others were emphatic; no way, we want this to be just us. Bettina took a few photos out of her bag, which showed the Beatles in the Top Ten andāthe Star Club. The boys were delighted and told her that they would like to have the photos. I told them that the photographer who took them was standing outside the door. āFetch him in, fetch him!ā said John excitedly. The photographer was called Peter Bruchmann, and was absolutely delighted to be the only journalist to be allowed into the conference room. It was he who had given me the tip that the band would be alighting off the train at Ahrensburg . I knew him from the time when the Beatles played at the Top Ten. At that point he hadnāt heard anything about them, and I had to persuade him to come and see them and take a few photos. These became the most famous photos he had ever taken.
Even three years later, we see how important Hamburg was to them.
And here are some photos from that day! You've probably seen some of them, but now you know who everyone is!
Paul told me before the band went onstage that we would see him afterwards, however they disappeared from the stage straight away; while the public was still clapping and calling for more, they were already in their cars. That was the only way to take them from their fans in safety. This was the only contact that my wife Evelyn had with the Beatles.
There are stories that Paul and John wandered around St Pauli after the show. Based on this we wonder if they realized they hadn't given Icke any actual information and were hoping that maybe somehow he'd be nostalgic too and they'd run into him.
This paragraph is from the introductory part of Icke's chapter about the Beatles, which is why it's more retrospective:
Years later, when the boys were already famous, and I was allowed backstage, we were sitting in the Ernst Merck hall and George Harrison mentioned āTill There Was You. I told him that it was actually Kathiaās music taste and not mine. So he understood, but there is still footage from The Star Club where one can hear āAnd now we will play ātill there was youā for Ickeā
It sounds like George always assumed Icke had a crush on Paul or was gay or that they were together or something based on thinking "Till There Was You" was Icke's favorite song. Icke sounds quick to correct him, and quick to mention it in the book, as this is near the beginning of the Beatles chapter. As you've seen throughout these parts, Icke does a lot of questioning his sexuality and trying to make it clear something doesn't mean what it sounds like. This book is only from 2018. It's very sad to us that he's still doing that even now in his 80s.
Let us know what your thoughts are!
Icke and Paul saw each other one more time (as far as we know, though Icke is still alive so that could potentially change) but we have one more part before we get there, so stay tuned!
Original German of the translation is below!
Original German
Vom 24. bis zum 26. Juni, also an drei Tagen, waren fĆ¼r die Tournee in drei StƤdten jeweils zwei Konzerte vorgesehen. Hamburg war nach MĆ¼nchen und Essen die dritte Station. Von dem Pressefotografen Peter BrĆ¼ch-mann wusste ich, dass die Beatles morgens um 5:30 Uhr mit einem Sonderzug am Bahnhof Ahrensburg ankommen sollten. Also war ich schon vor 4 Uhr aufge-standen, um diesen Moment nicht zu verpassen. Als der Zug einrollte, stand ich ziemlich nah an der Bahnsteigkante. Jede Menge Journalisten, Fans und zufƤllige FahrgƤste standen auf dem Bahnsteig. Es herrschte ein fĆ¼rchterliches GedrƤnge und ein LƤrm, bei dem man sein eigenes Wort nicht verstand. Zum GlĆ¼ck hatte ich einen gĆ¼nstigen Platz erwischt. Der Waggon, in dem die Beatles waren, hielt praktisch genau vor meiner Nase. Ich sah die Jungs am Fenster stehen, und Paul sah mich auch. Er bewegte seine Lippen, als ob er mir etwas sagen wollte und zeigte nach vorne, wo sie aussteigen wĆ¼rden. Bis dahin waren es ungefƤhr noch zehn Meter voller Menschen, die alle zu den Beatles drƤngten. Ich versuchte mit aller Kraft, mich zu ihnen durchzukƤmpfen, legte mich mit den Leuten an, die ich dabei anrempelte, und blieb trotzdem in der Menge stecken. Es war einfach kein Durchkommen. Die Beatles waren schon ausgestiegen. Sie wurden sofort in die Gasse geschoben, die die Bodygards fĆ¼r sie freigemacht hatten. Trotzdem schaffte Paul es noch, sich umzudrehen. Er rief mir zu, wir sehen uns nachher, dann liefen sie im Eiltempo weiter durch die Bahnhofshalle nach drauĆen, wo ihre Autos in einer riesigen Ansammlung von Journalisten und Zuschauern auf sie warteten.
Unter Polizeischutz wurden sie zum Schloss TremsbĆ¼ttel gefahren, in dem sie Ć¼bernachteten.
Das Ganze war so blitzschnell gegangen, dass es mir auf dem Weg nach Hause wie ein Traum vorkam. Auf der Heimfahrt im Auto fragte ich mich, wie Paul das meinte, was er mir zuletzt zugerufen hatte. Wie wollte er es denn anstel-len, dass wir uns nachher noch sahen?
Die beiden Konzerte waren von 15:00 bis16:45 Uhr und von 19:00 bis 20:45 Uhr
angesetzt. Zwischen den beiden Konzerten gab es die erwƤhnte Pressekonferenz, zu der ich leider keinen Zutritt hatte. Ich hatte fĆ¼r 20 Mark eine Karte fĆ¼r das zweite Konzert ergattert, trieb mich aber schon drei Stunden vorher mit vielen anderen Fans vor der Ernst-Merck-Halle rum. Da hƶrte ich plƶtzlich Ć¼ber Lautsprecher meinen Namen: Icke Braun wird gebeten, zur Kasse zu kommen. Ich dachte, nanu, was soll ich denn an der Kasse, ging aber hin. Da stand ein Mann, den ich von der Begegnung an meiner WohnungstĆ¼r kannte, also der Mann von der Bild-Zeitung.
Er sagte, Paul McCartney will Sie sprechen, drehte sich um und ging zum Konfe-renzraum. Ich hinterher. Schon von drauĆen hƶrte ich John Lennons Stimme, und als die TĆ¼r aufging, sah ich, wie er sich heftig mit einem Journalisten zoffte. Da alle nur Englisch sprachen, verstand ich natĆ¼rlich nicht viel davon. Die Beatles saĆen auf einem Podium zusammen mit einem Mann, den ich nicht kannte. SpƤter erfuhr ich, dass er Neil Aspinall hieĆ und der persƶnliche Assistent der Beatles war. George sah mich und winkte mich zu sich ran. Ich ging ein bisschen nƤher zum Podium und blieb in einiger Entfernung stehen. Warum sollte ich auf der BĆ¼hne blƶd rumstehen, wenn ich gar nichts zu sagen hatte. Also blieb ich, wo ich war, und wartete das Ende der Konferenz ab, bevor ich die Jungs begrĆ¼Ćte.
Einige Journalisten verlieĆen den Raum, aber die meisten blieben da. Als die Beatles von der BĆ¼hne runterkamen, fragte George:
āWie geht es dir, was machst du so? Ich sagte, ja gut, ich bin ja jetzt verheiratet."
John hatte das mitgehƶrt und rief
āUnd wo ist deine Frau? Zeig sie uns mal." Aspinall sagte zu mir:
āDer Wunsch der Beatles muss dir Befehl sein."
Also rief ich Evelyn an und sagte ihr, die Beatles wollten sie kennenlernen. Sie konnte sich sofort auf den Weg machen, weil wir vorher schon darĆ¼ber gesprochen hatten, dass sowas passieren kƶnnte. Wir zogen uns in ein kleineres Zimmer zu-rĆ¼ck, das hinter dem Konferenzraum lag, und plƶtzlich waren auch Kathia und Bet-tina, die Barfrau aus dem Star-Club dabei. Die beiden musste ich bei dem ganzen Trubel Ć¼bersehen haben. Als Evelyn eintraf, war ich erstmal bei den Beatles abge-meldet. Alles drehte sich um sie, und da sie sich, na klar, auf Englisch unterhielten, stand ich nur blƶd daneben und nutzte die Gelegenheit, um auf die Toilette zu gehen. Dazu musste ich mich durch die Journalisten drƤngeln, die darauf lauerten, einen der Beatles zu erwischen. Als ich von der Toilette zurĆ¼ckkam, bettelten sie, ich sollte sie mit reinnehmen. Einer sagte, wenn du mich mitnimmst, kriegst du
1000 Mark von mir. ZurĆ¼ck bei den Beatles, fragte ich, ob wir nicht ein paar Leute ruhig reinnehmen sollten, aber John und die anderen meinten sofort, auf keinen Fall, wir wollen unter uns bleiben.
The Beatles mit uns im Backstage der Ernst-Merck-Halle. Zwischen George und Paul steht Kathia, zwischen Paul und Ringo sind Evelyn und ich, und neben John sitzt Betty, die damalige Barfrau des Star Clubs.
Bettina holte aus ihrer Tasche ein paar Fotos, die die Beatles im Top Ten und im Star Club zeigten. Sie waren begeistert und sagten, die hƤtten sie auch gerne. O.k., sagte ich, der Fotograf, der die aufgenommen hat, steht vor der TĆ¼r. - Hol ihn rein, hol ihn rein, sagte John. Der Fotograf hieĆ Peter BrĆ¼chmann und freute sich wie ein Schneekƶnig, dass er als einziger Journalist ins Hinterzimmer durfte.
Er war es Ć¼brigens gewesen, der mir den Tip gegeben hatte, dass die Band am Bahnhof Ahrensburg aussteigen wĆ¼rde. Ich kannte ihn noch aus der Zeit, als die Beatles im Top Ten spielten. Von denen hatte er damals noch nie gehƶrt, und ich hatte ihn mit MĆ¼he Ć¼berredet, sie sich mal anzusehen und ein paar Fotos zu ma-chen. Es wurden die berĆ¼hmtesten Fotos, die er jemals gemacht hat.
Vor der Vorstellung hatte Paul noch zu uns gesagt, wir sehen uns hinterher. Aber als sie von der BĆ¼hne verschwunden waren und das Publikum noch klatschte, saĆen sie schon wieder in ihren Autos. Das war ja auch die einzige Mƶglichkeit, wie sie sich vor den Fans in Sicherheit bringen konnte. FĆ¼r Evelyn war dies der einzige Kontakt zu den Beatles geblieben.
Viel spƤter, als die Jungs schon berĆ¼hmt waren und ich mal in den Backstage durfte, wir saĆen da in der Ernst-Merck-Halle, hat mich George Harrison auf Till there was you angesprochen. Da habe ich ihm das dann erzƤhlt, dass der Musikwunsch eigentlich auf Katja zurĆ¼ckging. Das hat er auch verstanden. Aber es gibt Auf-nahmen, die irgendwann im Starclub mitgeschnitten wurden, auf denen man hƶren kann: āUnd nun spielen wir fĆ¼r Icke Till there was you."
We got curious about the painting in the background of this photo:
This photo is from the day in 1966 where the Beatles met some old Hamburg friends backstage. One of those friends is Kathia Berger, a painter, and ex-girlfriend of Icke Braun.
More on that meeting at this link.
According to this site Paul always called her Strawberry (after the way he met Kathia and Icke, but the use of this nickname is unsourced).
It seems that Kathia brought this painting with her to this meeting. At first we thought it could be Stuart, then we wondered if it was Icke. Could it be Paul?
We sure would like a better picture of this painting. It looks like it's full of symbolism.
I love your Paul and Icke posts. So insightful. What do you know about Paul and Icke seeing each other in the 90ās and why did he try to see him in the 80ās?
Thanks so much! We love learning about Icke and his relationship with Paul. We've been on a long break, but we're hoping to get the last few posts in this series done soon. We'll be talking about the time Icke almost visited Paul in the 80s, and the time he did see him in the 90s, so stay tuned!
Do either of you have thoughts on Ringoās song Electricity? Iāve been wondering who other than Johnny Guitar could be the āgangster of love smiling from aboveā and what that means about the song in general.
Not so long ago back in Liverpool
Playing every show while working in the factory
Music was the scene, I was on my way
Chasing my own dream with Rory and the Hurricanes
Before he became the keeper of the plane
And by the name of Johnny Guitar
Electricity coming through his fingers
Every time he plays, everybody lingers
On the verge of a serious power surge
Electricity, and I still remember back in the day
No one there will forget the way he played
Electricity
As it turned out good
Made it here to Hollywood
Playing just the same
I guess there's things that never change
Just like from the start
Every night I gave my heart
Trying to make it good
Just like I know I could
The gangster of love
Is smiling from above
So we play this one to Johnny Guitar
Electricity coming through his fingers
Every time he plays, everybody lingers
Electricity, and I still remember back in the day
No one there will forget the way he played
Electricity
Electricity coming through his fingers
Every time he plays, everybody lingers
Electricity, and I still remember back in the day
No one there will forget the way he played
Electricity
First off, thank you so much for the comment!
We're sure this song is about Johnny Guitar (he's named right there in the chorus). Did you have other ideas who Ringo might be thinking of?
Johnny died in 1999 and the song was released in 2017, almost 20 years later, so it makes sense that Ringo is talking about Johnny looking down on him from heaven as it were.
Gangster of Love
This is in reference to a 1957 recording by Johnny "Guitar" Watson"
It didn't gain traction in 1957, but he rerecorded it in the 70s, which is what you see here, and then it did chart.
He could have chosen a different song from a different year. I find it quite interesting he chose a song from 1957, which was before he and Johnny met, but is the year that John and Paul met.
With this information we can absolutely say that "gangster of love" refers to Johnny Guitar and only Johnny guitar.
One other lyric we'd like to note, even though you only asked about this one.
Keeper of the plane
The Hawker Hurricane was a very famous plane from WWII. It would have been well-known to all the lads in Liverpool.
When Rory died, Johnny took over as leader of the Hurricanes. We're pretty sure that's what Ringo is referring to with "keeper of the plane".
So those are all our thoughts on "Electricity"
Ultimately, it's very clear Johnny held a special place in Ringo's heart even many years after his death. To us it sounds fairly romantic, maybe even akin to "Here Today," but it could also just be an ode to a good friend who had passed.
As part of our quest to watch all the Beatles related media (with a special emphasis on underappreciated people in their story) we watched this video:
(It seems to be incomplete, but itās a documentary about Rory Storm and the Hurricanes). We have talked about the possibility that Ringo had some kind of relationship with Johnny Guitar for a long time, but this doc (combined with things weāve recently read in Ringoās book Photograph) tipped us over into āthey may actually have been boyfriendsā.
For those who donāt know him, Johnny Guitar (Johnny Bryne ā he got his nickname from the 1954 movie) was the guitarist with Rory Storm, and shared a chalet at the Butlins Family Resort with Ringo up until Rich was poached by the Beatles.
Hereās the page from Ringoās book Photograph where he talks about that:
In bed at Butlins.
Johnny Guitar and I shared a chalet, ten foot long by eight foot wide. Ah, the chalets of early Butlinsā¦
Some people, like Julian Lennon, use ellipses (...) in place of periods all the time. Ringo does not. So to use the ellipsis here means something. Likely, he wants us to think this is suggestive. Which, frankly, even if there was a period, it still would be.Ā
Also if you think this photo looks familiar, youād be right, it goes around Tumblr a lot, but, typically, it doesnāt look like that.Ā
This is the version you probably recognize. We will admit, when itās cropped and rotated it does look more intimate, but it still looks intimate when itās not as well, at least, we think so.Ā
Elsewhere in Ringoās book he says āJohnny Guitar was like the first Jimi Hendrix in my life; I thought he was incredible.ā It could be that Ringo is just talking about Johnnyās guitar playing here, but itās pretty strong.
You mentioned some possible iffy power dynamics between Peter and Paul in your addition to the Paulās boyfriend post, just wondered if you could expand on that?
Thanks for the ask anon! At the time we wrote that we were assuming that Peter was in awe of Paul and that there might have been some hero worship there. We've learned a bit more about Peter since and wouldn't bet on that anymore. Peter seems to have always had a very strong personality. We can't even remember why we assumed!
The two roses (we doubt Nancy is in the studio, so who are they for?)
Harpsichord
Piano
Congas
(R)ipples on a pond (is this the name of a riff? It seems to be among the instrument labels)
A pile of pens conveniently obscuring some other labels
"Fairchild #1" (a song title? album title?)
While we don't even know if "Fairchild" is a song or album name, when you search up "Paul McCartney Fairchild" you get a woman named Nelda "Ned" Fairchild. Who wrote, get this, "Twenty Flight Rock"
Could it be unrelated? Absolutely, but it's too much of a coincidence not to mention as a possibility.
Also, a possibility, though less likely (and shout out to @the-paper-apricot for this one) is that it's related to the roses. There was a famous gardener and rose breeder in the 16 and 1700s named Thomas Fairchild. Might have even inspired George, for all we know.
Do you notice anything else in this photo worth mentioning?
We were watching a Wings concert this evening that includes some home videos. We noticed Heather doing something that looks a lot like sign language to us. Neither of us are familiar enough with either BSL or ASL to say. We'd love to hear from a native signer whether this is sign language or just gesturing.
5 seconds Ā· Clipped by arewe theoysters Ā· Original video "Wings Over Australia 1975 complete concert + soundcheck" by JimmyMcCullochFan
Heather's index finger is extended in the first sign/gesture.
Could this be related to Talk More Talk, and/or She's Given Up Talking? Or maybe the signing in My Valentine (bad as that signing is)?
-Robert Fraser aka Groovy Bob aka Paulās emotional support art dealer/drug dealer/fag :ā) Most interesting man of the swinging London era! Thereās something so special and soft about how Paul always talks about Robert. āI expect people to die so I don't feel a loss but there's a vacuum where he used to be.ā And in a letter sent from Paul to Robert when Robert was in prison from The Rolling Stones drug bust, āJane sends her love, love, and is baking a file cake. I send mine.ā aughhh <\3
-Tara Browneā¦ I wish there was more written about him! We know he was very important to Paul. He was the person Paul first took acid with and was with Paul in the Great Liverpool Moped Accident of ā65! I always wondered why Paul invited him to Liverpool for his family holiday asdkskj. Paul describes him as āa nice Irish guy, very sensitive bloke. Iād see him from time to time, and enjoyed being around him.ā which is basically a declaration of passionate love in paul-speak.
-Peter Asher! Underrated Paul boyfriend. Iām not saying Paul only stayed with Jane as long as he did because he had a whole thing for her familyā¦ but Iām not NOT saying that. The songs he gave him! The wrapping paper he designed and kept secret as a gift to Peter and the Indica gallery!
(Iāll also just mention Paulās never ending kink for high society types. He loved hearing Robert talk about his time at Eton, specifically the āfagging systemā. Tara was heir to the Guinness fortune, not to mention son of a member of the House of Lords. The whole Asher family was a wet dream come true.)
-Denny Laine (is in my ears and in my eyes..š¶) listen. LISTEN. Look at any picture of Paul, Linda, and Denny in the wings era and tell me they werenāt a godās honest throuple. You canāt. I know it in my lifeās blood they got it on down and dirty for YEARS. Linda especially is allll over him in so many pictures and I donāt blame her! Heās a cutie! But they all had fuck-nasty sex.
-John Lennon. Yes, the worldās greatest and most tragic love story etc etc. fanfic tropes galore! Meet cute, mutual pining, only one bed, father doesnāt approve, found family, letās run away together etc etc
Me: so anyway John had mommy issues and Paul had daddy issues. And John was sort of daddy and Paul was sort of mommy but they just werenāt enough for each other. They were somehow the most and least compatible people on the planet but the love was there and it changed everything.
I really put George Martin there and for me is the best duo ever... And Ringo Starr for sure.
Denny Laine, yes, but I'm not feeling comfortable including Linda, really.
I think there's a great possibility that Geo and Paulie have an intimate relationship too, very similar as John, also toxic, and I read Something was for Paul.
So many possibilities and we only see mclennon...no criativity at all!!! ššš
Great list! We especially like that you included Peter Asher and Denny Laine.
Hereās our top 5 in chronological order:
Ian James
Who brought Paul to get his trousers taken in by a tailor? Who taught him to play guitar? Who did Paul wear matching white sports coats with? Ian James, thatās who. They reconnected in the 90s, so thatās nice.
Photo by Paul
GeorgeĀ
Ian was replaced, but not by John. Paul hitchhiked, but seldom with John. George was Paulās next love. He found in George someone who would never tire of talking about guitars. And who wanted to perform, just like him. Itās easy to mistake their relationship for brotherly, but if you look below the surface, it was anything but.
Mic? What mic?
John
What can we say that hasnāt been said before?
Is there any such thing as ājust songwriting partnersā?
Icke
It started with a strawberry field. Anxious boy meets rockstar, and the rest is history, except, not really, no one really knows this one. Between staying up all night with Paul to hear every small detail about the first trip to hamburg, in supposedly broken German, but probably not, to driving Paul, and only Paul to the airport on new years, this relationship clearly holds a special place in both their hearts.Ā
Evelyn looks like she knows where Ickeās heart really lies.
Denny Laine
Was in Paulās life WAY earlier than either of us realized. They used to go to concerts alone together of mutual friends. How adorable. No doubt in our minds that Denny/Linda/Paul were a thing. Solid throuple for ten years. Denny wasnāt just some other Wings band member, he was part of the life blood of the band. And when he left, the band was over. Later Denny said that he realised he never really knew Paul at all. That Paul hadn't let him in, though Paul knew every detail of Denny's life. He also felt he didn't get the credit he deserved in their music. We see sad echoes of Paul's relationship with George here.
Tell me whoās the couple here. Thatās right, you canāt!
Honorable mention: Peter Asher
We left Peter off our list because we think there might have been some iffy power dynamics. But then Paul did invite Peter to take a big important job in Apple, so maybe weāre misreading?
We love A Hard Dayās Night. This poll is a list of all the movies weāve watched together. Most of them have been pretty bad, so we went with āworstā rather than ābestā. Weāre pretty shocked that AHDN has votes, and Help! doesnāt.
We love the queerness, especially the Queen Magazine scene. And the breath of fresh air that the Beatles get in the field. If you want us to make a post with details about our thoughts, let us know, weād be happy to have an excuse to watch it again!
