BEATLES MYTHS : Fifty Years of Fact & ‘Fab’-rication

20 years ago today, "Sgt. Pepper" taught to the band to play... and who might that be??? That lurking influence you hear referred to by David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Woodrow Wilson, and Henry Ford? Yikes.

reply to post by mirageman


I would think he was always faithful to none other than his wife, as it should be.

I would imagine it's his life mission just to get her to love him like he loves her.

Or did,,

or has, or will.

who knows what they did all that for

Originally posted by woogleuk
reply to post by primus2012

 

As for Cobain, I fully believe that skank was responsible for his death, either directly or indirectly.

edit on 4/2/13 by woogleuk because: (no reason given)

Whats your evidence for that?
2nd

Don't mean to go off topic of the Beatles. But nowaday musicians, especially in the "rap / hip hop" scene (maybe even others). Alot of them are selling their soul to get abit of the spotlight (money money money). Jay Z, Kanye West, Katy Perry for starters. Sorry to bring them in but I see a resemblance between the ones I just mentioned and the Beatles.

Not that the ones I mentioned are dead... YET. Until their time in the spotlight is up like John Lennons?

reply to post by bacci0909


It is my opinion, not facts laid in stone, the sad thing is, there will never be any concrete proof.

But the fact that the medical reports suggest he was too high to pull the trigger himself will always leave us wondering.

Anyway, let's not derail a good thread ok.

Ahhh, thanks OP for an excellent thread of living memories, vital stories of myth, fact & legend surrounding the penultimate musical experience of a lifetime! Then again, maybe it was a lot more than just that!

"After all, it is written in the stars.....", perhaps it all was. The sixties were charged with all kinds of awakenings, spiritual, societal, cultural, musical, etc. Followed by the plaintive demand of "Just gimme some truth" in the 70's. "My Sweet Lord", "Instant Karma" was in the air, just "Imagine" all the possibilities there were yet before us. Perhaps, "Band on the Run", was a musical message of attempting to escape the pact with the Devil and finally be "Free as a Bird". In the end, sincerely pleading that "God Bless Our Love", everything would be "Just Like Starting Over".

Were The Beatles catapulted into fame and fortune on the wings of a dark, occult power? Too many clues would say so.

Well, "All Things Must Pass" and "in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make......"

Just remember, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans...."

9

Originally posted by TheToastmanCometh
reply to post by dave_welch

 

Actually, George was Hindu.

Just throwing it out there.

Isn't that what I said? If not, sorry, it's what I meant.

ETA: You're right, I said Buddhist, not sure how I got Hindu and Buddhist mixed up. Sorry for the mistake.

Originally posted by dragnik
I've read somewhere that many teams and music laboratories were behind their success, that was Soviet claim, I know nothing about that for sure ...

By the way, I had all of their albums, except Magical Mistery Tour... First LPs, later cassets, and discs... Now I have nothing of that...

edit on 4-2-2013 by dragnik because: additional text

I don't want to be a smart arse, but Magical Mystery Tour was actually an EP, not an album. It was kind of released as an album in (I think) the 80's in the UK, but it was more a compilation that included additional material, which from memory was the non Pepper singles from 1967.

Originally posted by gort51
More Modern rubbish about the Sgt Peppers cover art work.

Many of you are too young, probably, to remember a TV show that aired in 1987 called "Sgt Peppers 20 years ago today"..
In that EVERYTHING was explained about the time, the group, the art work, songs etc.....Not sure if it is on the tube, I still have it on VHS.

A great Doco. of a great time..

Do you realise that the picture on the Sgt Peppers album is Real Life size.....yes, all the plants are real (no they were NOT maryJs) all the mannequins life size.....AND they had to get permission from every celebrity featured (or their estate) including Mae West.....A photo of Gandhi was suppose to be on it, but Lord/Sir Such&Such of EMI, said he didnt want to upset the Indians.....so it was left off.

No secrets on that album......of course if you play the last 5 seconds backwards (you know the backwards warble voices)....it apparently sounds like..."Will Paul come back as Superman", and that was talked about in the late 60s......

There ya go fans.....

What it does say in reverse, is "Go f... yourself, you superman" I listened to it many times.

Star and flag. I've always loved The Beatles as have my family and friends. This was very thought-provoking and contained many things I didn't know before. I thank you for all the work you put into this.

This is the best thread i've ever seen on ATS. I am a Beatles fan , and have come across most of this one time or another. How can I save this other than copy and pasting the text to a word document?

About a 3 hour read all told and thoroughly watched. I remember thinking as the Beatles dissolved, that a generation had been abandoned. And that their dissolution was a betrayal to all that had subscribed to them as a beginning, a beginning to right the worlds ills.

Thanks mirageman!!
This has been a very wonderful, reflective and a 'down memory read' for me. I love The Beatles, still do and always will!!

For me, they were a very big part of my childhood, and I found myself engrossed in every detail, bit of information that I could find about them. Paul was my favorite Beatle. I've seen him and Ringo in concert, separately. Fantastic!!

Great read here, good feedback and comments. Can't say anything new for me, as I still read everything I can get my hands on about The Beatles

I was caught up by the whole PID controversy when it came out......., but realized that is was just a cool Beatle joke.

Loved George and felt he became even stronger, and better as a musician in his later years!
John was awesome, a very complex chap. I think he had a very dark and mean side to him. Especially when he drank and got drunk. Never was really happy how he neglected Julian and how he treated his first wife, Cynthia...she really loved him and he treated her very poorly, IMHO.
Ringo, totally cool and has always come across as sensitive. He seemed to try and keep the other three civil, and friendly with each other........always love his....Love and Peace!! persona.

Paul, my favorite, just thought he had it all. I do see some of his arrogance, but, hey....a Super super-star! Just a genius, and what's wrong with Silly Love Songs..............!

Again, thanks very much for putting all of this together for us.......very cool!!

Edit: added S + F

Peace and Love!!! ID

Originally posted by intrptr
So with all due respect, you can have all that conspiracy stuff, I'll take the music.

Case in point. Before Moog synthesizers and electronic music effects, there was only a simple reverb and tremolo. The instruments and the skill to play them were all. In this one, for the first time, an entire symphony orchestra was utilized to assist in the making of "A Day in the Life", off Sg't Peppers. The head conductor never had to direct such a piece before (if you can call it that). For them, the winding crescendo of all the instruments was obscene at first. After they were finished and he heard the tracks he considered it "brilliant" and "genius".

But if some of the theories are true (like the puzzle / symbolism thing) that would mean some of the "conspiracy stuff" is part of the music. And that would mean that not only is it amazing, groundbreaking music, but also possibly one of the most intricate and thought-out artistic works of the 20th century!

I'm a second generation fan, myself. My first exposure was via my father, who would have been about 14 when Sgt. Pepper came out. Although I heard them a lot growing up, I didn't get totally hooked until I was in my mid 20's. I had been listening to them more and more, in various states of mind..... and slowly came to realize not only how great the music is, but just how ground-breaking and influential their techniques were.Before the Beatles, and I daresay even before Sgt. Pepper specifically, music just didn't sound like that. Not that full, that rich, that intricate. Some of the techniques they used were simply genius-- particularly on the production end.

reply to post by iwilliam


This is by far the best doc I've seen on them, it's a behind the scenes film of the making of the Let It Be album and might be released sometime this year although it can be seen in full in the link I posted.
en.wikipedia.org...(film)

While the Beatles did make good music, as individuals i don't really have any respect for any of them, anybody that can go out in public and disrespect religion and other people's beliefs like that don't deserve respect, it's not about what you believe or what is right or what is wrong, it's about common courtesy and respect and some members of the Beatles did not show any of that so screw them.

reply to post by iwilliam

But if some of the theories are true (like the puzzle / symbolism thing) that would mean some of the "conspiracy stuff" is part of the music.

All the dead theme on the cover was their fear of loosing that fever edge of popularity. Fear the band would "die". After all the fascination and "mystery" became apparent after Abbey Road, they carried it over the top on Sg't. Peppers. They just played it up.

Even Charles Manson used some of it. "Helter Skelter" was his tool to manipulate his "followers" into believing that the Beatles were the "Four Horseman of the Apocalypse" and the "sting in their tails" (from Revelations in the Bible) were the electrical chords coming from their guitars. The group "spoke" to him and helped him foster his madness upon the world. He used the Beatles to help deceive others so they would murder for him. Theres a conspiracy.

And that would mean that not only is it amazing, groundbreaking music, but also possibly one of the most intricate and thought-out artistic works of the 20th century!

I think they were just mostly stoned (and bored poets). Brilliant musicians no less, but sort of above the mania at the same time. And there was mania believe me. You have to understand that time. The Vietnam war, Nixon... Christianity was burning Beatles albums and swearing they were the devil. It was extremely controversial all across the board. They had to overcome a very conservative power structure in this country.

The hippie movement was even turned off at the beginning because of their "clean cut" image. Later, when they began to adopt that lifestyle you could see the change in their demeanor and their music. They went from establishment squeaky clean music like "Love Me Do" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand", to growing their hair and hiding acronyms in their songs like (L)ucy in the (S)ky with (D)iamonds. And many more. It was more a path of discovery they took all through their tenure that mirrored what the country was going thru at the same time.

The kind of behavior they were used to in England didn't exist when they first arrived in America, but blossomed as they became main stream. At first they had to compete with The Beach Boys and The Monkey's and later the Doors and the Rolling Stones. This is when they truly blossomed... but in the din, it was hardly noticed. They cranked out album after album and until Sgt Peppers they were relatively struggling after their first big splash. Then they broke up (and Hippiedom wept). That was to bad. The Beatles were underrated and scorned and so pioneering at the same time. They invented the Music Video. They invented the roof top concert.

Did they sell their soul for Rock and Roll? I doubt it. They invented it. They saved America with it. I know they saved me.


Edit to add: Let me clarify something. It might be more accurate to say the Beatles helped save me instead. I might have become a fighter pilot or Marine without them. Thanks to their music (and Marijuana), I didn't. Thats how I meant they "saved me". Or saved my soul, however you would put that. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to go way back and joggle some memories. It was refreshing.

THE BEATLES AND DRUGS

Yes the Beatles loved their drugs and it certainly inspired some of their music. I thought I’d sink a fair amount of alcohol as my inspiration to write this part up tonight.

The first drugs I ever took, I was still at art school, with the group - we all took it together - was Benzedrine from the inside of an inhaler. John Lennon, 1967 Anthology Book

For the long hours playing live in the clubs of Hamburg they had been introduced to amphetamines to keep them awake through the early hours.

This was the point of our lives when we found pills, uppers. That's the only way we could continue playing for so long. They were called Preludin, and you could buy them over the counter. We never thought we were doing anything wrong, but we'd get really wired and go on for days. So with beer and Preludin, that's how we survived

Ringo Starr Anthology Book

Although it is believed the Beatles were first introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan there is an earlier story from New Years Day 1962. Travelling from Liverpool to London for what was to be the unsuccessful Decca sessions, The Beatles' faced a 10-hour drive through snowstorms. Their van driver Neil Aspinall became lost, and two dodgy men tried to talk their way into the group's van as a safe haven for smoking cannabis.

Bob Dylan met The Beatles on 28th August 1964 at New York's Delmonico Hotel. Upon arriving at The Beatles' suite that evening, Dylan suggested they have a smoke of something...

"We've never smoked marijuana" Brian Epstein replied. Dylan was somewhat bemused and said, "But what about your song. The one about getting high?" A little dumbfounded by the comment John Lennon asked which song he meant. Dylan sang his reply, "and when I touch you I get high, I get high..."
A slightly embarrassed Lennon admitted, "Those aren't the words,". "The words are, 'I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide...'"

The story then has the hotel room doors locked down from unwanted visitors and Dylan rolling a joint. Ringo smoked the whole thing and didn't recover until one day when he wondered why he was reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book.


Years later John Lennon told the story of the Beatles smoking cannabis in the toilets of Buckingham Palace whilst waiting to collect their MBEs, allegedly on the night Prince Edward was conceived.

There was a noticeable change to the Beatles sound in 1965 with the release of “Day Tripper” and the LP Rubber Soul. You can hear the influence of Dylan and some say marijuana. On the next album, Revolver, tracks “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Dr. Robert” , if not entirely obvious, contained drug related themes. Yellow Submarine, although disguised as a kid’s song, may well be relate to drugs. Just as years later Paul’s much maligned “Frog Chorus” is really about his secret “Bufo alvarius” licking habit during the 1980s.

By the time of “Sgt Pepper” in summer 1967 the Beatles had been using acid for some time. However John Lennon claimed “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was not about '___' but had been inspired by a drawing his son Julian had brought home from school. Paul (or his replacement) became the first UK pop star to openly admit to using '___' in an interview with “Queen” magazine. Her Majesty probably thought “That’ll teach him for smoking in the royal lavatory”. It was reprinted by Life magazine on the 16th June 1967.

The day after his 25th birthday ITV broadcast this interview with Paul about his drug use.

I spoke to the reporter beforehand, and said, 'You know what's going to happen here: I'm going to get the blame for telling everyone I take drugs. But you're the people who are going to distribute the news.' I said, 'I'll tell you. But if you've got any worries about the news having an effect on kids, then don't show it. I'll tell you the truth, but if you disseminate the whole thing to the public then it won't be my responsibility. I'm not sure I want to preach this but, seeing as you're asking - yeah, I've taken '___'.' I'd had it about four times at the stage, and I told him so. I felt it was reasonable, but it became a big news item.

Paul McCartney Anthology

continues after another beer >>>

THE BEATLES AND DRUGS continued

Paul has also admitted to using coc aine around the time of Sgt. Pepper but allegedly gave up in 1968 whilst the other Beatles used it into the 1970s and possibly beyond.

Up until '___', I never realized that there was anything beyond this normal working state of consciousness. But all the pressure was such that, as Bob Dylan said, "There must be some way out of here." I think for me it was definately '___'. The first time I took it, I just blew everything away. I had such an incredible feeling of well-being , that there was a God and I could see Him in every blade a glass. It was like gaining hundreds of years experience within twelve hours. It changed me and there was no way back to what I was before. It wasn't all good, though, because it left quite a lot of questions as well.

George Harrison, 1987

A month later the Beatles were openly advocating the legalization of cannabis by adding their names to an advertisement in the Times newspaper on 24th July 1967.

By Oct 1968 John and Yoko and had been charged with cannabis possession, John pleaded guilty absolving Yoko who was too stoned to give a statement. In March of 1969 George and Patti Harrison were both charged with possession of cannabis. Both John and George maintained that they had been the victim of a set up by Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher. On November 8, 1972, Pilcher was arrested for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after it was alleged he had committed perjury. In September 1973 Pilcher was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment. So maybe they were right?

Although Paul has admitted to trying heroin in the 60s he claims it did nothing for him and he never bothered again. From around the middle of 1968 through to the end of 1969 though, John Lennon was addicted to heroin. This has been downplayed for many years now. But songs like Happiness Is A Warm Gun ("I need a fix 'cause I'm going down") and Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey ("The deeper you go the higher you fly") from The Beatles (White Album) are obvious nods to Lennon’s usage. Fortunately he’d come back from India with a collection of decent songs (most written by George and Paul). However by the time of the “Let it Be” sessions in January of 1969 Lennon had only “Dig A Pony” and “Don’t Let Me Down” to offer up as new songs and was apathetic to the whole project. The end of the Beatles was nigh.

Heroin. It just was not too much fun. I never injected it or anything. We sniffed a little when we were in real pain. I mean we just couldn't - people were giving us such a hard time. And I've had so much # thrown at me and especially at Yoko. People like Peter Brown in our office, he comes down and shakes my hand and doesn't even say hello to her. Now that's going on all the time. And we get in so much pain that we have to do something about it. And that's what happened to us. We took H because of what The Beatles and their pals were doing to us. And we got out of it. They didn't set down to do it, but things came out of that period. And I don't forget.

John Lennon, 1970 Lennon Remembers, Jann S Wenner

In October of 1969 Lennon offered up Cold Turkey to the Beatles. Too early for Christmas they declined the offer and he released it as a solo single although “Cranberry Sauce” comments were not added to the end of the track where they would have seemed much better placed than tagged onto Strawberry Fields Forever. Lennon never recorded with the Beatles again.



Paul McCartney retired to his farm and his career went to pot every now and again. Some say that he even had visions of his future life with Heather Mills and this inspired him to write the track “3 Legs” for his Ram album in 1971.


And don't forget

“….Nothing is Real” – John Lennon

reply to post by mirageman


Wow, this was a very fun read.
The whole Paul McCartney double thing is just bizarre.
Oh the crazy skeletons in their closets, eh?