Fab Four Blog

The Beatles enjoying Boxing Day!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas Eve!

The Beatles enjoying the Holiday Season.

The Beatles taking a break from recording.

The Beatles are getting ready for the Holidays.

On December 20, 1968 The Beatles released their sixth Christmas album. It was called The Beatles’ 1968 Christmas Record and was sent to fan club members in the UK and in the US. It included a song by Tiny Tim called Nowhere Man.

The Beatles take a break

At the Roayl Albert Hall in London, John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared onstage in a white bag as part of the Underground Christmas Party. The event was held by the Arts Lab, trying to encourage them to become active participants rather than passive consumers.

Lennon and Ono sat on the side of the stage as other poets and musicians performed at the event. When their time came, they entered the bag, remaining there while a man played a flute. The couple's 30-minute conceptual performance was titled Alchemical Wedding. The bag was, they explained, to ensure "total communication" with the audience. The following year the concept was reintroduced by the pair as Bagism, an attempt to satirize prejudice and stereotyping.

During the performance a protestor ran to the stage, holding a banner about the British government's involvement in the Nigerian civil war. "Do you care, John Lennon? Do you care?" the protestor shouted at the couple.

Again, the Beatles are taking some time off recording

The Beatles taking some time off recording

The Beatles are taking a break today

The Beatles are taking a day off today

The Beatles taking a break on this day 50 years ago

John Lennon and Yoko Ono made an interview today on the Dutch television show Rood Wit Blauw (Red White Blue).

It actually took place in the waiting room of Lennon's dentist in Knightsbridge, London. For the first three reels Ono spoke to interviewer Abram de Swaan while Lennon was being treated.

Yoko discussed her art and her beliefs about it as a functional means for communication. She then discussed first meeting Lennon at the Indica gallery, and how she didn't realise who he was at the time.

Lennon arrived during the fourth reel, explaining that he was feeling odd from the anaesthetic. He then gave a lengthy account of the couple's drugs bust, before discussing their film Smile.

Today John Lennon and Yoko Ono were guests performing on The Rolling Stones' television spectacular, Rock And Roll Circus.

The event was filmed at InterTel, a video facility at Stonebridge House in Wembley, London. The footage was captured on video and film, with sound recorded by Glyn Johns and Jimmy Miller on Olympic's mobile studio.

Guests for the show included Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, The Who, drummer Mitch Mitchell, pianist Julius Katchen and blues singer Taj Mahal.

Lennon was part of a temporary supergroup known as The Dirty Mac, which also featured Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell. The group played a version of Yer Blues from the White Album.

It was followed by a piece known variously as Whole Lotta Yoko or Her Blues. Yoko Ono emerged from a black bag on the stage, and she and violinist Ivry Gitlis performed an improvised 12-bar blues with the Dirty Mac.

The Rolling Stones' own performance began 2am the following morning. By this time Lennon and Ono had departed to do a BBC radio interview, but they returned for part of the Stones' set. The couple were also filmed at various times offstage earlier in the day, and Lennon and Jagger traded jokes for a link sequence to introduce The Dirty Mac.

Upon viewing the footage, The Rolling Stones felt their performance was not the best, and that they had been upstaged by The Who's A Quick One While He's Away, so decided not to release Rock And Roll Circus. The audio and video footage circulated widely on bootlegs before being released officially in 1995.

The Rolling Stones wanted a television special to rival the Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour". Rock And Roll Circus was their version, intended to mix music with performers hired from Sir Robert Fossett's Circus.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono were among the guest performers on the show. Others included Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, The Who, drummer Mitch Mitchell, pianist Julius Katchen and blues singer Taj Mahal.

On December 6th, rehearsals and camera tests began at the Marquee Club, and preliminary recording took place on December 8th at Olympic Sound Studios, both in London.

The Beatles taking a break today.

The Beatles are taking a break

The Beatles are taking a break

The Beatles are taking a break

The Beatles taking a break today

Today George Harrison told his staff at Apple that he had invited a group of Hells Angels from California to stay at 3 Savile Row.

Harrison had met the Hells Angels while in California in Los Angeles while producing tracks for Jackie Lomax's debut LP, Is This What You Want?. The Hells Angels did indeed stay, arriving later in December 1968.

The Beatles taking a break today.

The US release of George Harrison’s Wonderwall Music, the first solo album by any Beatle.

The US release of George Harrison’s Wonderwall Music, the first solo album by any Beatle.

The Beatles taking a break this last day of the month.

Originally published in the Guardian on 29 November 1968

John Lennon, one of the Beatles, was fined £150 with 20 guineas costs at Marylebone Court in London yesterday after admitting possessing the drug cannabis. A charge against him of obstructing police in the execution of a search warrant, to which he pleaded not guilty, was dismissed after the prosecution had offered no evidence on this.

Mrs Yoko Ono Cox (34), a friend, who was with Lennon in the dock, was cleared of both charges against her – possessing cannabis and obstructing police – after the prosecution had offered no evidence against her. She had denied both charges.

Drugs in flat

Mr Roger Frisby, prosecuting, said the pleas were acceptable to the prosecution. As far as the charge of possessing cannabis was concerned, they were found in a flat which was in their joint occupation. "When the drugs were found Lennon took full responsibility himself and by implication said Mrs Cox had nothing to do with it. There is not evidence that she did and in the circumstances I think it right to accept the plea."

As far as the charge of obstructing the police was concerned, there was an obstruction or delay of seven or eight minutes before the officer was admitted to the flat. There was no suggestion that either defendant took advantage of the time to dispose of the drugs and he felt the plea was a proper one to accept.

Mr Martin Polden, defending, said that Lennon and Mrs Cox had occupied the flat for about three months before the police searched it. They had moved there following Mr Lennon's "marital" difficulties.

It was a "highly emotional situation" for Lennon and Mrs Cox. She had been in hospital for about two weeks, hoping that her baby could be saved, but it was not. They were looking forward to having a child. Mr Polden said of Lennon: "He is an artist of note and integrity. He has brought some pleasure to millions. He has stood by his views. He is entitled to some compassion of the court."

The magistrate: "Can I take it that John Lennon is a man of considerable substance ?"

Mr Polden: "He is a man of considerable substance."

The magistrate told Lennon: "I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to deal with this matter by way of conditional discharge. There must be a financial penalty."

[John Lennon's divorce from his first wife Cynthia was granted on 8 November 1968. He married Yoko Ono in 1969.]

John Lennon appeared at Marylebone Magistrates' Court, London for cannabis possession.

John pled guilty, because he was worried Yoko Ono may be deported from the United Kingdom.

During the hearing Lennon's solicitor, Martin Polden, told the court that Ono had recently lost their baby, which had been a terrible blow to the couple. Additionally, Polden declared that Lennon had renounced drugs after becoming a devotee of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi the previous year, and stressed that the Beatle had "given pleasure to millions" through his music.

The magistrate quashed the charge of obstruction to justice, and fined Lennon £150 plus court costs of 20 guineas. Lennon was also warned that if he was found guilty again of a similar offence he risked a custodial sentence.

It was better when it happened. It's been building up for years – thinking something would happen. Now, the fear has gone a bit. Now you know what it's like, it's a bit different. And it's not too bad; a £150 fine.

Although the judge exercised some leniency, the repercussions of the case continued for Lennon for many years. The conviction was a key factor in the Nixon administration's efforts to deny Lennon a Green Card for residence in the US.

Hey Jude - Still Number One!