Fab Four Blog

Daily Express' publishes that John cut his hair to be able to travel without being recognized.

John and Yoko stayed in Aalborg in Denmark over the new year and most of January 1970, to be with Ono’s daughter Kyoko. She was living there with Tony Cox, Ono’s second husband, and his new wife Melinde.

While staying in Denmark Lennon made the decision to have his hair cropped shorter than at any other time in his adult life. The precise reasons are unclear, although he and Ono were in the midst of a lengthy peace campaign and were keen to remain in the public eye.

Lennon and Ono both had their hair cut on this day. It was later described by the Daily Mirror as “the most sensational scalpings since the Red Indians went out of business”. The couple kept their shorn locks in a bag for future use.

On 4 February 1970 Lennon and Ono swapped the hair for a pair of Muhammad Ali’s bloodstained boxing shorts, which they said they intended to auction to raise money for peace.

"Bag One" lithograph sales skyrocket following the police raid in which a number of John Lennon's lithographs were confiscated by Scotland Yard for being potentially pornographic. Three hundred sets of the lithographs are available for sale, at a cost of £550 ($770) per set.

January 16, 1964

The Beatles at the Olympia Theatre, Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, France

January 17, 1963

Every ticket for the Majestic dance was sold in advance, much to the disappointment of an extra 500 fans outside the venue. The Cavern Club, Liverpool at lunchtime and the Majestic Ballroom, in Birkenhead in the evening.

Detectives from Scotland Yard converge upon the London Arts Gallery, raiding the John Lennon "Bag One" lithograph exhibit. They confiscate eight of the lithographs, those which have been deemed to be erotic and indecent. The warrant was issued under the Obscene Publications Act.

Today an exhibition of John Lennon’s erotic lithographs opened up at the London Arts Gallery located at 22 New Bond Street, London W1.

The lithographs, known collectively as Bag One, had been drawn by Lennon in 1969, and chronicled his wedding ceremony and honeymoon with Yoko Ono, and one of their bed-ins for world peace.

The Bag One Portfolio was published as a limited edition of 300, and contained 14 artworks. Each lithograph was signed by Lennon. The portfolio went on sale for £550, with individual prints priced at £40 each.

The exhibition lasted two weeks, but on the second day the gallery was raided and police officers confiscated eight of the 14 originals on the grounds of indecency.

Sentimental Journey, Ringo's debut studio album, seventh recording session took place on this day.

The title track had been a 1945 hit for Doris Day. Starr admired American producer Richard Perry’s work on Tiny Tim’s 1968 debut album God Bless Tiny Tim, and invited him to arrange the song.

Although they wouldn’t actually meet for another two years, Perry and Starr worked together extensively in 1973-74. Perry recorded the backing track for Sentimental Journey in America in late 1969, with guitar, bass, drums, piano, accordion, clarinet, saxophone, strings, autoharp and backing vocals.

Starr recorded his lead vocals at Olympic Sound Studios, in a session lasting from 2.30-5.30pm. His vocals were double-tracked during the middle eight section.

--US release of The Beatles soundtrack LP, Yellow Submarine (Apple). Songs: Yellow Submarine, Only a Northern Song, All Together Now, Hey Bulldog, It's All Too Much, and All You Need Is Love. Side two consists of instrumental soundtrack music by The George Martin Orchestra. 24 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #2.

Incredibly, The Beatles (minus George Harrision, who quit the group three days earlier) return to Twickenham Film Studios and the "Get Back" project. It must have been a miserable day. When the rehearsal was scheduled to begin, only two Beatles attend, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John Lennon makes a brief appearance late in the afternoon, almost as a gesture of contempt for the group. In his absence, Paul and Ringo discuss the difficulty of dealing with John when he has apparently appointed Yoko Ono to speak and act on his behalf.

Today marked an attempt to sort out the problems within The Beatles following George Harrison’s sudden departure two days earlier. All four met at Brookfield House, Ringo Starr’s Tudor mansion in Elstead, Surrey.

The meeting was not a success. The feud between Harrison and John Lennon remained unresolved, and Harrison left early without agreeing to rejoin The Beatles.

January 11, 1963

Lunchtime it was at the Cavern Club, of course in Liverpool. Then the Beatles made the hazardous afternoon journey south from Liverpool to Old Hill, blizzards made them unable to drive the 11 miles to King's Hearth at the Ritz Ballroom on York Rd. for the 2nd part of a double booking in the Midlands. It was the coldest night in the area for 7 years. The King's Hearth date was re-arranged for mid-February. Birmingham, Warwickshire was postponed.

`Live Peace In Toronto', number 136, 1st week in the ranking (Billboard)

John inaugurates `Bag One', an exhibition of some of his lithographies and drawings at the London Arts Gallery.

The Beatles asked Glyn Johns to prepare a version of the Get Back/Let It Be tapes suitable for release as a long-player. This two-hour session was a remix session for the songs Let It Be and For You Blue.

Stereo remixes of both songs were made on this night, along with a vocal overdub onto For You Blue by George Harrison.

It took place at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London, where The Beatles had recorded occasionally since 11 May 1967, when they taped the backing track for Baby You’re A Rich Man.

This was Harrison’s last Beatles session until the Anthology recordings in the 1990s - and it is not known whether any of the other Beatles attended.

Back on January 6, 1963

The last night of the tour ended at the Beach Ballroom, Sea Beach, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire

The Beatles had rejected producer Glyn Johns’ first attempt at fashioning an album from the Get Back/Let It Be tapes. Today Glyn Johns' put together a second Get Back LP for their consideration, although it too was rejected.

Johns' worked from 7pm-11.30pm at Olympic Sound Studios in London, without any of The Beatles being present. His new album omitted Teddy Boy, as it wasn’t featured in the Let It Be film, but added George Harrison’s I Me Mine and John Lennon’s Across The Universe.

Across The Universe had its third stereo mix. Johns left out the backing vocals from Apple Scruffs Gayleen Pease and Lizzie Bravo, took out The Beatles’ own backing vocals, faded the song early and crossfaded it into the reprise of Get Back. Some spoken word dialogue was also added to the start of the song, with Lennon asking Ringo Starr: “Are you all right, Richard?”

Although John Lennon was not at this recording session, this was their last time recording as a "group". This session was for the Let It Be album. After completing I Me Mine the previous day, The Beatles turned their attentions to Paul McCartney’s song Let It Be.

They taped a series of overdubs onto take 27, the basic track which had been laid down on 31 January 1969. First to be recorded on this day was a bass guitar part, with McCartney replacing Lennon’s original effort on track four.

Paul, his wife Linda and George triple-tracked some high harmony vocals. These were initially recorded onto track seven; an unnumbered mix bounced this onto track four, and while it was made they recorded the second set of harmonies. A final mix saw the third lot of vocals added once again to track seven, along with the previous sets. This track also contained the guitar solo recorded on 30 April 1969, which was used on the Let It Be single.

The final recording saw Harrison add lead guitar, including a new solo, onto track four, along with maracas by McCartney and extra drums by Starr. This solo can be heard on the Let It Be album.

Two stereo mixes of the song were then made. Glyn Johns, who produced many of the Let It Be recordings, was present at the session. To compile his latest version of the Get Back album, he took away the new Let It Be mixes, along with the multitrack tape of I Me Mine from the previous day.

Paul, George and Ringo got together on this date at EMI Studios to complete the Get Back album. John Lennon was on vacation in Denmark, but had left the group by this time.

They worked on I Me Mine, which Harrison was filmed playing to Starr during the Let It Be film. As it was to be included in the film’s final cut, it was necessary for the song to appear on the accompanying album.

They group worked from 2.30pm until 12.15am the following morning. Sixteen takes of the song’s rhythm track were recorded, with acoustic guitar, bass and drums, plus a guide vocal from Harrison.

The group performed an instrumental jam after take six, and prior to take 12 Harrison led them through a version of Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue Got Married.

Before take 15, Harrison delivered a mock press statement containing a reference to Lennon’s absence.

You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. But Mickey and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that’s always gone down in [studio] number two. The remark was included on Anthology 3, along with the basic version of take 16.

Having taped a satisfactory backing track, The Beatles overdubbed electric piano, electric guitar, lead and backing vocals, an organ and another acoustic guitar track.

January 2, 1963

January 1, 1966

Beatles - Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out - Number 1 in UK

John and Yoko Ono flew to Denmark today.

During his stay in Denmark, Lennon decided to withdraw his support for the International Peace Festival, announced to be held in Canada in 1970 but which never took place, unless the promoters agreed to waive an entrance fee.

The #1 song in the US on December 28, 1967
Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles

The #1 song on the UK Singles Chart on December 27, 1964

I Feel Fine - The Beatles

Merry Christmas!

Today on Christmas Eve, John and Yoko arrived back in England from Canada, where they had launched their global peace campaign. Part of the campaign was to have been a Christmas Eve antiwar demonstration due to take place in various countries, for which the couple had tape-recorded a greeting to be played.

Upon their arrival back in the UK, they were driven to Rochester Cathedral in Kent, where they intended to join a fast and sit-in calling for peace and to highlight world poverty. They arrived, accompanied by comedian Dick Gregory, in a white Rolls-Royce.

They were due to take part in a 24-hour sleepover with the homeless of Kent. However, a small crowd was already present when they arrived, and it was felt likely that their continued presence would have caused a commotion.

Lennon, Ono and Gregory posed for press photographers, and briefly went inside the cathedral but soon returned to their limousine to avoid being mobbed. They later attended midnight mass in the cathedral before returning to Tittenhurst Park in Ascot, Berkshire.

Today, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 peace campaign came to a close following a meeting with Canada’s prime minister Pierre Trudeau which took place in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Lennon and Ono had arrived in the city at 2am that morning, having traveled from Toronto via Montreal.

They arrived at the Parliament Building at 11am, with a scrum of photographers ready to snap the moment they met the Canadian PM. It was the only time Lennon and Ono were able to take their peace campaign directly to a world leader.

The meeting lasted for 51 minutes behind closed doors, although news cameras were on hand before and after. When they emerged, a reporter asked Lennon and Ono what had taken them so long. Ono replied that it was because they had all been enjoying the conversation.

Lennon added: “We spent about 50 minutes together, which was longer than he had spent with any head of state. If all politicians were like Mr Trudeau there would be world peace.”

Today John Lennon and Yoko Ono travelled to Ottawa, stopping briefly in Montreal during their Peace campaign.  They gave a press conference to local journalists at Montreal’s Château Champlain hotel.

Both Lennon and Ono dressed in black and were surrounded by War Is Over posters. A brief colour clip from the conference was later included in the 1988 documentary Imagine: John Lennon.