John Lennon’s most controversial time frame during his career was in late 1971 and early 1972, when he seemed to associate himself with people who were considered to be very radical in terms of their political orientation. This period of time also coincided with a low ebb in his record sales following the release of the album “Sometime in New York City.”
Some Beatles fans have also suspected that a “Sometime in New York City” box set that had been planned and discussed has either been shelved or postponed due to its lack of commercial viability. All of this was in conjunction with his deportation problems and increasing tensions with Yoko who had her own ambitions and artistic pursuits and the couple began to face friction as they could see that their relationship was possibly having a negative effect on John’s record sales. John when he was with the Beatles was certainly used to being on the top of the charts. That was no longer the case. Some speculate that this friction contributed heavily to the 18-month “Lost Weekend.”
One of the individuals that the Lennons associated themselves within the early 70’s was a left-wing political activist named Tariq Ali. John told Tariq that he helped inspire John’s song, “Power To The People.” Tariq was also one of the first people to hear John’s classic song, “Imagine.”
I may be in the minority but I still want to see a “Sometime in New York City” box set one day as there is much material from that time frame like the “One to One” concert that deserves a good remix and presentation.
Here is my copy of Tariq’s signed book entitled “Street Fighting Years.” Published in 2005 by Verso. The ultimate irony of a book like this is the following question: How do you sell a book that has a left-wing political orientation with a non-capitalist perspective? Well, the ironic answer is you try to sell more copies by putting a Beatle on the cover…LOL!
When the (Joe) Pope visited Madison Square Garden to see John Lennon and Elton John
Strawberry Fields Not Forever
For those of you who never got the chance to meet the late Joe Pope, the originator of the early Beatles fanzine “Strawberry Fields Forever”, you really missed knowing a great guy. Joe was a true Beatles fan from the word “go.” He organized the great first Beatles convention at the Bradford Hotel (though not authorized by the Beatles) in Boston.
This was soon to be followed by the first authorized fest by the Beatles organized by impresario, Mark Lapidos, in NY. Joe was also instrumental through his magazine to help fans purchase copies of George Harrison’s signed book “I Me Mine” at a greatly reduced price through Genesis publishers. He was also to distribute special 45’s of the Decca audition with special picture sleeves.
Joe produced 52 issues of the Strawberry Fields fanzine, often on an irregular publishing schedule, but that never lessened the anticipation for each new issue when they arrived via bulk mail filled with special features and much Beatles-related news. Later, Joe was to develop a special call-in phone number which you could call to get all of the latest Beatles news. Remember, this was all pre-internet. Joe and his wife Cindy would soon move from Boston to the West Coast (San Diego) and Strawberry Fields Forever came to a halt.
Little is known that Joe was to create a 2nd fanzine entitled A Thousand Pages-Give or Take a Few which only published 6 issues which I discovered by accident on Ebay. This fanzine served as a Beatles clipping service and was probably a bit easier for Joe to organize than a regular fanzine, especially when Joe discovered that he was suffering from cancer. Joe fought the brave fight but passed away in 1999. He is missed by all that were lucky enough to have known him! As a sample of his storytelling ability, here is an exciting story from issue #13 of Strawberry Fields Forever telling the story of how Joe Pope got to see John Lennon’s appearance on Thanksgiving 1974 at Madison Square Garden with Elton John.
Transcribed by John Bezzini from issue #13 of SFF- article written by Joe Pope
GETTING THROUGH THE NIGHT AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN – BY JOE POPE
The rumors had started almost two weeks before Thanksgiving: John Lennon was all set to appear with Elton John at Madison Square Garden! As the date grew closer, several things happened to firm up the rumors…John flew up to Boston with Elton John ‘…just to watch the show…’: then a one line mention in Billboard of the possibility of John’s appearing: and finally a phone call from a close friend at Capitol records. That was enough for us; we packed our bags and headed for the train station.
We arrived at Madison Square Garden at 1:00 PM the day of the concert. Though the show wasn’t scheduled to begin for some seven hours, the first few scalpers and the first Eltomaniacs had already begun to arrive. In a short time it became apparent that getting a ticket would be no problem; getting a good seat however, was something else again! We passed up over 100 offers of tickets ranging from 40 rows back on the floor to the highest balcony for prices of anywhere from face value to $100.00.
Finally at 6 o’clock our patience was rewarded. A twentyish looking guy in a security guard uniform came by: “Two front row tickets for sale”, he yelled. We jumped up and grabbed him before the rest of the ticket seekers could find out what he had. “How much you want for ’em?” we asked. “$30.00 each”, he said. “I’m not tryin to rip anybody off man, it’s just that I waited out all night for “em.” “So how come you’re not going yourself?” “I am”, he said. “I got another one for myself, cheaper, up in the balcony.” We gave him the money.
We were sitting in the front row about four feet from the stage when Elton came on and it was fabulous. But what made it more fabulous was the extra mike stand that wasn’t being used… it was directly in front of us! and that, we figured, must be for John Lennon……………….
Elton introduced him about 3/4 through the show to a TREMENDOUS ovation. And suddenly there he was, just a few feet in front of us, and looking incredibly young and healthy, long light brown hair flowing like from the “Abbey Road” days. John Lennon dressed completely in black, except for his brown cowboy boots (on the heel of which he wears his backstage pass!). Then suddenly John, backed by Elton’s band, piledrives into “Whatever Gets You Through the Night.”
Between songs John nervously, almost compulsively, munches on a piece of gum. He was happy to be on stage but still a bit unsure of himself in this first concert appearance in three years.
Together, now, they slow the pace down for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” with Elton singing lead and John joining him in the chorus. And John introduces the next song: It’s an old one,” he says, “and we’re not even sure we know it.” And suddenly we can’t believe our eyes and ears as John Lennon stands four feet away from us singing, : “I Saw Her Standing There!” The crowd is in hysterics and I turn and say to an Eltonmaniac sitting next to me, “Welcome to 1964!” we left Madison Square Garden feeling satisfied, very satisfied indeed!: the Bitch was back and he brought Dr. Winston O’Boogie with him!
I believe the person circled in red is Joe Pope based on my recollections of what he looked like and his story from above.
Elton John on Piano – Joe Pope in the audience
A wonderful poster that I bought from Mitch Axelrod, “The Beatles Cartoons” book author:
John Lennon and Elton John
The very obscure 6 issues of the rare Joe Pope fanzine that followed his “Strawberry Fields” fanzine entitled “A Thousand Pages”- (…give or take a few!) I purchased these 6 issues on Ebay after I stumbled across them accidentally.
John Lennon never seemed like the type of person to ask for anyone’s autograph. However he did make an exception back in 1960 at the Larry Parnes audition. There is photographic evidence of John asking singer Billy Fury for his autograph. The first time I ever saw the photograph of John asking Fury for his signature was in a book of superb early photographs of the Beatles written by the late Gareth Pawlowski and here is a picture of the book that the photograph appeared in. I can remember when I bought this book how amazed I was of all the fabulous rare photos of the early Beatles that Gareth Pawloski had acquired over the years:
How They Became The Beatles
A Billy Fury autograph which I just obtained on Ebay:
Fury’s Autograph
The DM’s Beatle site had posted the photo from the Gareth Pawlowski book of John asking Bill Fury for his autograph:
Ronald Wycherley was Fury’s real name but impresario Larry Parnes changed it to the stage name of Billy Fury.
Billy had many hits in the UK and many young UK musicians aspired to attain the great success that he had (witness John Lennon asking him for his autograph) but unfortunately he had a very weak heart due to having rheumatic fever as a child and he passed away at the young age of 42 in 1983.
As stated on numerous occasions in the past I also love to collect signatures of people that played a notable role or part of an interesting side story to the Beatles tale. I recently acquired these signatures for the collection as a few examples.
Timothy Leary – the Harvard professor that advocated for the therapeutic use of LSD. Mentioned in the song “Give Peace a Chance”, and he and his wife were at the John and Yoko Bed-In where the song was premiered. Leary also asked John to write a campaign song for him which evolved into “Come Together.” Leary was not too pleased with the resulting situation and the track was to become the leadoff track for Abbey Road. Timothy Leary passed away in 1996.
Allen Ginsberg , a friend of Yoko’s and a beat poet of the ’60s. He is also mentioned in “Give Peace a Chance” and was at many of John and Yoko’s happenings. Allen also did an unusual performance with Paul McCartney called “The Ballad of the Skeletons” which has been posted by someone on YouTube.
Here is a signed Ginsberg book that I acquired for my collection:
Allen Ginsberg’s Book
Baseball signed by Beat era poet:
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
A signed poem about baseball written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti that I purchased. The poem is about his passion for baseball and the San Francisco Giants!
Ferlinghetti passed away in 2021 and was over 100 years old at his passing.
A signed baseball poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti to accompany the signed baseball:
Passing away at the age of 101, Ferlinghetti was one of the most renowned radical poets produced in America. Ferlinghettipublished such well known Beat writers as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.
Noticed on this online site at the link below that he wrote a poem that mentions about John Lennon dying too soon and not being around anymore to give us the age-old answer to the question of “Why are we all here?”
A poem that mentions John Lennon dying too young “before he got to share “the answer” with all of us.
Royston Ellis – UK beat poet from the early ’60s who passed away in February of 2023. His Wikipedia background which details with the inspiration he gave for the songs of Paperback Writer and Polythene Pam. His friendship with John Lennon is also discussed on the Wikipedia page. Mark Lewisohn has discounted Royston’s claim that it was he who suggested that the Beatles spell their name as BEATLES rather than BEETLES!
Royston Ellis with the Beatles on the island of Guernsey in 1963, three years after the poet and the rockers first crossed paths in Liverpool. (Emmalena Ellis) I assume that Emmalena Ellis is the curator of the Royston Ellis Estate and the owner of the Beatles/Ellid photo. It was during the time that this photograph was taken that the inspiration for Polythene Pam arose. You will need to seek out the answer to that mystery on the internet.
Though not the book “The Primal Scream” that inspired John to write and record the John Lennon “Plastic Ono Band” LP, I recently bought this book because I was able to obtain Arthur Janov’s signature in this book. As you are aware I try to collect the signatures of many of the people that played an important role in the Beatles or solo Beatles lives! Janov’s therapy helped to create what many music critics have called a masterpiece despite it’s lukewarm sales figures due to it’s stripped down production and emotional intensity! Janov died in 2017 at the age of 93. He will always be associated and known for the psychotherapy he provided for both John and Yoko!
From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: lulu – Noun-slang: one that is remarkable or wonderful
I first heard about Lulu when watching her film performance in the wonderful To Sir with Love and hearing her sing the wonderful title song of the movie. There is a quick Beatles reference in the film by the way! Lulu has had many Beatles connections over the years. She appeared in the TV program The Music of Lennon and McCartney, was with Ringo on a Monty Python sketch. She berated John Lennon openly for flirting with Patti Boyd at the party for Magical Mystery Tour. She was married to Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees and they were living near Ringo’s home. Maurice Gibb was a member of the Fut who did the Beatles sendup of “Have You Heard the Word”.
A fascinating article appearing at the Beatles Bible site discussing the seemingly lost 1969 ITV tribute to George Martin which featured both Ringo Starr and Lulu:
Lulu appeared on a radio special done at Abbey Road which was a tribute to John Lennon, years after his assassination, at which she sang a couple of numbers in John’s honor!
Lulu appears on a special album of duets contributing to McCartney’s song, Let Em In.
Here is Lulu’s signed autobiography which I recently acquired: 2002 Publication – Little, Brown Book Group TimeWarner Books
Lulu’s signature in the book:
While browsing Amazon books recently, I also found this book which appears to be independently published from 2020 ironically by a company entitled: Lulu Publishing. Though a small paperback of approximately 60 pages, I bought a copy because it seemed to collect most of the Beatles Lulu associations in a single volume!
Lulu & The Beatles! Paperback – March 10, 2020
by Harry Lime (Author)
March 10, 2020 Lulu Press, Inc.
Lulu and the Beatles!
The back cover of the book:
Lulu with Ringo, Spike Milligan, and Friends
What a conclusion, quite the LULU!
Buzz
Biography
Biographical books about The Beatles or those associated with them
One of the more fascinating aspects of collecting is to own an item not possessed by many other people. (The exclusivity aspect of collecting). However, it must be noted that for me, it expresses more of a feeling of pride to own something like this rather than being boastful with the negative effect of making someone feel bad because the item cannot be obtained by them. Unfortunately, there are many collectors like that in the world.
I’m sure that you may have encountered some of them in your search for Beatles-related items. However, unlike many other limited edition books, this fabulous book about the Beatles solo years and the recordings that were made was issued to the mass audience in a more affordable softcover copy so that if you wanted one, you could find and purchase it quite easily. With a book as well-researched and documented such as this, over time, the prices that even the softcover copies demand are becoming increasingly more expensive and the best option for many is to purchase the digital pdf copy of the book which has many updates by Chip and Mark.
The book you see pictured below is the special hardcover edition of the work of Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, and it is a special edition indeed as there are only 9 copies of this hardcover edition in existence. The book presented here is copy #2 of the 9 copies that were printed. It will always hold a special place in my Beatles library.
Eight Arms To Hold You
This hardcover edition was also signed by the two authors!
The Signed Copy of the Book
A summary of the contents of the book is on the back cover:
Back Cover of Eight Arms To Hold You
Do you have a favourite Beatles book that is rare or is a particularly treasured possession? Let me know in the comments.
