We Have Egos

Hello!

I'm looking for a section of the lunchroom tape (from the Get Back sessions) where John says something to Paul along the lines of "I mean, you've only recently realised what you were doing to me". Does that ring any bells?

You seem to know your way around amoralto's archives, and I'm not having any luck searching there :)

Thanks!

Hi, @i-am-the-oyster (love the name, by the way)!

I think you might be referring to this section of the Lunchroom Tape:

JOHN: And it’s just that, you know. It’s only this year that you’ve suddenly realised, like who I am, or who he is, or anything like that.

I find this bit of the conversation particularly impenetrable; and all the more fascinating because of it. It's here that we have this famed exchange (whose full meaning still eludes me):

JOHN: Because you – ’cause you’ve suddenly got it all, you see. PAUL: Mm. JOHN: I know that, because of the way I am, like when we were in Mendips, like I said, “Do you like me?” or whatever it is. I’ve always – uh, played that one. PAUL: [laughs nervously] Yes. JOHN: So. PAUL: Uh, I’d been watching, I’d been watching. I’d been watching the picture. YOKO: Go back to George. What are we going to do about George?

I encourage folks to go listen to the full audio and transcript and try their hand at decoding it!

I don't know if it's accessible on the mobile app, but @amoralto has a separate page with links to all the Get Back excerpts, listed in chronological order. It's a pretty neat resource if you want to just binge through interesting little snippets from these sessions (some that made it onto the documentary, and many that didn't).

To those curious about the Lunchroom Tape in particular, here's a (play)list of all the transcribed excerpts, with @amoralto's descriptions for context:

We Have Egos

Over lunch, the remaining Beatles touch on George’s resignation from the band on the 10th, as well as a group meeting held the previous day which ended in less than desirable circumstances (with George leaving the room, frustrated by John’s persistently Yoko-filtered standard of communication). While Yoko contends that it would be easy for John (and Paul) to regain George’s favour, John points out that this is a more deeply-rooted issue than it may seem, compounded over the years by John and Paul’s treatment of George and his defaulted status within the group. Upon this problem of overriding egos, however, Paul suggests (passive-aggressively) that it isn’t just the Lennon-and-McCartney tandem that is causing George upset and consternation.

Jealousy For You

As the problem of George’s current resignation from the band is discussed, John makes it about him and Paul wonders what it’s all worth.

The Way We All Feel Guilty About Our Relationship To Each Other

John contends with how the force of his partnership with Paul and his relationship with Yoko has negatively affected George and perhaps directly contributed to George’s walkout on the group three days prior.

Cabbage

During a discussion on how the rest of the group should move forward after George’s departure on the 10th, John wonders if they should get George back at all, suggesting his role as a Beatle is replaceable (unlike his own or Paul’s), and likens this unkindly to how Ringo first replaced Pete Best. Paul notes that John has been the top buck in getting himself heard (and getting his way) since the inception of the group (which John protests) and quickly reassures Ringo when he wryly declares himself to be little more than rabbit food for the group. Paul admits that both he and John have done one over on George, albeit unconsciously as an effect of the competition and unaware of how it may have hurt George in the process, but John argues that he’s known since early childhood how manipulative he himself can be, and has tried to curb it to little avail.

What You Are

In the middle of a personal discussion with John and Ringo about the band, its tenuous future, and their relationships with one another, Paul (in response to John’s admission of insecurity in the face of external pressures from the public and media to perform) is emphatic about his faith in them and their abilities and contends that whatever interpersonal problems they have can be resolved, for what their music is worth.

Working At A Relationship

While Yoko and Paul conduct their own conversation with each other, Linda talks to John about the inevitable difficulties any relationship faces - even in the context of a musical partnership - and why it doesn’t prove the relationship itself is an expired one. John (inexplicably or not) laments that the White Album doesn’t sound like the genuine, inspired band collaboration they achieved in the past.

You've Got To Blame Yourself

As Paul encourages an unconfident Ringo to go ahead with his plans to record a solo LP, John hedgingly brings up his own apprehensions about following his instincts (especially when he’s not even sure what he really wants to do). In their inimitable and emotionally non-committal fashion, John and Paul engage in metaphors about intentions, conveying these intentions in actions, and how these actions may be conveyed by those who see it. (Basically: what John and Paul talk about when they talk about love.)

How Much More Have I Done Towards Helping You Write?

John and Paul have an obfuscating conversation about their songwriting partnership and creative process, which has been incapacitated by a lack of direction, misplaced (misread) intentions, and the unmet (unrealised) expectations they’ve inflicted upon each other. (In other words: issues. And some projecting of issues onto George, for good measure.)

What We're All About

In the midst of a personal discussion about working together within the band, John tries to explain the disconnect in their process, and why he can’t envision their songs the way Paul can. As both John and Paul circle around the issues of honest communication and (living up to) each other’s expectations, they eventually project onto George bring George into the quandary of the Lennon-McCartney partnership.

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calabrie

3 months ago

“I first met John Lennon through Tony King, who had moved to LA to become Apple Records’ general manager in the US. In fact, the first time I met John Lennon, he was dancing with Tony King. Nothing unusual in that, other than the fact that they weren’t in a nightclub, there was no music playing and Tony was in full drag as Queen Elizabeth II. They were at Capitol Records in Hollywood, where Tony’s new office was, shooting a TV advert for John’s forthcoming album Mind Games, and, for reasons best known to John, this was the big concept. I took to him straight away. It wasn’t just that he was a Beatle and therefore one of my idols. He was a Beatle who thought it was a good idea to promote his new album by dancing around with a man dragged up as the Queen, for fuck’s sake. I thought: We’re going to get on like a house on fire. And I was right. As soon as we started talking, it felt like I’d known him my entire life. We began spending a lot of time together, whenever I was in America. He’d separated from Yoko and was living in Los Angeles with May Pang. I know that period in his life is supposed to have been really troubled and unpleasant and dark, but I’ve got to be honest, I never saw that in him at all. I heard stories occasionally – about some sessions he’d done with Phil Spector that went completely out of control, about him going crazy one night and smashing up the record producer Lou Adler’s house. I could see a darkness in some of the people he was hanging out with: Harry Nilsson was a sweet guy, an incredibly talented singer and songwriter, but one drink too many and he’d turn into someone else, someone you really had to watch yourself around. And John and I certainly took a lot of drugs together and had some berserk nights out, as poor old Dr John would tell you. We went to see him at the Troubadour and he invited John onstage to jam. John was so pissed he ended up playing the organ with his elbows. It somehow fell to me to get him offstage.”

— Elton John, Me. (2019) (Note: You can watch the Mind Games commercial of John and Tony King in drag dancing here. You can read the continuation of this quote here.)

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calabrie

3 months ago

Oh my god it's John

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calabrie

3 months ago

sgt peppers fem paul

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calabrie

3 months ago

Q: "What is for you the height of misery?" John Lennon: "Hot feet."

Q: "Where would you like to live?" John Lennon: "Here."

Q: "What is for you the ideal of earthly happiness?John Lennon: "Now + then."

Q: "Which mistakes have you the most indulgence for?" John Lennon: "Mine."

Q: "Who are the heroes of novels you prefer?" John Lennon: "Me."

Q" Who is your favourite historical personality?" John Lennon: "Me."

Q: "Who are your favourite heroines in real life?" John Lennon: Me.

Q: "Who are your favourite heroines in fiction?" John Lennon: "Me."

Q: "Who is your favourite painter?" John Lennon: "Me."

Q: "Who is your favourite musician?" John Lennon: "Me."

Q: "What quality do you prefer in a woman?" John Lennon: "Tits."

Q: "What quality do you prefer in a man?" John Lennon: "No tits."

Q: "What is your favourite virtue?" John Lennon: "None."

Q: "What is your favourite occupation?" John Lennon: "Floating."

Q: "Who would you have liked to be?" John Lennon: Pope anything.

Q: "What is the chief feature of your character?" John Lennon: "An unearthly."

Q: "What do you appreciate most in your friends?" John Lennon: "Admiration."

Q: "What is your main default?" John Lennon: "Hate."

Q: "What is your dream of happiness?" John Lennon: "Black knickers."

Q: "What would be your greatest misfortune?" John Lennon: "Lose my virginity."

Q: "What would you like to be?" John Lennon: "Happy."

Q: "What is your favourite colour?" John Lennon: "Rainbow."

Q: "What is your favourite flower?" John Lennon" "Forgotten."

Q: "What is your favourite bird?" John Lennon: "Heckle."

Q: "Who are your favourite poets?" John Lennon: "Me."

Q: "What are your favourite names?" John Lennon: "God, Jesus."

Q: "What do you abhor most?" John Lennon: "God, Jesus."

Q: "Which historical character do you despise most?" John Lennon: "All of them."

Q: "What military event do you admire most?" John Lennon: "None at all I'm afraid."

Q: "What reform do you admire most?" John Lennon: "They have not passed it."

Q: "What natural gift would you would like to have?" John Lennon: "Flying."

Q: "How would you like to die?" John Lennon: "Insane but quiet."

Q: "What is the present state of your mind?" John Lennon: "Light to variable."

Q: "What is your motto?" John Lennon: "Me."

— John Lennon for Marcel Proust from Rave Magazine, October, 1965.

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john lennon why is he like this

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calabrie

1 month ago

"All My luggage"😂😂😂😂

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calabrie

1 month ago

George And Astrid In 1977; Photo © Astrid Kirchherr.

“Astrid was the one, really, who influenced our image more than anybody.” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology

“I had the strongest friendship with George. He was one of my best friends. We saw each other often, and he always looked after me, got in touch constantly to ask if I was healthy and if I have everything. Today […] I still meet up with his wife Olivia and his son Dhani.” - Astrid Kirchherr, translated from Hörzu, 2005

“[Olivia] is a special lady and a wonderful woman, she is only what you would expect from someone married to such a wonderful man as George. […] I was invited to a beautiful memorial service with Olivia and their son Dhani, who is so like George, at their beautiful home where George was happy being a gardener.’” - Astrid Kirchherr, Liverpool Echo, August 26, 2003

“I was in London then [in the late Sixties] and George said he needed a photo for the inner sleeve of his Wonderwall album. I said, I just don’t feel like it, and anyway I haven’t got a camera. He smiled and said, ‘Darling, I just need to click my fingers and there’s any camera you want!’ So I had to do it, and I do really like that picture. Then later George said, ‘Come over to London and I’ll set up a studio for you and you can be a photographer here.’ But I was so unsure then if I was any good or not, that I just couldn’t accept his offer. I’d had years of being called ‘The Beatles’ photographer’. I’d go into a magazine with my portfolio, and all they would want to talk about was The Beatles. They didn’t care if picture was out of focus or not, especially in the ’60s, as long as it had a Beatle in it. So I started to question myself. Are you actually good, or are you only good because you took pictures of The Beatles? And under those circumstances, I didn’t feel as if I could do it any more. I still take pictures - but these days they’re just in my mind.” - Astrid Kirchherr, The Beatles: Classic, Rare & Unseen

“He was then [in the early ‘60s], he still is now: my Georgie boy.” - Astrid Kirchherr, translated from Spiegel, 2/1994

“George was always my favorite, his kindness and his wit. He was just a wonderful person and whenever I was in trouble, like with money and things, he was always looking after me and he invited me a couple of times to London and later on to Henley. I just miss him terribly because he was like a little guardian angel for me, I feel like I am in a way lost without him.” - Astrid Kirchherr, Astrid Kirchherr: A Retrospective

“[Kirchherr] last saw George Harrison in mid-2001, months before he died, when he invited her to [Friar Park] for a last weekend with his family. ‘I remember we had a little walk in his park, and I was so full of love and joy to be with him that I cried,’ she says. ‘He said, “You must not cry, I will always look after you.” He had no fear. No fear whatsoever. I miss his presence, but I’ve got the feeling he’s still around me.’" - Peter Fetterman Gallery, Artists: Astrid Kirchherr (x)

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calabrie

2 months ago

Jimi Hendrix In Ringo Starrs Apartment In 1968

Jimi Hendrix in Ringo Starrs apartment in 1968

him sleeping with that crochet stuffed animal is one of my favorite photos of him, and that velvet blue suit looks so pretty

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calabrie

3 months ago

it's kinda funny that get back gave them name credits. imagine sitting down to watch 8 hours of beatles footage and not being clear on which ones are the beatles

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calabrie

3 months ago

On a cold day in February of 1964, the Beatles made what may have been their only visit together to the National Mall. Fresh off their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Fab Four couldn't fly down from New York City due to eight inches of snow that fell on the nation’s capital and they were forced to take a train to Washington, D.C. Met by enthusiastic fans at Union Station, John, Paul, George, and Ringo made a brief stop on the Mall for a quick photo-op before going to their hotel. Photographer Dennis Brack captured this picture of them near 4th Street. The British rockers played a show that night at the Washington Coliseum - their first ever U.S. concert.