SATB Newsletter #72

Hey guys,

I didn’t mention this anywhere else publicly but I will here: I have been on holiday since last weekend, ending this weekend (more or less) on a trip that took me out west (where I belong), into the unseasonably warm California sun as well as the natural wonders of Utah, specifically Bryce and Zion National parks. If you haven’t, you must - it’s been amazing beyond words to describe. But the whole trip’s been a blast, especially connecting with family and west coast friends I’ve never physically met and seeing some amazing stuff, some of which will make it onto future shows, so stay tuned.

But I haven’t been too far off the grid to be unmindful of topics of discussion happening while I was on the road, so let’s get this out of the way…

NEWS
I’m certain a lot of you saw this: a social media post from a guy named Jon Blackstone. Yeah, I had to look him up too: he’s apparently a working musician, tangentially connected to some of Elton John’s old band and based in the Pacific northwest. Not somebody of standing in Beatles world: he’s not a Greg Bissonette or a Rusty Anderson or anyone one would 1) have familiarity with or 2) immediately recognize as being connected to any modern day projects. But maybe this whole thing is a study of how to blow up the internet and go viral, starting with putting something into the world guaranteed to get reshared. This is the post:

I saw this getting re-posted around (simultaneously with my phone getting blown up). In a normal situation, such a newsworthy assertion - Peter Jackson proclaiming in a “recent interview” that there was eight "beautiful" hours of “White Album”-era studio footage - would’ve gotten a ton of attention and notice from traditional news organizations as well as the usual online rock press, often expanding on (and sourcing) the original story. But this was not that, and I could find nothing whatsoever attributing this alleged “recent” PJ interview.

We know that The Beatles were filmed at work in the studio on three separate occasions in 1968:

February 11: The “Hey Bulldog” shoot for the “Lady Madonna” promo film.

June 11: The “Blackbird” sequence, produced as part of a promotional short film to promote the launch of Apple.

July 30: The “Hey Jude” rehearsal for the Tony Palmer TV doc, Music!

That’s everything that we have known about for years, and note that every time cameras were allowed into EMI to document the group on film, it was for a clearly defined purpose - this was not something you did casually. There has been nothing on the record for a group of musicians whose professional activities have been very well documented to suggest that there’s a Holy Grail of previously unknown/unseen footage out there of say, George’s Arthur Brown impression during the tracking of “Helter Skelter” - nothing. Perhaps if there is any kernel of truth to the alleged PJ quote at all, it’s that there is more previously unseen footage of the “Bulldog” shoot, but that’s hardly the same thing. (That was not the “White Album.”)

It’s possible there’s more of the June 11 shoot that’s not been circulated before; that would be pretty amazing, but short of further clarity arriving, let’s not get our hopes up just yet.

REAL NEWS

It’s a golden age of Beatles-related documentaries. Coming soon to the BBC: a new film based on the true-life story of Paul’s long-missing Hofner bass and the decades-long hunt. Here’s the trailer. No word yet on its availability outside the UK.

More Macca: isn’t this the kind of thing we wish we all had access to? Sir Paul performing live in a small venue. I know at least one friend who will be attending.

BRILLIANT aesthetic, this…

HISTORY

These are the events that took place this week over the years in Beatles world.

25 March 1959: Newly-branded “Ringo Starr” plays his first gig with Rory Storm, then known as Al Caldwell and his Raving Texans.

23 March 1964: Vee-Jay released a single and an EP in the US

“Do You Want To Know A Secret?”/”Thank You Girl”

Souvenir of Their Visit to America EP

23 March 1964: In His Own Write was published.

27 March 1964: "Why (Can't You Love Me Again)" was issued as a single in the US.

25 March 1966: The Beatles “butcher” photo session took place.

25 March 1969: The first John and Yoko Bed-In for Peace began in Amsterdam.

27 March 1970: Sentimental Journey was released in the UK.

29 March 1970: Ringo appeared on The David Frost Show.

23 March 1973: “My Love” was issued as a single in the UK.

28 March 1974: John Lennon and Paul McCartney reunited in the studio.

24 March 1975: Paul’s Venus and Mars party was held in Long Beach aboard the Queen Mary.

25 March 1976: Wings at the Speed of Sound was released in the US.

27 March 1979: Pattie Boyd Harrison married Eric Clapton in Tucson.

24 March 1980: Rarities was released in the US.

25 March 2003: Ringo Rama was released.

24 March 2008: Neil Aspinall died.

24 March 2017: Pete Shotton died.

IN CLOSING

Normally I would have more to write up in detail but as I am on the road and one has to get wi-fi here and there where one can, it doesn’t make for the usual access to unlimited time to put this together, so apologies for any disappointments. So in the meantime, enjoy this half an hour of John from 1975, just before his life took a turn.

Oh, and…

In the Olympic barrel this week: Eagles and One of These Nights ((I know, right?)