Interview with author Ken Sharp on the making of John Lennon’s last album, Double Fantasy – By Marshall Terrill, first published October 26, 2010.

STARTING OVER: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy by Ken Sharp (MTV/Gallery Books; October 2010; $26.99) provides an intimate collection of personal accounts and never-before-seen photographs behind the creation of the groundbreaking album which forever changed the face of music, and proved to be John Lennon’s final work.

Three decades since its release, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy is recognized as one of music’s most beloved albums and marked the creative rebirth of one of rock and roll’s most influential artists. For the first time ever, Starting Over offers the definitive text and visual account behind the creation of the historic record, which would ultimately serve as John’s last musical statement to the world.  A number one record around the world, the GRAMMY award-winning Double Fantasy (1981’s “Album of the Year”) yielded the smash singles, “(Just Like) “Starting Over,” “Woman” and “Watching the Wheels.”

Constructed as an oral history by Los Angeles based singer/songwriter and author Ken Sharp, the story is told by the album’s key players including Yoko Ono, producer Jack Douglas, Geffen Records head David Geffen, the entire studio band, Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick who played on the sessions,  engineers, arrangers,  videographers, key record company personnel, media who interviewed John and Yoko during the promotion of the album (David Sheff/Playboy, Andy Peebles/BBC Radio, Dave Sholin/RKO Radio), photographers (Annie Leibovitz, Bob Gruen, Kishin Shinoyama, Paul Goresh), music journalists and Lennon himself via archival interviews. Starting Over weaves together the most comprehensive and extraordinary portrait of Lennon’s last days by one of rock’s premier writers.

M.T.’: What do you want Starting Over to convey to your readers?

Ken Sharp: In light of the horrible tragedy, the creative period prior to his murder signaled a creative rebirth for John Lennon.  I wanted to covey that burst of creativity through the tapestry of people I interviewed for the book.

M.T.’: How old were you in 1980 and what affect did John Lennon’s death have on you?

Sharp: I was 17 and living back east in Fort Washington, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pa.  I didn’t hear about his death until the next morning.  My sister woke me up and told me.  It just felt like a horrible, horrible nightmare.  I feel very fortunate — through my mom, I grew up loving perhaps the two most important icons in popular music – Elvis and the Beatles.  I specifically remember my mom buying Beatles VI for me at the grocery store. To this day that album is an important record to me.  I remember looking at the back sleeve with John wearing that polka-dot shirt and thinking he was the ultimate rock star.  I still think that to this day.  While I was certainly too young to see the Beatles live, I can say I’m a first-generation fan who got into them in the sixties. I’ve released a couple of CDs on my own (1301 Highland Avenue, Happy Accidents and Sonic Crayons) and I can say with certainty that the Beatles and specifically John, have been the greatest influences on me.  His death felt as if I’d lost a family member.  There’s still a huge void and I think we all feel that.  Doing this book was my way of wanting to honor John’s legacy.

M.T.’: When did you conceive of the idea of the book and how did it come together?

Sharp: I think it was a few years back when I listened to the album again and started thinking that a lot of his other albums have received pretty extensive coverage but the story of Double Fantasy has always been somewhat obscured by the horrible tragedy that occurred less than a month after the album was released.  I thought I should investigate the idea of writing a book on the making of the album.  I started with a series of interviews with producer Jack Douglas and then the story started to unfold.

M.T.’: I’m surprised this book wasn’t attempted on the 10th or 20th anniversary of his death; it seems more appropriate for some reason this book is coming out approximately the 30th anniversary of his death.

Sharp: What I can say is that Andy Newmark, the drummer on the Double Fantasy sessions, recognized my passion and my sense of honoring the record.  I think he sensed I wasn’t going to do a hatchet job and that my intention was to present a ‘fly on the wall’ perspective from as many people as possible about the creation of the album.  He sensed the genuineness of my intentions and he helped open some doors with a few band members who were reluctant to speak.  Obviously, that helped open the door for the book to happen.  Since publication, the band has received copies and I’ve spoken to a few of them and they seem real pleased, Andy especially.  It meant a lot to me to get his approval and that his faith in me was rewarded.  I feel I delivered on my promise to assemble the most extensive chronicle of those times.  Maybe their reluctance to talk over the years was due to the sadness and somber nature that surrounded this great event in which they participated and was perhaps tainted by John’s murder.  If I can surmise, as the years have passed, they can embrace the positive, uplifting nature of those sessions.  John was on such a high and he was creatively reborn.  He was back to doing what he was meant to do, and that’s making music.  There’s always that sadness of the promise of “what would come next” that was stolen from all of us on December 8, 1980.

M.T.’: Yoko Ono granted you an interview.  What was your interaction with her and what role did she play in the shaping of this book?

Sharp: I’ve interviewed Yoko twice before and both times were at the Dakota, which was a very exciting thing for me to do.  I interviewed her in 1986 for the Live in New York City album and again in 1992 for Onobox.  She’s just fantastic and a very gracious lady.  I remember waiting in Studio One, the famous all-white office that is head-to-toe with file cabinets.  If you recall, there’s a few famous photos of John in that office:  one signing the back of Double Fantasy and the other of him reading a newspaper with his feet up on the desk.  We did the interviews in Yoko’s office, which is on the same floor.  It’s an intimate, beautifully decorated office with plush couches.  What really affected me was seeing in person the painting done of John and Sean Lennon in Bermuda, which hung in Yoko’s office.  John’s piano was also in the office and I remember playing a few chords on it.

Regarding this book, I reached out to her fairly early in the process and we did one interview.  Again, she was gracious as always.  I have a feeling it was a little painful for her to speak about that period but she was a trooper and very forthcoming.  I’ve never had anything but positive dealings with her.  I like her songs on Double Fantasy and believe they pointed the way towards a very futuristic sound.  Ironically, John was right about Walking on Thin Ice being her breakthrough record. The evening of December 8th, John told her as they finished that session, “Mother, I think you’ve just made your first No. 1 record.”  Now, it wasn’t No. 1 immediately, but it was her first No. 1 record on the dance charts and she’s had a few since.  My experience with her was completely positive.  She didn’t have a role in shaping the book beyond being one of the few key people that I interviewed.

M.T.’: Why did you decide to make this an oral biography?

Sharp: I like to utilize the format. In a sense when constructing an oral history, I approach it like a filmmaker, in that sense, sculpting the voices of the people I spoke to.  It also helps to tell the story as seamless as possible, and doesn’t allow me, the writer, to pontificate or speculate.  This is told by all the people who were there as it happened.  By the way, the last interview I did was with renowned photographer Annie Leibowitz.  As you can imagine, she’s a very busy lady and initially when I reached out to her. She was not available.  It turned out to be a very busy period for her.  I approached her again near the end of the book because I felt that for the “December 8th” chapter, I wanted to revisit the events of the day without getting into the tragedy that later unfolded and I felt she was a crucial voice.  So, I went to her again and through a good friend of mine, Bernie Hogya, who worked with her on the “Got Milk?” campaign, she said yes.  It turned out to be a great interview.  So great that she got so emotional in the middle of the interview that she started crying a little bit.  It was sad but it also conveyed the deep well of love she had for both John and Yoko.  She wasn’t just a photographer, she was a friend to both of them.  For me, that being the final interview was a great way to close out the book.

M.T.’: I get the sense from reading your book that all the session players and engineers had a genuine affection for John Lennon.

Sharp: It is apparent when you read this book that John was such a strong spirit and certainly was a three-dimensional character.  He was a real person and that’s what we connect with.  The people on those sessions were all new in working with John and Yoko, and brought an excitement to the project.  In speaking to everyone, there was such a sense of joy and rebirth in the air for the sessions.  Everyone I spoke conveyed a deep love and affection for John as well as Yoko.  And I hope that Yoko will be proud of this book because it’s an honest but very uplifting chronicle of the time.  For me it was a matter of historical record to get it down on paper while all of these folks are still with us.  It was such a key and pivotal part of John’s and Yoko life, that I feel very fortunate and privileged to be the one who did it.

M.T.’: I know at the time a lot of fans and especially critics, thought that Double Fantasy was the ‘househusband’ John and didn’t really get the whole ‘joys of domesticity’ message.  How, in your opinion, has that changed over time?

Sharp: Well, it’s interesting that you say that because when the album did come out it did receive mixed reviews.  There were some who loved Double Fantasy and some who were disappointed.  Surprisingly, Yoko was the one being championed as the avant-garde artist and some critics were a little disappointed in John’s songs.  I believe a lot of the critics wanted the angry John; the John who was filled with angst and rage; the Plastic Ono Band John.  There were critics who wanted the cutting-edge John and this was a different man.  He was 10 years older; the guy who was a househusband for five years.  He extolled the joys of domesticity, being a househusband, being a father.  Of course, “I’m Losing You” carries some of the pain and angst of the old days.  He painted his life in song so yes, there were some critics who didn’t like the album.

In the book I interviewed a slate of critics who reviewed the album when it was originally released and garnered their take on the record. One of those was British music writer, Charles Shaar Murray who originally reviewed the record for the New Musical Express in England.  He slammed John’s songs and championed Yoko’s.  His opinion has since changed and that’s because he’s now in the place that John was when he originally wrote Double Fantasy.  He’s reevaluated the work and is much more objective about it today, which I felt was an interesting take and an important point to address.

M.T.’: How do you view producer Jack Douglas’ role in the shaping of Double Fantasy?  He says in your book (and I think he’s just being humble) that he stayed in the background and let it happen because John was such a force of nature.  There’s no doubt that his assembly of this studio team for Double Fantasy was brilliant.  What credit should he rightfully get for this album?

Sharp: I think he deserves major credit, especially for allowing John to lead but providing the solid expertise when he needed to intercede.  He had major success with artists like Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and Miles Davis and it’s ironic that while he was working with John on Double Fantasy, his major act, Cheap Trick, was working with George Martin on the All Shook Up album.  I think Jack was someone who not only valued John but Yoko, and someone who knew his place and knew when to intervene on a creative level.  I also think he was able to create a real positive environment in the studio as well, which is crucial.  By creating that environment, as a performer it inspires you to even greater heights.  Jack was able to connect with the right players and surround John with a team that made him feel comfortable and inspired.

M.T.’: Your book also revives the theme once again that Lennon liked to work fast in the studio. Can you comment on the speed in which Lennon worked and perhaps why?

Sharp: I think it goes back to the days of the Beatles when they knocked out three songs in a session.  That’s the way he grew accustomed to recording, but there was also another aspect and that he wanted to capture the moment, the freshness of the song.  He was impatient and had the mindset of, “Let’s just do it.  Let’s capture it and move on.”  There’s an authenticity to his songs because of it.

M.T.’: The Cheap Trick saga in this book was absolutely fascinating.  How did you hook up with Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos, and what were their memories of those sessions?

Sharp: I co-wrote a book on Cheap Trick with Mike Hayes called Reputation is a Fragile Thing: The Story of Cheap Trick. That came out over 10 years ago, and they’ve always been one of my favorite groups.  In many ways, the Cheap Trick chapter is one of my favorites in the book.  I recently received a really nice compliment from the band’s drummer, Bun E. Carlos, who said of all of the accounts he’s read, mine is the best and most accurate one.  That made me feel really good.  I was always fascinated by those sessions.  I remember hanging out after a Cheap Trick show in 1985 in Philadelphia where they were sharing a bill with R.E.O. Speedwagon.  On a little walkman, Bun E. Carlos played “I’m Losing You” and “I’m Moving On.”  You don’t forget hearing something like that – it was a mind-blower.  I loved their raw and primal Plastic Ono Band approach to those songs.  So, because of that history, I’ve always been fascinated with those sessions.

Cheap Trick was obviously heavily influenced by the Beatles and John Lennon, and when I told them I was working on the book and who I had spoken to for this project, both Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos consented to speak to me and they both supplied a great interview.  I wanted to create a chapter that would be the final word on those sessions.  The story is that they came in for one day and Rick was on guitar, Bun E. on drums, Tony Levin on bass, George Small on keyboards and John was playing guitar and singing.  They knocked out two songs and John seemed to be really happy with them.  Rick presented John with a white Hamer guitar, and I tracked down an image of it in the book. To see a photo of John playing that guitar in the studio was pretty mind-blowing for me.  The other interesting thing was the day they did the session, Rick’s son Daxx was born.  He remembers smoking cigars with John and John showed Rick his Rickenbacker guitar.  There’s also a great little story in the book about how the band found all of these guitar picks leftover from the session where Rick had flicked them just like he does in concert. And four our Cheap Trick book, Bun E. Carlos kindly allowed us to reproduce a piece of sheet music for “I’m Losing You” that John signed.  He wrote, “To Bunny, enjoyed the hop.  Love, John Lennon.”  John didn’t know his name was spelled Bun E. and Bun E. certainly wasn’t going to correct him.  I also found the pun quite funny as well.  Could there be a cooler possession in the world?

M.T.’: Why were those tracks not used on Double Fantasy?

Sharp: There’s a story in the book about John being upset that the session was mentioned in Rolling Stone but I’m not convinced that’s the real reason. I believe it’s simply due to the fact that the versions they did were so raw and so different than the lush and polished nature of the other tracks.  It didn’t mesh with the rest of the album and would have stuck out like a sore thumb.  I think that’s the real reason why they were not used the first time around, but I’m glad “I’m Losing You” was officially released on [John Lennon] Anthology.  I’d also like to see “I’m Moving On” get officially released as part of a Yoko project.

M.T.’: Another great story in the book is the tale of Matthew Cunningham, a street musician who played hammer dulcimer and was recruited by Jack Douglas to play “Watching the Wheels.”  Can you recall for the readers the hilarious exchange Lennon and Cunningham had in the studio?

Sharp: Jack Douglas brought in Matthew Cunningham, who was a hippie long-haired street musician and he seemed like he was in the dark about who he was doing the session for.  He was playing a little out of tune and John was in the control room and speaking to him on the talkback button.  Cunningham squinted his eyes, looking at the control room window, but couldn’t see who it was.  He asked, “What’s your name?”  John replied, “My name’s John,” but never let on to Cunningham he was John Lennon.  Cunningham said, “Hi, John.”  And then John says, “Hi, Matt.”  Everyone in the control room was laughing because this poor guy Cunningham didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.  But two days later he finally figured it out and called Jack Douglas on the phone to ask, “Did I just play for John Lennon?”  Douglas said, “Yeah, you did.”  He was paid something like $200.  I tried to find Cunningham, too, but I was unsuccessful (laughs).  But that is a wonderful story and shows the openness of John and Jack to bring someone in off the street to add a little sparkle to the sessions.  It’s one of Double Fantasy’s great surprises.

M.T.’: I’m still a little confused on the sessions for Milk and Honey.  Were those songs semi-recorded during the Double Fantasy sessions and put on the shelf and then finished after Lennon died?

Sharp: Essentially, yes.  They would lay down tracks, but then later there were additional overdubs on Milk and Honey.  I think the songs that grabbed them at the sessions that they felt they could flesh out and felt were more immediate at the time, were the ones that ultimately comprised Double Fantasy.  Ironically, the first track that was recorded for all of those sessions was “I’m Stepping Out.”  It’s a great track and one of the best on Milk and Honey and certainly would not have been out of place on Double Fantasy.  Perhaps it was Jack Douglas who honed in on the songs that were connecting a little quicker and could sculpt and get in the can for an album.  These two albums are truly brother and sister, Yin and Yang and equal in terms of content.  A great sadness for me was that “Grow Old With Me” was never done the way John had envisioned.  In the new Box of Vision set, there are some handwritten lyrics for the songs on both of those sessions and he had listed he wanted to use bagpipes on that song.  The haunting demo certainly has its own magic but I would have loved to have seen “Grow Old With Me” really fleshed out.

M.T.’: Your book also shows, through the words of those who were there at the time, that John and Yoko were in love with each other and he was very happy at the end of his life.  I’ve heard so many different things over the years.  What are your thoughts on this particular subject?

Sharp: If he wasn’t happy, he really put on a good front for all of those musicians and I just don’t think that was the case.  The music really shows his joy at the time; the joy of being back in the studio and Lennon never could fake it.  That wasn’t in his character.  I spoke to all of the studio musicians and Jack Douglas and the only thing that was ever conveyed to me was how much in love they were and how they connected as husband and wife and as creative partners.  The record was subtitled “A Heart Play” and it was a dialogue between husband and wife.  It was an intense relationship, and seemingly they were in a really good space.  I just don’t think you can fake that.

M.T.’: Starting Over has the most detail I’ve ever read regarding John’s plans to tour again.

Sharp: According to the people I spoke to in the book, a tour was going to happen in the spring of 1981 following the release of another record, which I guess would have been Milk and Honey.  There was a dinner commemorating the end of the sessions where there was specific talk of players’ availability and confirmation that John was going to hire them to go out on the road.  Yoko mentioned that John was going to perform Beatles songs like “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.”  Wow, can you imagine John singing those songs? I would have loved to have seen John sing “Help.”  Ideas regarding the production of the show were bandied about, talk of a futuristic spaceship with a mechanical Octopus arm.  Earl Slick, who was very much an in-demand session player at the time, said John spoke to him of setting aside some time to tour.  For me, that was a very exciting part of the book to explore and uncover.  Ultimately, we’re talking about a mythical tour but just to even imagine it is exciting. John was in that mind space and so free and open to new ideas and opportunities, he was going to face the world again in a very spectacular fashion and on his own terms.

M.T.’: The saddest part for me was that Double Fantasy was not only John’s big comeback, but that Act III of his personal and professional life was wiped out by a madman. How hard was it for you to compile this book, knowing that doom was right around the corner for Lennon?

Sharp: I spent very little time on the tragedy.  I feel that’s for other books to examine. My focus was on the sessions, the idea to reconstruct that entire period leading up to the release of the album. During the whole process of recording the album and in the months afterward, John was really enjoying himself and was on a professional upswing.  It was a time of creative birth and renewal.  I made a very conscious decision not to cover his murder in any depth. However, I do think the chapter “December 8, 1980” is a pretty powerful one because it does provide a “fly on the wall” perspective as to what he was doing that day on a creative level, starting with the Annie Leibowitz photo session through the RKO interview through the final “Walking on Thin Ice” session.

M.T.’: Why does Double Fantasy still touch people 30 years after its release?

Sharp: I think the album still resonates because everything John Lennon did resonates.  He was real, he was authentic.  He was just like us.  I also think the fact that he was espousing the joys of domesticity and family, a subject certainly everyone relates to, especially as we grow older.  You can also sense a great joy in the record.  And as we grow older, the songs mean more to us.

Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy is available on www.amazon.com.

Marshall Terrill is the author of more than a dozen books. His latest, Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon (Triumph Books, 2010) is available at www.amazon.com

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A Fun Interview with Jude Sutherland Kessler, Thee John Lennon Proficient.

Fascinating Interview dated back in 2009 with John Lennon Research Queen, Jude Sutherland Kessler.

by Shelley Germeaux

But First, meet the Queen…Jude Southerland Kessler has spent her entire life either preparing to write or researching/writing the myth-busting John Lennon Series.

Jude completed high school in three years and when “she was just seventeen,” she went on to Northwestern State University, LA, to acquire two degrees (English and history) in three years. Kessler immediately won a graduate assistantship to The University of Maryland in 1974 and received her master’s degree in English in 1976. She has taught on the junior high and high school levels and was an English instructor at The University of Maryland and Troy State University, Alabama. Kessler also has a paralegal degree in Law Research.

In 1986, this student of history began research into The John Lennon Series, a 9-volume work on the life of John Lennon. With a personal Lennon library of over 500 books, numerous interview CDs, DVDs, periodicals, and interview tapes, Kessler undertook seven trips to Liverpool, England to interview John Lennon’s childhood friends, early band members, art college mates, and business associates.

Establishing a reputation as the leading Lennon expert, Kessler began to speak to organizations across the United States and to write for the Kansas City Beatlefan magazine. She also interviewed U.S.-residing “Beatle people” such as May Pang, George Harrison’s sister, Louise; reporter Larry Kane, Angie and Ruth McCartney, and journalist Ivor Davis.

 In late November of 2007, Kessler published Shoulda Been There (1940-1961) the first historical narrative biography in The John Lennon Series, the result of twenty years of research into Lennon’s life. In 2010, Kessler released the second volume in The John Lennon Series, Shivering Inside (1961-63), followed in 2014 by Volume 3, She Loves You (1963-1964). That same year, she was one of 13 authors included in the respected volume, New Critical Perspectives on The Beatles: Things We Said Today. And in March of 2018, she will release Vol. 4 in The John Lennon Series, Should Have Known Better (1964).

Kessler has been Guest Author for The Fest for Beatles Fans in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas and is the official blogger for The Fest for Beatles Fans. She was a Guest Presenter at BeatlesFestWest in San Francisco and BEATEXPO in Stanford, CT. In 2008, Kessler was selected as “Featured Author” for the Melrose Arts Festival in Louisiana and keynote speaker for the Philadelphia Women’s Night of Commerce, 2009.

In Feb. 2014, Kessler addressed Penn State Altoona’s “Beatles International Conference” and the University of Pennsylvania’s “Tomorrow Never Knows International Symposium.” And in 2016, she served as Chairperson for the GRAMMY Museum of Mississippi’s “From Cavern to Candlestick” Symposium, the first Beatles’ symposium in the new museum.

 In 2012, Kessler was asked by Beatles at the Ridge Director, Charles Snapp, to create “The Beatles Authors and Artists Symposium.” For the last five years, Kessler has continued to chair that successful and growing symposium and to build its reputation.

Kessler has hosted “The John Lennon Hour” on BeatlesARama Radio and BlogTalk Radio, and she has been featured on BBC’s “Up All Night,” Rod Quinn’s ABC Radio “Up All Night” from Australia, and May Pang & Cynthia Neilsen’s “Dinner Specials” among many other radio and personal appearances.

And now, I present Ms Germeaux’s 2009 article:

Recently I met (via email) Jude Southerland Kessler, author of “John Lennon: Shoulda Been There”, a historical bio-novel covering the period 1940-1961, the first twenty-one years of John Lennon’s life. Published in 2008, the book is a resounding 788 pages before its extensive bibliography, and includes an interview CD with the Beatles first manager Allan Williams. The foreword is written by John’s Liverpool mate, Bill Harry. Susan Ryan did a great review of it for Daytrippin’ last year; this article is not a review but a short interview with the author as well as my initial overview.

The intriguing aspect of this book is the attention to the facts of John’s life down to minute details, as Jude creates scenes and conversational script around actual events that have been documented. The only new material that is not included are the newer revelations from Julia Baird’s recent book, “Imagine This” which was released around the same time Jude’s book was. Jude also missed out on an actual trip inside Mendips, which was opened to the public after Jude concluded her research. But those things do not detract from the story since Jude did have access to Baird’s earlier work.

Jude has researched John’s life for twenty years, making seven trips to Liverpool to interview many people associated with John, people you have read about but probably never thought to try and track them down, such as the life model Jane Furlong from the Art Institute, and Rod Murray, John’s old roommate. She inspected the actual entries about John at Quarry Bank School, and wrote to the people who owned John’s Liverpool home, Mendips (before it was opened to the public.)

Even if you are not into novels per se, this book is worth your time if you are a Lennon fan who would like to be able to picture the events in your mind and imagine how they may have happened. You’ll need to overlook the lack of offensive language that littered John’s vocabulary, as Jude carefully uses a more PG style. For example, the F word is “fugging”. But you get the picture, and the book becomes accessible to all age groups; also absent are early sexual experiences or any mention of his first real girlfriend, Barbara Baker. Jude has done an excellent job of writing the conversations in true Liverpudlian scouse; pretty amazing for an American girl. Down to the local slang at that time, the names of meals, tea and holidays, it’s Liverpool all the way.

We’ve heard it all before in so many books, with slight variations and corrections through the years as more facts come to light.  What we haven’t seen in print are possible conversations and dramatic scenes that must have taken place…the judgments and hostilities that were going on in the Stanley family that caused Mimi to be so horrified at John’s living conditions at Julia’s that she took matters into her own hands to extricate him; the close bond that grew between Uncle George Smith and John, explaining John’s grief when he died; the shenanigans at Quarry Bank School that exasperated the headmaster and all the teachers at the school, resulting in his expulsion. In each case you are living through the events as they occur. And that is how John’s traumatic childhood begins to unfold for the reader in an emotional context.

Even the title begins to make more sense. Thinking that it meant that WE all “shoulda been there” because it was such an amazing time, it actually means THEY all “shoulda been there” for John when he was little, but weren’t.

Here is the interview that I conducted with Jude:

Shelley: Is your name really Jude? I have to ask because of the obvious connection to the song “Hey Jude”.

Jude: I was born Judith Ann Southerland. My mother is Irish (O’Neal) and Jude is the Irish nickname for Judith. Once I got to gradeschool, it became “Judy” no matter how hard I tried to tell everyone. (My husband’s name is Rande…silent “e” and everyone called him Randy…he hated it as much as I hated Judy.) When he and I met in 1977, we agreed to call each other by our correct names, and over the years (33 years of marriage and four years dating), it has stuck.

Shelley: What are the upcoming editions and dates that you plan to publish?

Jude: There will be four more books in the series…if I survive the pressure of deadlines!

*Shivering Inside (10 Dec. 1961-The Ed Sullivan Show) Will be out on John’s birthday in 2010

*She Loves You (Ed Sullivan Show to meeting Yoko)

*Shoulda Known Better (Meeting Yoko through the Lost Weekend)

*Shine On (John’s return to New York through 8 Dec. 1980)

SG: Jude, what prompted you to do this project, and why did you start researching John 20 years ago?

JK: I had been a John Lennon fan (and consequently, a Beatles fan…in that order) since I was nine years old. Like so many other girls (and guys) who grew up in the 60’s, I had the Beatle bracelet, pennant, wallet, card collection, pictures, 45’s and albums. I was a dyed in the wool FAN.

And I was always a writer. In 1965,  published a juvenile book of poetry called Memories from Gradeschool Years and was named my junior high school’s poet laureate (LOL!!). I wrote a novel in elementary school and did my own illustrations (both dreadful!). Like many prepubescent girls, I worshipped Louisa May Alcott! And in 1975, I received my Master’s in English and began teaching creative writing at Troy State University. The point of all this info? To say that I wanted to write a novel from a very early ago…I realized that writing a novel was what I was here to do.

In 1986, when I began to earnestly consider beginning that long-delayed book, I asked myself, “What do I know well enough to write about authoritatively? What is my area of expertise?” The only thing I really knew well (so I thought) was John Lennon.

Of course, almost immediately (as I began my research) I discovered that I knew nothing about him at all. So I began purchasing books on John and The Beatles: ten books, one hundred books, two hundred, three hundred….I collected periodicals, taped interviews, and later interview DVD’s and CD’s…I squirreled away anything and everything that I could get my hands on about John. I created an entire Lennon/Beatles room in my home.

But there was another, more important motivation for my focus on John Lennon as the subject of my novel(s). My “mission” in life, I believe, has always been to care for neglected or abused children. Wherever my husband and I have lived, there has always been a child living close to us who became part of our family and ended up virtually moving with us and our son, Cliff, until we moved away. John was one of those children. He has lived with me since December of 1963. I wanted to tell the story of that little boy who had to prove that he was worthy, valuable, and “bigger than Elvis” because his heart overflowed with a “sadness that [went] too  deep for words.” I wanted to tell readers (whether they were Beatles fans or not) that what parents do makes a huge difference in the life of a child.

SG: What is the most profound thing that you have learned about John, that really surprised you?

JK: I honestly don’t think I had any real revelations about John… not because I’m smart or clever, but because John was dead honest. He was exactly the person you saw and listened to and observed. He was a straight shooter…no sham, no gloss, no apologies.

He was – once I started researching him – exactly the person I had always suspected him to be. I had long believed that the songs were all about John’s tortured love for Julia, and the more I discovered about him, the more obvious that premise became. From the plea “not to wear red tonight” in “Yes It Is,” (red was Julia’s favorite color) to the admission: “I’m a loser, and I’m not what I appear to be,” John always, always sang of his love for Julia and his loss. She was the center point of every song. (See “I’ll Cry Instead” or “In My Life” or “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.”)

I had also always believed that inside John’s gruff exterior was a soft, loving, giving man. And every single one of my interviews in Liverpool with his friends and associates bore that concept out. Liverpudlians told me so many stories of the kind and thoughtful things he did for them. (They’re all in the book! You’ll love them…amazing examples of John’s heart.)

I had always believed John to be witty, pithy, cutting edge…and he was. I believed him to be easily hurt. He was. I believed him to be lost…constantly searching for “the next big thing” to make him happy. He was.

I wish I had discovered that John was happier than I had imagined, but I didn’t. There were moments of smiles, of course…moments of fleeting joy. But the sadness was always there, just beneath the surface. John had a “chip on his shoulder that [was]bigger than his feet.”  And he sincerely believed that “half of what [he said] was meaningless.” He was never really happy here. I believe he’s happy now.

SG: Can you name some of your favorite interviews in this process?

JK: Cue the theme from “Love Story” (“Where Do I Begin…”)…Serially, I had no bad interviews. All were interesting, exciting, amazing. How did a girl from a small town in north Louisiana get to walk with such giants? I’ll never know. I only know I’ve been blessed. My life has been a wonder and continues to be, thanks to wonderful Beatles friends and readers, and the best husband on earth.

But I digress…back to interviews:

Meeting Allan Williams, the Beatles first manager, was an unruly, joyous, raucous experience. My husband and I spent four unforgettable evenings with Allan and his late friend, Beryl Adams (who worked for Brian Epstein at NEMS and was once married to Bob Wooler). The stories and fun we all shared will keep me smiling for the rest of my life. Allan gave me three great interviews (one of which is on the CD in the revised copy of Shoulda Been There). He also got into a fist-fight over me, which was the happiest night of my life and another long story for another day.

The late Bob Wooler, DJ at the Cavern Club, was a man beloved by every single person in Liverpool. He was eloquent, informed, and easy to talk to. The stories he shared (with his bent toward alliteration and purple prose) were so vivid and alive. I loved visiting with him. (But he would NOT tell me the exact words that he said to John at Paul’s 21rst birthday party. He said he was taking that statement to his grave.)

My favorite interview of all time was June Furlong, the life model at Liverpool College of Art. She was John’s idol when he was in school. June was a very famous and exquisite model. All the great artists of Europe (Bacon, Foy, Auerbach) had painted June in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. So, John used to shadow June to discover what she did to become so famous and sought-after. He questioned her about what it took to get to the top. During the process of interviewing June, we became fast friends. We still write each other every month and stay in close contact. She means the world to me.

I also loved meeting Rod Murray, Helen Anderson, Joe Flannery, Colin Fallows (Liverpool College of Art), Dave Bennion from QuarryBank (now Calderstones CC) in Woolton, Tony Jackson, John’s Uncle Charlie, Louise Harrison, Ruth McCartney, George Jardine (John’s art college professor), Billy May, and many, many others. Honestly, I still have to pinch myself to believe I actually sat in The Grapes or Ye Cracke and talked to these larger than life people. Strange days indeed.

SG: Were you able to take the tour through Mendips, and what did you think of that?

JK: No. sigh…..I was in Liverpool between 1993 and 2000…and Mendips was not open to the public at that time. I wrote to the owner of Mendips at that time and asked if I could please come in and see the house, and I explained exactly why I wanted to do so. A week or so later, I receive a very courteous reply telling me that the home was not open to the public and that only the friends of the owner were admitted to the home.

Well…..pathetic person that I am (seeing Mendips meant so much to me), I wrote back to the owner and said, “I could be your friend! I’m a nice person.” I sent him/her photos of me, newspaper clippings, and any info that might introduce myself to this stranger in Liverpool. I know, sad. But I so wanted to walk inside that house.

Long story short, he/she wrote back to me saying that he/she would NOT admit me to the home, but that instead would give me specific details about the home just as it had looked when he/she purchased the home from Mimi Smith. The letter described the fireplaces, cabinets in the kitchen, upstairs baths and bedrooms, etc., and it gave me all the detail that I needed to paint an accurate picture of the house that John called home.

When I published Shoulda Been There, I felt that it would be selfish for me to hoard that letter to myself, so it is included in the appendix for all to read. By the way, it was handwritten on John Lennon’s stationery. You can check the printed phone number. It is the original.

One note that I’d like to add: I love hearing from readers, and in the past two years, I’ve tried to answer every e-mail in a reasonable amount of time. But Shivering Inside has to be in the publisher’s hands by 1 June in order to make the publication deadlines, so I’m running out of time. I’m receiving between 40-80 e-mails a day. Please understand that I may not be able to answer every question. It’s not that I don’t want to answer, it’s that I can’t finish the next book if I do. Thank you so much for understanding! I’m trying to dog paddle as fast as I can.

I want to thank Jude for her wonderfully open answers to my questions, and for her dedication to the truth about John’s history. Jude’s efforts have taken her deep into the heart of Liverpool and John Lennon’s story in a way that brings it all alive for the reader. No doubt, readers will feel not only like they “shoulda been there”, but that they were.

To purchase her books, you can check out Amazon, and Jude’s website found at:

http://www.ontherockbooks.com/

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

Former Beatles Secretary Opens Up Her Memory Vault.

2009 was quite a super year for Beatles fans, the year Trivial Pursuit released their informative version entirely about the Beatles with an in-depth Q & A bundle of fascination. The same year Rock Band released the Beatles game that proved clever enough to fully entertain even bystanders let alone participants. The same year Apple released the mouth-watering 2009 Remastered Box Set of all the Fab Four albums.

However, something that may have slipped through the cracks highly pursued by Beatles fans in 2009 was an insider biography to which the author had plenty of knock your socks off privileges by which the rest of us can only dream we, too, had enjoyed. The following is a sit-down discussion with this lucky lady author recorded nine years ago. I hope you enjoy it. 

Exclusive Interview with Chris O’Dell, former Beatles Apple secretary.

by Marshall Terrill

Chris O’Dell is quick to point out that she was never famous, or even almost famous, but she was there.  Indeed.

The former Apple secretary and one of rock’s first female tour managers was in the studio when the Beatles recorded The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be, and sang in the chorus of the final cut for “Hey Jude.”

She was at Ringo’s kitchen table when George Harrison said, “You know, Ringo, I’m in love with your wife.” And Ringo replied, “Better you than someone we don’t know.”

She typed the lyrics to George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and was present when he read about the Beatles breaking up in a London newspaper.

She’s the subject of Leon Russell’s “Pisces Apple Lady,” a song he wrote to woo her. Other rock legends with whom she was intimate include Ringo, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan.

She’s “the woman down the hall” in Joni Mitchell’s song “Coyote” about a love triangle on Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour. She’s the “mystery woman” pictured on the back of the Rolling Stones album Exile on Main Street. She’s George Harrison’s “Miss O’Dell”, the famous B-side to “Give Me Love,” his No.1 single from 1973.

Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with the Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved (Touchstone Books) is the remarkable story of an ordinary woman who became a part of rock royalty’s trusted inner circle. Miss O’Dell is a backstage pass to some of the most momentous events in rock history and is the ultimate fly-on-the-wall rock memoir.

Now enjoying two decades of sobriety, O’Dell is a counselor and hypnotherapist specializing in addiction recovery. In this exclusive interview with Daytrippin’, O’Dell shares her memories of the Beatles, Apple’s glory days, and why fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Q: Chris, it’s been more than 40 years since you were first employed by Apple. You and Jack Oliver (President of Apple Records) seem to be the last holdouts on writing a book, which leads me to ask why have you now decided to publish Miss O’ Dell?

CO: I think the time was just right. I knew that I wouldn’t write the book till I was older because of my loyalty to the Beatles. And there is still so much interest in the Beatles, the Stones, Dylan and the other people I worked with. I was in a unique position and I wanted to share it with people who couldn’t be there.

Q: Let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell our readers how you got the job at Apple?

CO: It was by chance, really. I met Derek Taylor, the Beatles press agent and friend in LA, and he invited me to come to London to work there.  I write about this in the book in some detail.

Q: It’s been said Apple was a crazy, never a dull moment, vibrant place to work. Tell us in your own words a typical day in the life at Apple?

CO: It was never dull.  I’d arrive to the hustling and bustling of the offices on Savile Row and go to my office in the rafters of Apple. I’d work with Peter Asher, answering mail and booking studio time.  There was always the option to break for a few minutes and visit one of the other offices to soak up their enthusiasm.  When one of the Beatles was in the house, the energy seemed even greater. And then we had drop-ins by famous people like Lauren Bacall and Duane Eddy to mention just a few.  I’d often stay late as it was like home.

Q: Can you give a brief thumbnail sketch of each Beatle’s personality?

CO: Paul was the diplomat, the mediator, the marketer. George was the quiet one, the intense one, the spiritual one.  John was the cynic with a strong personality and interest in world happenings.  And then there was Ringo, who wasn’t around a lot but was fun and easy to talk to.

Q: You seemed to have the deepest connection to George Harrison. Why do you think that is?

CO: We’re both Pisces! Actually, it’s like any friendship – you can meet a group of people but certain ones you just seem to bond with. That was George. He liked my sense of humor and easy-going attitude.  I liked his sense of humor and gentle ways.

Q: It appears you had the least connection to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. From reading your book, one gets the feeling that once John met Yoko, that being in the Beatles got in the way of his life.

CO: Well, actually, I hung out with them at the beginning of my time in London. But they were so involved in their own things – like bed-in and peace activism – that they weren’t really involved in the daily running of Apple.  Then they moved away.  I think he just grew out of the Beatles in a way.

Q: Who were some of the other key figures at Apple and give a brief thumbnail sketch of them as well.

CO: Well, this depended on where you were sitting! Jack Oliver, Tony Bramwell, Peter Asher, Ron Kass, Peter Brown, Derek Taylor were a few of the key figures. Everyone was so different.  Jack Oliver, who had the most cynical and in-your-face approach, remains one of my favorite friends to this day. Tony Bramwell was always off in his own world of promotion and networking. And there were so many girls working there that were loyal and hardworking like Barbara Bennett, Peter Asher and Neil Aspinal’s personal assistant and Laurie McCaffrey the switchboard operator.

Q: You also developed strong friendships with Patti Harrison and Maureen Starkey, but your take was that it was tough to be a Beatle wife.  Tell us why in your opinion.

CO: They just didn’t know who to trust. They were slow to warming up to women and once you were in they were as loyal as could be. The Beatles world was a tight, closely watched and protected ‘family’. It took a lot to get in and a little to get pushed out. These women trusted me after a while and became dear friends.

Q: Substance abuse is a constant theme throughout Miss O’ Dell in both your personal life and in the lives of the people you worked for. Why are drugs and alcohol so prevalent in the music industry?

CO: I don’t know what it’s like today, but then it was just part of the culture. No one knew it was a problem. It was fun, a way of escaping, relaxing and just hanging out.  I think one of the reasons that it took so long for me to admit to having a problem and finally getting clean and sober is that no one around me considered it a problem. And, of course, there was the money to afford the drugs.

CO: One of the strengths of your memoir is that you don’t always paint such a rosy picture of fame. Why was it important for you to underscore that point?

CO: Because people idolize so many celebrities and see it as such an elevated life when celebs are dealing with the same everyday problems (except for money, usually). Then add to that a complete lack of privacy. Back in those days the press was nothing like they are today. It’s totally out of hand now. I’m also trying to paint a picture of what life was really like in that world at that time.

Q: The good times at Apple seemed to fade quickly once Allen Klein entered the picture. Can you explain what those days were like compared to when you first started?

CO: I think I do this fairly well in the book but the most important piece is that the Beatles were running the whole show and wanted it to be different. We had fun, and the sky was the limit for creativity and possibilities. Sadly, however, it cost them a lot of money. The party just had to come to an end.

Q: You write that the Beatles were mostly upbeat and got along quite well while groups like The Stones and CSN&Y worked on an almost dysfunctional level. With that said, how did their breakup affect them on an emotional level?

CO: I think being a Beatle became very difficult for them. They had a different set of problems than the Stones and CSN&Y.  They didn’t tour that much, they couldn’t go out of their hotel rooms, and they lived in a bubble. I think breaking up for them, and I can only guess, was a relief and very difficult at the same time.

Q: Are you amazed that four decades later we’re still talking about the Beatles and they only seem to get bigger with the passage of time?

CO: This is truly amazing, isn’t it? Sometimes I notice when I get into my car my son, Will, has borrowed it and John Lennon is playing on the CD player. My friends tell me their kids love the Beatles and some of the other artists of that time. I’ve had teenage clients tell me that they wished they’d lived in the Sixties. I guess we were pretty lucky.

Q: Can you tell me briefly how George was inspired to write Miss O’Dell and what was your initial reaction to the song?

CO: George wrote the song one night when I was supposed to go out and visit him and I didn’t.  When I finally made it to his rented house in Malibu, he played me the song. I was overwhelmed. The idea that he felt inspired to write a song with me in mind was amazing.

Q: In Miss O’ Dell, you allude to having a conversation with George as you got older but never really discussed his death in the book. When was the last time you saw George?

CO: The last time I saw George was in the late eighties or early nineties when I was in London.  We were at a party at the Dorchester Hotel, I think, after Ringo’s concert and had a nice visit. I saw him for many years but after that we just lost contact. I have spoken to Olivia in the past few years.

Q: You knew and worked with some amazing legends – the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, CSN&Y, Leon Russell and Queen to name but a few – during an artistic, cultural and social renaissance (1960s & 1970s) that we’ll never see the likes of again.  Do the times make the people or do the people make the times?

CO: Ah, what a question. From a sociological point of view, I believe the times made the people. We were the off-spring of the Great Depression and World War II. My parents tried to give me everything they could to make up for what they didn’t have. The music was in flux with black music becoming more acceptable and seeping into the mostly white charts. And then, here comes the Beatles with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”  We were caught between the sexuality of the black music and the innocence of the Beatles. Amazing…

Q: Tell us about your life today?

CO: I am happily remarried to a wonderful man who supports me and accepts me as I am. My twenty-three-year-old son is amazing and gives me some credibility as a parent! I have a private practice in Tucson, specializing in addiction and mental health counseling.  My two dogs are happy and life is just better than I would have expected.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

Review with me the magnificent White Album’s 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe CD Edition.

Before I begin this review, please be reminded that my blog has available to each of you a comprehensive article defining full intricate details during the recording process from all 30 tracks off the White Album, and can be read at your leisure within the archives. These fascinating reads begin in the April 2018 Archives and continue through the November 2018 Archives, so enjoy. With that said, let’s get on with the 50^th analysis.

Number 9 (Turn me on, dead man)

Number 9 (Turn me on, dead man)

November 9 (Turn me up, dear man) – Yes increase the volume, because we’ve heard many a time that less is more, but not in the case formulated by this bountiful gift issued through Apple Corp just in time for Christmas. Twas the 9^th day of last month, Headquarters’ management unleashed the 2018 release of the exceedingly anticipated 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ ‘White Album.’ Apple decided early on the best way to spark mass appeal was to cater toward everyone’s money conscious budget. Therefore, the Company offers a fresh choice between various priced remixed CD and vinyl packages while the most sumptuous piece spotlights today’s article, the Super Deluxe edition, boasting an elaborate 168-page hardcover book. This set truly peaks praise from hardcore Beatles fans. Regardless to which cost effective set takes up residence, you’ll feel like you’re a fly on the wall listening in on The Beatles as they record their only double-LP studio album.

When first perceived that the super deluxe set contained 6 CDs and 1 Blu-ray, I expected the Blu-ray featured never before seen video treasures of and about the Beatles during their cumbersome, and at times, rocky project. Instead, the Blu-ray merely presents a surround sound audio version which comprises stereo, HD and mono mixes directly off the original album.

Upon listening to this brilliant and awaited Super Deluxe edition, you’ll find the first two discs copy the original content except bathed in a new stunning and welcomed stereo mix. The album’s transformed remixed 30 tracks come courtesy through the gifted producer Giles Martin and mix engineer Sam Okell, outsourced from the 1968 creative four-track and eight-track session tapes supervised by Giles father, George Martin, the innovative genius producer for our beloved Beatles right from the early sixties’ onset.

“Many have assumed that there was a weakening of the bonds between The Beatles during the making of ‘The White Album’… This is simply not true,” explains Giles Martin in his introduction for the new White Album releases. “It is clear from listening to the tapes that their collective spirit and inventiveness were, in fact, stronger than ever.”

Disc 3 fills in all the blanks as to how the whole White Album journey got its start. Affectionately referred to as The Esher Demos, buyers now have these diamonds in the rough gems in hailed possession. Around May 1968, after The Beatles returned from India with a whole bunch of new songs they had written during their trip, they went to George Harrison’s house in Esher, Surrey and recorded acoustic demos for 27 of these new songs. Tracks 20-27 never made it onto the White Album, but quite interesting all the same making the demos inclusion an obliged value.

Discs 4-6 wonderfully present 50 outtakes from the recording sessions including a few songs scratched off the original album – For example, “St. Louis Blues” depicts a fun studio jam although it only lasts 50 seconds. Also, Paul McCartney lets loose singing a hard-rocking' version of Elvis Presley’s song “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care.” Unfortunately, this song plays a short 42 seconds, but at times the lyrics get lost and a bit difficult to understand.

Some surprises in the session outtakes include an instrumental backing track of “Back in the USSR,” a bluesy version of “Let It Be,” and an alternate version of “Don’t Pass Me By” which features an elaborate orchestral opening, yet ultimately deleted from the final version.

You really feel like you’re behind the scenes in the recording studio with John, Paul, George, and Ringo on the tracks while they hash things over with each other. Ringo does a comical version of “Good Night” where he’s speaking the lyrics and then joking about them in a short 37-second clip. Also, after singing a shortened version of “Blackbird,” Paul McCartney starts analyzing which voice he should use when ready to sing. He favors singing it in a “quiet” voice, and an unknown woman can be heard agreeing with him.

“We had left Sgt. Pepper’s band to play in his sunny Elysian Fields and were now striding out in new directions without a map,” writes Paul McCartney in his introduction in the new hardcover book.

It’s interesting to hear that two songs from the future Abbey Road album appear during this period. “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam” were both written by John Lennon and did not change much in their final form on the Abbey Road album one year later.

Four of the songs, including “Junk” by McCartney, and “Not Guilty” and “Circles” by Harrison, were released in later years on the ex-Beatles respective solo albums. The most intriguing is John Lennon’s song “Child of Nature.” The inspired lyrics of this song surfaced through one of Maharishi’s lectures about nature.

“I never did anything with it,” Lennon recalled about the song. “But I always liked the melody. The words were silly, anyway… I decided to change it – and, with Yoko’s help, I did.”

The melody of “Child of Nature” would be paired with new lyrics and became Lennon’s song “Jealous Guy” later released on his 1971 Imagine album.

The unique hardcover book in the Super Deluxe package also serves as the CD holder case for the White Album. The first two and last two pages of the book use sturdier cardboard-type pages which hold all of the discs in built-in pockets as well as a folder which contains a full-size reproduction of the original album poster and four glossy color photos of each Beatle.

The back-side of the White Album poster includes the lyrics to all the songs on the album. The poster is a type of home-movie set in photos of The Beatles.

The plastic protective cover of the book, featuring photos of The Beatles and the track listing, is transparent and slides off of the book, leaving a blank white cover just like the original album. Early copies of the White Album received individual numbers on the front, and this feature again duplicates on the front of the book in the Super Deluxe package.

The book unfolds seven chapters written by various music historians and two brief introductions from Paul McCartney and Giles Martin. The chapter that covers handwritten lyrics come printed on different paper (matte) than the rest of the book, which is glossy, for a more authentic reproduction of the historic lyric sheets.

One chapter features a track-by-track description for each song on the album plus the Esher demos. Other chapters collectively trace the White Album from beginning to end including details on the recording process, the design of the poster, plus a fine musical analysis and the release and reception of the album.

Special rare photos as well as original ads for the White Album highlight the packaged manuscript, not to mention a chapter on the Beatles “Mad Day Out” photo session around London from July 28, 1968.

All in all, the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe version pinpoints a treat for the hardcore Beatles fan. It includes practically everything you could ever want to know, see and hear about the making of the White Album.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

Enjoy Chapter 4 From My Novel, Beatlemaniac – a preview.

Chapter 4

The early evening hotel room grew much too dark due to the heavy thick drapes, and the likelihood of reaching for the phone without sight only worked thanks to the soft illuminated glow from an incoming call. “Hello,” said Heath, but he received no answer. The digital clock read six p.m. With a slight shift toward the nightstand, he switched on the lamp and fetched the small note for direct contact to a cherub. While dialing the number, he plotted what best way to start the one-on-one.

     The cherub picked up. “Hello.”

     He pounced with, “Cavanaugh Hotel wake-up call as requested, miss.”

     “Hmm, I think it’s a sin you’re 40 seconds late; I’d report you if my alarm hadn’t saved your incompetence.”

     “No, miss, I deserve to suffer your wrath. Can I gain back your confidence and provide breakfast on me, well not on me, that would be rather messy, don’t you think? What I mean is, breakfast will be my treat.”

     “All right, my good man. Breakfast accepted. Shall we say 7:30 p.m. at the hotel restaurant?”

     “Splendid, miss, and the sky is the limit since you’re a flight attendant.”

     “A little corny, Heath, but cute. See you soon.”

     “Okay, Tiff, until 90 minutes.”

     He dialed zero.

     “Hotel Lobby, may I help you?” 

     “Another wake-up call for 6:45 p.m., please?” 

     “Yes, sir, room 719 down for wake-up call in 43 minutes, correct?” 

     “Correct, thank you.” Once his eyes closed, he slipped into unconsciousness as if taking a hard right hook to the lower jaw.

                               ____________________________   

    

Tiff showed up first, so she arranged for a playful joke. When Heath arrived, she smiled.

     “Well,” he said in an excellent Billy Crystal mimic of Fernando Lamas, “you look marvelous.”

     “Thank you, Mr. Wilson, wish I could say the same, but my voice sounds dimwitted when I impersonate celebrities, so may I just say you look very handsome?” 

     “You may say anything whatsoever without fear of sounding like a dimwit, at least in my ears.”

     “Thank you, Heath, you sure know how to treat a lady.”

     “Here, perhaps ladies may sit near us, perhaps ladies may serve meals to hungry patrons, but tonight I dine with an angel.”

     “You’re liable to make me gain weight with all this sweet talk.”

     “Too much?” 

     “Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but let’s talk about you for a while.”

     He glanced over both shoulders and took a seat next to her. “All right, Tiff, what do you wish to know?” 

     “Ever married?” 

     “Nope. You?”

     “Never,” she said. “My flights make it difficult to capture a marriage license. I was glad as I walked you to the plane exit your ring finger also has a vacancy.”

     “So that explains your hand-squeezing episode, I figured you liked my compliments.”

     “I am glad for both.”

     Their server appeared. “Good evening. I’m Sam, short for Samantha; may I take your order?”

     Tiff looked at Heath. “You trust me?” 

     “I do.”

     Tiff turned to Sam. “Two Specialty Chicken a la Robears, and iced tea for me; Heath?” 

     “Dr. Pepper sounds good.”

     “I’ll be back with your drinks,” said Sam.

     Tiff watched a few servers ambush Sam, who kept attentive views on her suave date. “By the way, Heath, they pour liquor here.”

     “Never touch it,” he said into her hazel eyes and smiled.

     “Why the grin?” 

     “I believe you never touch it either.”

     “I check in at the airport near 10 o’clock and never drink before work.”

     “That’s not it.”

     “What makes you so sure?” 

     “Let me answer your question with another question. How could God send me an angel of difference?” 

     She cocked her head. “He wouldn’t, so He didn’t, but how do you keep turning our conversation back to me? I still want to talk about you.”

     “Okay, where should I start?” 

     “Where’d you go to college?” 

     “Salisbury University, a degree in conflict analysis and dispute resolution.”

     “Salisbury, Maryland?” 

     “That’s the place. I was born and raised in Maryland.”

     “Oh, yes, a beautiful campus.”

     “You’ve seen it?” 

     “Once. My flight every Wednesday puts me into DC for two days, and as much as I love the Smithsonian museums, I like to branch out and take in other sights before duty calls. I return Friday around midnight if no delay interrupts our arrival. You, sir, just made my Thursday break an easy choice.”

     “You’re going to my university again?” 

     “I wouldn’t miss it. Any special place I should focus?”  

     “The Center for Conflict Resolution’s three wings––in particular, the one for practice sessions, to gain priceless hands-on experience.”

    Sam returned with a full tray. “Here we are; two House Specialty Robears. Anything else I can get you, refills?” 

     “Yes, Sam. Refills, please.” Heath lowered his nose, took a long inhale from the astounding orange with maple glaze aroma, and realized how hungry his empty stomach fussed. “Wow, this smells fantastic.”

     “Wait until you try it; my favorite item on the menu.”

     “You’re not only beautiful, but you also have great taste.” He took a bite. “Wow, I’m destined to order this from room service when you’re cross country.”

     “I’m glad you like it.”

     “Like it? I love it.”

     “Love represents a powerful word, so maybe God sent me an angel, too.”

     Heath held up his drink and said, “To angels.”

     “To angels,” she said, and both clinked glasses.

     “Where do you fly the rest of the week?” 

     “On Monday, I have the nine a.m. flight also into DC but get back home close to 7:45 p.m. Tuesday is my least favorite. The flight to DC leaves at six a.m. Layover is eleven hours at the hotel, mostly for sleep, and then I come back on the same flight I met you on. Luck have it, my days off are Saturdays and Sundays. But back to Salisbury University, what led you there?” 

     “I secured a baseball scholarship and considered nothing but sports, regardless if I played, taught, trained, or learned alternative athletic injury treatment. However, I underwent an enormous college team setback. I couldn’t hit a fastball to save my life. My glove work ranked top of the heap compared to my teammates, but without a hot appearance at the plate, I was a burden. After one season, I hung up my uniform, looked into criminal justice, and studied courses to be an investigator. One thing led to another, and that’s how I got where I am today–– exploratory reporting for you know who.”

     “That’s wonderful, Heath. You must not mind the tedious hurdles or constant rabbit trails that come with the territory.”

     “The deeper the search, and higher the hurdle, the better I like it. Enough of me. Tell me more about you, like what’s your last name, and so on?” 

     “Masters,” she said with a giggle. “Tiffany Nicole Masters. As I said, I’ve lived here all my life. My birthdate is March 24, 1986, and my parents still own the house I grew up in. I attended Ash Lyn Community College straight from high school in 2004. My major was public relations, and just before finals during my first semester, Disney sent recruiters to the campus for Disneyland tour guide applicants. My parents agreed Disney opportunities provided much, so with their approval, I applied. I participated in three-on-one, what-if scenarios, which may happen to a tour guide, and afterward, they welcomed me into the Disney University Orientation Program where I learned all the policies, goals, philosophies, and traditions for becoming a cast member. When my last week of finals ended, I met with Mrs. Pellymounter twice, who started her tour guide career with Disney when she was just seventeen in 1959. She offered me a summer job, plus room and board with the same woman who supervised the scenario drills. Working at Disneyland will always carry some of my happiest memories.”

     Heath unfolded a second napkin and twisted each end into a poor mangled fruit roll pattern. “I have a bittersweet Disney World memory that will live until I die.”

     “Oh?”  

     “Five years old, my first and only visit to the Magic Kingdom, and our first overnight trip without Mom and my two-year-old brother. Mom wasn’t up to it and my brother, Tommy, well, a week earlier, God took him home. He was my best friend.”

     Heath watched both her hands, hoping one would reach to his for comfort, except, instead, her parting lips moved but a muscle as she took a breath. “I’m so sorry.”

     “Thank you. Anyhow, mindful my brother ascended to Heaven, Dad believed a trip to Disney could lift both our spirits and help erase some of the inner pain we suffered. Once inside the entry gate, Dad and I brightened over Main Street’s charm. Suddenly, we hear what sounds like a police whistle and bang hammered percussions. Then, from a barrier, came a glitzy marching band all dudded with fancy red hats and decked out costumes each in rhythmic step to the wallop tempo of the drummers. The drum major blew his loud whistle and ordered his marching band to stop right near our feet. Here comes the weird part.” Heath tossed the twisted napkin aside, conscious he acted fidgety. “A long single whistle blast filled our ears, the whole band raises their instruments, and plays the song, Tammy’s in Love. Who ever heard a marching band play Tammy’s in Love? A song always performed as a sweet, romantic waltz, not a marching song like Heigh-Ho, It's off to Work We Go, or the theme song from the Rocky movies.”

     “I’m confused why you believe the song choice comes across as weird.”

     “Because Tammy’s in Love was Tommy’s favorite song; he would always sing, ‘Tommy, Tommy, Tommy’s in love,’ rather than Tammy.”

     “Oh my, how did the tie-in make you and your father feel?”

     “We immediately looked at each other, and Dad told me it was a gift from Heaven, by God. His Grace showed us my brother is very special to Him and all His angels, and because everyone in Heaven missed Tommy so much, the Lord brought my little brother back to Jesus where he will live forever safe, loved, and happy.”

     “Uber beautiful tribute, an inspired portrait. How did he die?”

     “Until my eighteenth birthday, I accepted he contracted a serious illness, and doctors couldn’t save him.”

     “What happened on your eighteenth birthday?”

     “When my surprise party ended and invited friends and family had gone, my parents asked me to sit with them in the living room. I told myself, here comes another surprise, like a new car or, at least, season tickets for every Baltimore Orioles home game I hinted at for years.”

     “Cool.”

     “Not cool at all. For my birthday’s last surprise, I learned Tommy had been kidnapped, ransomed for return, and my parents were warned not to involve the law. Instead, Dad notified detectives, and a few days later, searchers found him in a shallow grave. The police never figured out those responsible.”

     She shook her head. “How awful.”

     “The impact of his death took its toll on me. My attitude changed, my interests changed, even my abilities changed, like being unable to hit a fastball. At 19, I searched the college academic curriculum for a career to honor my brother without a baseball bat, so I discarded sports and pursued criminology in his memory.”

     “So commendable. I’m sure you make your parents proud.”

     “Absolutely, but let’s move on to a lighter subject. Got any secrets Disneyland kept hidden from the majority?” 

     “Well, let me think. Before the park opens during summer, cast members form canoe races around Tom Sawyer Island and marathon foot races inside all the lands. The few attractions guests ride without safety tracks, include the canoes, Tom Sawyer rafts, and the Mike Flint Keel Boats––christened Gullywhumper and Bertha Mae–– that were featured in the movie, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. Also, the Double-Decker Bus, the Early American Automobiles, and our Fire Engine driven on Main Street. None of those use tracks of any kind.”

     “Interesting,” said Heath. “What else?”

     “Along Main Street, inside the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction, cast members can sign up for early evening free tickets during the off-season to watch brand new unedited, unreleased movies made at the Disney Studio. Also, cast members can sign up for studio tours held in Burbank to see how they make live-action and animated films.”

     Heath nodded. “Very cool.”

     “Yes, it’s true. We have a half-court basketball court inside the Matterhorn, I’ve seen it. Not much in grandeur, but you can take an elevator to the fifth floor, and the court is there. You’re still not near the mountain top, though; at the side of the basketball court stands a wooden ladder certain cast members must scale all the way to the crest and pretty scary to climb. Every summer, Tinkerbell mounts the same ladder and flies above Fantasyland to signal the fireworks. Do you know how the Tinkerbell actress comes to a full stop?”

     “Can’t say I do.”

     “First, she’s hooked to a cable strung from the Matterhorn tip and slides down it past the Castle, until she reaches the border of Frontierland. Backstage holds a tower where the cable ends, and for Tink to bring her flight to finish, she needs two huge burly guys to hold up a padded mattress. As soon as the spotlight turns off, she braces her shoulder, plows into the cushion, and delivers two guys a pretty heavy jolt. She gets $600 a night for her stunt.”

     Heath whistled and said, “Pretty good work if you can find it.”

     “Right you are, handsome, only two job placements available in the United States. Anaheim and Orlando. Here is something most people don’t know. A long time ago, way before Splash Mountain, when you first entered Bear Country, there was a cave above the walkway with a bear inside that snored. The same person who voices Donald Duck, his real name was Clarence Nash, also recorded those laughable snore sounds at the studio. He also performed many of the bird calls inside the Tiki room in Adventureland. Do you remember Michael Jackson’s Chimp Bubbles?

     Heath nodded.

     “Well, even Bubbles had his photo taken inside the backstage security office and laminated it to an official cast member ID card, but I’m not sure why. Michael came to Disneyland all the time, but I never saw him with an animal, only his children.” She laughed. “I remember his favorite disguise . . . Michael’s big black Continental could enter through Harbor Gate Security and drive into the backstage lot. Then his bodyguards would prepare a wheelchair for him, and Michael would wear a cloth surgical mask over his mouth and nose to hide most of his face. He’d sit hunched with his arms dangled like death while escorted to his favorite attractions. We gave guides to stars, presidents, and royalty.”

     “Sounds like never a dull moment.”

     “You’re right, Heath, but every person is considered a VIP in the Magic Kingdom, which made my tours as fun for me as for those who came along for the show.”

     He watched her take a long sip of cold tea. “What else can you remember about the happiest place on earth?”

     “Hmm, the Main Street lamps took shape more than 170 years ago. They purchased them in Baltimore, your home team, for three cents a pound. Walt Disney’s father, Elias, helped as a building contractor with the Mark Twain Ferry for daily travels afloat the Rivers of America in Frontierland. The second ship, called the Columbia, was the first three-mast windjammer built in the United States in over a hundred years when its historical structure began in 1954. Also in Frontierland, near the Train Station, a telegraph signal transmits Walt’s 1955 dedicated speech when he opened Disneyland. Inside Fantasyland, the Carousel horses débuted between 110 to 130 years old, hand carved with no two exactly alike.”

      “Amazing.”

     “The miniature pines along the Story Book Canal exceed 180 years old, and get this––throughout the entire park, plants from 43 separate countries add themselves to the adjacent natural experience.”

     Heath’s jawbone shifted a smidgen south as his eyebrows lifted.      

     “Here is something sad. When Tomorrowland opened the Autopia freeway ride, kids who had no clue how to drive crashed into each other and destroyed thirty cute little cars. Large bumpers replaced the old design and stopped the pricey wreckage. Oh, and here’s something most people don’t know. Alice used to hang around with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, but because the twins looked a little too freakish, like Mongoloids, Michael Eisner insisted costume control remove them from circulation, and the Mad Hatter or White Rabbit became a better cohort to Alice. That happened between the years 1986 through 1991.”

      “You’re joking?”

     “Not at all, little children showed severe signs of panic when the twins got too close.”

     “So how did you switch to flight attendant?” 

     “Believe it or not, this hotel happens to secure our corporate overnight housing contract for my coworker's scheduled flights into Los Angeles. The paper announced job opportunities and to apply here. The next morning, inside that room, the airline took my application, and roughly 15 minutes later, gave me an interview that lasted a lifetime, but in my mind the longer it takes, the better my chance. Six days later, I boarded a jet to join flight attendant school and reaped uber-benefits. My parents and I fly free, my sister receives four vouchers a year with 90% discounts to anywhere our crafts take to the air, and I love to travel. My job doesn’t even feel like work at all.”

     Out from the kitchen trotted Sam and a few other servers in single-file double-time around the room. Knees high, handclaps in sync, they marched until each stopped next to Heath Wilson. Bewildered, Heath watched Tiff as she tilted her head, winked, and smiled her irresistible smile. The servers’ chorus jumped into an upbeat, updated happy birthday song. Soon other patrons added handclaps that dropped Heath to a shrunken slouch and nervous cough. Near the end of the joyful recital, the room burst into applause for the man of honor. Each female server formed a line behind his chair and hugged his neck, wishing him a happy birthday. Still in a daze, he said, “What the heck was that all about?” 

     Tiff leaned toward him, hands stretched. He, too, reached out and smothered hers curious about the servers’ bizarre behavior, but all she said was, “I can be corny, too.”

     “Corny but cute,” he said.

     Heath escorted his guest to her car. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, birthday boy. I truly had a good time,” she said.

     “I’m sorry it has to end, but when you fly back can I call you?” 

     “You can as long as it’s not a wake-up call,” she joked.

     “Here’s a thought. I proposed we have breakfast, so how about you take the next few days in Washington and think about something we can do on Saturday.”

     “Okay, I have a few ideas in my brain this instant.”

     “The sky is the limit, Tiff.” 

     “Because I’m a flight attendant?” 

     “Because you’re an angel.” Then they kissed.

                               ___________________________________    

Heath slam-dunked the squashed paper bag he found in the elevator as he bounced light on his toes down the hallway to his room. The musical tone allowed him access after he slid the keycard into the door lock. At the receiver, a red light blinked. In search for the light switch, he crushed something underfoot and stepped back. With more light in the room, he realized house-cleaning left a complimentary newspaper to enjoy. Heath fetched the paper off the carpet, flung it across to the bed, and then dialed the code for voice message, in hopes Tiffany Masters phoned.

     “Hello, Mr. Wilson, Fred Gretsch here,” the message said. “Sorry I am returning your call so late. Yes, we can meet at your requested 9:30 tomorrow morning in my office. Can’t say I’ll provide much help to you, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I have reached you too late for a confirmed appointment, please call me after eight a.m., and we can reschedule. Otherwise, I look forward to 9:30. You will find me on the third floor at City Hall. Just check in with the receptionist.”

     Heath pushed the newspaper aside. He took his briefcase and removed certain files to review the unexplained frightening issues surrounding this town.

                          ______________________________________

Cilla White yawned and made ready for bed. After the covers were pushed aside, her usual routine started in the bathroom to brush her teeth. On the mirror, lipstick formed the words, P.S. I Love You. Moved with tenderness, she waddled her hips out from the room and cuddled up to her hubby. “I love you, too, Andy, but you will wipe off our mirror before you leave for work in the morning.”

     “I’ll do it now, my love.”

     “It’s okay, babe, just hold me.”

     Andy embraced the girl of his dreams tight. He first noticed her charisma in middle school 24 years ago, but she avoided him since they had nothing in common. Cilla loved reading. Not a day would go by without a few books clutched in her grasp, loaded with knowledge and adventure to fill her mind. Andy loved music. Inside the classroom, his drumsticks would appear and perform to the delight of many, except teachers and Cilla. He still maintained he fell crazy in love because she played hard to get, and even her sharp memory protests to not playing at all can’t convince him. She claims he won her heart by his devoted steps toward her and his confession to her girlfriends how he wouldn’t settle for second best. She also refused second best. This gave Andy a desire to rearrange his priorities for her. Married eighteen years, but felt as if three, made it obvious neither settled for second best after all.

    Their intimacy and soft caresses mingled perfectly with the soft radio sounds as Michael Bublé sang about Crazy Love.

     “Andy?” 

     “Yes, baby.”

     “I got the strangest phone call from Rosemary today.”

     “Strange?”  

     “She withdrew her name to replace Freda as new library director and CEO.”

     “Why is that so strange?” 

     “Because a few days ago she bought a hybrid to make up for the extra distance to the main library and calculated to fork over the new car payments from her anticipated increase in salary. Now, she removed her money from the bank, put a stop to direct deposit from the city, and plans to pay cash for the new car then resell it.”

     “Now that is strange, babe. Maybe she’s comfortable as a branch head librarian.”

     “No, Andy, she acted excited, had all types of plans, and I mean sure fire plans to improve our entire library system’s day-to-day business, including the bookmobiles.” Cilla untangled herself from his squeeze. “She’s more than qualified and enjoys her take-charge role with new and better diversity. Ever since Freda gave her notice, Rosemary trusted the city would send her to the top. Today she told me she doesn’t want the job. She couldn’t even give me a reason. She just wants to stay at the O’Dell Branch until her pension begins next year. A month ago, she spoke how awesome a feat it would be to match Freda’s 20 years as director. I don’t know Rosemary anymore. Something changed her.”

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