JOHN NEVER MEANT THE BEATLES WERE BETTER OR GREATER THAN JESUS, JUST MORE POPULAR WITH KIDS.

 Reporter Maureen Cleave, a friend of John's, published an article about him in the March 4th, 1966 edition of the London Evening Standard, entitled 'How Does A Beatle Live?'. The article contained a number of quotes, comments and random thoughts from a recent conversation she had with him, including John's personal view of the current state of religion: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that. I am right, and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first-- rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."
The quote was taken out of context in America, and spread as a ridiculous egocentric headline: "John says Beatles bigger than Jesus." Reaction in the southern parts of the United States ranged from Ku Klux Klan protests and Beatle record burnings arranged by Christian radio stations to anonymous death threats.
Chicago was the first stop on their 1966 American tour. This was the Beatles' first opportunity to answer questions personally for the American press regarding the Jesus Statement controversy.
In addition to this August 11th meeting with the National and local press at the Astor Towers hotel, the Beatles would hold a second Chicago press conference comprised only of the reporters traveling with them and select local reporters and DJs, in what appears to be a somewhat more Beatle-friendly gathering.

FIRST NEWS CONFERENCE:

JOHN: "If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it. You know, but as I just happened to be talking to a friend, I used the word 'Beatles' as a remote thing-- not as what 'I' think as Beatles-- as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just said 'they' are having more influence on kids and things than anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is the wrong way. Yap yap."

Q: "Some teenagers have repeated your statements-- 'I like the Beatles more than Jesus Christ.' What do you think about that?"

JOHN: "Well, originally I was pointing out that fact in reference to England-- that we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion, at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down; I was just saying it as a fact. And it's sort of... It is true, 'specially more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better, or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is, you know. I just said what I said, and it was wrong or was taken wrong. And now it's all this."

Q: "There have been threats against your life, there have been record burnings, you've been banned from some radio stations-- Does this bother you?"

JOHN: "Well, it worries me."

PAUL: "You know, it's bound to bother us."

Q: "Do you think you're being crucified?"

JOHN: (clearly and seriously) "No, I wouldn't say THAT at all!"

(laughter from reporters)

Q: "What do you think about the record burnings here in the United States?"

PAUL: "Well, I think it's a bit silly. It seems a bit like a publicity stunt on their part, you know. I think they're not going to gain anything by doing that."

JOHN: "If they just didn't buy the records, or threw them away, but burning them is..."

GEORGE: "It's the same old wrong mess. They've just taken it the wrong way, and that's just the pity that... It's this misunderstanding which shouldn't be."

Q: "Mister Starr, you haven't said a word."

RINGO: "Well, I just hope it's all over now, you know. I hope everyone's straightened out, and it's finished."

Q: "Is this an attempt to raise your flagging popularity?"

JOHN: "I could think of a much easier way..."

Q: "Such as?"

JOHN: "...to raise flagging popularity. I don't know if you think of stunts. But we don't do stunts. I think we've done one in our lives that's been completely a stunt."

PAUL: "But anyway, that's not the kind of thing that's gonna..."

Q: "Are you sorry you said it?"

JOHN: "I am. Yes, you know. Even though I never meant what people think I meant by it. I'm still sorry I opened my mouth."

Q: "Did you mean that the Beatles are more popular than Christ?"

JOHN: (sighs) "When I was talking about it, it was very close and intimate with this person that I know who happens to be a reporter. And I was using expressions on things that I'd just read and derived about Christianity. Only, I was saying it in the simplest form that I know, which is the natural way I talk. But she took 'em, and people that know me took 'em exactly as it was-- because they know that's how I talk, you know."

Q: "It was quoted, a recent statement by you, that the Beatles were anxious for what they called the downfall-- that is, the time when they would no longer be on top. Are you anxious for it?"

JOHN: "Well, I don't know what that is. No."

PAUL: "I don't think that we ever said that."

GEORGE: "If we were really anxious, we'd just do something to..."

PAUL: "We'd DO it, you know."

GEORGE: "...end it."

PAUL: "That's the thing. If we really wanted to get out..."

JOHN: "People say, 'Oh, they must've done it on purpose. They must have a reason,' you know. But I made a mistake, and I opened me mouth, but there was no ulterior motive in it, either way."

Q: "Are you concerned that your image may be changing and diminished in the eyes of the kids?"

GEORGE: "We change all the time, really-- our style."

RINGO: "I mean, we look different every time we come to America if you look at the old photographs. We never keep to a strict fashion."

JOHN: "You can see how we've changed."

Q: "Do you do that on purpose?"

PAUL: "No."

JOHN: "No. (giggling) We're just growing old."

RINGO: "No, it's just that we don't control ourselves that much. We just look the same for twelve months."

GEORGE: "If you look at a photograph of yourself last year, you probably changed..."

Q: "It hasn't been done by any design?"

PAUL AND RINGO: "No."

Q: "Does that mean your hair is longer?"

JOHN: "Probably, yeah."

RINGO: "It could be. I don't think mine is."

Q: "Do you chaps want to go into SHORT hair?"

RINGO: "No, I don't like short hair, you know."

JOHN: "We don't follow fashion anyway."

Q: "When are you gonna make another movie?"

RINGO: "Umm, maybe January, with any luck."

Q: "Do you have any idea what it's going to be about, or..."

RINGO: "It's just a small idea. There's no script yet."

Q: "What's the most enjoyable thing for you four about this adulation-- this almost 'Godhood on earth' that you've achieved?"

JOHN: (looks away distastefully) "Don't say that."

(laughter)

PAUL: (pointing to the reporter) "It was him. He said it."

JOHN: (to the other reporters) "Now, you all SAW that."

Q: "Can we talk about your music a little bit? You've gone along ways from 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' to 'Eleanor Rigby' and the raga and so on. What direction are you trying to move your music?"

PAUL: "The thing is, we're just trying to move it in a forward direction. And this is the point-- you know, this is why we're getting in all these messes with saying things. Because, you know, we're just trying to move forwards. And people seem to be trying to just sort of hold us back and not want us to say anything that's vaguely sort of, you know, inflammatory. I mean, we won't if, really-- If people don't want that, then we won't do it-- We'll sort of just do it privately. But I think it's better for everyone if we're just honest about the whole thing."

Q: "How are you going to respond after tonight? Are you going to try and explain yourselves every time somebody asks, or what?"

JOHN: "Well, I'll try if they keep asking me, you know."

Q: "It's very important to you?"

JOHN: "I'll try... I'll go on and on trying until they get it straight, you know, because I just don't like to be sort of thought of as what I'm really not, you know. It's nothing like me-- the thing they're putting 'round is nothing to do with me as a person, you know."

Q: (to George) "What about you? What was your reaction to what he said, and the reaction TO what he said?"

GEORGE: "Well, in the context that it was meant-- it was the fact that Christianity is declining, and everybody knows about that, and that was the fact that was trying to be made."

Q: (to George) "Do you agree with it?"

GEORGE: "I do agree. I agree that it's on the wane."

Q: "What do you think about that fact that you believe that it's true? What's your reaction to that truth?"

JOHN: "Well, my reaction is that I was deploring it, you know. I was pointing it out. I mean, if somebody like us says it, people sort of do take notice, you know-- even church people are trying to be 'with it' with pop groups and things. They're still doing it the wrong way, and I was just stating a fact as I saw it. And I wasn't trying to compare me or the group with Jesus or religion at all, but just only in that way-- the way I'm trying to tell ya."

Q: "Can I have just one more question? I'd like to ask your reaction to the fact that at London Airport this morning, some of the girls were crying, 'John, not Jesus.'"

JOHN: "Well you know, I don't take that seriously, either."

PAUL: "They're taking it the wrong way like everyone else, you know."

Q: "Are you unhappy about that?"

JOHN: "No, you know-- It'll get straightened out, because... I mean, I could have stopped there and said, 'Now listen, that's wrong, what you're saying,' but I couldn't do that-- I had to come over here anyway and do all this, and try and straighten THIS out first. So, if it does get straightened out, it'll be straightened out for THEM."

M.C: "Okay, that you very much."

BEATLES: "Thank you."

REPORTER: "Thank you, John."

SECOND NEWS CONFERENCE:

Q: "Mr. Lennon, we've been hearing a great deal of interpretations of your comment regarding the Beatles and Jesus. Could you tell us what you really meant by that statement?"

JOHN: "Uhh. I'll try and tell ya. I was sort of deploring the attitude that... I wasn't saying whatever they were saying I was saying, anyway. That's the main thing about it. And uhh, I was just talking to a reporter-- but she also happens to be a friend of mine and the rest of us-- at home. It was a sort of in-depth series she was doing. And so, I wasn't really thinking in terms of P.R. or translating what I was saying. It was going on for a couple of hours, and I just said it as-- just to cover the subject, you know. And it really meant what... you know; I didn't mean it the way they said it. It's amazing. It's just so complicated. It's got out of hand, you know. But I just meant it as that-- I wasn't saying the Beatles are better than Jesus or God or Christianity. I was using the name Beatles because I can use them easier, 'cuz I can talk about Beatles as a separate thing and use them as an example, especially to a close friend. But I could have said TV, or cinema, or anything else that's popular... or motorcars are bigger than Jesus. But I just said Beatles because, you know, that's the easiest one for me. I just never thought of repercussions. I never really thought of it... I wasn't even thinking, even though I knew she was interviewing me, you know, that it meant anything."

Q: "What's your reaction to the repercussions?"

JOHN: "Well when I first heard it, I thought 'It can't be true.' It's just like one of those things like 'Bad Eggs In Adelaide' and things. And then when I realized it was serious I was worried stiff, you know because I knew sort of how it'd go on. And the more things that'd get said about it, and all those miserable looking pictures of me looking like a cynic, and that. And they'd go on and on, and it'd get out of hand, and I couldn't control it, you know. I can't answer for it when it gets that big 'cuz it's nothing to do with me then."

Q: "A disc jockey in Birmingham Alabama, who really started most of the repercussions, has demanded an apology from you."

JOHN: "He can have it, you know. I apologize to him if he's upset and he really means it, you know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I said it for the mess it's made. But I never meant it as a lousy or anti-religious thing or anything. You know, and I can't say any more than that. There's nothing else to say really, you know-- no more words. But if an apology-- if he wants one, you know, he can have it. I apologize to him."

Q: "Was there as much repercussion and reaction to your statements throughout Europe and other countries of the world as there was here in America?"

GEORGE: "No."

JOHN: "I don't think Europe heard about it. They will now."

(laughter)

JOHN: "But it was just England. And I sort of got away with it there inasmuch as nobody took offense and saw through me. And over here it just, you know... what I said. It just went the other way."

Q: "Why is it that the American journalists did not treat it in the same light?"

JOHN: "I don't know. I think it's because, when it came out in England it was a bit of a blab-mouthed saying anyway, but they could sort of... A few people wrote into the papers, and a few wrote back saying, 'So what, he said that. Who is he anyway,' or they said, 'So, he can have his own opinion.' And then it just vanished. It was very small. But by the time it got... you know, when it gets over here, and then it's put into a kid's magazine, and just parts of it or whatever was put in, it just loses its meaning or its context immediately, and even more so. And it's miles away, and everybody starts making their own versions of it. You know, I think that's how it... whatever you said."

Q: "John, are you familiar with-- that in the American press, a great many ministers have agreed with you in the full context of what you said, and that most of the concern and oversimplification of what you said came from what we call the 'Bible Belt,' quite notorious for Christian attitude?"

PAUL: "Yeah. The thing is that they seem to think that by saying that, you know, John's gettin' at them. But he isn't at all, you know. It's just a straight comment on something, which may be right and may be wrong, but he's gotta answer as he feels honestly, you know. And if they think that for him to say that is wrong, then they don't believe in free speech, you know. And I thought everyone here did."

Q: "The point is, by many thinking Americans, it was just that."

PAUL AND GEORGE: "Yeah."

PAUL: "That's it. Well you know, and it's..."

GEORGE: "But they always write about the bad things much more than the good things, anyway. So that's why it got to this scale."

Q: "It's always the 'superior' Americans that are more verbal."

(laughter)

JOHN: "Well, you know..."

PAUL: "Well, good luck to them. That's what I say."

Q: "Do you personally believe...?"

JOHN: "I think that... My views are only from what I've read or observed of Christianity and what it was, and what it has been, or what it could be-- it just seems to me to be shrinking. I'm not knocking it or saying it's bad. I'm just saying it seems to be shrinking and losing contact."

PAUL: "And we all deplore the fact that it is, you know. That's the main point about it all."

JOHN: "Nothing better seems to be replacing it, so we're not saying anything about that."

PAUL: "And if you say something that you think may vaguely in a way be helpful, you know... because if it is on the decline in any way, then to say it's on the decline must be helpful, rather than destructive, you know."

JOHN: "It's silly going on saying, 'Yes, it's all fine, and yeah yeah, we're all Christians, and we're all doing this' when we're all not doing it. You know, I just said what I thought."

PAUL: "And you know, they'll probably say we said we're for Christianity now."

(laughter)

Q: "Mister Lennon, are you all Christians?"

JOHN: "Well, we were brought up... I don't profess to be a practicing Christian."

RINGO: "Yeah."

JOHN: "Although, I think Christ was what he was, and if anybody says anything great about him, I believe. But I'm not a practicing Christian like I was brought up to be. But I don't have unchristian thoughts!"

(laughter)

Q: "Some of the wires this morning on UPI said that Pan American had provided each of you with Bibles."

PAUL: "We never did see it, though."

JOHN: "We never saw that."

Q: "Mister McCartney, could you tell us what the meaning of your line in your latest song concerning Father MacKenzie who writes sermons that nobody hears."

PAUL: (exhales) "See, that's the same thing. That's exactly the same thing, you know-- that there do happen to be people connected with religion who do write... you know. I mean, It was a song about lonely people."

GEORGE: "And it's a generalization, anyway, isn't it."

PAUL: "But it was just a song about one lonely person who happens to be this priest who's darning his socks at night, you know, and he's lonely. That's all there was to it."

JOHN: "And Eleanor was pretty lonely, Paul. You told me Eleanor was."

PAUL: "And Eleanor was lonely. Hmm."

(laughter)

PAUL: "But that's what that means, you know."

Q: "What about your further comment, also in that same series of interviews, that America is a lousy country where anyone who is black is called a nigger."

PAUL: "Well, you see, this is it-- that if you say anything against, say, the way Civil Rights gets treated over here, then there are bound to be extremest people who'll think that we're wrong for saying that colored people are the same as white people, you know. But I honestly believe that. And if anyone wants me to give the showbiz answer 'We're just good friends,' I will, but I personally believe it's better, to be honest about it."

Q: "Don't you have that same situation, however, existing in England?"

PAUL: "Oh yeah. It exists everywhere, you know, but it's about time people..."

GEORGE: "...did something about it."

PAUL: "I mean, everyone here knows it is, you know. It just needs to be said occasionally, that's all."

Q: "I think, John, that if Jesus were alive today, in the physical form, not a metaphysical one, he would find 'Eleanor Rigby' a very religious song. A song concerned with human experience and need."

PAUL: "Yeah."

Q: "I'm curious about your impression of that."

JOHN: "Well, you know, I don't like sort of supposing that somebody like Jesus was alive now and pretending-- imagining what he'd do. But I mean, if he was Jesus and he held that he was the real Jesus that had the same views as before, well 'Eleanor Rigby' wouldn't mean much to him. But if it did come across his mind, he'd think that, probably."

PAUL: "It was written because there are lonely people, and uhh, it was just a song about..."

GEORGE: "And we had to have another track to fill up the LP."

(laughter)

PAUL: (laughs) "Anyway, what you said is right."

(laughter)

Q: "Do you think the Americans lack a sense of humor?"

BEATLES: "No."

PAUL: "The thing is, you know when we talk about all these things you say 'The Americans,' but as you said, the Americans can't all be the same person. They can't all think the same way, you know. Some Americans lack humor and some Britains lack humor. Everybody lacks it somewhere. But there are just more people in the States so you can probably pick on the minority classes more, you know."

Q: "I read something recently that you were..."

JOHN: (jokingly) "Never said it!"

(laughter)

Q: "...worrying about the Beatles being brought down-- that certain people were interested in getting the Beatles over with."

JOHN: "Oh, I don't know. I think that's a bit of one that's... you know, I don't really know about that story, honestly."

GEORGE: "Sounds like a homemade one."

JOHN: "There's nobody, sort of, get... pull us down. I'd agree, that if we were slipping, there's lots of people that'd clap hands daddy-come-home."

Q: "What kind of people do you think would be interested in..."

JOHN: "I don't know because they never show themselves until that time arises when it's right for them."

Q: "Do you feel you are slipping?"

JOHN: "We don't feel we're slipping. Our music's better, our sales might be less, so in our view, we're not slipping, you know."

Q: "How many years do you think you can go on? Have you thought about that?"

GEORGE: "It doesn't matter, you know."

PAUL: "We just try and go forward and..."

GEORGE: "The thing is if we do slip it doesn't matter. You know, I mean, so what-- we slip, and so we're not popular anymore so we'll be us unpopular, won't we. You know, we'll be like we were before, maybe."

JOHN: "And we can't invent a new gimmick to keep us going like people imagine we do."

Q: "Do you think this current controversy is hurting your career?"

JOHN: "It's not helping it. I don't know about hurting it. You can't tell if a thing's hurt a career or something-- a space of time-- until months after, really."

Q: "You were also quoted as saying that you were not looking forward to the American tour and that the only part of the tour that you really wanted to get to was the California part of the tour."

GEORGE: "I think I said that."

JOHN: "Well, somebody probably said, 'Which place do you like best in America,' and we probably said, 'We enjoy L.A. most because we know a lot of people there.' And that's how that comes to be 'We only want to be in L.A.' You know, it just so happens we know a few people there, and we usually get a couple of days off, so we usually say L.A."

GEORGE: "We usually eat different food from hotel food. (jokingly) Not that there's anything wrong with hotel food!"

(laughter)

GEORGE: "But, you know, it's a break from hotels because we get a house."

Q: "Are there any southern cities included in your tour this trip?"

PAUL: "Yeah."

JOHN: "Memphis, we're going there. Yeah."

Q: "What is your feeling about going down south where most of this controversy has arisen?"

JOHN: "Well, I hope that if we sort of try and talk to the press and people and that, you know, you can judge for yourselves what it meant, I think, better by seeing us."

PAUL: "The thing is if you believe us now-- what we're saying, you know-- and we can get it straight, then uhh..."

JOHN: "It might get through."

PAUL: "'Cuz, I mean, we're only trying to straighten it up, you know."

JOHN: "'Cuz we could've just sort of hidden in England and said, 'We're not going, we're not going!' You know, that occurred to me when I heard it all. I couldn't remember saying it. I couldn't remember the article. I was panicking, saying, 'I'm not going at all,' you know. But if they sort of straighten it out, it will be worth it, and good. Isn't that right, Ringo?"

(laughter)

Q: "Do you ever get tired of one another's company?"

JOHN: "We only see each other on tour-- all together as four at once, you see."

Q: "To what do you ascribe your immense popularity?"

JOHN: (jokingly to Paul) "You answer that one, don't you?"

RINGO: "I thought Tony Barrow answers that one."

PAUL: "Really, if you want an honest answer, none of us know at all."

Q: "This is your third trip to Chicago. Have you had a chance to SEE Chicago yet?"

PAUL: "No, we-- It looks nice out the window!"

(laughter)

GEORGE: "This is the first time we've actually stayed here, I think."

Q: "Do you hope to someday see some of these places that you've just flown in and out of?"

GEORGE: "We can go to everywhere, really, I suppose. Everywhere we want to go when... (jokingly) 'when the bubbles burst.'"

PAUL: (laughs)

(laughter)

Q: "John, Your music has changed immensely since you first started out. Is this because you've become more professional, or is it that you're trying to show the public..."

JOHN: "It's not trying, or being professional. It's just, you know, a progression."

GEORGE: "It's trying to satisfy ourselves, in a way. But you know, that's why we try and do things better-- because we never get satisfied."

JOHN: "It's only that, you know. It's not sitting 'round thinking, 'Next week we'll do so-and-so, and we'll record like that.' It just sort of happens."

M.C: "Can we make this the last question please."

Q: "Yeah. A short one for Ringo."

RINGO: (jokingly) "Oh, no!"

Q: "Two weeks ago, we had a World Teenage show here in Chicago."

RINGO: (jokingly) "And you won."

Q: "There was a set of drums there on the floor, cordoned off, that said 'These are the drums that Ringo Starr will play when he's in Chicago.' Now today at the airport, I saw some girls screaming when they saw an instrument case, apparently containing your drums, being loaded into a truck. Which drums are yours? Where are they?"

RINGO: "Well, I hope they're both mine. I don't know. Malcolm (Mal Evans) will tell you about that, you know-- He just puts 'em in front of me. I just play them."

(laughter)

RINGO: "He's the one who... Have we got two kits? No? ...oh, don't tell 'em that."

Q: "One more question regarding your marital status. Has there been any change that you could tell us about?"

PAUL: "No, it's still three down, and one to go."

(laughter)

M.C: "Thank you very much."

(reporters applaud)

BEATLES: "Thank you!"

NOW, THE LAST NEWS CONFERENCE IN MY HOMETOWN:

Immediately following their show in New York City, the Beatles flew to Beverly Hills for a few days rest and relaxation. This time off was broken into two parts by a flight to Washington and a performance at Seattle Coliseum on the 25th, after which they returned again to Beverly Hills.

The Beatles gave the following press conference at the Capitol Records Tower Los Angeles on August 24th. David Crosby, who at the time was a member of The Byrds, was part of the Beatles entourage at this concert. He can occasionally be spotted in the film of the press conference. Following the press conference, the Beatles were awarded Gold records by Capitol and RIAA for their latest LP, 'Revolver.'

After their days off, the Beatles returned to the tour on the 28th with a performance at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Following this show, the group would close out their 1966 tour with their historical finale at Candlestick Park in San Francisco - their last-ever concert. In the coming years, while there would be no more touring, the Beatles would focus on creativity in the recording studio, producing some of the finest albums of their catalog.

Q: "What will the next movie project be for the Beatles?"

GEORGE: "Well, somebody has given us an idea, and he's working on the script. And if the script's nice then we may do it."

Q: "One question we'd like in Hollywood, we'd like to know how you compare movie working with to, say, the concert tour or recording sessions."

JOHN: "We don't compare it much, you know."

Q: "Would you rather play the 'Hollywood Bowl' again than 'Dodger Stadium'?"

GEORGE: "We don't really mind."

Q: "One of your countrymen was here yesterday or the day before, and he said that he thought American women were out of style for not wearing mini-skirts and that their legs were ugly. I'd like to ask you what you think about American women's legs."

RINGO: "If they don't wear mini-skirts, how does he know their legs are ugly?"

(laughter)

Q: "On the album cover that was banned here, the one with the dolls and meat--- Who's idea was it?"

JOHN: "The photographer's who took it."

Q: "And what was it supposed to mean?"

JOHN: "We never asked him, you know."

Q: "John, why did you decide to make (the movie), 'How I Won The War'?"

JOHN: "Uhh, because he (Dick Lester) just asked me. And I just said, 'Yes.' And it was just like that."

Q: "Do you consider that now since you've been here in the United States for almost a week, that this religious issue is answered once and for all? Would you clarify and repeat the answer that you gave in Chicago?"

JOHN: "I can't repeat it again because I don't know what I said, you know."

Q: "Well, would you clarify the remarks that were attributed to you?"

JOHN: "You tell me what you think I meant, and I'll tell you whether I agree or not."

Q: "Well, some of the remarks attributed to you in some of the newspapers... the press here... concerning the remark that you made comparing the relative popularity of the Beatles with Jesus Christ... and that the Beatles were more popular. This created quite a controversy and a furor in this country, as you are obviously aware."

PAUL: "Did you know that, John? You created a furor."

Q: "Now, would you clarify the remark?"

JOHN: "Well, I've clarified it about 800 times, you know. I could have said TV or something else, you know... and that's as clear as it can be. I just used Beatles because I know about them a bit more than TV. But I could have said any number of things. (jokingly) It wouldn't have got as much publicity though."

PAUL: (laughs)

Q: "My question is directed at all of you. Do you think this controversy has hurt your careers or has helped you professionally?"

PAUL: "It hasn't helped or hindered it, I don't think. I think most sensible people took it for what it was... and it was only the biggots that took it up and thought it was, you know, on 'their' side... thinking, 'Aha! Here's something to get them for.' But when they read it, they saw that there was nothing wrong with it really. It's just that they thought that by John saying that we were more popular than Jesus-- they thought, 'Ah, he's bound to be arrogant.' Did you see the fella on telly last night? He said it... on the Tonight Show."

Q: "John, who is your favorite group in the United States?"

JOHN: "I've got a few, you know. Byrds, (Lovin) Spoonful, Mamas, and Papas... I suppose... on that side of it."

PAUL: "Beach Boys."

JOHN: "And Miracles, etc., on the other side of it."

Q: "My question concerns money. I was wondering if you still have an arrangement with the US Internal Revenue Department to pay your taxes through England to them. Another part of the question is, how much have you grossed in your current US tour, and is it true that you lost..."

GEORGE: "We don't know about that."

PAUL: "We don't know about all that. We don't do the money side of it, you know."

GEORGE: "And we don't particularly worry about it."

JOHN: "They just tell us what we get in the end, you know."

Q: The tax thing..."

PAUL: "We pay tax and things, but we don't know how much, or how much we've made or anything, you know, because if we were gonna worry about that we'd be nervous wrecks by now."

Q: "I'd like to direct this question to Mrs. Lennon and McCartney. In a recent article, 'Time' magazine put down Pop music. And they referred to 'Day Tripper' as being about a prostitute..."

PAUL: (nodding jokingly) "Oh yeah."

Q: "...and 'Norwegian Wood' as being about a lesbian."

PAUL: (nodding) "Oh yeah."

Q: "I just wanted to know what your intent was when you wrote it, and what your feeling is about the 'Time' magazine criticism of the music that is being written today."

PAUL: "We were just trying to write songs about prostitutes and lesbians, that's all."

(room erupts with laughter and applause)

JOHN: "...quipped Ringo."

PAUL: (chuckles) "Cut!!"

JOHN: "You can't use it on the air, that."

Q: "Will you be working separately in the future?"

PAUL: "Altogether, probably."

Q: "Yeah, but aren't... John Lennon, aren't you doing a picture alone?"

JOHN: "Yeah, but I mean, that'll only be on the holiday bit-- in between Beatle..."

Q: "Fred Paul from KAXK. First of all, I'd like to say Hi to you all again; it's really good to see you. I'd like to ask a question that you've never been asked before."

JOHN: "Oh no."

Q: "What are you going to do when the bubble bursts?"

BEATLES: (laugh)

JOHN: "That's a personal in-joke. He used to ask it at every press conference we entered, to keep the party going."

Q: "Do you think we'll have another tour again next year?"

JOHN: "Ask Brian. Could be."

PAUL: "Could be, Fred. Brian does all that."

JOHN: "OK, Fred."

Q: "Outside of Hollywood tonight you had to arrive in an armored truck, and the truck was swarmed by adoring fans. What is the situation wherever you go? Do you have an opportunity to walk out in the street without being recognized, or can you walk into a theatre to see a movie by yourselves?"

JOHN: "If you go in when the lights are down you can go in."

PAUL: "We can do that in England. It's easier in England than it is here. And it's mainly because we know England better."

RINGO: "It would also be easier to do it if we weren't on our, you know. Because we're on tour, people know where we are. That's why we have a crowd."

PAUL: (joking amazement to Ringo) "Oooo Oooo!"

RINGO: "Yes! Yes! I worked that out!"

(laughter)

Q: "Paul, many of the top artists and musicians in the Pop field today have said the Beatles have been a major influence in their music. Are there any other artists who have an important influence on you and the music you have created?"

PAUL: "Oh yes. Nearly everyone, you know. We pinch as much from other people as they pinch from us."

M.C: "Is it possible to raise the level on both of the roving microphones please?"

RINGO: "The boys are a little deaf.

PAUL: (laughs)

Q: "Ringo, do you carry wallet pictures of your baby with you?"

RINGO: "No."

Q: "No? Why?"

RINGO: "I don't carry photos of anything, you know."

JOHN: "He can remember."

Q: "May I ask about the song 'Eleanor Rigby?' What was the motivation or inspiration for that?"

JOHN: "Two queers."

(room erupts with laughter)

JOHN: "Two barrow boys."

PAUL: (jokingly) "Oh, it's getting disgusting, this press conference."

Q: "John, did you ever meet Cass of the Mamas and Papas?"

JOHN: "Yes, and she's great, and I'm seeing her tonight."

Q: "Good."

JOHN: "Yeah, she's good."

Q: "Have you ever used or trained Beatle doubles as decoys on a..."

RINGO: "No."

JOHN: "No."

PAUL: "We tried to get Brian Epstein to do it... he wouldn't do it."

(laughter)

Q: "Ringo, one question-- How much did you contribute to 'What Goes On' and are you contributing to any other Lennon/McCartney compositions?"

RINGO: "Umm, about five words to 'What Goes On.' And I haven't done a thing since." (laughs)

(laughter)

Q: "I'd like to address this to John and Paul. You write a lot of stuff that other people steal from you and also purchase from you. And different arrangement-- Ella Fitzgerald and Boston Pops, and stuff like that. When you listen to this on the radio or records and stuff, how do you feel about them using your pieces and changing them around to suit their styles?"

PAUL: "The thing is, they don't steal it."

Q: "No. I know that."

PAUL: "Well, you just said they did!"

(laughter)

PAUL: "Really I mean, you know, it's... Once we've done a song, and it's published anyone can do it. So, you know, whether we like it or not depends on whether they've done it to our taste."

Q; "Well then, let's ask it this way. Who do you think does it the best... the Beatles' songs?"

JOHN: "Us."

(laughter)

Q: "Who?"

JOHN: "Us."

Q: "For those of us who have followed your career from the early days of Liverpool and Hamburg, and the pride in you being awarded the MBE, and the dismay of the unwarranted adverse publicity of late-- the question is-- individually what has been your most memorable occasions, and what has been the most disappointing?"

PAUL: "Whew!"

JOHN: "No idea."

RINGO: You know, there's so many."

GEORGE: "I think Manila has been the most disappointing."

JOHN: "And the most exciting is yet to come."

RINGO: "...maybe the most disappointing."

Q: "Gentlemen, there was quite a laugh when you went on the stock market with your stock. How is your stock doing?"

JOHN: "Fine, thanks."

RINGO: "Well, it went down, but it's coming up again."

GEORGE: "It's gone down."

RINGO: "Same as any other stock, you know, up and down."

JOHN: "It goes down everytime the LPs drop out. They all think they're buying bits of records."

Q: "Leonard Bernstein likes your music. How do you like Leonard Bernstein?"

PAUL: "Very good. He's, you know, great."

JOHN: "One of the greats."

Q: "I'd like to direct this question to George Harrison if I may."

JOHN: (jokingly to George) "What's your new address?"

(laughter)

Q: "George, before you left England you made a statement that you were going out to America to be beaten up by Americans. Do you mean to say in so many words that you feel the American fan is more a hostile fan than Britain..."

GEORGE: "No! Not at all."

Q: "...or more enthusiastic?"

GEORGE: "Actually I said that when we arrived back from Manilla. They said, 'What are you gonna do next?' and I said, 'We're gonna rest up before we go and get beaten up over there. Merely... Beaten up is... Really we just got sort of shoved around."

JOHN: "Jostled."

GEORGE: "Jostled around in cars and in planes, so you know, that's all they did."

Q: Well, do think that's more an enthusiastic fan than a hostile fan?"

GEORGE: "Uhh, there's definitely more enthusiastic fans. We've, I think..."

PAUL: "But if anyone beat us up, it's not the fans, you know."

GEORGE: "Yeah. The fan thing... I think they proved it themselves after this. We found out that there are a lot of the fans that are great. And all the ones we lost, I think, we don't really mind anyway. Because if they can't make up their minds... who needs 'em."

Q: "I wanted to ask about your image. The image scrimmage. And I'll direct this to anybody. How has your image changed since '63? Is it a little more... uhh... Is it the same, or...?"

GEORGE: "An image is how 'you' see us, so you know, you can only answer that."

JOHN: "You're the only one that knows."

Q: "Who's that?"

JOHN: "It's you."

Q: "Oh, well. No, I want to get your opinion. Is it a little tarnished now? Is it more realistic, or what would you say it is? I know I have my opinion."

JOHN: "We're attacked for our opinions."

PAUL: "We can't tell you our image, you know. We can only... Our image is what we read in the newspapers. We know our real image, which is nothing like our.... image... (looks confused by his own words, then laughs)

(laughter)

PAUL: (laughing) "Forget it."

(laughter)

Q: "Who is the young man with the lengthy haircut to your right rear?"

JOHN: "That's good old Dave, isn't it?"

PAUL: "Where is he?"

(a young David Crosby, who had been standing with Brian Epstein, suddenly disappears behind a curtain to avoid attention)

JOHN: "That's Dave from the Byrds. A mate of ours. Ahoy maties."

PAUL: "Shy. He's shy."

Q: "Do you ever plan to record in the United States?"

PAUL: "We tried actually, but it was a financial matter. Hmmm! Hmmm! A bit of trouble over that one. No, we tried, but uhh... it didn't come off."

GEORGE: "It entailed politics."

PAUL: "Hush hush."

JOHN: "No comment."

Q: "Mr. Lennon, is it true that you're planning to give up music for a career in the field of comparative religions?"

JOHN: (laughs) "No."

(laughter)

JOHN: "Is that another of the jokes going 'round?"

Q: "I'm sure you've all heard of the many Beatle burnings and Beatle bonfires..."

JOHN: "We miss them."

Q: "...and I was wondering if you think American girls are fickle."

RINGO: "All girls are fickle."

(laughter)

JOHN: "Well, the photos we saw were of them were, sort of, middle-aged DJs and 12 year-olds burning a pile of LP covers."

Q: "This question is directed to Paul and John. You have written quite a few numbers for Peter and Gordon, and I understand they don't like it because they think that it's you writing the song that makes it popular. Do you plan to write any more songs for them?"

PAUL: "They, you know... if we write songs for... They ask us to write songs for them if we do it. I mean, they don't mind it. They like it. But it's... People come up and say, 'Ah, we see you're just getting in on the Lennon/McCartney bandwagon. That's why they did that one with our names not on it-- 'Woman'-- because everyone sort of thinks that's the reason that they get hits. It's not true really."

Q: "Gentlemen, what do you think would happen to you four if you came to an appearance without the armored truck and without police?"

RINGO: "We'd get in a lot easier."

(laughter)

JOHN: "We couldn't do it."

PAUL: "It depends, you know. Sometimes we could have easily made it much better without the armored truck. But today, probably we wouldn't have."

Q: "Do you think you'd be physically harmed?"

PAUL: "Oh... yeah. Probably"

JOHN: "What do you think?"

Q: "Yes, I think so."

PAUL: "Could be."

Q: "The 'New York Times' magazine of Sunday, July 3 carried an article by Maureen Cleave in which she quotes the Beatles, not by name, as saying: 'Show business is an extension of the Jewish religion.'"

PAUL: "Did she say that?"

Q: "Would you mind amplifying that?"

JOHN: "Uhh, I said that to her as well. No comment."

PAUL: "Ahhhhh... Come on, John. Tell 'em what you meant."

JOHN: "I mean, you can read into it what you like, you know. It's just a little old' statement. It's not very serious."

Q: "Paul, are you getting married? And if so, to who?"

PAUL: "Ummm, I'm probably getting married, yes. But I mean, I don't know when. I've got no plans and things."

M.C: "Want to make these the last three questions."

Q: "I was wondering, under what condition did you write 'In His Own Write.' That, sort of, wild... those kicky words... I mean, how did you piece them together?"

JOHN: "I don't know. I can't answer that. You know, it's just the way it happened. I didn't think, 'Now, how can I do this?'"

Q: "I mean, did you sit down as an author and uh..."

JOHN: "Just like an author."

(laughter)

Q: "Any more books coming?"

JOHN: "I hope so, you know."

Q: "John, I understand there's a suit pending against the Beatles by Peter Best who claims to be a former member of the Beatles. Is that true?"

JOHN: "I think he's had a few... but we don't bother with those."

Q: "Is this the last question? Are all of your news conferences like this?"

JOHN: "No."

PAUL: (laughs) "That's not the last question."

Q: "Well, I'm talking about all of the reporters... or would-be reporters and semi-reporters that show up. Are you besieged by these kind of people throughout the tours that you travel here in the United States?"

JOHN: "You can't always tell the would-be's from the real thing."

(laughter)

Q: "Is it this way when you travel in Europe?"

JOHN: "Yes."

PAUL: "But what's wrong with them? What's wrong with the crowd?"

Q: "Nothing. I'm just wondering if you have this many reporters everywhere you go."

PAUL: "No."

RINGO: "Not always."

GEORGE: "Some of them are just on-lookers."

M.C: "This is the last question."

Q: "'Tomorrow Never COMES' is the last song on the second side, right?"

PAUL: "'Tomorrow Never Knows.'"

Q: "'Tomorrow Never Knows.' Thank you. Could you give me a vague idea of some of the tape manipulation you used when your voice drops into the track, John? Is that sung backwards by any chance, and recorded forwards?"

PAUL: "No, it's not sung backwards. It's just, umm, recorded pretty straight. There's tape loops on it, which are a bit different. The words are from the 'Tibetian Book of the Dead,' so there. Well, nearly." (End)

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