Kenwood: June 29, 1967.

Uncropped! Nuff said.

Via beatlesneveroutofstyle.

Kenwood: the graffito also endures.

Above, 2 fans just inside the gate at Kenwood, circa February 1967, courtesy of Lizzie Bravo.
Now, as ye are aware, this blog mainly concerns itself with rooting around in the muck, like an enormous sow, looking for remnants of a long vanished etc. And here's another one...
Watching Nick Cowburn's footage of Kennie from the late 90s, one bit caused a funereal bell to start tolling somewhere deep in my etc., namely, the bit of the "I LOVE" bit:



A couple of years back, I wrote about the old garden shed which once stood in the grounds, and included the following pic which I assumed showed a graffitied section of it:



I suddenly realised that this is what was causing bells to ring. Knock me down and hit me in the face with a shovel, if that isn't the very same graffito (grammar fans), all those years later, clearly not on the auld shed, but actually a part of the front gate:



It seems highly improbable that it would have survived for over 30 years (at the time Nick shot his footage), so a bit more comparison is called for. Note the relative positions of writing, and white object:



Again, using Lizzie's pic this time, compare white object and box:



Clearly the same location, and so, equally, clearly the same writing, which is banal but remarkable (possibly remarkably banal, I grant ye).
I'd guess the white object is a doorbell (or gatebell in this instance), and the box is obviously a letter box. The area underneath the graffito would have been a door (long gone by the 90s), which explains this pic of Julian, in full "Daddy says,'Fuck off'" mode:



The wooden gate slid across to close, as it is in the Julian pic; and the rear of the aforementioned door can be seen in Lizzie's photo, with the gate (obviously) open:



I promised ye flagrant trivia, and flagrant trivia is what ye shall have.
It's highly unlikely that anything now remains of the old gate, let alone the graffito, but back in the late 1990's, another tiny piece of John-era Kenwood endured.
Cheers Lizzie and Nick.

Kinfauns: c. late 1990s.

Nick also got a few photos of Kinfauns, shortly before it was destroyed to make way for a carbuncle. Above, the drive (the only part that remains the same these days. The whole section of garden visible through the gate has been sold to allow construction of another new house).
Below, inside the gate, looking down towards t'bungalow:



To wit:



I wonder how long it took the owner after George to whitewash the walls. Though not often. Apparently, before moving to Friar Park, George offered to give Kinfauns to Pete Shotton, who said "Naaaah":



Some you know wots:



And again:



Note how much of George's gardening remained at that point:



And now nothing does. Toodle pip!

Fanks, yet again, to Nick Cowburn for his generosity.

Kenwood/Sunny Heights/Kinfauns: video footage, c. late 1990s.

Some "new" footage of Kenwood (up the drive and back again), a smidgeon of Sunny Heights, and a bit of Kinfauns, very shortly before it was demolished. Oh and a few obligatory "then unt nau"s, plus more of John's Kennie attic mellotron meanderings for noise value (which, the attentive viewer will note, run out before the end, due to wanton "can't be arsed-ness" on my part).

All filming done late 1990s by Nick Cowburn, on good old VHS, and many thanks to him for agreeing to put it up here, as it were.

Kenwood: late 1990s.

There has been a veritable glut o' Kenwood shiznit turning up of late, and let's add to that glut with these, taken circa 1998 by Nick Cowburn.
Above and below, so far, so familiar:



However, round the other side and the place is looking almost derelict. Note the boarded up windows, and unsightly pile of "stuff":



More unsightlitude, and the last stand of John's pool. Shortly after this, the whole thing was demolished to make way for...err...another pool facing in a different direction. Oh to have too much money:



Having said that, it does seem to have fallen into a state of some disrepair:



Then unt then:



Looking back towards the sunroom; a familiar spot for photographers down the years:



This bit entirely new, next to said sunroom:



And a final view, somewhat overgrown:



Many thanks to Nick for allowing these to be used here. He also got some photos of Kinfauns (also on its last legs at that point), plus some video footage, all of which shall go up immediately. BY THE WAY - anyone else here in Blighty see Yoko on Jonathan Ross this evening? Fellow guest Vin Diesel seemed to say at one point that he was renting a house in St George's Hill "next to Yoko"...but I wasn't really paying attention, so maybe I misheard.

The Beatles: All These Years Volume 1.

The cover is oot! In related news, Amazon UK have cut the pre-order price on the standard edition, as expected, and it has also now appeared on the Amazon US site HERE.

Nice!

UPDATE: A heads up for US/Canadian readahs. It's been revealed that the massive "deluxe" edition is only being issued in the UK, for the time being at least, the US publisher having opted to issue the standard edition alone. There is no news about how limited the deluxe is (though it is limited), nor whether there is any likelihood of it ever being reprinted if/when it sells out. However, the tome has jumped to first place in the UK Amazon chart for Beatles-related books, presumably as readahs from across the "pond" get their pre-orders in to ensure obtaining a copy.
There's also no news about whether a non-English language deluxe edition is being published anywhere (I suppose Japan might be a possibility), but anyone prevaricating over splashing oot might do well to bear the above in mind.

Kenwood: 26/2/1967.

Four more from Lizzie's Kenwood file, and fer once none o' my yap.
Above, the master bedroom en-suite at sunset.
Below, psychedelic vomit on the front door:



Kitchen window:



Cattus:



There are various other random shots which I'll put up here in the coming weeks, and so another huge thank you to Lizzie for her generosity.

Kenwood: autumn '66?

More Lizzie soon... but in the meantime...

Regulah readahs will no doubt be familiah with the above; it's been on here before, albeit in nasty lo-res. Always having found it a fascinating little slice of Kenwoodalia, I've been keeping an eye out for a better example.
And lo, and, moreover, behold - here one is. Prised from the pages of the German mag Bravo, edition number 5, dated 23 January 1967, it allows one to scan the images in the kind of hi-res that causes yer laptop to issue a Hal 9000 type warning about the wisdom of so doing. (Click on 'em for the bigger picture.)
So when were they actually taken? Clearly the beginning of autumn - one of these trees suggests the rise of the fall (if you will, and I wouldn't, if I were you):



Either 1965 or 1966 then, with the probability being the latter (though I'd like to hear from any readahs who may have seen this pic in, say, a US mag of the time in order to nail a definitive date).
Right, let's res this to the... err... highest.
Even in the lo-res version, it was possible to discern a figure in the grounds. The image in the mag reveals something else there, and zooming in shows it to be none other than... Julian!:



Actually, I can't be sure it's Julian, but it's probably him, looking up to see what the noise is (these pics having no doubt been taken from a helicopter):



Next, the sunroom, and lookee here: it isn't finished! (Not sure if that warrants an exclamation mark, but in the context of all this nonsense, it might as well...errr...do. But I digress.)
The roof isn't quite complete, and the distinctive decoration has yet to be added:



Zooming in once again, 3 people can be seen. The figure in white is seated in the sunroom talking to a second individual, and in the upstairs spare bedroom, someone is looking out the window, again trying to see what all the noise is:



Readahs can download the pics above and find for "themselfs" more details that I am, sadly, too lazy to go into here.
More to come on the other Beatle pads.

Kenwood: dubb owld boot.

Why did John get rid o' the boot? This pic probably gives the answer: not being designed to withstand the vicissitudes of a British winter, the thing was beginning to fall apart. But here the boot sits, shortly before getting it, down at the bottom of the garden.

Whatevah, great photo. A doff o' the cap to updownsmilefrown for finding this.

Kenwood: summer, 1967.

More Lizzie, and this time in colour. Most of these clearly taken in summer, and the gate remains open to all comers.
Two of the caravan, the left by Lizzie, the right from her collection, but snapper unknown (get in touch if it's you).
Quite splendid:



Two of the den end; circa, respectively, March and June 1967:



Kenwood, obscured by foliage:



Innareshtingly, most of the above may well date 26th June 1967, ie the day after Our World (and 3 days prior to the Leslie Bryce Kenwood session).
Fantastic "stuffs" - thanks Lizzie - further to follow.

2, Strathearn Place: Flat 1.

...speaking of which, a small interlude before we get back to Lizzie.

It's probably no exaggeration to say that, one way or another, the course of popular culture changed in these fairly non-descript rooms (or, at least, that John, George, Pattie and Cyn got totally dosed, dudes and...err...dudettes).
For here it "twas" that the aforementioned quartet attended a dinner party in the summer of 1965 thrown by dentist to the stars John Riley, and, one way or another, ended up ingesting the dreaded lysergic for the very first time.
Apparently Riley always disputed the standard version of events (ie that he slipped it in the coffee without their knowledge), telling friends that his guests had "got the wrong end of the stick" about what really happened that night.
Of course, the usual renovation has occurred in the intervening years, so the decor is different, but, nevertheless, this is where it began:

Kenwood: 19/2/1967.

Lizzie's first visit to Kenwood was on Sunday 19th February, 1967, and here are some of the photos from that very day. To begin at the back, garage/sunroom/dining room, above.
Note the bird table/hat, soon to re-appear in the garden:



The front door. What's "interesting" here (no, really) is the paint job.
Regulah "readahs" will recall that the last load o' pics, dated 21st January 1967, revealed the door still in its original state. Pete Shotton, in his memoir, recalls arriving at Kenwood one Saturday night to find John and Terry Doran "spray painting the front of the house in psychedelic day-glo colours", after which he is ushered in to the house and introduced to "Magic" Alex Mardas for the first time.
Thus, the emergence of the Greek "wizard" can be dated to the early part o' 1967 (and it's another example of John's "Winter o' Lovin'" mind-set - spray paint, flying saucers, force fields etc., etc.):



The den/library:



Garage. Note the presence of Cyn's Porsche 911:



Blah:



As far as I know, the current whereabouts of this car are a mystery. I'm also not sure if any photos showing the license plate have surfaced before; hard to make out, but I reckon that reads GAN 7E, registered (as a quick on-line search reveals) between January and July 1967 in West Ham, London.
Anyway, if the car still exists, it should be traceable by someone who can be arsed (ie not me):



Finally, the living room exterior, and the first decent photo of the equally exterior entrance to that room:



These black and white pics are lovely (stuff), but, perhaps appropriately, things are about to get colourful...

Many thanks yet again to Lizzie.