Kenwood: bush - then unt now.

Did I mention that I have been to etc.?
One of the 3 areas I was most interested in seeing was bush related - specifically an attempt to clear up the "silly bother" about where the Rubber Soul cover photo was taken.
There are 2 possibles, one being the top of the drive at Kenwood. So, here's a screencap from my phone of the very spot.
It is clearly here. If you spend several hours comparing, you start to see that Paul is in fact undead.
Seriously, though - this is it. I was there in late winter. The Rubber Soul photo would have been taken in late autumn. Or fall.
Eternal thanks to Peter Rubin. And hello Lumby.

Kenwood: 1965.

Some incredible new Kennie pics have begun to seep out, following publication of the reportedly astonishing Henry Grossman book.
So, the living room in 1965 during a visit by George and Pattie. Compare the room now, and the first thing that strikes you is that the old fireplace has also gone... but note the much lower ceiling; I reckon the old beams are possibly still up there:

First ordah o' business when the Kenwood restoration gets under-way will be to remove that new ceiling and see what's up there.
A couple more charming tableaux; this 'un:

Unt this:

What were they up to?
To the first floor, and a glimpse beyond the sliding screen in the master bedroom to the en-suite bathroom sink:

The same room now (as readahs will know, this was a bathroom for years, but is currently back to being used as the master bedroom):

I also couldn't help but notice the Lennon-era decor, and recall the fragments of wallpaper rescued by Joe Baiardi on one of his visits to Kenwood a few years back:

Many thanks to Lynn Mayes and the Cynthia Powell Lennon Yahoo Group for making these available, and to Jeannette Caserta for passing them on.

Kenwood: pre-sunroom shiznit.

Early 1965, and 3 photos featuring an anonymous Kenwood related person; John's renovations remain incomplete, to the extent that what turned out to be the most famous room in the house hasn't even been built yet.
The first, above, shows the door to the laundry, outside of which squat Julian plus said anonymous Kenwood related person, to the right of which would soon see the sunroom.
Compare with the view a couple o' years later:

John and Yoko would also be "photoed" on these very steps in December 1968:

Second, and moving on to the boot: at last, an exact location - half-way up the front drive, a fact confirmed by Dot Jarlett's e-book (of which, more anon):

Frontage and, moreover, etc:

Finally, and thank etc., a spot o' carpet beating outside the living room:

More thanks to Mr L.

Kenwood: house of green.

All aboard the Trivia Express, people. Next stop Anal Tragedy (pop.1). Nevertheless, one of the more famous images to emerge from Kennie was John with his sunflower eye, a variant of which can be seen above. I'm sure it's been on here before, but something about the lo-res quality of this 'un caught my eye; that's got to be the greenhouse there behind him:


Thus, another location becomes pin-downable. That sequence of photos will have been taken at the bottom of the steps, beside the enduring tree:


Joe Baiardi's video captured the very spot:


And here's a "now" from the same source, the greenhouse gone these days, in common with much else:


Speaking of things gone, NEMS in Liverpool has been demolished. A fairly unlovely building, true, but of immense importance in the Beatles' story, it now joins a shameful list of buildings destroyed for no good reason up there.
Liverpool is a fantastic city, but the people in charge of planning are a bunch of *****ing ***s ******ing ****s **** * * * *******************ing *****s.
As long as The National Trust preserve the childhood homes of John and Paul, and the Best family continue their sterling job with the Casbah, Beatles fans will have a reason to go to Liverpool. But as the list of places to visit dwindles ever further, so the chances of repeat trips dwindle too, with all the long term knock-on effects to the economy that entails.
Astonishingly short sighted and stupid. ****s.

Kenwood: interview - April, 1965.

This most "innaresting" interview provides a verbatim slice of life at Kenwood in April '65 (or thereabouts). You can read it for "youselfs", but a few points to note: 1. Large (and doubtless good) dog Nigel, previously unknown, and now immediately to return to canine obscurity from whence he skittered. 2. Blues Rags & Hollers (as it is actually titled) was an album by Koerner, Ray & Glover, much admired by the Lenin-cap wearing brigade. 3. Bernard Levin called the then Tory Leader Sir Alec Douglas-Home a "cretin" and an "imbecile" on Not So Much A Programme More A Way Of Life, which was the follow-up to That Was The Week That Was. 4. John seems somewhat agitated (one can guess why - last man standing at the Ad-Lib yet again); Cynthia seems somewhat appalled, even given that it was very much pre-PC. 5. I can say no more.
Many thanks to Richard Morton Jack for passing this on.

Kenwood: more 1965 action.

A new shot (new to me at any rate) of John on the steps at Kenwood in 1965. Well done that man Joe Baiardi for tracking this un down.

Kenwood: drawing room, 1965.

Another shot from the 1965 session that also produced these (amongst many others), showing the drawing room at Kenwood just before Ken Partridge's decor was scrapped:


Many thanks to Jeannette for the new pic; her Beatle progeny site can be found here.

Kenwood: dining room, 1965.

The location of the 1965 family shots of John, Cynthia and Julian can now be definitively established, thanks to the above, uncropped photograph. Although it's not perfect quality, the two framed pictures can be seen clearly enough to establish the identity of the right hand one; compare with the following, sold at auction in 1996:


In fact, both of the reproductions in the first photo were sold by Cynthia in the same auction as a job lot. They are in the style of Basilus Besler, and, obviously, have a botanical theme. Here's a closer look at the visible portion in comparison - clearly the same picture:


We can pinpoint this as the dining room thanks to the note from Cynthia which accompanied the lot, stating that the pictures (which are actually colour) were originally bought by Ken Partridge, and were hung in the dining room. Estimate in 1996? £150-250.
Many thanks to Jeannette and Lynn Mayes for tracking the uncropped picture down.

Kenwood: dining room table, part 3.

Two more featuring that table again, or at least a leg thereof.

Kenwood: 1965 - drawing room.

As you have probably seen, Mark Jones c.1970 has sorted this one out a bit more, so here it is. Thanks to him for that. I have had to return to the horrible world of 9-5 employment for a while, and so the rate of postage will fall whilst that is on-going. However, I will do what I can. One or two very interesting things are on the way, apparently... and in the meantime other material more or less so, now and again.

Kenwood: 1965 - dining room?

Jeannette has very kindly sent this bigger and better version in. She reckons it could be the dining room, in front of the doorway leading to the internal hall, which in turn took you to the sunroom. That could well be correct - even in 2006 this doorway was small, and there is clearly a big window quite close by which would fit with the dining room theory. She also says she has seen an uncropped version of one of the other pics in the last post (the one with Julian in the foreground and John/Cyn behind), which shows the musical instrument lithographs on the wall, meaning those pics were taken in the drawing room (to use its 2006 nomenclature). That makes sense, given the other photos from the same session taken there (ie the George and Pattie visit). Many thanks to Jeannette for the scan and the information.

Kenwood: 1965 (& 1967).

Some more of these oft-seen family shots from 1965. It's impossible (UPDATE - no, it's not. These were taken in the dining room. See later blather for the details.) to tell where exactly in Kenwood these were taken - except for the one of Julian with the small piano. That's the same keyboard as can be seen against the wall in the '67 small room shot with the Fool, and I'd guess that is the small room in the Julian shot. The radiator also looks the same as in the other '67 small room shot (remember the different window position would have resulted in a bigger stretch of wall during the John-era - as if you could ever forget), and the wall colour does too. Clicking on the panorama image will give you a closer comparison.

Kenwood: 1965.

Three Whitaker upgrades, from on or about the steps in the garden at Kenwood, 1965.

Kenwood: 1965.

Two more Whitaker shots from the bottom of the garden at Kenwood, 1965 - and the first one printed the right way round this time. Thanks to Joe Baiardi for these.

Kenwood: 1965.

Here are some mainly quite familiar pics taken in the grounds of Kenwood in 1965 by Robert Whitaker. The quality of reproduction varies, but the quality of the photographs is high.
Thanks to Child Of Nature´s rather good blog for originally scanning some of this material.