Apple: Inside Crazy World Thereof.

In June 1969, august organ the TV Times (of all things) published a 3-part eye witness snapshot of goings on inside 3 Savile Row. Much of interest, and so, without the usual level of ado, here 'tis:

As ever, click and zoom to read. Huge thanks to Andy Neill for PDF and pint.

Kenwood: "mad, mad pad."

I've been after this for a long time, so was pleased to find it amongst Dot Jarlett's clippings; from the Evening News, March 1969, a guided tour of Kenwood, then being used as little more than storage by John and Yoko:

Note the last Kenwood sighting of the Fool piano, which has for some reason migrated to the "library":

These have all been scanned hi-res, so download and zoom in to read.

April, 1969: John & Yoko.

Be honest, now: have you actually listened to the whole (or even any part) of The Wedding Album? If not, ye should, particularly side 1's opus "John & Yoko". Judging by comments on YouTube, this 22:44 gauntlet throwdown of a recording tends to elicit responses in individual listeners (occasionally participants) that run the gamut from extreme boredom to utter, eye-swivelling fury, via a brief detour down the (if you'll excuse the expression) cul-de-sac of sexual arousal.
Avant it may be, but not as much as it appears; the whole thing is actually an extended take on Stan Freberg's 1951 comedy single John And Marsha. John and Yoko never took themselves as seriously as others did (and, indeed, do).(Go HERE to hear.)
Now compare unt contrast. Above, the titular pair recording John's heartbeat in EMI's Studio 2, c. April 1969. The backdrop to John & Yoko is provided by the sound of their twin, errr, throbbers, sometimes galloping, occasionally almost faltering, over which John does Yoko, and Yoko does John, possibly literally (I hope that's an Apple he's eating).
Parts of it, no doubt, are silly/boring/etc. Yet there are also sections which, to use John's own words, can indeed seem almost "hair raising", if not downright harrowing in the light of the marriage's tragic demise.
Take the passage around 7:30, for instance, where a distraught Yoko cries John's name. Or, even more so, the section c. 12:30 - John appears to breathe his last as Yoko sounds like nothing so much as a flat-lining EKG machine. Palpable nonsense.
Of course, the effect is punctured shortly thereafter when they both get the giggles.
Nevertheless, if you've never heard it, here it is.
You're so very welcome.

Madingley Club/Ducks Walk: then & now.

A return to the scene of that April '69 photo session (Madingley Club/Ducks Walk). As has been seen, the club itself ist kaput long time. Above is what's there now; everything vaguely similar, and completely different. (I have a feeling it would make more sense to visit in the bleak mid-winter.) Below, a fairly pathetic attempt to splice 1969 into 2010, always a poor idea:


After being pictured lounging against the Roller in the car park, they moved along to Ducks Walk for a spot of messing about on the river, probably via this passage, which may or may not be where the '69 shot was taken:


When you get to Ducks Walk, there is a gate, and a sign warning that to proceed to the river is at your own risk. The path is now very overgrown, but it does lead to a small...well, "dock" is too grand a word. But presumably this is where they "pushed off" from. If so, you can see the island, which served as the focus for the final photos on that day, on the right:


Again, things have no doubt changed in the interim, but the vantage point at the end of the path certainly seems to provide the same perspective:


The by now extremely bushy island:


Thanks to The Beatles' London, and to the City of London/London Metropolitan Archive for permission to use the old Madingley Club pic, and to Julian Carr, yet again.

Kenwood: kitchen & interview, 1969.

John in the kitchen at Kenwood, circa late 1968/early 1969. This comes from an interview in the Daily Express, published on the day of Paul's wedding - March 12, 1969. It's the first glimpse of the Lennon-era cooking area (ripped out in the mid-1990s, and now a connecting hall). The central raised hobs can be seen, as in the 1964 Partridge plan:


The interview also mentions a portrait of Queen Victoria, thus confirming this pic as being from the breakfast terrace after all:


And the interview itself; "John Lennon hates his superbly ponderous Tudor house in Weybridge. He and Yoko plan to move to a contemporary glass job nearby." Not Tittenhurst, obviously.
The clipping further contains yet more evidence that Cynthia and her mother stripped the place bare:



Many thanks to Ian Drummond for sending this in.