From Emperor's Gate to Weybridge: ca. July, 1964.

These pics show John and Cyn (and Paul) outside Emperor's Gate, purportedly on the very day that the Lennons moved from there to Kenwood. That's the story, anyway - and the photos must date from around that time, at least. If so, it seems an acoustic guitar was the last man out.


John only occupied the 4th floor flat at Emperor's Gate for around 9 months, under the name "Hadley" (a spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to put the "kids" off his trail). Kenwood was the third house on St George's Hill that the Hadleys viewed (I wonder what the other two were), and must have initially seemed so secluded as to be unfindable by Ver Fanz. Oh dear.


UPDATE: The eagle-eyed db noted in comments that these pics were posted back to front - so they have now been corrected. It's unclear if the car interior shots above were also the wrong way round, but I've assumed they were, and done them too. Thus, a "then and now" shot becomes possible (I couldn't see it before, for obvious reasons (related to my idiocy)); John's block has been demolished, and replaced by office buildings:

Hamburg: Eimsbütteler Strasse 45a - then & now.

The top floor Kirchherr family flat provided a home-away-from-hovel for the Beatles when they first went to Hamburg; and Stuart, of course, eventually moved in full time, partly at the request of Astrid's mother, who was fairly appalled by tales of the less than salubrious quarters provided by their employer. Stu had his own bedroom, and the attic was turned into a painting studio - something initially copied by John at Kenwood:


As previously noted, John requested a then & now shot from Astrid after Stuart's death, and the resulting images are the most haunted of the tens of thousands that were to follow. Here is the original Stuart shot, and John's tribute, together with the same spot (after much renovation) from 2006:


The photo of John alone on that chair, hands tightly clasped and clearly lost in sad reflective thought, is probably the most intimate image of the man ever seen (and that includes Two Virgins). It's hard not to recall his scribblings to Stuart, "I can't remember anything without a sadness so deep that it hardly becomes known to me. So deep that its tears leave me a spectator of my own STUPIDITY":


Bummer. What's cheering, however, is that Mark Lewisohn, who has generously allowed me to post these pics, is planning a website to display the vast amount of material that he has gathered over the last 30 years or so. Being Mark, he has had access to places that the rest of us can only salivate over, as his shots of Astrid's old attic attest. Here, lastly, is the view from the window:


Many thanks to Mark for letting us see these most interesting photos.

Wapping Pier Head: then & then (& now).

There's little doubt that the (then) crumbling post-colonial splendour of Wapping Pier Head served the Beatles well; as (albeit unintended) visual metaphors go, this one is hard to whack. So I was happy to discover, with the help of Julian Carr, that the London Metropolitan Archive is stuffed with vintage images of the area; the most relevant ones have been cherry picked here, but they are all fantastically evocative.
Anyway, above and below is the concrete bed, at which the waters of the "mighty" Thames lap, and upon which John played dead that July evening in 1968 (the LMA image dates from 1981):


This area used to be the Wapping Entrance, missus, to London Docks, but was closed and filled in sometime in early 1968; several vintage images of its "pre-Fab" incarnation are to be found online; for example HERE, and here in this shot from the 1890s showing Victorian river rozzers at work:


John, of course, was shortly to have his own spot o' bother with the land-lubbing variety, for reasons that possibly explain his posture in this one:


Just along the road is the t-junction where Sampson Street meets Wapping High Street; the first location used during this portion of the Mad Day Out. The LMA have the Colonial Wharves warehouse from 1971, and a photo of Sampson Street from 1949, presumably showing the effects of the blitz. Whether this building was still there in 1968, I don't know, but Sampson Street is to the right of Ringo:


...and the same spot today, the warehouses long since demolished; all that now remain are the cobblestones (and possibly the lamp-posts) on the High Street:


Back to the Pier Head itself, and two shots from 1968, with the West Quay in the background:


Again, the wall of the West Quay, at the foot of the concrete bed, was where Paul famously arsed around with the chains previously used to close the dock entrance; this LMA photo also dates from 1968 - but the chains (not to mention Paul) are nowhere to be seen:


Finally, a picture from 1971:


The whole area, though a little bushier (and weren't they all?), pretty much unchanged in the intervening period:


So, there we have it. Grateful thanks are again due to Julian Carr for his picture research, to the good offices of the City of London: London Metropolitan Archive for permission to use their pics; and to The Beatles' London for detailed Mad Day Out shizzle.

Kenwood: wake-up calls, 1967.

A couple of snapshots of life at Kenwood, circa 1967. House-guests recall that by the "Summer o' Lovin'™", John and Cynthia were leading largely separate lives. She would take care of Julian, and go out on the town in the company of Terry Doran (and, apparently, her hairdresser, causing those tongues to start a wagging, as tongues are wont to do).
He, when not on Beatle business, would generally turn night into day in the company of Pete Shotton, playing Risk, listening to "discs", huffing gas (or some-such) etc. And so to these; a pair of scribbled requests for a wake-up call, currently on display at the Hard Rock Cafe, and amazing it is too that such ephemera should have survived.
Above, on the rear of an Indica gallery envelope ("Pete" almost certainly refers to the aforementioned Mr Shotton, who had the supermarket on Hayling island to run), and below: Terry = the also aforementioned Mr Doran, Paul = Paul, "Antony" = Les Anthony (or maybe it is Antony)...
However (and leaving macabre coincidence to one side), who was Mr Chapman? The gardener? Possibly.

Poole: upgrade and "ting".

Local wizard Derek B has sprinkled his fairydust over the above image, and the results are pretty fantastic; for those who may not know (nor care), the picture originally appeared in Mojo, but was, unfortunately, unevenly spread over two pages, and overlaid with writing and visual garbage... which explains the fact that it is usually seen with only the right hand portion present, as that bit was relatively undespoiled (and also the pretty useless patch-job previously attempted on these pages). But here it now is in pristine hi-res.
He also, for the hell of it, went down to the ferry and got an exact match:


The booth is actually very close to (the former site of) Mimi's house on Panorama Road; in fact, just round the corner:


Muchas gracias Derek.

Kenwood: more June 29, 1967.

Another shot from June 29 rears its head, and a fine example too; John in a north-western corner of the grounds at Kenwood, fondling a pot plant (not for the first or last time, I'll bet). The photo comes from a February '68 feature in TeenSet magazine, which has a few other Kenwood piccies, though all those others have been seen before. This one of the attic likewise, but here just slightly bigger than the previously posted image:


Anyone familiar with Pete Shotton's memoir will recognise this room as the scene of an Eleanor Rigby inspired altercation; which may well have been what John was recalling in his final PlayBoy interview, when he talked of being hurt by Paul inviting songwriting contributions from whomever happened to be in the room, rather than from John exclusively; which is quite sweet, albeit childish.
Many thanks to Richard Morton Jack for the new pics.

Tache: yet more ****ing tache.

I have recently been inundated with an email from blog reader Eric Nernie, who writty - "I am f***ing appalled that there hasn't been any t******g-h******z***ing tache on these pages of p********g late, you ****." A quick "flick" through the archive reveals that he may have a c***ing point.
So this had better suffice for a while; Linda "Mc" was, as far as I can see, a fantastic photographer; the above undertache captured at Chapel Street, during the Pepper launch party, in a momentary lapse of Macca:


And why not have these ones too, if only to keep the *u** quiet. The evolution of John's tache, from Zapata to proto-Village People, or "the other way round", will be the subject of a whole new blog, currently in pre-production. Or not. *****. ***s. *!

Tittenhurst: 1969 & 1977.

More from Thomas Rhyner's 1977 Tittenhurst expedition. I've tried to match this batch to photos from the final Beatles photo session, dated 22 August, 1969. (Incidentally, was that the last time all four were actually together? There is rumour of a further business meeting in 1970, but I haven't seen confirmation. It would somehow be fitting, and also somehow sad, if the final meeting of les Fabs was indeed...thus.)
Anyway. The path from the house down to the Diana statue - Thomas seems to have been playing it canny, off in the foliage to the right; a wise move, given a threatened impending (and potentially irate) Richie:


Said path leads to said Diana, and to starboard one of the tallest Incense cedars in Blighty:


It would seem that the path and surround to the Diana statue had been allowed to grow back in by 1977: I think the following matches:


Errrrr...


So the dinosaur wasn't a prop from Caveman after all. (That meisterwerk didn't spring forth until 1981, and I refuse to believe it had a gestation period of 4 years plus.) It looks like a t-rex. Ringo directed Born To Boogie, which I've never got round to actually watching (though I think part of it was filmed at Tittenhurst): So, something to do with Bolan, possibly. Or not.
Following a spot o' donkey business, and a memorable few minutes under Weeping Blue Atlas Cedars, the hirsute foursome (plus equally hairy entourage) made their way back towards the house. This area wasn't quite captured by Thomas...but near enough:


Grateful thanks are due not only once again to Thomas for so generously sharing his photos, but also to The Beatles' London, by the esteemed trio Schreuders, Lewisohn and Smith; their book documents the final photo session, and Tittenhurst topography, in exhaustive (and welcome) detail. (What about The Beatles' Britain?)

Kenwood: a stone frog.

Journalist and biographer Ray Coleman was a frequent visitor at Kenwood.
In 1965 (or thereabouts), he asked John for a list of prized possessions (imagine that). Amazingly, John did manage to come up with a list, which included pictures by Stuart Sutcliffe, The Singing Postman's record, his (John's, not the Singing Postman's) attic studio (at that point only home to two tape recorders), books by Aldous Huxley (nuff said), and a "lump of stone" found on the doorstep of Kenwood. This last was initially evaluated as "prehistoric" (isn't all stone, at least in the resolutely non-volcanic UK?), but later re-evaluated as "a load of crap".
Also, pertinently, a stone frog: "I like to see this in the fireplace, near the TV set, looking at us all." Obviously, therefore, it sat, or squatted, or whatever it is that frogs do, in the big living room.
Anyway, Jon Warren has sent in the above photo; he bought a (and possibly the very) stone frog at auction 20 years ago, sold by Cynthia, and of Kenwood vintage; so there we go. Thanks to Jon.

Aldershot: corner of Queen's Rd & Perowne St.

And the award for most prosaic image on a blog about the mansions of rich men goes to...this. South-west of Weybridge lies the army town of Aldershot, and twas here they came on December 9, 1961, to the Palais Ballroom for a "Battle O' The Bands", a "Big Beat Session", if you will. In the event, the crowd comprised a grand total of 18 paying punters, due mainly to an advertising related balls-up.
The Palais Ballroom has long since burned to the ground, and what you see above is what's there now. What was there then, that night, looked like this (at right angles, comparatively speaking):


So, nothing now remains - except, just maybe, that wall on the left:


More pictures can be found on the always excellent Savage Young Beatles site (link to the right).
On a vaguely related "tip", it's worth acquiring one of the several naughty albums (freely available from certain sources) which document the complete rooftop concert, of January 30, 1969. Listening to the whole unedited thing is interesting, in that it shows them going out (in a live context) very much as they came in; there is a wonderful reek, redolent of the pre-Eppy era. John screams non sequiturs. Between song arsing about is much in evidence. In-jokes abound... that type of thing. It's all much closer to the Cavern than Candlestick.

Kingsley Hill: then & now.

Definitive proof that Kingsley Hill was indeed the venue for those evocative shots, showing assorted Beatles and entourage at repose in the summer of 1967. As can be seen, at least some of the images were captured in the garden adjacent to the road.
The house and grounds are virtually unchanged 40-odd years later - the only real difference being some savage topiary on the tree outside the door. The distinctive garden wall is still there too:


Brian bought Kingsley Hill in early 1967 as a country retreat, partly because of its Winston Churchill connections (it's said that the stogied-up PM met with Chiefs of Staff here immediately prior to D-Day).
After Brian's death, his brother Clive sold the abode on to (if not onto) a family (Macfarlane by name); apparently it still contained boxes of Brian's leftover possessions at that point, and these formed part of the sale.
Subsequently sold again in 1976 (and, as far as I know, the current owner has had it since then), Kingsley Hill's interior is seemingly also largely unmodified; several rooms still boast "psychedelic" paintwork on the walls, presumably of Beatle-related origin. (This was a trend in 1967 - Kenwood, Kinfauns, Sunny Heights and Kingsley Hill were all partially so decorated; it's remarkable that in two of these houses, some of that paintwork has survived to the present day.)
It was, of course, also the venue for a famous party in celebration of Sgt Pepper; Brian's secretary, Joanne Peterson, recalls "walking into the top room of the house and opening the door. There were the Beatles, sitting there cross-legged in their Sgt Pepper costumes".
The most famous picture of Brian outside Kingsley Hill was taken on the other side of the low "bungalow" bit of the house, visible to the left:


All in all, a fascinating place. (By the way, it was the subject of a British newspaper article a few years back, which may well have included shots of the interior paintwork described above. If anyone has this, be a "luv" and send us a copy.)

Kenwood: upgrades.

Both of these have been on before in cropped/crappy form; here are uncropped/uncrappy upgrades. As regular "readers" will know, the black and white one dates June 29, 1967, and has John in the den, keeping an eye on Simone and Marijke painting his piano across the room. The orange cardied "vision" is from a bit later in the same year, on or about the driveway. There's another one here, and I daresay others as yet unseen elsewhere.
Thanks to Bruno Dupont for the better colour version.

Pop Think In: July, 1966.

Help film? Crap! Russia? He likes! Reeperbahn? Yeah! Etc.

Thanks yet again to Ian Drummond.

St Sophia's Church, London: July 11, 1968.

This magnificent church, of Greek Orthodox persuasion, served as the venue for "Magic" Alex's wedding, at lunchtime on July 11, 1968. The previous day, Alex had gone round the Apple office informing all and sundry of "imminent nuptials" - but no-one believed it. Thus, it took some frantic early morning phone calls to round up guests.
His two best men were Donovan and Winston, whose duties included crowning the bride with a double tiara of forest flowers, as you do. Also in attendance were Yoko, George and Pattie, amongst forty others.
Admirers of minutiae may well note that later this day, John went on to Abbey Road, where he oversaw the electric piano stylings of Nicky Hopkins on the single version of Revolution.


Thanks again go to Ian Drummond for sharing his archive.

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.

Poole: Bournemouth ferry - then & now.

"Then" being 1967 era-o'-tache-era, "now" being...now. And it must be said, the fash has gone way downhill since them halcyon days. But there we go.
Having, needs must, said that, the kiosk endures. Expect to see it at Sotheby's in the not too distant future:


Many thanks to Andrew Downing for the contemporary pics, and for his not inconsiderable trouble.