A colour shot of Simon Posthuma and Marijke Koger working on John's piano in the den room, which occupies part of the southern ground floor at Kenwood. This particular keyboard was, seemingly, John's favourite; originally belonging to his Aunt Mimi, it was almost certainly the one he used to write I Am The Walrus, amongst other amaranthine chefs-d'ouevre. Upon completion of the Fool's paint job, the piano was moved through to the sunroom, where it can be glimpsed in several snapshots occupying the wall next to the internal entrance (again see posts passim). Simon was kind enough to respond to a recent email from me, and confirmed that, as far as he knows, the piano that now sits in Friar Park is this very one. (That may seem fairly obvious, but it was possible that George had the Fool do a copy of John's, or vice-versa.) Note 1: Kenwood's expensive black carpeting (often mentioned in Beatles books as being particularly prone to cat-shit related trauma) can be seen in the hall. Note 2: John is filming the proceedings. Does Yoko have this footage? Note 3: The other smaller keyboard visible in the Kenwood pics above is also intriguing. John took this piano with him to Tittenhurst - it can be seen in at least one photo circa 1971. Why didn't he also take the psychedelic piano? How did it end up at Friar Park? I, for one, dunno. (Note also the Ivor Novello awards on top of it).
Simon's very interesting website has now been added to the Friends & Neighbours section on the right, and if you can speak Dutch then go and buy his autobiography - A Fool Such As I. (An English language version is currently being negotiated, so fingers crossed for that.)
It's worth noting that the 3rd picture inside Friar Park is that of George and Olivia's son Dhani.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine John did not take the psychedelic piano with him to Tittenhurst because such was the commotion in his life at this time he probably just felt the need to move the one piano, thus giving the other to George for safekeeping?
ReplyDelete