John back at the auld house, outside the front door, sometime around February or March 1966. No statues yet, or at least, not round his entrance. He's "rocking" much the same apparel as in Trinidad in January of that year (with the notable (and probably wise) addition of trousers):
All questions of schmuttah aside, the "new" pic of John at Kenwood is extremely interesting. Clearly, something happened to their songwriting in late 65/early 66... and the period from then until mid-1967 is miraculous. It's now impossible to hear their work of the time with the sensibility of the time, of course. The most you can do is try to recall how you felt yourself (missus) the first time you heard it. In my case, this was from a copy of Revolver filched from a neighbour, at the ripe age of 11 - my friends and I playing Tomorrow Never Knows repeatedly on a shitty little mono record player, and thinking "What in the name of Rick Astley is this?" (Well, that and playing Working Class Hero, because, thrillingly, it "featured" a bit of swearing.) I suppose I've never really gotten over it. (Piss off Greek chorus.) Anyway, there he is, having just got up, or having been up all night, this being when he was first knee-deep in they acidic tablets... but one thing is for sure, he's thinking about the next song, or the next album... and we know what they were, even if he doesn't quite.
A doff o' the cap to Meet The Beatles For Real for the pic.
Striped t-shirts was a big trend during that time. The Lovin' Spoonful were the main protagonists.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that is really it and what has always been the major source of fascination for me - the miraculous transition from Love Me Do to Tommorrow Never Knows in less than 5 years.
ReplyDeleteYou've put your finger exactly on it. I'm always looking at these pictures thinking, "What's inspiring them to create this great art?" In this picture, he's just beginning the journey into psychedelia, immersed in books, daydreams, and pharma.
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