Yet more tache: May/June, 1967.

It's unusual to see John tached-up sans "grannys". Assuming (possibly wrongly) that these were all taken at the same time, it must have been between May 5 and June 8, for tache-related reasons which have been gone into, in too much detail, already.
One possibility is that they are from the Speakeasy, on either May 24 or the early hours of June 1. Gary Brooker, of Procol Harum, who was playing the Speakeasy on the 24th, doesn't recall the Beatles being there, although it is listed in a lot of the tomes. He spake thusly: "I don't know if they were down the Speakeasy when we played. I only remember Jimi Hendrix being there, so...they could have been sneaking around in the background." Hmmm.
By contrast, members of the Turtles actively recall seeing the Beatles at the Speakeasy on the second date.
Then again, it may well be neither of those (possibly one of the other clubs?). Whatever, whenever and wherever, it's fairly clear that Ringo has slightly overdone it.

Smedley Fish & Chips: Roman Road, Taunton.

Smedley's chip shop, 15 September 1967, and the same location 43 years later. It's not every day that one's chippy gets a visit from the cast of Magical Mystery Tour; that much, at least, can safely be stated.
The story goes that the proprietors, James and Amy Smedley, were actually the grand-parents of "little" Nicola Yale (or Hale, as she was known), familiar from the film. Mrs Smedley's niece was apparently in charge of recruiting extras, and thus the Smedley-Yale-Hales got embroiled.
If so, then that's possibly Amy Smedley herself on the steps of the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay, judging by the dress:


These days, the chippy is still used for such purposes, being a Chinese takeaway/"fish bar" called the Phoenix, and looking remarkably similar inside:


But what does all this matter, I hear you mutter? Errr...we'll get back to you on that one. Right, Ringo?


Thanks to Eric Nernie for the vintage Smedley's pic.

Hare & Hounds: Churchdown, Gloucestershire.

It turns out not to be Merseyside, but rather Gloucestershire, in the town of Churchdown...and the pub is still there too. This from Mark Lewisohn:
"As some readers of the blog have realised, the photo was taken during Paul and George’s hitch-hiking holiday. I have been sleuthing the day-to-day route of this original mystery tour, summer 1959, for the first volume of my Beatles History trilogy, out in autumn 2011, and this latest piece of the puzzle now drops nicely into place."
I was quite surprised by the number of similar looking pubs called the Hare & Hounds that seem to exist in the north-west and west of England (and Wales too, I dare say).
Anyway, thanks again to all who sent suggestions.

Hare & Hounds: ???

Mark Lewisohn is wondering if anyone out there can identify the location of this photo. Please leave a comment, or contact me via the header email address with the details if it looks familiar. Thanks.

2 Strathearn Place: the Dental Experience.

There has probably been too much LSD-related shenanigans on these pages of late (Greek chorus: "You think?"). But one thing leads to another...so here's a bit more: The London flat of cosmetic dentist John Riley, as pictured circa 1963, two years before he invited John & George round for dinner/conversation/spiked coffee.
The full story of what happened here has been told many times, but for those seeking an eye-witness account, and a picture of Riley himself, Steve Turner's excellent tome The Gospel According To The Beatles has the details; it includes an interview with Riley's then girlfriend, who was also present that night.
Incidentally, in addition to supplying John, George and spouses with their first acid, Riley also provided the "nosferati" in Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers with their teeth, though possibly not on the same evening:


Thanks to Julian Carr for finding the vintage pic of Strathearn Place, and to the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives for permission to use it.

Sunny Heights: then & now, part 2.

Contemporary views of the master bedroom and en-suite overlooking the distinctive balcony at the rear of the property, together with exterior shots from you know when.
The main drawing room, compared with the Ringo era, is almost unrecognisable these days, with not a lava lamp or inflatable Pluto in sight. The brickwork chimney is long gone too. However, the door leading onto the terrace, where John was famously pictured in proto-Pepper gear, remains:

Sunny Heights: then & now, part 1.

As we've seen, from behind the house looks much the same as when Ringo lived there. The grounds have been significantly altered, however, with part sold off to provide land for another mansion.
The swimming pool is also new; it's situated on roughly the same spot as this very much tached-up photo:


Inside, the house has inevitably undergone a lot of renovation. But, fairly astonishingly, the none-more-psychedelic painting evident in a couple of Ringo-at-home shots from 1967 is still there:


From this angle, it's evident that it was painted straight onto the wall:


That subsequent owners have chosen to preserve this painting beggars belief, given the general attitude of Sic Transit Gloria Mundi ("Slash & Burn" to you and me) that usually informs renovation on St George's Hill; yet there it is. A small relic of the Beatle Belt abides.
More to follow...

Cynthia Lennon: interview (& John's response).

An interview from the mid-1970s (click on it for a readable view), covering the Kenwood years. What's of most interest, however, is that not only did John happen to read this article, but he also wrote a riposte to Cynthia (which can be found in Keith Badman's book, Beatles After The Breakup):
"Dear Cynthia,
As you and I well know, our marriage was long over before the advent of LSD or Yoko Ono, and that's the reality! Your memory is impaired, to say the least. Your version of our first LSD trip is rather vague. And you seem to have forgotten subsequent trips altogether. You also seem to have forgotten that, only two years ago, while I was separated from Yoko Ono, you suddenly brought Julian to see me after three years of silence. During this visit, you didn't allow me to be alone with him for one moment. You even asked me to remarry you and or give you another child for Julian's sake. I politely told you no, and that anyway I was still in love with Yoko (which I thought was very down to earth). There were no detectives sent to Italy. Our mutual friend Alex Mardas went to Bassanini's hotel to see how you were, as you said you were too ill to come home. Finally, I don't blame you for wanting to get away from your Beatles past, but if you are serious about it, you should try to avoid talking to and posing for magazines and newspapers. We did have some good years, so dwell on them for a change, and as Dylan says, it was "a simple twist of fate."
Love and good luck to you from the three of us,
John."
Of course, it's impossible not to feel some sympathy for Cynthia. But it's also interesting to see John get a right of reply, and challenge one or two of her oft-repeated gripes. Quite a good little pun there at the end, too.

Kenwood: bottle.

Due to the media frenzy, details of the find have been removed at the request of the photographer. Apologies.
However, some more information concerning the bottle has come to light. An expert in these matters dates it to the 1930s or 1940s. The monogram on the base will probably represent either the bottle maker, or the manufacturer of whatever the bottle originally contained; the hunt is still on to pin that down precisely.
Apparently, it is not uncommon to find buried groups of bottles in these circumstances...all of which neither rules in nor out the Lennon connection.

Kenwood: autograph, circa 1965.

An interesting lot from a sale at Christie's New York, in December 2006. It's a signed copy of In His Own Write, obtained by the seller during a visit to Kenwood in the company of Brian Epstein. Note the dedication - "To Diz"; unconfirmed rumour has it that said seller was none other than Brian's notorious inamorato John "Diz" Gillespie.
(Credit to Eppylover for originally unearthing this.)

Cavendish Avenue: living room, 1969.

Interior pictures of Cavendish Avenue are fairly rare, but here's one of John and Yoko in the living room, in 1969. This room, overlooking the familiar back garden steps, was where the Beatles met before recording sessions or other Beatle business pre-Apple. On March 21, 1967, it also saw a visit from the Emperor of Eternity... apparently.

A weekend away, part 2: August 25, 1967.

This one taken by two Iraqi students, who found themselves sharing the train to Bangor with assorted table-tappers, on August 25, 1967. Lucky, really.

Kenwood: attic, June 1967.

Beat Instrumental, the Beatles Monthly's sister publication, also covered the June '67 visit to Kenwood, and featured an article about the attic studio in its October 1967 issue. Click on it for a better view:


Many thanks to Richard Morton Jack for sending this in.

Kenwood: the boot gets the boot.

So, what became of the boot? Local magazine Surrey Life has uncovered the answer. It turns out the boot was at Kenwood for no time at all.
To be brief, John quickly grew tired of it, and so it was donated to the local Rag Week (an annual event where British students raise money for charity, often by being irritating). In this case, the boot was hollowed out, put on wheels, and pushed to Luton in a sponsored event. What became of it thereafter I don't know, but it probably didn't survive. A fitting end, somehow.

Kenwood: winter, 2008.

...and the same view 40 years later, courtesy of Joe Baiardi. Thanks to him for sending this in.

(NB: Joe's images should not be reproduced without his permission.)

Kenwood: spring, 1969.

An image (at least purported to be) from spring, 1969. It's still unclear when John and Yoko finally vacated Kenwood, but possibly around then.

Kenwood: attic - June, 1967.

Yet another attic photo appears, this time showing the hitherto unseen end of John's studio, which turns out to have housed... yet another piano. Surprisingly enough.

Kenwood: south and north-west ends.

Another couple of photos from last year, with Schwingin' Shikshtiesh equivalents for comparative purposes. The southern portion of Kenwood, as seen above, is virtually unchanged externally.
The other shot, which shows the sunroom end, pins down one of the locations from the 1965 Robert Whitaker shoot; the same corner of that wall can be seen, now part covered in foliage:

Cavendish Avenue: music room - February 7, 1967.

Paul may have owned the house at Cavendish Avenue for almost half a century, but he has been fairly canny about allowing pictures of the interior to appear in public. It's instructive that even in the day, he was the only one of them who didn't allow Beatles Book Monthly photographer Leslie Bryce in. And so it has continued - anyone attempting to use Google Street to get a look at the exterior of the place will find it's been removed at JP's request...and fair enough, too (although pictures of the exterior abound).
The most intriguing corner of the house was/is the music room, as those who have read the Hunter Davies biography will attest. That book has a famous section which remains the only vérité account of a Lennon/McCartney songwriting session, for "With A Little Help From My Friends", in (fairly obviously) Paul's music room. There are detailed descriptions of the room in both the Beatles Monthly and the Davies book, but being a little bit older and a little bit slower, I hadn't connected them with these fairly familiar photos of Monkee visiting Beatle on February 7, 1967. However, the ones immediately above and below were taken in that very location, in front of the Paolozzi sculpture (Solo, by name).
The music room was/is on the top floor at the front of the house overlooking the courtyard. Back then, in addition to Solo, it was home to Paul's hand painted piano, broken stereo equipment, records, and a large triptych of Jane Asher. How it looks these days is anyone's guess, but nothing like this (or that) I'm sure:


Three days after these photos were taken, the orchestral session for A Day In The Life took place at Abbey Road, attended by the Monkees, amongst others. Mike Nesmith was staying at Kenwood at this time, having taken John up on a casual invitation made during the Beatles' 1966 tour of the States, much to John's initial displeasure.
These may also have been taken in the music room:

Kenwood: symbols.

Julian has also spotted that the motif on that Kenwood stationary is the same as on the roof of the limo. I seem to recall that the limo symbol was meant to represent John's astrological sign, Libra, in a suitably none-more-1967 fashion. (Balance, not balls, apparently.)
If so, the same with the paper, obviously.

King's Road: a short stroll - May 22, 1968.

The events and chronology pertaining to the beginning of John & Yoko's relationship remain murky, but one thing the tomes seem to agree on is the date of the Two Virgins night at Kenwood: May 19, 1968. Earlier that day, John, still reeling from the previous evening's speed/Mandrax/acid fuelled Messianic meltdown, had convened an emergency meeting at Wigmore Street. The inner circle duly shuffled in, were informed that John was now Jesus...and shuffled out again. Back at Kenwood, John invited Yoko round, and the rest is distorted piano and slowed down bird noises.
Three days later the Beatles hold an afternoon party at Club dell' Aretusa, though only John and George attend. The party is intended to launch the latest Apple retail outlet - Apple Tailoring, a collaboration with 60s fashionisto John Crittle.
The club is situated at 107 King's Road, Chelsea. Here's how it looked then:


It's still a club, though obviously not the same club, and the entrance has been completely redone:


Many photos of this event exist. At one point, John and George were captured deep in conversation, and it's tempting to imagine that John was explaining the new situation vis-a-vis Yoko. Meanwhile, Derek Taylor looks like he is contemplating the best way to deal with the latest shitstorm (something he was going to have to get used to):


Yoko doesn't seem to be present in the photos taken in the club - it's possible she was keeping a low profile, or else came along a bit later. What's sure is that she and John left together, and made the short walk up the King's Road to Apple Tailoring at no. 161, so that John could be pictured outside. The following pic (all these date from either 1970 or 1975) shows the way - past the Chelsea Potter (still there) and the Pant House (sadly, not still there). The site of Apple Tailoring is just outwith the perspective of this pic:


The first picture showing John and Yoko as a bona-fide couple (though few knew it at that point) was captured just past one of the King's Road antique markets. Here's the same spot from across the road a couple of years later:


...and how it looks today:


The Apple Tailoring shop itself, basically a makeover for Crittle's Dandy boutique which had occupied the same site, was in a church building which is still there:


He's not the Messiah - he's a very naughty boy:


A week later sessions for the White Album commenced, and the wheels began to come off.
Many thanks to Julian Carr for finding the old pictures, and taking most of the new ones, and to the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives for permission to use the vintage images of King's Road.

Kenwood: June 29, 1967.

A slight variation from THIS sequence (the photographer has moved a bit), and what I reckon was one of the final photos taken on June 29, 1967.
Blog activity will be much reduced next year due to the demands of reality, which was largely avoided this year. However, comments and contributions to the header email address will be welcome as usual, and there are at least a couple of interesting things in the offing; the long promised 3D reconstruction of the sunroom is nearing completion, and there should be some footage of Kenwood dating from the 1980s on the way too. Doubtless other stuff will arise in the course of time.
In the spirit of the above pic, I too intend to remain prone as the Yule grinds its way to a climax, and so, until next time, whenever that is - Season's Gratings to ye all.

Kenwood: Leveson Cleaners, March 1967.

Another speck of dust: A receipt for cleaning services pertaining to the month of February 1967 at Kenwood. Not cheap, either. Whether Dot Jarlett was employed under the auspices of Leveson Cleaners, Weybridge, or whether this refers to additional services, I don't know. I'd bet that at least some of these charges relate to cat shit, though.

Kenwood: kitchen - breakfast terrace.

Master Nernie also sent me the above pic a while back, taken somewhere inside Kenwood in late 1968. I'm pretty sure it shows the breakfast terrace area of the split-level kitchen. The tiled floor suggests it, and the shape of the wall matches that corner on the Partridge plan just beyond the entrance hall door, which can also be seen in the pic.
Comparing this area to how it was in 2006 (no longer a part of the kitchen), the big window is evident, and there is indeed part of a windowsill in the black and white shot, exactly where you would expect it to be:


Presumably the photographer took a photo of this little table because he or she was amused to find, chez Lennon, a picture of Queen Victoria on display alongside a portrait of the Maharishi.
It's hard to see exactly, but that also looks like a pile of 45s to the right - which again fits with the kitchen idea, as John had a small jukebox there which he would listen to every morning (or more likely afternoon) when brewing tea. (And by tea, this time I literally mean tea and not "tea".)
So, another little corner of Lennon-era Kenwood uncovered. Chin-chin.