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I wonder if this stuff was in the movie?
I don’t remember many off camera lines…
“I Need You by George Harrison”
in the Barber Of Seville…
or maybe “A fiendish thingy”…
They were recording a version of their third Xmas record (nothing to do with Help! film) that was never used – although the raw tape is available. You can listen to some of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dI7WJZbBo
(Re: the link from A Car And A room above)-
@A Car…
Well…Thank you, Johnny…it’s been-a-nice-to-know-ya!!!
I had never heard that tape. It was very enlightening…I couldn’t believe the results turned out so bland. First of all, who ever thought that the script was worth acknowledging. It seems to be a last minute after-thought and doesn’t even have completed dialog…it sounds like one-line ideas. So, how expensive was studio time in those days? And, they went to Marquee Studios to commit this drudgery to tape! This whole exercise is so unlike any other Beatle recording…I wonder was George Martin was there. He would have told them to go home…I’ve never heard any Beatle session (or concert) that seemed so utterly lifeless. Still, I wish I knew more. It sounds like the Beatles are too tired…or, as they read, they realize the script is merely sub-standard. They would have been better to adlib. If this was the formula that resulted in the first two Christmas records, then what the heck is going on?
Finally, I think the real value of the tape has to be the shocking section of attempted ‘dead baby’ humor…(“sliced babies”). This is the only section of the script that seems to be developed into multiple lines and more than one Beatle. Very interesting that this is being considered as festive dialog for Christmas. Is this an early hint of what was to come in June(butcher cover)?
Does it mean that the Whitaker triptych was actually planned out ahead with Beatles involvement/input/ideas? It sure sounds like they are aggressively attempting sick humor…and the dead baby thing is its focus. So…the Yesterday And Today sleeve controversy has just taken on a new air of legitimacy. The Beatles wanted sliced and cooked baby jokes on the 1965 Christmas record. It’s the only part of the session that was even listenable. Now, all I can think of is Robert Whitaker should have directed some videos for them. This could have all been done with positive results while offering new perspective into the darker Beatle art.
Meanwhile, where was the man without a function (Brian Epstein)…
How did the ‘script’ get passed him.
Thanks, Car. Sorry, to ramble on…but, this is important!
Hi Kwai, now you know why it wasn’t used!
Tony Barrow was present at the session “guiding” them but the lacklustere results deemed it necessary to go back and tape what became the finished flexi. Tellingly, that was a case of roll tape and see what they can ad lib – as can be heard from the dialogue captured during the “Think For Yourself” session at EMI. From the following year (1966) the Xmas records were to take on a much more unorthodox bent from the usual “thank you, Beatle people, for buying our records this year” tack.
As far as I’m aware Whitaker had no experience in directing film at that stage so he was not a contender to make the Beatles promo films. And its interesting the sliced babies dialogue – almost like the Python’s four years early – predating Whitakers idea for the photo session. Maybe this was a line of thought that stayed with him when he came to take the infamous pictures five months later. But then again, maybe it was merely a coincidence? We shall never know.
I love the boy with sunlight in his hair.
Great pic of Mr. Harrison!
Marquee studio, October 1965. Pic by Robert Whitaker
I wonder if this stuff was in the movie?
I don’t remember many off camera lines…
“I Need You by George Harrison”
in the Barber Of Seville…
or maybe “A fiendish thingy”…
They were recording a version of their third Xmas record (nothing to do with Help! film) that was never used – although the raw tape is available. You can listen to some of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dI7WJZbBo
He always looked so good!
(Re: the link from A Car And A room above)-
@A Car…
Well…Thank you, Johnny…it’s been-a-nice-to-know-ya!!!
I had never heard that tape. It was very enlightening…I couldn’t believe the results turned out so bland. First of all, who ever thought that the script was worth acknowledging. It seems to be a last minute after-thought and doesn’t even have completed dialog…it sounds like one-line ideas. So, how expensive was studio time in those days? And, they went to Marquee Studios to commit this drudgery to tape! This whole exercise is so unlike any other Beatle recording…I wonder was George Martin was there. He would have told them to go home…I’ve never heard any Beatle session (or concert) that seemed so utterly lifeless. Still, I wish I knew more. It sounds like the Beatles are too tired…or, as they read, they realize the script is merely sub-standard. They would have been better to adlib. If this was the formula that resulted in the first two Christmas records, then what the heck is going on?
Finally, I think the real value of the tape has to be the shocking section of attempted ‘dead baby’ humor…(“sliced babies”). This is the only section of the script that seems to be developed into multiple lines and more than one Beatle. Very interesting that this is being considered as festive dialog for Christmas. Is this an early hint of what was to come in June(butcher cover)?
Does it mean that the Whitaker triptych was actually planned out ahead with Beatles involvement/input/ideas? It sure sounds like they are aggressively attempting sick humor…and the dead baby thing is its focus. So…the Yesterday And Today sleeve controversy has just taken on a new air of legitimacy. The Beatles wanted sliced and cooked baby jokes on the 1965 Christmas record. It’s the only part of the session that was even listenable. Now, all I can think of is Robert Whitaker should have directed some videos for them. This could have all been done with positive results while offering new perspective into the darker Beatle art.
Meanwhile, where was the man without a function (Brian Epstein)…
How did the ‘script’ get passed him.
Thanks, Car. Sorry, to ramble on…but, this is important!
Hi Kwai, now you know why it wasn’t used!
Tony Barrow was present at the session “guiding” them but the lacklustere results deemed it necessary to go back and tape what became the finished flexi. Tellingly, that was a case of roll tape and see what they can ad lib – as can be heard from the dialogue captured during the “Think For Yourself” session at EMI. From the following year (1966) the Xmas records were to take on a much more unorthodox bent from the usual “thank you, Beatle people, for buying our records this year” tack.
As far as I’m aware Whitaker had no experience in directing film at that stage so he was not a contender to make the Beatles promo films. And its interesting the sliced babies dialogue – almost like the Python’s four years early – predating Whitakers idea for the photo session. Maybe this was a line of thought that stayed with him when he came to take the infamous pictures five months later. But then again, maybe it was merely a coincidence? We shall never know.