“Come Together” by The Beatles from Abbey Road [In Tim Hatfield’s When We Find Ourselves in Times of Trouble: The Beatles]
Timothy Leary
Some of you may have been wondering when this, a consensus Beatles Top 10 song, would turn up here. In 1969 Timothy Leary – he of “tune in, turn on, drop out” LSD fame – had decided to run for Governor of California against Ronald Reagan. After Leary and his wife attended John and Yoko’s June 1969 “Bed-in” for peace in Montreal, he asked John if he would write him a campaign song to go along with the campaign theme, Come Together.
Swampy Bass and Drums
After Lennon sent Leary a spare demo tape of some ideas, Leary’s campaign ended and Lennon then began working on what was to become the Beatles version, a funky, bluesy, rhythm-driven song that McCartney suggested be done slower, with “a swampy, bass-and-drums vibe,” than Lennon’s original idea. It worked, and especially for Lennon, for whom it was one of his favorite Beatles songs.
Elvis Parody
The lyrics were replete with a brief Elvis parody, in-jokes, puns, and what Lennon described as “gobbledygook” that he made up on the spot in the studio. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during these sessions, because it seems like Lennon was demonstrably having fun, and it rubbed off on the other three guys. “Got to be a joker, He just do what he please……He got feet down below his knee, He holds you in his arms, yeah, you can feel his disease…!” Really?! He even began the song explicitly with a line lifted from the 1956 Chuck Berry song “You Can’t Catch Me”: “Here come old flat-top.”
Chuck Berry
Of course, Berry’s publisher sued him for infringement, but Lennon and the guy settled out of court on the condition that Lennon would record more songs owned by the publisher (he included a couple Chuck Berry songs on his Rock ‘n’ Roll album in the early 70’s and a Lee Dorsey song “Ya Ya” on his Walls and Bridges.)
Abbey Road
Producer George Martin had agreed to work with the group on Abbey Road only on the condition that they would be collaborative, as opposed to the messy, fraught sessions that eventually became the Let It Be album a year later. All four Beatles bought in, and Martin was especially pleased with the contributions that each member made for this song. Collectively, the contributions of the four “became much, much better than the individual components,” said Martin. It was a momentous collaboration in late July of 1969.
As I said above, the four Beatles certainly seemed to be having fun making this song. And sandwiched into the song there were a couple of lines that Beatles scholars could arguably say were a preview of what was to come for the group shortly thereafter and, tragically, for John Lennon a decade later: “One thing I can tell you is You got to be free,” and the repeated “Shoot me” throughout the song.
And “Come Together” was the very last song of their career that all four Beatles participated in recording together.
It’s not much of a stretch, is it, to consider the possibilities during a time of trouble if it were possible for everyone to come together?
“I’m looking through you…” Not with this item. Celebrate the moptops as you neatly tend to your style! No wonder it takes you so long time to start your day. How can you be expected to be prompt when you constantly gaze into your Beatles mirror and dream of the Fab Four?
Photos of The Beatles
Manufactured by Bassett Mirror Company, 1290 Philpott Drive, Bassett, Virginia, this rare mirror measured 15″x21″ housed in an 18″x32″ wood frame and embellished with four 3¼”x3½” color photos of the Beatles along the top. The advertisement for this artifact read:
Advert for the Beatles Mirror
Dating for a hard day’s night at Convention Hall with John, Paul, George, and Ringo? Like you’ll scream, screech, shriek over this beat teen treat in Pittsburgh Plate Glass topped with built-in picture frames and 4 full-color photos of the world’s wildest 4! Back panel opens…. change pix at any time, even replace Liverpool’s answer to the high cost of haircuts! Dig yours in white, maple, or decorator green. And you’ll want to hold Gimbels’ hand for the hip low price!”
Gimbel Brothers (Gimbels) was an American department store.
The sticker attached to the mirror read, “This is a High Fidelity Mirror of Twin-Ground Pittsburgh Plate Glass.” The shipping box read “Bassett Mirror Co. Bassett, VA. Caution-Do Not Lay Flat. Furniture, Including Mirrors or Glass, Fragile, Handle With Care.”
“Bassett has been America’s first name in home furnishings since 1902 when my great-grandfather opened his first furniture factory on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.” – www.bassettmirror.com.
Bassett Mirror Co. Inc. was named in a NEMS Enterprises, Ltd vs. Seltaeb, Incorporated lawsuit filed in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial Department, dated: New York, New York, July 6, 1965.
Find out more incredible stories in Terry Crain’s book:
NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966 (2ND EDITION)
The book covers the approximately 150 licensed items that dotted store shelves and helped fuel the band-crazed fan during the time right after the band landed in America and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Toys, games, dolls, jewelry, clothing, wigs, and more!
John Lennon wrote “Norwegian Wood,” whose working title for a while was “This Bird Has Flown,” while on a ski trip in Switzerland. The middle section – including the eventual title — was attributed to Paul McCartney. In the book Many Years from Now McCartney said:
John told Playboy that he hadn’t the faintest idea where the title came from but I do. Peter Asher had his room done out in wood, a lot of people were decorating their places in wood. Norwegian wood. It was pine really, cheap pine. But it’s not as good a title, “Cheap Pine,”baby….
Bob Dylan
The song, the brief story of an affair, is a nod to Bob Dylan’s influence on John Lennon’s songwriting; and Dylan returned the favor with his own song “4th Time Around” from his 1966 album “Blonde on Blonde.”
This was an acoustic song, including George Harrison’s acoustic 12-string. Most notably, however, this was one of the first songs to feature a sitar, which Harrison overdubbed after some consternation in the studio that the arrangement just wasn’t working. His riffs got immediate approval from the group when they worked nicely in the song.
The Yardbirds
George had gotten interested in Indian music around this time, and bought an inexpensive sitar of his own to experiment with (this preceded his more serious lessons on the sitar with Ravi Shankar). And it’s possible that one of the influences on George’s growing interest came from the Yardbirds. The Beatles shared a gig with them in June of 1965, and earlier that year the Yardbirds had made their hit “Heart Full of Soul” with a sitar part. Ultimately the sitar was replaced with a guitar solo by Jeff Beck, but who knows. Everyone was listening to everyone else’s music around this time.
Everyone was exploring. And in a way, everything was derivative. The Beatles, Dylan, the Yardbirds, even the Kinks including some sitar-like licks in one of their songs. And Rubber Soul was the first of the Beatles’ “exploratory” albums complete with a sitar along with the traditional rock band instruments.
Something wasn’t working in the studio for the Beatles, and they explored new possibilities. During hard times, although the initial impulse typically is to rely on the tried and true, it may be necessary to improvise, to explore new ways to cope.
March 17 – Saturday — Liverpool | Knotty Ash Village Hall | ‘St. Patrick’s Night Rock Gala’ | Sam Leach sets up a special ‘Battle of The Bands’ between The Beatles and Rory Storm and the Hurricanes | Later friends and family attend a private party to celebrate Sam’s engagement to Joan McEvoy | Brian Epstein and Bob Wooler among the guests.
RINGO STARR hit the snare with a crack. Rory Storm threw his arm out, pointed at the audience, held a finger up to heaven, and stepped into ‘Blue Suede Shoes’. He rolled his shoulders, thrust out two fingers, and Ringo cracked the snare a second time. On three, Rory shook his arm and snapped his head from side to side. On four, he swivelled his pelvis, stiffened his legs, and spun round. The cat now well and truly out of the bag, he trembled all over, slowly rolled his head, shook his curly blond locks, dipped and dropped, jumped and jived, spun round again, told everyone they could do whatever they wanted to. Then he suddenly stopped, snarled, curled his lip, looked mean, magnificent—real cool, man, cool—and growled that everyone better lay off Sam’s Hush Puppy suede shoes. He paused for the very briefest of moments—let the moment crackle in the air—then Rory Storm and The Hurricanes set about blowing the roof off.
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
The full rocking force of Liverpool’s ‘Mr Showmanship’ swept up everything before it. This was ‘the Storm’ everyone loved—Rory leaping and writhing, his shocking canary-yellow suit a never-ending blur. The Hurricanes in matching sky-blue suits and ties, forever dipping and diving behind him. Rory whirling the microphone stand around his head. Rory trembling like he’d been electrocuted. Rory prancing. Rory dancing. Rory jumping. Rory strutting. Rory twisting. Rory twirling. Owning the stage, owning the night. Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Unsurpassable.
It was Battle of the Band – Liverpool-style
“Bloody hell, Sam, will you look at that,” shouted John Lennon. “He’s out to bloody bury us, he is.”
“Well, he always did in Hamburg…always does at ‘the Tower’,” George Harrison, piped in. “So, I can’t see as how our Rory would be any different, tonight, given even half a chance, like.”
“I bet the swine swipes all our best rock ‘n’ roll numbers, too,” moaned Paul. “We’ll just have to make up our song-list as we go. See what he leaves us. If he leaves us anything, that is.”
Sam Leach laughed. “Well, it’s a rockin’ good way to start off my engagement party, lads. Just you remember, all those punters out there are paying for all the food and booze you’ll be scoffing down, later.”
“Well, in that case, Sam,” sniffed John, narrowing his eyes. “We’ll just have to go blow all those Rory Storm clouds away, won’t we?”
Rory lit into ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’.
“That’s my bloody song,” John exploded. “Gene Vincent’s and mine. I’ll do Rory, He knows that’s my favourite number.”
Summertime Blues
For the next hour, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes grabbed the best songs in the rock ‘n’ roll cupboard. He took Elvis’s Top Ten rockers and then stole Eddie Cochran’s very best songs, including Sam’s all-time favourite, ‘Summertime Blues’. Then he made off with Buddy Holly’s catchiest riffs, before reaching for Carl Perkins’ ‘Lend Me Your Comb’. He swiped ‘Cathy’s Clown’ and ‘Claudette’ from the Everly Brothers. Took ‘I Got A Woman’ from Ray Charles. Then turned up the gas even higher still with Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘Great Balls of Fire’.
Everyone’s nerves and brains utterly rattled, he smiled his million-watt smile, pointed to each Hurricane, in turn, smiled at the crowd, combed his curly golden locks with his giant plastic comb for one last time. He did the splits, rebounded, stood to attention, bowed from the waist, swivelled his pelvis, spun round and around and was gone.
“Sweet Lord,” muttered George. “We have to follow that?”
“What with?” Paul sighed.
“Let’s bloody hit them with ‘Johnny B Goode’,” snarled John.
“Righto, Johnno,” shouted Paul. “I’ll blow their ear drums to smithereens with me Hofner bass.” He turned to the other Beatles. “Pete. You hit them with your ‘atomic’ beat. And George?”
“Yeah, Pauly?”
“Go ring that bloody bell, why don’t yer.”
The Beatles at the Cavern
John strode onto the stage and grabbed hold of the mike. “This is a number by Chuck Berry…a Liverpool-born school-teacher with bad teeth and no humour.” George hit straight into the opening riff and he and his fellow Beatles lit into ‘School Day’, as if possessed. And for the next hour-and-a-half The Beatles kept up a blistering pace, not letting up for an instant. They followed their opening number with even more of Chuck Berry’s best.
“Long Tall Sally”
Then ripped through Little Richard’s repertoire with Paul taking the lead on ‘Long Tall Sally’, ‘Tutti-Frutti’, and ‘Kansas City’. John kept things spinning with Larry William’s ‘Dizzy, Miss Lizzy’ and Carl Perkins’ ‘Honey Don’t’. George took a turn with Tommy Roe’s ‘Sheila’, Bobby Vee’s ‘Take Good Care of My Baby’, and The Coasters’ ‘Youngblood’.
You Really Got A Hold On Me
To give his band-mates’ voices a break, Pete opened up Carl Perkins’ ‘Matchbox’ and followed that with The Shirelles’ hit ‘Boys’. Paul went ‘Searchin’ for The Coasters again. John gave people another hit of Arthur Alexander’s ‘A Shot of Rhythm and Blues’, reintroduced them to ‘Anna’, before grabbing everyone by the throat with Smokey Robinson’s ‘You Really Got a Hold on Me’. Then he capped everything off with Barrett Strong’s ‘Money’. After which, the place exploded into one long roar of cheers, whistling, stamping, and thunderous applause.
Sam Leach
Sam Leach ran onto the stage, as wrung-out as if he’d been up there playing the music himself. He clapped, cheered, took hold of the microphone, and waved everyone to silence. “Blimey O’Riley! I’ve never seen or heard anything as spectacular as what happened here at tonight’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ and I doubt if any of us will ever see the likes of it again, however long we live.” Everyone clapped and cheered for their favourite band. Sam patted the air with his hands—waited for all the noise to die down. “So listen…what can I say? There can be no winners tonight other than all of you and me…and all of Liverpool…for being home to such fabulous entertainers as…Rory Storm and The Hurricanes! And The Beatles!”
Ray Charles
He turned, applauded both bands again, asked the audience to show their appreciation again, and then left the stage. The hall exploded into another riot of clapping, stamping, cheering, and whistling. After it showed no sign of abating, Sam ran back on, took up the microphone and held it between his hands as if in prayer. “What do you say, fellas? Ray Charles’ ‘What’d I Say?’ to bring the night to a proper close? Send everyone off home, drained but deliriously happy?”
Sam spun round and cocked his head and raised his eyebrows—in mute question—and the three hundred or so beat fans roared, cheered and stamped their feet in response. John Lennon and Rory Storm glanced at one another, nodded. The two drummers settled back behind their drum kits. Guitars got re-plugged into amplifiers. And the two bands came together as one. Then Rory and John and Paul took turns in stretching their final song’s call and response to its very limits. And for a good twenty minutes or more Knotty Ash Village Hall rocked on its very foundations and Sam Leach’s ‘St. Patrick’s Night Rock Gala’ rolled into local legend as the one night of rock ‘n’ roll no beat fan alive should ever have missed.
March 11-12 — The Iron Door Club | ‘Rock Around The Clock’ 12-hour all-night gig | Liverpool’s very first ‘Saturday night and Sunday morning’ rock session for Sam Leach.
“LADIES AND GENTLEGERMS, welcome to the Iron Door Club and ‘Rock Around the Clock’…Liverpool’s first ever all-night rock session. Now, to open the show, we proudly present the best group ever to come out of…Where did you say you come from, lads?”
Rock Around The Clock
Terry McCann, minder-cum-compère, threw a wink at his boss, Sam Leach, standing down by the side of the stage. Johnny Rocco and The Jets were making their first professional appearance anywhere and Sam was as nervous as a newly neutered cat the band wouldn’t be up to scratch. But there was no time for a snappy comeback line. The Jets’ drummer bashed a cymbal, yelled “Onetoofreefawr!” and led the group straight into ‘Rock Around the Clock’.
Terry laughed, ran off stage, waving to the crowd.
“You know, Tel,” Sam shouted. “I’m sick to death of that bloody song, but they don’t sound too bad, do they? Clever of them to start off with it, I should’ve thought of it myself and I will next time.”
Sam Leach
The club had barely been open half an hour and the dance floor was already one heaving mass of beat fans. Sam shook his head in wonder. “I knew they’d come in droves if I gave them what they wanted.” He waved at a poster on the wall. Read it aloud. “‘Twelve groups for twelve hours. Price: only six shillings and sixpence’. But that’s me. Isn’t it? Sam Leach, the only Liverpool music promoter who’ll never get rich, because he always gives it straight back to the fans. Who else has the balls to turn this old ‘Trad-jazz only’ dive into Merseyside’s very first Mecca of rock ‘n’ roll?”
“Nobody’s got your balls, Sam,” Terry said. “And even if they did, none of them have got a pair of trousers big enough to fit them in.”
Sam sniffed. Nodded. How true. “I don’t know how much I’m paying you, Tel, but give yourself a bonus.” Suddenly feeling peckish, he turned, his eyes alighting on a fresh-faced teenager with an unruly mop of hair. He called the lad over. “Here, Spike. I know I said you being the new boy meant you had to get your feet wet, but I didn’t mean for you to go swimming in your soddin’ clothes.
“When I sent you outside to check on the size of the queue you obviously didn’t see the great, big, bloody umbrella by the front door did you? You’ve got to learn to use your head in the music business. Anyroad…do us another favour, will yers? Pop upstairs and get Tel and me some hot dogs…lashings of tomato sauce, onions…whole lotta mustard. And get one down your neck, too. You look like you could do with it.”
Sam Leach (bottom, with Dick Matthews, John Lennon and George Harrison)
Beat fans were still pouring down the stairs into the huge basement cellar that served as the dance floor. Glory be, thought Sam, there must be well over five hundred of the lovely buggers and The Beatles aren’t even due on until eleven. He turned and shouted into Terry’s ear, “You know, Tel, I think it’s going to be a very successful night. And, unless I’m very much mistaken, I hear the sound of cash registers a-ring-a-ding-dinging.”
Sam sang along to ‘Hound Dog’, the Jets’ third number—and when Spike handed him a hot dog in a paper wrapper, he paused, curled his lip and mumbled, “Thank you, very much.” Then he bit the head off his hot dog and yelled, “This is the life…rock ‘n’ roll!”
Check back for Part 2
Get Tony Broadbent’s great book celebrating the early history of The Beatles
The One After 9:09
A DISAFFECTED LIVERPOOL TEENAGER BECOMES INVOLVED WITH THE BEATLES WHEN HE’S HIRED TO HELP PREVENT THE MURDER OF THE GROUP’S MANAGER, BRIAN EPSTEIN.
On December 23, 1963, Paul Russell, National Album Merchandising Manager for Capitol Records, sent out a memo for sales managers and regional managers. He outlined the promotional aspect of the initial “Beatles Campaign” idea. One part of the campaign was the distribution of Beatles’ “booster buttons.”
Beatles Booster Buttons
Capitol Records had authorized Kenmar Sales Inc. out of Los Angeles to manufacture these buttons, using a design from Snapix, another button manufacturer out of Hollywood, CA.
Be A Beatle Booster Buttons
The memo read: “‘BE A BEATLE BOOSTER” BUTTONS’ – Shortly after the first of the year, you’ll have bulk quantities of a unique see-through plastic pin-on button. Inserted in each button is a shot of the Beatles, with each boy identified. What to do with the buttons? First, have all of your sales staff wear one. Second, offer them to clerks and jocks. Third, arrange for radio station give-always of the buttons. Fourth, keep some in reserve for the requirement which will be listed below under ‘Tabloid.'”
The Beatles Fan Button
A few weeks later, on February 21, 1964, Green Duck Metal Stamping Company was granted a license by Seltaeb (the U.S. Beatles merchandising company) to make official Beatles buttons in the U.S.
Worried about legal issues, Capitol stopped the distribution of their Kenmar buttons but shunned marketing Green Duck’s button.
Snapix Picture Buttons
Snapix tested the license manufacturing rights and continued with the Capitol button design by manufacturing their own Beatle button, using a different image on their celluloid piece. They advertised these buttons in Spring 1964 in various teen magazines.
Legal Action!
As expected, the Green Duck Company threatened legal action. Snapix stopped their Beatles button campaign, defending their action by noting (from their own research) that because their market license was so limited, “it was not worth the effort to obtain a license.”
Find out more fascinating stories of Beatles memorabilia in Terry Crain’s incredible book
NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966 (2ND EDITION)
The book covers the approximately 150 licensed items that dotted store shelves and helped fuel the band-crazed fan during the time right after the band landed in America and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Toys, games, dolls, jewelry, clothing, wigs, and more!
