Posted on 16/03/202411/06/2024 by Buzz — 2 Comments

THE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CIRCUS – THE DRUMMER FOR THE DIRTY MAC

In December of 1968, a supergroup was put together for the Rolling Stones’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus film with John Lennon of the Beatles as the rhythm guitarist and vocalist, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones on bass guitar, Eric Clapton from the former Cream on lead guitar and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience on drums! Yoko was also featured on one of the numbers that the band played with classical violinist, Ivry Gitlis. The group received the name “The Dirty Mac.”

The picture above is a signed drumhead from the late Mitch Mitchell, who passed away in 2008 from several medical issues he had been suffering from. I purchased the drumhead several years ago on eBay for two reasons: The “To John” personalization (not to me) and his membership in that fabled one-off supergroup. Unfortunately, the video and program of the performance at the Circus were kept unreleased for several decades until it was finally issued on VHS and DVD formats by ABKCO, the owners of the footage. This was the company that was owned by Allen Klein. After its initial release, there was a special edition released which featured outtakes performed by the many acts that did not make the original final cut. One of the highlights for me of the outtakes was hearing the Dirty Mac rehearse a version of “Revolution.”

Little did I know at the time of the purchase of the drumhead there was another M. Mitchell/ Lennon connection. In 1965/66 when John’s dad, Freddie had recorded his own 45 record of “That’s My Life, That’s My Love and My Home” b/w “The Next Time You Feel Important” to associate himself with his son’s incredible fame, many people did not know that two of the backing musicians on the Freddie Lennon 45 were none other than Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding. These two guys were to eventually join Jimi Hendrix in making musical history.

Including a few YouTube links for you to join in on their merriment!

The Dirty Mac – “Yer Blues”

“Whole Lotta Yoko”

“Revolution” (Rehearsal)

The rare Dutch Version of the Freddie Lennon song featuring Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding as backing musicians:

“That’s My Life” by Freddie Lennon

The DVD and CD releases of the Rock and Roll Circus material appear to be on sale in both eBay and Amazon locations.

Get The DVD and/ or CD From Amazon:

Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus Book

Here is some of the genius of Mitch Mitchell.

Have you seen the Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus? What did you think of the band? Some supergroup, eh?

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Buzz

Posted on 14/03/202409/07/2024 by Buzz — 2 Comments

RAY CONNOLLY – A RAY OF SUNSHINE

SOME OF THE BEATLES-RELATED PRINT WORKS OF THEIR FRIEND, RAY CONNOLLY!!!

Ray Connolly was not only a friend of the band. He could be considered as a confidante. For example, he was the first journalist that knew that the Beatles had split as John Lennon had told him that the band was finished, but John asked Ray not to say anything. Then Paul announced it to the world and John expressed his regret that he had not given the OK for Ray to break the story. Ray holds the same level of regret that John had not given him the OK to let the world know about the historic scoop and event.

The book below represents Ray’s speculating about the impact of the origins of John’s restless nature, and why he never felt satisfied with the way things were or played out. Ray discusses how John’s early life helped to ingrain that restless spirit in his nature until the end of his life, is the main theme of the book.

Being John Lennon Hardcover – November 27, 2018

Pegasus Books

Ray was so kind to send me a signed copy of his book:

A selection of many of the interviews and stories that Ray was involved with in his many interactions with the Beatles over the years-an excellent book:

The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive Paperback – July 17, 2016

by Ray Connolly (Author) Plumray Books

Ray’s biography of John Lennon published in 1981 by Fontana publishers:

‘Sorry, Boys, You Failed The Audition’ Paperback – June 20, 2019

by Ray Connolly

Independently published-June 20, 2019
(Author)

A fantasy work of fiction by the celebrated author which speculates what might have happened if the Beatles had failed their audition with EMI/Parlophone:

Ray’s 2023 Memoir: I recently ordered a copy of this book

Born At The Right Time Hardcover – August 13, 2023

Independently Published-Available on Amazon

The back cover:

Ray as a friend of The Beatles has written some of the great interviews with The Beatles and has produced some superb books.

Buzz

Posted on 11/03/202411/03/2024 by Buzz — Leave a comment

June Furlong and Helen Anderson – Memories From The ’50s

A Spotlight on June Furlong and Helen Anderson

When John’s mom, Julia, was killed in 1958, he was justifiably very depressed. Following this event at the Art School, the Liverpool model, June Furlong, who often posed for art students such as Helen Anderson, Cynthia Lennon, and John, recalls a story of John following the death of his mom. He was walking near an open elevator shaft at the school and June noticed the severely depressed mood John was in and tried to talk him out of his despair, and got him away from the elevator shaft and if memory serves me correctly, she encouraged John to have a drink to get his mind away from the sadness he was experiencing.

June speaks highly of John in her book which is pictured and mentioned below!

Helen Anderson, John’s art school classmate and who is also a member of this blog, is interviewed along with June Furlong, in this YouTube piece.

Helen Anderson is a wonderful, very talented person, who I often communicate with via email. She does wonderful sketches among many other artistic pursuits. I have acquired one of her sketches of John for my collection. Some great information about Helen is provided at this site: Helen Anderson – Helen Anderson Designs

Helen Anderson’s Sketch of John Lennon

Here is an edited abbreviated version of the sketch Helen did of John with the glasses that helped him with his terrible vision and his prominent Roman nose! I was able to obtain from her the full sketch signed by her which made me very happy. I still want to obtain a copy of the hat that she designed for John which he wore prominently in the “Help” film. She offers the hat for sale on her website at the link just above

I am trying to encourage Helen to write her memoirs and to record her memories for posterity, and I am pleased to say that she seems genuinely motivated and anxious to do so.

Helen Anderson's Drawing of John Lennon — Helen Anderson’s Drawing of John Lennon

This is June Furlong’s book published in 2000 by AMPL. detailing her life in Liverpool and her long modeling career. She passed away in November of 2020 at the age of 90.

The back cover of the June Furlong book co-written with Jill Block:

Buzz

Want to find out more about John Lennon?

John Lennon

Books about John Lennon

Shop now

Posted on 10/03/202404/04/2025 by Buzz — Leave a comment

ANOTHER BEATLES ASSOCIATE – JOHN KOSH

John Kosh had an important involvement in the design of 2 Beatles LP’s, Abbey Road and Let It Be, and he helped to design John and Yoko’s “War is Over” poster as well.

Here is John Kosh’s Wikipedia biography

John Kosh – Wikipedia

John Kosh signed this cover and jokingly used his pen to point out a few of the supposed “Paul is Dead” clues:

BUZZ

OUR FEATURED BOOK

Any Rhyme At All

Any Rhyme At All is a book of poems written by a first generation Beatles Fan who grew up listening to their music and becoming a huge fan

£11.50

Shop now

Posted on 09/03/202408/07/2024 by Buzz — Leave a comment

The Sad Legacy of “Fame” and “Living on Borrowed Time”

Two of the signatures of musicians that were on the original recording of “Borrowed Time” appear here on sheet music of one of the final songs that John Lennon would ever write. The song would appear posthumously on the LP Milk and Honey. The photo below is the sheet music with the sad revelation that we all indeed are “Living on Borrowed Time.” The printed signature of Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey drummer, Andy Newmark, appears on the sheet music, and one of the lead guitarists that was on the original track, Earl Slick, also signed the piece.

The poignant aspects of this song are revealed by Double Fantasy producer, Jack Douglas, who in several interviews after John’s death stated that John believed he would pass away at a young age. There are also stories that Jack deleted a specific studio tape that upset him so much that he felt compelled to erase it because of what John states on the tape. (Only Jack knows what was said on that erased tape).

The other lead guitarist on “Borrowed Time” was Hugh McCracken who is now deceased. Earl Slick was also to play on the recording of David Bowie’s song “Fame” in 1975, where John Lennon was given a songwriting credit for Bowie’s first 45 to reach #1.

The signed sheet music was obtained by me on eBay.

Sheet Music for "Borrowed Time" — Sheet Music for “Borrowed Time”

The provenance of the authenticity of the signatures is provided here being signed by Andy Newmark – photo provided by the seller:

Sheet music of Earl Slick signing the sheet music provided by the seller:

Buzz

John Lennon Books at The Beatles Bookstore

John Lennon

Books about John Lennon

Shop now

Posted on 07/03/202408/07/2024 by Buzz — 4 Comments

MCCARTNEY MAGIC IN THE SUSSEX AIR

This story was just so good, that I had to pass it on: a piece of McCartney magic. Peter Hicks sent me this fascinating article written a while back by Angela Leighton Jones on behalf of Peter Hodgson about the Feb 4, 1954 issue of Country Life magazine which featured a picture of the Sussex Paul McCartney home long before he purchased it.

The story was captivating to me. The tale revolves around Peter Hodgson’s search for the magazine in question shown below and who sold him the copy that he was looking for.

I would like to thank Peter Hicks for bringing this magazine to my attention as I was also able to find a copy of the issue thanks to him. Found the magazine on the great book search service of Abe Books. Also a debt of gratitude owed to Peter Hodgson for his delightful story of this unique magazine cover and the obscure Lennon connection to the wonderful McCartney story.

This is Peter Hodgson’s story around a quest to find an original copy of a magazine that he saw on the fridge in the kitchen of Paul McCartney’s Hog Hill Recording Studios. It appears as sent to me by Peter Hicks:

“Monday the 27th of March 1995 Peter Hodgson stood in the kitchen of Hog Hill while Paul McCartney was making him a cup of tea. Amidst the excitement of playing musical instruments with one of his heroes Paul McCartney, he noticed, stuck to the fridge with a magnet a copy of the front page of an old Country Life magazine that featured the actual Windmill and house.

“Peter was intrigued but didn’t think to take a closer look to see the date of the magazine, although it was a really old edition.

“However, since that date twenty-eight years ago, all Peter had managed to find was a bad-quality scanned copy of the front cover of the said magazine which he retrieved about four years ago.

“That was until last week when he found on eBay his very own original copy of that edition of Country Life magazine edition, February 4th, 1954.

“Peter was keen to hear if the seller – a Mr. William Benzie – knew the significance of the front cover of the magazine and the fact the windmill now belonged to Paul McCartney.

“Peter was surprised when Mr. Benzie said he was unaware. Peter then handed Mr. Benzie the money for the old magazine and was really pleased with himself. Then just as Pete thought the day couldn’t get any better, Mr Benzie disclosed the fact that it was his father who had taught John Winston Lennon Geography at Quarry Bank School. His father was Gordon Jeavons Benzie a Geography teacher at Quarry Bank School.

I guess you couldn’t write it!“

WASN’T THAT AN AMAZING STORY BY MR. PETER HODGSON?? And a thank you again to Angela Leighton Jones for putting the article together.

A PHOTO OF THE MAGAZINE IN QUESTION:

A magazine from 1954 belonging to one of John Lennon’s teachers in the 1950s featuring a picture of Hog Hill Mill which thirty years later would become the recording studio for John’s bandmate Paul. Johns’ teacher Gordon Benzie would have acquired the magazine sixty-nine years ago not knowing that he too would play a small part in the journey.

The magazine is now on display at the Liverpool Beatles Museum in Mathew Street, Liverpool.

Buzz