Published by Grove Press, 1976
This is the second time that this book has appeared on this blog. I wanted to present it one final time as it is one of my personal favorites in my book collection as it is a rare, signed copy! Until I obtained this copy, I had never seen another signed copy and that is during many years of collecting. (More than 50 years of collecting)
This signed book is one of my favorites in my collection. Written by John and Yoko’s personal assistant, Anthony Fawcett, who worked for them for about a 2-year time frame. Anthony Fawcett was the first individual to disclose the existence of a cassette tape that John Lennon recorded in the fall of 1969 for Ringo because he was ill. George, Paul and John were at a meeting where John suggested a follow-up recipe for a Beatles LP to possibly be a sequel to the release of Abbey Road. Even though the Let It Be album was to be the last officially released Beatles LP, it was recorded before Abbey Road. John presented a formula whereby the individual Beatles would not have to fight for space on any given LP. It was certainly intended as a nod and as a fairness gesture to George in recognition of his recent significant improvement in his songwriting skills, having written two beautiful numbers, possibly the 2 best songs on the Abbey Road album, Something and Here Comes the Sun. This formula that was presented would allow George an equal presentation of songs on a Beatles album. Four songs for John, four songs for Paul, four songs for George, and a couple for Ringo if he was so inclined. The spokes on the damaged wheels of the group by that time must have been beyond repair as John’s suggestions were abandoned as well as John’s request to Paul on the tape that the Lennon/McCartney co-songwriting credit should be abandoned unless they specifically did co-write a song together in the future for a Beatles project. This cassette tape being discussed was touted by many as being a great discovery by the legendary Mark Lewisohn in a lecture tour, but it was first publicly discussed in this One Day at a Time Anthony Fawcett book. Anthony was instrumental in preserving on tape the discussion among the three Beatles that were present at the meeting. (Please note that the comment about the cassette tape in no way is meant to diminish the significant contributions Mark Lewisohn has made to the presentation and preservation of Beatles history). It is only intended to demonstrate that knowledge of the tape was initially presented to the public by Anthony Fawcett when this book was published in 1976.
A Discussion of the famous cassette tape from the Beatles Bible site:
Background information about Anthony Fawcett:
Anthony Fawcett – What is Art?
A 1980 interview with Anthony Fawcett, Hunter Davies and Richard Williams following John Lennon’s murder:
John Lennon Tribute December 9th 1980 Granada TV–features a young Anthony Fawcett in a UK tribute to John following his murder. Guests also included author Richard Williams and Hunter Davies!
Some of the comments by Hunter Davies in his comments are quite revealing as it is his opinion that Paul was the most talented Beatle. I always felt that this was Hunter’s personal belief. One could infer that predisposition from many comments he has made over the years. That comment backs my contention that most people have their own personal allegiance or loyalty or preference for a particular Beatle especially after the breakup of the band. This is like a typical New Englander who chooses a favorite season between spring, summer, fall or winter! This was especially true in the post breakup years. I believe, like Hunter Davies that Paul had the greatest pure musical talent, but the Beatles success was due to many more ingredients in the stew. Believe what you want to believe but I believe the chemistry of the group was the most important ingredient to their success and one man’s restlessness and unique sense of humor were significant ingredients to their monumental stature as well as his lyrical ability and his significant musical talent. He also had the ability at a very young age to understand the emotional complexities of life. That is my personal opinion, and you can take it or leave it! That is the beauty of music and popular culture as everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their selective criteria.
The cover of the book:
A discussion of the elusive tape that deals with the proposal of a new Beatles album post-Abbey Road:
Lost Sept 1969 Beatles Discussion: how revelatory & when can we hear it?
The signed copy of the book:
Anthony Fawcett’s signature on a copy of One Day at a Time obtained at what was then called Beatlefest until the name was changed to the Fest for Beatles Fans. Before I was able to acquire this signed book, I had never seen a signed copy before in more than 50 years of collecting signed Beatles-related books!
Hope you enjoyed this highly opinionated post about this book. The piece was not intended to an invitation to choose sides between the respective solo Beatles or their individual contributions to the group only to comment that all 4 had a magical role to play in this mystical story, no matter who your favorite Beatle might be.
They were and THEY STILL ARE “THE BEST.”
Be healthy and be happy!
Buzz
P.S,
Another worthwhile book to seek out is one by one of the people that was interviewed in one of the links above that also features Hunter Davies and Anthony Fawcett following Lennon’s murder. Richard Williams produced this very interesting book about producer Phil Spector. The book features wonderful detail of the John and Yoko Happy Xmas recording sessions produced by Spector! (1972 1st hardback edition published by Outerbridge & Lazard, Inc.) New York USA
