Say the words JOHN LENNON, NEW YORK and PHOTOGRAPHER and the name of Bob Gruen immediately comes to center stage.
One of the most well-known and prominent New York-based photographers with a specialty and knack for taking superb rock photos. Meeting John and Yoko in the early 70’s, he became one of their favorite photographers to help document their decision to move to the Big Apple and create a new chapter in their often complex lives! Bob took some of the most memorable photos of the couple and also of them as individuals. I can cite the photo of John in front of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City Tee shirt photo on the roof as clear examples. Bob’s honored place in the pantheon of rock photographers is certainly assured…
Bob’s autobiography:
Bob Gruen Autobiography
Publisher-Harry N. Abrams
Publication date October 20, 2020
Bob’s books can be purchased at Amazon, Ebay, Abe Books, and most book search services. I purchased this signed edition from the Fest for Beatles Fans!
Publisher-Abrams Books
Publication date-October 13, 2015
Published to coincide with the 35th anniversary of John Lennon’s death and the 75th anniversary of his birth! Many fascinating photos of John Lennon in New York!
John Lennon The New York Years
Publisher-Harper
Publication date-February 17, 2015
This book of photos was put together to help Yoko celebrate an important birthday as she entered her 80s!
Listen to These Pictures- January 1, 1985 Published by Morrow.Another beautiful collection of Bob’s Lennon photos:
Publisher-Genesis Publications
Publication date-January 1, 1995
This book signed by both Bob Gruen and Yoko Ono collects some of the best photos taken of the couple during their New York City years. Genesis titles always use the best quality paper and their books are bound in Northern Italy with exquisite care and craftmanship!
Other titles by Bob Gruen:
“Rock Seen” – Bob Gruen (Harry Abrams, Inc, Fall 2011)
“New York Dolls – Photographs by Bob Gruen” (Harry Abrams Inc, 2008)
“ROCKERS” (Cosac Naify, 2007)
“The Clash, Photographs by Bob Gruen” (Music Sales, 2004)
Do you have a favorite photo of the Lennon’s taken by Bob Gruen? If so, which photograph is it? Why is it your favorite?
Roy Cicala was the engineer that John Lennon predominantly worked with when he came to NY permanently from the UK in the early 1970’s. Cicala was involved in engineering Walls and Bridges, the Rock ‘n’ Roll LP, Mind Games, Sometime in NYC, and some of the tracks on Menlove Ave. It was pointed out by the excellent author Kris Englehardt in one of his Beatles Undercover books that John Lennon actually co-wrote some of the lyrics to a Roy Cicala song entitled “Incantation” which was recorded by a group called Dog Soldier and sung by Patrick Jude.
Someone has posted that number on YouTube. The only official release of the number was on a bonus cd put together for one of Kris Englehardt’s fantastic books, the first one of his Beatles Undercover trilogy.
Roy Cicala’s former wife, the late Lori Burton, who sang backing vocals on John Lennon’s “Walls and Bridges” album also recorded a version of “Incantation” that remains unreleased!
The lyrics were inspired from a Native American that John Lennon had supposedly met.
The only other John Lennon co-written song that I am aware of by a member of his production engineering coterie or staff was Phil Spector who was given a co-writing credit for the song “Here We Go Again.”
A signed photo of the late Roy Cicala which I acquired in the last couple of years, along with the signature of engineer, John Hanti who has a wonderful book scheduled for release in the future written with Steve Acker!
Roy Cicala & John Hanti
John Hanti
Engineer John Hanti had much interaction with engineer Roy Cicala but he was never directly involved with recording John Lennon or having personal interactions with him.
In what will surely be a fascinating forthcoming book, John Hanti has many exciting stories to tell about his involvement in storing some Lennon tapes for Roy Cicala and unfortunately, what happened to some of them. He also has many tales about such Beatles associates as Nat Weiss! He also has a story to relay about the attempted bootlegging of the Beatles Christmas LP. Though not a Beatles book per se’, there are many intriguing musical stories about other giants of the business and music industry and the rigors of being a good engineer. The book has been delayed because of an unexpected illness but I eagerly anticipate what I am sure will be an information-laden and exciting book for all music fans. The promotion of the book will also possibly involve a detailed lecture series that is in the planning stages. The title of the book is tentatively slated to be “Escaping Gravity” by John Hanti with Steven Acker.
John Hanti’s website where his forthcoming book with Steven Acker is discussed
Today’s discussion question: I am always fascinated with books that have additional information about the Beatles or solo Beatles that come to light many years later from people who may have had a friendship or even a brief but notable interaction with one of the four of them. Their true personalities seem to emerge from books like that as the four are less guarded in many of those circumstances. Based on that description, what book or books that you may have come across that may not be very well known fits my description above the best? Any unusual stories that were revealed in those books that were not written about one of the four, but revealed something about one or all of them that you were not aware of? Thanks in advance for your input on these questions!
Special Guest – Jay Bergen, author of Lennon, the Mobster & The Lawyer
Jay Bergen
Listen to the Interview here:
Don’t forget to register for 10 December John Lennon Focal Points Free webinar The Beatles Holiday Party Featuring Co-Host Joe Johnson of Beatle Brunch Radio Special Guests – Scott R. McKinley presentsThe Beatles 1964 Christmas Message!!
Upcoming guests on “Tell Me Why”David Bedford of The Beatles Bookstore, author of Liddypool, The Fab One Hundred and Four, The Country of Liverpool, and more… Bill King author of Large Time Editor of Beatlefan magazine Scott R. McKinley Narrator and Voice Actor for She Loves You, Vol. 3 in The John Lennon Series andJay Bergen’s Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer
Remember to visit the John Lennon Series to pre-order a signed, dated, numbered copy of Some Forever Shades of Life, Part Two(Aug. 1965 – March 1966) Book Release Party March 28-30, 2025 at The New York Metro Fest for Beatles Fans!
Discover Jude’s Books at The Beatles Bookstore
Shoulda Been There (Vol. 1) 1940 – Dec 1961
In Jude Kessler’s stunning debut narrative biography, you’ll learn the truths behind the Lennon legend. You’ll discover why the popular, rich, famous singer called himself a “Nowhere Man.” There are no hard copies left, but you can get it on Kindle by clicking here for $9.99
But for John Lennon, the hectic rise to glory failed to cure the constant Shivering Inside. He was still searching for something…or someone…to fill the hole in his heart. There are no hard copies left but you can get it on Kindle here for $9.99.
1964 in John’s life! “A Hard Day’s Night”, and created/recorded the accompanying, best-selling soundtrack; a World Tour, a Scottish sojourn, a lengthy North American Tour hitting cities all across the U.S. and Canada.
When I was formerly on the medium run by Mr. Zuckerberg, one of my favorite people and contacts that I was fortunate to be able to communicate with was Jordi Melgosa who is a prominent Beatles collector who resides in Spain. Jordi was often able to find items that he felt that I was interested in having for the collection and he constantly kept me informed of new print releases from Spain. He was able to obtain several wonderful Spanish book titles with wonderful photos that I was pleased to purchase for the collection.
Jordi also publishes a Beatles fanzine; a sample issue is shown below. He was so kind in sending me the issue despite my lack of knowledge concerning the Spanish language. He surprised me with an article he had written about my FB page based on several questions he had asked me on the Instant Messaging feature of FB. Hope you are well Jordi! You can find Jordi at his account on FB!
El Submari Groc
The Beatles Christmas Time
Answering Jordi’s questions:
In a 2013 exhibition presented about Stuart’s Sutcliffe’s artwork, and curated by Richard Prince, a special advance booklet was published by Harper’s Books based in East Hampton, New York, with a great though brief discussion about Stu contained within. The great discussion of Stu presented with a few photos of some of his work was written by Mr. Prince. Special copies of this exhibition booklet were printed. This is one of those special edition copies of only 500 issued and one of only 50 signed copies, signed by artist Richard Prince and Stu Sutcliffe’s sister, Pauline.
Stuart Sutcliffe – Yea Yea Yea
Yea Yea Yea-the front cover of my copy of the booklet: Please note that I did not include a photo of the slipcase that the booklet arrived with
Stuart Sutcliffe – Yea Yea Yea
The back cover of the booklet:
Stuart Sutcliffe – Yea Yea Yea
The signature page of the booklet:
Stuart Sutcliffe – Yea Yea Yea
A favorite book title of my collection: Mr. Cardinal has done exhaustive research about solo Beatles homes, and they are impressive. They include books about the Dakota, Friar Park and Tittenhurst Park! They are exhaustive and thorough attempting to dispel myths about the architecture and the former occupants. Written in a form that is akin to an historian’s perspective. I recommend all of his book titles. To inquire about all of his titles, he can be reached at:
Cardinal@CampfireNetwork.com
This is the mammoth deluxe edition of the Tittenhurst Park book. It discusses accompanied by many gorgeous photographs, the former home of John and Yoko and later the home and grounds were sold to drummer Ringo Starr. The “Imagine” album was recorded in the studio that John built here:
Tittenhurst Park
The back page of the title giving a detailed description of the contents:
Tittenhurst Park
Normally I try to purchase the last numbered copy of a limited-edition book. In this fortunate unusual case, I made an exception and thanks to Scott’s kindness I was able to purchase copy #1.
Tittenhurst Park
The book acknowledgement page. I am sure you will recognize many familiar names:
Tittenhurst Park
A special and kind message from Scott:
Tittenhurst Park
8 Track
Acquired this item from well-known Beatles tour guide and author Charles Rosenay!!!. This is an item some of the younger viewers may not even know what an 8-track tape is. New technology innovations also mean that hardware and software can both go obsolete very quickly. This is an 8-track tape signed for Charles by Harry Nilsson in 1982. The obscurity of this signed item prompted me to purchase this item from Charles!!!
Harry Nilsson
The back cover with the track listing. The unfortunate element about 8-track tapes is that often there was a short gap in a track that extended into another track on the tape.
Harry Nilsson
Love Beatles books that have a focus on a particular city the Beatles visited during their touring years. This title about the Beatles in LA was written by Jeremy Louwerse and Tom Weitzel and published by Friesen Press in 2021. A truly enjoyable book with many fascinating photographs including one with gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper (see John’s comments about her within the book). It also has a great story and picture of John Lennon’s and Julian Lennon’s visit in 1974 to the Happy Days set. A photograph was taken of the cast with John and Julian and years later in 2018, actor, Anson Williams once again met up with Julian and they took a selfie together which appears in the book. The book is not a lengthy one being a bit shy of 100 pages, but it certainly is an entertaining one!
Front cover of the book:
The Beatles in Los Angeles
Back Cover of the book containing some of the content within:
The Beatles in Los Angeles
A book that only appears in the French language. It is the story of one of John Lennon’s half-sisters that John’s mom Julia had given up for adoption. She was adopted by the Pedersen family and did not realize that she was related to John until she was much older. Yoko has met her, and I believe there is an existing photograph of the two taken together in the Dakota.
Obtained this book on Amazon Canada. This is the front cover:
Mon Frere S’Appelait John Lennon
This is the back cover:
Mon Frere S’Appelait John Lennon
Julian Lennon
A lesser-known Julian Lennon project was his role in the Mike Batt musical held at the Royal Albert Hall featuring a star-studded cast. Julian sang on at least three of the songs on the soundtrack
The Hunting of the Snark
Mike Batt himself posted the Royal Albert Hall Show on YouTube:
The back cover of the LP with the credits listed. Notice that George Harrison plays on a track “Children of the Sky.”
The Hunting of the Snark
A wonderful book put together and assembled by the UK company TRACKS in 1999 and published by Omnibus Press. Authored by Beatles press officer, Tony Barrow.
Front cover of the book:(though small in the number of pages, the photographs alone are worth the price of the book)
Magical Mystery Tour
Back Cover of the book:
Magical Mystery Tour
Acquired this item on Ebay a few years ago. I am pretty certain that Ebay was not aware they were selling a bootleg LP.Unfortunately, that is a major part of the problem. The bootleggers make the LP look so legitimate, that often a casual fan might mistake it as being legitimate.
This is supposed to be part of the special Christmas disk that Paul had copies made for his three bandmates as a happy Christmas gesture to them. The appeal of such items to Beatles fans creates the wish that the record executives will seek out rarities such as these to issue to the hardcore Beatles collector. By catering to fans wants, they can help to eliminate the bootleggers from the marketplace.
Front cover of the LP:
The Beatles Unforgettable
The details of the LP provided on the back cover:
The Beatles Unforgettable
Saw this booklet on the internet which detailed the contents of the entire 218+ episodes of the Lost Lennon Tapes:
Could not resist having a track listing of each episode in the collection!
The Lost Lennon Tapes
A sample page from the booklet:
The Lost Lennon Tapes
From the mid 1980’s my signed copy of Julian on the cover of Rolling Stone!
Julian Lennon
A rare LP which Yoko Ono designed the cover for:
Yoko Ono
The back cover gives Yoko credit for her front cover:
Yoko Ono
I love Julian’s music, and I take great pride in collecting signed copies of all his LP’s. This was his 2nd album that Julian felt rushed by the record company to release, and he has expressed great regret about that over the years as he felt that it was not right to rush him to attempt to capitalize on the success of Valotte. Julian felt that the quality of the material would suffer as a result. I enjoyed a few tracks on this LP despite the harsh self-criticism.
Julian Lennon
A signed copy of the Mr. Jordan LP!
Julian Lennon
A favorite Julian Lennon LP of mine (Everything Changes). This is a signed copy purchased from Julian’s website. A fantastic LP in my book!
Julian Lennon
Unfortunately, my signed Julian Help Yourself cd is packed away in storage. Will close with a signed version of Julian’s Photograph Smile” cd which is a fantastic set of songs!
Julian Lennon
Hope you enjoyed the latest JPGR Hodgepodge post! Do you have a special category of Beatles-related print material that you would like to see more of on the blog?
Please let us know your suggestions! We love receiving your constructive feedback and look forward to your comments!
Buzz
Autobiography
Autobiographies by those people associated with The Beatles story
As I rummage through my Beatles-related collection and cataloging the pieces for future reference, I often come across items that I think that may be of interest to other Beatles fans or solo Beatles fans. Many of these books or magazines and assorted print media are from different countries or may simply have not reached a large mass audience when they were issued or released. This is the 2nd Buzz’s JPGR Hodgepodge post featuring some of these items. The Hodgepodge posts will become an occasional feature on this blog. The regular posts will continue to cover books or magazines that have some feature or some specific subject matter in common with each other or have a common theme tying them together!
Hope you will enjoy today’s Hodgepodge: The items pictured here are from my personal collection and were acquired from such various venues as Ebay and Abe Booksand other private collectors.
Tribute to George Martin:A special Billboard publication from April 11, 1998
In My Life-The Billboard Tribute to George Martin
Love these types of publications that are not widely circulated but are precious as collector’s keepsakes!
George Martin
The inside photo of George featured on the reverse side of the cover:
George Martin
The name of the individual who wrote the feature article about George Martin: Paul Sexton
George Martin
I love to collect Beatles-related auction programs for a various number of reasons. This one is from the great organizations in the UK called TRACKS, which I have purchased many Beatles items from. This one was from a 2014 auction. The reason I like these catalogs so much is that many items that I have never seen before and cannot afford to buy, I can at least have a nice photograph of the item and the history behind it in the archive. In another catalog I purchased a long time ago, (I don’t believe it was a TRACKS catalog) I had a picture of the reel-to-reel tape recorder that Bob Molyneux used to record the Quarrymen at the Woolton Village Fete. To top things off, Molyneux signed that same auction catalog.
Tracks
The back cover of the 2014 Tracks auction catalog:
Tracks
Interviews with John and Yoko from this era fascinate me in trying to understand their political views at that moment of their history:
John and Yoko
Love the cover stories on music magazines, this one was about the One-to-One Concert. My only disappointment with these sorts of magazines as a collector is their fragile nature and the eventual yellowing of the magazine over time. We will see more about the One-to-One event somewhere down the road, of that, I am sure. Possibly a photo book and a remixed and remastered audio of the complete concert as well.
John Lennon
Never had seen this magazine entitled New Departures before I saw it on Ebay. Published in 1981. It features a tribute to John Lennon. I also included the magazine credit page to identify the people that put the issue together: The cover features a photo collage put together by Peter Blake who helped design and put together the Sgt. Pepper cover
John Lennon
New Departures
I love cover stories about the Beatles from Billboard magazine, this one featuring the famous Richard Avedon photos.
This is the November 18, 2000, issue:
Billboard
Could not resist this UK issue of the Independent on Sunday Magazine from March 9th, 2008. It was the photo of two musical titans speaking about their views of what was going on the world in 1968…
John and Mick
I normally do not purchase too many Beatles-related books and magazines that are not written in English. However, I purchased this wonderful magazine from Spain featuring many unique photos from the J and Y Bed-In. This issue is from March 22, 2009.
Spanish Magazine
Sundance Magazine Vol 1 No 1 April 1972features John and Yoko discussing Women’s Liberation issues. In 1972 John and Yoko agreed to do a series of articles for Sundancewhich dealt with many social issues. Somewhere in the collection I have the magazine with the poem that John wrote about another issue…
Sundance
Saw this magazine on Ebay in order to read the feature on Sean Lennon published in this UK magazine. Article written by Conrad Bischoff and photographed by Zackery Michael. Interesting interview and many nice photos of Sean are featured in this article from Foxes magazine in 2017.Apparently, this magazines strongpoint are the great photo essays being presented.Bought this on Ebay!
Sean Ono Lennon
Journalism has changed over the years and certainly so has the treatment of women in popular magazines. I bought this magazine of course because of the John and Yoko article but I was amazed of how the material was presented judging by today’s cultural norms of what is considered appropriate. I personally believe that Yoko would have been offended by the way some of the material was being presented in the article but maybe I am not being fair in that assessment. I will leave that judgement to you, if you ever get the chance to read it or indeed if you have already seen it.
LIFE – In Asia
This is one concert I wish I had attended. It was a loving tribute to George Harrison in 2002, a year following his passing. Many of George’s friends and fellow musical luminaries contributed to this wonderful show which was released as a cd, dvd, and a beautiful Genesis book title to commemorate the event. Having been unable to attend this event in the UK, I attempted to do the next best thing. I saw on Ebay the concert program being offered for sale as well as an unused ticket from the event. I purchased the program, and I am very happy that I did.The concert was such a special one that I was thrilled to have acquired this keepsake though I certainly would have preferred that I had been able to attend this special event!
Concert for George
The ticket of the event:
Concert for George
This Progressive Media magazine from 1980 known as CMJ Magazine was published bi-weekly. This issue came out in that horrible month of December 1980. Published by College Media this Vol 4 No. 6. Jeff Tamarkin was the Managing Editor of this magazine. Jeff was a former editor of Goldmine magazine and is a music scholar.
This issue contained a tribute to John Lennon following his murder/passing. This is the back cover of that December 1980 issue of the magazine:
Progressive Magazine
Prior to the onslaught of digital media, it was very difficult to acquire magazines and books that were available only across the pond. The rapid expansion of computers and the quickly evolving internet and such internet sources as Ebay allowed us all to acquire print items that we were not privy to before.
Love this 1996 issue of Weekend magazine, a supplement to the UK based Daily Mail. Features an interview with John’s sister Julia.
John’s Sister Julia Speaks
Main photograph below is by Steve Poole. The story in this wonderful magazine article is by Lynda Lee-Potter:
John’s Sister Julia Speaks
I have a particular fascination in collecting Beatles-related magazines from the Sgt. Pepper era like this cover shot of John Lennon from theJune 3, 1967 issue of a radio-based magazine.
Then and Now
My copy of this January 1969 issue of Disc magazine. A great issue featuring a cover photo of John Lennon from the 1968 Rolling Stones R&R Circus. I love scouring through the old rock magazines especially those from the UK as you often find information of events or projects that may have been planned by the group but never materialized. Unfortunately, older magazines in the newspaper like format such as the older Rolling Stone Magazine yellow over time and become very fragile, and they need to be placed in plastic encasings to postpone their deterioration.
Disc
This is the hardcover edition of the Paul McCartney 2011 Tour program which comes encased in a slipcase. I do not normally collect tour books, but this one was special to me because not only was it a hardcover edition of the tour book, but it was also presented in a protective slipcase. Shown here are front and back covers of the book followed by a side view of the blue slipcase with the book inside.Many wonderful photos of Paul and the tour entourage are included in this tour book.
Paul on the run
Back cover of the hardback tour book:
Paul on the run
The side view of the book in the provided blue slipcase:
Paul on the run
This book has a multicultural origin. The book was printed in Hungary, but the publisher BAKHALL is located in Sweden and the text of the book appears in English. Published in 2007 under the supervision of Yoko Ono. The book presents a snapshot of the 1969 Bed-In event with many quotes from John and Yoko. The book is a small in size hardback which come with a dvd that features Bed-In documentary footage and Yoko’s Onochord video from 2004. The dvd is in the PAL format which is the European configuration for dvd’s and may not be watchable in some US dvd machines.
Front cover of the book:
Give Peace a Chance
Back cover of the hardback book:
Give Peace a Chance
A photo of the PAL format dvd that came with the book:
Give Peace a Chance
Hope you enjoyed the HODGEPODGE post of today! In the comments section I would like to hear from you about Beatle print-related items that were very difficult for you to find or locate or were so obscure that you felt compelled to buy them when you first encountered them. I am interested in hearing about Items that you had never seen before or that that your first reaction in seeing them was WOW, I have to purchase this for my collection!!!
The Lennon Play: In His Own Write by John Lennon, Adrienne Kennedy, and Victor Spinetti
Published in 1968 by Simon and Schuster – Victor Spinetti collaborated with Lord Laurence Olivier in a 1968 stage adaptation of a John Lennon work, The Lennon Play: In His Own Write, for the National Theatre!!!
Here is an excerpt from a Daily Mail article written by Ephraim Hardcastle on June 19, 2012
Laurence Olivier and the John and Yoko mix up
Spinetti recalled recently: ‘When I told Olivier that we now had John Lennon’s permission to go ahead, he said, “I’d very much like to meet with Johnny Lennon.” John and Yoko arrived at the National dressed exactly alike, in white, with their long hair. Olivier said, “Which is which, my dear baby? I can’t tell them apart!
This is the book of the play co-authored by Lennon, Kennedy, and Spinetti
This is my copy signed by the late Victor Spinetti and a Fest for Beatles Fans that was held in New Jersey several years ago.
Front cover of the book:
The Lennon Play: In His Own Write
The signature page of Spinetti’s inscribed message, signed at a Fest for Beatles Fans:
Signed by Victor Spinetti
The back cover of the book:
The Lennon Play: In His Own Write back cover
Adrienne Kennedy also shares her memories of working with and meeting a Beatle in the following title co-authored by her son Adam! This book is more difficult to find than the Spinetti title. I have seen this being offered on Ebay and book search services such as Abe Books!
Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles by Adrienne Kennedy and Adam P. Kennedy