John Lennon was to star with Michael Crawford in the anti-war film satire directed by Richard Lester entitled How I Won the War. This was to be a very productive period for John, as he was also to compose one of his masterpieces “Strawberry Fields Forever” in Almeria , Spain during the filming of the movie.
The book:
London: Century, 1999
Michael Crawford
Crawford’s signature in the book
Michael Crawford’s Signature
Back Cover of Crawford’s book
Back Cover of Crawford’s Book
John Lennon as Musketeer Gripweed and Michael Crawford as Lieutenant Earnest Goodbody:
Was able to acquire a special edition DVD of the film on Ebay which also had a mini magazine of photos taken from the film
Photos from How I Won The War
The paperback version of the book by Patrick Ryan released in 1967 and published by Ballantine books:
The Novel – How I Won The War
Michael Crawford, of course, was to ascend to superstardom status in his role of the Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber smash hit musical of the “Phantom of the Opera.”
Have you watched the film? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Even though Julian Lennon often spends significant amounts of time between his own album releases, he stays active as he continues to make music collaborating with a multitude of other artists. I love Julian’s contributions to many of these recordings and I would like to take the opportunity to highlight a fewexcellent examples on this blog entry. Julian’s musical legacy is far greater than just the albums he has personally released as his contributions to other people’s work is often superb and outstanding!
Here is a link to Julian Lennon’s website which features many of the collaborations Julian has been involved with over the years:
The first collaboration I want to mention here is a composition written by Julian Lennon, his good friend, the late Mark Spiro along with his wife Leslie. It is the environmental classic entitled “Saltwater.” Mark Spiro sadly passed away on his birthday in March of 2024 after a long illness. He has collaborated on several numbers over the years with Julian and he will be missed!
2) “Rain in England”- a wonderful song co-sung by Tony Mortimer and Julian Lennon. I can picture being pelted by a soft rain in the UK as this song is playing:
3) A beautiful tune co-sung by Kristina Train and Julian called “Sleep Now.” which features a tune written by Brian Byrne and words by literary great James Joyce:
5) Another example to be cited here in this post is a song entitled “December Sky.” This is the rehearsal of the song written by Tomi Swick which features harmony vocals by Julian. It is not a coincidence that this rehearsal was recorded on Dec 8, 2010.
I know Julian focuses primarily on his photography because it is far more relaxing for him not being compared with his dad. However, he has a golden voice and I would love to see more frequent musical releases by him. I know that I am not alone in that desire!!!
“Cole’s Song”
Appearing in the closing credits of Mr. Holland’s Opus – this is a beautiful number written by Michael Kamen with lyrical contributions from Julian along with a splendid vocal performance by Jules. This movie must have been an emotional and poignant moment for Julian to come to grips with. If you remember the plot of the film, you will know what I am referring to!
Hope you have enjoyed some of the Julian Lennon collaborations that have been highlighted in this post!
Do you have a favorite? If so, what is it and why? Let me know in the comments below.
Every generation seemingly has the need of portraying the time in which they grew up as the “best time” and their generation as being the best and the most exciting. We all have the tendency as we get older to enhance the good times and to minimize the bad ones in which we came of age. Even the music we listened to while growing up holds special memories and has special associations with momentous events in our lives. I want to share with you an item that I actually purchased twice in my years of collecting.
Julian and the Fonz
The same photo as the one shown below that did not include Julian’s signature was given by me as a gift to Julian Lennon at a book signing at a Barnes and Noble in New York City. The original photo was signed by Henry Winkler only, the actor who played “The Fonz” in the TV show “Happy Days.” Julian stared at the photo when I handed it to him, broke into a wonderful smile, and motioned to his personal assistant and said, “Look, it’s me and the Fonz.” He thanked me for the gift and gave it to his PA for safekeeping.
Years later, I had the opportunity to purchase another signed photo. This time the photo was also signed by Julian, along with Ron Howard, the award winning director and actor, and actors Henry Winkler, Anson Williams and Don Most. Ron Howard was to go on to direct the special film that dealt with the Beatles touring years entitled “Eight Days a Week.”
Happy Days
The photo below was taken the first year of “Happy Days” production. John Lennon, May Pang and Julian visited the cast members on the set when this photo was taken. Could not resist getting this one as a permanent part of the collection because of all of the signatures present on the photograph.
Having Julian’s signature on this photo is of special importance to me, knowing that he was having a great time with his dad during this time frame!
Will have this one professionally framed.
PhotoSigned by: Henry Winkler, Ron Howard, Don Most, Anson Williams & Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon with The Fonz and cast of Happy Days
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK-RON HOWARD
Eight Days a Week
To The Good Old Days!!!
Julian Lennon singing lead vocal on a nostalgic song written by Styx lead singer Dennis DeYoung. The two singers do a great job on this song of “looking back.”
The best way for me to conclude this post is to say growing up in the 50’s and 60’s in particular WAS the most exciting time to be around and to come of age. There was so much change occurring in the culture and so many things going on challenging previously held beliefs that it made you wonder, “What Was Coming Next?” I will argue this point with all subsequent generations!!! Be prepared for a peaceful battle if you disagree with my assessment! LOL! in either case, be healthy and happy!
Finally, this is the song that really tugs on the heartstrings as it features Julian Lennon singing a rare song about his dad. Someone posted this radio performance of Julian singing this obscure number on YouTube! Julian at the time of this performance was touring (in the 90’s) and performed this number only a few times on the radio! What a heartfelt beautiful song this is!
FROM SOUTH AFRICA, THE PHILIPPINES, AND ISRAEL, AND ONE BONUS RARITY FROM THE NETHERLANDS
Shown below is the cover of the fabulous book that got me interested in the subject noted above. As a collector, I have become fascinated with the matter of rare Apple Records. The person that I know that fits the bill of being one of largest collector of Apple Records in the world is Nigel Pearce whose collection is both extensive and fabulous.
Nigel’s Book – Inside Number Three
Inside Number Three – The Illustrated History of Apple Records
Inside No3 takes you through that famous door, deep into the minds of all who worked there at Apple Records. This is done also in a very different way. This is not a kiss-and-tell diary, it is through fan adulation and understanding via a personal collection of artifacts and memorabilia that author Nigel Pearce has built up over the last 50 years.
There are also many knowledgeable people about the subject in Europe in countries such as Belgium where a good friend, Philippe Colinge, assisted me in finding some of the records you are about to see for me to purchase, or at least finding photographs of many of them to present to you so you are aware of their existence.
Magical Mystery Tours
There is a chapter in Tony Bramwell’s book that deals with the various licensing deals that Apple did to issue many of its records in multiple countries across the world. Three of the countries hold a particular fascination for me: The Philippines, South Africa and Israel.
For quite some time it has been reported that Tony has been working on an updated version of this book!
Magical Mystery Tours by Tony Bramwell
Mary Hopkin-Mary Had A Baby
According to some reports, the Philippines was the only country in the world that issued this Christmas holiday record on Apple Records, as Mary’s contract with Apple had just expired with Apple when it was issued there. The song appeared on different labels in all of the other worldwide locales. Mary’s husband at the time, noted record producer, Tony Visconti was involved in the production of this record. After the dissolution of their marriage, Tony was to marry May Pang who in 1973-75 had more than an 18 month relationship with John Lennon of the ex-Beatles!
First of all, I would like to take the time to acknowledge a phenomenal site based in the Netherlands that is a primary source of many of the photographs you are seeing on this blog post: This is the site and it is highly recommended. Philippe Colinge from Belgium shared this with me and I am very grateful to him. The Netherlands are the source of some of the most knowledgeable Beatles fans in the world!!!
In the Philippines, the title of Instant Karma was transposed and the A-side reads as We All Shine On with Instant Karma within parentheses!
John Lennon Mother/ Isolation and The Beatles?
For some strange reason, many of the solo Beatles recordings in the Philippines began to appear with the solo artist’s name being followed by “The Beatles” on the label. This happened to John, George, and Ringo, but not Paul so I can only assume this was due to some management issue or lack thereof. What was odd about this Mother 45, it not only had the incorrect Beatles labeling but the A side of Mother was also issued as the B-side in other issues of the 45.
APPLE – “LOVE”
APPLE – “POWER TO THE PEOPLE” and the Beatles listed as the performers of Yoko Ono’s “Open Your Box”
“IMAGINE”/ “OH MY LOVE”
Soon thereafter, the Beatles label was dropped from John’s 45’s.
George: “My Sweet Lord”/ “Isn’t It a Pity”
George – “What Is Life”/ “Apple Scruffs”
George – “Bangla Desh”/ “Deep Blue”
After Bangla-Desh, the Beatles attribution was dropped from the Philippine George 45’s
Ringo – “Beaucoups of Blues”/ “Coochy Coochy”
Ringo – “It Don’t Come Easy”/ “Early 1970”
A couple of Paul rarities from the Philippines. The Apple issue of Give Ireland Back to the Irish is credited as Wings featuring Paul and Linda McCartney and The “I Lie Around” Apple 45 featured I Lie Around as the A-side to Live and Let Die as the B-side!
A rare Beatles 45 from the Philippines is one that I am still seeking for in my collection: It is Two of Us with the flip side of Across the Universe from the Let It Be album! This would have made a wonderful single from the LP in my opinion. Here is a photo of the 45:
From Israel:
On Discogs, I was able to locate the rare Billy Preston EP on Apple which featured the only Apple appearance of the song “In the Midnight Hour,” by Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper. Cropper was also to play guitar on the Phil Spector Lennon oldies sessions in California in 1973.
I want to make one exception to my three-country Apple rarity discussion. This rarity is from the Netherlands and it is the only version of James Taylor’s first Apple album to feature it on the label listed as “The First Album.”
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, APPLE RARITIES FROM SOUTH AFRICA
UYANDIZE UMABENGWANE / SIYAV UNGAZELA (Abafana Be Myunge)
DIE JARE GAAN VERBY / ROSE IS ROOI (Gene Rockwell) The AFRIKAAN VERSION OF THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language that is spoken in South Africa according to Wikipedia!
“TSI TSI NO.1″ / “MAHLOMELA (Big Voice Jack)”
The 4th known Apple South African release-no photograph is available:
DARK CITY JIVE / WHITE CITY JIVE (Izinyozi Boys)
Hope you have enjoyed this post! Special thanks go to Philippe Colinge for providing many of the photographs presented hereas well as the wonderful site based in the Netherlands of:www.applerecords.nl
TRIVIA QUESTION: “Which was the first Beatles song released on Apple Records in the UK”? Answers in the comments below.
SIGNED BOOK FROM 1968 – obtained on eBay a few years ago – with Julian Lennon and Ringo “Uncle Ritchie” Signatures
The UK Beatles Hunter Davies biography first edition
A close-up of the Beatles biography in the UK signed by none other than Ringo Starr and a 5-year-old Julian Lennon. The book was inscribed to a Mrs. Read who was either a Beatles collector or possibly an educator or teacher who may have also been a Beatles fan. You will see why I speculate this in a further signed document shown below written by George Harrison’s sister-in-law! It appears that this book must have been signed by both Ringo and Julian while Ringo was visiting John at the Kenwood Weybridge estate.
Signed in 1968?
It is fitting that this book from 1968 is signed by both Ringo and Julian. During this year, the Beatles recorded the Lennon lullaby that John wrote for Julian, entitled “Good Night.” It was Ringo who sang the lead vocal on the track!
The note from the 5-year-old Julian Lennon and his uncle Ringo Starr to Mrs. Read!
The Signatures of Ringo Starr and Julian Lennon
It seems that Mrs. Read must have been either a Beatles collector or possibly a teacher as not only did Ringo and Julian sign and inscribe the Beatles book for her, but Pauline Harrison who was the wife of George’s brother, wrote the following note to Mrs. Read in 1968.
This note was also obtained on eBay!
Was able to obtain an invitation that Julian sent out for his 4th birthday party: Julian was obviously just learning to write as he dropped the letter “A” in his first name! Obtained this invitation on eBay!
invitation that Julian sent out for his 4th birthday party
A signed photo of a young Julian Lennon with his dad at their home in Weybridge. Julian Lennon signed this photo when he was an adult!
Julian Signed this photo of him with his dad, John
The special single that Julian and James Scott Cook cut as a tribute to Julian’s childhood friend, Lucy Vodden who passed away from Lupus at age 46. Ironically, James Scott Cook’s grandmother was also named Lucy, and she too had Lupus. The single was called “Lucy” and contained a reproduction of the original sketch that Julian Lennon did as a 4-year-old that inspired his dad to write “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” Julian randomly signed about 200 of the reproductions to accompany the single and a few years ago I was able to obtain one. The original drawing that Julian Lennon did is supposedly now owned by former Pink Floyd member, David Gilmour!
Julian’s Original Drawing of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds from his tribute single
A more recent picture of Ringo and Julian that Julian posted on his website after seeing Ringo at one of his live performances!
Julian and Uncle Ringo
Hope you liked this post? Let me know in the comments.
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 Signed Drumhead from Mitch Mitchell
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
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?
