Back Off Boogaloo

What if John and George were still here?

Paul....

If John and George were still here it’s highly likely we would’ve had a Beatles ­reunion. I think we would’ve mellowed to the point where we would’ve said, ‘Come on, let’s do it.'

The thing was whenever we got ­together, no matter if we were arguing, we played great. We knew each other so well; we read each other. So if Ringo would speed up a little bit, we all would speed up. So we were like hands in a glove....It would’ve been great, but I’m not a great believer in ‘What if?’ You can’t do it, but I suppose it’s nice to speculate. Taken from The Daily Express (UK) Sun, October 2, 2011

Ringo....

Question: Would The Beatles have reunited by now had they all survived, after all their Sixies arch-rivals the Rolling Stone are back on the road again and due to headline Glastonbury next month for the first time?

 Don’t know, it’s a crazy question... but... I’d like to think, yes, we would. Paul still goes out with his band, I go out with mine and John would probably have been going out with his. George was not big on touring so I’m not sure about him. But who knows... it could have come together. Taken from The Daily Mirror 10 June, 2013

Olivia Harrison....

Question Do you think he [George Harrison] would ever have got back with The Beatles if the others had wanted a reunion?

I think so, yes, I do, because he had great love for the others. He really did. As you get older, you value and treasure your friends so much more.
I don’t even want to think about what it would have been like. Very often there are times I think, “Oh, I wish George were here for that.” He became more and more loving towards everything. He came to appreciate his friends so much more. 

Taken from The Sun, UK 12^th June 2009

 Yoko Ono....

I wish John was here. He would've been here you know. He would've come. 

Yoko speaking at The Beatles induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which involved a partial Beatles Reunion of George and Ringo in 1988.

George Martin...

Question: Hypothetically, if John were still alive would he have gotten involve with Anthology and recorded with Paul, George and Ringo?

I think he would have taken part in it. I think he would have been very active in putting it together ‘cause John actually was an obsessive collector anyway. He would keep almost anything. I think he would have done. John actually regained himself at the end which was lovely. It was just too tragic having got back to himself that he was killed. Taken from: Rock Cellar Magazine - April 2013. 

Paul, George and Ringo in 2000. 

This photo was first published Pattie Boyd's autobiography in 2007. 

The original caption read: 

'Paul, Ringo and George at a party to celebrate Ringo's birthday at 

his house in Sussex. George being a minx, trying to get Ringo to 

drink alcohol after twenty years.'

What If...

What if John and George were still here?

Paul....

If John and George were still here it’s highly likely we would’ve had a Beatles ­reunion. I think we would’ve mellowed to the point where we would’ve said, ‘Come on, let’s do it.'

The thing was whenever we got ­together, no matter if we were arguing, we played great. We knew each other so well; we read each other. So if Ringo would speed up a little bit, we all would speed up. So we were like hands in a glove....It would’ve been great, but I’m not a great believer in ‘What if?’ You can’t do it, but I suppose it’s nice to speculate. Taken from The Daily Express (UK) Sun, October 2, 2011

Ringo....

Question: Would The Beatles have reunited by now had they all survived, after all their Sixies arch-rivals the Rolling Stone are back on the road again and due to headline Glastonbury next month for the first time?

 Don’t know, it’s a crazy question... but... I’d like to think, yes, we would. Paul still goes out with his band, I go out with mine and John would probably have been going out with his. George was not big on touring so I’m not sure about him. But who knows... it could have come together. Taken from The Daily Mirror 10 June, 2013

Olivia Harrison....

Question Do you think he [George Harrison] would ever have got back with The Beatles if the others had wanted a reunion?

I think so, yes, I do, because he had great love for the others. He really did. As you get older, you value and treasure your friends so much more.
I don’t even want to think about what it would have been like. Very often there are times I think, “Oh, I wish George were here for that.” He became more and more loving towards everything. He came to appreciate his friends so much more. 

Taken from The Sun, UK 12^th June 2009

 Yoko Ono....

I wish John was here. He would've been here you know. He would've come. 

Yoko speaking at The Beatles induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which involved a partial Beatles Reunion of George and Ringo in 1988.

George Martin...

Question: Hypothetically, if John were still alive would he have gotten involve with Anthology and recorded with Paul, George and Ringo?

I think he would have taken part in it. I think he would have been very active in putting it together ‘cause John actually was an obsessive collector anyway. He would keep almost anything. I think he would have done. John actually regained himself at the end which was lovely. It was just too tragic having got back to himself that he was killed. Taken from: Rock Cellar Magazine - April 2013. 

Paul, George and Ringo in 2000. 

This photo was first published Pattie Boyd's autobiography in 2007. 

The original caption read: 

'Paul, Ringo and George at a party to celebrate Ringo's birthday at 

his house in Sussex. George being a minx, trying to get Ringo to 

drink alcohol after twenty years.'

Illustration from front cover of Billboard Magazine Argentina November 2013.
The artist, Sebas Domenech, said,
When I was asked to do the cover for Billboard about the Beatles it was hard not to fall into the same images as always. So it occurred to me to make the 4 together, as if they were together today, because one of the topics of the cover story was the life of the Beatles and their music.To make the 4 together I had to imagine how Lennon and Harrison would be today if they were alive. Harrison was not so difficult, as he died eleven years ago and so I had some clue as to how he would look when older. But when I had to imagine Lennon I began to chat with friends and people who know the Beatles and asked them what they imagined. The person who gave me the most accurate idea...told me "look at Yoko". Also...I imagined that Lennon would be an average hipster today and came well to illustrate the launch of its application to Apple, that is why he has an iPad in his hand. I did it in four days because it was a last-minute order. But I really enjoyed doing this work, it was a huge challenge!"
Source: Original Spanish taken from: http://www.eblog.com.ar/20262/adelanto-billboard-argentina-noviembre/

Number 23 - It Don't Come Easy

Beatles Involved:

George and Ringo

Listenability: 3.5 out of 5

The official songwriting credits for Ringo's trademark song from 1970 (released in 1971) mention Ringo as the sole composer. In 1997 he revealed however that he wrote it with George Harrison who had also produced the song. Lyrically the song include lyrics about peace and love. Musically the song seems to owe some of its structure to Eric Clapton's 'Let It Rain' which was co-written by Clapton and Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett. Both songs open to similar effect with a guitar riff played through twice then share the same chord structure for the verses. The similarity is too great to be coincidental particularly given that Bonnie, Delaney, Eric and George were all playing and jamming together in 1970.

What they said about it:

Ringo:

This next song we're gonna do is gonna be called "It Don't Come Easy".I wrote this song with the one and only George Harrison! Let's hear it for George!!And we wrote it in the early seventies and, you know, George was very much into spiritual things, and so we were writing this song and we got to like the last verse and he sang "God""Oh no, George, I don't sing about God, you sing about God. "So he, hum, hum, "Hare Krishna""No, no, I don't, you sing about Hare Krishna, I don't think so""But what about "Peace" ok?""Peace, ok!"So we settled on the word "peace" and you'll hear it when we get to it." 

Taken from VH1 Storytellers.

 Other bits and pieces:

• George Harrison also sang lead vocals on an early demo version of It Don't Come Easy. Listening to this version it is to conclude that George was possibly the main song writer of the song, with Ringo merely contributing a few lyrical changes.

•  A fan has also mixed Ringo's and George's vocals and come up with this:

• Compare 'It Don't Come Easy' with Eric Clapton's 'Let It Rain':

• The connection between Delaney Bramlett and George goes beyond a few shared chords. In an interview with Mark Shapiro, Delaney reveals how George took Delaney's idea for My Sweet Lord.

Delaney Bramlett:   

George came up to me one night after a show on that tour and said “You write a lot of gospel songs and I’d like to know what inspires you to do that.” And so I gave him my explanation.I told him that I get things from the Bible, from what a preacher may say or just the feelings I felt toward God.  George said, “Well can you give me a for instance?”  He wanted to know how I would start. So I grabbed my guitar and started playing The Chiffons melody from ‘He’s So Fine’ and then sang the words My Sweet Lord/Oh My Lord/Oh My Lord/ I Just Wanna Be With You… George said okay. Then I said “Then you praise the Lord in your own way.” 

As it happened Rita Coolidge, who was on the tour, and my wife at the time – Bonnie – were sitting there and so I told them that when we got to this one part, they should sing “Hallelujah.”  They did.  We ran down the example a few times. George seemed satisfied. He said okay and that was the end of it.... 

[When] All Things Must Pass album came out and My Sweet Lord was released as the single. I was surprised and not very happy about it. I immediately called George up and told him that I didn’t mean for him to use the melody of He’s So Fine. He said “Well it’s not exactly the same,” and I guess it really wasn’t. I could tell by listening to the song that he did put some curves on it.  But I guess that didn’t stop him from being sued.

Taken from RockCellar Magazine. For more of this interview go to:

http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2011/06/03/did-delaney-bramlett-really-write-my-sweet-lord/

• According to Delaney Bramlett's daughter Michele, Delaney also helped teach George how to play slide guitar.

Michelle:

In December 1969, “Delaney & Bonnie & Friends” played the Royal Albert Hall in London, “and all the Beatles were right there in the front row,” Dad said in an interview. He said… “George Harrison came backstage, and he said, ‘Will you teach me how to play that slide?’ And I said, ‘You ain’t done too bad, the Beatles aren’t slouches, George.’ And he said, ‘But I don’t know how to play like you play slide.’ So I did.” That was our dad’s heart…he had “a big’n” George had his first “slide bottle” placed in his hand by Dad who quickly taught George how to play slide and write a Gospel song. Out of that lesson came “My Sweet Lord”.

Taken from: An Interview with the Bramlett sisters Written by Hank “Hitman” Hart Monday, 29 March 2010

http://michelebramlett.com/art/interview-with-bramlett-sisters/

Number 22 - Crippled Inside

Beatles Involved:

John and George

Listenability: 3 out of 5

John’s cheerless lyrics contrast with the cheerful sound of Nicky Hopkins playing ragtime piano. George plays along with some nice, but fairly impromptu sounding, slide guitar. A number of Beatle’s authors (such as Bill Harry in ‘The John Lennon Encyclopedia’ and Howard Sounes in ‘Fab An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney’) state that the lyrics are about Paul.  The lyrics seem to be more of a general social commentary from Lennon in which he sends up the hypocrisy of church goers, racists and others.

What They Said About It:

John: 

There is a nice one called ‘Cripple Inside’. I’ll play it you later. [Yoko: “And ‘How’. ‘How’ is...] Yeah, but this is a nice little twist to it. Very corny country and western. It’s just goes like, (sings) ‘You can go to church and sing a hymn, you can judge me by the colour of my skin, you can live a life until you die...One thing you can’t hide, is when you’re crippled inside.' 

John in a conversation with Tariq Ali. Taken from 'Gimme Some Truth DVD'

Other Bits And Pieces

• On the cover of an acetate copy of the Imagine Album John hand wrote a few words about each song. For Crippled Inside he wrote 'George on guitar Nicky Hopkins on piano'. See image below:

• When left wing journalist / activist Tariq Ali visited John during the recording of the Imagine album Ali commented that he liked the lyrics for Imagine and wanted to know what else was on the album. Of all the songs on the album John choose to tell Ali about 'Crippled Inside'. It seems that John regarded the song quite highly, or at least thought it had the sort of lyrics that Ali would like!

• The song's bridge that begins with the lyrics 'Well you know that the cat has nine lives...' has a similar tune to Black Dog Blues which The Beatles played during their Get Back sessions.