Original subtitles

AUGUST 1966 THE START OF AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR.

It's easy to forget that London was only 22 years into the war,

so we have a Great Britain that we recognize

through photographs and images of black and white news

and then we have a kind of new era, which is multicolored,

and the Beatles were at the forefront of that, they were pioneers.

- Hello, John. Are you looking forward to the tour? - Good morning, John. Yes.

This religious controversy, I know you don't want to say too much,

worried that it will boil over when you get to the United States?

It worries me, yes, but I hope everything will be all right in the end.

Do you think this will be a controversial tour,

how was the Philippines?

- No, not really. - No, not really.

No, it'll be fine.

- What makes you say that, Paul? - It's going to be fine. Take a look.

The Klan, let's demonstrate,

with different ways to prevent this action.

GO HOME BEATLES

Outside the Coliseum, this little band of demonstrators...

help keep communists OUT OF THE UNITED STATES

... it was the only sign of a visible protest.

You have to remember that the Beatles were the biggest thing in the world.

The Beatles were as big as the presidents combined

or heads of state of seven large countries in one room.

How are you?

And they can say hello, can't they?

- Hello. - Hello.

Say a cheerful hello, boys.

- Hello! - Hello!

John, do you regret what you said?

Yes. Yes, I am.

I think that's true.

I think the band was much more popular.

ISSUER

I won't use the words "JC",

but they were more popular than the Church of England and religion.

I don't think there's any doubt about that.

This is where the problem began,

in the tiny studio on the top floor of Station WAQY,

"Wacky Radio" to three-quarters of a million citizens of Birmingham, Alabama.

Tommy Charles, disc jockey and station manager,

read in Datebook magazine

John Lennon's statements about Christianity,

that had gone almost unnoticed when they were published in Britain.

Let's think about the past, how important at his time...

ROBERT STIGWOOD ORGANIZATION

... maybe around 300 people would have heard of him.

In terms of an important industry, even if we think in today's terms,

what it means for society in general terms,

certainly in Europe, the Beatles would have been more important.

But,

America in those days was obsessed with Jesus, not the Beatles.

JESUS DIED FOR YOU, JOHN LENNON

Regarding the purpose of this meeting with me,

I thank God may Jesus Christ be popular with me,

because he saved me 31 years ago.

And everyone here tonight, if it's popular with you, say, "Amen."

Amen!

They were not qualified to talk about

the price of milk, let alone about the state the world was in.

They were sponges. They absorbed so much feeling...

FAMOUS BEATLES AUTHOR

... so much emotion, so that

thought they were aging at twice the normal rate.

I know Brian was very worried...

BRIAN EPSTEIN'S SECRETARY

... with all that, before they left for the United States,

and... but what John did was something very innocent,

because they were more important.

More people wanted the Beatles than those who wanted to go to church.

Brian, are you in any way worried about what might happen

to the Beatles when they arrive?

- Yes, I'm worried. - About what?

Security.

What do you propose to do to protect them?

There's very little you can do, because they...

They have always enjoyed it in the country,

maximum security and digressions have always been

exceptionally well planned

and hope for the best.

They were burning records in Memphis...

AUTHOR/JOURNALIST

... and the people on stage thought they might get shot.

We think: "Something strange is going on that we don't quite understand."

Most of the criticism came from the southern Bible Belt

and we're wondering if it's going to change the Beatles' itinerary

to avoid areas where radio stations

are burning your records and your photos.

This is highly unlikely.

This morning, I spoke to many of the promoters

and when I leave I have a meeting with several promoters,

that they are not looking forward to none of the concerts are canceled.

In fact, if any of the prosecutors were concerned

and wanted a concert to be canceled,

I wouldn't object.

In fact, the concert in Memphis,

which is the closest to...

From where it started,

apparently sold more tickets yesterday than they had sold up to that day.

Tony Barrow was the person who alerted Datebook

for the existence of these interviews.

He contacted Art Unger, the editor, and said:

AUTHOR OF "THE BEATLES '66"

... "You'll love these interviews. They're just your style."

But Art Unger had the idea of sending them to something that...

Nowadays we call them presenters,

but he knew that it would annoy some DJs,

so he sent them to some DJs in Birmingham, Alabama,

and they got really angry. That's when it really started.

AUGUST 15TH, 1966

Many of them hate us. Did you see that?

I saw a similar version of what you say in the newspaper.

If it makes other people feel better, it makes me feel better.

But there weren't as many upset people as I was led to believe.

And not so seriously upset.

Brian Epstein was going to cancel the tour...

MERSEYBEAT NEWSPAPER

... but they decided to go ahead if John apologized,

and he very reluctantly did so,

it was like an apology at second hand.

Well, I was originally told that fact in reference to England...

AUGUST 11, 1966

... that we were more important to children than Jesus or religion.

I wasn't badmouthing or denigrating, I was simply stating a fact,

and it was... It's true, even more so in England than here.

I'm not saying that we are better or bigger,

or comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ, as a person,

or with God, as a thing, or whatever.

I just said what I said and it was wrong, or was misinterpreted.

And George said: "I don't care. They'll just buy more albums

to replace those who burned." So.

How do you feel about this issue

of the group to say what they think?

Do you think it's possible in their position?

Absolutely.

I never suggested to do otherwise.

Did you suggest that John apologize?

We talked about it and that was our mutual feeling.

I never ordered the boys to do anything,

or in relation to music, in artistic or discursive matters.

They...

We all have our opinions and I contribute, I suppose, a fifth.

This also happened at the end of a long world tour,

where other horrible things had happened to the Beatles.

They received death threats in Japan, been squeezed in the Philippines...

RETURN OF THE PHILIPPINES, JULY 1966

... for allegedly despising the first lady, Imelda Marcos,

when they didn't show up at a reception she organized.

This was just the last straw...

YOU'RE ADORABLE, LENNON

... and they were thinking that they could be murdered.

It was so early that this kind of thing

began to appear in people's minds.

John, what exactly happened at Manila Airport?

We were kicked and pushed by some monkeys

and we were very scared.

How scared were you, George?

Petrified, I would say.

Yes, it was...

It was very bad, there were about five...

Some very big guys, strange looking,

with weapons and all the rest of the equipment.

- Who did the kicking. - Yes, and they

had prepared... It was so obvious.

They prepared to put us through the worst possible moment

before we got to the airport.

So, diexagons of play and...

Me, personally, was always avoiding these people.

They were the ones causing the problems.

Yes, just those five. Because the others didn't bother me.

Did you really have to carry luggage through the airport?

Hand luggage only.

Our tour managers carry large suitcases.

- Because they know... - They turned off our escalators

and we had to carry them up the stairs.

- The amplifiers. - That's their intelligence.

How many people were involved in this demonstration?

I thought there were thirty.

I've been telling everyone 30 and George says there were five.

No, it was more like a small army that beat us.

There were about ten others, at the bottom of a crowd of normal people,

shouting "Boo". We looked to see who it was,

and they were little kids smiling, about 18.

And the guys behind, like the Gestapo, going "Boo".

I think they were probably protesters.

It was one of those places

when we knew they were waiting for a fight

and they were provoking us, if we had done something, they would have...

- That's enough of that. - Yes.

And beyond the Philippines, did you enjoy your trip?

Yes, it was a great tour.

Except this morning, actually.

- Yes. - Japan was fantastic, very pleasant.

- And Delhi was good. - Yes.

Great people in Japan, almost everyone we met.

They occupied Manila in the war.

Would they play in the Philippines again?

- No, I don't. - I don't even want to land there.

No airplane would pass by with me inside. Nor would it fly over.

When they returned from Manila and stopped in Delhi,

that's when they started talking about the possibility

to give up riding on the road. Brian was devastated by this,

because it was obvious that it wouldn't be necessary

if all the appointments were in the studio.

Where would he come in? Because he gained importance by scheduling tours,

doing all those things and following the Beatles.

And he was a guy who loved show business.

I loved the theater. I'd been at RADA, so I loved the theatrical side.

From your dressing room, in the nearby security area,

the Beatles emerged to play their second show,

always closely watched by Captain Barney Hicks' police,

82 men, all working overtime at 30 shillings an hour.

It was total madness, years ago around the Beatles.

What's fantastic is that they put up with it.

They just did what was expected of them.

When we think about temperament and egomania,

even in today's rock bands of today,

what the Beatles could handle,

in the name of the common good, because they were told that's how it had to be,

including John, was extraordinary.

When the Beatles' charter arrived...

August 19, 1966

... away from the hundreds of fans in the terminal

towards a deserted part of the runway, used only by the National Guard.

Only a handful of teenagers escaped the tight security measures.

Worried about your visit to the south,

the Beatles could at least with the success of the trip for the time being.

With only half of the concerts performed,

had already raised more than half a million dollars

and his last single, "Yellow Submarine", had sold a million.

Is this your first trip to the south?

No, we've been to Texas.

Where will you go when you leave here?

I think to Cincinnati, yes, that's it.

And how long will they be in the United States?

About two more weeks.

- Two more weeks? - Yes.

What did you have for lunch?

I didn't eat much.

I didn't eat much.

- Go on, I've got to go. It's boiling. - Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

BEATLE STREET FOUR BOYS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD

They appeared in the dressing room and they were all sad.

And John was saying: "We should never have done this,

ever." - They've had two number ones in the meantime.

Returning to a small club like this...

But they promised to do another concert, so all the best to them.

There was only one dressing room.

The dressing room was like a phone booth.

We were inside. The Beatles were inside

and someone else was there.

They weren't very happy.

And they all went on stage.

John couldn't stop laughing.

They had a piano on stage, with a big cover.

"What are you laughing at?" "King Size Taylor left his mark."

The Beatles started playing, the girls couldn't stop screaming

and the light went out,

except for a small lamp on the stage.

A small lamp on stage, remember?

- Yes, it's true. - No speakers, nothing.

Everyone was saying: "What's going on?"

So, Paul, being Paul, jumps on the piano

a song starts playing, and I think John was with the acoustics.

So at least they could hear a bit of acoustic guitar.

And for years and years, we thought that Paul

had started playing one of his father's old songs,

of the 20s, because that's how it seemed to us,

until we received the Sgt. Pepper, you know...

When I get older

It was unbelievable.

We had heard the song in 1963.

It doesn't matter if they don't like our or the way we look,

or what we say.

They have the right not to like us

and we have the right to have nothing to do with them,

if we don't want to, or if we don't care.

We all have our rights, Harold.

Towards the end, it was crazy.

They could have been anywhere. They were in a room...

FAN CLUB SECRETARY OF THE BEATLES

... and that room could be in Wales or Tokyo.

They didn't know. It was just a hotel room.

It's hard to imagine nowadays, but the songs from Revolver,

that could easily be reproduced on stage now,

they couldn't find a way to do it

and played very little Rubber Soul on stage.

They didn't play anything from Revolver, even though it was the last album,

when they made their final tours. - In addition to rock 'n' roll...

BEATLES/BUZZCOCKS FAN

... they developed a more melodic Beatles

and I think we needed to hear the complexities of the songs

and, as they developed musically, they couldn't hear anything.

I was in New York, working with the Yardbirds,

when the Beatles' big tour was being prepared in New York,

and Brian was there.

I didn't deal with Brian, but I knew, from the prosecutors, what was going on,

and Brian and the group wanted to limit the capacity to 10 or 15,000 seats,

because of the sound problem. They wanted to be able to play and be heard

and not be drowned out by the shouting.

But the police said they wouldn't accept it.

They knew that 100 or 200,000 people,

even if it was a 10,000-seat hall.

It would be very dangerous to have 10,000 people inside and 90,000 outside.

So the promoter wasn't greedy, not the Beatles, not Brian Epstein.

It was the police, the way they got the license.

They were trapped. Imprisoned by the tours.

They couldn't get out of prison until they got home.

They flew around the world,

people shouted at them,

they couldn't hear each other and thought:

"That wasn't the reason to start doing this, guys."

"We started doing this because it was fun. Not anymore."

John discussed it with me in detail over dinner in 1980 in New York.

He famously said that when they played "Twist and Shout",

he had changed the lyrics to "I'm screwed by the drop",

and thought it was hilarious,

first, because it's a funny line, and secondly, because nobody heard it.

The front row of the audience were children in wheelchairs.

John, in particular, was completely freaked out.

He had a terrible phobia about physical disability,

but then these little were taken to the dressing room,

after the show, as if it were a sanctuary and could heal people.

But worse than that, some people, without being responsible,

grabbed a wheelchair and pushed the children into the dressing room.

It was a horrendous scene

and they put up with it. That's the fantastic part.

They accepted.

George talked a lot about the fact that they weren't progressing musically,

because they always made progress when they played in front of audiences who could see

and receiving this kind of intimate response

and now they couldn't see the audience.

It's very sad. In Candlestick Park, they were in a cage,

literally in a cage on stage.

Would it be possible to go further from the Cavern?

We used to work on the machines that regulate the volume, the tone,

the bottom, the three handles.

We didn't have all these faders,

or computers or flashing lights.

The Beatles' contract only said

that the prosecutor should provide two, maybe three microphones,

and a suitable lighting system.

Songs like "Eleanor Rigby" even if they could play them on stage,

weren't the kind of songs the audience would respond to.

First, because it wasn't a song that you could jump or dance to

and secondly, critics said that it was a rather dark theme,

churches, lonely women, death and things like that.

It didn't sound like the Beatles.

The Beatles, for a long time, succeeded,

due to its tremendous popularity all over the world,

especially with younger people,

were able to say everything they wanted

without thinking about

common sense, maturity or in the wisdom of what they were saying.

Wasn't he just being honest?

Your answers are so irreverent

and their attitude is so bizarre, in many cases,

you never know whether he's being honest or not.

What difference did this confusion make on your tour?

If he did.

Paul?

I don't think it did much. It made her more confused.

It made press conferences more important.

People told us that the last time we came,

our answers were a bit irreverent,

why wasn't it like that this time?

The point is that the issues are a bit more serious this time.

It didn't affect the reserves.

The bookings have been... The people who have come to the concerts

have been the same, except for the first show in Memphis,

which was a bit low, but then what?

It was a very interesting change in the music industry in England,

in 1966, 67.

It was the beginning of of the word "rock".

It had never been heard before.

In 1967, the biggest event of the year was the Monterey Pop Festival.

"Pop" was a buzzword and who was at the pop festival?

All the people who we now call rock stars.

But little by little, during that year,

the press began, more and more, to use the word "rock",

and applied it to groups that weren't puppets,

who didn't play songs of popular music writers

and groups that played their own music, without session musicians.

Most of the groups that were like this

wanted to establish their credentials against the established regime

with long hair or the hard look

and the Stones were the archetype, they were the first,

and The Who adapted later, they switched from pop to rock.

Are you going to play Beatles records again?

I was asked by the people at Capitol Records,

who promote their albums in this country. Brian Epstein wanted to know

when we're going to lift the restriction,

because it seemed that everyone expected for us to take the first step,

and wanted to know what it would take. Well, I don't have a price.

I'm not expecting something the Beatles do.

I don't know.

I want them to change my mind about them.

I want to see...

I don't know. I want to see them grow up a bit.

DJ Tommy Charles, who started this dispute,

I said I wouldn't play your albums until you grew up a bit.

How do you feel about it?

I don't care if they play again.

The question is this: Everyone seems to think,

when they hear us say things like that,

that we are childish.

You can't say things like that if you're not a silly child.

Do you feel that the Americans want to harm you,

that this has become a witch hunt?

Do you mind if I ask? for example, in America, about Vietnam?

- Does this seem useful to you? - I don't know.

If we can say that war is not good

and some people believing in us, it can be good.

But we can't say too much. That's the problem.

It seems stupid to be in America

and no one talks about Vietnam, as if nothing was happening.

But why ask you? You're successful artists.

Because Americans always ask artists what they think about it.

Just like the British.

It's show business, you know.

But we must... We can't keep quiet

in relation to what's going on in the world, unless you're a monk.

I'm sorry, monks, I didn't mean it. I meant to say, actually...

They were leading what was already happening...

JOHN LENNON'S SISTER

... the adolescent revolution into a complete human being.

Swinging London was a huge movement.

There was the counterculture part,

when everyone had long hair hair, beards and moustaches,

things like that, and went to places like the UFO Club and places like that.

All the psychedelic stuff, with Pink Floyd and all the others.

And there were miniskirts, the new fashion, the boutiques,

and things like that, and it was always changing.

I was the resident model for Foale and Tuffin,

but we also had a store and sometimes, when I wasn't showing clothes...

PATTI BOYD'S SISTER

... I was going to work for the store

and the boys from the Carnaby Street

to listen to and share records.

What mattered was the music and how we looked.

It started when Paul had his motorcycle accident,

broke his front tooth and cut his lip

the day before I made the videos for "Rain" and "Paperback Writer".

And he grew a moustache to hide the shame of saying

"I have a broken tooth".

You haven't thought about going to a dentist and get your tooth fixed.

He just stuck chewing gum in there, for a while,

but then he grew a mustache to cover the war wound.

And the others thought: "That's cool."

And they all grew moustaches.

Suddenly, mustaches, and things like that,

drugs and looking at the world differently...

Whatever you do, as musicians,

ends up on the recording and a song somewhere.

It's always related to our experience.

We smoked weed back then

and that changes our perception,

I think it breaks down a lot of barriers.

It was much more to go against the regime

and to get in touch with our creativity.

I think they were constantly trying to repudiate the image

of the four adorable mop heads.

I think that was one of the reasons behind it,

to look different, dress differently, to look grown-up.

The Beatles are breaking up, as a group?

Absolutely not.

Is there any truth in the story that was published today,

that could end in the near future?

None.

You can tell me, then, why you don't have any tours scheduled

for Christmas or to America next year?

They were involved in several different commitments.

John Lennon has been making a movie.

Paul has been writing music for the new Hayley Mills movie.

E...

I'm not...

They must all be in this country

at the end of December... At the end of November.

They're going to record a few more albums.

And then they'll work on the plans for the next movie.

Will there be any change in the work you do?

Will there be fewer tours next year?

Possibly.

As I said before, there is dynamic or important change,

but the Beatles have always progressed

and to progress, there has to be change.

They had great antennae, the Beatles. They understood everything quickly.

They understood the way forward,

was part of his upbringing.

And they were...

They were, in a way,

beyond "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields",

were not being American.

They were no longer being pseudo-Americans.

They didn't have American accents, previously,

had prompted Paul's father to say: "Why do you sing 'Yeah, yeah'?

Why not 'Yes, yes'?"

They were taking... They were using their own culture,

which is very interesting, and Penny Lane is fantastic...

They're both fantastic songs.

In fact, I think the great tragedy of Sgt. Pepper

was that these two songs were not present.

BARBEARIA

It would have been a fantastic album. I always thought they should

to have added them and said: "We did these two before.

Here they are." And they're the best.

"Penny Lane and "Strawberry Fields Forever".

One is the very specific imagery, very clear, of Paul McCartney in 1950,

about a part of Liverpool that everyone knew very well.

The other is much more surreal, John's, surreal to say the least,

but we still have a feeling that this is a real place,

and is a kind of surreal vision of John about a place he knew as a child.

When they stopped touring, forever...

OFFICIAL BEATLES BIOGRAPHER

... became completely responsible for themselves.

They did their own thing with Sgt. Pepper

and began to ignore Brian Epstein, who no longer controlled them.

And they started bossing George Martin around.

George only did the technical stuff.

He would give his opinion, but they would say: "Well, let's do one more take."

In the beginning, it was George Martin who said that.

I'd say that when the tour ended, Brian felt left out.

When they were on tour, he didn't do much.

I was only with them, because things are done by the local prosecutor,

by the local tour manager,

but at least Brian was traveling with them.

He felt that he was part of what they were doing.

When the tours stopped, he didn't feel like he was part

what they were doing in the studio.

He had never helped create the songs, had never been in the studio.

He was no George Martin,

so he suddenly felt without much to do.

And that wore him down.

He started taking more drugs, started spending more time playing

and definitely he felt that his relationship

had somehow been cut off.

Brian's role, like their roles, was changing,

but I think he would always have been the fifth Beatle, if you like.

He took them from the Cavern to the world stage.

At the beginning of 1967, because they made a...

They made some music that was used at a night rave in Roundhouse e,

as far as I know,

only Mark Lewisohn heard it, beyond the Beatles,

but apparently it's them knocking

on any type of percussion instrument... metal trays,

tables, whatever was around the studio, and doing it for seven minutes and...

I think there was the idea that whatever they did,

and the less limited the better,

would be a kind of of golden artistic powder,

but it wasn't always.

There was a problem. They thought: "Where are we going next?"

They had been the biggest on tour, then the biggest pop group.

They had written the best songs, ranked from first to fifth

consecutively in the American charts.

Where do you go next?

And the only way to continue is to make great art.

"We have to go somewhere better, go to a higher level.

If we can't become rock musicians,

we could move forward and put pop on the same level as art,

with great music and great painting."

I think that's what they thought.

"There's no interest in doing anything else.

There's no interest in releasing another Revolver full of pop.

We have to do something absolutely wonderful."

And they did.

I heard "Strawberry Fields" and I was absolutely amazed,

because one of the things I had told my editor

was that the Beatles are still progressing,

and I thought this was incredible.

It's been a huge leap since Love Me Do or something.

No one seems can clearly say

that "Penny Lane" was written to surpass "Strawberry Fields" but it seems that,

when John jumped in and did a specific Liverpool song, Paul...

Because there was a beautiful spirit between John and Paul.

Each pulled the other higher,

because, in a very friendly way, they thought:

"I'll take the A-side of the next single."

Or: "He did that, I'm going to do that." It was fantastic.

Without any kind of poison, they...

They were both trying to outdo each other.

That was the plan, to start again and write an album all about Liverpool.

It's been said, do something,

maybe an album related to Liverpool.

And, of course, they had "Penny Lane" ready, "Strawberry Fields"

and "A Day in the Life".

And then, of course, George Martin said:

"They've been quiet for too long."

So they gave him that,

but they insisted for it to be a double A-side.

As a double side A, they split the sales,

so they were only able to reach to number two.

Meanwhile, in Liverpool,

there was a group called The Hillsiders,

and the manager, Spencer Lloyd Mason,

noticed that one of the members had found a country record

they wanted to record,

so they took him to the guy who handled at Decca, Noel Walker,

who was also from Merseyside, and said:

"We want to do this and can we do it with an orchestra?"

It was a show called Release Me.

And instead of recording it with The Hillsiders,

he passed it on to people who thought it would be an ideal record

for Engelbert Humperdinck,

that made it to number one

and kept the Beatles out of the number one spot,

for the first time on several albums.

It was all the fault of a group from Liverpool.

Regarding the album about Liverpool, in a way,

we have enough in "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane"

for more than one album.

They did it in a single.

They did it in a magnificent single, double-A side.

DECEMBER 1966

- Can I have a word with you? - Yes.

The Beatles go their lives in 1967?

You can do it, each on their own or together.

We are always involved with each other in whatever we do.

Can you imagine a time when you weren't working together?

I can imagine us not working together for a while,

but we always get together, for one reason or another.

We also need other people for ideas,

and we all get on well.

Are you going to make movies on your own next year?

No, I don't want to make a career of it. I did it because I felt like it

and Dick Lester invited me and I accepted,

I wouldn't have done it if the others hadn't liked it.

They said, "All right, because we were on vacation.

Do the others have ambitions to make movies?

No, nobody is particularly interested in that.

I don't really feel like it.

- What do you really want to do? - I don't know.

I just want to do a few things.

And you haven't decided exactly what?

No, I'm going to try out a few things,

but I learned a bit more about making movies by doing so.

The team songwriting thing

will it continue no matter what?

Yes, we'll probably continue writing songs forever,

whatever we do, because we can't stop.

We do it, regardless of whether we want to or not.

But do you think that tours, like American tours

and the English, there are fans in England...

But there must be a point when they no longer work,

because they are not related to what we're doing on the albums.

They knew they were taking big risks in '66 and '67.

They didn't know that people would follow them,

who were going with them, and they calculated,

something like: "We could lose a big slice of our market,

we're being too bold."

Then they decided it should be

what was actually called a concept album,

because Frank Zappa had done one called Freak Out,

and McCartney was very keen in making it so.

But then, as Ringo said later on, they made some songs

and thought: "Let's forget about the concept album.

We're going to make more songs."

But of course it was created in a strange way.

It was all the Beatles being very adventurous

but very sentimental, at the same time.

There are many different strands on this album.

And John, as funny as he is, is the one who brings them all together,

not only with his wonderful...

His masterpiece "A Day in the Life",

but he also adds small phrases

that seem to be part of of "A Day in the Life"

and part of Paul's song "Lovely Rita".

So it seems that it's a concept altogether,

although they didn't think that they were going to make a concept album.

- Paul. - Yes?

- Good evening. - Hello.

- Don Edwards, ITN. - How are you doing?

Can we talk? If I never go on tour again, would you be worried?

I don't know.

- I don't think so. - Wouldn't I?

But because the only thing is that the performance, for us,

plummeted.

We can't evolve when no one can hear us.

You see? So, for us,

acting is difficult. It's always difficult.

It means they don't listen, so you don't want to do it.

Yes, we want to do it, but if they don't listen to us,

and we can't even hear ourselves,

then we can't improve, we can't get better.

That's why we're trying to improve through recording.

It took many months and a huge amount of money.

And again, it was part of...

It wasn't just Sgt. Pepper, but other good albums of the time

who reversed the market who always said that...

What mattered was the single,

and then the album profits from the single,

that's why it has the single and a few other things in it,

usually with the name of the single, like Please Please Me.

But then the album started to be

the absolute focus on what the bands did and what pop groups did.

They made albums and then the singles came off the album.

- How are you? - Merry Christmas!

- How are you? - Fine.

- Can I ask you a few questions? - Yes.

- I'm going to turn it this way. - Which way?

- Yes, this way. - Hello, there.

- You look very well. - Yes, I've had a bath.

Is it true that the Beatles doing less together next year?

Yes, we're not going to...

To do things together, the four of us,

it's going to be the old stuff again.

- You don't want to do that? - We don't want to do what we did.

The point is, in relation to the movie,

we couldn't come up with a decent script, or we're still trying to get one.

If we can't,

we'll probably do something different next year.

- Alone? - Yes, but...

We won't finish. We'll get together at the end.

- Thank you very much, Ringo. - Thank you, Ringo.

- Are you going to work now? - I'll see what they're doing.

I think it might be time for tea, with a bit of luck. Goodbye.

Paul had started working on the idea of the ghost band.

Invent a band, and they could be the band, but no...

And not the Beatles.

How is it? Can I stop it?

- Well... - Can I have a word with you?

- Yes, I did. - I just wanted to ask you

if you think that in the new year,

will each go their own way?

- No, no. - No?

No. Definitely not.

How about another word?

The words are all yours.

They were a little tired of being the Beatles,

or rather, they weren't tired

of existing as the Beatles,

but the name, "The Beatles", began to overwhelm them a little,

and had the idea to create an alter ego,

which would be called Sgt. Pepper,

and was in line with the great of military tunics.

It was in the mid-60s.

But if you look,

there's a photo of Paul's father, Jim McCartney,

who had a small dance band, in the 1920s and 1930s in Liverpool.

He played piano by ear in the Jim Mac Jazz Band.

There's a photo of them, at the end of the 20s,

and around a drum,

seemed like the concept of Sgt. Pepper,

without marijuana.

They became the forerunners of what became became almost a rock 'n' roll joke.

How much time you can spend in the studio, on a project,

and how much will it cost?

The Beatles were in the studio making Sgt. Pepper,

to what everyone would say: "That must have been exciting."

It was the most boring time of their lives.

We were used to recording albums in two, three days, maybe a week.

Revolver took a few weeks,

but Sgt. Pepper dragged on,

because they hadn't written it together.

The only one who had prepared to go to the studio was Paul.

When they went to the studio, women weren't allowed in,

or their wives, nothing.

And they...

Even during tours, they were always

only the boys.

And I think it was only Chris O'Dell who had the audacity to say it:

"Can I come to a session?"

Because none of us would dream

thinking that we could watch them record.

Everyone wonders why the groups have more and more time to record.

Firstly, it's not the publisher's money.

It's an advance on the rights the group, the companies don't care.

At first, the companies worry. "We're giving them time in the studio.

If they don't succeed, we'll be the ones to pay."

Once the group is successful, you can give it as much time as you like.

They're the ones paying. It's coming out of their rights.

This is not well explained to the groups,

so the groups think they are using the publisher's money.

And by now, you already have some money to spare.

to buy drugs, smoke and do things in the studio

that are not compatible with speed and recordings take longer and longer.

Paul was in charge.

Obviously, George and John were responsible when it was their music,

that they had composed, but Paul was usually the boss.

And he'd say: "Just the same." And they did

dozens and dozens of takes of the same thing,

and I thought: "It was brilliant the first time.

I wish they'd pack up and go home, I'm exhausted."

Even trained engineers

were amazed at what the Beatles were asking them to do.

No one had ever done that.

That way, Abbey Road was a blessing for them.

They were full of enthusiasm and ideas,

and often these are the best periods of our lives,

in their 20s, and they could do what they wanted.

They had the strength to go to Abbey Road and say: "We want to say things"

which is fantastic, because when they went there the first time,

entered through the side door. Now they're at the front door.

"Whatever you want to do, Paul, we're with you."

The point is that the Beatles prepared many things that we take for granted,

like spending three months in the studio.

We don't even think about it when U2 takes a year or two to make an album.

The Beatles were the first to do so.

The Beatles were the first to make albums like this,

who were trying to do much more than pop albums,

that weren't just a soundtrack to dance to or play in the car.

Personally, I think John is a genius.

I don't think there's any doubt about that.

ON THE ROAD TO GREECE, JULY 1967

And how many geniuses would in a group of four?

But without Paul, I don't think John would have done what he did in his life.

As I said, I call them the dream team.

Paul had lost his mother when he was fourteen,

spent a lot of time with us, in our house.

My mother, ironically, said:

"That poor boy, he's lost his mother."

And, of course, when our mother died,

that was a connection, a real connection, between them,

and I think that relationship was the basis of the Beatles.

John had a reputation.

People were attracted to him, because of his sharp wit,

and for being a bit of a rebel,

who didn't seem to concerned about anything.

Paul was very polite,

therefore, people are always drawn to the rebel,

as I was when I first met him. That's what attracted me to him.

Paul was also exploring the avant-garde. It was very important.

No idea was too crazy

for Paul to explore. I'd been reading a lot,

I used to go to art exhibitions,

I listened to avant-garde composers, I listened to jazz,

and developed a lot that way, in a meaningful way.

John...

John read a lot and composed a lot,

but mostly at home, because I had family commitments.

Paul was ahead of him in that sense: "Let's explore London,

the avant-garde, let's get in the underground movement.

John was...

He liked it, but he didn't have...

I wasn't bold enough at the time to pursue him personally.

But in November, he meets Yoko Ono,

at the pre-opening of Galeria Indica, with Yoko's work.

LONDON, AUGUST 1966

And we all know where that led.

One of the great myths,

that still bothers Paul McCartney to this day,

because it still tends to survive,

John was the great experimenter, towards the avant-garde.

Paul was sweeter, safe and smiling, without taking risks.

That's not true.

As Tony Bramwell said,

John was a lazy man, who stayed at home in the suburbs.

Paul lived in the middle of London.

Paul always had that desire to improve himself.

He used to buy books on modern art when he was at school, 12 or 13 years old,

and was closely linked to the avant-garde movement in London,

with very difficult music, brave, very contemporary,

that had nothing to do with pop music. People like John Cage,

Luciano Berio, people like that.

He knew all this.

Magnetic tape cycles, all of it.

Paul was the leader.

There was a bookshop and gallery called Indica,

and Paul had an open order, in that store for something new

and then told John.

So it was Paul who told John:

"Relax, turn off your mind and let yourself go with the flow."

John read the book, then wrote "Tomorrow Never Knows"

and John became the avant-garde element.

They were more involved in modern art,

modern classical music and fashion designers than they gave them credit for.

Don't forget that you went to very selective schools.

And they continued, in John's case, to an art school.

They were, unlike some rock 'n' roll stars...

I have to choose the names carefully.

... who had left school at 15 and could barely read and write.

The Beatles were - apart from Ringo, who had never been to school...

The Beatles were boys from good schools who had read Shakespeare at school,

who had read novels and poetry.

John and George were living in the countryside

and Paul lived in the middle of London.

They no longer spent much time together.

Until 1966, they always walked together.

They were a kind of monster with four heads.

You couldn't see one without the others.

Paul was also the most musical, by far,

and taught John a lot.

So it was much more subtle.

The idea that Paul was the right guy,

and dealt with public relations,

well, that part was true, it really was him,

but he was also extremely gifted.

There had been many rumors

of a different kind of music, that came from the past,

that came out of Revolver.

There was a lot of expectation for Rubber Soul and Revolver,

but I don't remember as much anticipation as there was for Sgt. Pepper.

This was partly due to the time they spent in the studio

and this was constantly mentioned in the news,

the money they were spending, the time they were taking.

There were four geniuses there with George Martin.

If you spend so much time on something, it has to be incredible,

because it can't be anything less.

SGT PEPPER EXHIBITION THE HISTORY OF THE BEATLES

We have to go back to the time when it was launched.

People don't realize the difficulties.

It was made on a four-channel machine.

George Martin said it was very difficult to work with.

Nowadays, we see what they can do in the studios, and with the rest,

however, this album, made on a four-channel machine, is magical.

I remember when they decided to to put the words on the cover because,

as you know, on all the albums that came out before,

we discussed words.

We weren't sure...

One of the joys of the Beatles is that they still sang

with a Liverpool accent.

A great story for me was...

When I was in Stafford Street...

George came in one day and said:

"I have these letters, can you machine them?

Because they're hard to read."

He said: "I'll sit next to you,

I'll read them to you and you can write them down."

That's what I did,

and whenever he finished a song, he would play it for me

and I'd throw it in the trash.

All the lyrics from Sgt. Pepper have gone to waste.

If only I'd known...

EMI was very shocked

with what they had to spend on the album cover,

and also because they want the letters completely,

of course, the Beatles were making their own bed,

because once people knew the lyrics, it would be crazy

interpreting letters

and assigning meanings that, probably weren't there.

They had a design made to a group called The Fool,

it was a psychedelic design

and Robert Fraser, who was hired to advise them,

owned a gallery and said:

"That won't do, it'll be out of date soon."

So they decided to go with a concept that, Paul said:

"We're going to write a list of all our heroes and that will be the cover,

all the heroes and people we admire will be on this album."

Brian Epstein was in New York at the time,

and was horrified when he found out.

He thought: "So many people. It's the Beatles that matter."

He decided to return to London,

but he had a vision that he would die in a plane crash,

so he left a message for Nat Weiss' lawyer:

"Brown paper covers for the Sgt. Pepper album."

People expected to be at the forefront of everything.

People thought: "No. The Beatles do this first

and then everyone follows."

Then, of course, came the era of military tunics,

that Sgt. Pepper hit the nail on the head. Then there was the hippie era.

Of course, you can understand that John Lennon, typically,

wanted Jesus Christ, Hitler.

Hitler is in the picture, but he's hiding behind something.

And when Sir Joseph Lockwood, of EMI, came in

and saw the image of Gandhi, he was livid.

"We can't do that. We sell a lot in India."

It has been removed.

But...

And Peter Blake got nine wax figures

from Madame Tussaud's,

four of the Beatles and others

such as Sonny Liston and Diana Dors, who also appear.

At first he said to them:

"You have all your heroes, movie stars and musicians.

Why don't they have a footballer?"

And the answer was that none of the four was interested in soccer,

even though they grew up in Liverpool.

As a teenager, they didn't go to soccer matches.

They weren't fans, really,

because they were so busy playing guitar, playing in The Quarrymen.

I saw that Paul, later on, said he came from an Everton family,

but he never mentioned it at the time, when you were with him,

and your father never mentioned it.

So they said "Yes, that's a good idea."

and put a footballer in the whole lineup:

Albert Stubbins.

And John chose Albert Stubbins because the name amused him.

If it had been any other year,

Ravi Shankar would be there and the Maharishi.

Many of them were Americans, so we had...

Back then, we didn't have emails.

We had to write to them, ask their permission,

and if they were dead,

we needed permission from the families.

So I had a file this thick

with all the correspondence from Sgt. Pepper.

Chertsey.

Ready to set off for Weybridge, a gypsy-style caravan.

A present for a four-year-old boy who probably has everything.

His name: Julian Lennon, son of John Lennon.

Who else but the Beatle?

It's a renovated carriage, with cheerful about 4,000 pounds,

a big toy for a small child.

He even needed a police escort,

but not all parents spend this kind of money on their children.

This could be an occasion when money can buy love.

If I ever decide to leave home, and it doesn't seem likely,

will be the on the road.

I visited a friend, near King's Road,

and there were quite a few of us, sitting around the table,

listening to great music, smoking weed

and nobody said much.

I remember there were some books on the table.

They were always spiritual books very interesting.

I remember picking up one called Karma and Rebirth,

from someone called Christmans Humphreys.

I was leafing through the book and I saw a sentence that said:

"Life goes on inside you and without you."

And I thought: "This is very special."

I immediately called Patti and George,

George answered and I said: "Listen to this:

'Life goes on inside you and without you.'"

He loved it and, of course,

that became the song "Within You Without You.

George Martin told me, years later, after George Harrison died:

"The reason for being the first song

on the second side of Sgt. Pepper

is so that people can skip to the second track without hearing it."

And I never thought it would work.

The presence of the sitar in music, in rock or psychedelic music,

was something very important on the Sgt. Pepper album.

No one had...

We had seen Elvis and Little Richard,

but we wouldn't imagine someone using a sitar

in a popular band, at that time.

Paul said, quite rightly, that when he was a child,

album covers were very important,

the colors of the brands and even the smell of the album.

He was very aware of the visual and tactile aspects

of an album and all the details that, as children, we absorb,

even the of Garrod and Lofthouse,

the printer, at the bottom.

He wanted it to be full of good things,

with good illustrations and details inside.

Fool had done...

A splash of color on the inside of the cover.

It did what it said on the packaging. It was stunning.

When we picked them up, they were dressed in Sgt. Pepper gear,

then we pull back the cover and think:

"We can cut out Pepper's moustache."

There was Sgt. Pepper. We can cut it out and put it up.

I think the dilemma was:

"Do I leave it as it is, so as not to ruin it?"

That's what I did, because I thought I wouldn't last long

wearing a cardboard moustache.

Especially at the age of ten.

I still have it as it was, flattened on the spot.

But that was the kind of thing that wrapped us in the cape.

It was all Paul's idea.

I saw sketches of what I was doing. I heard the discussions.

I've heard discussions about the title.

I heard how they were going to fix it.

And I passed by one day and he said: "Let's do the photography tonight."

So, I entered your Mini Minor

and we went to Michael Cooper's studio in Flood Street.

As we were leaving Paul's house, which he still owns, around the corner,

he said: "We'll need things to decorate the front."

They had seen drawings and were still experimenting and changing their minds.

I had seen suits arriving at the house. They tried them on and said:

"No, it's not that. I want a different one."

Then he said: "Choose something to put in front of the picture."

I looked around and from his shelf I took a statue.

I think, actually, I didn't know what it was.

It was like this:

Like a spaceship, which they had a few years earlier.

John had offered his to a fan who came to his door,

gave it to him.

So I took it down from the fireplace, next to her Magritte.

He loved Magritte

and had bought Magritte's portrait with the apple,

which was used by the Apple company.

And Linda bought it too

the easel and the pallet Magritte's original palette,

and he wanted to include Magritte, but no, the old one...

Robert Fraser's people, for whom he was an agent.

For me, that was a bit of a disaster.

It could have been a wonderful concept,

all their heroes and all the people who influenced them,

which would have given us a privileged view of the Beatles,

was rejected, so don't think that this is the genuine cover,

authentic Sgt. Pepper, because it's not.

It was a kind of deductive logic, of thinking:

"Who did they leave out?

Why all these?"

But they were all people of the time,

all the big ones.

We didn't know if they were raising them

or saying: "These are our heroes."

I wasn't sure, but for me, there was a lot of irony.

I thought:

"You know what? They're making fun of it."

They put all those people more than themselves,

they're putting them in there: "These are our friends."

And that lovely detail: "Welcome to the Rolling Stones."

It was incredibly expensive

and EMI thought they were crazy.

Why would they want to do all this on a pop album

that will be replaced within six months?

So... They didn't understand.

The Beatles had enormous ambition.

Huge ambition, talent and ego.

"We're going to do something special. This is going to be really good."

These are almost the medals and Pete Best's father

was a boxing promoter in Liverpool, at the Liverpool Stadium,

and had...

A kind of cup that was awarded to him in Liverpool,

that Neil Aspinall brought to be used on the cover.

My mother's family, even though they're English,

was born during British rule in India, was a military family.

Her father, my grandfather,

was a major in the Lancers.

And she was very proud of the fact her father had several medals.

I think on several occasions, while I was regaling them,

she showed these medals to the four of them.

Brian stopped by the house, obviously in 1967,

when they were assimilating everything for Sgt. Pepper.

John remembered the medals

and said: "I think they would be perfect for Sgt. Pepper.

Can you ask Mona if I can borrow them?"

She said to Neil: "Take them with my blessing.

But tell John I want them back."

So Neil took them to London.

At the time of the decision,

looking at the medals and the other pieces,

John decided that the medals he would wear

would be part of that collection,

so we can see them in Sgt. Peps.

The beauty is that he remained true to his word,

because he sent the medals back to Mona via Neil.

And that's how the family got involved in Sgt. Pepper.

The album became the best-selling album in the world

e...

They are there.

But for many years, nobody knew.

Chas and Jimi were good friends of mine

and I had an acetate of Sgt. Pepper.

I gave it to Chas and he played it for Jimi,

Jimi immediately got attached,

rehearsed and composed it.

I heard him play it at the Saville Theatre,

on the Sunday after the premiere of Pepper,

he touched it.

McCartney stopped by and loved it.

He felt very complimented,

because she was a rock star very, very tough,

playing his material. He was a composer.

He loved it when other people played his songs.

When Sgt. Pepper came out, on June 1st, 1967,

was announced for so long that we knew it was coming.

The anticipation was enormous,

we read that NME, Melody Maker, were waiting for this.

Wherever we went on King's Road, anywhere,

was ringing, in all the boutiques, all the stores.

It was an event.

And the album, when I saw the cover, the cover itself was an event.

It was as if they were saying: "We're not joking.

This is special."

It was a huge presentation.

When we were making the movie for "Strawberry Fields",

was filmed in Sevenoaks, Kent,

and there was a small hotel there called Bright's Hotel

and next door was an antique shop.

The poster was there, on the wall,

and he bought it for half a crown, or a pound, something like that.

Basically, it said:

"For the benefit of Mr. Kite", and listed all the numbers

Pablo Fanque's fair, and all that stuff.

The dancing horse.

He framed it and put it in his office in Weybridge,

and wrote the music...

THE BIGGEST NIGHT OF THE SEASON!

FOR CHARITY MR. KITE

... directly from the poster.

He turned it into poetry.

And then George Martin added the wonderful fairground effects,

a masterpiece.

Because he received inspiration in other ways.

On the album Sgt. Pepper,

and also the Daily Mail article about his friend, Tara Browne,

who died in a car accident.

And the same happened to Paul, taking the idea from the Daily Mail

for "She's Leaving Home" about Melanie Coe...

MISSING... THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO 'HAS IT ALL'

... who ran away with her man.

Paul added that it was with a man in the car business.

He invented it and everyone thinks it was Terry Doran,

but Paul says no.

Terry Doran was their friend who ran the car business.

Chertsey.

It was one of the wheels on John Lennon's Rolls. It's superb.

If you're over 80, it means you're fabulous.

A 1965 Phantom weighing 6000 pounds, as wonderful on the inside as it is on the outside.

Or maybe not so much,

now that the supercar has been tremendously improved.

Not even a Beatle could ask for more.

When Paul went public about LSD,

talking to a reporter from LIFE magazine,

that was used.

I certainly remember reading it on the cover of the Daily Mirror and,

of course, the news agencies came on board.

I think John was a bit sulky

because he and George were the first to take LSD

and Paul, who tried it relatively late,

was the first to say: "I took LSD."

They thought it was a bit unfair to them,

because they had been pioneers in this area.

Paul, how many times have you taken LSD?

TELEVISION NEWS INTERVIEW JUNE 1967

About four times.

And where did you get it?

If I told you where I got it,

as it is illegal, it would be stupid to say that.

I'd rather not say.

Don't you think it's a question you should keep private?

The point is that a journalist asked me a question,

so the decision was between telling a lie or...

Tell him the truth.

I decided to tell him the truth,

but I didn't want to say anything,

because if it were my decision,

if it were the way I want it, I wouldn't have told anyone,

because I'm not trying to spread the word.

But the newspaper man is the of mass communication.

I would have kept it private, if he had done the same.

But he wanted to spread the word,

so it's his responsibility, for spreading it, not mine.

But you are a public figure and it was you who said it.

I should have known that it would be in the papers.

But in saying that he was only telling the truth.

I'm telling you the truth.

I don't know why they're so angry.

Do you think you've encouraged your fans to take drugs?

I don't think it makes any difference.

I don't think my fans take drugs just because I did.

But that's not the point.

They wondered if he had done it.

From there, the point reached

and the number of people it will encourage

it depends on the newspapers, and on you, on television.

You are spreading it, right now, as we speak.

This goes for every home in Great Britain,

and I'd rather it wasn't.

But you're asking me the questions. You want me to be honest.

I'll be honest.

But as a public figure, you will certainly have a responsibility...

No, it's your responsibility.

You have a responsibility not to spread it now.

I'm prepared to keep this a private matter, if you are too.

If you remain silent about this, I will too.

We have to remember that the emergence of LSD,

the first was at a time when it wasn't illegal in this country,

in a place called International Psychedelic Center,

where we could enter to try it out on the street.

It was spread on a piece of bread.

Soon, it was outlawed,

and several very plausible very plausible,

that it was something fantastic.

John always said "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

was actually Julian, her son, who had come home from school

with a drawing, and it was of Lucy, a girl from school,

in the sky, with diamonds.

And John always said that it wasn't about LSD,

and he thought he wasn't.

I think it probably was, honestly.

John would have to be dyslexic

not to see that "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was LSD,

and we know that John was not dyslexic.

Although John says it was just an accident,

we can use a little artistic freedom

to think that it was a little more than a coincidence.

The initials "LSD" are random.

They...

I don't believe there was code anywhere,

but from time to time, in things like "I Am The Walrus",

people would ask: "What does that mean, John?

Can we clarify that?"

He would deliberately say meaningless things.

I have a quote in my book that says: "Let them figure it out for themselves.

Let them find out. It will confuse them."

He wasn't sending messages. He was sending diversions.

The Beatles have a very good history

about why "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is not about LSD,

but it was probably written by Brian Epstein, wasn't it?

I think it would probably be about LSD

and they were told that it would be better if it didn't.

As for the rest, the BBC was right, that's what it was,

but you were wrong to ban it, because it was part of youth culture.

In Sgt. Pepper, they knew what they were doing.

They were adding little jokes... There were jokes before

in Penny Lane, Fish and finger pie".

They added it on purpose.

It was a bit vulgar, actually.

Teenage obscenity.

They banned "A Day in the Life". They got it wrong.

"Too many holes to fill in the Albert Hall",

was based on an article in the Daily Mail...

THE POTHOLES IN OUR ROADS

... about potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire,

and thought it was related with needles in the arm,

so they banned it.

That was the kind of attitude that existed in those days.

There's no doubt that, on that album, they were taking risks.

They knew they were taking risks

when they made the long cry of "I'd love to turn you on".

They knew what they were doing,

they had gotten away with so much,

who thought they could get away with this, and to a large extent, they did.

They introduced the world

to psychedelics and psychedelic drugs.

They had the platform.

There were many things were happening in America,

a lot of drugs and Timothy Leary.

And to use that great phrase from the Tibetan Book of the Dead:

"She said: 'I know what it's like to be dead'",

which was stunning.

Suddenly, they went from "She Loves You" to that.

It was a dramatic statement.

Usually, it was Mick, Keith and his group

that they carried on their heads for being a terrible influence,

the kind of people we wouldn't let our daughter go out with.

But the Beatles were no saints. Certainly not themselves,

collectively, they would admit it.

Somehow, it wasn't seen as drugs

that have always terrified the British,

like cocaine, which was always present.

People used to say, in the 20s, people like Lady Diana Cooper,

a great social figure of the 20s,

he said later, when he met pop stars:

"In the 1920s, we used to go to dinners

and there were silver salt shakers full of cocaine."

So I wasn't very young.

Lennon was reading Lewis Carrol, and things like that,

were absorbing all this kind of stuff.

At the time, I suppose the drugs seemed progressive:

"We can find an inner light

and interpret it in certain ways."

Music is a spiritual thing, in many ways.

They retreated to the men's room.

They didn't do it in the studio.

Or they'd duck behind something

to take a quick puff on a joint.

But there was a moment when John had to climb onto the roof,

and, once again, this shows the closeness between them.

Paul took him home, to Paul's house in St. John's Wood,

and Neil Aspinall was there too,

and looked after John, as he needed care because of the LSD.

The issue with acids

is that we always know that whatever happens during the journey,

we knew it was there,

and now it's just a question of of living with that information,

instead of continuing to consume.

That's why it was easy when the Maharishi showed up,

because everyone was ready.

The Maharishi era begins, in fact, with George's wife, Patti Boyd,

who had heard of the Maharishi.

The Maharishi had been coming to London years before that.

I remember seeing his picture in the Metropolitan

long before the Beatles discovered it.

They were in a position where wealth, luxury and fame

start to get bored. They were looking for something else.

They were looking for something beyond that, something spiritual,

and the Maharishi was a shortcut

for inner joy and enlightenment.

All they had to do was half an hour a day, or something like that,

perfect for the attention span of a rock star.

One evening, I received a phone call from Michael McCartney

who told me: "There's going to be an event."

And there were always events in the 60s.

It could just be a hamburger and a Coke.

That was an event.

And he said: "They're going to Bangor tomorrow."

I said, "Where? Bangor?"

"To see the Maharishi." "Who is he?"

"They met him last night."

And they'd been to one of his events at the Hilton,

in some hotel, and they heard him,

and they were so...

George was already interested in Indian mysticism,

spiritual awareness and Indian music.

EUSTON STATION, LONDON, AUGUST 1967

I got on the train with the four Beatles

and sat down in a compartment.

It was 1967.

It was a compartment,

in those days, we had a corridor

and a first-class compartment. We could draw the curtains.

And I was sitting there with the four Beatles,

me, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull,

and we traveled to Bangor.

While we were traveling, we stopped a few times

in places like Chester.

There were kids on the platform screaming, shouting and getting up

autograph books... We could open the windows in those days.

And every now and then, a kid would get the autographs of three Beatles, but not

from John. He said, "I'm not signing that. I'm sick of signing it."

And I was in tears, so I signed it "John Lennon". Anyway...

The Maharishi was on the same train. That's why it was vital to catch that

train. We all went to his carriage

and he gave us a mantra that I can't reveal.

The Beatles seem to be among their supporters.

What do you think about it?

I feel a great promise for the younger generation,

because if the Beatles adopt Transcendental Meditation,

they are the ideal of energy and intelligence

the younger generation

and that will put the youth

at a very good level of understanding and intelligence.

I'm very happy about that, that we met last night,

for talking to me for about an hour.

They seem to be very intelligent and honest.

So he thinks that if the Beatles adopt his teachings,

can spread them among the young people of England?

Much more easily, not only in England, but all over the world,

because the word "Beatle" is known on every continent

and young people are fascinated by this name.

What do you think of the Beatles?

They're very good, intelligent young people, there's a lot of potential.

What about their music?

I didn't hear the music,

but how they are appreciated all over the world,

must have something in their music.

Cynthia was the Candide of Beatles history. of the Beatles, she was always left behind.

When they went to visit the Maharishi to Wales,

she stayed at the station. She missed the train.

They all got on the train. She was crying at the station.

I think the Maharishi was intelligent and knew how to get publicity.

AUTHOR "THE BEATLES '66"

People from previous generations

had done the same and had glued themselves to the rich and famous

because they knew that

if your ideas caught on with the more intelligent,

would pass on to normal people,

so this was nothing new, but the Maharishi did it

and the Hare Krishna people did it,

because they sensed things at Apple

and ended up with a recording agreement.

And if anyone knows the Hare Krishna movement,

I would turn it on

the popularity they achieved through the Beatles.

But I think given what you've experienced,

and knowing what I experienced,

at a lower level than them,

but I've experienced some of the things you do in a band,

we want to find more, you know?

There's the part about playing live on stage,

playing music, fantastic experiences

and fantastic introductions into our lives

and the way we deal with it, how we look at it.

They must have thought:

"Let's take this spiritual scene to another level."

The Maharishi was intelligent. He had a lady from American high society

that promoted it in America

and it was her son who became Bungalow Bill

in the song on The White Album.

He knew the advertising value to have, probably,

the four most famous types in the world,

certainly the most famous music group.

Although I probably didn't know their music,

would know the incredible value

to spread their message.

Yes, the Maharishi was a smart businessman

and he had a degree, I think, in physics.

He studied physics at university, so he had a scientific side,

an advertising side

and there was also the spiritual side.

When we arrived in Bangor, that night,

the roadies had not yet arrived.

I went to the city,

me and the four Beatles, to have a meal.

We went to a Chinese restaurant.

The bill was ten pounds

and I only had five pounds on me.

And he said: "I'm sorry, these are the Beatles." I'm upset.

They were Chinese employees, from Hong Kong, who had just arrived,

probably the day before,

and all they could hear was the Liverpool accent.

It was very common, on a Saturday night,

people from Liverpool showed up,

accumulate a huge bill and run away.

So they thought. They were closing the doors,

sharpening knives

and I said: "Listen, I'm a journalist at the Sunday Times,

I've written a lot of books. Here's my card. I'll get some money."

It was getting complicated,

until George put his foot on the table,

was wearing Indian sandals handmade sandals,

asked for a knife and cut off the top.

The problem was that the Beatles had been famous four years ago,

like the Royal Family, had stopped carrying money.

The roadies carried the money. They didn't pay anything.

Then George tore off his sandal

and took out a £20 note.

Three or four years later,

had become the people in the world

and multimillionaires on paper,

but they didn't carry any money. He thought: "One of these days,

I'm going to need money,

otherwise, there could be problems."

And it was that night.

Brian Epstein organized a party to celebrate Sgt. Pepper.

The Beatles originally wanted it,

make a movie or a show special promotional

linked to the album, which didn't happen.

But Brian had gotten into the game,

I had taken too many pills,

and everything else, and he was walking away.

Even Cilla Black and her husband

went to see Brian to tell him: "Cilla wants a new agent.

You're not paying attention anymore."

He cried at that meeting and asked her to stay with him.

Brian was

homosexual.

And the people in the middle realized that.

The strangest thing was that he...

Everyone, when they hear this, thought he must like Paul,

because Paul was the cute one in the Beatles.

But no, he liked John, because he preferred masculine boys.

When I was going to the hitch in London,

always tried to pick up guys who weren't homosexual.

He filled them up with drink, took them...

I only discovered this later.

He took them to his beautiful home,

tried to get them into bed

and then they beat him up

and that was his pleasure.

He was a masochist, he liked to be beaten.

And then they stole... things,

often stole acetate records to sell to Radio Luxembourg,

and it was absolute panic,

not that they stole jewels or money,

but to steal Beatles songs that hadn't been released.

There wasn't much for Brian to do.

We have to remember that NEMS,

Brian's company,

had become the largest entertainment agency in the world.

They represented everyone.

The Beatles, Andy Williams, the Bee Gees, Cream, Donovan,

Tony Bennett, and everything had grown in the last three, four years.

If the Beatles had stopped stopped touring, what would they have done?

and the contract with the publisher

was sealed and signed,

and the music promotion contract was signed,

there was very little for an agent to do, to negotiate.

Now they were looking for someone else for advice,

about how to live and how to spend your free time,

how to use your mind.

Brian felt more and more apart, he began to take more drugs,

finding new boyfriends

and being promiscuous.

He was isolating himself from them

as much as they were isolating themselves from him.

They signed up to his Transcendental Meditation movement,

have all agreed to join a course, in Bangor, North Wales.

It was a huge circus when they left by train

for a very unlikely environment,

a kind of college teacher training college.

But, of course, that's when the news of Brian Epstein's death reached them.

He was found in the on the second floor,

shortly after 2pm this afternoon, by her maid.

AUGUST 27, 1967

She said it was his habit to sleep late at the weekend,

especially if you've had a week at work.

She said that yesterday spent the whole day at home,

just like the night before, which wasn't normal for him.

Mr. Epstein hasn't been well for months

and usually takes pills to help you sleep at night.

Recently, just over a month ago,

was even more upset by his father's sudden death.

His friends have been trying to convince him to take a long vacation.

But just yesterday, I said to one of them: "I feel on top of the world."

Just over half an hour ago, a friend...

Friends have been arriving throughout the afternoon.

They have visited the house to see your lawyer, Mr. David Jacobs.

And one of them went out half an hour ago and said to the people around him:

"It was an accident."

He was an unhappy person.

He's never had a real partner.

He had several partners, several of them worked for Apple,

but it never became a serious relationship.

And when these things happened, he had the boys and it went badly,

he would get depressed.

He took pills, I'd get suicidal.

When he died, he didn't commit suicide, but he had...

There had been a previous suicide attempt.

And that made him very depressed.

Do you have a tribute you'd like Mr. Epstein?

We don't know what to say. We loved him, he was one of us.

- We can't... - We can't do it in words.

What are your plans now?

Return to London and do what we can.

Did Maharishi give you any words of comfort?

Yes, well...

Your meditation gives us the confidence to deal with something like this.

even with the little we've done.

What we came to know...

There is no such thing as death.

There is death on a physical level, but...

Life goes on everywhere, we do, in fact.

But...

The point is it's not as discouraging as...

It is and it isn't, you know?

And the comfort is knowing that he's okay.

I understand that this afternoon the Maharishi conferred with you.

May I ask what advice did I have for you?

He told us...

not to let ourselves overwhelmed by sorrow and...

Whatever our thoughts about Brian, to keep them happy,

because our thoughts about him will travel to him wherever he is.

Did he know Mr. Epstein?

No, but I was looking forward to meet him.

- Tomorrow? - Yes.

Thank you very much.

If we see that recording, John was completely stunned.

They were blown away by Maharishi.

It wasn't just another diversion.

They really believed in him.

They had been plunged in a chaotic world.

Brian was dead.

And that was...

EPSTEIN (THE PRINCE OF POP WHO CREATED THE BEATLES) DIES AT 32

I think we all have a time in our lives when we turn to religion,

as a way of life, as a philosophy, in search of answers.

And that's what they were doing.

I got the call from a friend, right at the beginning.

And I couldn't believe it.

I remember thinking: "What do we do from here?"

It was a complete shock for everyone.

What do we do?

But I remember Maharishi telling them:

"Don't worry, he...

He moved on to the next stage in his life.

You don't have to be sad.

He's gone and he's going to turn into this, he's going to do..."

He was saying all this crap.

And, unfortunately, the Beatles were interviewed

almost immediately afterwards.

The Maharishi had been throwing all these things, which was...

They seemed insensitive.

And Brian's mother, as well as Brian's brother Clive,

were bothered by this.

The way it was reported. It was unintentional.

The week Brian thought about going to Bangor,

didn't go, he stayed at home.

And that same weekend, Robert Stigwood invited me

for drinks one afternoon.

When I got there, Brian was at his house,

the three of us sat down and watched...

I don't know, we were watching athletics on TV and drinking.

Then we went to the Battersea Fun Fair

and we spent a few hours walking around and having fun.

We probably smoked weed, because we were smiling a lot.

I don't remember the grass, but I remember the smiles,

and one wouldn't exist without the other.

Then we went to dinner together.

At the end of dinner, Brian said: "I'd love to have dinner with you,

when are you free?" And we agreed dinner the next day.

The next day I met up with Brian, I went to his house,

we drove to Fredericks, in Islington, and had dinner there.

Then we went back to his house for a drink.

And it became clear to me, after a few brandys,

that Brian was thinking I was going to stay.

And I definitely was not going to stay.

So I said, "I'm going", and Brian got a bit temperamental.

And I said: "No, I'm sorry. I'm leaving." And I did.

And he told me... As I was leaving, he said:

"Please, come spend the weekend with me?"

And once again, what was the point?

I knew what he wanted and it wasn't something I wanted.

So I said: "I'll talk to you later." The next day, he called me and said:

"Are you coming to the country for the weekend?"

I said: "No, I'm going to Ireland."

What do we know about the end of Brian's life?

We don't know.

And we'll probably never know.

Obviously, I spoke to Jo, the next day, and she...

They couldn't...

They didn't even know I was home.

He should be in his country house.

E... then she said that she'd received a phone call

of his driver, saying he couldn't open the door.

She went there and found him, basically.

And I said at the time:

"I don't understand, because he was so happy to be there.

Why would I go home?

In the middle of the weekend?"

But I don't think anyone will know the story, really.

So...

You know my story with Brian. Do you want me to tell it?

- Yes, please. - Okay.

While I was in Ireland, I received a phone call from a friend

saying that Brian Epstein had died.

I immediately looked at the newspapers,

the newspapers said that he had been found that morning and he had died of an overdose.

I had in my house the first answering machine

that a company had made especially for me,

because they were experimenting what could be done with telephones.

And I had a sixth sense in my mind that told me

that when he returned to London and press the button,

I'd have a message from Brian.

And, of course, when I returned and pressed the button,

I had several messages from Brian.

He had gone to the countryside, just as planned.

He called me at home when I wasn't there, I was in Ireland.

And he said, "If you're there, please come to my country house."

And then he said: "I'm coming back from the field,

can you come over?"

I didn't go, because I didn't hear the messages, I was in Ireland.

The messages continued and became more and more distorted.

It was quite obvious, when I heard them,

that he was taking or something else.

He'd probably go to sleep, wake up, forgot and took another one.

Finally, the last message was very distorted,

he said: "I wish you were here", and other things...

Other personal things, not worth repeating.

And then he died.

So I was a bit involved in that.

And, of course, I took the right and stupid British attitude.

I immediately erased the tape.

I didn't even hear it a second time.

And here we are.

I didn't know the value of these things.

SEP 19, 1934 - AUG 27, 1967

Brian Epstein was always part of everything.

And it was a big shock,

because we think: "Will they continue?

What's going to happen now?"

In retrospect, it's almost as if as if he had played his part.

I had gone on to another spiritual world, and...

They were still elsewhere.

They realized that a protective shield.

Like a father... A protective father.

Brian's business wasn't always the best deals for the Beatles.

Because he was following precedent, the deals that had been done before.

He didn't realize that this was new territory.

But on the other hand, he was completely dedicated to protecting them.

How...

In the famous case of the "more popular than Jesus",

John's.

Brian would have canceled that American tour,

I was very concerned about their safety.

And in the end, contractually, he couldn't, but he wanted to.

That's what had disappeared, a shield. A waterproof shield

that he has always given them since he met them.

He helped protect them in that sense, and Brian...

Brian's group.

Peter Brown and the other people in the NEMS office,

they served the Beatles.

They paid all their bills,

bought presents for their girlfriends,

bought presents for their wives.

Many people say that Brian wasn't a great agent.

I might not be great at managing them as a mega group,

handling money at the highest level.

But without him, they wouldn't have happened.

It was his persistence, your affection for them,

his absolute certainty that they would happen

and that his music was great.

And he did other things that agents have to do

and he did it very well.

How to keep away from them.

He erected a barrier between them and the hangers-on.

Which is strange, because it has never managed to erect a barrier

between him and his own hangers-on,

who clung to him and sucked a lot of money out of him.

But he was very good at it with the Beatles.

And I kept those people away.

So without him, now that his careful attitude

with the money and finances had disappeared, the hangers-on flocked.

When you're part of a band, sometimes you need a referee.

Not many groups agree on everything.

I know we saw you on Help!

when they all entered the same door and lived in the same house,

but that was just a moment in the movie.

Everyone who's ever been in a band knows

that the characters develop in a group.

And we don't always agree,

but somewhere, we have something that makes it all work.

Some consensus, where everyone in the band

agrees with everything and moves on.

When Brian died, there was no referee to supervise them.

They couldn't do anything on their own.

They never had to do anything on their own.

They always had him.

As a band, he was the thing that had held them together so far.

They got up very quickly,

if we think logically.

And they opened Apple.

Apple was a financial measure, to try to consolidate their fortunes...

OPENING OF THE APPLE STORE, DECEMBER 1967

... and try to save them from an horrendous amount of taxes,

they could save if they invested in a business.

The point is that at the base, and that was a mistake,

was not to protect and consolidate their copyright.

It was a short-term in the short term, actually.

It was going to be a publishing house but with other ancillary businesses.

Because the Beatles' influence to other areas, such as fashion.

They were going to open a boutique...

They were going to do everything, really.

But it would be like a hippie Council of the Arts,

where young and creative people could find support and sympathy.

Because the Beatles remember when they were...

When they didn't have...

The Beatles have always had fantastic support.

It was a myth.

They had Brian Epstein, George Martin.

They had Dick James.

There were three men basically honest

who were encouraging them as much as they could.

But no, they suffered. So now they were going to help

the suffering masses of the creative community.

I interviewed Paul and he was full of ideas

about this of Communist Mark & Spencer.

All these things, and I thought: "God, this isn't going to work."

And I was thinking: "I'm not sure about this."

Because he had said: "Really, very interesting, but...

It's Paul,

and they could have been right. Apparently, they weren't right.

This is how Alice Pollock and Ossie Clark think young women will be walking this summer.

And, come to think of it, a couple of Beatles.

George Harrison, whose wife Patti Boyd, was a model in the show,

and John Lennon.

From curls to dresses, or, to be more precise,

a leather suit called Baz, worth 25 guineas.

Patti Boyd dressing up as the African Queen.

It's made of crepe and costs nine and a half guineas.

Less formal, a white satin jacket and black pants.

Ten guineas for the whole.

I worked in the Apple boutique from the beginning.

I was there for the three months before we left for India.

And it was so different from anything that existed.

To begin with, the beautiful trinkets from India,

the Ganesha posters, of the gods and goddesses.

It was very exciting to work there, and it was so different.

But it was also appropriate to the way we felt at the time.

That...

The world can be full of color, it doesn't have to be black and white.

Have they seen him?

- Last night? - Yesterday.

Yesterday, the moment they arrived, they were with me for ten minutes.

And now they've been with me since 10:00.

After breakfast.

How long were they with you?

From 10 a.m. until now. I think three hours.

And what did they do?

Did they meditate or talk?

Meditation, some conversation and meditation. They are very intelligent.

And they will be... graduated meditation guides?

- What will their status be? - I hope so.

What do you have to do to achieve it?

To achieve this, they need a clear experience of being.

I was told, although it wasn't true, by a doctor that I had tonsillitis.

In fact, it was something else.

And different people came to visit me.

John and Cynthia came one day,

and John said: "I have a drawing for you."

It was a drawing of an Indian man with a turban on his head.

He was playing the flute, sitting cross-legged,

and had a basket on his feet, with a basket coming out.

And the inscription was:

"By inner power and by external power,

I kick your headlight out of my tonsils. Sincerely, John and Cyn."

George used to say a lot: "Taking LSD

it gave me a glimpse of this and that, but it was like climbing a mountain

and when I looked up, I realized that there was another mountain range to follow."

So I think I wanted to chase him

in a drug-free way, if you like.

What's more, it was a natural break for them.

He gave them an excuse to be another, relatively quiet place together.

I'm not sure how Maharishi came into their lives,

but it wasn't the first.

Because I was always with the group.

I saw them every night at the Scotch of St. James.

And we all knew they were seeing someone else like that.

I think Maharishi was the second.

As they climbed the ladder of Indian mysticism,

realized that their Maharishi, or whoever he was, wasn't top-notch.

So they went to India with this other Maharishi.

Which, subsequently, we all learned was a fraud,

and it wasn't exactly the best.

But he gave them good rooms and five-star hotels.

It's good, to get into Indian mysticism,

in all its ascetic need, but in a five-star hotel.

There's a funny story.

When they decided to go to the Maharishi in India.

Maureen, Ringo's wife, had a horror of insects.

So she went to Harrods and bought some baby overalls,

but in adult size.

So that they couldn't approach her.

And Richie, who has always had a very sensitive stomach,

because I had been ill when I was a child,

said to me: "You can get me the medicine Dr. Collis Browne, several liters,

and baked beans, and fill a suitcase?

Baked beans, Collis Browne."

And that's what I did, I was full.

A whole suitcase by Collis Browne and...

And two weeks later they were home.

I said to Maureen: "That was a long stay.

Did you get rid of all the baked beans?"

There is no doubt that the whole Apple concept

had been thought of before Brian died.

It was something else that worried him,

because it would exclude him even more. He wasn't part of the planning.

They weren't pushing him, nor were they saying: "You're not involved."

But it certainly wasn't something his idea.

And I'd already heard about Apple several weeks before Brian died.

I think it was something else that made you feel

who was no longer part of them.

When they had Apple,

we used to have lunch in the main office.

We had a chef and everything...

Paul came in one day,

and they were losing money. It looked like they were giving it away.

He said: "Here comes a guy to tell us what we're doing wrong

with our business plans."

And it was Beeching.

He showed up, invited to lunch...

DOCTOR BEECHING - CHAIRMAN OF BRITISH RAILWAYS

... basically to use the brain to tell us what we were doing wrong.

They then organized this lunch,

and I was jotting down the minutes for the next meeting,

he looked at Paul and said:

"I have to say that I don't think I'm not going to be much use here.

Because I work for organizations much bigger than Apple."

And Paul said, "Oh, my God."

I looked at Paul and said: "I think so."

They had some good ideas, but also some crazy ideas.

They wanted to open a school, they wanted to publish books.

They wanted to do everything. Great ambitions. And they appealed to people:

"Send us your poems, your stories, your novels."

And, of course, they found rooms full of it

and they couldn't review them. They weren't ready for that.

And this was another area in which the Beatles were pioneers.

They didn't do it completely, but they have started

to have more control over your product.

Control over album covers.

The appearance of things and,

eventually, control over the material.

But not at the level of the percentages we have today.

The problem with Apple and Apple Boutique,

and everything that happened in that building on Baker Street,

was that they had money, they had freedom,

had ideas from India, of the Maharishi.

They had a lot of hangers-on.

And the hangers-on were very good at being...

Hangers are usually very good at what they do.

Like Magic Alex.

Who would have thought that we could get a roll of wallpaper with microphones

that would give us the best sound ever?

Magic Alex.

And I think, of all people, John was convinced he was a magician.

They were quite...

I think we were all naive.

It was all a new experience.

But I think it was good

have not been selfish with their fame.

Almost everyone who came up with an idea...

If someone came in and said: "I make great cream",

John would say: "Let's all eat cream with lunch every day."

Anyone could get a job there.

It was crowded with people. Second-rate people...

They were very charming, most of them, but second-rate.

And the Apple Boutique worked the same way.

If someone designed clothes that was interesting

and obviously not commercial, was for the Apple Boutique.

Almost everything they played, at the time,

seemed to be completely uncommercial.

Neil was incredibly conscientious and such a good man.

And Peter worked hard.

So the office ran smoothly and efficiently.

I had an office between Neil and Peter.

Neil and Mal were doing the beginning, basically,

from "The Long and Winding Road", reminiscent of a cassette.

And at the time, I was doing

all the letters to America.

All the news agencies were asking for old footage of the Beatles.

And that's how we recovered all things America.

They were very good, they did everything.

And one night in particular, I was passing by Neil's side.

And Neil and Mal, I'll never forget, were by the fire.

And I had to climb on top...

God, I shouldn't say that.

Derek Taylor, who was having sex on the floor,

and I couldn't get through.

The cartoon makes fun a bit with the Maharishi,

this means that you have ended the relationship with him

and he's a source of amusement? - We're not done, we're past that stage.

It was a bit of a phase.

But he's a good guy and we're all fine,

but we don't go out with him anymore.

I thought he was a fraud, ever since I heard about him.

I thought, "My God."

One of the problems, and John was the worst,

because he clung to things.

He really held on to things and was easily taken.

This could be a problem, as they had been somewhat protected.

They had been used to being the Beatles for so long.

They were...

And I thought: "This guy is a scammer."

And I'm sure it's related...

Meditation is probably a healthy for those who like it, of course.

But I didn't believe and I still don't.

The Beatles believed in the spiritual side of things.

And they wanted to spread the word.

And the Maharishi saw the Beatles as...

were world famous.

And they could spread his message.

Originally, the idea was that they would install

a TM meditation site in London

and the Beatles would be part of that.

Patti had some dreams about the Maharishi

that gave a different idea of him.

E...

And I think it was with Mia Farrow.

There were a lot of people.

But I also think that we were away from everything,

it was a different lifestyle, and here we were,

meditating, six, seven hours at a time,

maybe overnight, or for a couple of days.

And it was so different

than everyone used to, especially the Beatles.

In a way, the Maharishi got bad press,

but it was harmless.

And it was very... It looked strange.

But nowadays, we couldn't say that.

There was a great deal of ridicule of this figure.

And he just said things we couldn't answer,

like love one another, and things like that.

It was largely an extension of the hippie philosophy.

The poor Maharishi was warned that his prize troupe was leaving,

and he was sitting there, watching us go by,

with someone holding an umbrella over your head.

He kept saying: "Why are you leaving?"

He had no idea.

I know there's a famous quote, in which John said...

I don't remember this, but John did:

"If it's so cosmic, you should know."

And so it was.

CLOSING OF THE APPLE BOUTIQUE, JULY 1968

The Beatles' brief in the trade is over.

They say they are very tired of this particular toy.

No, I'm so shaken up. I don't even know what I'm doing here.

I've been here since 7:00 a.m. and I was pushed inside.

Are you shaken up because of the hit-and-run outside?

I've never seen anything like it.

I'm from Canada and this...

- What kind of clothes are you looking for? - I don't know. Suits, anything.

- Anything I can get my hands on? - Anything cool.

What are you looking for?

I don't know. Anything that's free.

Would you buy something here if it wasn't free?

It's too expensive for me.

What do you expect?

Anything. I'm not weird when it comes to haute couture.

A dress, I guess, or pants.

Would you buy something here if it wasn't free?

I've bought before. I've bought several things here.

It's not because it's free. It's because I like the store.

We have to ask ourselves

how long the relationship between the band

and the agent would last.

Then we have to add Yoko Ono

and his growing influence, certainly on John.

Then we started to look at the Beatles as a business.

Then we arrived at Allen Klein.

Then we get to the ever-changing face

of the history of this brilliant group.

For me...

is the ultimate album.

Because it meant so much and still does.

He continued after all this time.

It's the best rock music album in the world.

As far as I'm concerned, there isn't a bad Beatles album.

They're all brilliant.

And I suppose it's my best.

I think it's my best because that's what

I followed it from start to finish.

And it was very revolutionary in concept and cover.

So it was my best album.

It was huge, because at that time they had the capacity

to advertise it in a fantastic way.

And they all had in the palm of their hands.

We were all completely by the Beatles.

Hardly anyone criticized them. Everyone thought the cover was genius,

the songs were genius, the presentation...

For me, it was a miniature masterpiece.

It was like a pop symphony and it had a wonderful continuity.

The main scene, the title track, was at the beginning, it was at the end.

Everything followed everything else.

It was an absolute joy.

There's something about the Beatles for every mood.

The world, posterity, says it's the best album ever.

It's fantastic.

Who else do we have that has continued for 50 years,

and how many generations still hear it?

Listen to it in mono and don't worry about the stereo.

Because the Beatles weren't there when it was mixed.

They were in India. Where the four of them were,

listened to everything and made decisions. It was the mono version.

That's the most important thing I can say about Sgt. Pepper.

You know when you buy an album, and there's a...

That was years ago.

There are one or two, perhaps, on the whole album,

that we really like,

and the others... They're in the album.

Back in the day when we did it manually.

The Beatles' albums were the other way around.

There could be one that we didn't like very much

and we'd go crazy with the others.

They captured the moment, captured it.

They were perfect

and dragged everyone behind them, like a locomotive.

They dragged everything behind them.

And I think that if they had put

"Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" in Sgt. Pepper would have been different.

It would have been, literally, the best album ever made.

I contradict myself,

because sometimes I think: "I can't believe this is happening."

But then I think: "Well, but... I knew it would last forever."

That the music would last forever.

It's also a great window to an era of incredible change.

If you study the Beatles, at any level,

will be studying the 60s

and the history of the West, in a way, and how it has changed.

But it's a timeless question.

Just as people still study Shakespeare years later.

With the Beatles, there was also a feel-good factor.

I always used to say to my friends: "If you're down, listen to the Beatles."

It helps us see the world in much better places.

It has healing properties.

Four guys, it worked.

And the talent was there.

And I don't think other Beatles.

Back to the Liverpool Echo,

where there was an article with Brian Epstein.

He said: "I think the Beatles will be bigger than Elvis."

And everyone laughed. They said:

"How does a band from Liverpool from this small stage at the Cavern,

with all this leather,

can become bigger than Elvis?"

Because Elvis was there. He was in America,

was the biggest star in the world.

But he was proved right, it was the greatest band ever.

He saw something we didn't.

I think the Beatles were embarrassed by that,

and I think a lot of Liverpool bands too.

"Bigger than Elvis? Come on."

But Brian was right.

Even today, charisma and excitement

that the name "Beatles" creates...

Not just in Liverpool, all over the world, it doesn't matter.

In Mexico, in South America, Japan, Germany, wherever you want.

On a small island in Samoa, somewhere.

If you mention the Beatles, it's a euphoria.

That's it...

That's the legacy they left behind.

And whether anyone will overcome this legacy,

God only knows.

But it's an incredible legacy.

And it's fantastic for me, to have been a small part of that.

538 DAYS AFTER THE RELEASE OF SGT PEPPER,

THE BEATLES HAVE RELEASED A DOUBLE ALBUM WITH

30 NEW SONGS IN A SIMPLE WHITE COVER...

WENT STRAIGHT TO NUMBER 1 WORLDWIDE...

Subtitles: Luís Perat

Guys, where is the dog whistle?