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I think it's the best thing I've ever done.
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I think it's realistic,
3
00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:38,237
and it's true to the me that has been
developing over the years,
4
00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,589
I like first-person music.
5
00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,030
But because of my hang-ups
and many other things,
6
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I would only now and then
specifically write about me.
7
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And now I wrote all about me,
8
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and that's why I like it, it's me,
and nobody else.
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We just liked the idea
of this really raw, basic...
10
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truthful reality that we were
gonna be giving to the world.
11
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,639
The sparseness of the band
and the force of John,
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00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,389
that's why he's one of the greats.
That's how it is.
13
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The power, the strength
of when an artist of that quality
14
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and that imagination, that creativity,
15
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,395
reaches such truths about themselves,
16
00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,237
can be overhelming.
17
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,752
John is so special because
he writes right away what he feels.
18
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You can hear on Plastic Ono Band,
probably more than on any other album,
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00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,873
the quality of his singing, it's verz exposed,
20
00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,832
and it withstands that exposure.
21
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,790
He sent me the album,
and I had group therapy that night,
22
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,876
and I played it,
23
00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,753
and I saw 50 people in a heap, all crzing,
24
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it just touched them enormously.
25
00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,158
It was almost exhausting,
the first time you heard it.
26
00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,919
It's a statement, and then some,
27
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,635
and the braverz is immense.
28
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:53,391
It's so incredible. The emotion
on this record is just mind-blowing.
29
00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,075
He felt constrained by the Beatles
for quite some time,
30
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,156
and this well preceded
the break of the Beatles
31
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,034
and I think that his relationship with Yoko
and his meeting Yoko
32
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just made that obvious to him
33
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that there were so many other things
going on in the world
34
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,313
and possibilities for art
and what he was thinking.
35
00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,079
I actually didn't want to fall in love with him
36
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,111
because there were
so many other concerns
37
00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,631
and I'm sure that John had
the same kind of hesitation.
38
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,477
We had baggages.
39
00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:45,150
It was not just sort of like falling in love
with somebody you met in the street
40
00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:46,997
and he looked good, or something,
41
00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,079
there were so many different aspects
of the situation.
42
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,999
We stimulated each other,
43
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,749
and opened the kind of world
that we didn't know for each other,
44
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,791
and it was verz fruitful.
45
00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,231
When he was with the Beatles,
there was a concern, I'm sure, that he had
46
00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:10,434
to not go too far out
and ruin the thing for the other three.
47
00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,953
The Beatles were still active
when John decided that...
48
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,878
the Beatles themselves shouldn't be
his sole musical outlet.
49
00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,436
He needed some other outlet,
and he formed the Plastic Ono Band.
50
00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,755
Plastic Ono Band was a concept of Yoko's,
51
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,189
which is an imaginarz band.
52
00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,391
There was an offer from Berlin
that I should do a concert.
53
00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,399
And I thought, "Why don't I do
a verz original concert
54
00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,195
"and have tape recorders and radios
in plastic stands inside,
55
00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,800
"like those are the people."
56
00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:03,994
And I liked that idea, but I couldn't do it
because I got together with John.
57
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,349
I said, "I was gonna do that, but..."
58
00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,039
And he said, "Like this?"
59
00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,198
And he took some plastic implements
60
00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,710
that had toothbrush in, or whatever,
all these little ones,
61
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,115
just put it together and said, "Like this?"
62
00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,752
"This is Plastic Ono Band."
63
00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,112
And the first advert was a page out of
the London telephone book of the Joneses,
64
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,355
and pictures of these plastic things,
65
00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,597
and the advert said,
"You are the Plastic Ono Band."
66
00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,872
And the Plastic Ono Band was interesting
in that it became obvious early on
67
00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,957
that it could take any form he wanted.
68
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,355
It wasn't just going to be four people,
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00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,834
a replica of John, Paul, George and Ringo,
70
00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,871
it was plastic, it could be anYthing.
71
00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,600
We first did the bed-in in Amsterdam,
72
00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,713
and the point of the bed-in, in a nutshell,
was a commercial for peace
73
00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,912
as opposed to a commercial for war,
which was on the news everz day.
74
00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,236
Everz day it was dismembered bodies
and napalm.
75
00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:23,956
The bed-in was seven days, because
the press were always asking questions,
76
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,629
seven days of they can ask anYthing,
no secrets,
77
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,195
till you got everything you need to know
about John and Yoko,
78
00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,390
or what we stand for, what we are.
79
00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:37,353
We both felt that it was
an incredibly good idea, the bed-in,
80
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,393
and we were totally excited
about how we were expressing it.
81
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,749
We were always thinking about ourselves
82
00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,110
as performance art, or art or music,
83
00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,517
and so I thought, "This is priceless
as a performance artwork."
84
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:53,672
John called me and he said
85
00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:59,670
that they wanted to do a band
called Plastic Ono Band,
86
00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,871
and I got sort of worried
87
00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,151
thinking, great to play with John,
but what's it going to be?
88
00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,397
With Yoko, Plastic Ono, sounds funny,
89
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,115
maybe have to be naked up on stage
or something, I didn't know.
90
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,151
So I asked him to explain it to me.
91
00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,395
I told Eric Clapton and Klaus
that I was leaving
92
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,795
and I'd like to probably use them as a group.
93
00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,513
We hadn't decided how to do it,
94
00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,597
to have a permanent new group or what,
95
00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,758
and then I thought, "Fuck it, I'm not gonna
get stuck with another set of people,
96
00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:31,791
"whoever they are."
97
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,913
I announced it myself and to the people
around me on the way to Toronto.
98
00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,191
So we were on the plane
and didn't have any rehearsal,
99
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,518
and they made the last row on the plane
free for us,
100
00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:48,190
which was right next to the turbos
of the plane, which was nice and loud.
101
00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,708
So we sat there trzing to rehearse,
102
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,797
and he played Cold Turkey,
and he was singing...
103
00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,431
...and I thought, "What a great song."
104
00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:04,998
This song, the lyrics...
the shivers went down my spine.
105
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,598
I've always expressed what I've been feeling
or thinking at the time,
106
00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,235
however badly or not,
from early Beatles' records on.
107
00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,271
It became more conscious later.
108
00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,393
So I was just writing the experience I'd had
of withdrawing from heroin.
109
00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,317
He was always...
110
00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,875
putting something in the song
that was him, of course,
111
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:10,516
but when he was doing the Beatles
he must have had a different attitude,
112
00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:13,120
and now he could really do it.
113
00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,718
- Do you like Yoko's singing?
- I'm pretty influenced by it.
114
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,309
If you hear Cold Turkey, at the end of it,
ladies and gentlemen -
115
00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,079
RRP six and nine, out now -
116
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,634
if you hear Cold Turkey, at the end of it,
117
00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:47,390
I'm getting towards singing, or letting
the voice go as much as Yoko does.
118
00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,950
Having spent so much time
making the Beatles masterpieces -
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00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,309
Sgt. Pepper took a long time to make -
120
00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,157
Lennon really wanted to get back
121
00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,158
to a much more immediate way
of making records.
122
00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,795
So I think when he started
making solo records
123
00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,149
he wanted to make them as quickly
124
00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,830
and with as little fuss and as little
technical sophistication as possible.
125
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,077
I remember on Instant Karma,
it's verz, verz simple.
126
00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:30,712
It was done in one day -
127
00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,433
Instant Karma, instant song, instant playing.
128
00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,670
It was great, cos I wrote it in the morning
on the piano, like I've said many times,
129
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:53,711
and I went to the office and I sang it,
130
00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,558
and I thought, "Hell, let's do it,"
and we booked the studio.
131
00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,751
And this time there was
this little man coming in,
132
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,793
with his high voice, saying,
"Can you put this instrument a little higher?"
133
00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,229
And he was talking and doing things,
134
00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:10,068
and I thought, "Who the fuck is this?"
I didn't know who that was.
135
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:11,838
That was Phil Spector.
136
00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,919
Phil came in, he said, "How do you want it?"
I said, "1950 but now."
137
00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:17,552
He said, "Right."
138
00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,398
And I did it in about three goes,
139
00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,592
and went in, and he played it back,
and there it was.
140
00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:26,756
I did a rough mix.
141
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:32,352
I hadn't quite got everything up, fader-wise,
or track-wise,
142
00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:37,349
and Lennon said,
"That'll do, I'll take a copy."
143
00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,278
Off, and that was it, that was the master,
144
00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,515
a rough mix at the end of the session.
145
00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,234
Cold Turkey and Instant Karma
were verz much the prototypes
146
00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,114
for what he was about to do.
He was stripping things down,
147
00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:08,349
making things simpler,
making his concerns more personal.
148
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,390
The Plastic Ono Band,
which was his first solo album,
149
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:17,275
was based most clearly
on his experiences in primal therapy.
150
00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:19,311
It was all this pent-up stuff
151
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,877
that was floating around in his mind
for years.
152
00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,911
We'd get so many books from people,
153
00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,997
and there was a book called
Primal Scream that came to us
154
00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,477
and John was saying, "This is you!
This is great." And he started reading.
155
00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,512
They were supposed to
review the book, but
156
00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:41,509
they asked me to come to London
to treat John, who was in bad shape.
157
00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:45,792
We called him up and he came over
and we started primal therapy
158
00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:48,274
in England, and finished it off in California.
159
00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,915
While we were in the therapy,
John started to write songs,
160
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:53,791
and most of the songs were written then.
161
00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:58,960
In a nutshell, primal therapy allowed us
to feel feelings continually...
162
00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,313
and those feelings usually make you crz.
163
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,920
Dr Janov's idea is that his patients
164
00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,872
should have what he calls
a primal experience,
165
00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,595
that is they should relive
the pain of their own birth.
166
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,712
His theorz is that the pain of birth
can have catastrophic effects
167
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,513
that cause lifelong tensions in the child.
168
00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:23,190
By helping them retrace their experiences
in carefully controlled conditions,
169
00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,232
Dr Janov claims
his patients find their way back
170
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into their mothers' wombs.
171
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I think his whole album is just
an assault on the senses
172
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,916
in the sense that it's just raw.
173
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,394
I mean,
"Mother, I had you, you never had me."
174
00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,433
He was always talking about his mother
and how he regretted the fact that
175
00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,790
she didn't get to see him
become so successful.
176
00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,310
I was raised by my auntie. My father
and mother split when I was about four.
177
00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:24,229
He was a merchant seaman.
You can imagine, it was 1940s, in the war.
178
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,953
He left, and I was brought up by an auntie.
179
00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,594
And then when I was 16, I re-established
a relationship with my mother
180
00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:56,631
for about four years, she taught me music.
181
00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:00,275
She first of all taught me the banjo,
and I progressed to guitar.
182
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,835
The first song I learned was
Ain't That A Shame by Fats Domino,
183
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,396
and then she was run over by an off-duty
policeman who was drunk at the time.
184
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,635
He had an enormous amount of pain.
185
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,070
I've seen an awful lot,
and I don't think I've ever seen the equal.
186
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,910
It was a terrible thing and also a good thing
because it just drove him.
187
00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,593
The fact that he has to get this song
out of his system
188
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,872
means he has to scream,
if it's a song where he has despair.
189
00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,550
Yoko had some influence on his screaming
190
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,115
and getting the best out of his screams
that she could.
191
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:55,957
John would come in
192
00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:01,233
at the end of each session,
he'd have a go at the vocal on Mother.
193
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:06,798
I'd have to drop in at that point
and he would go for the vocal.
194
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,310
It was really raw on his voice,
he'd do the screaming,
195
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,749
and it'd always have to be
at the end of the night
196
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,678
because after that he couldn't do anYthing,
he'd lose his voice.
197
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,150
And there's the incredible screams.
198
00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:28,795
We can hear it soloed.
199
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,078
Wonderful.
200
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:54,631
It's one of the highlights of the record,
201
00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:59,071
and no one had ever really sang
like this before, especially a Beatle,
202
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,031
sort of let rip like that.
203
00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,834
The looseness of the singing
was developing on Cold Turkey
204
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,792
from my experience of Yoko's singing.
205
00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,514
She does not inhibit her throat.
206
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,518
It was verz important to him that he actually
does put what he's writing in a song
207
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,632
into the way he's singing it.
That's what makes a good singer.
208
00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,389
If it's Dylan or if it's John or if it's anybody,
209
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,238
that's how a good singer has to sing.
210
00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,876
The simplicity of what Klaus and I
played with him,
211
00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,754
gave him a great opportunity
to actually for the first time
212
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:41,435
really use his voice how he...
213
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,751
and his emotion how he could.
There was no battle going on.
214
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,234
John's voice was everything,
215
00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,271
and he...
216
00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,713
he communicates with his voice
everything that he wants to communicate.
217
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,758
It was only me, John and Ringo,
218
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,030
and when we heard the songs,
219
00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,548
we didn't start fiddling about
220
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,388
and doing, "We are only three people,
now we have to play a lot." No.
221
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:29,997
Simplicity.
222
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:33,559
Klaus.
223
00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,675
Hello, Klaus - playing chords.
224
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,675
Verz good, Klaus.
225
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:49,711
That's quite ingenious, really.
226
00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:35,118
"Hold on now," you know.
227
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,549
We might have a cup of tea
228
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,309
or we might get a moment's happiness
any minute now.
229
00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:43,396
So that's what it's all about, you know,
230
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,070
just moment by moment,
that's how we're living now,
231
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:50,475
but really living like that,
232
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,351
and cherishing each day,
233
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,676
and dreading it too, you know -
it might be your last.
234
00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,314
It sounds funny,
but you might get run over by a car.
235
00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:03,070
I'm really beginning to cherish it
when I'm cherishing it.
236
00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:05,634
This is John and his experience,
1
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,591
And we felt that experience,
2
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,952
and we put that experience
in our way onto the tape.
3
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,313
He would just sit there and sing them
4
00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:17,351
and we would just sort of jam
5
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,790
and then we'd find out
how they would sort of go,
6
00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,071
and we did them,
and it was very loose, actually.
7
00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:29,114
And it being a trio also was a lot of fun.
8
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,549
We actually were live in the studio,
9
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:36,276
and the atmosphere
of those people being together in the studio
10
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,279
comes on the record, you can feel it,
it is a difference.
11
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,676
It kind of emphasises my view on life
12
00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:49,113
that you should do a song with somebody
singing along with it at the time.
13
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,038
All of these were done with John singing.
14
00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,071
We didn't necessarily keep the vocal,
15
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:58,477
but it gave everybody an idea
of what the song was all about.
16
00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:02,957
If we can get in a mood together
over a couple of days,
17
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:07,471
I wanna do them all like this, if I can just
get relaxed and maybe sing it all right.
18
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,070
We'll try this one now.
So you can practise chords.
19
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:14,111
- Which one is that?
- The D one now.
20
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,151
I'm just gonna go where me mood takes.
21
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,590
I can play the piano even worse
than I play guitar.
22
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,394
So that's a limited palette, as they call it.
23
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,557
And so I surprise meself.
24
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,752
I have to think in terms of,
"Go from C to A,"
25
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,268
and I'm not quite sure
where I am half the time.
26
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:42,311
John just learned to play the piano,
27
00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:47,195
and he picks three notes, and it's just
a little leading note on the left hand,
28
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,549
and it's just beautiful, the way he does it,
29
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,034
and this is the way to write songs.
30
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,038
If somebody can do that,
he can do anything.
31
00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,029
The alienation started
was when I met Yoko,
32
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,231
and people do not seem to like people
getting a divorce.
33
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,238
It's all right to do it quietly,
but we can't do it quietly.
34
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,273
So we fell in love, and it's unfortunate,
we fell in love and we married.
35
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,869
A lot of people sort of think that to be odd,
36
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,195
but it happens all the time
37
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,357
and Yoko just happened to be Japanese,
which didn't help much.
38
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,391
We get a lot of race letters.
39
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,398
Well, there are crackpots
who do that to everybody.
40
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,079
"Why did you marry a Jap?"
You know, things like that.
41
00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,270
"She'll stab you in the night."
42
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,149
"Just like they did in the war."
43
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,556
- Somebody sent me a doll.
- Look what we did to them in the war.
44
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,398
A rubber doll with lots of pins stuck on it.
45
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,831
John and Yoko took an awful lot of criticism
in the late '60s for what they were doing,
46
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,838
and they were a kind of running news story
for Fleet Street.
47
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,871
They were a gift, really, to the newspapers,
48
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,832
especially the middle-aged
newspapermen editors
49
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:54,711
to whom it was shocking
50
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,548
that they were doing things
entertainers weren't supposed to do -
51
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,556
advocating peace, for instance.
52
00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:30,115
I was mainly on this record a timekeeper.
53
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,754
You know, it's very straight, very few fills.
54
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,394
There's a few lifting the track occasionally,
55
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:44,994
but the basic job on this record
was just holding it down
56
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,554
wherever John wanted to take it.
57
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,149
People are supposed to listen to the words,
listen to the song,
58
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,555
and get into the feel of this.
59
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,878
In my mind, I had this thing
about the fact that his voice...
60
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,559
He didn't need anything else, just the voice.
61
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:04,593
So this is just John's double-tracked vocal.
62
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,076
On this section, it goes John either side.
63
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,155
And then at the end,
they come in together in the centre.
64
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:47,831
Great. So good.
65
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:11,635
Since John met Yoko,
things were going up for John, definitely.
66
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:13,477
He was very lost.
67
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,876
I had several experiences with him
68
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:21,914
where he was very down
and didn't want to live,
69
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,953
you know, he didn't have much joy in life,
70
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,276
and he didn't know where he was going,
what he was doing.
71
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:34,519
He was famous and everything,
but still, that man was very unhappy,
72
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:40,237
and Yoko really was the start
for him getting better and better.
73
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,796
Yoko's influence upon John
74
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:46,751
on every level of the relationship,
75
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,109
especially musically,
76
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,073
is evident in each and every one
of these songs.
77
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:54,712
I was the wind.
78
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,673
Whenever I noticed something,
79
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,234
he used to say, "Just whisper to me."
80
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,794
So there was a lot of whispering going on.
81
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:05,478
She played the atmosphere.
82
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,115
She has a musical ear
and she can produce rock and roll.
83
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,993
She can produce me,
which she did for some of the tracks.
84
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,998
I'm not gonna start saying,
"She did this and he did that,"
85
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,270
but when Phil couldn't come at first...
86
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:21,393
From what I understand, Phil Spector was
invited to be part of this album all along,
87
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,956
but, having heard the tapes
and seen the recording sheets,
88
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,151
it's quite clear that most of the album
was done without Phil Spector,
89
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,919
which may be a surprise to some,
it was to me.
90
00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,076
John took out an ad in Billboard
91
00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:37,715
at the beginning of October 1970,
after the album had begun,
92
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:42,197
basically saying, "Where are you?
I've started, come and join the fun."
93
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,279
If we had a producer, he'd say, "Carry on."
94
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,834
But we can't find that drunken junkie.
95
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:53,829
I have no real memory
of Phil producing this record at all.
96
00:27:54,880 --> 00:28:00,079
I remember he came in later...
97
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,918
but I never felt Phil was like,
"Oh, he produced this record."
98
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,954
The engineer took down what we did,
and then John would mix it.
99
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,673
Isolation and Hold On John,
they're the rough remixes.
100
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,109
I just remixed them that night on 71/2
101
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,994
to take them home to listen to them,
like Instant Karma and other things.
102
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:24,272
This is still before Phil came,
but the idea, if you remix it right away -
103
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,914
I'd known that before
but never followed it through -
104
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,520
it worked on every one that I did like that.
105
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,757
I just remixed them the same night -
Hold On John, Isolation
106
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:34,518
and I Found Out.
107
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,836
Like when you were saying,
108
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,952
"Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
for a long time."
109
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,949
That's Paul sang that, but that belongs
to all of us, he's singing about all of us.
110
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,230
We've all got to carry it till we die.
111
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,158
You weren't thinking of anyone in particular?
112
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,237
How could I be?
How could I be thinking of you?
113
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,078
I don't care me, but just all...
It's all somebody.
114
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:24,830
I'm thinking about me, or at best Yoko,
if it's a love song.
115
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,916
But that's it. I'm basically singing about me.
116
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,829
I'm saying, "I had a good shit today
and this is what I thought this morning,
117
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,314
"and I love you, Yoko," or whatever.
118
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,351
I'm singing about me and my life,
119
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,312
and if it's relevant for other people's lives,
that's all right.
120
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,751
John was always full of enthusiasms.
121
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,349
He was always searching
for some kind of answer, or solution,
122
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,358
or something that would bring him peace,
the world peace,
123
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,791
and he went through enormous numbers
of ideas and philosophies
124
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,831
and ideologies and fads.
125
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,714
One minute it was macrobiotic foods,
the next minute it was going in bags,
126
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,435
the next minute it was Buddhism,
the next minute it was Hare Krishna,
127
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,029
the next minute it was... you name it.
128
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,789
You know, politics, this group, that thing,
Phil Spector,
129
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,118
and he'd go through them, he'd eat it up,
get really over the top about it,
130
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,151
and then kind of...
131
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,800
discover that it wasn't
all what it was cracked up to be,
132
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,389
maybe retain some of it, and kind of reject it
133
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,431
and move on to the next thing.
134
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,553
He had a solid core of hostility and anger
135
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,319
and cynicism and scepticism,
136
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,352
and that kept all the nonsense away.
137
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:18,110
If somebody's gonna impress me,
whether it be a Maharishi or a Janov,
138
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,596
then there comes a point
where the emperor has no clothes.
139
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:27,158
They have to have a deep and clear
experience of being.
140
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,751
So, for all you folks who think that I'm having
the wool pulled over my eyes,
141
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,519
well, that's an insult to me.
142
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,669
That's one of his famous breaks there.
143
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,119
Great drums on I Found Out.
144
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,072
That's where they sort of
come up a notch there.
145
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:12,079
If I get a thing going,
Ringo knows where to go... like that,
146
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,350
and he does what...
147
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:16,834
We've played together so long that it fits.
148
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,440
That's how it felt we should go,
149
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,950
and so, you know,
I brought in the toms a bit more there.
150
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,116
I always loved Ringo's playing,
151
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,948
and lots of people in America,
152
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,992
all the drummers I know, great drummers,
153
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:36,989
if it's Jim Keltner or Bill Cobham,
those fantastic technicians,
154
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,600
fantastic drummers, they all love Ringo,
155
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,790
because Ringo has taste,
156
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,913
those little fills he's doing,
so sparse and so to the point.
157
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,919
The track is what we're playing for,
158
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,430
and Klaus is behind the track as well,
159
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,994
he's not there to show off.
160
00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,955
We're doing the best we can
for the overall emotion of the piece.
161
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,551
I think that some people thought of Ringo
as a sort of...
162
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,354
a normal drummer, but, you know,
163
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,155
when you listen to something like
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band...
164
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,037
I was so amazed
that he could just go on like that,
165
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,390
following up right away,
and right to the point, it was really good.
166
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,078
Her record was a lot of fun
because it was like a jam,
167
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:31,399
and then she would do
her crazy singing on top of it.
168
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,749
It was one of those thing that just happened.
169
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,156
We started Why without her,
she was in the control box,
170
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,431
it was meant to be my session,
and we got into such a good lick,
171
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,119
and on the beginning of the track,
I said, "Hey, hey!"
172
00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,470
I'm trying to signal her to come in and start
173
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,115
because it was right for her to sing with it,
but she didn't hear me,
174
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,516
she wandered in
because she was inspired by the sound,
175
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,437
and she just came in and grabbed a mic.
176
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,711
John would sort of be the lead musically,
and we would play,
177
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:00,751
and then Yoko would do her...
178
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:04,471
Peace and love, Yoko.
179
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,152
It was the first real rock-and-roll take
we ever did together
180
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:19,557
and it's Ringo, Klaus, me on guitar,
and Yoko on voice,
181
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,559
and the fascinating thing is, even we didn't
know where Yoko's voice started
182
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,673
and where my guitar ended on the intro,
but you can tell.
183
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,270
John kept wanting to create a relationship
184
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,959
between my album and his album
185
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:14,834
to show to the world that
we did it together, kind of thing.
186
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:18,714
So, he said, "How about mine called Primal
187
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,230
"and Yoko's called Scream?"
Primal, Scream.
188
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,796
But finally he managed to have a cover
189
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,594
of both of us sitting
under a beautiful tree in our garden,
190
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,837
and one, John is sitting like this
and I'm leaning on him,
191
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,713
and the other, I'm sitting
and John's leaning on me,
192
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:38,910
and that's the only difference.
193
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,475
It's a fascinating record,
because it's totally unlike anything else,
194
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,158
well ahead of its time,
195
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:48,637
and sometimes I dig it out and play it
to bands that I work with today,
196
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:50,750
and they're really impressed,
197
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,268
it's like, "Wow, how did you do that?"
198
00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:57,199
We were just becoming stark-naked real.
199
00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:00,038
Not naked necessarily, but real.
200
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:04,995
And so, mine was very real,
201
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,429
and John was real in a different way,
202
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:13,077
but we both kind of exposed ourselves.
203
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,675
We all had our wives and our families,
204
00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:20,316
and we'd go to work and come back,
and they'd say, "How was your day?"
205
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:22,157
"It was fine, we did a couple of tracks."
206
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,955
Then suddenly Yoko
was living in the studio with us,
207
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,798
it freaked us out, freaked me out, anyway.
208
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:32,756
And I asked him, "What is going on?"
209
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,110
He says, "We're gonna spend
every minute together."
210
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,833
So as soon as you knew that,
you were cool,
211
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:40,836
and that's what they did.
212
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:45,192
There's nothing more important
than our relationship, nothing,
213
00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:47,993
and we dig being together all the time,
214
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,750
and both of us could survive apart,
but what for?
215
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,792
I'm not gonna sacrifice love,
216
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:57,398
real love,
217
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:02,150
for any fucking whore or any friend,
218
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:03,997
or any business,
219
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:07,271
because in the end, you're alone at night,
220
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:09,436
and neither of us wanna be.
221
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,797
So this is just the guitar and vocal
on its own.
222
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,596
Very tender.
223
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,516
Lennon's singing on that, I think is...
224
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,552
His singing throughout the album
is very beautiful.
225
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,876
There's great attention
to texture and phrasing,
226
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:07,391
particularly on Love,
which is clearly a very heartfelt song.
227
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,034
It speaks of his devotion
228
00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:12,514
to this extraordinary woman
229
00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:14,869
who had divided the world.
230
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:50,196
In the interview that I did with him,
231
00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:53,073
he talked a lot about how he and Yoko,
232
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:55,953
particularly Yoko, had been treated as...
233
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:00,232
her as a second-class citizen,
as a woman, as an Asian,
234
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:02,271
and I think probably a lot of that's true
235
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,437
but I also think
that there was a desire to blame her
236
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,632
for what he himself wanted to do,
which was get out of the band
237
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:12,274
and go his own way and grow up
238
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:16,632
and get away from this teenage thing
that he'd been involved in all his life.
239
00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:27,670
Hey, come on, you were doing that!
240
00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:32,191
His 30th birthday occurs
during the making of the album,
241
00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:35,232
and 30 was a landmark
that he himself had put down,
242
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:38,113
he used to say, "I don't wanna be
fiddling around the world
243
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:40,515
"playing She Loves You when I'm 30."
244
00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:44,439
Well, he's 30 now, and She Loves You
is back there somewhere,
245
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,393
and he's moved on,
and he's moving away from Abbey Road
246
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,318
and it's very much the end of an era now.
247
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:56,032
We were both very political people,
in our conversation,
248
00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:01,473
and I think it was very exciting for me
that I'm actually...
249
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,473
married to a working-class person,
a working-class hero.
237
00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,356
I didn't even reaIise there were two
untiI somebody pointed it out.
238
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:20,473
I mean, you do say ''fucking crazy'',
don't you? That's how I speak.
239
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:25,389
And it was just... I was very near to it
many times in the past,
240
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:30,150
but I wouId deIiberateIy not put it in,
which is the reaI hypocrisy,
241
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:31,633
the reaI stupidity -
242
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:35,389
I wouId deIiberateIy not say things
because it might upset somebody
243
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:37,476
or whatever I was frightened of.
244
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:42,150
EMI, the record company,
were uncomfortabIe
245
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:47,593
with the fact that they had a piece
of product that had swearing on it.
246
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,835
For a whiIe, they considered bIeeping it,
247
00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:51,950
then they Iet it go, but they did say to John
248
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,913
that he couIdn't have the Iyric
printed in fuII on the sIeeve.
249
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,349
So, being a pragmatist, which he was,
250
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,278
he thought, ''I want my record
to get out there,
9
00:42:01,327 --> 00:42:04,080
''I'II asterisk the swear words out,''
10
00:42:04,127 --> 00:42:06,800
but he made EMI own the asterisks,
11
00:42:06,847 --> 00:42:10,726
he made them say,
''Omitted at the insistence of EMI.''
12
00:42:32,127 --> 00:42:35,278
I think it's for the peopIe Iike me
who are working cIass,
13
00:42:35,327 --> 00:42:37,841
whatever the...upper or Iower,
14
00:42:37,887 --> 00:42:43,439
who are supposed to be processed into...
15
00:42:44,367 --> 00:42:47,086
into the middIe cIasses, you know,
16
00:42:47,127 --> 00:42:50,802
or into...through the machinery, that's aII.
17
00:42:50,847 --> 00:42:56,080
This is my experience,
and I hope it's just a warning to peopIe.
18
00:42:56,127 --> 00:43:01,599
I think it was a very honest
and rather beautifuI attempt
19
00:43:01,647 --> 00:43:07,643
to express regret at something
that he'd Iost or perhaps never had,
20
00:43:07,687 --> 00:43:10,804
at a certain kind of honesty
that he couIdn't aspire to, even,
21
00:43:10,847 --> 00:43:13,759
because of who he was
and what had happened to him.
22
00:43:14,247 --> 00:43:17,478
One has to compIeteIy humiIiate oneseIf
23
00:43:17,527 --> 00:43:21,486
to be what the BeatIes were,
and that's what I resent.
24
00:43:21,527 --> 00:43:23,961
Once he decided that he was going to
25
00:43:24,007 --> 00:43:27,886
get off that boat of the BeatIes,
so to speak,
26
00:43:27,927 --> 00:43:30,395
I think he just became very reaI.
27
00:43:30,447 --> 00:43:35,805
You're born in pain,
and pain is what we're in most of the time,
28
00:43:36,887 --> 00:43:42,086
and I think that the bigger the pain,
the more gods we need.
29
00:43:42,127 --> 00:43:45,164
God is an amazing song.
30
00:43:45,207 --> 00:43:48,802
''God is a concept
by which we measure our pain,''
31
00:43:48,847 --> 00:43:50,599
is a very profound thought.
32
00:43:50,647 --> 00:43:55,084
He rented a house in BeI Air,
which is a very ritzy area here,
33
00:43:55,127 --> 00:43:57,482
and we taIked about things,
34
00:43:57,527 --> 00:44:00,439
and he said, ''What about God?''
35
00:44:00,487 --> 00:44:03,797
and I wouId go on and on about God as...
36
00:44:03,847 --> 00:44:08,477
peopIe who have deep pain generaIIy
tend to beIieve in God with a feevency,
37
00:44:08,527 --> 00:44:13,601
and he said, ''You mean God is a concept
by which we measure our pain.''
38
00:44:13,647 --> 00:44:17,083
I'd go aII around it,
and he wouId just...Iike that.
39
00:44:17,127 --> 00:44:21,757
And that was John. John couId take
very profound phiIosophic concepts
40
00:44:21,807 --> 00:44:23,206
and make it simpIe.
41
00:44:46,447 --> 00:44:48,483
Isn't that an incredibIe track?
42
00:44:48,527 --> 00:44:52,839
And BiIIy Preston never put his hands
in the wrong pIace. Never.
43
00:44:52,887 --> 00:44:54,923
And I've known him since he was 16.
44
00:44:56,487 --> 00:45:00,719
One of the few musicians who never
put his hand in the wrong pIace.
45
00:45:00,767 --> 00:45:04,043
He was on Let It Be
and they got on reaI weII.
46
00:45:05,407 --> 00:45:09,036
BiIIy Ioved the band and they Ioved BiIIy.
47
00:45:09,087 --> 00:45:13,399
John actuaIIy said, ''Come on, BiIIy,
do a IittIe of your gospeI piano,
48
00:45:13,447 --> 00:45:15,642
''it's about God.''
49
00:45:15,687 --> 00:45:19,965
He inspired him to do something about his...
50
00:45:20,007 --> 00:45:23,397
That's his upbringing,
BiIIy Iearned piano pIaying
51
00:45:23,447 --> 00:45:25,836
and organ pIaying in church,
52
00:45:25,887 --> 00:45:29,197
and he reaIIy beIieved in God,
53
00:45:29,247 --> 00:45:32,637
and that's the way he pIays on this song.
54
00:45:32,687 --> 00:45:34,120
It's beautifuI.
55
00:45:34,167 --> 00:45:37,364
It's interesting just hearing
the two sounds of the pianos.
56
00:45:37,407 --> 00:45:43,596
One is a normaI cIassicaI piano,
a Steinway piano,
57
00:45:43,647 --> 00:45:45,683
which BiIIy Preston pIayed,
58
00:45:45,727 --> 00:45:47,843
and then we've got the honky-tonk piano,
59
00:45:47,887 --> 00:45:51,004
which is simpIer pIaying,
just a rhythm piano,
60
00:45:51,047 --> 00:45:52,799
which is what John pIayed.
61
00:45:52,847 --> 00:45:56,806
Both Steinway pianos,
but just a totaIIy different sound.
62
00:46:04,607 --> 00:46:07,724
Just soIo the drums here, just to give you...
63
00:46:09,527 --> 00:46:12,246
Just interesting just hearing these...
64
00:46:16,527 --> 00:46:22,045
And the fact...
Each one of these toms, tom fiIIs,
65
00:46:22,087 --> 00:46:23,645
are aII different.
66
00:46:23,687 --> 00:46:26,326
I've never done a fiII the same twice...
67
00:46:29,287 --> 00:46:34,315
cos when I do it, it's what...
68
00:46:34,367 --> 00:46:36,676
it's where I'm at at that moment, you know.
69
00:46:36,727 --> 00:46:39,878
And so if you wanna
then re-record that track,
70
00:46:39,927 --> 00:46:43,363
I'II do a fiII in that space
but it won't be the same.
71
00:46:47,927 --> 00:46:51,078
You know, my way of drumming,
yeah, I can keep time,
72
00:46:51,127 --> 00:46:53,846
but the fiII, which I aIways feeI is my art,
73
00:46:53,887 --> 00:46:58,915
is it has to do with the surrounding
atmosphere at that moment.
74
00:47:30,647 --> 00:47:33,320
LittIe by IittIe, aII of the veiIs
were being puIIed away,
75
00:47:33,367 --> 00:47:36,598
aII of the idoIatry, aII the peopIe
he feIt were just incredibIe,
76
00:47:36,647 --> 00:47:40,322
and you reaIise, when aII is said and done,
you onIy have yourseIf,
77
00:47:40,367 --> 00:47:44,201
and that's just the truth, and he came to
that concIusion very quickIy in therapy.
78
00:48:29,447 --> 00:48:34,840
It's Iike I no Ionger beIieve in myth,
and BeatIes is another myth.
79
00:48:34,887 --> 00:48:37,196
PeopIe reaIIy did think the Mop Tops,
80
00:48:37,247 --> 00:48:40,762
the Fab Four were going to Iast forever.
81
00:48:40,807 --> 00:48:45,403
It was shocking.
''I don't beIieve in the BeatIes.''
82
00:48:45,447 --> 00:48:48,280
Said that in print in RoIIing Stone
and on that aIbum.
83
00:48:48,327 --> 00:48:50,443
It was a very big thing with John,
84
00:48:50,487 --> 00:48:56,483
he was going through a hard, heavy time
of finding himseIf,
85
00:48:56,527 --> 00:49:00,281
dispeIIing a Iot of his chiIdhood
86
00:49:00,327 --> 00:49:02,682
and putting it into a reaI space,
87
00:49:02,727 --> 00:49:06,003
you know, and searching,
Iike the rest of us,
88
00:49:06,047 --> 00:49:11,440
for the meaning of Iife,
as Monty Python said.
89
00:49:11,487 --> 00:49:14,718
So, you know, it didn't...
90
00:49:14,767 --> 00:49:16,598
For me, I pIay drums, OK?
91
00:49:16,647 --> 00:49:21,402
And if he wants a search, I'II pIay with you.
That's how it was.
92
00:49:54,567 --> 00:49:58,196
The dream's over, Iike, it's over,
and we've got to...
93
00:49:58,247 --> 00:50:03,082
weII, I have, anyway, personaIIy,
got to get down to so-caIIed reaIity.
94
00:50:03,127 --> 00:50:07,120
That's Iike one of the key Iines
in that record -
95
00:50:07,167 --> 00:50:08,759
''The dream is over.''
96
00:50:08,807 --> 00:50:11,799
The PIastic Ono Band LP is the extreme
97
00:50:11,847 --> 00:50:18,082
because you reaIIy have John just taIking
the way he feeIs.
98
00:50:18,127 --> 00:50:20,436
He was aIways brave,
99
00:50:20,487 --> 00:50:23,160
he wouId put it out there,
100
00:50:25,247 --> 00:50:28,842
and the consequences sometimes
were very harsh,
101
00:50:28,887 --> 00:50:31,481
but he wouId aIways put it out there,
102
00:50:31,527 --> 00:50:34,325
that's why you couId not not Iove him.
103
00:50:34,367 --> 00:50:36,358
It's John Lennon at his most pure,
104
00:50:36,407 --> 00:50:40,002
and we've Iost him.
105
00:50:40,047 --> 00:50:42,277
We Iost him in 1980
106
00:50:42,327 --> 00:50:46,002
and we don't know what we wouId have got,
had he Iived,
107
00:50:46,047 --> 00:50:48,720
but we know what he gave us
when he was aIive
108
00:50:48,767 --> 00:50:52,521
and this record is just
so incredibIy personaI.
109
00:50:52,567 --> 00:50:56,480
It was the biggest statement he couId make.
There are no compromises in it.
110
00:50:56,527 --> 00:50:58,677
There are some beautifuI things
111
00:50:58,727 --> 00:51:02,640
but they're not the resuIt of
wanting to make something pretty.
112
00:51:02,687 --> 00:51:05,645
The onIy thing in the worId that Iasts
113
00:51:05,687 --> 00:51:07,678
is that which is reaI.
114
00:51:09,807 --> 00:51:12,196
PIastic Ono Band was reaI.
115
00:51:12,247 --> 00:51:14,238
He was naked in front of his fame.
116
00:51:14,287 --> 00:51:16,517
Just straight nakedness.
117
00:51:16,567 --> 00:51:20,446
And it was right there, aII the time,
and he had to deaI with it.
118
00:51:20,487 --> 00:51:23,365
Some peopIe deaI with it by drink,
and this and that,
119
00:51:23,407 --> 00:51:25,398
he got with it by writing songs,
120
00:51:25,447 --> 00:51:27,642
IuckiIy for aII of us.
121
00:51:28,207 --> 00:51:32,803
It was a revoIution for a BeatIe to do this,
I suppose,
122
00:51:32,847 --> 00:51:36,237
to say, ''Listen, I'm human. I'm reaI.''
123
00:51:37,287 --> 00:51:40,518
I think it took a Iot of courage for him to do it.
124
00:51:40,567 --> 00:51:49,279
I wouIdn't Iike to be inteeviewed
on a Iot of records...
125
00:51:50,447 --> 00:51:54,918
but this, I don't mind, cos it's a beautifuI
record and he was a beautifuI man
126
00:51:54,967 --> 00:51:58,721
and I'm priviIeged to feeI he was my friend.
127
00:52:56,898 --> 00:53:00,527
This is the song Remember
and it's a very simpIe song.
128
00:53:00,578 --> 00:53:03,138
John pIayed piano with the guide vocaI,
129
00:53:03,178 --> 00:53:05,533
which isn't there any more,
130
00:53:05,578 --> 00:53:09,127
but I'II just pIay the basics of it.
131
00:53:14,058 --> 00:53:16,697
LittIe bit of reverb.
We had a bit of reverb on that.
132
00:53:16,738 --> 00:53:18,251
Just to here.
133
00:53:21,818 --> 00:53:25,811
And the drums are Iike Ringo just pIaying
aImost Iike a drum Ioop.
134
00:53:25,858 --> 00:53:31,728
It sounds aImost Iike a Ioop, the same
aII the way through apart from the bridge.
135
00:53:31,778 --> 00:53:33,336
Very soIid.
136
00:53:34,858 --> 00:53:37,167
And the bass very, very simpIe too.
137
00:53:48,498 --> 00:53:50,568
And one.
138
00:53:55,258 --> 00:53:57,249
Tape echo on the vocaI.
139
00:54:33,818 --> 00:54:37,731
I mean, it's sort of interesting
how as a song it aII works.
140
00:54:37,778 --> 00:54:42,294
And the actuaI individuaI pieces
are quite basic and quite pIain.
141
00:54:44,218 --> 00:54:48,814
There's an interesting section coming up
now, the bridge where the drums change.
142
00:54:48,858 --> 00:54:53,488
And it becomes quite BeatIey,
there's quite a BeatIey feeI to it.
143
00:55:04,138 --> 00:55:06,413
EspeciaIIy with the bass that comes in here.
144
00:55:33,698 --> 00:55:37,691
And aIso on that section
John overdubbed the harmony.
145
00:55:37,738 --> 00:55:40,206
There again it's quite BeatIey.
146
00:56:16,298 --> 00:56:21,247
WeII, there's aIso a coupIe of
interesting things that I don't remember.
147
00:56:21,298 --> 00:56:22,651
And...
148
00:56:25,538 --> 00:56:27,733
There's two tracks of jaws harp.
149
00:56:28,818 --> 00:56:32,606
Not quite sure who pIayed it,
whose idea, who we can bIame for it,
150
00:56:32,658 --> 00:56:34,649
but there's...
151
00:56:39,018 --> 00:56:42,294
Maybe it was PhiI's idea.
Let's bIame PhiI.
152
00:56:42,338 --> 00:56:45,330
But anyway, they weren't used.
153
00:56:46,018 --> 00:56:49,090
In fact one of them got wiped
to put the vocaI harmony on,
154
00:56:49,138 --> 00:56:51,811
so it was obviousIy...
155
00:56:52,898 --> 00:56:54,775
somebody's idea.
156
00:57:16,858 --> 00:57:18,689
OK. Stop.
157
00:57:19,218 --> 00:57:20,492
OK.
158
00:57:20,538 --> 00:57:24,929
And I think what actuaIIy happened there,
just my memory's jogged back in,
159
00:57:24,978 --> 00:57:28,015
what happened,
because the vocaI stops and he says,
160
00:57:28,058 --> 00:57:30,333
''Remember the 5th of November,''
161
00:57:30,378 --> 00:57:32,528
I think the track shouId have gone on,
162
00:57:32,578 --> 00:57:35,297
I think initiaIIy the vocaIs
shouId have gone on.
163
00:57:35,338 --> 00:57:40,970
And then I think maybe it was John's idea
to have a sort of a bomb on the end of it.
164
00:57:41,018 --> 00:57:43,737
It's the day they bIew up
the Houses of ParIiament.
165
00:57:43,778 --> 00:57:47,214
We ceIebrate it by having bonfires
every November 5th.
166
00:57:48,218 --> 00:57:50,527
I just... It just was an adIib, you know.
167
00:57:50,578 --> 00:57:53,411
We'd been doing...
It was about the third take.
168
00:57:53,458 --> 00:57:58,532
And I just... And it begins to sound
Iike Frankie Laine when you're singing...
169
00:57:59,538 --> 00:58:01,893
Then it was the end.
I didn't know how to go...
170
00:58:04,938 --> 00:58:08,897
And I just broke away and it went on
for about another seven or eight minutes.
171
00:58:08,938 --> 00:58:11,327
I was just adIibbing and goofing about,
172
00:58:11,378 --> 00:58:14,768
but then I cut it there and just expIoded
because it was a good joke.
173
00:58:14,818 --> 00:58:19,130
And I thought it was just poignant that we
shouId bIow up the Houses of ParIiament!
174
00:58:24,458 --> 00:58:26,767
And this is just an earIier take.
175
00:58:28,778 --> 00:58:30,211
Have a Iisten.
176
00:58:31,098 --> 00:58:33,089
I think it's great.
177
00:58:39,498 --> 00:58:43,013
This is when I enjoyed doing this aIbum
because it was fun.
178
00:58:59,538 --> 00:59:02,098
You can hear KIaus trying to catch up.
179
00:59:12,778 --> 00:59:15,372
It's getting a bit fast. Fucking heII.
180
00:59:19,498 --> 00:59:23,411
Yes, weII, in-between it was a bit too much.I used to just do...
181
00:59:35,418 --> 00:59:37,978
I mean, as was typicaI back then,
182
00:59:38,018 --> 00:59:41,294
you took everything
and everything was a rehearsaI,
183
00:59:41,338 --> 00:59:45,172
and you never knew
where something wouId Iead.
184
00:59:45,218 --> 00:59:48,733
And especiaIIy back in BeatIe times too,
185
00:59:48,778 --> 00:59:51,975
you'd sort of have a song
that wouId start off in one vibe,
186
00:59:52,018 --> 00:59:56,569
and go into a totaIIy different direction and
that was the way the song wouId end up.
187
00:59:56,618 --> 01:00:00,896
And obviousIy here
they started way, way too fast.
188
01:00:00,938 --> 01:00:04,374
Knowing how impatient he is,
I thought he wouId have stopped after
189
01:00:04,418 --> 01:00:09,208
two bars of it being fast,
but he obviousIy was enjoying it,
190
01:00:09,258 --> 01:00:10,930
or having a good time.
191
01:00:10,978 --> 01:00:13,970
It's great to hear this kind of stuff,
what went on.
192
01:00:14,018 --> 01:00:17,897
It just reminds me of the fact
that they were reaIIy fun times.
193
01:00:23,881 --> 01:00:27,794
WeII, The BeatIes first met KIaus
in Hamburg in 1960.
194
01:00:27,841 --> 01:00:31,038
They got to Hamburg as unknowns
195
01:00:31,081 --> 01:00:35,393
and within a few weeks
they attracted a kind of an arty crowd.
196
01:00:35,441 --> 01:00:40,117
And in particuIar, there were three friends
who came down together.
197
01:00:40,161 --> 01:00:44,200
There was KIaus,
Astrid, who was his girIfriend,
198
01:00:44,241 --> 01:00:47,995
and Jurgen, who was their friend,
friends of both.
199
01:00:48,041 --> 01:00:50,874
KIaus came down first,
he dragged the others down.
200
01:00:50,921 --> 01:00:55,312
None of them had ever seen anything
Iike The BeatIes ever before.
201
01:00:56,481 --> 01:00:59,871
CouIdn't beIieve their eyes,
feII in Iove with them,
202
01:00:59,921 --> 01:01:03,914
befriended them
and kept in touch with them.
203
01:01:04,961 --> 01:01:07,521
And eventuaIIy in about '64,
204
01:01:07,561 --> 01:01:09,916
KIaus came to EngIand.
205
01:01:09,961 --> 01:01:13,237
And he Iived with Ringo and George
for a whiIe.
206
01:01:14,921 --> 01:01:19,153
And then got settIed. Got himseIf a job,
I think with an advertising agency,
207
01:01:19,201 --> 01:01:23,638
started doing some work for Brian Epstein
designing ads and stuff Iike that.
208
01:01:24,721 --> 01:01:28,475
And then designed
The BeatIes' RevoIver sIeeve.
209
01:01:28,521 --> 01:01:32,400
He was a graphic designer,
so this was his trade.
210
01:01:32,441 --> 01:01:35,194
The RevoIver sIeeve
was obviousIy a reaIIy good one.
211
01:01:35,241 --> 01:01:36,959
And they aII Ioved KIaus,
212
01:01:37,001 --> 01:01:39,071
so KIaus was a paI.
213
01:01:39,121 --> 01:01:40,190
And...
214
01:01:40,241 --> 01:01:42,436
But then he took up the bass.
215
01:01:42,481 --> 01:01:46,599
I think he...
I think he had Stuart SutcIiffe's oId bass,
216
01:01:46,641 --> 01:01:49,394
Stuart being The BeatIes'
former bass pIayer,
217
01:01:49,441 --> 01:01:52,877
and he eventuaIIy joined Manfred Mann
218
01:01:52,921 --> 01:01:55,674
as their bass pIayer
and pIayed with them for a whiIe.
219
01:01:55,721 --> 01:01:58,474
I think he pIayed with The HoIIies
for a bit as weII.
220
01:01:58,521 --> 01:02:01,957
He was a bass pIayer
and he was a designer and he was a friend.
221
01:02:02,281 --> 01:02:05,591
So when John needed a bass pIayer,
222
01:02:05,641 --> 01:02:10,112
which being that he didn't want to use PauI,
he needed a bass pIayer,
223
01:02:10,161 --> 01:02:11,594
there was KIaus.
224
01:02:11,641 --> 01:02:16,032
KIaus was a true friend and KIaus
was a friend right through to the end.
225
01:02:17,744 --> 01:02:21,623
One, two, a one, two, three, four.
226
01:03:26,664 --> 01:03:30,543
The guitar sound is something
that we search for today.
227
01:03:30,584 --> 01:03:32,540
It's Nirvana, it's...
228
01:03:32,584 --> 01:03:35,781
It's what aII young guitarists, you know,
229
01:03:35,824 --> 01:03:38,338
Arctic Monkeys or something, you know,
1156
01:03:38,612 --> 01:03:40,523
this is what they're going for.
1157
01:03:40,572 --> 01:03:43,769
This is John doing it,
you know, aII that time ago.
1158
01:03:48,412 --> 01:03:51,449
That's typicaI, Iike, Kurt Cobain-type sound.
1159
01:03:52,572 --> 01:03:56,929
Even Radiohead, you know, Radiohead
wouId go for that kind of edgy thing.
1160
01:03:56,972 --> 01:04:02,285
It's not... It's not Iike fuII-on distortion,
it's got a musicaIity to it.
1161
01:04:02,332 --> 01:04:05,847
The guitar sound was
the NationaI wooden-bodied guitar,
1162
01:04:05,892 --> 01:04:08,008
but with a metaI sounding pIate,
1163
01:04:08,052 --> 01:04:11,681
and he was using a Fender Vibro Champ,
1164
01:04:11,732 --> 01:04:14,121
which is a smaII one speaker,
1165
01:04:14,172 --> 01:04:17,482
it's Iike a six-inch speaker,
IittIe portabIe amp, reaIIy.
1166
01:04:17,532 --> 01:04:20,205
But you couId reaIIy crank them up,
turn them up.
1167
01:05:46,932 --> 01:05:50,004
And here's a IittIe bit of John's vocaI again.
1168
01:05:51,812 --> 01:05:54,565
Now he starts again...
1169
01:05:54,612 --> 01:05:55,886
screaming.
1170
01:06:00,972 --> 01:06:04,931
I mean, how do you sing Iike that
and taIk afterwards?
1171
01:06:04,972 --> 01:06:06,769
UnbeIievabIe.
1172
01:06:52,687 --> 01:06:55,565
So this is WeII WeII WeII.
1173
01:06:55,607 --> 01:06:57,723
It's the best version.
1174
01:06:57,767 --> 01:07:02,761
And there's just a IittIe thing I aIways
remember that happened on the day.
1175
01:07:02,807 --> 01:07:06,720
And I've actuaIIy written it down here,
an interruption.
1176
01:07:10,607 --> 01:07:12,598
It's that guitar sound again.
1177
01:07:22,487 --> 01:07:24,045
There was a IittIe thing.
1178
01:07:24,087 --> 01:07:25,679
ShaII I pIay that again?
1179
01:07:26,647 --> 01:07:28,239
This is just a IittIe...
1180
01:07:28,287 --> 01:07:32,405
For some reason we thought they were
going to be stopping or something,
1181
01:07:32,447 --> 01:07:35,644
and Yoko reaches for the taIkback button,
1182
01:07:35,687 --> 01:07:36,802
and this is...
1183
01:07:40,367 --> 01:07:42,323
I mean, that was very good,
1184
01:07:42,367 --> 01:07:43,641
You see.
1185
01:07:43,687 --> 01:07:49,239
She just says, ''I think that was very good,''
but she comes through the studio speakers.
1186
01:07:49,287 --> 01:07:52,757
It's on the actuaI master,
you can hear it on the record, actuaIIy.
1187
01:07:52,807 --> 01:07:55,799
It's just Iike in the drop-down part,
where the...
1188
01:07:55,847 --> 01:07:58,884
Kind of before it comes back in
for the ending, you know.
1189
01:07:58,927 --> 01:08:03,159
I don't know if you couId get rid of it.
WeII, actuaIIy, Iet's find out.
1190
01:08:03,207 --> 01:08:08,486
We're Iistening to it on the vocaI track,
but we couId have taken the vocaI out.
1191
01:08:13,167 --> 01:08:14,759
It's very faint there.
1192
01:08:14,807 --> 01:08:17,037
I think John probabIy wanted it Ieft in.
1193
01:08:17,087 --> 01:08:19,885
You know, he probabIy said, ''That's it.''
1194
01:08:19,927 --> 01:08:22,395
You know, ''Yoko's on the record.''
1195
01:08:22,447 --> 01:08:24,403
No one compIained, you know.
1196
01:08:26,408 --> 01:08:28,968
I was there when he did
Working CIass Hero,
1197
01:08:29,008 --> 01:08:32,921
and it's two takes, actuaIIy,
which are cut together.
1198
01:08:32,968 --> 01:08:35,926
There's a cut somewhere
and I think you can hear the cut
1199
01:08:35,968 --> 01:08:38,198
when you reaIIy Iisten to it properIy.
1200
01:08:38,248 --> 01:08:42,207
PhiIip McDonaId recorded a version of it
1201
01:08:42,248 --> 01:08:45,718
and it's just very simpIe,
it's just guitar and vocaI.
1202
01:08:45,768 --> 01:08:47,963
It's sort of aImost Iike a poem,
1203
01:08:48,008 --> 01:08:51,557
you know, the Bob DyIan kind of song.
1204
01:08:51,608 --> 01:08:56,443
And John came to me when I started
working on the project and said,
1205
01:08:56,488 --> 01:08:59,207
''I've Ieft a verse out,
1206
01:08:59,248 --> 01:09:02,206
''and I need to record a verse and put it in.''
1207
01:09:02,248 --> 01:09:05,718
And I said, ''WeII, OK.
Or do you want to do the whoIe song?''
1208
01:09:05,768 --> 01:09:09,602
He said, ''No, I don't want to do
the whoIe song, I just want to do the verse.''
1209
01:09:09,648 --> 01:09:12,958
And Spector's saying,
''He just wants to do that.''
1210
01:09:13,008 --> 01:09:15,727
So what we had to do was...
1211
01:09:17,688 --> 01:09:20,202
try and get exactIy the same sound,
1212
01:09:20,248 --> 01:09:22,125
which I didn't...
1213
01:09:23,248 --> 01:09:24,237
do.
1214
01:09:24,288 --> 01:09:28,281
It was different. He was pIaying different,
I think he had a different pick.
1215
01:09:28,328 --> 01:09:32,287
So what actuaIIy happened was when
we recorded it and edited it together,
1216
01:09:32,328 --> 01:09:35,559
put the extra verse in,
it sounded totaIIy different.
1217
01:09:35,608 --> 01:09:38,122
And I was a bit sort of worried about it,
you know,
1218
01:09:38,168 --> 01:09:41,001
being an engineer
you have to get everything right.
1219
01:09:41,048 --> 01:09:45,644
He said, ''That doesn't matter, the most
important thing is that that verse gets in.''
1220
01:09:45,688 --> 01:09:48,043
WeII, what we actuaIIy did was,
1221
01:09:48,088 --> 01:09:53,526
we had the guitar and vocaI on
a muIti-track tape, on two tracks of the tape.
1222
01:09:53,568 --> 01:09:57,117
And what we must have done
was pIay that to John,
1223
01:09:57,168 --> 01:10:00,046
so he couId get the tempo and how it went,
1224
01:10:00,088 --> 01:10:02,921
and then we took that
out of his headphones,
1225
01:10:02,968 --> 01:10:05,402
and then he sang the verse,
1226
01:10:05,448 --> 01:10:09,043
and then we mixed them off
and edited them together.
1227
01:10:09,088 --> 01:10:12,046
So this is actuaIIy the chorus before the...
1228
01:10:13,688 --> 01:10:16,282
verse comes in. And you can get the idea.
1229
01:10:18,488 --> 01:10:22,163
And this is from the originaI eight-track tape,
1230
01:10:22,208 --> 01:10:24,438
which is now 37 years oId.
1231
01:10:25,368 --> 01:10:27,563
And we're quite Iucky to have this.
1232
01:10:37,008 --> 01:10:38,805
So this is PhiIip's verse.
1233
01:10:46,088 --> 01:10:48,079
And this is the one that I did.
1234
01:10:56,088 --> 01:11:01,924
WeII, it aImost sounds Iike a different guitar,
but he promised me it wasn't at the time.
1235
01:11:07,368 --> 01:11:11,441
Same mics, everything was the same,
we were Ied to beIieve.
1236
01:11:17,448 --> 01:11:20,724
It had gone by then.
It was just the verse we used.
1237
01:11:34,808 --> 01:11:38,642
Here's where the two versions are together,
just to show you what happened.
1238
01:11:50,368 --> 01:11:52,484
Very confusing.
1239
01:11:52,528 --> 01:11:55,406
And here's the edit actuaIIy on the record.
1240
01:13:10,328 --> 01:13:13,240
It was just him in the studio.
1241
01:13:13,928 --> 01:13:16,044
Just pIaying by himseIf.
1242
01:13:16,088 --> 01:13:17,316
BeautifuI.
1243
01:13:21,419 --> 01:13:24,491
WeII, at the same time
as working on John's record,
1244
01:13:24,539 --> 01:13:26,257
and I think it just happened,
1245
01:13:26,299 --> 01:13:29,848
it's Iike John said,
''OK, we're gonna do Yoko's record now.''
1246
01:13:29,899 --> 01:13:33,733
And so I think it was aII recorded
in one evening.
1247
01:13:34,699 --> 01:13:37,896
And it was KIaus and Ringo,
1248
01:13:37,939 --> 01:13:42,649
John on guitar
and Yoko Iive in the studio in the booth.
1249
01:13:43,339 --> 01:13:45,614
And reaIIy they just jammed.
1250
01:13:45,659 --> 01:13:49,777
They just pIayed a fast bIues
and a sIow bIues,
1251
01:13:49,819 --> 01:13:51,650
something in-between.
1252
01:13:52,419 --> 01:13:55,729
And I'd just keep running tape untiI it run out.
1253
01:13:55,779 --> 01:13:58,054
You know, as soon as the tape
wouId run out,
1254
01:13:58,099 --> 01:14:01,296
I'd quickIy put on another reeI
and start again.
1255
01:14:01,339 --> 01:14:05,252
And I guess aII the recording
was done in one day.
1256
01:14:06,139 --> 01:14:10,132
But I think we spent, you know,
maybe a week, two weeks, editing.
1257
01:14:10,179 --> 01:14:14,218
You know, Iisting back, choosing sections.
1258
01:14:16,259 --> 01:14:17,931
Adding Iots of...
1259
01:14:17,979 --> 01:14:21,415
There was one or two tracks
where we added Iots of effects,
1260
01:14:21,459 --> 01:14:26,249
Iots of repeat tape echoes
to make the drums aII tumbIe and things,
1261
01:14:26,299 --> 01:14:27,971
on her voice and things.
1262
01:14:29,459 --> 01:14:31,814
There was Iots of edits, you know.
1263
01:14:31,859 --> 01:14:35,488
In a way it was earIy days of
Iooping and sampIing,
1264
01:14:35,539 --> 01:14:38,736
which is what you do with computers
so easiIy now.
1265
01:14:38,779 --> 01:14:40,895
And in those days, we wouId...
1266
01:14:40,939 --> 01:14:44,056
I can remember after
mixing the whoIe track,
1267
01:14:44,099 --> 01:14:47,011
which was a whoIe reeI of tape, 30 minutes,
1268
01:14:47,059 --> 01:14:51,257
Yoko wouId choose one section
1269
01:14:51,299 --> 01:14:54,257
and then another section
and then another section.
1270
01:14:54,299 --> 01:14:59,214
And I'd have to join them together,
I'd have to edit these sections together
1271
01:14:59,259 --> 01:15:01,898
on the beat and make them fIow.
1272
01:15:01,939 --> 01:15:05,818
And then sometimes she'd say,
''No, no, I want that section again,''
1273
01:15:05,859 --> 01:15:08,009
which wouId mean I'd have to copy it
1274
01:15:08,059 --> 01:15:12,132
and more or Iess Ioop it,
which is what you do in computers.
1275
01:15:12,179 --> 01:15:16,013
I mean, nowadays, you know,
a Iot of music's created that way,
1276
01:15:16,059 --> 01:15:20,098
and reaIIy it was the forerunner of
that kind of technique,
1277
01:15:20,139 --> 01:15:22,289
of Iooping and sampIing.
1278
01:15:22,339 --> 01:15:25,695
We were kind of sampIing her voice
1279
01:15:25,739 --> 01:15:28,458
inasmuch as we were copying it
and repeating it,
1280
01:15:28,499 --> 01:15:31,889
and overIaying it on top of
other rhythm sections.
1281
01:15:32,939 --> 01:15:39,333
It was a very exciting record to do because
you never knew what was happening,
1282
01:15:39,379 --> 01:15:40,698
you had no guideIines,
1283
01:15:40,739 --> 01:15:45,130
you didn't know whether it was right
or wrong, or good or bad, you know.
1284
01:15:45,179 --> 01:15:46,897
Yoko knew, you know.
1285
01:15:46,939 --> 01:15:52,093
And John knew as weII. He offered
Iots of encouragement aII the time, reaIIy.
1286
01:15:52,139 --> 01:15:54,892
And Iater on, she sang songs,
she sang Iyrics.
1287
01:15:54,939 --> 01:15:59,410
And up untiI that time,
incIuding on this record,
1288
01:15:59,459 --> 01:16:03,054
even Iive performance,
I think before she even...
1289
01:16:03,099 --> 01:16:05,454
before she even met John,
1290
01:16:05,499 --> 01:16:10,368
she was using the same voice
and the same improvisation thing.
1291
01:16:11,739 --> 01:16:15,129
And it was kind of...
It was untreated, actuaIIy, her voice.
1292
01:16:15,179 --> 01:16:17,056
It was Iive as it happened.
1293
01:16:17,099 --> 01:16:20,296
I mean there was no speciaI effect
or technique,
1294
01:16:20,339 --> 01:16:22,569
it was never disguised, her voice.
1295
01:16:22,619 --> 01:16:24,849
It's the way it came out, reaIIy.
1296
01:16:26,779 --> 01:16:29,373
It was fascinating, reaIIy,
because, you know,
1297
01:16:29,419 --> 01:16:32,138
Ringo and KIaus Voormann wouId just pIay.
1298
01:16:34,219 --> 01:16:38,292
And there wouId be John and Yoko
just going for it together, you know.
1299
01:16:42,378 --> 01:16:44,175
Somebody's pinched God,
1300
01:16:48,138 --> 01:16:51,016
God is aIive and Iiving in the EiffeI Tower,
1301
01:16:51,058 --> 01:16:55,609
It's interesting how this song particuIarIy
started off with...
1302
01:16:55,658 --> 01:16:58,855
John pIaying guitar and singing it.
1303
01:16:58,898 --> 01:17:00,650
It ended up with piano.
1304
01:17:00,698 --> 01:17:03,531
It ended up being so much better
with the two pianos,
1305
01:17:03,578 --> 01:17:06,331
with BiIIy Preston and John pIaying piano.
1306
01:17:07,698 --> 01:17:10,735
But it's great going back
on aII these different takes
1307
01:17:10,778 --> 01:17:13,975
and hearing how it went from
A to B to C to D,
1308
01:17:14,018 --> 01:17:17,328
to being the finaI, finaI master, you know.
1309
01:17:18,378 --> 01:17:20,096
And everything's recorded.
1310
01:17:20,138 --> 01:17:23,972
Quite often in these instances,
this is aII done in a rehearsaI room,
1311
01:17:24,018 --> 01:17:28,808
and peopIe work a song out and then
when they come into the studio it's aII...
1312
01:17:28,858 --> 01:17:31,292
it's aII finished, that's the way it is,
1313
01:17:31,338 --> 01:17:35,013
but going through these,
you can see how we kept everything,
1314
01:17:35,058 --> 01:17:40,052
every IittIe tape was kept in case he wanted
to hear it for a reference or something.
1315
01:17:40,098 --> 01:17:42,566
It's great to hear.
76410
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