Saturday 26 September 2015

The 'Brick' Incident ...continued

I posted a pic on the Fans Snaps page last night and I referred to the 'Brick' incident at Pauls Cavendish home. After a little bit of research came across the following blog conversations.. read it for yourself and make your own mind up... its yet more Beatle mythology.

There is a scene in 1970 that I saw in "Lennon Naked" where John gets out of his limo, hops over the fence of Paul McCartney's house and throws a rock at a window of his home. John is pissed that Paul has left the Beatles. I saw this, also, in the "Linda McCartney Story." In that film, a bearded Lennon pulls up outside of Paul's home, hops the fence, yells out, "McCartney!!!" Then proceeds to pick up a rock and throws it at the front door window of McCartney's home. Since it has been portrayed in two films, now. Did this event really ever take place? And, if it did, was this at Macca's Cavendish Road home?

It was during the (early 1969) "Let it be" sessions: miffed at something John had sai9d to him (or to Linda) the day before, Paul didn't show up at the studio the next day, so John went to his house (Cavendish, if the time-line is correct), presumably to give him an earfull, but Paul refused to let him in, so John jumped a fence, and started yelling at Paul from his backyard.

What I read is that John smashed a portrait/painting (with a brick ?) that he'd made and given Paul some time earlier (I gather the painting was in Paul's doorway or something ?)

As for any of this actually being true, we may never know, I don't think Paul or John ever commented on this themselves, but there are written acounts in more than one place...

The story of the brick at the window is meant to be true and I seem to recall that the extra twist of the knife in the tale was that either George or Ringo were outside Paul's and provided John with a getaway car as he jumped in the car and left.

And here's what the blog says:

I have posted this before and it led to a conversation in the comments section that basically didn't have any exact answers. Well I got the magazine that it originally came from and was able to scan the photos so that they are much larger now. I still am not sure WHY John is seen here jumping the wall of Cavendish. The story that went near the photos tells about the time that it was Paul and Linda's anniversary and Paul didn't show up for a booked recording session. John was really mad and went over to Paul's house to give him a piece of his mind. However... the article does not claim that these photos are from that day. The caption for the photos make you think they are from that day. Unless there was another altercation with John and Paul during the recording of "Abbey Road" They are interesting photographs regardless.

McCartney's recollections of the Abbey Road sessions are beyond doubt to some extent rose-tinted. Even he admits that he was rebuked by Harrison and Starr for being too overbearing (Musician, October 1986). Gill Pritchard, then an Apple Scruff, recalls that, on one evening during the closing dates for Abbey Road, he 'came racing out of the front door of the studio in tears, went home and didn't come back. The next day he didn't turn up at all even though the studio was booked.' (Mojo, October 1996.) McCartney's failure to appear on this - or another? - occassion provoked a furious Lennon to hammer on his door and clamber over the garden wall for a shouting match with him, during which he smashed a picture he had given McCartney (the latter's favourite painting). (Salewicz, pp. 218-19.)

Its a myth some folk like to put out as true.
There is a story that was supposed to happen the day when the Judge ruled on Paul's side in the lawsuit for breaking up the Beatles partnership (so 1971). John, Ringo and George all got into John car's and drove round to Paul's house at Cavendish Avenue as John was livid and wanted to confront him. Paul wasnt at home so John threw a brick thru a window.

If you want to read about it Peter Dogget covers it in 'You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle For The Soul Of The Beatles'.

I also recall the story of Paul not coming to one of the sessions during 'Abbey Road' and John going around to find out why and being met by Linda. John stormed in and smashed a painting before leaving. Beatlelinks.net has a thread on this and notes it being Paul and Linda's anniversary.

I think these stories get messed up and around and merge into each other creating lots of different accounts.

Yeah I think this picture must be from the missed session. From the way John looks I guess it would be around the Get Back sessions or early Abbey Roadsessions later that winter since hes wearing Yokos coat. I guess there has to be some truth to those stories since there are these pictures showing John climbing the fence..His hair looks too long for it to be 1971.




Friday 25 September 2015

New addition to When Beatles came to York and fans pix

Peter Walker contacted me and gave an interesting tale about seeing the Beatles in York in 1963, see the addition to the webpage....

Also added a new batch of pix to the fans snaps, I have had these a while but just found the time to put them on, its not the pictures that take up the time its the captions!!