"All You Need is Love" on Our World in 1967
Our World was the first live global television link. It was a two and a half hour broadcast to 31 countries and estimated to be watched by some 400 million people, the largest audience ever at the time. The show started with the Vienna Boys Choir singing the theme song of the show in several languages, and then transitioned to Toronto where Marshall McLuhan was interviewed in a T.V control room.
The next segment was a conference between Lyndon Johnson and Soviet premier Alexey Kosygin, however Our World had stipulated that no politicians could appear on the program so the entire segment consisted of a shot of the exterior of the house where the conference took place.
Next up was a segment talking about the new technology allowing for the broadcast, focusing on it's global impact, and discussing the future ramifications that are now all commonplace. The broadcast then switched back to Canada featuring a wordless video of a rancher herding his cattle, that then segwayed to Japan where construction of the Tokyo subway system was underway.
After a complicated transition to Australia, footage was broadcast from Parkes Observatory tracking an object in deep space, eventually the broadcast passed onto Europe. Italy broadcast Maria Callas singing an opera song, and Spain featured Pablo Picasso, finally it was time for the UK's contribution to the program.
The BBC enlisted the Beatles to write a song, preferably a song containing a simple message to be understood by all nationalities. The result was the Lennon penned song "All You Need Is Love"
The Beatles invited their friends, who you can look for in the crowd: Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Pattie Harrison, Jane Asher, Mike McCartney, Graham Nash, Gary Leeds and Hunter Davies.
(The original broadcast was in Black and White, this version is from Anthology which has been colorized based on photos from the event.)
They eventually released the song as a single, that went to No. 1 in both the US and UK, and was the last song they recorded before the death of Brian Epstein. This video perhaps is the Beatles at their height, before the power vacuum created by Epsteins death raised tensions in the group that can be seen in the events of "Let it Be" and that eventually lead to the break up of the band.
Magical Mystery Tour - "Your Mother Should Know"
The Magical Mystery Tour is worthy of it's own post, but I think its emblematic of what began to happen post Epstein. Epstein died August 1967 and by September the band began shooting footage for what would be an hour long TV special, without a script or director. The film was met with bad reviews, but has since become accepted as is. It is obviously unfocused, and often suffers from silliness beyond the Beatles norm, however now seems like a time capsule of late 60's psychedelia, and perhaps more accessable now in our music video saturated context, then at the time.
Again it originally aired in Black and White. Here is a Busby Berkeley-esque clip.
"I am the Walrus"
Wonderwall - 1968 - First Solo Beatle project
In 1968 Joe Massot the director of the film Wonderwall approached George Harrison about scoring his film.
Harrison had never done a movie soundtrack, and told Massot he didn't know how, but when Massot promised to use whatever Harrison created, Harrison took the job.
Deciding to make the soundtrack a kind of introduction to Indian music, Harrison recorded a series of short ragas at EMI's recording studioin Bombay in January 1968, then a selection of rock and other musical styles, at De Lane Lea Studios in London, England. Harrison built up a healthy, varied musical program. The soundtrack album (Wonderwall Music), the first "solo" Beatles record, was released by Apple Records in November 1968. It also appeared on compact disc in 1992, during reissues of the Apple catalogue.
Clip from Wonderwall
Production design for the film was done by "The Fool" a Dutch design collective, that is the same group that painted the mural on the outside of the Beatles' Apple Boutique. The Fool also designed the St. Pepper area Beatles clothes, in particular the clothes seen in the "All You Need is Love" clip above. (They are really responsible for this particular psychedelic look during the mid to late 60's)
Revolution 1, Take 20
The bootlegged "Revolution 1, Take 20" acts as the missing link between "Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9." In February 2009, a high-fidelity mono version surfaced on the bootleg Revolution: Take... Your Knickers Off! This version, RM1 (Remix in Mono #1) of Take 20, is one of Lennon's many attempts to augment his long version of "Revolution" in a way that satisfied him before he finally decided to create the short "Revolution 1" and the musique concrete "Revolution 9" instead. It lacks the electric guitar and horn overdubs of the album version, instead featuring twin tape loops and some different electric guitar parts toward the end. The coda features a histrionic and frequently tape-distorted vocal from Lennon, many snatches of which appear in "Revolution 9," along with occasional snips of the tape loops. And after the band stops playing, the ghostly radio sounds and Yoko's prose, which are heard in the next-to-last section of "Revolution 9," appear.
-From Wikipedia
Revolution 2 Semi-Live Promotional Film
This clip, directed by "Let it Be" director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who had also previously directed the "Paperback Writer" promotional film, is from 1968 and recorded at the same time as the "Hey Jude" promo film. (Promo films being the grandfathers of today's music videos.)
The Beatles performed the song semi-live (with live vocals performed over a pre-recorded instrumental track) in a specially produced promotional film. The film received its world premiere in Britain on David Frost's ITV television programme, 4 September 1968. As the Beatles were singing the vocals live on the film, they elected to incorporate part of the vocal arrangement from the slower Revolution 1 version of the track. McCartney and George Harrison added the "shoo-bee-doo-wah" backing vocals unique to that version behind Lennon's lead vocal - thus making the vocals on the film performance a hybrid of the two versions of the song.-Wikipedia
The Magic Christian -1969
Again, something most likely worth it's own post. "The Magic Christian" is a film starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers. It's a parody/satire film where Sellers plays the adoptive father of Ringo Starr. The connection might seem odd however when looking back, George Martin began producing "The Goons" albums. A comedy radio program that starred Peter Sellers and would prove influential to the Monty Pythons. The Magic Christian actually features a pre-Python John Clease and Graham Chapman, (who had previously attempted to adapt The Magic Christian novel into a film.)
The film is mostly known for producing the hit song, "Come And Get It" produced and penned by Paul McCartney and performed by Apple label band Badfinger.
Trailer
This film is available on DVD if anyone is interested.
End of the Beatles
This is the last video of the Beatles together. Taken August 1969, a few weeks later on September 20th Lennon informed the rest of the band that he would be leaving, however it was decided that no announcement would be made. August 20th 1969, was the last time the Beatles would all be together in a recording studio, to finish up "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", however the final completed Beatle track was Harrison's "I Me Mine", finished January 3, 1970. Lennon's first solo single "Give Peace a Chance" had been released previously on the 4th of July 1969, with a follow up single "Instant Karma!" October 24th of the same year, it was clear that Lennon was looking towards the future and his solo career.
The break up of the Beatles was not made public until McCartney announced his departure April 1970, while promoting his solo album "McCartney" that was to be released few weeks later (Pre-orders of his Album came with a press release interview with himself about the breakup). By this time Ringo had already released a solo album in March, "Sentimental Journey" and Lennon and Harrison had solo albums slated for release later that year. Harrison with "All Things Must Pass" due November 27 and Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" December 11. (Ringo would actually release another album in late September 1970, "Beaucoups of Blues")
In May 1970 the Phil Spector produced "Let It Be" album was released along with the film a couple weeks later. The band was legally dissolved on December 31st, 1970.
Eventually photos from this would be used for "Hey Jude" a release of all the Beatles singles on one disc.
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