__
Alistair Begg is critical of Christians in the 1960’s who rejected the Beatles without looking deeper into their music. However, Francis Schaeffer did not shy away from the Beatles music but actually studied up on it. Nancy Pearcey noted, “This small, intense man from the Swiss mountains delivered a message unlike any heard in evangelical circles in the mid-1960s. At Wheaton College, students were fighting to show films like Bambi, while Francis was talking about the films of Bergman and Fellini. Administrators were censoring existential themes out of student publications, while Francis was discussing Camus, Sartre, and Heidegger. He quoted Dylan Thomas, knew the artwork of Salvador Dali, listened to the music of THE BEATLES and John Cage.”
The Beatles Money (That’s What I Want) (Live) [HD]
The Beatles – Can’t Buy Me Love (Live)
The Beatles – From Me to You
Alistair Begg on The Beatles
In the last several years, writers and academics have begun to seriously analyze what pop culture icons say through their worldviews. Books have explored the philosophy of The Matrix, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Seinfeld and the gospel according to Tony Soprano and The Simpsons.
Alistair Begg, pastor of Ohio’s Parkside Church and the author of Made For His Pleasure (Moody), has been a longtime fan of The Beatles. He doesn’t suggest the band had a solid theology or an admirable worldview. Instead, he feels the band is important to look at now because it asked a lot of pertinent question in its music—and too many of those questions went unanswered.
Why is it important to understand what The Beatles were saying during their era?
They were on the forefront of a generation’s thinking. At the same time, they were able to articulate things and were given a voice. Without fully understanding it themselves, originally, they found themselves the mouthpiece of a generation. They were actually interpreting some of the angst, the hopes, and the fears of teenagers with mothers and fathers who didn’t understand.
Did The Beatles simply reflect culture or did they shape it?
For good or for ill, they were shaping culture. That’s true if you take the development of the music alone. Everything that they did pushed the frontiers out. This wasn’t only true in terms of the way in which they were recording material or the way in which they were writing melody lines, but it was actually in the lyrical content as well. Think about what Elvis Presley was singing about, or about what Chuck Berry was doing. It was all about love and different things like that. The Beatles got into a whole new business the further they went.
The Beatles first said money was everything (in the song “Money“), then they said that love could give you anything you want on “From Me to You“, and then they record “Can’t Buy Me Love“. What do you see in this progression?
An American journalist asked Paul in 1966 if “Can’t Buy Me Love” was actually about prostitution. There is this morbid fascination with the idea that these guys were coming from the bottom level of everything. It is a shame. It carried over into fundamentalist/evangelical response to their music at that time.
I’m not suggesting that The Beatles had a wonderful theology, or that their worldview was perfect. It clearly wasn’t. It left them high and dry on just about every front, eventually. But they weren’t simply writing cute little tunes. They were beginning to take seriously the platform that they’d been given. That’s why so many people found them offensive; it was because of the things that they were prepared to tackle.
What do you see when looking closely at what The Beatles were saying or looking for in their songs?
If you take Lennon’s “IN MY LIFE,” you have the tender side of John Lennon coming out, a side that many people missed completely.
When they went in and got Lennon’s belongings after his untimely death, one of the closest family friends found a huge notebook, which contained virtually all of Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for everything he’d done, including this song. It was clear that what had happened to Lennon is that as the fame thing had come, a sense of nostalgia crept into his life. He started to remember the places in the past.
It was always sad to me that people couldn’t see that he was crying out for something. I just always felt that in Lennon you had this guy who every so often would open the door to himself ever so slightly. Every time he opened up, it never seemed to be a Christian response to say, “Hey, we’ve got an angle on that. We’d love to talk to you about that.” It was always, “Hey, get out of here, you long-haired nuisance. You’re destroying the youth of Great Britain and corrupting the life of America.” We did this in the ’60s and, frankly, we’re doing it again now.
Speaking of the religious community’s reaction to Lennon, there was a huge fervor after his comment that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. But in an interview after that event, he said, “I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than Jesus or God or Christianity, I was using the name Beatles … as an example. But I could have said TV or cinema or anything else that’s popular. Or motor cars are bigger than Jesus.”
It’s a shame that it served the agenda of certain people to misunderstand the quote. What Lennon was saying is what people might justifiably say today about all kinds of idols and icons in relationship to young people in particular. He was in some ways bemoaning the fact. He was honest enough to say what has happened here is a phenomenon that is way beyond anything that we could ever have conceived. The response, of course, was not particularly attractive—such as when the band hit Dallas and all those youth pastors came out to welcome them with bonfires.
While there were things that needed to be addressed in pop culture—and there always will be—I think we missed an opportunity. Later on, we see them involved with a maharishi yogi. You see Harrison’s interest in mysticism. While we can’t lay the charge at the feet of the Christians, nevertheless it is a sad thing that there was nobody there who had gained a platform to them at a time when they were willing to listen. The interviewer asked about the song “Help.” He said, “I wrote “Help” in ’65, and people hailed it as another advance in rock & roll. It was the cry of my heart and nobody came to answer.”
This is just a picture of what we’re dealing with every day in all of our lives. Lennon, the drummer in Smashing Pumpkins, and Kurt Cobain are only big, dramatic examples of the interaction that all of us have with kids. I want to encourage Christians to get serious about being real about Jesus Christ. Listen to music so that you can talk to people about it rather than sloganeering and banging the drum for the same old stuff.
In the video THE AGE OF NON-REASON Schaeffer noted, ” Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…for a time it became the rallying cry for young people throughout the world. It expressed the essence of their lives, thoughts and their feelings.”
How Should We then Live Episode 7 small (Age of Nonreason)
_______________
The Beatles- In My Life-HQ
THE BEATLES
“In My Life”
(Lennon/McCartney)
There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more
In My Life – Sean Connery
________________
Featured artist today is Klaus Voorman
Klaus Voormann
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009) |
| Klaus Voormann | |
|---|---|
Tom McGuinness, Dave Berry, Klaus Voormann, Mike Hugg, Manfred Mann, Mike d’Abo (Schiphol Airport, 1967)
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| Background information | |
| Born | 29 April 1938 Berlin, Germany |
| Origin | Hamburg, Germany |
| Genres | Rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, record producer,graphic artist |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, upright bass, guitar, flute, saxophone, keyboards |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | Apple, EMI, Fontana, Zapple,Epic, Sony, RCA Victor |
| Associated acts | The Beatles, Paddy, Klaus & Gibson, Manfred Mann, Plastic Ono Band, George Harrison,Badfinger, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Carly Simon |
| Website | www.klaus-voormann.com |
Klaus Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. He designed artwork for many bands including the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Wet Wet Wet and Turbonegro. His most notable work as a producer was his work with the band Trio, including their worldwide hit “Da Da Da“. As a musician, Voormann is best known for being the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and for performing as a session musician on a host of recordings, including many by former members of the Beatles.
His association with the Beatles dated back to their time in Hamburg in the early 1960s. He lived in the band’s London flat with George Harrison and Ringo Starr after John Lennon and Paul McCartney moved out to live with their respective partners, and designed the cover of their album Revolver,[1] for which he won a Grammy. Following the band’s split, rumours circulated of the formation of a group named the Ladders, consisting of Lennon, Harrison, Starr and Voormann. This failed to materialise, outside of all four Ladders (plus Billy Preston) performing on the Ringo Starr track “I’m the Greatest“, although Voormann did play on albums by Lennon, Harrison and Starr, and was for a time a member of the Plastic Ono Band.[1] In the 1990s, he designed the artwork for the Beatles Anthology albums.
In 2009, he released his debut solo album A Sideman’s Journey, which featured many notable musicians, including the two surviving members of the Beatles, performing as “Voormann and Friends”.
Contents
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Early years[edit]
Klaus Voormann was born in Berlin, Germany, and raised in the suburbs of North Berlin. His father was a physician and he was one of six brothers. In his July 2010 interview on “Talking Germany”, Voormann discussed his dyslexia.[2]
The Voormann family were interested in art, classical music, and books, with a feeling for history and tradition. His parents decided that instead of studying music it would be best for Klaus to studycommercial art in Berlin at the “Meisterschule für Grafik und Buchgewerbe.” He later moved to Hamburg to study at the “Meisterschule für Gestaltung,” but before finishing his education in thegraphic arts, Voormann started work as a commercial artist, graphic designer and illustrator, spending eight months in Düsseldorf working for magazines.[3]
Hamburg poster for Rory Storm and the Beatles
It was in Hamburg that Voormann first met Astrid Kirchherr. After an argument with her and Jürgen Vollmer one day, Voormann wandered down the Reeperbahn, in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, and heard music coming from the Kaiserkeller club. He walked in on a performance by Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The next group to play was the Beatles. Voormann was left “speechless” by the performances. Voormann had never heard rock ‘n’ roll before, having previously only listened to traditional jazz, with some Nat King Cole and Platters mixed in.[4] Voormann invited Kirchherr and Vollmer to watch the performances the next day. After joining Voormann at a performance, the trio decided upon spending as much time as possible close to the group and immersing themselves in the music.[5]
The St. Pauli district was a dangerous section of town with typical illicit behaviour commonplace; an area where prostitutes were to be found, and anyone that looked different from the usual clientele hanging about took a risk. As a trio, Voormann, Kirchherr and Vollmer stood out in the Kaiserkeller, dressed in suede coats, wool sweaters, jeans and round-toed shoes, when most of the customers had greased-backTeddy boy hairstyles and wore black leather jackets and pointed boots.[6] During a break, Voormann tried to talk (in faltering English) to Lennon, and pressed a crumpled record sleeve he had designed into Lennon’s hands. Lennon took little interest, and brushed Voormann off, suggesting that he talk to Stuart Sutcliffe, who, Lennon said, “is the artist ’round here”.[6]
Sutcliffe did not share Lennon’s attitude, and was fascinated by the trio, who he thought looked like “real bohemians“. He later wrote that he could hardly take his eyes off them, and had tried to talk to them during the next break, but they had already left the club.[6] Sutcliffe managed to meet them eventually, and learned that all three had attended the “Meisterschule für Mode,” which was the Hamburg equivalent of the Liverpool art college that both Sutcliffe and Lennon had attended. Lennon dubbed the trio the Exies, as a joke about their affection for existentialism.[4]
Voormann was in a relationship with Kirchherr at the time, and lived just around the corner from her parents’ upper-class home in the Altona district of Hamburg. Kirchherr’s bedroom, which was all in black, including the walls and furniture, was decorated especially for Voormann. After the visits to the Kaiserkeller their relationship became purely platonic, as Astrid started dating Sutcliffe, who was fascinated by her, although she always remained a close friend of Voormann.[7]
London[edit]
In the early 1960s, Voormann decided to leave Germany and move to London. George Harrison invited him to live in the Green Street flat in London’s Mayfair, formerly shared by all four members of the Beatles, Lennon and McCartney having moved out: Lennon to live with his wife Cynthia Lennon, and McCartney to live in the attic of the home of Jane Asher‘s parents. Voormann lived with Harrison and Ringo Starr for a time before finding work as a commercial artist and renting an apartment of his own. He returned to Hamburg in 1963, where he founded a band with Paddy Chambers (guitar/vocals), Voormann (bass/vocals) and Gibson Kemp (drums) called Paddy, Klaus & Gibson.[8]
In 1966, Voormann returned to London and was asked by Lennon to design the sleeve for the album Revolver. Klaus had a style of “scrapbook collage” art in mind. When showing his efforts to the band and their manager, Brian Epstein, the band loved it, although Voormann’s payment for the album cover was £40.[citation needed] For this work, Klaus won the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts. Voormann later designed the cover art for Harrison’s 1988 single, “When We Was Fab“, which included the image of Harrison from the cover of Revolver along with an updated drawing in the same style.
Around the same time, another group was about to release their international debut album. The Bee Gees had recorded their first album, Bee Gees 1st, and Klaus was hired to design the cover for that album. The album cover featured all five group members standing above a colourful, psychedelic collage painted by Voormann. The following year, artwork by Klaus graced the front cover of the American edition of The Bee Gees‘ album Idea. In 1973, Voormann created the album sleeve and booklet artwork for Ringo Starr’s album Ringo, on which he also played bass.
Bassist[edit]
In 1966, at the same time that he was designing the cover of Revolver, Voormann became a member of the 1960s band Manfred Mann,[9] having turned down offers by The Hollies and The Moody Blues.[10][11] Voormann did substitute for Eric Haydock on a couple of TV shows (see List of The Hollies band members). He mentions his negotiations with the group in his biography: Warum spielst Du Imagine nicht auf dem weißen Klavier, John? Voormann played bass and flutes for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, appearing on all their UK hits from “Just Like a Woman” (July 1966) to their final single “Ragamuffin Man” (April 1969) and including the 1968 international hit “The Mighty Quinn” (#1 UK, No. 10 US).[9]
After that, he became a session musician, playing on solo projects by Lou Reed, Carly Simon, James Taylor, and Harry Nilsson amongst others. Voormann was a member of Yoko Ono and Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, with Ono, Alan White(future Yes drummer) and Eric Clapton, which played on the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album, recorded in Toronto on 13 September 1969 prior to the break-up of the Beatles.[12]
In 1971 he moved to Los Angeles. In an interview with EMI about his album Walls and Bridges, Lennon was asked who was playing bass on the album. Lennon answered with a hard German accent: “Klaus Voormann. We all know Klaus, ja“. He also played in Harrison’s assembled band at the 1971 The Concert for Bangladesh; Harrison fittingly introduced him to the audience by saying, “There’s somebody on bass who many people have heard about, but they’ve never actually seen him – Klaus Voormann.”[13] After Harrison died, Voorman played bass as part of the supporting band on the song “All Things Must Pass“, in the Concert for George on 29 November 2002.
After the Beatles disbanded, there were rumours of them reforming as the Ladders, with Voormann on bass as a replacement for Paul McCartney.[14] An announcement to this effect filtered out of the Apple offices in 1971, but was ultimately withdrawn before it got very far.[14] This line-up (Voormann, Lennon, Harrison and Starr) did perform in various combinations on Lennon’s albums, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) (Voormann, Lennon, and Starr) and Imagine (1971) (Voormann, Lennon & Harrison) as well as on Ringo Starr’s eponymous album Ringo, in 1973, and Yoko Ono’s Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (1970) (Voormann, Lennon, Starr, and Ono). Starr’s album features the Lennon-penned “I’m The Greatest“, which is the only song on which all four musicians appear together, joined by Billy Preston. He also played on Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” single.[1]
In 1979 Voormann moved back to Germany; he had a cameo as Von Schnitzel the Conductor in the 1980 film adaptation of Popeye. He produced three studio albums and a live album by the German band Trio. He also produced their worldwide hit “Da Da Da”. After Trio broke up in 1986, he produced the first solo album by their singer Stephan Remmler and played bass on some songs of the album. The following year he produced a single by former Trio drummer Peter Behrens.
Retirement[edit]
Voormann retired from the music business in 1989, spending time with his family. He lives at Lake Starnberg,[15] near Munich with his second wife Christine and their two children, born in 1989 and 1991. From time to time he appears on TV shows, mainly when the shows are about the 1960s in general or the Beatles in particular, or when he is asked to talk about his famous album sleeve for Revolver. In 1995 Klaus was asked by Apple Records to design the covers for theBeatles Anthology albums. He painted the covers along with his friend, fellow artist Alfons Kiefer. In the 1994 movie Backbeat, about the Hamburg days of the Beatles, Voormann was portrayed by the German actor Kai Wiesinger.
In April 2003, Voormann designed the cover of Scandinavian Leather for the Norwegian band Turbonegro. In October 2003, Voormann published his autobiography, Warum spielst du Imagine nicht auf dem weißen Klavier, John? Erinnerungen an die Beatles und viele andere Freunde (Why Don’t You Play “Imagine” on the White Piano, John?: Memories of the Beatles and Many Other Friends). The book gives special focus to the 1960s and 1970s, and covers Voormann’s close friendship with the Beatles and other musicians and artists, as well as his private life. A 2005 BBC documentary, Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle features interviews with Voormann and shows drawings he made of the Beatles in Hamburg. Also that year his book “For Track Stories” which contains his experiences with The Beatles during the Hamburg days, and stories narrated both in English and German, and pictures made by him. In 2007, Voormann designed the sleeve for the album Timeless by Wet Wet Wet. In 2008 he recorded the song “For What It’s Worth” with Eric Burdon and Max Buskohl.[citation needed]
On 17 July 2009 Klaus released his first solo album called A Sideman’s Journey. It was credited to “Voormann & Friends” and featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens), Don Preston, Dr. John, The Manfreds, Jim Keltner, Van Dyke Parks, Joe Walsh and many others. The album has been available in a limited number of audio CDs, vinyl LPs, and deluxe box sets with original (and signed) graphics by Voormann. It included new versions of old songs such as “My Sweet Lord“, “All Things Must Pass”, “Blue Suede Shoes“, “You’re Sixteen” and Bob Dylan‘s “Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)”. A bonus DVD of Making of a Sideman’s Journey was released with the album.
On 30 June 2010 Franco-German TV network ARTE released a 90-minute documentary called “All You Need is Klaus” which features footage from the “Voormann & Friends” sessions as well as interview footage with Voormann and some of the artists he had collaborated with in his storied career.
In 2014, Voormann designed the cover to Japanese rock band Glay‘s album Music Life. The image depicting the face of each member of the band is strongly reminiscent of the cover to The Beatles’ Revolver.[16]
Discography[edit]
As Voormann & Friends:
With Manfred Mann:
UK Albums:
- As Is
- Up The Junction (Original Soundtrack Recording)
- What a Mann
- Mighty Garvey!
US Albums:
- Up the Junction (Original Soundtrack Recording)
- Mighty Garvey!
With The Plastic Ono Band:
- “Cold Turkey” [1969 non-album single]
- Live Peace in Toronto 1969 [1969]
- “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)” [1970 non-album single]
- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band [1970]
- Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band [1970]
With John Lennon:
- “Power to the People” [1971 non-album single]
- Imagine [1971]
- “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” [1971 non-album single]
- Some Time in New York City [1972]
- Walls and Bridges [1974]
- Rock ‘n’ Roll [1975]
With George Harrison:
- All Things Must Pass [1970]
- “Bangla Desh” [1971 non-album single]
- The Concert for Bangla Desh [1971]
- Living in the Material World [1973]
- Dark Horse [1974]
- Extra Texture (Read All About It) [1975]
With Ringo Starr:
- Sentimental Journey [1970; arrangement on “I’m a Fool to Care”]
- “It Don’t Come Easy” [1971 non-album single]
- “Back Off Boogaloo” [1972 non-album single]
- Ringo [1973]
- Goodnight Vienna [1974]
- Ringo’s Rotogravure [1976]
Other artists:
- James Taylor, James Taylor [1968]
- Jackie Lomax, Is This What You Want? [1969]
- Leon Russell, Leon Russell [1970]
- Billy Preston, Encouraging Words [1970]
- Doris Troy, Doris Troy [1970]
- Gary Wright, Extraction [1970]
- Ronnie Spector, “Try Some, Buy Some” [1971 non-album single]
- The Elastic Oz Band, “God Save Us” [1971 non-album single]
- Howlin’ Wolf, The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions [1971]
- Yoko Ono, Fly [1971]
- B.B. King, B.B. King in London [1971]
- Jim Price, Kids Nowadays Ain’t Got No Shame [1971]
- Gary Wright, Footprint [1971]
- Harry Nilsson, Nilsson Schmilsson [1971]
- John Baldry, Everything Stops for Tea [1972]
- Bobby Whitlock, Bobby Whitlock [1972]
- Bobby Hatfield, “Oo Wee Baby, I Love You” [1972 non-album single]
- Peter Frampton, Wind of Change [1972]
- Bobby Keys, Bobby Keys [1972]
- Harry Nilsson, Son of Schmilsson [1972]
- Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, Brother [1972]
- Carly Simon, No Secrets [1972]
- Lou Reed, Transformer [1972]
- Electric Sandwich, Electric Sandwich [1973]
- Maria Muldaur, Maria Muldaur [1973]
- Cheech & Chong, Los Cochinos [1973]
- Nicky Hopkins, The Tin Man Was a Dreamer [1973]
- Jerry Lee Lewis, Sometimes a Memory Ain’t Enough [1973]
- Don Nix, Hobos, Heroes and Street Corner Clowns [1973]
- Carly Simon, Hotcakes [1974]
- Harry Nilsson, Son of Dracula soundtrack [1974]
- Chi Coltrane, Let It Ride [1974]
- Martha Reeves, Martha Reeves [1974]
- Harry Nilsson, Pussy Cats [1974]
- Bert Jansch, L.A. Turnaround [1974]
- Splinter, The Place I Love [1974]
- Ravi Shankar, Shankar Family & Friends [1974]
- Jerry Lee Lewis, The Session [1974]
- Loudon Wainwright III. Unrequited [1975]
- Van Dyke Parks, Clang of the Yankee Reaper [1975]
- Keith Moon, Two Sides of the Moon [1975]
- Harry Nilsson, Duit on Mon Dei [1975]
- Carly Simon, Playing Possum [1975]
- Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, Who Do You Out Do [1975]
- Dion, Born to Be with You [1975]
- The Cate Brothers, Cate Bros. [1975]
- Patti Dahlstrom, Your Place or Mine [1975]
- Eric Mercury, Eric Mercury [1975]
- Art Garfunkel, Breakaway [1975]
- Harry Nilsson, Sandman [1976]
- Geoff Muldaur, Motion [1976]
- Valdy, Valdy and the Hometown Band [1976]
- Donovan, Slow Down World [1976]
- Carly Simon, Another Passenger [1976]
- Harry Nilsson, …That’s the Way It Is [1976]
- Hoyt Axton, Fearless [1976]
- Long John Baldry, Welcome to the Club Casablanca [1976]
- Jackie Lomax, Did You Ever Have that Feeling? [1977]
- Harry Nilsson, Knilsson [1977]
- Susan Cowsill, “I Think of You” and “Mohamed’s Radio” [1977]
- Randy Newman, Little Criminals [1977]
- Lonnie Donegan, Puttin’ on the Style [1978]
- Lorna Wright, Circle of Love [1978]
- Nicolette Larson, Nicolette [1978]
- Lee Clayton, Naked Child [1979]
- Screaming Lord Sutch, Alive & Well [1980]
- Harry Nilsson, Flash Harry [1980]
- Nicolette Larson, Radioland [1981]
- Various Artists, Every Man Has a Woman [1984]
- Various Artists, For Our Children Too! [1996]
- Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, Black & White [1998]
- Various Artists, Concert for George [2003]
- Carl Carlton & The Songdogs ″Songs For The Lost And Brave″ [2009]
- GLAY, MUSIC LIFE [2014]
Categories:
- 1938 births
- Living people
- German session musicians
- Musicians from Berlin
- Grammy Award winners
- Manfred Mann members
- Plastic Ono Band members
- German rock bass guitarists
- German bass guitarists
- Album-cover and concert-poster artists
- German artists
- German painters
- German expatriates in the United Kingdom
- German expatriates in the United States
This is a sketch of our stompin’ ground in Hamburg.
Astrid’s Home Getting Ready
Astrid’s home, us getting ready to go to the Reeperbahn.
The Bambi Years
This is the main entrance to the Bambi Kino. The back entrance to the Beatles rooms was round the corner.
George is feeling very cold!
They lived at the bottom of a narrow twenty-yard corridor – which Paul christened ‘the canal’ – in two tiny storage rooms in which you could just about swing a cat, so long as the cat had no tail!
Somehow two camp-beds were jammed into these ugly concrete rooms which were windowless and illuminated by bare lightbulbs that hung from the ceiling. Without even a hook to hang a coat on, the boys had to live out of their suitcases, and were especially disappointed since this was where they were not only expected to sleep during the day, but also to spend all their free time.
The Bambi wash room was a men’s room and wash room in one. So it could happen that a cinema guest would come for a piss while they were having their morning shave.
Kaiserkeller
It was extreme at the Kaiserkeller. There was always that threat contained in being different. It was just a matter of how we dressed against how they dressed. Kids – as we all were then – can be very cruel, and very class-conscious, looking down on people who aren’t part of the same culture. There was an attitude of not deigning to notice all these people people around us. Actually two or three of the rockers at the Kaiserkeller looked very good for their style, though I never had any desire to connect with them. For me there was also a feeling of fear of this new environment. In fact our legs were trembling as we descended into the Kaiserkeller on that first night. We were about the first in the audience, so we had a good view of the club. The room had a very low ceiling and the dance floor was surrounded by columns. Fishermen’s nets and other maritime bric-a-brac made the place look like a seaman’s tavern. The waiter hung around the left corner of the bar.
The first band plugged in their instruments and the show started. From our lifeboat we were able to watch nearly everything on the stage. I could see the drummer – Ringo Starr – very clearly and I was impressed. Then the blond-curled Rory Storm entered the stage and did all his tricks with the mic stand again.
I had an idea…. I’d designed the sleeve for a cover version by ’’The Typhoons’’ of The Ventures Walk Don’t Run. I took the cover to the Kaiserkeller and waited all that night until John Lennon sat at the edge of the stage for a moment. John was very polite and introduced me to Stuart Sutcliffe, whom he called the artist in the band. Everybody in the boat was delighted about the contact. We didn’t speak English very well, but from that day on our friendship grew very fast.
Grosse Freiheit
These are two of the doorman, standing in front of the St. Pauli clubs.
Paul and Pete getting arrested just about 100 yards after they left the Bambi Kino. The police drove them to the Davidswache and put them in custody.
“Die Grosse Freiheit”, one of Hamburg’s small side streets off the Reeperbahn, means the Great Freedom.
Paul shows the scene of the crime in a little drawing he sent me.
Tabu
I remember going around their place one weekend, and entering the bedroom to find John being prepared for something which instantly made me very curious. He was dressed in a pair of underpants and a white shirt which, for some unknown reason, he wore back to front.
Then he was handed a black jacket which he put on in the same way. Now he picked up a crucifix which was, no doubt, one of his own creations. As soon as he had hold of his crucifix he started talking like a preacher. With his arm outstretched he went straight to the window which looked out on Grosse Freiheit and, kneeling down on a chair, leaned out and showed the cross to the people in the street. With his voice lifted to the top of its range, he carried on his preaching to the people below.
I have no idea what the people of the Grosse Freiheit thought, but this was more than just a little laugh.
Chug-ou
A very cheap Chinese restaurant called Chug-ou was one of our favourites. Some of the musicians who ate there, like The Beatles, were attracted to the pancakes the restaurant was known for, and its massive twomark servings of chicken and rice, but mainly the place was frequented by the elderly of St. Pauli, and the many battle-scarred war veterans who were still around. Paul recalls one old customer, who “parked” his wooden leg in the corner of the restaurant, while he ate at Chug-ou.
John and Stuart on their way to Chug-ou’s for a bite to eat. Chug-ou’s is just about where the VW is parked.
Star Club
George In The Rain – The Star-Club was no problem for The Beatles at all. They had played enough places up to that point to feel comfortable in a bigger venue. Sometimes after or while a concert when George felt hungry, he just went out this old cinema, going around the corner for a bite to eat.
John And Bettina – Often late at night, John was hanging over the bar, dead tired and sad. Bettina tried to cheer him up.
This was one of those nights. The Beatles were playing great, the people were dancing and having a good time. In the middle of the door stood this seductive looking creature with her back towards the band, desperately trying to look cool. John took a long and marine look over her shoulder and than, cautiously set down behind her. “Got you!” He quickly wrapped his legs around the girl’s belly and all we saw next was John raise his hands as if he was going to dive into her dress…
This band, more than any other I have seen, was never very well behaved. If the boys took a step too far, they would soon be on their way back to good old England. Those John Days… times when he would act outrageously, just out of sheer frustration, and play jokes which left you torn between laughing and crying would usually leave Paul with having to repair the damage with a thousand apologies and promises.
Top Ten
It was a strange feeling to be in the Top Ten in the early hours of the morning. The overtiredness would sometimes create a wound-up atmosphere, a very strong and tremendously intensive feeling which has stuck with me until this day. It was the quiet feeling of togetherness and friendship.
Suddenly, somebody goes to the door of the Top Ten and opens it, and then … Woompf! Daylight slams inside and fights its way through thick swathes of smoke. The sun glistens on the table, shining like crazy. Everything changes to pallid sobriety. What minutes ago felt comfortable and safe, a world wrapped-up, far away from the here and now, suddenly comes to a blinding dead end.
Rosa, sometimes known as Muttchen, presided over the toilet of the Top Ten. From her drawer she dealt out everything one might need to master life: condoms, handkerchiefs, toilet paper and a good assortment of pills. When Rosa’s Pauli came by to get his Prellies she was particularly happy. Rosa would sit in there smiling, with her heart of gold, amongst the kissing lovers and pissing drunks, and they would have a nice little natter.
Davidswache
These four boys were treated like outcasts by the establishment, mainly because of their looks, and the fact that they were musicians and artists. They were watched closely and deported at the first available opportunity. A few poor lads filed away as criminals; this was such a strange over-reaction to a little rascal’s prank. In fact, the authorities’ response had little to do with the actual offense. The police and the entire establishment saw something dangerous and obscene in these musicians who screamed their souls into microphones: they were seen as a threat to middle-class morality. So the imprisonment of Paul was especially unjust.
Boulevard Of Broken Strings
John after a long night of playing and drinking stumbling home, or is someone going to entice him to stumble yet into another adventure?
I tried to capture an early morning, rainy atmosphere on St. Pauli’s Reeperbahn. Have a good look at the detail.
Breakfast With John
One very late night into the early morning hours after everyone else had gone, we were having breakfast when suddenly John fell face first into his plate, fast asleep while still holding his burning cigarette! Eventually when the cigarette burned down to his fingers, John awoke, sat up, and continued on as if nothing had happened!
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Francis Schaeffer’s favorite album was SGT. PEPPER”S and he said of the album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…for a time it became the rallying cry for young people throughout the world. It expressed the essence of their lives, thoughts and their feelings.” (at the 14 minute point in episode 7 of HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? )
How Should We Then Live – Episode Seven – 07 – Portuguese Subtitles
Francis Schaeffer
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The Daily Hatch 