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1970, January

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 31, 1970

Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen Starkey returned to Los Angeles after their meeting with Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. They had arrived in LA on 26 January to attend the US premiere of The Magic Christian, which starred Ringo.

This was a short stop in the city. The following day they flew to New York, returning to England the day after.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 30, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 30, 1970

Ringo and his wife Maureen flew to Las Vegas to watch Elvis Presley perform at the International Hotel. This was Presley’s second run of shows in Las Vegas. The opening night of the month-long residency at the International was on January 26th.

The main purpose of the Starkeys’ trip was to attend the premiere of Starr’s film The Magic Christian, which took place at the Four Star Theater on January 29gh.

Ringo and Maureen were accompanied at the show by Ken Mansfield, who had formerly been the US manager of Apple Records. After the show, Presley requested Starr’s presence in his penthouse suite.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 29, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 29, 1970

On this day....The Magic Christian, starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers, had its US première in Los Angeles.

Ringo and his wife Maureen attended the event, which took place at the Four Star Theater at 5112 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Afterwards they went to a party held at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 28, 1970

Today was the end of John's lithographies exhibition at the London Arts Gallery.  

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 27, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 27, 1970

Ringo made a taped appearance on the Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In television show to promote his film The Magic Christian. Dan Rowan and Dick Martin were the hosts.

The show was filmed at NBC Television Studio in Burbank, Los Angeles. Starr made a number of cameo appearances alongside other guest stars and the regular cast.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 26, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 26, 1970

Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen flew to Los Angeles from London’s Heathrow Airport on this date to attend the premiere of Starr’s film The Magic Christian.

During the US trip they also met Elvis Presley and saw him perform in Las Vegas, and travelled to New York.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 25, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 25, 1970

January 25, 1966

People in US were listening to We Can Work It Out by The Beatles. In UK Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out by The Beatles was in the top 5 hits.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 24, 1970

Beatles fans around the world hear the news that John and Yoko have cut off their long hair to mark the start of "Year One for Peace."

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 23, 1970

January 23, 1966

In UK Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out by The Beatles was in the top 5 hits

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 22, 1970

January 22, 1963

BBC Paris Studio in London. The Beatles appeared live on one BBC radio program and recorded sessions for two others. Then off to the Paris Studio on Regent Street to accompany the broadcast of their new single, "Please Please Me'. The Beatles chatted live on air. Other guests were Joan Regan, Jon Pertwee (the future Dr. Who) and Shane Fenton (future Alvin Stardust).

Next, the Beatles rehearsed at the Playhouse Theatre near Charing Cross for their first appearance on the pop radio program, "Saturday Club". The Beatles recorded five songs, "Some Other Guy", Love Me Do", Please Please Me", Keep Your Hands Off My Baby", and "Beautiful Dreamer". This program was broadcast on January 26th, on the 2nd half hour of the two-hour show.

The last session took place at the Paris Studio in London, where before an audience, The Beatles recorded another contribution to the Light Program Show "The Talent Spot", for broadcast on January 29th. Among the other guests on the show was a young guitarist Rog Whittaker, destined to become Roger Whittaker.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 21, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 21, 1970

Daily Express' publishes that John cut his hair to be able to travel without being recognized.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 20, 1970

John and Yoko stayed in Aalborg in Denmark over the new year and most of January 1970, to be with Ono’s daughter Kyoko. She was living there with Tony Cox, Ono’s second husband, and his new wife Melinde.

While staying in Denmark Lennon made the decision to have his hair cropped shorter than at any other time in his adult life. The precise reasons are unclear, although he and Ono were in the midst of a lengthy peace campaign and were keen to remain in the public eye.

Lennon and Ono both had their hair cut on this day. It was later described by the Daily Mirror as “the most sensational scalpings since the Red Indians went out of business”. The couple kept their shorn locks in a bag for future use.

On 4 February 1970 Lennon and Ono swapped the hair for a pair of Muhammad Ali’s bloodstained boxing shorts, which they said they intended to auction to raise money for peace.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 19, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 19, 1970

"Bag One" lithograph sales skyrocket following the police raid in which a number of John Lennon's lithographs were confiscated by Scotland Yard for being potentially pornographic. Three hundred sets of the lithographs are available for sale, at a cost of £550 ($770) per set.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 18, 1970

January 16, 1964

The Beatles at the Olympia Theatre, Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, France

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 17, 1970

January 17, 1963

Every ticket for the Majestic dance was sold in advance, much to the disappointment of an extra 500 fans outside the venue. The Cavern Club, Liverpool at lunchtime and the Majestic Ballroom, in Birkenhead in the evening.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 16, 1970

Detectives from Scotland Yard converge upon the London Arts Gallery, raiding the John Lennon "Bag One" lithograph exhibit. They confiscate eight of the lithographs, those which have been deemed to be erotic and indecent. The warrant was issued under the Obscene Publications Act.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 15, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 15, 1970

Today an exhibition of John Lennon’s erotic lithographs opened up at the London Arts Gallery located at 22 New Bond Street, London W1.

The lithographs, known collectively as Bag One, had been drawn by Lennon in 1969, and chronicled his wedding ceremony and honeymoon with Yoko Ono, and one of their bed-ins for world peace.

The Bag One Portfolio was published as a limited edition of 300, and contained 14 artworks. Each lithograph was signed by Lennon. The portfolio went on sale for £550, with individual prints priced at £40 each.

The exhibition lasted two weeks, but on the second day the gallery was raided and police officers confiscated eight of the 14 originals on the grounds of indecency.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 14, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 14, 1970

Sentimental Journey, Ringo's debut studio album, seventh recording session took place on this day.

The title track had been a 1945 hit for Doris Day. Starr admired American producer Richard Perry’s work on Tiny Tim’s 1968 debut album God Bless Tiny Tim, and invited him to arrange the song.

Although they wouldn’t actually meet for another two years, Perry and Starr worked together extensively in 1973-74. Perry recorded the backing track for Sentimental Journey in America in late 1969, with guitar, bass, drums, piano, accordion, clarinet, saxophone, strings, autoharp and backing vocals.

Starr recorded his lead vocals at Olympic Sound Studios, in a session lasting from 2.30-5.30pm. His vocals were double-tracked during the middle eight section.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 13, 1970

--US release of The Beatles soundtrack LP, Yellow Submarine (Apple). Songs: Yellow Submarine, Only a Northern Song, All Together Now, Hey Bulldog, It's All Too Much, and All You Need Is Love. Side two consists of instrumental soundtrack music by The George Martin Orchestra. 24 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #2.

Incredibly, The Beatles (minus George Harrision, who quit the group three days earlier) return to Twickenham Film Studios and the "Get Back" project. It must have been a miserable day. When the rehearsal was scheduled to begin, only two Beatles attend, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John Lennon makes a brief appearance late in the afternoon, almost as a gesture of contempt for the group. In his absence, Paul and Ringo discuss the difficulty of dealing with John when he has apparently appointed Yoko Ono to speak and act on his behalf.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 12, 1970

Today marked an attempt to sort out the problems within The Beatles following George Harrison’s sudden departure two days earlier. All four met at Brookfield House, Ringo Starr’s Tudor mansion in Elstead, Surrey.

The meeting was not a success. The feud between Harrison and John Lennon remained unresolved, and Harrison left early without agreeing to rejoin The Beatles.

 

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 11, 1970

January 11, 1963

Lunchtime it was at the Cavern Club, of course in Liverpool. Then the Beatles made the hazardous afternoon journey south from Liverpool to Old Hill, blizzards made them unable to drive the 11 miles to King's Hearth at the Ritz Ballroom on York Rd. for the 2nd part of a double booking in the Midlands. It was the coldest night in the area for 7 years. The King's Hearth date was re-arranged for mid-February. Birmingham, Warwickshire was postponed.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 10, 1970

`Live Peace In Toronto', number 136, 1st week in the ranking (Billboard)

John inaugurates `Bag One', an exhibition of some of his lithographies and drawings at the London Arts Gallery.

 

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 9, 1970
January 9, 1965

The Beatles performing at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 8, 1970

The Beatles asked Glyn Johns to prepare a version of the Get Back/Let It Be tapes suitable for release as a long-player. This two-hour session was a remix session for the songs Let It Be and For You Blue.

Stereo remixes of both songs were made on this night, along with a vocal overdub onto For You Blue by George Harrison.

It took place at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London, where The Beatles had recorded occasionally since 11 May 1967, when they taped the backing track for Baby You’re A Rich Man.

This was Harrison’s last Beatles session until the Anthology recordings in the 1990s - and it is not known whether any of the other Beatles attended.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 7, 1970

Back on January 7, 1964

Playhouse Theatre, London

The Astoria dates comprised the last ten nights of  "The Beatles Christimas Show", which had opened on December 24, 1963.

George and Ringo made an unusual radio recording for broadcast in the "Light Programme" magazine series The Public Ear on Sunday, January 12th. It took the form of a letter they had written, recorded onto tape and played in the program's regular "Air Mail" slot. In the letter, the two Beatles referred to a previous edition of the series (December 29th) in which friend Hall had encouraged listeners to appreciate the music that the Beatles themselves preferred, principally American R&B.

The new contribution from George and Ringo echoed Hall's sentiments, and requested a song to be be played (Miracles, "I've been good to you" was chosen).

On January 7th, the Beatles, as a group, made a more conventional BBC radio recording, a music session for Saturday Club. Then went to Finsbury Park for their two evening "Christmas Show" performances.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 6, 1970

Back on January 6, 1963

The last night of the tour ended at the Beach Ballroom, Sea Beach, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 5, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 5, 1970

The Beatles had rejected producer Glyn Johns’ first attempt at fashioning an album from the Get Back/Let It Be tapes. Today Glyn Johns' put together a second Get Back LP for their consideration, although it too was rejected.

Johns' worked from 7pm-11.30pm at Olympic Sound Studios in London, without any of The Beatles being present. His new album omitted Teddy Boy, as it wasn’t featured in the Let It Be film, but added George Harrison’s I Me Mine and John Lennon’s Across The Universe.

Across The Universe had its third stereo mix. Johns left out the backing vocals from Apple Scruffs Gayleen Pease and Lizzie Bravo, took out The Beatles’ own backing vocals, faded the song early and crossfaded it into the reprise of Get Back. Some spoken word dialogue was also added to the start of the song, with Lennon asking Ringo Starr: “Are you all right, Richard?”

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 4, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 4, 1970

Although John Lennon was not at this recording session, this was their last time recording as a "group". This session was for the Let It Be album. After completing I Me Mine the previous day, The Beatles turned their attentions to Paul McCartney’s song Let It Be.

They taped a series of overdubs onto take 27, the basic track which had been laid down on 31 January 1969. First to be recorded on this day was a bass guitar part, with McCartney replacing Lennon’s original effort on track four.

Paul, his wife Linda and George triple-tracked some high harmony vocals. These were initially recorded onto track seven; an unnumbered mix bounced this onto track four, and while it was made they recorded the second set of harmonies. A final mix saw the third lot of vocals added once again to track seven, along with the previous sets. This track also contained the guitar solo recorded on 30 April 1969, which was used on the Let It Be single.

The final recording saw Harrison add lead guitar, including a new solo, onto track four, along with maracas by McCartney and extra drums by Starr. This solo can be heard on the Let It Be album.

Two stereo mixes of the song were then made. Glyn Johns, who produced many of the Let It Be recordings, was present at the session. To compile his latest version of the Get Back album, he took away the new Let It Be mixes, along with the multitrack tape of I Me Mine from the previous day.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 3, 1970
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 3, 1970

Paul, George and Ringo got together on this date at EMI Studios to complete the Get Back album. John Lennon was on vacation in Denmark, but had left the group by this time.

They worked on I Me Mine, which Harrison was filmed playing to Starr during the Let It Be film. As it was to be included in the film’s final cut, it was necessary for the song to appear on the accompanying album.

They group worked from 2.30pm until 12.15am the following morning. Sixteen takes of the song’s rhythm track were recorded, with acoustic guitar, bass and drums, plus a guide vocal from Harrison.

The group performed an instrumental jam after take six, and prior to take 12 Harrison led them through a version of Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue Got Married.

Before take 15, Harrison delivered a mock press statement containing a reference to Lennon’s absence.

You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. But Mickey and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that’s always gone down in [studio] number two. The remark was included on Anthology 3, along with the basic version of take 16.

Having taped a satisfactory backing track, The Beatles overdubbed electric piano, electric guitar, lead and backing vocals, an organ and another acoustic guitar track.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: January 2, 1970

January 2, 1963

The opening night of a five-date booking in Scotland and the Beatles' first proper tour, also a return visit to the town played as support to Johnny Gentle on May 25, 1960 - was cancelled owing to the terrible weather conditions which had the whole of Scotland in an icy grip. Snowdrifts made virtually all of the Highlands roads impassable, and the Beatles hadn't a chance of getting through to Keith in time to fulfill the engagement.

The tour had got away to a bad start even before this setback. Thanks to the inclement weather, the Beatles' flight from London to Edinburgh during the morning of January 2, (the group had flown to London from Hamburg on January 1st, and spent the night there) was switched at the last moment to land at Aberdeen.