![Статья и фото из Beatles Monthly Book, взятая с диска-приложения к книге Джон Леннон - моя история смиренная и правдивая. Автор статьи и идеи Тони Бароу.]( "Статья и фото из Beatles Monthly Book, взятая с диска-приложения к книге Джон Леннон - моя история смиренная и правдивая. Автор статьи и идеи Тони Бароу.")
Статья и фото из Beatles Monthly Book, взятая с диска-приложения к книге "Джон Леннон - моя история смиренная и правдивая". Автор статьи и идеи Тони Бароу.
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR PARTIES TO CELEBRATE THE COMPLETION OF THEIR TV FILM, THE BEATLES STAGED TWO SPECIAL PARTIES IN LONDON
It was ironic that Paul McCartney should miss the first of the two private pre-Christmas parties which the Beatles hosted in London at the end of 1967, to celebrate the completion of Magical Mystery Tour. The whole whacky film venture had been Paul's own idea in the first place, something which he had designed personally with a view to helping him realise his great unpublicised ambition to become the future Beatles' movie producer. At the same time, Paul reasoned, the project would give the Fab Four a good reason to stay together and get back to work in the wake of Brian Epstein's death that summer.
In the event, when 40 of the Beatles' most faithful Fan Club area secretaries came to the capital on Sunday December 17 as guests of the group for a private premiere of Magical Mystery Tour, only two of the boys, John and George, were able to be present in person at the party. Ringo and Maureen were on their way back from the Incom Film Studios, Rome, where Ringo had spent the past fortnight on location, shooting his cameo role as Emmanuel the Mexican gardener for an all-star, X-rated comedy film called Candy.
Meanwhile, Paul was on a romantic little magical mystery tour of his own about 400 miles north of London, showing the current love of his life, actress Jane Asher, the sights of Scotland and, in particular, his hideaway farm at Campbeltown.
When I first suggested the idea of a small Magical Mystery Tour party to the four boys, one of them said something like: "The whole film looks like one mad party!" Indeed, the production process had been informal, to say the least — no scriptwriter, no proper planning and a lot of totally impromptu humour added in along the way as scenes were shot.
Once all the filming was finished and they'd had the chance to reflect on the hastily prepared production, there were mixed feelings within the foursome over whether it had been a wise move to make Magical Mystery Tour at all in such a great rush, and without a great deal of professional help from outside experts. I remember someone saying blatantly in the privacy of the group's inner circle: "We shouldn't have let Paul talk us into it." Another confessed to me that he thought a proper script should have been written by a qualified professional instead of so much ad-libbing of the slapstick comedy scenes. John stuck up for Paul through all the various postmortem debates which took place within the group that autumn. John declared simply that he had enjoyed the casual style of the filming and was well pleased with his own contributions.
PREVIEW
I explained the rest of my party idea to the boys, saying I felt the Fan Club secretaries in different regions all around the country had done a tremendous (unpaid) job for the Beatles and deserved a decent opportunity to meet their favourite band and, at the same time, get a sneak preview of Magical Mystery Tour before it went on telly at Christmas.
To be honest, I was also keen on the party idea from my viewpoint as the Beatles' publicist — I felt it was good for the group's image for them to host a Christmas Fan Club get-together, an occasion from which I could promise to get some positive press exposure.
Paul's first reaction was to make it a bigger 'do', hold the screening in some vast central London venue and invite thousands of Fan Club members rather than simply dozens of area secretaries. One of the others suggested the Finsbury Park Astoria, a massive North London cinema. But Paul realised there was too little time to fix an event of that sort and he settled for a smaller-scale affair instead.
It was John's suggestion that we should also get hold of the marvellously exciting colour film of their appearance at New York's Shea Stadium and show that as well.
We booked the Hanover Grand, a suite of dining and conference rooms in Hanover Street, close to Oxford Circus. It wasn't my first choice, but finding somewhere central, suitable, and still available for such a function on the Sunday before Christmas, wasn't easy!
After watching Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles' excited young guests were given tea and the chance to chat with John and George. Several of the area secretaries had actually travelled with us on the tour bus to the West Country and taken part in the filming. They had tales of their own to tell colleagues — and questions to ask the Beatles about how different scenes had been edited together to make the final film. Londoner Jeni Crowley recalled how Paul had told her before filming began that everybody would have to wear exactly the same clothing throughout the tour because scenes would not be shown in the same sequence in which they were shot. She summed up her experience on the road with the Beatles as "a fabulous week!". Freda Kelly said, "The professional actors and actresses mixed in with all us 'amateur passengers' and we had a great time. When the film cameras were not rolling, I found lots of opportunities to talk to each of the Beatles. They were particularly interested to hear the reactions of members to the Sgt. Pepper album. It was a marvellous week, one I wouldn't have missed for anything."
Sussex area secretary Sylvia Nightingale recalled how she had worn her hippy gear for the filming trip down to Devon and Cornwall: "The Beatles constantly reminded me of the fact — they referred to me as 'Zippy-Hippy' and 'Miss Freak-Out'. As I was eating lunch to the jingle of my bells, John turned to me and said, "You younger generation with all your bells!' On the bus I pointed out to Ringo that his trousers were splitting in an embarrassing place. 'Can you sew them up for me?' he said to my surprise. I did so — to the astonishment offans peering in through the coach windows.”
Area secretary Barbara King from Essex remembered: "Freda, Jeni, Sylvia and I sat at a table next to John, Paul, George and Ringo for lunch in
Plymouth. I remember how rude people were, persistently bothering the four lads while they were trying to eat. I had the experience of my life, a week I will never forget."
Although many media critics gave Magical Mystery Tour bad reviews, the Fan Club people thought it was a terrific show and said so in no uncertain terms. To say that nobody at the Hanover Grand party missed Paul or Ringo would be unfair, but John and George were so friendly to the fans that they made up for the unavoidable absence of their two colleagues.
