{"id":8204,"date":"2020-03-05T18:52:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T23:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=8204"},"modified":"2020-03-05T18:56:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T23:56:53","slug":"genius-having-fun-the-beatles-in-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/genius-having-fun-the-beatles-in-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Genius Having Fun: The Beatles in March"},"content":{"rendered":"::: By Jude Southerland Kessler :::<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSpring brings out childlike wonder and joy in all of us. We walk into the sunlight and marvel at exotic Japanese magnolia blossoms brashly defying winter\u2019s last ice storms. We gasp in delight over surprising fields of yellow daffodils. We search for four-leaf clovers but find our truest fortune in the re-energized work we do, now that dark days have become light and fresh again.<\/em>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe Beatles felt this. In five March calendars together, they were especially creative. They starred in films, wrote books, appeared on radio and television programs, and of course, created magical music that still plays in our homes and falls from the lips of our children and grandchildren. Invigorated each spring, The Beatles tended to greet March with an enthusiasm that found its way into archetypal creativity. For example\u2026<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\nMarch 1963<\/strong>\u2026Fresh off the Helen Shapiro Tour (which had run from 2 February – 3 March), the boys gathered in EMI\u2019s Studio Two on Tuesday, 5 March, to record the jaunty, \u201cFrom Me to You,\u201d a song that had been inspired by a newspaper column which John and Paul had spotted on the Shapiro tour bus. In studio, the ever-brilliant George Martin gave the number a very singular sound when he recommended that the boys sing<\/em> rather than play the song\u2019s \u201cda-da-dum-da-da-dum-dum-da\u201d intro. But \u201cFrom Me to You,\u201d wasn\u2019t the only product of that creative date. The lads also recorded \u201cThank You, Girl\u201d and \u201cThe One After 909.\u201d \u201cFrom Me to You,\u201d however, was clearly the stand-out. An instant hit, it was throughout 1963, an important part of the lads\u2019 catalogue. In fact, it was the opening song the night that The Beatles \u201crattled jewelry\u201d at the Royal Command Performance, six months later.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMarch 1964<\/strong>\u2026The Beatles began making their first film for United Artists, \u201cA Hard Day\u2019s Night\u201d on Monday, 2 March 1964. Now, one would think that making a full-length feature movie and creating the soundtrack LP would be task-enough for John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but throughout the month, they were busy here, there, and everywhere. On the 19th<\/sup>, for example, they spent their lunch hour at London\u2019s Royal Dorchester Hotel receiving the Variety Club Silver Heart award for \u201cTop Show Business Personalities of 1963,\u201d an honor presented to them by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. And that night, instead of going home when the other actors called it quits, they hurried to tape an appearance on Britain\u2019s #1 pop TV show, Top of the Pops<\/em>. The very next evening (in their spare time, after filming), the boys performed on the hit television programme, Ready, Steady, Go!<\/em> (Deep Breath!!!) And of course, in addition to all of this, John Lennon also released his first book, a volume of prose and poetry entitled In His Own Write<\/em>. What can I say? The Beatles\u2019 well-lauded creativity was, in March 1964, both on and off-the-charts!\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMarch 1965\u2026<\/strong>Again, it was film-making season for the Fabs, but this time, in \u201965, the United Artists\u2019 film was \u201cEight Arms to Hold You,\u201d eventually dubbed \u201cHelp!\u201d. First, filming in Nassau for a fortnight, the boys flew home on the 10th,<\/sup> only to regenerate quickly and head out once again. Three days later, accompanied by newlywed, Maureen Starkey, and John\u2019s wife, Cynthia, the boys were en route<\/em> to Austria. During their time in the breathtaking Alps, John completed an extremely biographical song he\u2019d begun at Kenwood, a number entitled \u201cIt\u2019s Only Love.\u201d Depicting his increasingly rocky relationship with Cynthia, this offering revealed so much of John\u2019s vulnerability and tenderness that ever-after, he despised it. Paul told the press that John rarely let people see his soft side: \u201cI\u2019ve only seen him through the cracks in his shell because the shell is so hard.\u201d But \u201cIt\u2019s Only Love\u201d so laid bare John\u2019s love for his wife and their mutual struggles, that in the years to come, John would never have a good word to say about the revelatory song. In emotional and imperfect lyrics, it had too closely captured Lennon\u2019s wounded heart.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMarch 1967\u2026<\/strong>Wearing ponchos, flowered \u201ckecks,\u201d and National Health glasses, the boys were truly in creative heaven, working away in EMI Studios, on Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club<\/em> Band<\/em>. On 1 and 2 March, they worked for hours on John\u2019s \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds.\u201d Then, on the 9th<\/sup> and 10th<\/sup>, they gave their attention to Paul\u2019s \u201cGetting Better All the Time.\u201d And on the 15th<\/sup>, they began work on George\u2019s \u201cWithin You, Without You.\u201d But in every period of intense, unfettered creativity, there is always an inherent edge and potential danger. And 21 March 1967 was one of those experimental evenings that could have ended tragically. John, having taken LSD for inspiration, was feeling unwell and excused himself from Studio Two. Hoping to help John recover (and oblivious to the reason for John\u2019s discomfort), George Martin followed him out and suggested climbing to the EMI rooftop for fresh air. When, moments later, Paul and George saw Martin return without Lennon and discovered where their friend was recuperating, they tore out after him\u2026realising that the roof had no rails or barriers against a sheer, 30-foot drop to the ground. Fortunately, when they scrambled \u2014 breathless \u2014 onto the top deck, John was simply standing and staring at the night sky. But the boys were so thoroughly rattled that they concluded their recordings for that evening then and there. Creative inspiration had engendered a close call.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMarch 1968\u2026<\/strong>Out of devotion to his mates, Ringo (and his wife, Maureen) agreed to go along with the others to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi\u2019s ashram in Rishikesh, India, for a soul revival. But after only 10 days abroad \u2014 hating the \u201cButlin\u2019s holiday camp\u201d life of the Ashram \u2014 the Starkeys gave the others their regrets and flew home. Twenty-five days later, on 26 March, after having worked prodigiously with John on a plethora of songs that would populate the White Album<\/em>, Paul and Jane Asher flew back to London, accompanied by Neil Aspinall\u2026and leaving only John and Cyn, George and Patti, and Alex Mardas behind. Although this excursion failed to end particularly well (if one knows the backstory of \u201cSexy Sadie\u201d), March 1968 was undeniably a time of immense creative genius for The Beatles. Having the rare opportunity to rest, talk, write music, and have furtive fun together (when the Maharishi wasn\u2019t looking), the boys created magical songs for the finest LP they\u2019d offered the public in quite some time. Indeed, John alone wrote enough tracks for the White Album<\/em> to have his own solo LP. The \u201cLeader Beatle,\u201d who had sadly relinquished his role in Sgt. Pepper<\/em> and Magical Mystery Tour<\/em> was back. They all<\/em><\/strong> were\u2026in a flood of bright, spring sunlight that blended dramatically into pure White.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAlbert Einstein once said, \u201cCreativity is genius having fun.\u201d<\/strong> And certainly, no group of people bear this out better than The Beatles. During the March months of their lives, they starred in award-winning films (creatively ad-libbing many of the famous lines), wrote and illustrated books of poetry and prose, composed and recorded music, starred on television and radio programmes, and sought new horizons of faith. But for the lads, ushering music, art, and literature into the world was never a job or a chore! It was always the product of the happiest moments of their lives. And may it be so, this month, with us as well. Shine on! <\/em>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel<\/a> on Twitter and 910 Public Relations<\/a> on Facebook.<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

::: By Jude Southerland Kessler :::   Spring brings out childlike wonder and joy in all of us. We walk into the sunlight and marvel at exotic Japanese magnolia blossoms brashly defying winter\u2019s last ice storms. We gasp in delight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,28],"tags":[98,117,30],"class_list":["post-8204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby-boomer-beatles-blog","category-the-beatles","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-fest-for-beatles-fans"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8204"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8207,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8204\/revisions\/8207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}