Rolling Stone October 26, 1968

[JoJo]

My latest collectible, there are a couple of good articles, one mentions the upcoming "double album". I'll work on scanning that as time allows, but this picture has to be the all time winner for freakiest picture from the era that I've ever seen... Perhaps not at the time it was published, but in light of what happened to John..

[plastic paul]

Christ, he's playing dead incredibly well...

Does anyone remember a thread from a very long time ago, either here or on TKIN that suggested maybe Stu Sutcliffe was a clairvoyant and he predicted a few things and thats what messed with his head?

It's sounds out there and 99.9% ridiculous of course but it was an interesting read.

Seriously though someone definitely brought it up somewhere, sometime!

[LOVELYRITA]

He looked like he was freaked out from some drugs...He looks a mess

[JoJo]

lovelyrita said:

He looked like he was freaked out from some drugs...He looks a mess

Might look like that, but maybe try thinking a little harder..

Imagine a passed out, drugged out John, while the others calmly pose for the photog. Does that make sense?

[JoJo]

Coming attractions:

[beatlies]

There's also that photo of John Lennon in front of his Rolls Royce, lying on the street with his face and glasses in a similar look and position.

[pennylane]

there is really bad bootleg footage of that photo shoot floating around the web.if i can find it i'll post the link. but that shot was taken after a mock wrestle with Paul, where Paul wins and John plays dead, it's quite funny actually.

[JoJo]

luna said:

there is really bad bootleg footage of that photo shoot floating around the web.if i can find it i'll post the link. but that shot was taken after a mock wrestle with Paul, where Paul wins and John plays dead, it's quite funny actually.

Thanks Luna, it helps to have the whole story. It was still quite visually striking, RS in those days was published in tabloid newspaper format, so it was just this huge picture without any accompanying captioning, sorta captured your attention

[lili]

I have other photos from that shoot. I've already posted the photo of John & Bill wrestling. I posted it, because Bill is wrestling John using his RIGHT hand. Here it is again:



Here's another photo of Bill from that day. It must've been taken after he beat John:



Here's that photo of John playing dead in front of his Rolls Royce:

[JoJo]

The articles, one about the upcoming "double album", (still no name at that point) and another about the Ray Hunter Davies bio. (oops)

The last page has an interesting quote from Lennon:

"We're a con as well," Lennon continues, "We know we're conning them, because we know people want to be conned. They've given us the freedom to con them. Let's stick that in there, we say, that'll start them puzzling. I'm sure all the artists do, when they realize it's a con. I bet Picasso sticks things in. I bet he's been laughing his balls off for the last eighty years."

Whether it's a con or not, he seems to be implying deliberately inserting something, whether it be in the artwork or the music, which he seemed to deny in later years.

[-Wings-]

It strikes me as odd that Rolling Stone stuck an old picture of Paul under the concluding paragraph where John talks about them being a con. Especially a photo of Paul where he's giving such a disbelieving glance. Maybe someone at Rolling Stone knew all too well what John was talking about.

[TotalInformation]

Ray Hunter Davies bio. (oops)

You had me excited, I was hoping for a hint R Davies had ghostwritten on 'White Album" or something. Actually, I wouldn't have been surprised if FAUL and R Davies were collaborating on Get Back at the time this went to press, given FAUL's remarks.

Hunter Davies picked up where BILLY SHEPHERD left off as creator/chronicler of official BEATLES history/fantasy.

Maybe someone at Rolling Stone knew all too well what John was talking about.

Not just someone, but Jann Wenner, who bid for the BILLY SHEPHERD gig by conducting the extended breakup interview with Lennon, and crawling up Yoko's ass for decades until this day.

Of course he knew. I give even odds that Lennon, a professional graphic artist, even signed off on Wenner's winking page layout.

[lili]

You have to wonder what people like Werner & Davies really thought of John & the others. I guess it's according to what story they had been told or heard on the grapevine.
I think that his inserting that photo of Paul in that location was brilliant.

[Paul Bearer]

"NEW BEATLES DOUBLE ALBUM..."

Shouldn't that be "Beatles new double album..."? That would make more gramatical sense??

Perhaps "New Beatles" is deliberate. Perhaps "New Beatles DOUBLE" is also deliberate.

[DarkHorse]

I never thought of it that way skirmisher. Good observation. Perhaps they made a 'double' album as another clue? There were many who thought it should have been condensed and that many of the songs should have been scratched.

[LOVELYRITA]

As skinny as John was at that time of his life, his arms look bigger than Bill's bare arms.
Does someone have a pic of JPM without his shirt, or a short sleeved t-shirt. Memory serves me to think JPM was a little more weight than Bill, not muscular but "meatier". Linda probably had bigger biceps than Bill.

It does seem funny to put that pic of a very young JPM with an odd expression like that at the end of the article.

Like the other thread that shows old pics from some article from 1967, I find it a curiosity that the publishers used old pics of a year or two before the time the article was released. It's like the media knew what happened, yet tried to keep the Beatles "as they were" before 1966, yet talk about the new projects they were doing.

I like the ideas about the wording and the Double Album idea...a double vision so to speak.
No only a double for JPM, but a double for the double, like the White Album poster with a shot of Bill and a half a Faul face.

So the question is, how many Faul's are there?

[lenmac]

Here is some bare armed Paul from 1964

[DarkHorse]

Those guys were 5'9"...5'10" at the most.

[LOVELYRITA]

Thanks for the pics lenmac. JPM was not muscular, and he wasn't fat, but he had more than skinny Bill arms.

If the Beatles were in this day and age, they would have to bulk up to compete with the likes of the hip hop men who show off their six packs....

That second pic of JPM shows a great profile that isn't seen anywhere else....not like Bill's profile when he wrestles with John. Not that same man for sure.

[superman]

Mar 23, 2006 21:33:27 GMT -5 -Wings- said:

It strikes me as odd that Rolling Stone stuck an old picture of Paul under the concluding paragraph where John talks about them being a con. Especially a photo of Paul where he's giving such a disbelieving glance. Maybe someone at Rolling Stone knew all too well what John was talking about.

I think Rollingstone and certain other publications were given exclusives if they (The Beatle Machine) were allowed to control the story - editing, photo arrangement and so on. Think of the Life magazine story that revealed "Paul is Still With Us". If you hold that magazine cover up to the light, the car ad printed on the other side of the page can be seen. That car ad merges with the Paul photo on the cover and it looks like a car is hitting Paul dead-on. I don't think that was a coincidence. I think a deal was made with Life ... "You get the 'I'm still alive!' story ... if you allow my people print this particular ad directly behind it."