Post by jarvitronics on Jun 25, 2007 10:23:03 GMT -5
(Yet another post of mine from TKIN...)
In 1965, artist Richard Merkin (#10 on Sgt Pepper, top row, red hat) painted "Bulldog Drummond and the Great Coca-Cola Mystery." (see below).
Bulldog Drummond was James Bond before there was a James Bond. In the song Hey Bulldog, (which has that 60's "secret agent" sound), Lennon sings "Big man walking in the park," and in the Merkin painting there is an area called "THE PARK." Just below THE PARK is painted "24x" and Paul turned 24 in 1966, right before he is alleged to have "died."
In the song Come Together, Lennon sings: "He shoot Coca-Cola."
I wonder if this Merkin piece was used as an inspirational archetype for certain elements of the layout of the Sgt Pepper cover?
The Merkin painting has a circle in the middle that to me is suggestive of the Sgt Pepper drum. Sticking out of the top of the circle is a brown line at an angle with an X on top. This line is at roughly the same angle and position as the cor anglais that Paul is holding on Sgt Pepper.
If you look at the Pepper cover you can see that the cor anglais points right to Richard Merkin! (As well as revealing another CLUE. Here is a link to that thread and a picture of the other CLUE.)
invanddis.proboards29.com/index.cgi?board=Clues&action=display&thread=1182657654
At the top of the poster, at the bottom of the black area, is a scene of an auto accident with a meat wagon cleaning it up. The meatwagon is the leftmost vehicle - a long purplish van. The red car right behind the meat wagon is on its side. There is another car further to the right still upright. The upright car is red with a black top.
On the opposite side of the black area in the top right corner of the painting is what looks like a crowd of people standing and staring at the scene. (I think they are actually trees...?)
The painting says HELP in the upper right corner. 1965 was the year Lennon recorded and released the song "Help." I can't say if there is a connection there but the timing is interesting. Who influenced who?
In the lower left corner of the poster, the beige colored area is in the shape of an armless bust, with a bloody stump at the neck where the head should be attached. The head area is filled with question marks instead of a head.
At the lower right of the painting is a disembodied head beneath the words CLUE CLUE CLUE.
Here is a zoom of the area just above where it says "South Of Pago Pago," Does it look like this little dude might have inspired those tall, thin, long-faced Blue Meanies? This Merkin piece just keeps on delivering the goods.
In the area called THE LAKE, something that looks like a yellow submarine is sticking half out of the water.
In 1962, The Beatles recorded a song called Searchin', written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The recording was finally released on Anthology 1 in 1995. Here is an excerpt from the lyrics of that song: NO MATTER WHERE SHE'S A-HIDIN' SHE'S GONNA SEE ME A-COMIN', GONNA WALK RIGHT DOWN THAT STREET LIKE A BULLDOG DRUMMOND.
Incidentally, (and I owe this tidbit to ccinri, another poster over at TKIN - THANKS ccinri!), the writer who created Bulldog Drummond, H.C. McNeile, wrote a short story called Mystery Tour.
WOWEE!
-j
In 1965, artist Richard Merkin (#10 on Sgt Pepper, top row, red hat) painted "Bulldog Drummond and the Great Coca-Cola Mystery." (see below).
Bulldog Drummond was James Bond before there was a James Bond. In the song Hey Bulldog, (which has that 60's "secret agent" sound), Lennon sings "Big man walking in the park," and in the Merkin painting there is an area called "THE PARK." Just below THE PARK is painted "24x" and Paul turned 24 in 1966, right before he is alleged to have "died."
In the song Come Together, Lennon sings: "He shoot Coca-Cola."
I wonder if this Merkin piece was used as an inspirational archetype for certain elements of the layout of the Sgt Pepper cover?
The Merkin painting has a circle in the middle that to me is suggestive of the Sgt Pepper drum. Sticking out of the top of the circle is a brown line at an angle with an X on top. This line is at roughly the same angle and position as the cor anglais that Paul is holding on Sgt Pepper.
If you look at the Pepper cover you can see that the cor anglais points right to Richard Merkin! (As well as revealing another CLUE. Here is a link to that thread and a picture of the other CLUE.)
invanddis.proboards29.com/index.cgi?board=Clues&action=display&thread=1182657654
At the top of the poster, at the bottom of the black area, is a scene of an auto accident with a meat wagon cleaning it up. The meatwagon is the leftmost vehicle - a long purplish van. The red car right behind the meat wagon is on its side. There is another car further to the right still upright. The upright car is red with a black top.
On the opposite side of the black area in the top right corner of the painting is what looks like a crowd of people standing and staring at the scene. (I think they are actually trees...?)
The painting says HELP in the upper right corner. 1965 was the year Lennon recorded and released the song "Help." I can't say if there is a connection there but the timing is interesting. Who influenced who?
In the lower left corner of the poster, the beige colored area is in the shape of an armless bust, with a bloody stump at the neck where the head should be attached. The head area is filled with question marks instead of a head.
At the lower right of the painting is a disembodied head beneath the words CLUE CLUE CLUE.
Here is a zoom of the area just above where it says "South Of Pago Pago," Does it look like this little dude might have inspired those tall, thin, long-faced Blue Meanies? This Merkin piece just keeps on delivering the goods.
In the area called THE LAKE, something that looks like a yellow submarine is sticking half out of the water.
In 1962, The Beatles recorded a song called Searchin', written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The recording was finally released on Anthology 1 in 1995. Here is an excerpt from the lyrics of that song: NO MATTER WHERE SHE'S A-HIDIN' SHE'S GONNA SEE ME A-COMIN', GONNA WALK RIGHT DOWN THAT STREET LIKE A BULLDOG DRUMMOND.
Incidentally, (and I owe this tidbit to ccinri, another poster over at TKIN - THANKS ccinri!), the writer who created Bulldog Drummond, H.C. McNeile, wrote a short story called Mystery Tour.
WOWEE!
-j
