Chapter 4: For Your Love (November 1966 - October 1967)

24 November 1966
GEORGE MARTIN: "We started off with 'Strawberry Fields', and then we recorded 'When I'm Sixty-Four' and 'Penny Lane'. They were all intended for the next album. We didn’t know it was Merseyside then - they were just going to be tracks on The New Album - but it was going to be a record created in the studio, and there were going to be songs that couldn’t be performed live." (The Beatles Anthology, 2000)

The Beatles, 1967.

All sporting mustaches, the Beatles' next project began with John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever". The track concerned Lennon's childhood memories of a Salvation Army's children home when he was growing up in Liverpool. Paul McCartney had responded with two other songs - "When I'm Sixty-Four" (with origins tracing back to 1958) and "Penny Lane", the latter of which was also about Paul's own childhood memories, involving a barber, a banker, a fireman, and a pretty nurse. Per tradition, as has been the case since their debut single "Love Me Do", all three songs were given the Lennon/McCartney credit.

During the sessions, McCartney recorded an avant-garde piece for an event known as The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave that was to be held at the Roundhouse venue in London on 28 January. As of 2018, this nearly fourteen-minute piece - dubbed "Carnival of Light" - has never been officially released and has become the holy grail for obscure Beatles recordings, with McCartney even wishing to have it released at some point.[1]

Then there was the matter of the third Beatles movie to be released under United Artists, per their contract. Playwright Joe Orton had been tasked with a script that he had dubbed Up Against It. Unlike A Hard Day's Night and Help!, Up Against It was not going to be a musical, so the band would not have to compose new music. Despite initially liking the script, the Beatles and Brian Epstein chose not to film the movie, thinking that it would've been too risque - Orton did eventually revise the script for the Rolling Stones and Ian McKellan in mind; it would finally come out in 1970 directed by Richard Lester, later becoming a cult classic amongst LGBT audiences.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "We didn't go for Up Against It because it was too far, even for us. It was gay, but we weren't, and that was all there was to it. Brian [Epstein] is gay, so he and the gay crowd could appreciate it. It wasn't that we were anti-gay - it's just that we, the Beatles, weren't gay.[2]" (1988)

The Beatles in the music video for "Strawberry Fields Forever", 1967.

Meanwhile, there was pressure from both Parlophone and Capitol Records for the British and American markets, respectively, on the Beatles to have something released by February, whether it be an album or a single. The most recent new material had been the Abracadabra album along with its "Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby" single that August. Being absent from the charts for a long time would not have been good news for the band, especially now that America was showing a television series called The Monkees, featuring Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones as the fictional band.

To fill the gap, a compilation album dubbed A Collection of Beatles Oldies was released by EMI for the United Kingdom market, including older singles such as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Day Tripper", plus album cuts such as "Michelle" and "Bad Boy", a Larry Williams cover that was previously exclusive to the United States.

Despite holding onto the rule of not including singles on their albums - to give fans their money's worth - the Beatles soon reached a compromise with both Parlophone and Capitol to release "Strawberry Fields Forever" as the next single with "When I'm Sixty-Four", under the condition that it would serve as a preview to their next album. Epstein was initially hesitant about the idea, but he soon came around to it as well. The next single, "Penny Lane", would be released alongside the album with Lennon's "A Day in the Life" as the B-side.[3]

29 April - 12 May 1967

John Lennon with John Dunbar at the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream, 29 April 1967.

Whilst the album was undergoing the final mixing, John Lennon attended the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream concert, which took place at Alexandra Palace in London. Pink Floyd was headlining the event, playing right at the end of the show. Apart from performing tracks from the Projection album, Pink Floyd were playing newer songs including "See Emily Play", "Matilda Mother", and "Lucifer Sam".[4]

JOHN LENNON: "Something about that show seemed sort of magical; it was like the Beatles in their youth before all the experimentation... except Floyd were experimental from the start. I got the chance to meet up with Roger [Waters] and Syd [Barrett] later that morning, and asked them right out if the Beatles could perform with them for a future show." (1979)

ROGER WATERS: "I thought John had hit his head when he was up on the roof with Syd the month before. From what I understood, the Beatles had given up on touring because of what had happened in the Philippines and the States. But for him to suddenly ask to perform alongside us when it was not even a year after their last controversial tour?" (2006)

Once the initial shock had worn off, Waters and Barrett had agreed to the idea, but only if their managers Andrew King and Peter Jenner had agreed to make arrangements with Brian Epstein.

The other three Beatles were also shocked at John's sudden idea, especially Harrison, who had hated touring the most. "I might've caused a bit of excitement round at the studio," John would later admit. "'Are they really going to perform live again?!' 'What will they be playing and where at?!' 'How are they going to work around the limitations?!' That sort of thing. But I feel it all worked out in the end."

Pink Floyd performing at "Games for May", 12 May 1967.

The Games for May concert, fronted by Pink Floyd and the Beatles, took place on the 12th at the recently built Queen Elizabeth Hall. Like the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream concert, Pink Floyd performed tracks from Projection as well as future hits. The Beatles' setlist consisted of the more recent material, as well as a few older songs such as "Yesterday" and "Eight Days a Week".

GEORGE HARRISON: "I remember being in shock when I first played the opening notes to 'Pepper' - I could actually hear myself!" (1982)

RINGO STARR: "It was such an amazing performance. The rust just seemed to shed off when the crowd started cheering; we all felt two years younger." (1998)

The Beatles - "Games for May"[5]
One show (12 May 1967)
Setlist:
1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. Strawberry Fields Forever
3. I Want to Tell You
4. Eight Days a Week
5. Got to Get You Into My Life
6. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
7. Yesterday
8. Eleanor Rigby
9. Doctor Robert
10. Taxman
11. Penny Lane
12. With a Little Help from My Friends
Encore:
13. Save the Last Dance for Me
14. A Day in the Life

The performance was met with hugely positive reception from the audience. It has been said that following the performance, Harrison quickly went to the nearest bathroom and threw up. "My nerves were just fried," he would state in some interviews. "But despite that, I wanted more." He and Lennon would later cite the "Games for May" concert as being what changed their minds about touring. On top of that, the show helped to almost double the already large amount of hype for their next album.

JOHN LENNON: "It was strange, to say the least, having to hear yourself play almost perfectly. Kind of like riding a new bike; a few stumbles at first, but then you get the hang of it." (1979)

26 May 1967

The Beatles - Merseyside

Released: 26 May 1967

Recorded: 24 November 1966 - 21 April 1967

Producer: George Martin

Track listing[6]

Side A

Strawberry Fields Forever
Penny Lane
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Only a Northern Song
Getting Better
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
She's Leaving Home

Side B

Within You Without You
Lovely Rita
With a Little Help from My Friends
Fixing a Hole
Good Morning Good Morning
When I'm Sixty-Four
A Day in the Life

The Beatles' eighth British long play, Merseyside, was conceived as a concept album regarding the band members' respective childhoods. The first side concerned childhood itself and growing up whilst the second side was all about adulthood, getting older, and eventually, death. Like the previous albums, Merseyside was largely composed by Lennon and McCartney, with two compositions by George Harrison - the Indian-influenced "Within You Without You" and "Only a Northern Song".

Harrison was adamant about having "Northern Song" put on the album, especially as he had received three tracks on Abracadabra. To placate him, McCartney had agreed to drop "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to make room for Harrison, but did not want the track to go to waste.

Despite issues such as rushing through the recording sessions, the rooftop madness between Lennon and Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett, and, according to George, "faffing about with the tracklisting," Merseyside was released to critical acclaim and reached number one on both sides of the Atlantic. "Penny Lane" also reached number one in America, but stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom, as had the previous single "Strawberry Fields Forever", the first single since "Please Please Me" not to reach #1 on either side.

25 June - 7 July 1967

The Beatles performing "All You Need is Love" on Our World, 25 June 1967.

Barely a month after the release of Merseyside, the Beatles made an appearance on Our World, which was to be the world's first live television satellite link-up and would be seen by around 400 million people around the world. The band was to represent the BBC, and by extension, the United Kingdom. It was John Lennon who penned a song for the occasion - "All You Need is Love" - with the instruction that it had to be simple so worldwide viewers would understand.

RINGO STARR: "We were big enough to command an audience of that size, and it was for love. It was for love and bloody peace. It was a fabulous time." (Anthology TV special, 1995)

The performance took place at 9:36pm GMT, and aiding the Beatles were the likes of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Graham Nash, Keith Moon, Hunter Davies, as well as George's wife Pattie and Paul's girlfriend Jane Asher and brother Mike. It was at the height of the Vietnam War, and so the song presented a positive message about peace and love rather than war and fear. After the performance, "All You Need is Love" was released as a single on 7 July, Ringo's 27th birthday, and reached #1 in both sides.

For the Beatles, it was perhaps one of the biggest, most publicized rebounds in music history.

31 July - 25 September 1967
The latter half of the month had been spent sightseeing Greece and even discussing plans about purchasing an island all to themselves, but it never got off the ground. All four would cite this as being a huge missed opportunity.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "When John and I returned to England, it came a surprise to us that George had come up with the idea of a university tour in our absence. "Games of May" and Our World didn't seem to be enough for him, it seemed. He didn't want to sit still. Kind of says a lot how he hated touring the most out of all of us." (2005)

GEORGE HARRISON: "John and Paul had always been the ideas-men; why not let Georgie and Richie have their time to shine for once?" (1968)

George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, 1967.

Whilst arrangements were being made, George and Pattie had flown to Los Angeles and hung out with Ravi Shankar. There, Pattie had read about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi from an advertisement in a newspaper. When they got back, George was informed by the other Beatles and Epstein that the proposed Beatles' University Tour would start on 11 September and last up to the 24th, the last show being held at the University of Liverpool.

In the meantime, and with Pattie's encouragement, the Beatles and their partners - excluding Ringo and his wife Maureen, following the birth of his second son Jason - attended Maharishi's lecture at Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, London on 24 August. Following the lecture was a private audience between the Beatles, their loved ones and Maharishi, where they made arrangements to travel to Bangor in North Wales for a ten-day series of seminars between 25 August and 3 September.

JOHN LENNON: "When we got back from Wales, Brian [Epstein] told us that we only had one week to practice for our University Tour, and we all thought, 'Oh shit; we haven't prepared!' It almost looked as if we were screwed." (1984)

The first show took place at the University of Nottingham, but despite having only a week to practice, the show went down very well among the students, who were amazed to see the Beatles performing at their school. George had initially wanted Pink Floyd to be their opening set, but the band had declined the offer, although Rick Wright agreed to play whenever a song required keyboards or piano.

The Beatles performing at the University of Nottingham, 11 September 1967.

The tour would take shape as it went on, and the Beatles would dress in army outfits with their own unique color; John's was light green, Paul's light blue, George's bright orange and Ringo's pink. Rick Wright even had one of his own in light purple; the outfits were designed by Maureen Starkey.

The Beatles w/ Rick Wright - University Tour/"Magical Mystery Tour"[7] (1967)
11 shows in England, one show in Wales (11-25 September)
Average setlist:
1. Got to Get You into My Life
2. Eight Days a Week (And Your Bird Can Sing in York, Leeds and Swansea)
3. If I Needed Someone
4. I Am the Walrus
5. Penny Lane (Drive My Car in Nottingham, Kingston upon Hull, Lancaster, Salford and Oxford)
6. Baby's in Black
7. Eleanor Rigby
8. Yellow Submarine (Act Naturally in Newcastle upon Tyne, Sheffield, Birmingham and Oxford)
9. Roll Over Beethoven
10. And I Love Her
11. Nowhere Man
12. Taxman (I Want to Tell You in Nottingham, Lancaster, Salford and Liverpool)
13. Here, There and Everywhere
14. With a Little Help from My Friends
Encores: A Day in the Life (usually), Long Tall Sally (Nottingham), A Hard Day's Night (Lancaster and Birmingham), or All You Need is Love (Liverpool)

The Beatles, Rick Wright and their entourage traveled across England, with one stop in Wales, in an unmarked tour bus, and shows cost 50 pence a seat. But as the two weeks wore on, many students would drop out just to follow the Beatles to their next venue, even stealing a bus for the show in Salford. Songs were occasionally substituted at different venues, but the setlist remained generally the same.

NEIL ASPINALL: "The headmasters weren't too happy with the band turning up on the football fields and, as they put it, 'interfering with classes.' I kept the boys and Rick out of trouble for the most part, but was worried that some universities would ban us outright from the school grounds." (2001)

PAUL McCARTNEY: "We packed it in following the show at Liverpool. It was fun while it lasted, and we returned Rick to Pink Floyd. I can't imagine what would've happened if we continued the tour." (1995)

The DVD cover of Magical Mystery Tour, 2007 Apple Films re-release.

Despite the infamous legacy the Beatles' University Tour left behind in the form of a minor dent in the National Student Attendance record, it was still successful and all twelve shows were recorded and filmed. In thinking about what to do with the footage - and to prevent countless bootlegs from circulating - the Magical Mystery Tour concert movie[7] was released on British television that Boxing Day to feature the best performances from the twelve universities played, and all twenty-two songs performed, with some rearrangements made to the order of the tracklisting. However, this did not count towards the Beatles' contract with United Artists.

Whilst the TV movie was edited, the Beatles rested up for the remainder of 1967, with a few exceptions such as the Tribute to Brian Wilson album, the "Hello, Goodbye/I Am the Walrus" single, marking their 19th number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as "Christmas Time is Here Again". Music affairs aside, there was the attending of the premiere of How I Won the War on 18 October, which received mixed reviews from critics, but later became something of a cult hit, sparking the internet meme "X is a great film because of John Lennon."

27 October 1967

Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Released: 27 October 1967

Recorded: April - October 1967

Producer: Norman Smith

Track listing[8]

Side A

See Emily Play
Lucifer Sam
Matilda's Mother
Flaming
Pow R. Toc H.
Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk

Side B

Astronomy Domine
Remember a Day
The Gnome
Chapter 24
The Scarecrow
Bike

Pink Floyd's sophomore album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was met with better reviews than Projection. The latter was viewed as an album in which the band were getting their sound together, and the former was seen as a more polished effort, backed by the success of the "See Emily Play" single released back in June. The Piper became a cult hit in America when Pink Floyd had their first tour there in November, despite it lasting only nine days. By now, they had already begun the framework for their third album, and had brought in a new guitarist by the name of David Gilmour.

Footnotes

1. Per OTL, "Carnival of Light" has yet to be released in any way, shape or form.
2. Slight rewording of actual quote Paul said concerning Up Against It. I don't know what year it comes from.
3. "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were initially planned to be on Sgt. Pepper, but they were left off at the last minute for a single release, a decision which George Martin had regretted until his death in 2016.
4. John did indeed attend the 14 Hour Techncolour Dream, but he never asked Pink Floyd for the Beatles to play alongside them.
5. With the exception of "Yesterday", none of the songs listed were ever performed live by the Beatles. However, Paul, George and Ringo would later perform a majority of these songs during their live shows from 1989 onward - in George's case, at his Japanese concerts with Eric Clapton.
6. All tracks come from the 2017 remaster of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, excluding the Anthology 2 version of "Penny Lane", "Only a Northern Song" from Yellow Submarine Songtrack, and "A Day in the Life" from LOVE, with the 2017 remaster of "The Inner Groove" added at the end. In addition, "Strawberry Fields Forever" has the count-in intro taken from LOVE. "With a Little Help from My Friends" has a clean intro using the Take 2 instrumental cut off before Ringo's vocals come in, and "Good Morning Good Morning" fades out earlier with the chicken noises removed.
7. The Beatles never went on a university tour in 1967. However, in 1972, Paul McCartney did with his band Wings at all the locations mentioned, excluding Liverpool. In addition, the Beatles used that time to film the Magical Mystery Tour movie, which becomes a concert movie instead of the mess it was in OTL.
8. All tracks from OTL's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn with the exception of "See Emily Play" from The Early Singles and "Remember a Day" from A Saucerful of Secrets.

Author's Comments

Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be! Maybe not as long as the previous three chapters combined, but it's still very impressive, I must say.

I'd actually written part of this back in January 2018 for a school assignment, but I've since then revised some things and given polish to the research put into this chapter. Although Pink Floyd is focused upon, the majority of the focus fell onto the Beatles. However, for the next few chapters, I'll be focusing less on the Beatles and more on the impact they left behind to the rock music scene.

Credit goes to The Lifehouse's friend Auran for designing the Merseyside album cover.