Chapter 12: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (January - June 1969)

2 January - 25 February 1969

Whilst the Beatles were working on Alice in Wonderland alongside Beatles '68, there were talks about the possibility of adapting the former into a feature length movie with Michael Lindsay-Hogg as director. The biggest questions were, what style would it go for, and who would play who?

JOHN LENNON: "We didn't want to go for a Disney-styled adaptation like they did in the '50s. We wanted a sort of more stoned version, kind of like how the Beatles were at the time, but Brian [Epstein] talked us out of going over-the-top with the drug references." (1995)

George Harrison and John Lennon, 1969.

MICHAEL LINDSAY-HOGG: "John was most eager to play the Mad Hatter given that the Hatter was a crazy person. He'd even had the idea about Paul being March Hare, George as a spiritual Caterpillar, and Ringo as the White Rabbit Alice follows to Wonderland." (2009)

According to Lennon, he viewed a specific Wonderland character fitting an archetype each Beatle was known for. John and Paul had always been viewed as partners in music making and were both known for their bizarre sense of humor, the former especially. Compared to the Hatter, March Hare was slightly more sane. For Ringo as the White Rabbit, he was effectively a sort of yes-man, eager to do what the majority wanted, and was also the first Beatle crowds were drawn to. As for George portraying the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, he had always been viewed as the Quiet One in the days of Beatlemania, and the Caterpillar was known for his short rude talk, and yet underneath that exterior was a butterfly - metaphorically, in George's case, as a quality songwriter - waiting to come out one day.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "There was the question, of course, as to how George, Ringo and I would play the animal characters. George had initially suggested that we be portrayed as puppets, sort of like Jim Henson's Muppet characters like Kermit and Rowlf. But I'd also come up with the idea that we'd still be on camera with animal facial features, ears and tails. Well, that was for me and Ringo, at least; George would have getup to sort of look like a caterpillar." (1988)

GEORGE HARRISON: "Perhaps it was a good call to portray us as anthropomorphic animals as opposed to puppets; we could've been accused of ripping off Jim Henson! *laughs* Or maybe we'd have to consult him, and he lives all the way in America." (1974)

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, 1969. The former had grown out a beard for his role as March Hare in the film adaptation of the Beatles' rock opera adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

After the Beatles had been cast into their respective Wonderland characters, there was the matter as to finding other actors to play the remaining inhabitants of Wonderland. Like his appearances in A Hard Day's Night and Help!, Victor Spinetti was one of the first to be cast as a mustachioed Cheshire Cat. Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall would also make appearances as the playing-card gardeners alongside Coronation Street actor Ben Kingsley. Malcolm McDowell would portray the King of Hearts with Angela Lansbury as his Queen and comedian Peter Sellers as the Knave of Hearts. The role of the titular character went to Mary Poppins child actress Karen Dotrice.

The filming for Alice in Wonderland would commence on 2 January and wrapped up on 25 February, George's 26th birthday[1]. According to Lindsay-Hogg, the Wonderland scenes were shot back to front with the scene covering the trial at the end of the story being the first to be filmed. That way, as he stated, "it was so Malcolm [McDowell], Angela [Lansbury] and Peter [Sellers] didn't have to wait for their scenes to be filmed." (2009 DVD commentary) In addition, Sellers would later go on to appear in the black comedy film The Magic Christian as Sir Guy Grand, with Ringo co-starring as Youngman Grand. The overall budget for Alice in Wonderland was roughly $2 million in American money (roughly $13.9 million with inflation), the most expensive Beatles film to date due to the presence of big name actors.

31 January 1969

The Beatles - Alice in Wonderland

Released: 31 January 1969

Recorded: 17 May, 7 and 8 June 1967, 11 June - 14 October 1968

Producer: George Martin

Track listing[2]

Side A

Dream
Down the Rabbit Hole
Pool of Tears
Caucus Race
Bill the Lizard
Savoy Truffle

Side B

Alice and the Puppy
The Caterpillar's Advice
I'm So Tall
The Frog of the House
Pig and Pepper
Cheshire Cat

Side C
Mad Tea-Party
Come On, Come On
Why Is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?
Paint the Roses Red
Croquet
The Mock Turtle's Story

Side D
The Lobster Quadrille
Who Stole the Tarts? (The Trial)
Alice Grows
Off With Her Head!
Alice and Her Sister
Ending (Can You Take Me Back?)

Unlike A Hard Day's Night and Help!, the Alice in Wonderland album was released ahead of the film. With the vast quantity of material from both this album and Beatles '68, Alice was a double album running at close to 65 minutes (today, all the material would fit on a single compact disc). Despite the length and price tag, it reached #1 on both sides like every Beatles album before it. Critical reception was mostly positive with some critics decrying the music sometimes not matching the lyrics (i.e. Paul's "Off With Her Head!", originally "Your Mother Should Know"), but they were a vocal minority. Many critics would agree, however, that the story probably didn't matter much due to the quality of the songs on the album, even noting that Harrison had five contributions in total.

The cover for the Pretty Things' S. F. Sorrow album, released December 1968. It is often believed that this album was the influence behind the Beatles' Alice in Wonderland and the Who's Tommy.

The month before Alice in Wonderland came out, the Pretty Things had come out with a rock opera of their own called S. F. Sorrow, produced by Norman Smith; a story of love, war, tragedy, madness and disillusionment of old age. The Beatles had consistently denied being influenced by the album, although Ringo admitted to have enjoyed what the Pretty Things did after buying it following the rumors.

The movie based off of the Alice in Wonderland album was released on 2 June, produced by Apple Films and distributed by United Artists. Like the album, the Alice in Wonderland film received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans alike, with the performances of Angela Lansbury as the Queen of Hearts and John Lennon as the Mad Hatter being singled out for praise. Although Lennon spoke very highly about the film, admitting that he "had a blast playing the Mad Hatter", Alice in Wonderland was really an excuse to fulfill their contract with United Artists by having three live-action movies (apparently, Yellow Submarine did not count, despite the Beatles voicing their animated selves).

23 May 1969

The Who - Tommy

Released: 23 May 1969

Recorded: 19 September 1968 - 7 March 1969

Producer: Kit Lambert

Track listing

Side A

Tommy[3]
Amazing Journey
Christmas
Cousin Kevin
The Acid Queen
Fiddle About[4]
Pinball Wizard

Side B

Go to the Mirror![5]
Tommy, Can You Hear Me?[6]
Sensation
I'm Free
Welcome to Tommy's Holiday Camp[7]
We're Not Gonna Take It
See Me, Feel Me (Listening to You)

By 1968, Pete Townshend had stopped using drugs and instead turned to the teachings of Meher Baba, who later died 31 January the following year. Townshend then translated Baba's teachings into music into a rock opera that would eventually become Tommy, the story of a young boy who was deaf, dumb and blind trying to communicate with other people. Although initially believed to be a double album, it was whittled down to a single album for the final release with one of the tracks, "Sally Simpson", being shelved.

Tommy was finally released that May with "Pinball Wizard" as its lead single. The album was a critical smash and was the first album by the Who to chart at #1 in the United Kingdom, but topped at #4 in the United States. Long and short, it was a breakthrough hit for the band.

The Who performing Tommy at the Royal Albert Hall, 5 July 1969.

By now, it looked as though the idea of a rock opera album had caught on in the world of rock and roll. Outside of the Pretty Things' S. F. Sorrow and the Beatles' Alice in Wonderland, the Kinks had come out with The Village Green Preservation Society, and were now in the process of another about a carpet-layer called Arthur Morgan.

ROGER DALTREY: "Looking back, it was crazy how everybody was following this seemingly popular trend about rock operas. It just felt like a coincidence that the Who, Pretty Things, the Beatles, the Kinks and [Pink] Floyd all produced rock operas at roughly the same time. The press played it out like there was fierce competition amongst all five bands. There wasn't; we just happened to have similar ideas for a rock opera, but our stories were completely different." (1999)

MICK JAGGER: "The boys of the Who had done a rock opera back in '69. Perhaps the Stones should've done one ourselves back then when we first brought in David Bowie." (2006)

13 June 1969

Pink Floyd - The Man and The Journey

Released: 13 June 1969

Recorded: January-May 1968, 4 November 1968, 1 February - 31 May 1969

Producer: Norman Smith

Track listing[8]

Side A: The Man Part 1

Daybreak
Work
Teatime
Afternoon

Side B: The Man Part 2

Doing It!
Sleep
Nightmare
Labyrinth

Side C: The Journey Part 1
The Beginning
Beset by Creatures of the Deep
The Narrow Way
The Pink Jungle

Side D: The Journey Part 2
The Labyrinths of Auximines
Footsteps/Doors
Behold the Temple of the Light
The End of the Beginning

DAVID GILMOUR: "Roger had the idea that the next album would be two packaged together, and yet each record could still be its own album. Like, sides one and two would be about 'The Man', and three and four would deal with 'The Journey'. With the trend going on about rock operas, I think Roger wanted Pink Floyd to stand out a little from the crowd." (1994)

"The Man" portion of the album followed the events of an average Joe throughout his mundane, British, post-Industrial life. "The Journey" was supposedly about a pilgrim's quest. Although Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright contributed heavily to the album, Syd Barrett had only two contributions to The Man and the Journey, one for each record that ultimately became "Work" for "The Man", and "The Pink Jungle" for "The Journey".

NICK MASON: "Syd wasn't feeling creatively inspired at the time, but he still helped out the best he could." (2004)

The members of Pink Floyd in Amsterdam, 1969. Syd Barrett is not pictured with them.

Prior to The Man and The Journey's release, Pink Floyd had performed at Manchester College of Commerce and Mothers, a Birmingham club. These live performances would not be released until 1993.[9] The album itself, however, was performed like first at the Royal Festival Hall on 14 April and then a truncated version was recorded 12 May for the Top Gear radio program. In the live concerts, there were visual performance elements such as the sawing and construction of a table, and the consumption of afternoon tea onstage. "In a sense," Roger Waters recalled, "we invented Andrew Lloyd Webber in the way the Beatles created MTV." (2000)

The Man and The Journey topped at #5 in the United Kingdom and #74 in the United States and received mixed critical reception. Some of the more negative critics called it mindless drivel, with the contemporary review of The Daily Telegraph calling it "rock excess of the worst kind." Later reception proved kinder towards the album, with some wondering if there was a connection between both records; a common theory is that "The Journey" part of the album is an expansion of the nightmare sequence of "The Man", written by Waters, with the lead character wishing for a more exciting life outside his mundane life. This has not been confirmed by the band members, insisting that they're separate concepts altogether.

Footnotes

1. In OTL, the Beatles were filmed at Twickenham Studios and later Savile Row for what would become Let It Be, also directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.
2. All tracks are taken from The White Album unless stated otherwise. Each track is a reworking of the following in order:
1. Side A
1. "Dream" is from Ringo Starr's Sentimental Journey, arranged by George Martin and originally written by Johnny Mercer in 1944.
2. "Magical Mystery Tour" from the album of the same name.
3. "Blue Jay Way" from Magical Mystery Tour.
4. "Glass Onion".
5. "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" with the Spanish guitar intro removed.
6. "Savoy Truffle" with different lyrics.
2. Side B
1. "Martha My Dear".
2. "Happiness is a Warm Gun".
3. "I'm So Tired".
4. "The Fool on the Hill" from Magical Mystery Tour.
5. "Piggies".
6. "Rocky Raccoon".
3. Side C
1. "Birthday".
2. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" (also the working title).
3. "Blackbird".
4. "The Inner Light" from Past Masters.
5. "Flying" from Magical Mystery Tour.
6. "Long, Long, Long".
4. Side D
1. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
2. "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" from Past Masters.
3. "Honey Pie".
4. "Your Mother Should Know" from Magical Mystery Tour.
5. "I Will".
6. "Cry Baby Cry" with the "Can You Take Me Back" portion re-written to reflect on the Wonderland motif of the album.
3. A merging of "It's a Boy" and "1921" into a single track.
4. Preceded by "Do You Think It's Alright?"
5. Preceded by "There's a Doctor".
6. Merged with "Smash the Mirror", forming a single track.
7. A merging of "Welcome" and "Tommy's Holiday Camp" into a single track.
8. Tracks are sourced from the following:
1. Side A
1. "Grantchester Meadows" from Ummagumma.
2. "If It's in You" from Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs.
3. "Sysyphus Part IV" from Ummagumma.
4. "Biding My Time" from Relics.
2. Side B
1. "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party Part II" from Ummagumma.
2. "Quicksilver" from More.
3. "Cymbaline" from More.
4. "It Would Be So Nice" from The Early Singles.
3. Side C
1. "Green is the Color" from More.
2. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" from The Early Singles.
3. "The Narrow Way Part III" from Ummagumma.
4. "Octopus" from Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs.
4. Side D
1. "Main Theme" from More.
2. "Embryo" from Works.
3. "Let There Be More Light" from A Saucerful of Secrets.
4. "Celestial Voices" from A Saucerful of Secrets.
9. The performances were released in 1969 as part of the first long play of Ummagumma.

Author's Comments

This is a fairly eventful chapter, especially since it's only the first half of 1969. Although not mentioned, Richard Nixon has been elected as the next American President per OTL, but - as much as I don't like to give spoilers away - things may change from how they were for him. Still, we get three concept albums in a single chapter which definitely means that there's a theme going on here.

For Tommy, I was inspired by AEC's single disc take on the album (it's the second last on the list), and so I made my own additions to flesh the album a bit more to make a sort of middle ground between the double album and the single album edit. I think it all works out fine. Don't worry about the absence of "Sally Simpson"; I'll find some way to keep it intact in the Who's discography.

And if you thought this part of Phase One was crazy, wait until you see the next chapter!