Chapter 29: Gimme Shelter (January - July 1972)

30 January 1972

A photograph taken from the Bloody Sunday massacre in Ireland, 30 January 1972. A British solider chases after an Irish civilian whilst another soldier looks on.

Needless to say, 1972 kicked off with a literal bang. In Derry, Northern Ireland, following the events of Operation Demetrius in August 1971, in which 342 Irish republican militants were arrested and 7,000 civilians displaced, British soldiers shot at twenty-eight unarmed civilians during a protest march. Thirteen were killed outright in the massacre whilst a fourteenth (John Johnston, aged 59) died of his injuries four months later. Twelve other people were also shot at whilst two more were run down by army vehicles. An unknown number of civilians were also injured by rubber bullets and flying debris. The events later became known as "Bloody Sunday".

PAUL McCARTNEY: "What the soldiers did in Ireland was simply atrocious, y'know. Despite the bad blood between me and John at the time, that was one time where we had the same feelings. We never knew about it at the time, but both us agreed that we had to make a statement." (1997)

JOHN LENNON: "George, Ringo and I were fresh from the success of the Concert for Bangladesh, and with what we'd recorded at the time, we were pretty heavy into the political scene. Well, I was with Yoko, at least. George kept busy with his religious preachings and Ringo was... ya know, Ringo." (1981)

1 - 25 February 1972

Paul McCartney and his backing band, plus Linda McCartney, outside of Rude Studio, Scotland, 1971. Hugh McCracken is not pictured.

The Beatles' hometown of Liverpool had a heavy population of Irish immigrants, and both the Lennon and McCartney families had Irish ancestry. Paul McCartney was the first to get his statement down on tape with his new song, "Give Ireland Back to the Irish". Using the same backing band that he used for his solo debut Cherry Wine - Denny Laine and Hugh McCracken on guitar and Denny Seiwell on drums, plus Linda on backing vocals - "Give Ireland..." was rush recorded and planned for a release later in the month. "Mama's Little Girl" was also recorded during the sessions as the B-side.

PAUL McCARTNEY: "When Brian [Epstein] first heard the single, he was dismayed, saying that it was nothing like anything the Beatles would've put out. EMI's chairman at the time, Joseph Lockwood, also refused to have it released because there was the potential that 'Ireland' would be banned by the BBC. In retrospect, they both had a point. Still, I insisted that it come out because I wanted to get a message out there." (2001)

"Give Ireland Back to the Irish"/"Mama's Little Girl" was released under Apple Records on 25 February and the A-side was immediately banned by the BBC. Despite this, it managed to reach #16 in the United Kingdom, but missed out on the Top 20 in the United States, topping out at #21. However, the single managed to reach #1 in Ireland. The single was criticized at being out of character for Paul McCartney, especially when some believed he was pro-IRA (Irish Republican Army) for Northern Ireland.

17 March 1972

John Lennon performing at the Free John Sinclair Concert at Crisler Arena (now Crisler Center) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 10, 1971.

If Paul McCartney's "Ireland" single fared poorly among critics and fans, then the Ladders' "The Luck of the Irish" (written by John Lennon) fared even worse, managing to top out at #18 in the United Kingdom and not charting in the Top 40 in the United States. The B-side "Coochy Coochy", however, penned by Ringo Starr and recorded during the Shine On sessions, managed to reach #26 in America. The A-side managed to reach #8 in Ireland.

JOHN LENNON: "Eppy seemed to be on edge when the Ladders and Paul both released singles regarding the Irish conflict within a month of each other. I told him that it wasn't about the bloody record sales; it was about making a statement and putting it out to the world, saying we're not okay with what was going on in Ireland." (1988)

GEORGE HARRISON: "Brian was furious with us. He thought we were outright destroying the Beatles' good name by making controversial statements. We put out 'Taxman' on Abracadabra about the high levels of progressive taxes in England and 'Revolution' on Beatles '68 talking about Vietnam and he didn't bat an eyelid. Same thing when we put out 'Bangla Desh' as the Ladders on Imagine. Yet the Ladders and Paul each put out a single about the Irish conflict and he freaks out." (1985)

12 May - 30 June 1972

The cover for Paul McCartney's non-album single, "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

Frustrated with Apple CEO Brian Epstein for telling them how to make music, Paul McCartney and the Ladders both rebelled in different ways.

In the same month that the Ladders put out "The Luck of the Irish", Paul McCartney recorded a version of the traditional nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". His intention for the single was to be a response to the banning of "Give Ireland..." from radio stations, as if it was a "sod off, let's see you try to ban this" message to both the BBC and EMI. Despite being seen as a joke, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" managed to reach #10 in the United Kingdom, but it didn't do any better than McCartney's previous single in the United States, hitting #24 there. Its B-side, "Little Woman Love", managed to get more airplay in America.

Epstein was beside himself with fury when "Mary Had a Little Lamb" came out. That marked three singles in a row that the the Beatles - whether it be the Ladders or Paul McCartney - hadn't lived up to their usual standards. The straw that broke the camel's back was when John Lennon presented to him the next Ladders single, "Woman is the Nigger of the World"/"Sue Me, Sue You Blues". The former was Lennon's song concerning feminism, and the latter was Harrison's response to Epstein attempting to censor their music ("Surprisingly, he didn't get the message of my tune," Harrison remembered years later).

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1972.

BRIAN EPSTEIN: "You listen to me, John Winston Lennon! You've gotten us in trouble with American religious folk when you said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ, you've sparked some more controversy when talking about Vietnam, and you nearly ruined the Beatles' good name by putting out that avant-garde bullshit in Back in Your Safely Beds. Then you and Paul have gone out releasing singles relating to the Ireland conflict, and now you present to me quite possibly the worst song I've ever heard! And with an extremely offensive word to boot! This is commercial suicide right there, Lennon, and if you even dare to put out that single as long as I'm CEO, there will be consequences!" (1972, to John Lennon)

Disgruntled, Lennon pulled the "Woman..." single from its planned June release and both songs were left in the Apple vaults until 1990. In its place was "Back Off Boogaloo", written and sung by Starr, backed with Lennon's "How?", an outtake from Imagine. It had a far more commercial sound compared to "The Luck of the Irish" and "Woman..." and managed to hit #2 in the United States and #8 in the United Kingdom.

RINGO STARR: "People thought it was about Brian Epstein after his reaction to the Ladders' recent material, but we'd actually done 'Boogaloo' back in September 1971 around the time of Imagine's release. It was actually my nickname for Paul during that time when he made snide remarks against John and George and was inspired by Marc Bolan of T. Rex." (2012)

5 June 1972

Yoko Ono - Sisters, O Sisters

Released: 5 June 1972

Recorded: 1971-72

Producer: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector

Track listing[1]

Side A

Hirake (Open Your Box)

Sisters, O Sisters

O'Wind (Body is the Scar of Your Mind)

Born in a Prison

You

Side B

Toilet Piece/Unknown

Airmale

Don't Count the Waves

We're All Water

Telephone Piece

"Sisters, O Sisters" was released as a single on 24 April as a feminist anthem, much like Lennon's unreleased "Woman is the Nigger of the World". The B-side, "Open Your Box", however, had risque lyrics - "box" being a slang for the vagina - and was banned as a result. For the album, it was released as "Hirake", the Japanese word for "opening". Neither album nor single managed to reach the Top 40, and it marked Yoko Ono's last ever contribution with Phil Spector.

14 July 1972

The Ladders - Bloody Sunday

Released: 14 July 1972

Recorded: May 1970 - March 1972

Producer: Phil Spector and The Ladders

Track listing [2]

Side A

Run of the Mill

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Who Can See It

It's So Hard

The Day the World Gets 'Round

I Don't Want to Be a Soldier

Side B

Back Off Boogaloo

John Sinclair

Hear Me Lord

How Do You Sleep?

That Is All

Brian Epstein may have prevented the Ladders from putting out "Woman is the Nigger of the World", but he couldn't stop the release of their third album, Bloody Sunday. Whilst Imagine had political undertones and was critically acclaimed, the political undertones of Bloody Sunday were more blatant, but critics were harsh toward the album. Despite the success of "Back Off Boogaloo" as the lead single, the album only managed to reach #11 and #8 in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.

The material was a mixture of old and new; Harrison's "Run of the Mill" and "Hear Me Lord" were originally recorded for Shine On, but did not make the cut for that album or Imagine. Similarly, Lennon's "It's So Hard", "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" and "How Do You Sleep?" also had origins from the Imagine sessions. The five new songs for Bloody Sunday included the title track and "John Sinclair" (written as a response to poet John Sinclair being sentenced to ten years in prison for offering a pair of marijuana cigarettes to an undercover police officer) both penned by Lennon. Harrison, meanwhile, penned "Who Can See It" (reflecting his feelings toward the Beatles' legacy), "That Is All", and "The Day the World Gets 'Round" (written in a similar vein to "Imagine").

Outside of "Back Off Boogaloo", the only other noteworthy song was the Lennon/Harrison collaboration "How Do You Sleep?", penned as a response to Paul McCartney's "Too Many People" from Cherry Wine, but also left off of Imagine. "Yeah, 'How Do You Sleep' was about Paul," John said when questioned about it, but it is often also considered to be an attack against Brain Epstein, per Harrison's suggestion, albeit it was indirect. When asked about his thoughts on the song, Paul replied, "Well... it's a drag, innit?" Most of the material was considered to be forgettable at best.

Six of the Chicago Seven during their conspiracy trial, February 11, 1970. Abbie Hoffman is on the far left and Jerry Rubin is third from right.

By now, the Ladders were heavily involved in the political underground scene with activists such as the Chicago Seven (with the likes of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin) and the Black Panther Party led by Huey Newton and founded with Bobby Seale, with whom keyboardist Billy Preston got on well with. Lennon and company were now considered a threat to the Nixon administration by the FBI, who began to investigate the members in an attempt to deport them back to England, with their visas as temporary visitors set to expire that February. Fortunately, the investigation didn't last very long, with the FBI concluding that the Ladders were so deeply under the influence of drugs that they were hardly considered to be a threat instead of revolutionaries.

GEORGE HARRISON: "We were feeling sort of burnt out by the time we put out Bloody Sunday. John, Ringo and I had practically been together for about a decade, eight of those years with Paul, and the beginning of the 70s had taken a toll on us. Filming for Willy Wonka, the first three Ladders albums, the Concert for Bangladesh, Phil Spector losing his mind altogether, being involved in the political underground scene... I suggested to John and the others that we take a break for the rest of the year to refresh our minds." (1999)

In hindsight, this was the right move. Billy Preston could put more focus on his solo career, starting with finishing up his next album Music is My Life with Harrison co-producing. At the same time, Harrison was composing new material for the Ladders' next album. Ringo Starr went on to direct and produce Born to Boogie starring rock group T. Rex and their frontman, Marc Bolan; Elton John also appeared in the movie. John and Yoko would carry on with their political activities and performed a series of concerts across America with Klaus Voormann on bass.

Brian Epstein was greatly distressed by what had happened to his friends and clients; by that point, his hairline was receding and his eyesight was going bad. With the Ladders being heavily involved with politics and Paul McCartney's second album Tomorrow being a critical and commercial flop (by Beatle standards, anyway), Epstein wondered if there was a way to salvage the Beatles' good name, so he went and called up George Martin to find a solution...

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Fly and Some Time in New York City.
2. Tracks are sourced from All Things Must Pass, Some Time in New York City, Living in the Material World, Imagine, and Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr.

Author's Comments

So now we're finally deep into 1972. Up until that point, the butterflies haven't had a major effect on politics, but soon they'll be in full force. How they'll affect the political landscape as a whole in the likes of England, China, the Soviet Union, etc., I don't know at this stage. For the thirtieth chapter overall, we're gonna see a big change come to the United States of America.

Oh, and don't worry; I didn't forget about Paul McCartney's Tomorrow. I'll reveal the tracklisting soon enough, just not here.