Post by yerblues1968 on Jul 24, 2008 0:43:20 GMT -5
The Beatles rehearsing A Day In The Life on January 19, 1967.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Released:
June 1, 1967 (album)
September 30, 1978 (single)
Recorded: Abbey Road Studios
19, 20 January,
3, 10 February 1967
Album: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Writers: Lennon/McCartney
Producer: George Martin
A Day In The Life is a song by the British rock band The Beatles, credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The song appears as the final track on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song includes portions originally authored independently by Lennon and McCartney, and two cacophonous, part-improvised, orchestral crescendos. Lennon was inspired by newspaper articles on the death of Tara Browne, and a civic plan to fill four thousand potholes in Blackburn.
The supposed drug reference in the line "I'd love to turn you on" resulted in the banning of the song by the BBC. It appears on many top songs lists, and is the 26th best song on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
There is some dispute about the inspiration for the first verse. Many believe that it was written with regard to the death of Tara Browne, the 21-year-old heir to the Guinness fortune and close friend of Lennon and McCartney, who had crashed his Lotus Elan on 18 December 1966 after driving through a red light. However, George Martin adamantly claims that it is a drug reference (as is the line "I'd love to turn you on" and other passages from the song) and while writing the lyrics John and Paul were imagining a stoned politician who had stopped at a set of traffic lights.
The description of the accident in A Day in the Life was not a literal description of Browne's fatal accident. Lennon said, "I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out, but it was in my mind when I was writing that verse. The details of the accident in the song — not noticing traffic lights and a crowd forming at the scene — were similarly part of the fiction."
McCartney provided the middle section of the song, a short piano piece he had been working on independently, with lyrics about a commuter whose uneventful morning routine leads him to drift off into a reverie. He had written the piece as a wistful recollection of his younger years, which included riding the bus to school, smoking and going to class. The line "I'd love to turn you on" was also contributed by McCartney, which serves as a chorus to the first section of the song. Lennon commented on McCartney's section, saying, "I had the bulk of the song and the words, but he contributed this little lick floating around in his head that he couldn't use for anything. I thought it was a damn good piece of work."
The Beatles during A Day In The Life set on February 10, 1967
It was arranged for the orchestral session to be filmed by NEMS Enterprises for use in a planned television special. The film was never released in its entirety, although portions of it can be seen in the A Day in the Life promotional film, which includes shots of studio guests Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards, Donovan, Pattie Boyd and Michael Nesmith.
DRUG REFERENCES
The song became controversial for its supposed references to drugs. On 1 June 1967, the day the Sgt. Pepper LP was released, the BBC announced it was banning A Day in the Life from British stations due to the line "I'd love to turn you on," which, according to the corporation, advocated drug use. Other lyrics allegedly referring to drugs include "found my way upstairs and had a smoke / and somebody spoke and I went into a dream". A spokesman for the BBC stated, "We have listened to this song over and over again. And we have decided that it appears to go just a little too far, and could encourage a permissive attitude to drug-taking."
Lennon and McCartney denied that there were drug references and publicly complained about the ban at a dinner party celebrating their new album to their manager, Brian Epstein. Lennon said that the song was simply about "a crash and its victim", and called the line in question "the most innocent of phrases". McCartney later flatly denied the drug allegations, saying that "what we want to is to turn you on to the truth rather than ...pot". However, George Martin later commented that he had always suspected that the line "found my way upstairs and had a smoke" was a drug reference, recalling how the Beatles would "disappear and have a little puff", presumably of cannabis, but not in front of him.
The song appears on many top songs lists. It placed twelfth on CBC's 50 Tracks, the second highest Beatles song on the list after In My Life. It placed first in Q Magazine's list of the 50 greatest British songs of all time, and was at the top of Mojo Magazine's 101 Greatest Beatles Songs, as decided by a panel of musicians and journalists. A Day in the Life was also nominated for a Grammy in 1967 for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist Or Instrumentalist.
On August 27, 1992 Lennon's original handwritten lyrics were sold by the estate of Mal Evans in an auction at Sotheby's London for $100,000 (£56,600). The lyrics were put up for sale again in March 2006 by Bonhams in New York. Sealed bids were opened on March 7, 2006 and offers started at about $2 million.
Neil Young played a version of the song during his 2008 European Summer Tour.
Neil Young's performance of "A Day In The Life." (7.07 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=BBuiCXmv6K0
Guitarist Jeff Beck performs "A Day In The Life" at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary
at Madison Square Garden, New York on October 30, 2009. Also, Jeff Beck won the 2010 Grammy
Award for Best Rock Instrumental performance of "A Day In The Life." (4:46 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tHshH8e0c
Paul McCartney performs "A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance"
at Liverpool Sound Concert on June 1, 2008. (5.49 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=8syXMg-fctc
Paul McCartney performs "A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance"
at Kiev, Ukraine on June 14, 2008 (4.38 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=ROKwaDlMVOI
Paul McCartney performs "A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance"
at Quebec City's 400th Anniversary on July 20, 2008 (6.05 minutes)
youtube.com/watch?v=I95g6Rs3O6U
TARA BROWNE
Tara Browne (March 4, 1945 – December 18, 1966)
Tara Browne was a young London socialite and issue of peerage as a member of the Irish aristocratic family of Oranmore & Browne, whose untimely death in 1966 was immortalized in the song A Day in the Life by John Lennon of The Beatles.
Browne was the son of Dominick Browne, the 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, a member of the House of Lords since 1927 who later became famous for having served in that house longer than any other peer, finally being evicted during government reforms in 1999; and Oonagh Guinness, heiress to the Guinness fortune and the youngest of the three "Golden Guinness Girls". One of his older brothers was the Hon. Garech Browne, of Luggala, County Wicklow in Ireland, an enthusiast of traditional Irish music and a founding member of The Chieftains, Ireland's leading group of traditional musicians.
Tara Browne was a member of Swinging London's counterculture of the 1960s. He was known to use drugs recreationally, and had befriended several contemporary rock musicians, such as Paul McCartney and was romantically linked to model Amanda Lear.
Tara Browne
gallot.co.nz/Guinness/oonagh_Guinness.htm
On December 18, 1966, Browne was driving with his girlfriend, model Suki Potier, in his Lotus Elan through South Kensington at high speed (some reports suggest in excess of 106 mph/170 km/h). It is not known whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He ignored or failed to see a traffic light and proceeded through the junction of Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens, colliding with a parked lorry and was killed instantly. Potier was not injured.
On 17 January 1967 John Lennon was composing songs at his piano and idly reading London's Daily Mail. While doing so when he read a report on the coroner's verdict into Browne's death. He worked the story into the song A Day in the Life, which was later released on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The first verse features the lines:
He blew his mind out in a car,
He didn't notice that the lights had changed,
A crowd of people stood and stared,
They'd seen his face before,
Nobody was really sure
If he was from the House of Lords.
According to Lennon: "I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out. But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse."
Browne was survived by his wife Noreen (McSherry) and their two sons, Dorian and Julian Browne.
LYRICS
I read the news today oh, boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure
if he was from the House of Lords
I saw a film today oh, boy
The English army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book
I'd love to turn you on.
Woke up
Got out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
and looking up, I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
Somebody spoke and I went into a dream
Ah
I read the news today oh, boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes
it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on
The Beatles "A Day In The Life." (4:03 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjVffR5EdM
The Beatles "A Day In The Life" long version with outtake. (6:39 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfrvY8zAL4A
The Beatles "A Day In The Life" Anthology version. (5:05 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1s_O8QrNmI
George Martin discusses the recording of "A Day In The Life." [Part 1 of 2] (8:31 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WkUgNKOtSE
The Beatles and George Martin discuss the recording of "A Day In The Life." [Part 2 of 2] (9:22 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n3oOICZNX8
SUKI POTIER
Melanie Susan Potier (November 14, 1947 - June 23, 1981)
better known as Suki Potier, was an English model.
Suki Potier is the third model from the left.
She was born to Gilbert and Mary (née Moore) Potier in Surrey. She had an older sister Rosemary Sarah (Sally) Potier born February 12, 1946. When she was just a teenager, she modeled for all the great English designers, becoming a favorite of Ossie Clark. At the age of 18, Suki was dating Guinness heir Tara Browne, who was separated from his then-wife, Nicky.
On December 18, 1966, Suki was a passenger in Tara's Lotus Elan when he drove through South Kensington at high rate of speed, colliding with a parked lorry and was killed instantly. Suki was not injured. Part of The Beatles song, A Day in the Life is based on this incident.
It was this tragedy that led her to Rolling Stones musician Brian Jones. Suki said, "He gave me a shoulder to cry on and he picked up the pieces and made me feel a woman again". The two dated for approximately two years.
Suki moved in with 27-year-old Brian in the last few months before his death to a fifteenth century farmhouse, which was once the home of AA Milne, creator of the Winnie the Pooh stories. It was there in the swimming pool that Brian, who had by then left the Rolling Stones, drowned mysteriously.
Suki was shattered by Brian's death. Suki remained friends with the Rolling Stones, going to parties with Mick Jagger, attending the Isle of Wight Festival with Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and other members of the Stones camp.
In the Seventies, Suki married a Hong Kong businessman named Robert Ho, with whom she had two daughters, Faye and Sarah. On June 23, 1981, while in Portugal, Suki & Robert were involved in a fatal hit and run crash while returning home to their two children, having had a quiet dinner with Robert's Mother.
theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/2009/12/day-in-life-hon-tara-browne-40-years.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_in_the_Life
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Browne
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suki_Potier
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck
