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John Lennon complaining about his Casino


cyberpunk409

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:D

 

John sanded and stripped the guitar himself I believe...... And the only thing he purchased for the guitar was a set of gold grover machine heads' date=' and that black little selector washer[u']...... Hell I even think the guitar was given to him by Epiphone......[/u]

 

John was a cheap-*** when it came to his guitars

 

Epiphone probably even payed them a few bucks as well. From what I heard, they all got the instruments at the same time while on a trip to the states. The Beatles could have "bought" any guitars they wanted. Yet, they all chose to "buy" and play the same brand, at the same time. HMM??? I'm sure there was a little more than magical tone and playability involved.

 

I just picture Brian Epstien saying "Boys you are goning to play these guitar for a while. We'll be taking a trip to the Epiphone factory in a town called KAL-A-MA-ZOO." Followed by Beatle laughter and Brian saying "Once there, you can pick out any guitar you want.". The whole time grinning to himself because the 10 grand that the boys at Epiphone slipped him was burning a hole in his pocket.

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I would just like to add something to the question of gear here. My father was in a band in the 1960's called Sounds Incorporated who were the Beatles support act on all their major world tours, they were managed by Brian Epstein and NEMS along with Stigwood. Two of the members of Sounds Inc also played on two tracks from the Sgt Peppers album. I know from my discussions with some of the band members ( Who are like my Uncles ) that the Beatles were literally given all their VOX equipment when they toured and payed for none of it ... they were friends with **** Denny also and that's the way it went. I don't have the exact details but from my conversations with the band, the Beatles didn't buy a thing, it all came in the form of sponsorship. Paul was the first one to turn up with a Casino and it was only later that both George and John decided to get one too. I am fairly certain that John would have been gifted his Epi Casino as would have George.

 

On a final note of interest ... the guitarist of Sounds ( John St John ) was given a Gretsch by George and up until very recently still had it after all these years. I just wanted to add something of interest to the discussion since it touches on my family. And if anybody is interested, you can see Sounds Inc opening for the Beatles at Shea Stadium in the concert footage.

 

Best, Tiki.

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...and here they are!

 

What a great sound these guys had. Which one is your Dad, Tiki? Don't tell me ... he's the guy with the slide whistle!

 

I'm sure you've seen them all before, but I really enjoyed these clips:

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIvJvfMEyKs[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

Jim

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Midiman,

 

My father is the man singing at the piano in the last two B&W clips. He joined the group after the Shea gigs and sadly missed that legendary concert. And just for further interests sake ... the drummer for Sounds Inc is a man named Tony Newman. Tony went on to be the drummer for the Jeff Beck Group playing on Beck Ola and other Jeff beck albums, Tony also was David Bowies drummer on the Diamond Dogs album and he later played on Marc Bolans last album - he was also in a heavy Led Zep type group called May Blitz who were a killer 3 pce.

 

Best, Tiki.

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He had one hell of a voice, Tiki!

 

"For Once In My Life" is one of my all-time favorite songs ... and your Dad certainly did it justice. I hope he is still singing and enjoying music.

 

Please convey my best wishes and compliments when you get the chance!

 

Jim

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Jim,

 

Thank you for the kind words ... Yes he is the one singing AND playing piano in the two last clips. I grew up watching my dad sing and he was often touted as being the equal of Ian Gillan ... I can vouch that he was. He and I actually often work and tour together here in Australia doing various gigs. Here's another funny one while we're at it ... my father sings the part of Rocky in the Rocky Horror Film Show Motion Picture. Now Rocky was the man that Frankenfurter created who was in the gold underwear ... in the scene in the film where he comes to life and sings a song, that is my father singing it - the actor mimes to his voice. My dad also toured as a member of the Kinks in the 1970's - it was the U.S tour for the Preservation Acts album ... he was a lead singer and piano player in the band for that tour.

 

Long live rock n roll!

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The Vox deal is a well-known one. Epstein arranged that the band would never be photographed with any other amplifier and in return they never had to pay for any Vox amps. It's a good deal that still benefits Vox today.

 

As for the epis, the official line is that Paul bought one first in 1965, using it on "Ticket to Ride" and "Drive my Car". The total awesomeness of the guitar drove George and John to go and get one each as well. As far as I know they paid for them, though you can never be sure- they were at their height of fame at that point and must have had guitars thrown at them from all directions.

 

The key thing is that all three of them continued to use their casinos long after the beatles, because they were great guitars. McCartney still uses his live today... :-)

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The Vox deal is a well-known one. Epstein arranged that the band would never be photographed with any other amplifier and in return they never had to pay for any Vox amps. It's a good deal that still benefits Vox today.

 

As for the epis' date=' the official line is that Paul bought one first in 1965, using it on "Ticket to Ride" and "Drive my Car". The total awesomeness of the guitar drove George and John to go and get one each as well. As far as I know they paid for them, though you can never be sure- they were at their height of fame at that point and must have had guitars thrown at them from all directions.

 

The key thing is that all three of them continued to use their casinos long after the beatles, because they were great guitars. McCartney still uses his live today... :-)[/quote']

 

Aha! Finally someone who's studied his Beatles history a bit.

 

You guys speculate alot from a 5 second comment but anyone worth a salt knows John burned his fingys on a tea kettle during the imagine sessions. As he jumped around the studio howling in pain Phil Spector blurted out " He's got blisters on his fingers!!" John not seeing the humor at the time punched the always jovial Spector right in the nose knocking him cold. "Now thats how you sleep!" screamed the peace loving Beatle.

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:-s

 

John sanded and stripped the guitar himself I believe......

 

Everything I've read indicates that Lennon and Harrison actually sent their guitars out to be professionally sanded and lacquered, though Lennon did do the earlier spray can job on the back of his.

 

Here's a quote from the Gibson page on the guitar:

 

"Now professionally sanded down to its bare wood (Harrison once explained they thought doing so allowed the instruments to “breathe,” creating a richer sound) it would contribute significantly to 1968’s White Album sessions."

 

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/the-beatles-and-the-epiphone-c/

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Aha! Finally someone who's studied his Beatles history a bit.

 

You guys speculate alot from a 5 second comment but anyone worth a salt knows John burned his fingys on a tea kettle during the imagine sessions. As he jumped around the studio howling in pain Phil Spector blurted out " He's got blisters on his fingers!!" John not seeing the humor at the time punched the always jovial Spector right in the nose knocking him cold. "Now thats how you sleep!" screamed the peace loving Beatle.

 

I don't know that story but i hope it's true- brilliant stuff! And yes, I've studied my beatles history a LOT (at least in terms of guitars!!) :-s

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Aha! Finally someone who's studied his Beatles history a bit.

 

You guys speculate alot from a 5 second comment but anyone worth a salt knows John burned his fingys on a tea kettle during the imagine sessions. As he jumped around the studio howling in pain Phil Spector blurted out " He's got blisters on his fingers!!" John not seeing the humor at the time punched the always jovial Spector right in the nose knocking him cold. "Now thats how you sleep!" screamed the peace loving Beatle.

 

The majority of the guitars they played were bought.

 

The Rics were given to them, though not John's first one.

 

Harrison's Ric 12 string was a gift from Ricenbacker and the second rounded one was given to him by a radio station.

 

In his 1987 Guitar Player interview he talks about this. He said had they known they would have taken tons of free guitars but then later on goes to say that they bought the stuff they liked because they did not want to be trapped playing something they did not like.

 

The Beatles Gear book covers the free ones pretty well. The rest were paid for if not by them direct then by signing and Brian paying the bills.

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Byrds,

 

You make an important distinction ... in those days Brian handled just about everything and the boys were on a kind of wage ... NEMS took care of all purchases et al. If any gear was bought it was by management and not the boys themselves - that was always my understanding from chatting to the guys from Sounds because they too were sponsored by VOX and managed by Brian and NEMS and it was the same deal for them also.

 

Best, Tiki.

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From what I can gather, the Casino`s were bought for Lennon & Harrison, by someone working for Brian Epstein (Possibly Mal Evans sent out on an errand to the shops), I doubt whether John or George played them before hand! But I gather both of them were quite impressed with Paul McCartney`s Casino.

 

Brian Epstein had a thing for uniformity, hence the Beatles image, (Lennon`s Rickenbacker 325 Capri was painted Black because Epstein wanted the band to have Black suits, Black Amps, and Black guitars, see page 73 of the Beatles gear book, by Andy Babiuk!). Plus also bear in mind, in 1965 George was very fed up with his guitar sound, decided to get a Strat, John decided to get one too, and so they sent Mal Evans out to purchase matching Stratocasters, Mal came back with two Sonic Blue ones (see page 157 of the Beatles gear book).

 

If Gibson/Epiphone had given the Casino`s to all three Beatles, then why did they not take any advantage of this amazing situation! you had the worlds most famous group touring the U.S. in 66, showcasing two Casino`s, and yet no marketing hype...... they could have sold Casino`s by the shed load if Gibson had made a little effort, or even cared! I am not even sure that Gibson were aware of the fact that the Beatles were using their product at that time.

 

One other point, to something Duane V mentioned, the Black switch grommet on Lennons Casino was factory fitted and not a later Lennon modification. The tool used to fix the switch would sometimes tighten too much, slightly damaging the finish, and in those rare cases the grommet was used to hide the damage.

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From what I can gather' date=' the Casino`s were bought for Lennon & Harrison, by someone working for Brian Epstein (Possibly Mal Evans sent out on an errand to the shops), I doubt whether John or George played them before hand!

 

[/quote']

 

 

This is correct ... as I said, NEMS bought the gear and handled the purchases.

 

Tiki.

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From what I can gather' date=' the Casino`s were bought for Lennon & Harrison, by someone working for Brian Epstein (Possibly Mal Evans sent out on an errand to the shops), I doubt whether John or George played them before hand! But I gather both of them were quite impressed with Paul McCartney`s Casino.

 

If Gibson/Epiphone had given the Casino`s to all three Beatles, then why did they not take any advantage of this amazing situation! you had the worlds most famous group touring the U.S. in 66, showcasing two Casino`s, and yet no marketing hype...... they could have sold Casino`s by the shed load if Gibson had made a little effort, or even cared! I am not even sure that Gibson were aware of the fact that the Beatles were using their product at that time.

 

One other point, to something Duane V mentioned, the Black switch grommet on Lennons Casino was factory fitted and not a later Lennon modification. The tool used to fix the switch would sometimes tighten too much, slightly damaging the finish, and in those rare cases the grommet was used to hide the damage.

 

[/quote']

 

The Casinos were all bought or signed for. I doubt the guys walked around with a lot of cash and just signed for stuff and Brain got the bills.

 

There are photos of both John and George playing Paul's Casino before he turned it around. I would guess this is where they got the idea to get their own. I would also guess someone was sent to get a matching sunburst pair and the store just had one with a Bigsby and one with a Trapeeze and the goof ring.

 

Who knows they may have seen them and picked them out that way. Unlike the J160Es now John and George could tell who's was who's. As far as I know Gibson never gave them any free gear. Fender tried and was told to beat it. They bought the matching Strats and early Fender amps used on Rubber Soul and Revolver.

 

Later on they signed a deal with Fender to supply anything they wanted but would not allow any kind of exclusive deal as Harrison later stated in interviews. They refused to endorse any one brand period.

 

The Vox deal has been told in the Vox books and Vox history. Brian went to see Tom Jennings and wanted to trade the Beatles worn out AC15s for new AC30s as they had been told now a second time by EMI that their equipment was subpar. Decca was the first time.

 

Brian did not meet Jennings in person but heard him yelling at...............I forget who at Vox now without looking it up but Jennins did not say no. The deal was done for the trade in and a very small fee for the new AC30s and Brian appreciating the risk Vox took gave his word that they would only use Vox equipment on stage as long as he mangaged the band.

 

Vox got a very good deal and Brian was a man of his word. From that time on they never paid a dime to Vox and Vox supplied them with new backlines every chance they got. Brian used to send Vox promo photos and never asked for a dime either so it worked out for the both of them.

 

It was an honorable time when peoples word still ment something.

 

I have posted on this topic before the Beatles were just not gear whores. They bought what they liked and used it, they received a few free things and were usually pleased to get them and used them for a bit until they moved on. They looked at their guitars as pretty much tools of the trade and not much more.

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Byrds' date='

 

You make an important distinction ... in those days Brian handled just about everything and the boys were on a kind of wage ... NEMS took care of all purchases et al. If any gear was bought it was by management and not the boys themselves - that was always my understanding from chatting to the guys from Sounds because they too were sponsored by VOX and managed by Brian and NEMS and it was the same deal for them also.

 

Best, Tiki.[/quote']

 

 

Tiki,

 

You have an inside account rather than all the books I have read. I have never heard anything to contradict the fact that Brian cared about all of his acts and was always on the up and up and honest with all of them. He seemed to made sure every member was happy and no one got out of control on a huge ego trip to the expense of the band as a whole.

 

If this was true it explains John's later quote when hearing that Brian had died that right then and there he was "under no illusions" they were finished as Brian took care of everything and all they knew how to really do was make music.

 

Dave

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