All You Need is HELP!

All You Need is HELP!

Rory Hoy

Published 2023

NEW HAVEN PUBLISHING LTD

www.newhavenpublishingltd.com

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The rights of Rory Hoy, as the author of this work, have been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be re-printed or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now unknown or hereafter invented, including photocopying, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the Author and Publisher.

Cover Photo© Shutterstock

Cover design©Pete Cunliffe

Copyright © 2023

All rights reserved © Rory Hoy

ISBN: 978-1-949515-58-9

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction*

Chapter 2: John*

Chapter 3: Paul*

Chapter 4: George*

Chapter 5: Ringo*

Chapter 6: Other Members*

Chapter 7: John and Paul*

Chapter 8: John and George*

Chapter 9: John and Ringo*

Chapter 10: John, Paul and George*

Chapter 11: John, George and Ringo*

Chapter 12: Paul and George*

Chapter 13: Paul and Ringo*

Chapter 14: George and Ringo*

Chapter 15: Paul, George and Ringo*

Chapter 16: John, Paul, George and Pete*

Chapter 17: John, Paul, George and Ringo*

Chapter 18: People Who Have Worked with the Beatles*

Chapter 19: Where are They Now?*

About the Author

Chapter 1

*Introduction*

The Beatles are, arguably, the most successful band in musical history. They have sold around 800 million records worldwide and have pioneered the way popular music is today. Chances are, you will know at least one of their songs, and if you don’t, you are probably living under one very hard rock!

The four canonical members of of the band - John Winston Ono Lennon, Sir James Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Sir Richard Starkey AKA Ringo Starr - were very prolific musicians before, during, and after they were in The Beatles, and they were never idle, always doing something in the music and film industry throughout the decades. In my previous book chronicling our fabulous foursome, The Beatles - Acting Naturally, I talked about their work in film and television, and how they remained in the public eye through acting and performing in various television and film appearances, as well as performing on stage. Of course, they never quit their day jobs, and they all had successful solo careers. As well as their own individual musical adventures, they also helped out on other people’s records and projects. On someone else’s recording, you may catch George playing slide guitar, Ringo might be on drums, and John or Paul could be singing backing vocals. Throughout the years, you may have been listening to something by someone else, which has some sort of Beatle magic, without you realising it!

As you will have gathered by now, this book chronicles The Beatles’ collaborations with other artists, both individually and collectively. For instance, did you know…

There are numerous Beatles/Rolling Stones crossover records?

Ringo Starr once collaborated with Vera Lynn?

The Beatles were secret pioneers of hip-hop?

Paul McCartney had a drunken collaboration with an obscure band from Portugal?

There are many numerous Beatles reunion records?

If not, read on!

To quote our boy Ringo - Peace and Love, Peace and Love!

Rory x

Chapter 2

*John*

Some people say he was a dreamer, but he wasn’t the only one. John Winston Ono Lennon was the reason why The Beatles existed. He originally formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in the summer of 1956, which in 1960 became the band we know and love as The Beatles. As well as being a very talented musician and songwriter, he was a peace activist, an artist, and a poet, and he had a wicked (but sometimes cruel) sense of humour. He was also known for lending a helping hand on a few of his friend’s tunes (especially during his lost weekend period, when he separated from Yoko Ono for 18 months and made headlines with his wild, alcohol-fuelled behaviour). Here is a selection.

Artist - Darren Young (AKA Johnny Gentle)

Title - I’ve Just Fallen For Someone

Year - 1960 (released in 1961 and 1962)

Label - Parlophone

Johnny Gentle (real name John Askew) was born on the 8th December 1936 and, like The Beatles, he grew up in Liverpool. His connection with The Beatles was a very important one, as he was partly responsible for the Fab Four’s very first professional engagements (when they were The Silver Beatles), backing Gentle during a May 1960 tour of Scotland. It was during this time that Gentle wrote the song ‘I’ve Just Fallen For Someone’. Assisting him was none other than John Lennon, who, to this day, remains uncredited. The very first professional recording of this song was by the famous British teen idol, Adam Faith, in 1961; it appeared on his self-titled album on Parlophone Records, making it the very first composition co-composed by a Beatle to be put on wax officially. It was arranged by the famous John Barry, who was best known for composing the theme music to the James Bond movies.

Gentle himself recorded his own version under the alias of Darren Young, also on Parlophone Records, in 1962, as the B-side to his single ‘My Tears Will Turn To Laughter’. Despite selling well, with 30,000 copies sold, the song failed to chart.

Artist - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Title - Day Tripper

Year - 1967

Label - Unreleased

NOTE – This is actually mislabeled as having involvement from a Beatle, so it is here to set the record straight.

Jimi Hendrix, in a nutshell, was a guitar god. This afro-haired virtuoso was revered by all guitarists at the time, and still is to this day. He also covered the opening title track from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in his live gigs, learning it almost immediately after the song came out, something which, to this day, still amazes Paul McCartney.

Apparently, John Lennon reportedly provided backing vocals on Jimi’s cover version of The Beatles’ classic ‘Day Tripper’. Sadly, this wasn’t the case: this was misinformation provided by bootleg albums. In reality, this was a recording of a studio session of Hendrix’s band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, for BBC Radio 1, and the man actually providing backing vocals was Experience member and bassist, Noel Redding.

Artist - Grapefruit

Title - C’mon Marianne

Year - 1968

Label - RCA Victor

Grapefruit were a British psychedelic rock band who were formed in 1967 and disbanded in 1969, then briefly reformed in 1971. They were one of the first bands to openly use the vocoder, preceding many of the famous acts to use it by several years. The band were named by John Lennon, using the same name as his future wife, Yoko Ono’s, book, which was published in 1964, before she and Lennon met.

The song ‘C’mon Marianne’ was originally written by L. Russell Brown and Raymond Bloodworth, and was popularised by The Four Seasons; it would later be covered by Donny Osmond in 1976.

Grapefruit’s version was recorded in 1968 at Trident Studios in London, and the brass section was arranged by an uncredited John Lennon. Despite the song having lots of commercial potential, it was only a modest success, reaching No.31 in the UK Singles Chart. ‘C’mon Marianne’ would later be covered by The Beatles themselves, as they played it during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions of 1969.

Artist - The Rolling Stones

Title - Salt Of The Earth

Year - 1968 (released in 1996)

Label - ABKO

That other massively successful group from the 1960s, still massive today, The Rolling Stones (or just simply, The Stones) are pretty much the greatest rock band of all time not named The Beatles. They were set up by their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, as the bad boys of rock ’n’ roll and the antithesis to the clean image of The Beatles. Their classic line-up included Mick Jagger, Brian Jones (1942-1969), Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts (1941-2021) and their story is for another book! The Stones and The Beatles were friends, and respected each other; in fact, The Stones’ first major hit in 1963, reaching No.12 in the UK charts, was their version of the Fabs’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’.

1968 saw them release the album Beggars Banquet, and its finale song was a little number entitled ‘Salt Of The Earth’. This was also the year of their TV concert special Rock and Roll Circus (which actually didn’t get shown in public until 1996) and, as with the album, the concert ended with ‘Salt Of The Earth’. For this rousing finale, a supergroup was formed called Dirty Mac, featuring John Lennon on guitar and vocals, Eric Clapton on guitar, Keith Richards on bass, Mitch Michell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience on drums, Ivry Gitlis (who had performed with the world’s top orchestras) on violin and Yoko Ono providing vocals.

It was the closest thing to a supergroup with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and a classic tune in the deeper cuts of The Stones’ extensive back catalogue.

Artist - The Rolling Stones

Title - Is Winter Here To Stay?

Year - 1968 (released in 1996)

Label - ABKO

‘Is Winter Here to Stay?’ is a lesser-known tune from The Rolling Stones’ discography. It was also played by the Dirty Mac supergroup in the Rock and Roll Circus TV special.

This blues-inspired song would later be revisited in 1973 as a Yoko Ono solo tune from her album Approximately Infinite Universe, which coincidentally features Mick Jagger on guitar.

Artist - Bill Elliot and The Elastic Oz Band

Title - God Save Us

Year - 1971

Label - Apple Records

The late Bill Elliot (July 28th 1950 - June 6th 2021) was a member of the musical duo Splinter, who worked with George Harrison for his Dark Horse label. They were musically compared to The Beatles. In 1971, Elliot released a solo single in collaboration with The Elastic Oz Band, which was a pseudonym for John’s Plastic Ono Band, entitled ‘God Save Us’ (initially titled ‘God Save Oz’ in a shout-out to the radical left-wing magazine Oz, which was then facing an obscenity trial). Lyrically, it’s very similar to Lennon’s protest songs of the time, and John also played electric guitar on it. Initially, this was going to be a Lennon solo single, but for contractual reasons, the vocal was given to Elliot. Lennon’s version was released in the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology.

The B-side actually didn’t feature Elliot, and was a strange Lennon/Ono piece called ‘Do The Oz’, which was designed to promote a dance craze that didn’t catch on. This track (as well as ‘God Save Us’) was produced by the infamous Phil Spector.

Despite the Lennon connection and commercial sound, the song failed to chart. As far as the magazine Oz was concerned, in both Australia (its country of origin) and the UK, the creators were prosecuted on charges of obscenity. They were later both acquitted (after initially being found guilty) in two separate trials, one in Australia in 1964 and the other in the UK in 1971.

More on Splinter later in the book…

Artist - Tibetan Chants

Title - Tantric Llamas Parts 1 and 2

Year - 1971

Label - Apple Records (unreleased)

A very mysterious recording, which is said to have stemmed from the sessions of the David Peel album The Pope Smokes Dope (read on later in the book for more info on this). According to David Peel himself, he brought 30 people off the streets of New York City to record some Tibetan Chants. This session was recorded on the 16th December 1971 at the Record Plant (East) studios, and the producer for the session was John Lennon, but according to John’s ex from the lost weekend era, May Pang, Lennon and Ono stamped their names onto many random things that they didn’t actually have hands-on involvement in producing, meaning that Lennon’s involvement may have only been superficial.

Artist - Elephant’s Memory

Album - Elephant’s Memory

Titles - Crying Blacksheep Blues/Gypsy Wolf/Wind Ridge/Power Boogie/Local Plastic Ono Band

Year - 1972

Label - Apple Records

Elephant’s Memory were a New York-based American rock band which lasted from 1967 to around 1976, probably best known for backing John and Yoko Ono from late 1971-1973; in fact they were sometimes billed as The Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory Band. Their sound is a tribute to 1950s rock ’n’ roll, but with a harder, contemporary edge. They got their initial start when two of their songs (‘Jungle Gym at the Zoo’ and ‘Old Man Willow’) were used in the soundtrack to the 1969 John Schlesinger drama Midnight Cowboy, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voigt (father of Angelina Jolie).

Naturally, they were signed to Apple Records, where they released their self-titled album in 1972 (in an act of confusion, they had also released another album with the same name in 1969 on Buddah Records). The 1972 Apple Records incarnation of this album was produced by John and his wife, Yoko Ono.

On the Kansas City-esque sounding song ‘Crying Blacksheep Blues’, John provides backing vocals and also plays guitar. John also sings backing vocals on the song ‘Gypsy Wolf’ and so does Yoko (whose backing vox are quite drowned out in the mix). Lennon also plays electric piano on ‘Wind Ridge’ and both he and Yoko sing backing vocals on ‘Power Boogie’ (which features some guitar work from John). The album closes with the song ‘Local Plastic Ono Band’, which has backing vocals from both John and Yoko.

Elephant’s Memory would later team up with Ono on the 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe, notable for containing the song ‘Death of Samantha’, which would inspire the name of an American punk rock band.

Artist - David Peel & The Lower East Side

Album - The Pope Smokes Dope

Titles - The Ballad Of New York City/The Pope Smokes Dope

Year - 1972

Label - Apple

David Peel (1942-2017, real name David Rosario) was a New York-based street rock artist, who was a hippie and stoner icon, and liked to sing about ‘Mary Jane’ and ‘Pigs’. He was also infamous for discovering the controversial shock rocker GG Allin. The best way to describe his music is that it’s basically folk, but with almost punk-like vocals.

On April 17th 1972, Peel (backed by Manhattan group The Lower East Side) released the album The Pope Smokes Dope on Apple Records. It was produced by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. On the song ‘The Ballad Of New York’, John and Yoko provide backing vocals, and to promote the release, Peel, Lennon and Ono appeared on the BBC TV series The David Frost Show, performing it live, with John playing tea-chest bass, skiffle style.

John and Yoko also provide backing vocals on the album’s title track ‘The Pope Smokes Dope’ - it’s a good rhyme! The song also features a sample of a John Lennon interview.

The album was a commercial flop, reaching only No.191 in the US Billboard album chart.

Artist - Phil Ochs

Title - Chords Of Fame

Year - 1972

Label - Unreleased

Phil Ochs was a transgressive poet, singer/songwriter and peace activist from the USA, who was active throughout the 1960s and 70s, until his tragic suicide in April 1976 aged only 35. He was known for his sharp wit and political activism, and he took part in many protests and rallies of the time. He unfortunately suffered from mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, and a nasty bout of alcoholism.

A recording of him jamming with John Lennon singing his Dylan-esque ditty ‘Chords Of Fame’ has surfaced on bootlegs. The original song was released in 1970 on Ochs’ album Greatest Hits (ironically an album of new material). It would later be covered by Melanie, Teenage Fanclub, Daniel Johnston, Marianne Faithful and Krysia Kocjan, who sang with my dad’s band, the Natural Acoustic Band, who played it in their live sets.

This version was originally recorded from an audiotape from around 1972 which was personally owned by Lennon himself. While Lennon doesn’t contribute to anything vocally, the recording begins with a fascinating conversation between the two musical legends. Chords of Fame was also the name of a 1984 documentary about Ochs.

Artist - Frank Zappa

Titles - Scumbag/Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)/Jamraa/Au

Year - 1972

Label - Apple Records

Frank Zappa was a one-off eccentric, as well as being an awesome guitarist, producer, songwriter, singer and film director, who recorded 75 albums, and covered pretty much every genre known to man and woman before his death in 1993. He also named one of his children Moon Unit (nowadays Moon Zappa)!

On the 6th June 1971, Frank Zappa and his band, The Mothers Of Invention, held a concert at the Fillmore East venue in New York, and for a four-song encore, John and Yoko joined them on stage for an improvised jam, which included ‘Scumbag’, ‘Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)’, ‘Jamraa’ and ‘Au’.

This was later included on Lennon’s Sometime In New York City compilation album in 1972, as well as Zappa’s 1992 compilation Playground Psychotics

Artist - Crowbar

Title - Rocky Mountain Tragedy

Year - 1973

Label - Epic

NOTE - It is unknown if Lennon actually played on this record.

Crowbar were a 1970s Canadian rock band from Hamilton, Ontario, best known for their 1971 hit single ‘Oh What A Feeling’. They were Ronnie Hawkins’ backup band during the 70s, and still perform today, doing the odd sporadic concert appearance.

1973 saw the band release their self-titled album containing the song ‘Rocky Mountain Tragedy’. Apparently, John and Yoko contributed some vocal work alongside Lennon’s lost weekend flame, May Pang, and Lou Reed. It was recorded at the Record Plant (East) Studio A in New York City circa July or August 1973. It was produced by Jack Douglas, who would later produce Lennon’s final solo album Double Fantasy in 1980, as well as the song ‘Move On Fast’ for Yoko Ono for her 2016 LP Yes, I’m A Witch Too, giving the rumours of Lennon and Ono’s contribution to this song a little more credibility.

Artist - Mick Jagger

Title - Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)

Year - 1973 or 1974 (not released till 2007)

Label - WEA/Rhino

The king of the chicken dance, Sir Mick Jagger, is of course the charismatic front man for The Rolling Stones. He is known for his incredible voice and stage presence, and is still a cool guy, even though he’s nearly 80!

In 1973, during John Lennon’s infamous lost weekend period, Lennon produced a very funky tune for Jagger - a cover version of Willie Dixon’s ‘Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)’. It was recorded in LA around the time of Harry Nilsson’s Pussy Cats album, and a lot of Lennon’s solo band appeared on this tune (and others) including Jack Bruce (of Cream fame) on bass, Al Kooper on keyboards, Jim Keltner on drums, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, Bobby Keys on sax and Nilsson himself on backing vocals.

The song didn’t see a commercial release until the 1st October 2007, when it appeared on the compilation album The Very Best of Mick Jagger.

Artist - Elton John Featuring John Lennon And The Muscle Shoals Horns

Title - I Saw Her Standing There

Year - 1974 (released 1975)

Label - MCA Records

Sir Elton John, better known to his mother as Reginald Dwight, is a legendary British singer/songwriter and pianist who has sold over 200 million records worldwide, and to this day he holds the record for the best selling song in UK singles history with his 1997 remake of his tune ‘Candle in The Wind (Goodbye English Rose)’, which he performed in tribute at the funeral of the late Princess Diana. It sold over 4 million copies in the UK and 33 million copies worldwide. In 1992, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised over $600 million, with programmes in 55 countries. On a lighter note, he is also known for his eccentric and flamboyant dress sense, which would sometimes even make Lady Gaga blush - that Donald Duck outfit springs to mind!

On the 28th November 1974, John Lennon would join Elton John for Lennon’s final live concert appearance before his tragic assassination in 1980. Elton had previously helped Lennon out with his single ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’, and in return, Lennon appeared in this show, which took place at the gigantic Madison Square Gardens in New York City. One of the songs they performed together was ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, which, of course, was the opening song to The Beatles’ debut LP Please Please Me in 1963. Lennon announced the track as one he had originally performed with an old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul. They also sang ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ from Sgt. Pepper, and the aforementioned ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’.

This recording was released as the B-side to Elton’s ‘Philadelphia Freedom’ single, which came out in 1975, and this live recording (as well as the two live songs mentioned above) was released as a single in March 1981 on DJM Records (Dick James Music) to capitalise on renewed interest in Lennon after his death. It reached the lowly heights of No.40 in the UK Singles Chart. It was the first time this tune made it into the aforementioned chart.

Yoko Ono was in the audience for the concert in 1974, and had sent the orchids that Lennon and Elton John sported on stage. She was backstage afterwards, but it was a little later when she and John eventually reconciled again after John’s infamous lost weekend period.

After this show, John Lennon would never perform on stage again. When he came off stage, he said to journalists who were waiting, It was good fun, but I wouldn’t like to do it for a living.

Artist - Elton John Featuring John Lennon And The Muscle Shoals Horns

Title - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

Year - 1974 (released 1981)

Label - DJM Records

See ‘I Saw Her Standing There’.

Artist - Elton John Featuring John Lennon And The Muscle Shoals Horns

Title - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Year - 1974 (released 1981)

Label - DJM Records

See ‘I Saw Her Standing There’.

Artist - Maschine Nr.9

Title - Maschine Nr.9

Year - 1974

Label - Phillips

Maschine Nr.9 was a German one-off sound-theatre project headed by Wolf Wondratschek, Bernd Brummbär and Georg Deuter. It is similar to the experimental records John made with Yoko Ono with their infamous ‘Unfinished Music’ series, featuring spoken word, weird electronic sound effects, and heavy sampling. One of the samples used was the Beatles (ahem, Lennon solo) experimental piece ‘Revolution 9’ and the White Album closer ‘Good Night’, and Lennon even receives an acknowledgement in the record’s liner notes, suggesting that the sample was officially cleared by him, making it one of the few very rare instances of The Beatles being legally sampled. It also contains samples of Ted Kennedy, Pink Floyd, Timothy Leary, Donald Duck, and what sounds like an early use of turntable scratching, preceding hip-hop pioneer Grand Wizzard Theodore’s claim of inventing it by a couple of years.

If you like Lennon and Ono’s weird experimental tunes, then you may enjoy this. Also, the name Maschine Nr.9 is very similar to Revolution No.9.

Artist - Harry Nilsson

Album - Pussy Cats

Titles - Many Rivers To Cross/Don’t Forget Me/Old Forgotten Soldier/Save The Last Dance For Me/Rock Around The Clock

Year - 1974

Label - RCA

Harry Edward Nilsson III, mostly just simply known as Nilsson, was a singer/songwriter legend who was a good friend of The Beatles, especially John Lennon. He was best known for his hits ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ (from the hit movie Midnight Cowboy) and ‘Without You’ (originally written and recorded by Badfinger, famously covered by Mariah Carey), and he was also known for his eclectic back catalogue, covering everything from pop to rock and, with his amazing effortless vocal range, even crooner music.

1974 saw the release of his album Pussy Cats and it was produced by John Lennon during his infamous lost weekend era - an 18-month period in which Lennon was accompanied by Nilsson, May Pang (following his temporary split from Yoko Ono) and various others. These months seemed to consist of drinking, drinking and more drinking - and some rather controversial behaviour from our Beatle hero.

The opening track of the Pussy Cats album was a cover of a song by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff entitled