Something About The Beatles

150: Behind The Esher Demos

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In the first of what will be a series of shows originating from the White Album symposium held at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, I am presenting my opening remarks, followed by a brief Q&A. For those who couldn’t attend, it gives you a good flavor of how these events go down. Asked to present on the Kinfauns recordings, newly remastered and issued as part of the 50th anniversary White Album package, I opted to offer my take on what the recording of these songs meant to The Beatles, as a way of getting back to where they once belonged.

Special thanks to Ben Rowling for capturing this field recording and to Dr. Kenneth Womack for making the event possible.

Comments

10 responses to “150: Behind The Esher Demos”

  1. Richard Domina

    Most impressive and captivating. Thank you!!!

    Reply
  2. John Walker

    Excellent lecture; looking forward to the additional ones from the Monmouth symposium. This event sounds like it was a hyper version of the Fest’s panel discussions, so I wish I could have attended myself.

    Reply
    1. Us

      John, it was amazing! A learning curve for some of us (like many an event, it is impossible to take in everything, as so much is going on at once), but I think that going forward, EVERYTHING needs to be recorded. Every talk I attended was fascinating, and you will hear the results of my labors on shows to come; field recordings as well as guests whom I connected with while there.

      Reply
  3. Cajun Queen

    Wish I had been there! Great talk, Robert.

    Reply
  4. The Applesauce Project

    Fantastic — would have loved to have been there for this.

    Question: Didn’t Ringo start “Don’t Pass Me By” in ’64? I remember back in ’82 hearing an interview where Ringo was asked if he’d tried writing any songs and Paul jumps in with a “Ringo’s writing a song called ‘Don’t Pass Me By’,” and then proceeds to recite the lyrics of the chorus to Ringo’s embarrassment — “Don’t pass me by, don’t make me cry, don’t make me blue, baby. It’s great!”

    Reply
    1. Paul McGuinness

      I really enjoyed this episode, Robert. One question I would have loved to have heard asked and answered is when exactly they made these recordings. Details have always seemed thin on the gound. Was it one day or perhaps two? I have a vague memory of hearing an anecdote somewhere that John came accompanied by a fan who’d turned up at Kenwood, and John had invited along (as we know he was prone to do on occassion) much to George’s irritation.

      Do you have any insight from your research that might shed some light on any of this?

      Reply
      1. Us

        Hi Paul,

        The day that Michael Herring, the fan who took pictures, showed up is believed to have been May 28, 1968. The White Album sessions began two days later, on May 30, with “Revolution 1.” It can therefore be surmised that if Paul wasn’t there on the 28th that work likely was done on the 27th – possibly even days before – but given that the formal sessions began on the 30th, the 28th may have been a day of finishing loose ends not tidied up on the 27th, giving a single day off (the 29th) to listen to their work and get a handle on what they wanted to record. All of this is just a guess: we know from Herring that Paul wasn’t there on the 28th (although the reason he’s given – that a messenger showed up with a note from the Eastmans saying that Paul had quit the band – was demonstrably false.)

        That will likely remain the best reasoning as to these most imprecise dates.

        Reply
  5. Coliin

    Excellent talk, Robert, thank you very much! Nicely edited together with the clips too.

    Reply
  6. paul dakota

    Good talk. But I’m confused by the omission of why the White album is a double. It is not related to the “artistic differences” between producer and band. The producer discovered the reason afterwards and is on record about it. Either Mr. Rodriguez knows all this and is choosing to disregard it- an entirely baffling approach to the subject. Or he doesn’t know why the White album is a double.

    Very much enjoy the podcast.

    Reply
    1. Us

      You’re referring to The Beatles’ belief that delivering 2 records would fulfill the terms of their EMI contract faster? In the context of the creation of the demos at George’s house, I either must’ve assumed everyone knew that or else didn’t see it as directly relevant to whatever point I was making.

      It’s been a few years and I really don’t remember!

      Reply

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