Latest posts by Karen Hooper (see all)
- Philip Norman’s “letter” to Paul - May 2, 2016
- The Jets and The Beatles - April 25, 2016
- Lennon and McCartney On The Tonight Show, 1968 - April 20, 2016
I found this photo in my archives and wanted to share it for those Dullbloggers who may not have seen it. It’s a photo collage John made for Paul, which Paul subsequently copied to Julian, who in turn added it to his Beatles’ Memorabilia book. (If you want the exact circumstances, I think Julian describes them there.)
Any comments out there as to what you think inspired this Lennon collage?
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I think it’s beautiful, haunting, gothic, awesome. I wonder why Paul gave it to Julian (other than of course the kindness of his heart)? Maybe it creeped him out? 🙂
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Does that say “to Julian love Paul” in the bottom right?
Paul gave a copy of it to Julian, as a memento of his Dad. He retained the original, if memory serves.
I have a copy of the exhibit book for the Rock and Roll HOF Exhibit “Lennon 60”, and in it are reproductions of John’s artwork, including a bunch of his collage work that I have never seen before. They are amazing. There is one he made for George, and another for Ringo. Much more interesting than his pen and ink stuff, which is of course great. Worth seeking out.
Hello King Kevin! This is an old post ànd you’ll probably never see this message but I’d love it if you could also provide the collages he made for the other 2, any other such collages, etc. Abstract pieces… I’d give my left arm to see that exhibit book you have – I can’t find it anywhere online. I thank you ahead of time and would be beyond grateful if you could provide those other images
It’s kind of a classic Lennon move of taking a clichéd romantic sentiment and using it for the grotesque/absurd. “I only have eyes for you” becomes, “I have these disembodied eyes to give you.” Similar to his early pseudo-romantic lyric of “darling, when I looked into your national health eyeball …” or the bit in Skywriting by Word of Mouth where he sings “Some Enchanted Evening” while wiping the sperm from his lover’s forehead.
I kind of wondered whether the collage was a Lennonesque commentary on Paul being a chick magnet (note all the female eyes on him) and the fact that his eyes are one of Paul’s notable features.
When is it from, @Karen?
I suspect this is what (a part of) Beatlemania must’ve felt like.
I don’t rightly know when, Michael. I can’t recall if Julian gave a specific date in his book, and in interviews he only described it as something “Dad made for Paul and Paul made me a copy of. It was very sweet.” (this from an interview with Hello! magazine.)
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And I bet the plethora of eyes does reveal a bit of what Beatlemania was like. Kinda creepy. I would hate to be a celeb–unless it was via a medium like writing, where you might still be unrecognizable.
That is one of my attractions to writing, too — but there are disadvantages. Psychologically, writing is pretty taxing. And it’s LONELY. Gosh, if I’d only known that at 12 years old, I would’ve been an actor, a musician, anything social.
The time would be fascinating to know. My bet is late ’66/early ’67. Or very early.
That’s my guess to re timeline, probably closer to `66.
Funny about writing as a solitary undertaking. My happiest times were when I was writing my thesis or doing similar scholarly undertakings in my professional life. I must have been a monk in my former life. 🙂
Living with a bunch of neat people in a monastery? Sign me up. Sounds like college. 🙂
That would be one hoppin` monastery!
A Beatles xmas collage/mashup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAqegFFHpOY
Happy Crimble!