New tapes show John Lennon's anguish in 1969, he admits: 'We were going through hell'.
Recording Let it Be sessions was nothing short of "torture"
for The
Beatles, said John in a tape-recorded interview coming up for
auction this month.
The Fab Four had just completed "Let It Be" in 1969, but had yet to
break up, when John and Yoko Ono sat down in Toronto with radio DJ
and Village Voice critic Howard Smith for an hour-long interview.
"We were going through hell. We often do. It's torture every time we produce anything," John revealed."The Beatles haven't got any magic you haven't got. We suffer like hell anytime we make anything, and we got each other to contend with. Imagine working with the Beatles, it's tough," he said."There's just tension. It's tense every time the red light (in the recording studio) goes on."
"We were going through hell. We often do. It's torture every time we produce anything," John revealed."The Beatles haven't got any magic you haven't got. We suffer like hell anytime we make anything, and we got each other to contend with. Imagine working with the Beatles, it's tough," he said."There's just tension. It's tense every time the red light (in the recording studio) goes on."
Released in May 1970, and ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 500
greatest albums of all time, "Let It Be" was largely recorded in
London in 1969 to complement a film of the same name.
Its title track and "The Long and Winding Road" endure as two of the
Beatles' most memorable songs.
But for John, "Let It Be"
was a "strange album" that reflected the friction that had grown
between himself and band mates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo
Starr.
"We never really finished it. We didn't really want to do it. Paul was
hustling for us to do it. It's the Beatles with their suits off," he
said.
New Hampshire auction house RR Auction said the hour-long interview over two
audio tape reels had lain forgotten for nearly four decades in a crate at
the rear of Smith's loft in New York.
"It's a frank and honest interview from one of the most revered musicians
and activists of all time," RR Auction vice president Bobby Livingston
said on Thursday.
The recording is among more than 100 Beatles-related items folded into a
larger "Marvels of Modern Music" memorabilia auction that runs
from September 19 through September 26.
It has an initial minimum bid listed at $300, but Livingston estimated it
could sell for between $5,000 and $10,000.
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