(Published 12/30/08 on Examiner.com)
By Steve Marinucci
Beatles Examiner
Let's travel back in time to 1978.
It was the year "Mull of Kintyre" became a huge hit for Paul McCartney almost everywhere -- except the United States. It was the year Ringo Starr appeared in his own TV special and had a role in the movie "Sextette" with Mae West. The year George and Olivia Harrison's son, Dhani, was born, when John adlibbed a parody of Bob Dylan inspired by a newscast and when the Rutles' film "All You Need Is Cash" debuted.
It was also the year Beatlefan magazine made its debut. Its most recent issue marks its 30th anniversary. We sent editor Bill King some questions by email and got his responses.
Q: What motivated you to start Beatlefan?
Bill King: It was really a case of starting a magazine that I'd always wanted to read. I wanted a magazine about The Beatles that was more than just a fan club newsletter and that was published on a regular basis. I also wanted a publication that was professionally put together. That desire dovetailed with my wife, Leslie, and I wanting to start a publication of our own on the side. We were both journalists. I was the rock critic of The Atlanta Constitution at the time and so had access to a lot of sources of news about The Beatles. After having dinner with Mark and Carol Lapidos, who were in Atlanta to stage a Beatlefest, Leslie and I decided to launch our Beatles magazine. Mark kindly offered to let us put flyers for it on the main table at the Beatlefest. And right before Christmas 1978, our first issue came out, which included my interview with Joe English (who was back living in Georgia at the time after having left Wings) and our first "scoop," that McCartney was leaving Capitol for Columbia in the U.S.
Q: What changes in your immediate family have happened since you started publishing (kids, how they've grown up).
Bill King: Well, our son, Bill, came along in 1985. His first real concert ever was McCartney at the Georgia Dome, and he's been to numerous Paul and Ringo shows since. He grew up with Beatles music around him, but I never forced it on him. He became a fan on his own. He's written some pieces for Beatlefan and handles our web site. Our daughter, Olivia, was born in 1984, a day after we had sent an issue off to the printer and a few hours after we put a special Beatlefan/EXTRA! in the mail with our exclusive report that the Threetles were together recording "Free As a Bird." That report got cited by newspapers and wire services around the world. Olivia also has become a fan of Beatles music on her own. Interestingly, she really got into it through a CD of cover versions of Beatles songs designed for kids.
Q: How has producing the magazine changed since you started?
Bill King: When we began, there was no such thing as desktop publishing. The fanzines that were around were generally done on typewriters. We decided we wanted ours to be professionally typeset, and fortunately a college pal of ours had some Compugraphic phototypesetting equipment left over from a failed weekly newspaper venture. Leslie had some experience typesetting from time working at her hometown weekly paper, so our friend agreed to rent us time on his typesetter. Leslie set the stories, which came out of the machine on long strips of photopaper, which I then pasted up on a page form that was then sent to the printer. We initially used a local Kwik Kopy as our printer before graduating to the newsprint format with slick covers we still use today. Eventually, of course, we quit using a typesetter and started producing the magazine on a Mac. The format of Beatlefan evolved, too. The first couple of years we began the articles on the front cover like a newsletter. The first issue where we went to a magazine-style cover was our John Lennon memorial issue, which was put together in the two weeks after Lennon died and was the first memorial to come out aside from the weekly newsmagazines like Time and Newsweek.
Bill King and Rick Glover
Bill King, right, with "Fan on the Run" Rick Glover
Q: As a professional journalist (at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), what changes have you noticed in how the Beatles relate to the press and the press relate to the Beatles in 30 years?
Bill King: When I started in newspapers, four years before Beatlefan was born and just after I graduated from college, the World War II generation was still running things and they tended to still view The Beatles as kid stuff. But as my generation, the Beatles generation, came into positions of authority in the media, that changed. Any news to do with The Beatles generally got pretty big play in the 1980s and ’90s because their fans were making the decisions on what was covered. Now that a younger generation of editors has joined the mix, there's a bit less interest in the solo Beatles individually, but anything to do with them as a group still gets pretty big play. The Beatles are still cool even with college kids. You notice the continuing influence of the Beatles generation of journalists on coverage when something happens like Ringo announcing he's not going to sign autographs by mail any more or the Vatican "forgiving" Lennon. Big, prestigious newspapers will even comment on these events on their editorial pages. So The Beatles are still big news. As for how they relate to the press, I'd say that hasn't changed much over the years. George never was that comfortable with the press in general, though he was a good sport about it when it became necessary. McCartney still knows how to charm reporters and Ringo has proved to be pretty quick-witted, though at times he has a bit of a temper and is much pricklier. They both have become increasingly available for press interviews over the years, but not substantial ones. There's not much of interest that can be discussed in a five-minute phoner where they just want to plug the latest release.
Q: The story you're proudest of?
Bill King: Hard to narrow it to one single story. I'm very proud of that Lennon memorial issue. I'm proud of the "Free As a Bird" scoop. I'm proud of our city-by-city tour coverage over the years, our "Anthology" coverage (one person involved in that project commented in amazement at our sources for breaking fresh information during that time), and I'm proud of many of the interviews we've run. Perhaps my two favorite stories that I did myself, besides my "A Fan's Notes" series about what it was like to grow up as a fan of The Beatles, were the "Unity Through Diversity" piece in which I used contemporary quotes from the Fabs from 1969-70 to show that the breakup was not a foregone conclusion, and my interview with Phil Ramone in which we went track by track through the "lost" McCartney album he produced.
Q: Meeting the Beatles -- any stories?
Bill King: I met and briefly interviewed George at a press function in Washington, D.C., when the "33 1/3" album was about to come out. He was very gracious and kind, but I also noted how incredibly weak his handshake was. I never got to meet John, unfortunately. I sat next to Paul for an hour as I participated with about five other journalists in a group interview at the time of the "Give My Regards to Broad Street" release. I had gotten to the interview room long before anyone else and guessed right about where he would sit and situated myself to his immediate left. That was a thrill. I've questioned him at several tour press conferences since then. My brother and I and a friend once ended up backstage at a McCartney concert when a hotel clerk mistakenly directed us to an MPL staff shuttle bus, but we didn't run into Paul. The looks on our other friends' faces as we waved from the bus as it entered the gate was priceless, though! I first met Ringo when he came to Atlanta for a press conference announcing his involvement in a restaurant there. I've done a couple of press conferences with him since.
Q: Have the Beatles ever commented on the magazine?
Bill King: Not directly. We've never really sought direct involvement with them because we like the editorial freedom of being independent. But a friend who's visited Paul's home said that he found a copy of Beatlefan on the bookshelf there, and Paul has indicated to our chief Fan on the Run, Rick Glover, that he's seen some of our tour coverage and thought it was great. Yoko Ono has indicated she's aware of us. I've had indications Ringo has seen some of our coverage of his All Starr Band tours, too. I don't know whether George knew of us or not, but I suspect he did since Brian Roylance of Genesis Publications, one of his closest friends, knew all about us. As far as the inner circle goes, the late Derek Taylor was well acquainted with us. I first interviewed him in Liverpool and then did a lengthy phone interview with him a few years later and he remembered what I looked like and what I'd written about him previously. And when ABC set me up to talk with him about the "Anthology," he came on the line and said there was nothing he could tell me that I didn't already know! A thoroughly charming man and much missed.
Monday, January 1, 2018
New movie about the Beatles being crowdfunded on Kickstarter - 12/28/11 Examiner.com
Published 12/28/11 on Examiner.com.
In the wake of the success of the funding of "Good Ol' Freda" through Kickstarter.com, there's a second movie about the Beatles
now in the middle of a campaign on the website to raise money.
The movie, called "The Beatles at Their Best," is a documentary about Pete Best's stint with the Beatles. The Kickstarter campaign hopes to raise $5,000 by 4:24 p.m. EST Jan. 20.
The man behind the film is Shaun Phillips, who says on Kickstarter the documentary "will be an entertaining and informative re-examination of the facts behind the making of the most popular musical group in history. It will be the true story you've never heard, about the band you thought you knew everything about," using photos, video clips and interviews, some rare.:
The idea for the film came about because of another film he was working on about the Beatles and Michael Jackson. "In July 2009, a week after the death of Michael Jackson, I began working on 'Unbelievable!', a feature-length interactive documentary examining the influence The Beatles had on Jackson’s career. My goal was to create a web index that would tell the history in chronological order. The idea was viewers could watch the story as a documentary movie and at anytime click on it to open a hyperlink leading to the source material," he told us in an interview.
"I did a lot of Googling. Google doesn’t infringe on copyrights showing others work because they maintain they are an index, simply organizing information, providing small snippets and copies so that users can then follow links that will direct you to the true copyright holder. I was hoping to create the same thing, but on a much smaller scale for this very specific subject. I was hoping to make an entertaining Michael Jackson / Beatles index that can also be viewed like a movie."
His research on the Beatles early history led him to discover the story of Pete Best. "I learned a great deal more about Pete Best, the Best family and their involvement with the group. I put a lot of what I learned into the index movie I was creating. By the summer of 2010, I had trimmed it down from 8 hours to 2 ½ hours. But after watching it became more and more obvious that the whole Pete Best chapter of Beatles history didn’t really shed much light on the influence of group on Michael Jackson. So, I decided to cut out this whole section of 'Unbelievable!' and turn it into a separate short, 'The Beatles at their Best'."
Is the Best family cooperating with the film? "They were never asked for their cooperation, nor were the other members of the Beatles or their estates. I did speak to Pete Best and his brother Roag in the summer of 2010 at a convention in New Jersey. I told them both about 'Unbelievable!.' At that point, I had been researching for a year and had already learned a great deal about Pete and the Best family’s involvement with the Beatles. I hadn’t yet made the decision to do 'The Best of the Beatles,' but I had developed a new respect for Pete and the significant role he and his family played in the Beatles rise to become an entertainment phenomenon. I was excited to meet him."
He first met both at a Beatles convention and had a conversation with Roag. "When discussing (the Beatles) Anthology, Roag mentioned that his father Neil Aspinall had told him that outside of doing the interviews, the only real request Ringo Starr had for the project was to fade Pete out of the famous 1960 Astrid Kirchherr fairground photo and to then have himself photoshopped in. I was surprised to hear that. "
Phillips says there are a lot of misconceptions about Best. "He wasn’t sociable, he was a bad drummer, he was unreliable, ect… Most people either don’t know or can’t handle the truth about Pete Best. The average Beatle fan only knows Ringo. The ones that do know about Pete, the 'real' Beatles fans, don’t really know the truth either. Most of them never saw the Beatles with Pete Best. Their understanding of the group, like mine, was formed by reading or hearing comments from people connected to The Beatles in articles or documentaries like 'Beatles Anthology' and 'Imagine: The John Lennon Story.' Films like these are made with the Beatles and their estates having the final say over the points of view to be expressed. That means the same people who sacked Pete are the people who get to shape everyone else’s opinions of him."
He argues their rise to fame was due in part to Best. "Most people don’t know that Lennon, McCartney and Harrison spent considerable time at the Best house for a year before they asked Pete to join the group. They don’t know the Beatles were a bum band, unwanted by most everyone in Liverpool before Pete joined," he says. "They don’t know that when Best joined the Beatles, he was the only one who wanted the job.
"They don’t know that Pete was a reliable band mate who also helped to manage the groups’ business affairs. ... They don't know he was friends with Ringo Starr," he says.
And, he says, "They don't know he was the most popular one in the group!"
And if the film happens, what do you hope to accomplish? "To see a beer summit with Pete Best, Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr. Why not? It would be a cool thing, right?"
Also," he says, "to encourage fans of the Beatles, fans of music history and fans of the truth to take a fresh look at this story. It’s a half century later and the true beginnings of the Beatles, the most incredible entertainment success story in the history of the world has never been properly told."
Phillips plans to use the money raised on Kickstarter to complete the film and promote it. To donate, go to www.kickstarter.com
In the wake of the success of the funding of "Good Ol' Freda" through Kickstarter.com, there's a second movie about the Beatles
The movie, called "The Beatles at Their Best," is a documentary about Pete Best's stint with the Beatles. The Kickstarter campaign hopes to raise $5,000 by 4:24 p.m. EST Jan. 20.
The man behind the film is Shaun Phillips, who says on Kickstarter the documentary "will be an entertaining and informative re-examination of the facts behind the making of the most popular musical group in history. It will be the true story you've never heard, about the band you thought you knew everything about," using photos, video clips and interviews, some rare.:
The idea for the film came about because of another film he was working on about the Beatles and Michael Jackson. "In July 2009, a week after the death of Michael Jackson, I began working on 'Unbelievable!', a feature-length interactive documentary examining the influence The Beatles had on Jackson’s career. My goal was to create a web index that would tell the history in chronological order. The idea was viewers could watch the story as a documentary movie and at anytime click on it to open a hyperlink leading to the source material," he told us in an interview.
"I did a lot of Googling. Google doesn’t infringe on copyrights showing others work because they maintain they are an index, simply organizing information, providing small snippets and copies so that users can then follow links that will direct you to the true copyright holder. I was hoping to create the same thing, but on a much smaller scale for this very specific subject. I was hoping to make an entertaining Michael Jackson / Beatles index that can also be viewed like a movie."
His research on the Beatles early history led him to discover the story of Pete Best. "I learned a great deal more about Pete Best, the Best family and their involvement with the group. I put a lot of what I learned into the index movie I was creating. By the summer of 2010, I had trimmed it down from 8 hours to 2 ½ hours. But after watching it became more and more obvious that the whole Pete Best chapter of Beatles history didn’t really shed much light on the influence of group on Michael Jackson. So, I decided to cut out this whole section of 'Unbelievable!' and turn it into a separate short, 'The Beatles at their Best'."
Is the Best family cooperating with the film? "They were never asked for their cooperation, nor were the other members of the Beatles or their estates. I did speak to Pete Best and his brother Roag in the summer of 2010 at a convention in New Jersey. I told them both about 'Unbelievable!.' At that point, I had been researching for a year and had already learned a great deal about Pete and the Best family’s involvement with the Beatles. I hadn’t yet made the decision to do 'The Best of the Beatles,' but I had developed a new respect for Pete and the significant role he and his family played in the Beatles rise to become an entertainment phenomenon. I was excited to meet him."
He first met both at a Beatles convention and had a conversation with Roag. "When discussing (the Beatles) Anthology, Roag mentioned that his father Neil Aspinall had told him that outside of doing the interviews, the only real request Ringo Starr had for the project was to fade Pete out of the famous 1960 Astrid Kirchherr fairground photo and to then have himself photoshopped in. I was surprised to hear that. "
Phillips says there are a lot of misconceptions about Best. "He wasn’t sociable, he was a bad drummer, he was unreliable, ect… Most people either don’t know or can’t handle the truth about Pete Best. The average Beatle fan only knows Ringo. The ones that do know about Pete, the 'real' Beatles fans, don’t really know the truth either. Most of them never saw the Beatles with Pete Best. Their understanding of the group, like mine, was formed by reading or hearing comments from people connected to The Beatles in articles or documentaries like 'Beatles Anthology' and 'Imagine: The John Lennon Story.' Films like these are made with the Beatles and their estates having the final say over the points of view to be expressed. That means the same people who sacked Pete are the people who get to shape everyone else’s opinions of him."
He argues their rise to fame was due in part to Best. "Most people don’t know that Lennon, McCartney and Harrison spent considerable time at the Best house for a year before they asked Pete to join the group. They don’t know the Beatles were a bum band, unwanted by most everyone in Liverpool before Pete joined," he says. "They don’t know that when Best joined the Beatles, he was the only one who wanted the job.
"They don’t know that Pete was a reliable band mate who also helped to manage the groups’ business affairs. ... They don't know he was friends with Ringo Starr," he says.
And, he says, "They don't know he was the most popular one in the group!"
And if the film happens, what do you hope to accomplish? "To see a beer summit with Pete Best, Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr. Why not? It would be a cool thing, right?"
Also," he says, "to encourage fans of the Beatles, fans of music history and fans of the truth to take a fresh look at this story. It’s a half century later and the true beginnings of the Beatles, the most incredible entertainment success story in the history of the world has never been properly told."
Phillips plans to use the money raised on Kickstarter to complete the film and promote it. To donate, go to www.kickstarter.com
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Victor Spinetti on the Beatles, Taylor and Burton and that 'Hard Day's Night' sweater
From 2009
Hearing Victor Spinetti spin stories, as we did in a phone conversation Thursday, answers the question of why he was the only actor to have roles in "A Hard Day's Night," "Help!" and "Magical Mystery Tour." His humor and charm certainly won the Beatles.
Spinetti is appearing through Sunday at the 35th anniversary Fest for Beatles Fans at the New Jersey Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, N.J. He says it's been 15 years since his last New York fest.
The actor says he first met two of the Beatles in 1963. "George Harrison and John Lennon came to the play ('Oh, What a Lovely War'). I think it was the producers and directors that had seen it. That’s the one I did eventually on Broadway. Got a Tony Award for that."
But it was George Harrison's mother who played an instrumental role in getting him cast in their movies in the first place.
“You have to be in all our movies because my mum fancies you,” George Harrison told him.
His role as the nervous TV producer Richard in "A Hard Day's Night" is one of the standout roles in the film. After seeing the script, how did he prepare for it?
"I didn’t prepare for the part, but I became the part. I threw myself into it. You have to keep a focus going because I knew that the lads would not keep to the script. And they didn’t. And so I kept believing that I was this director. In fact, in one of the outtakes -- I don’t know where they are -- I said, ‘I am a director.’ And John Lennon said, ‘You’re not a director. You’re Victor Spinetti playing the part of the director.’
"But I kept going. I said, ‘But I have an award on the wall in my office.’ And he said, ‘You haven’t even got a dressing room?’ But I mustn’t laugh. I had to keep going. That gave me the drive, I suppose, because I knew very well that Dick Lester had four cameras going at once. If I stopped … you know, I just kept going. That’s why it came over as being a powerful performance because I had to keep strong," he said.
He had to keep that same kind of focus while filming "Help!" "When I was doing ‘Help!’, I had a huge close-up ... when I said, ‘With this ring, I could rule the world,’ that was the big close-up because, at that time, the four lads were laying on the floor screaming with laughter and stoned out of their minds. So they had to put the camera on me quickly to keep the film going. But that’s ok. That’s what I was there for."
And about that sweater he wore in "A Hard Day's Night"? "And I had that furry sweater, which was given to me. It’s my own sweater. ... But it was given to me as a present by the guy who wrote 'Amadeus' and 'Equus,' Peter Shaffer. His mother gave it to him. And he said, ‘Where am I ever going to wear this?’ and he gave it to me. And I said, ‘Where am I going to wear this?’ And I said, ‘I know, I’ll wear it for the movie. So I said to the director and the producer, ‘How about this?’ They said, ‘Perfect.’ "
Spinetti said the first scene that was filmed for "Help!" almost spelled the end of the Beatles. "Ringo had to dive into the water to escape from my yacht. And I was going to cut his finger off, but there was sand in the generator. And he dived into the water. They said, ‘Well, do it again.’ Then he did it again and he said to me, ‘Oh, do I have to do it again?’ I said, ‘Why’? He said, ‘I can’t swim.’ He could have drowned there and then. And I shouted, ‘HE CAN'T SWIM!’ And they said, ‘OK, that’s fine!’ I said to Ringo, ‘Why did you do it?’ He said, ‘Well, when the director says, ‘Action,’ you’ve got to do it.’ "
John Lennon and Victor Spinetti. Spinetti directed the stage
version of Lennon's book,"In HIs Own Write."
Though "Magical Mystery Tour" has been often derided by critics and fans, Spinetti says, "People forget that was before Monty Python. It was before a lot of those," he says. "John rang me up and said, ‘We’re gonna direct our own film. You've got to be in it. We’ve got no f------ script. Do that thing you did in the show "Oh, What a Lovely War" as the drill sergeant thing.'
"They wanted me to be the courier on the bus. I couldn’t do that because to be with them all the time would have been wonderful. But I was doing a show in the West End. I was always working. I was always doing something. So I couldn’t leave the show in the West End in the theater. It was ‘The Odd Couple’ with Jack Klugman, the Neil Simon play."
He was also on the 1967 Beatles Christmas Record. "That’s right," he says. "Tap dancing. It said, 'With the tap dancing feet of Victor Spinetti and Mal Evans.’ The reason I was on there was because John used to say – he was a very wise, wonderful man – he said, ‘Come up to the studios.’ I said, ‘John, I don’t want to bother you when you’re working.’ And he said, ‘Vic, now remember this line I’m about to tell you. Only the f----- bores turn up.’
Spinetti knew each of the Beatles well, but especially John Lennon. "I got on with him more, mainly because I saw him more," he says. "I got on with them all. I’m still in touch with Paul. I haven’t seen him, good God, since the divorce."
"John had no ego," Spinetti says. "That’s an amazing statement to make. I said, ‘Do you have a drawerful of songs when you’re gone, you know? He said, ‘No, I just ring up Paul and say, ‘I think it’s time we got together to write another hit. And we get together and write one." Which means ‘I do not seek, I find,’ like Picasso. He didn’t say, ‘Yes, I’ve got a drawerful of songs for a bar mitzvah, I’ve got a song for a wedding. I’ve got a song for a funeral.’ No, they just happened. And that’s real genius.
Spinetti also directed the stage play based on Lennon's book,"In HIs Own Write." "It’s on in Australia at the moment. It might be done here. There’s talk of it. We don’t know yet."
Paul McCartney? "Paul is much more of a pragmatist. When I had flu when I was filming ‘Help!,’ I think, and they came to visit me each in turn in the hotel room, the last one to put his head in the door, was Paul, who said, ‘Is it catching?’ I said, ‘Yes’ and I never saw him again! (Laughs) He knew that if they all caught flu, they’d have to stop filming. He’s a pragmatist. He’s also a genius. Listen to the tunes that come out of that man."
"George (Harrison) was for connoisseurs. ... That was an area of him that was really deep. ... He gave me a present and I’ll give it to you now. I said, ‘I can’t get it together with Indian music.’ And he said, ‘Vic, you don’t listen to it. You let it happen to you. Because Western music is mathematically worked out. Indian music is a flow. You can dip in and dip out.' You know, that was a present I got from him. He was very generous."
And Ringo? "He’s just a regular guy, a bloke they call him. ... As they’ve said he was lucky to be there. So did John. ‘He’s not only the worst drummer in the world, he’s the worst drummer in the Beatles.’’ But that was a joke of John’s. Ringo was the first one to laugh."
Above all, he says the Beatles were innovators. "People say they copied. They never copied anybody. They were the originals."
Most people may not associate the name, but Spinetti's brother is drummer Henry Spinetti, who has worked with many well known names, including members of the Beatles. "He was with Eric Clapton for six years. He worked with John. He worked with Paul. He worked with all of them. And when they did the Concert for George at the Albert Hall in London, my brother was drumming there along with Ringo."
Among the actors Spinetti has worked with in his storied career are Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in "Under Milk Wood." "They don’t make them like that anymore," Spinetti says.
He tells of a bet Richard Burton made with him. "When I was working with them on the film of ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ I was sitting in my dressing room and I suddenly had this desire to write a short story. Which I did. And I wrote it. Then I went into their dressing room and I said to Richard and Elizabeth, ‘I’ve just written a short story. And they said, ‘Oh, sit down, read it to us.’ Can you imagine saying that today to all these self-obsessed, so-called movie stars? So f------ what, they’d say?
"So they listened to the story. Elizabeth said, ‘That’s wonderful.’ Richard said, ‘You should get that published.’ And he gave me a bet. He said, ‘If you get that published, if you succeed in getting that published, I will give you a case of Dom Perignon champagne. If you fail, you’ll give me a case. Now, get it published.’ And I did."
Lately, he's been touring with an autobiographical one man show, "A Very Private Diary ... Revisited."
"I did it in New York in January," he said, then told how it all came about.
"I was asked to do a charity evening. And I was doing the show in the West End called ‘Windy City,’ based on ‘Front Page.’ And they said would I do this show? And I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ It was like November. Well, the following February, they rang me up and said, ‘Don’t forget you’re doing a show. I’d forgotten all about it. I said, ‘When?’ They said, ‘Friday.’ This is Wednesday.
"And I had to go and do the show on Friday. ... And so I went up and chatted and started talking about coming to London from Wales to be an actor and meeting the Beatles, the Burtons, working with all sorts of wonderful people, coming to New York. Told stories about Tennessee Williams, people I’d met or worked with and things. And then we all had a good time. And I thought, ‘Well, gosh, I got away with it.’ That was it. And someone said, ‘Will you do that at the Edinburgh Festival?’ And I thought, ‘Do what?’ I only just told stories. ... Anyway, went to Edinburgh and got great reviews."
Just this week, he had an audio autobiographical CD released called "A Very Long Private Diary." "That was really the beginning of the one-man show. In the early days of it, I did that. A lot of it’s changed since then, but that was the very beginning of it."
His autobiography, "Up Front . . .: His Strictly Confidential Autobiography," came out in paperback in January. "I’m going to do some book signings this weekend (at the Fest for Beatles Fans). The guy who’s selling them, Mark Lapidos, said, ‘Good, you can do some book signings.’ I didn’t bring any books with me. I’m the worst career driven actor you’ve ever met."
About the Fest, he says, "I’m here to have a good time. I’m going to give ... a talk about how it’s affected my life, working with the lads. And I’m doing that out of love of what has happened."
As for the future? "They want me to do the one-man show in Los Angeles. I might be doing another run of it somewhere else. There’s somebody coming in into talk to me about doing the Lennon play here in New Jersey at some university. But somebody’s turning up to say, ‘Will you come and do it?’ and I probably will," he says with a laugh.
(The Fest for Beatles Fans runs through Sunday at the New Jersey Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, N.J. For more information, see the Fest's website.)
Hearing Victor Spinetti spin stories, as we did in a phone conversation Thursday, answers the question of why he was the only actor to have roles in "A Hard Day's Night," "Help!" and "Magical Mystery Tour." His humor and charm certainly won the Beatles.
Spinetti is appearing through Sunday at the 35th anniversary Fest for Beatles Fans at the New Jersey Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, N.J. He says it's been 15 years since his last New York fest.
The actor says he first met two of the Beatles in 1963. "George Harrison and John Lennon came to the play ('Oh, What a Lovely War'). I think it was the producers and directors that had seen it. That’s the one I did eventually on Broadway. Got a Tony Award for that."
But it was George Harrison's mother who played an instrumental role in getting him cast in their movies in the first place.
“You have to be in all our movies because my mum fancies you,” George Harrison told him.
His role as the nervous TV producer Richard in "A Hard Day's Night" is one of the standout roles in the film. After seeing the script, how did he prepare for it?
"I didn’t prepare for the part, but I became the part. I threw myself into it. You have to keep a focus going because I knew that the lads would not keep to the script. And they didn’t. And so I kept believing that I was this director. In fact, in one of the outtakes -- I don’t know where they are -- I said, ‘I am a director.’ And John Lennon said, ‘You’re not a director. You’re Victor Spinetti playing the part of the director.’
"But I kept going. I said, ‘But I have an award on the wall in my office.’ And he said, ‘You haven’t even got a dressing room?’ But I mustn’t laugh. I had to keep going. That gave me the drive, I suppose, because I knew very well that Dick Lester had four cameras going at once. If I stopped … you know, I just kept going. That’s why it came over as being a powerful performance because I had to keep strong," he said.
He had to keep that same kind of focus while filming "Help!" "When I was doing ‘Help!’, I had a huge close-up ... when I said, ‘With this ring, I could rule the world,’ that was the big close-up because, at that time, the four lads were laying on the floor screaming with laughter and stoned out of their minds. So they had to put the camera on me quickly to keep the film going. But that’s ok. That’s what I was there for."
And about that sweater he wore in "A Hard Day's Night"? "And I had that furry sweater, which was given to me. It’s my own sweater. ... But it was given to me as a present by the guy who wrote 'Amadeus' and 'Equus,' Peter Shaffer. His mother gave it to him. And he said, ‘Where am I ever going to wear this?’ and he gave it to me. And I said, ‘Where am I going to wear this?’ And I said, ‘I know, I’ll wear it for the movie. So I said to the director and the producer, ‘How about this?’ They said, ‘Perfect.’ "
Spinetti said the first scene that was filmed for "Help!" almost spelled the end of the Beatles. "Ringo had to dive into the water to escape from my yacht. And I was going to cut his finger off, but there was sand in the generator. And he dived into the water. They said, ‘Well, do it again.’ Then he did it again and he said to me, ‘Oh, do I have to do it again?’ I said, ‘Why’? He said, ‘I can’t swim.’ He could have drowned there and then. And I shouted, ‘HE CAN'T SWIM!’ And they said, ‘OK, that’s fine!’ I said to Ringo, ‘Why did you do it?’ He said, ‘Well, when the director says, ‘Action,’ you’ve got to do it.’ "
John Lennon and Victor Spinetti. Spinetti directed the stage
version of Lennon's book,"In HIs Own Write."
Though "Magical Mystery Tour" has been often derided by critics and fans, Spinetti says, "People forget that was before Monty Python. It was before a lot of those," he says. "John rang me up and said, ‘We’re gonna direct our own film. You've got to be in it. We’ve got no f------ script. Do that thing you did in the show "Oh, What a Lovely War" as the drill sergeant thing.'
"They wanted me to be the courier on the bus. I couldn’t do that because to be with them all the time would have been wonderful. But I was doing a show in the West End. I was always working. I was always doing something. So I couldn’t leave the show in the West End in the theater. It was ‘The Odd Couple’ with Jack Klugman, the Neil Simon play."
He was also on the 1967 Beatles Christmas Record. "That’s right," he says. "Tap dancing. It said, 'With the tap dancing feet of Victor Spinetti and Mal Evans.’ The reason I was on there was because John used to say – he was a very wise, wonderful man – he said, ‘Come up to the studios.’ I said, ‘John, I don’t want to bother you when you’re working.’ And he said, ‘Vic, now remember this line I’m about to tell you. Only the f----- bores turn up.’
Spinetti knew each of the Beatles well, but especially John Lennon. "I got on with him more, mainly because I saw him more," he says. "I got on with them all. I’m still in touch with Paul. I haven’t seen him, good God, since the divorce."
"John had no ego," Spinetti says. "That’s an amazing statement to make. I said, ‘Do you have a drawerful of songs when you’re gone, you know? He said, ‘No, I just ring up Paul and say, ‘I think it’s time we got together to write another hit. And we get together and write one." Which means ‘I do not seek, I find,’ like Picasso. He didn’t say, ‘Yes, I’ve got a drawerful of songs for a bar mitzvah, I’ve got a song for a wedding. I’ve got a song for a funeral.’ No, they just happened. And that’s real genius.
Spinetti also directed the stage play based on Lennon's book,"In HIs Own Write." "It’s on in Australia at the moment. It might be done here. There’s talk of it. We don’t know yet."
Paul McCartney? "Paul is much more of a pragmatist. When I had flu when I was filming ‘Help!,’ I think, and they came to visit me each in turn in the hotel room, the last one to put his head in the door, was Paul, who said, ‘Is it catching?’ I said, ‘Yes’ and I never saw him again! (Laughs) He knew that if they all caught flu, they’d have to stop filming. He’s a pragmatist. He’s also a genius. Listen to the tunes that come out of that man."
"George (Harrison) was for connoisseurs. ... That was an area of him that was really deep. ... He gave me a present and I’ll give it to you now. I said, ‘I can’t get it together with Indian music.’ And he said, ‘Vic, you don’t listen to it. You let it happen to you. Because Western music is mathematically worked out. Indian music is a flow. You can dip in and dip out.' You know, that was a present I got from him. He was very generous."
And Ringo? "He’s just a regular guy, a bloke they call him. ... As they’ve said he was lucky to be there. So did John. ‘He’s not only the worst drummer in the world, he’s the worst drummer in the Beatles.’’ But that was a joke of John’s. Ringo was the first one to laugh."
Above all, he says the Beatles were innovators. "People say they copied. They never copied anybody. They were the originals."
Most people may not associate the name, but Spinetti's brother is drummer Henry Spinetti, who has worked with many well known names, including members of the Beatles. "He was with Eric Clapton for six years. He worked with John. He worked with Paul. He worked with all of them. And when they did the Concert for George at the Albert Hall in London, my brother was drumming there along with Ringo."
Among the actors Spinetti has worked with in his storied career are Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in "Under Milk Wood." "They don’t make them like that anymore," Spinetti says.
He tells of a bet Richard Burton made with him. "When I was working with them on the film of ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ I was sitting in my dressing room and I suddenly had this desire to write a short story. Which I did. And I wrote it. Then I went into their dressing room and I said to Richard and Elizabeth, ‘I’ve just written a short story. And they said, ‘Oh, sit down, read it to us.’ Can you imagine saying that today to all these self-obsessed, so-called movie stars? So f------ what, they’d say?
"So they listened to the story. Elizabeth said, ‘That’s wonderful.’ Richard said, ‘You should get that published.’ And he gave me a bet. He said, ‘If you get that published, if you succeed in getting that published, I will give you a case of Dom Perignon champagne. If you fail, you’ll give me a case. Now, get it published.’ And I did."
Lately, he's been touring with an autobiographical one man show, "A Very Private Diary ... Revisited."
"I did it in New York in January," he said, then told how it all came about.
"I was asked to do a charity evening. And I was doing the show in the West End called ‘Windy City,’ based on ‘Front Page.’ And they said would I do this show? And I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ It was like November. Well, the following February, they rang me up and said, ‘Don’t forget you’re doing a show. I’d forgotten all about it. I said, ‘When?’ They said, ‘Friday.’ This is Wednesday.
"And I had to go and do the show on Friday. ... And so I went up and chatted and started talking about coming to London from Wales to be an actor and meeting the Beatles, the Burtons, working with all sorts of wonderful people, coming to New York. Told stories about Tennessee Williams, people I’d met or worked with and things. And then we all had a good time. And I thought, ‘Well, gosh, I got away with it.’ That was it. And someone said, ‘Will you do that at the Edinburgh Festival?’ And I thought, ‘Do what?’ I only just told stories. ... Anyway, went to Edinburgh and got great reviews."
Just this week, he had an audio autobiographical CD released called "A Very Long Private Diary." "That was really the beginning of the one-man show. In the early days of it, I did that. A lot of it’s changed since then, but that was the very beginning of it."
His autobiography, "Up Front . . .: His Strictly Confidential Autobiography," came out in paperback in January. "I’m going to do some book signings this weekend (at the Fest for Beatles Fans). The guy who’s selling them, Mark Lapidos, said, ‘Good, you can do some book signings.’ I didn’t bring any books with me. I’m the worst career driven actor you’ve ever met."
About the Fest, he says, "I’m here to have a good time. I’m going to give ... a talk about how it’s affected my life, working with the lads. And I’m doing that out of love of what has happened."
As for the future? "They want me to do the one-man show in Los Angeles. I might be doing another run of it somewhere else. There’s somebody coming in into talk to me about doing the Lennon play here in New Jersey at some university. But somebody’s turning up to say, ‘Will you come and do it?’ and I probably will," he says with a laugh.
(The Fest for Beatles Fans runs through Sunday at the New Jersey Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, N.J. For more information, see the Fest's website.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)