Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. First off, congratulations to Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell who wed yesterday (John Lennon’s 71st birthday) in London’s Old Marylebone Town Hall.

And since it was John’s birthday yesterday, I have another nod in the chief Beatles’ direction this week. From February to April 1968, John was in Rishikesh, India as a student of Transcendental Meditation (TM) under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The other Beatles were there too, however Ringo and Paul returned to England in March. About 60 other students were present also, including well known musicians Donovan and Michael Love of The Beach Boys.

Between the Maharishi’s lessons on meditation and relaxation, The Beatles spent a lot of their free time composing. Eighteen of the thirty songs on the White Album, and two songs on the 1969 album Abbey Road (“Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam”) were written while in India. Donovan taught John a finger picking guitar style known as Travis-picking or claw-hammer, that he used on White Album tracks “Dear Prudence”, “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” and “Julia”.

Although possibly conceived shortly after the trip to India, John uses the same finger picking style on “Look At Me”. This early demo was recorded from John’s home sometime during the the autumn of 1968, while the White Album sessions were in full force. However, the song ended up being shelved for a couple of years before it was released on 1970′s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. In the song, John addresses self-identity and self purpose and although it was tucked away for a couple of years, it retained the tranquility that many of the songs written in India had (e.g. “Julia” or “Mother Nature’s Son”).

There are a couple of false starts here as John stops and fiddles with his microphone placement, but as the recording gets underway, we realize he already had all of the beautifully serene elements of the finalized version, two years before it was released.

John Lennon in 1968 "Mad Day Out" photo session

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Plastic Ono Band – 2010 CD remaster of original 1970 release featuring “Look At Me”.

2) Acoustic – 2004 CD collection of John Lennon acoustic guitar demos, most of which were recorded at home, included a different demo of “Look At Me” than the one featured here.

3) Anthology – 1998 4-CD box set collection of John Lennon out-takes, demos and alternate takes throughout his post-Beatles period, informative booklet, all packaged in a beautiful blue upright box with some of John’s artwork. Includes same demo version of “Look At Me” as #2 above.

4) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

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