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.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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This week’s Beatles Rarity Of The Week is special because this is the week that BROW is one year old. The Beatles were always big on birthday celebrations as can be felt through this medley of happy and rare birthday recordings that I have assembled for this week. The medley includes:

1) Whit Monday – from the BBC program From Us To You. It was recorded on May 1, 1964 and aired on May 18, 1964 (just a few days after my first birthday).

2) Birthday – The Beatles’ classic performed by Paul McCartney in Stockholm, Sweden on May 5, 2003.

3) Happy Birthday Michael Love – Recorded with Michael Love (of the Beach Boys) while The Beatles were in India during March 1968.

4) Happy Birthday – This recording comes from October 1971 at John’s 31st birthday party in a Syracuse NY hotel room. Eric Clapton, Ringo & Maureen Starkey, Klaus Voormann, Allen Ginsberg, Jim Keltner, Mal Evans and Neil Aspinal were all present and “o-blue-terated” (to borrow a word used by the Blue Meanies in the Yellow Submarine film).

5) Happy Birthday Saturday Club – The Beatles performed this one on the BBC program Saturday Club in honor of it’s 5th birthday. The recording was made on September 7th, 1963 and aired on October 5th, 1963.

6) Happy Birthday John – From John’s 30th birthday celebration on October 9, 1970. Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Stephen Stills and Klaus Voorman were all present (and once again: O-blue-terated).

The Beatles cutting the cake, late 1964

It’s been “fab” bringing you rare Beatles-related recordings over the past year and a sincere thank you goes out to all the “gear” people out there who have taken an interest.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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