On Jan. 19, 1994, Paul McCartney gave this very eloquent speech on the
occasion of John Lennon's induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Yoko Ono was among those in attendance.
Dear John,
I remember when we first met, at Woolton, at the village fete. It was a
beautiful summer day and I walked in there and saw you on stage. And you
were singing "Come Go With Me," by the Dell Vikings, But you didn't know
the words so you made them up. "Come go with me to the penitentiary. "
It's not in the lyrics.
I remember writing our first songs together. We used to go to my house,
my Dad's home, and we used to smoke Ty-Phoo tea with the pipe my dad
kept in a drawer. It didn't do much for us but it got us on the road.
We wanted to be famous.
I remember the visits to your mum's house. Julia was a very handsome
woman, very beautiful woman. She had long, red hair and she played a
ukulele. I'd never seen a woman that could do that. And I remember to
having to tell you the guitar chords because you used to play the
ukulele chords.
And then on your 21st birthday you got 100 pounds off one of your rich
relatives up in Edinburgh, so we decided we'd go to Spain. So we
hitch-hiked out of Liverpool, got as far as Paris, and decided to stop
there, for a week. And eventually got our haircut, by a fellow named
Jurgen, and that ended up being the "Beatle haircut."
I remember introducing you to my mate George, my schoolmate, and getting
him into the band by playing "Raunchy" on the top deck of a bus. You
were impressed. And we met Ringo who'd been working the whole season at
Butlin's camp - he was a seasoned professional - but the beard had to
go, and it did.
Later on we got a gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool which was
officially a blues club. We didn't really know any blues numbers. We
loved the blues but we didn't know any blues numbers, so we had
announcements like "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a great Big Bill
Broonzy number called "Wake Up Little Suzie." And they kept passing up
little notes - "This is not the blues, this is not the blues. This is
pop." But we kept going.
And then we ended up touring. It was a bloke called Larry Parnes who
gave us our first tour. I remember we all changed names for that tour. I
changed mine to Paul Ramon, George became Carl Harrison and, although
people think you didn't really change your name, I seem to remember you
were Long John Silver for the duration of that tour. (Bang goes another
myth.)
We'd been on a van touring later and we'd have the kind of night where
the windsceen would break. We would be on the motorway going back up to
Liverpool. It was freezing so we had to lie on top of each other in the
back of the van creating a Beatle sandwich. We got to know each other.
These were the ways we got to know each other.
We got to Hamburg and met the likes of Little Richard, Gene Vincent...I
remember Little Richard inviting us back to his hotel. He was looking at
Ringo's ring and said, "I love that ring." He said, "I've got a ring
like that. I could give you a ring like that." So we all went back to
the hotel with him. (We never got a ring.)
We went back with Gene Vincent to his hotel room once. It was all going
fine until he reached in his bedside drawer and pulled out a gun. We'
said "Er, we've got to go, Gene, we've got to go..." We got out quick!
And then came the USA -- New York City -- where we met up with Phil
Spector, the Ronettes, Supremes, our heroes, our heroines. And then
later in L.A., we met up with Elvis Presley for one great evening. We
saw the boy on his home territory. He was the first person I ever saw
with a remote control on a TV. Boy! He was a hero, man.
And then later, Ed Sullivan. We'd wanted to be famous, now we were
getting really famous. I mean imagine meeting Mitzi Gaynor in Miami!
Later, after that, recording at Abbey Road. I still remember doing "Love
Me Do." You officially had the vocal "love me do" but because you played
the harmonica, George Martin suddenly said in the middle is the session,
"Will Paul sing the line "love me do?", the crucial line. I can still
hear it to this day - you would go "Whaaa whaa," and I'd go "loove me
doo-oo." Nerves, man.
I remember doing the vocal to "Kansas City" -- well I couldn't quite get
it, because it's hard to do that stuff. You know, screaming out the top
of your head. You came down from the control room and took me to one
side and said "You can do it, you've just got to scream, you can do it."
So, thank you. Thank you for that. I did it.
I remember writing "A Day in the Life" with you, and the little look we
gave each other when we wrote the line "I'd love to turn you on." We
kinda knew what we were doing, you know. A sneaky little look.
After that there was this girl called Yoko. Yoko Ono. She showed up at
my house one day. It was John Cage's birthday and she said she wanted to
get hold of manuscripts of various composers to give to him, and she
wanted one from me and you. So I said," Well it's ok by me. but you'll
have to go to John."
And she did...
After that I set up a couple of Brennell recording machines we used to
have and you stayed up all night and recorded "Two Virgins." But you
took the cover yourselves -- nothing to do with me.
And then, after that there were the phone calls to you. The joy for me
after all the business s--- that we'd gone through was that we were
actually getting back together and communicating once again. And the joy
as you told me about how you were baking bread now. And how you were
playing with your little baby, Sean. That was great for me because it
gave me something to hold on to.
So now, years on, here we are. All these people. Here we are, assembled,
to thank you for everything that you mean to all of us.
This letter comes with love, from your friend Paul.
John Lennon, you've made it. Tonight you are in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall
of Fame.
God bless you.
Paul
occasion of John Lennon's induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Yoko Ono was among those in attendance.
Dear John,
I remember when we first met, at Woolton, at the village fete. It was a
beautiful summer day and I walked in there and saw you on stage. And you
were singing "Come Go With Me," by the Dell Vikings, But you didn't know
the words so you made them up. "Come go with me to the penitentiary. "
It's not in the lyrics.
I remember writing our first songs together. We used to go to my house,
my Dad's home, and we used to smoke Ty-Phoo tea with the pipe my dad
kept in a drawer. It didn't do much for us but it got us on the road.
We wanted to be famous.
I remember the visits to your mum's house. Julia was a very handsome
woman, very beautiful woman. She had long, red hair and she played a
ukulele. I'd never seen a woman that could do that. And I remember to
having to tell you the guitar chords because you used to play the
ukulele chords.
And then on your 21st birthday you got 100 pounds off one of your rich
relatives up in Edinburgh, so we decided we'd go to Spain. So we
hitch-hiked out of Liverpool, got as far as Paris, and decided to stop
there, for a week. And eventually got our haircut, by a fellow named
Jurgen, and that ended up being the "Beatle haircut."
I remember introducing you to my mate George, my schoolmate, and getting
him into the band by playing "Raunchy" on the top deck of a bus. You
were impressed. And we met Ringo who'd been working the whole season at
Butlin's camp - he was a seasoned professional - but the beard had to
go, and it did.
Later on we got a gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool which was
officially a blues club. We didn't really know any blues numbers. We
loved the blues but we didn't know any blues numbers, so we had
announcements like "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a great Big Bill
Broonzy number called "Wake Up Little Suzie." And they kept passing up
little notes - "This is not the blues, this is not the blues. This is
pop." But we kept going.
And then we ended up touring. It was a bloke called Larry Parnes who
gave us our first tour. I remember we all changed names for that tour. I
changed mine to Paul Ramon, George became Carl Harrison and, although
people think you didn't really change your name, I seem to remember you
were Long John Silver for the duration of that tour. (Bang goes another
myth.)
We'd been on a van touring later and we'd have the kind of night where
the windsceen would break. We would be on the motorway going back up to
Liverpool. It was freezing so we had to lie on top of each other in the
back of the van creating a Beatle sandwich. We got to know each other.
These were the ways we got to know each other.
We got to Hamburg and met the likes of Little Richard, Gene Vincent...I
remember Little Richard inviting us back to his hotel. He was looking at
Ringo's ring and said, "I love that ring." He said, "I've got a ring
like that. I could give you a ring like that." So we all went back to
the hotel with him. (We never got a ring.)
We went back with Gene Vincent to his hotel room once. It was all going
fine until he reached in his bedside drawer and pulled out a gun. We'
said "Er, we've got to go, Gene, we've got to go..." We got out quick!
And then came the USA -- New York City -- where we met up with Phil
Spector, the Ronettes, Supremes, our heroes, our heroines. And then
later in L.A., we met up with Elvis Presley for one great evening. We
saw the boy on his home territory. He was the first person I ever saw
with a remote control on a TV. Boy! He was a hero, man.
And then later, Ed Sullivan. We'd wanted to be famous, now we were
getting really famous. I mean imagine meeting Mitzi Gaynor in Miami!
Later, after that, recording at Abbey Road. I still remember doing "Love
Me Do." You officially had the vocal "love me do" but because you played
the harmonica, George Martin suddenly said in the middle is the session,
"Will Paul sing the line "love me do?", the crucial line. I can still
hear it to this day - you would go "Whaaa whaa," and I'd go "loove me
doo-oo." Nerves, man.
I remember doing the vocal to "Kansas City" -- well I couldn't quite get
it, because it's hard to do that stuff. You know, screaming out the top
of your head. You came down from the control room and took me to one
side and said "You can do it, you've just got to scream, you can do it."
So, thank you. Thank you for that. I did it.
I remember writing "A Day in the Life" with you, and the little look we
gave each other when we wrote the line "I'd love to turn you on." We
kinda knew what we were doing, you know. A sneaky little look.
After that there was this girl called Yoko. Yoko Ono. She showed up at
my house one day. It was John Cage's birthday and she said she wanted to
get hold of manuscripts of various composers to give to him, and she
wanted one from me and you. So I said," Well it's ok by me. but you'll
have to go to John."
And she did...
After that I set up a couple of Brennell recording machines we used to
have and you stayed up all night and recorded "Two Virgins." But you
took the cover yourselves -- nothing to do with me.
And then, after that there were the phone calls to you. The joy for me
after all the business s--- that we'd gone through was that we were
actually getting back together and communicating once again. And the joy
as you told me about how you were baking bread now. And how you were
playing with your little baby, Sean. That was great for me because it
gave me something to hold on to.
So now, years on, here we are. All these people. Here we are, assembled,
to thank you for everything that you mean to all of us.
This letter comes with love, from your friend Paul.
John Lennon, you've made it. Tonight you are in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall
of Fame.
God bless you.
Paul
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