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Aside from the time The Beatles spent at Nippon Budokan Hall, where they played two more shows today, they were under virtual house arrest during their time in Tokyo. The Japanese authorities, ostensibly worried about their safety, did not want them running around loose. So they had to find ways to occupy themselves in their hotel.
One way they did so was by inviting merchants to their suite. Said George:
To get our own back on the people who weren’t letting us out, we used to get them to bring tradesmen up to our suite. They would bring big boxes and trunks full of golden kimonos, jade, incense-holders and little carved objects, which we would buy: ‘We’ll show them!’ We wanted to go shopping.
Another was by working on a painting, with each Beatle taking a corner of the canvas. The result looked like this:
Ringo’s is the best, for my money. John’s is second. George’s is just a mess.
One wonders, did The Beatles or one of their handlers perchance smuggle some acid into Japan? This is pure speculation, but there is a certain lysergic quality to the artwork.
The title they eventually gave this opus was “Images of a Woman,” which is interesting given that a) it was created in Japan and b) a Japanese woman would end up playing a key role in Beatles history. At this point in time John Lennon’s first meeting with Yoko Ono is still several months away; but she’s out there, waiting. Cue the dramatic theme music.
Many years after I wrote this post in 2016, some industrious Beatles fan posted a video of the Beatles special that appeared on Japanese TV that day. It is quite something. The Fabs don’t appear till the 16-minute mark, but the whole thing is worth watching, that is if you want to see a small army of Japanese musicians doing their interpretations of rock’n’roll. Some are more convincing than others, but all are giving their most sincere effort, and you have to give them credit for that.
Along the way we get an original song apparently called “Welcome Beatles” (at 3:30); a barely-recognizable version of “Long Tall Sally” (highlight: the roly-poly guitarist running back and forth across the stage at 6:23); and a cover of the Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” that really must be seen to be believed (starting at 9:30).
I imagine The Beatles’ reaction to all this being some combination of “What a great honor!” and “My God, what have we done?”
The boys’ own performance is a pretty good one; you can even hear the music most of the time. But it’s still odd to see them trotting out their lovable-moptop schtick, complete with matching jackets, when we know that at this point they were really degenerate dope fiends who had recorded psychedelic journeys like “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Rain,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” etc.
Only a couple of times do they sort of sound the actual current versions of themselves. One is the combination of “If I Needed Someone” and “Day Tripper” (the latter of which John introduces as “from 1948” — and it is indeed from one incarnation back, but it has a bite missing from something like “She’s a Woman”).
Probably my favorite moment comes at 37:49, when John says,
We’d like to do another song that’s another song. It’s another song entirely. [scat singing] And this song is a song we’re singing, and it’s well known by that old title of “Nowhere Man.”
After that goofiness they launch into the song and nail the three-part harmony perfectly. I got chills.
At the end of the song Paul says “Domo, domo,” which I’m pretty sure means “Very much, very much.” Then they launch into a pretty solid rendition of “Paperback Writer.” One wishes they could have followed with the B side — which was “Rain” — but they never attempted that one live, what with the backward vocals and all.
Instead the next song is their traditional closer “I’m Down,” and that’s the end of a crisp half-hour set. It’s funny how things have changed — as I’m writing this Paul is fresh off an appearance in Santa Barbara where he did 26 songs including “Help!”, “Getting Better,” “Lady Madonna,” and six (6!) encores. I couldn’t find an exact length for the show but seems like it was about two and a half hours.
Paul is 83! I mean good for him. I’m 25 years younger and I might have been falling asleep at the end, though I’m sure the energy in the crowd was fantastic and that has to help. I almost wish I’d been there. But that would have meant sitting through “Let ’Em In,” “My Valentine,” “Dance Tonight,” “Now and Then,” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
Well, I’m not gonna hate. I bet it was exciting for the people who were there and I hope Paul keeps it up for as long as his little legs will carry him.