PART I:

I took a long drag off my cigarette before forcefully laying myself on the couch to go to sleep. It had been a long day: I couldn’t afford dinner tonight, got pulled over this morning, and yet again, got denied another job.

I grabbed the T.V. remote and turned it on Channel 7, the news. “--Body found in the field in front of Henderson’s dime store. The body is unidentifiable as of now. All we know is–” The T.V. became background noise when I heard my phone ringing on the end table. I picked up and a friendly female voice greeted me from the other side of the line:

“Hello, may I speak to Jonathan Clark”

“This is he.”

Who was this lady? What did she want? Nobody ever rang me, it's always been letters. Why did I even have a phone to begin with?

"Yes, hello Mr. Clark. I'm calling because I'm concerned about you."

"u--uh-- why? Who are you?" Confusion hit my brain like never before.

"I work for the Henderson Police Department. Have you heard the news recently? Have you heard things that aren't there?"

I lit up another cigarette to calm my nerves.

"No ma'am, I do not think so. I did hear the news. In fact I was listening when you called."

"I just called to inform you that you're a suspect of the crime that we are actively investigating due to the voices in your head."

My heart was pounding...

"What voices? Ma'am I didn't commit no crime, I only heard of it tonight."

"I want you to come up to our station tomorrow morning and we'll go from there. Goodbye," she said.

"Bye." The line went cold when she placed her phone down.

I turned my attention to the T.V. which was now playing a health insurance advertisement. I dozed off on the couch before the commercial was over.

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Almost everybody has heard of the “Beatlemania” phenomenon, but when The Beatles disbanded in 1970 fans were desperate for more Beatles content. So much so, that in 1976 a psychedelic rock band named Klaatu was accused of being the fab four in disguise.

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Part I: Who was Klaatu?

Klaatu was a Canadian rock trio formed in 1973 by John Woloschuk, Dee Long, and Terry Draper. The band’s anonymous 1976 release “3:47 EST” was controversial due to listeners believing the album was The Beatles undercover. Klaatu then earned the nickname “Canadian Beatles.” The accusations by journalist Steve Smith happened to be Klaatu’s rise and fall of fame because after they achieved fame or stardom, they unveiled their anonymity and disbanded. Many people believed this theory due to similarities musically and lyrically.

Part II: Who were The Beatles?

The Beatles were a rock band formed in 1960 by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The band gained worldwide fame in 1964 after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. You’ve probably heard some of their songs before, “Let It Be,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Come Together” are just a few among many of their chart-topping hits.

Part III: Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft and Sub-Rosa Subway

Released by Klaatu, the song “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” was the one songs Beatles fans focused on when trying to prove their argument. The introduction to this song is the sound of crickets, then the sound of something crushing sticks as it walks closer to the microphone. Nature sounds continue as a mellotron begins to play a chord. The mellotron was also used in the introduction to The Beatles’ 1967 release “Strawberry Fields Forever.” A French horn plays a melody behind the vocals. The French horn was also the first orchestral instrument to get a solo in The Beatles’ discography. A drumbeat that sounds like those of Ringo Starr drumbeat enters the mix, but this might not have anything to do with the theory since Ringo revolutionized rock drumming. The lyric “please interstellar policeman” reminds me of “I Am the Walrus” by The Beatles in 1967. In that song, John Lennon sings “Mister City policeman sitting Pretty little policemen in a row.” Klaatu could have been referencing The Beatles here with “policemen.” Overall, this song sounds very inspired by The Beatles’ psychedelic phase in 1967.

Another Klaatu song also released on “3:47 EST” was “Sub-Rosa Subway.” This song was another one Beatlemaniacs turned to when proving their claim that Klaatu was The Beatles in disguise. The song reminds me of the Beatles’ song “Eleanor Rigby.” In Klaatu’s song “Alfred Beach worked secretly Risking all to ride a dream.” In The Beatles’ song “Lives in a dream... Father McKenzie... Look at him working.” When Klaatu speaks of dreams, a person’s name, and said person is working, you instantly remember the song from The Beatles that came a decade prior. An incredible overdriven rhythm guitar comes in and plays chords in between the horn section’s parts. Mostly, this song is more reminiscent of The Beatles’ 1966 album “Revolver” than the two psychedelic albums from 1967. This is because The Beatles used much more electric guitar in 1966 than in 1967.

Part IV: Conclusion

Despite all the rumors, it is confirmed that Klaatu was never The Beatles in disguise. Klaatu never wanted to be The Beatles, the band simply wanted to make their own music. So, are we supposed to hate Klaatu for copying The Beatles or should we appreciate their music and treat it as if the theory never existed?

The Lennon and McCartney Feud of 1971

A.E. Neely

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After The Beatles broke up in 1970, Paul McCartney and John Lennon had a disagreement. Lennon and McCartney both wrote songs in the height of the argument. Both songs take stabs at the other artist.

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The McCartney Side:

"Too Many People" is the opening track on Paul & Linda McCartney's second solo album "Ram." This song was clearly taking a stab at Paul's former bandmate John Lennon. The lyrics and release time point to this. John and Paul had a feud in the early 70s after The Beatles broke up.

Part I: Too Many People

The song starts with an acoustic guitar playing a dreary yet motivating chord progression: G, G7, C, to Cm. It gives off those emotions due to a chromatic scale being used. Paul then comes in belting the words "piece of cake." Cake is mentioned often in this song, and it is about John Lennon. The song "The Ballad of John and Yoko" released in 1969 has the lyric "eating chocolate cake in a bag." So, every time Paul mentions cake, it refers to a song about John and his wife, Yoko Ono.

A beautiful guitar melody adds dimension to the chord progression mentioned above. The snare drum gets hit a couple times making the song feel like it will go somewhere.

At 00:46 the first chord progression we heard comes back along with the snare hits and melancholic guitar riff. This part is the greatest fragment of the song and evokes emotion in me. Paul also hits some key lyrics here; I will take it line by line. "That was your first mistake," insinuating John Lennon made a mistake, we will get to that mistake in a moment. "You took your lucky break and broke it in two," is a very poetic way of mentioning what John did during the recording of The Beatles last album "Let It Be." John quit the band during these sessions because they were falling apart and had been since 1968. Paul calls John's departure from the band his "lucky break." Now, it is no secret John was the one who broke up The Beatles, even Paul has gone on record saying it. So, Paul's lyric "broke it in two," is talking about how he split The Beatles. "Now what can be done for you?" is an insult towards Lennon. John has said in interviews throughout the 70s that he was not ever pleased with his contribution to The Beatles. John broke the band in two because he felt he would flourish more as a solo artist. On the other hand, Paul wanted to keep the band going, so the lyrics mentioned above lead to the fact Paul believes that John is going to be lost and unsuccessful without the band. The next lyric then reiterates that Lennon broke up The Beatles.

Later in this song at 02:40, it musically is the same, but the lyrics change. "That was your last mistake," feels like Paul is telling John that they are done with each other. Paul will no longer be around to see anymore of John's mistakes. The next line, "I find my love awake and waiting to be" confuses me in a way. I feel like this could be Paul insulting John and Yoko's relationship. Paul speaks of his love (Linda) and as controversial as it may be, Yoko was John's love. So, this line gives off the energy of Paul bragging to John how great his and Linda's relationship is. "She's waiting for me" proves this even more because the pronoun "she" insinuates that Paul is speaking of his wife and showing off.

Part II: Too Many People

Onto the upbeat sections of this song. A few of the lyrics in this portion I find do not have any meaning towards the John Lennon argument. That said, there are a few lines you can connect to Lennon. The line “Too many people preaching practices” connects to John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 bed-in for peace during the Vietnam War. The “preaching practices” here being John and Yoko’s advocacy for peace. “Don't let them tell you what you want to be” is the next line. This line makes me think Paul is saying how Yoko changed John during the late 60s and early 70s. If you have seen Sir Peter Jackson’s documentary “Get Back,” there are numerous clips of The Beatles playing songs and Yoko just sitting there and doing absolutely nothing. The band had a strict “no girlfriends at work” rule, since John broke this rule, the other Beatles held a grudge toward the couple. Also, it is no secret Yoko turned John into a hippie during this period. Forty-two years after John’s death, I and many other Beatles fans still question in Yoko was a good or bad influence on John. “Too many waiting for that lucky break” brings back John’s departure from The Beatles when recording Let It Be. Adding the word “waiting” gives the effect that John wanted to leave the band long before he did.

Take a moment and listen to Paul's incredible walking bassline and Linda's backing vocals here that add an empowering tone as they hit the high notes of the ascending melody. The guitar plays F, C, D, to G.

Part III: Too Many People

We cannot forget the two incredible guitar solos. If you close your eyes and forget what song you are listening to and who it is by, the guitar work sounds inspired by Jimi Hendrix. This would not surprise me because Jimi Hendrix died seven months prior to the release of this album, so the solos could be a hat off to him. Whether the solos were inspired by Hendrix or not, they are still very wonderful and interesting to listen to.

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The Lennon Side:

“How Do You Sleep?” by John Lennon is the 8thTrack on his 1971 solo album “Imagine.” Every word John sings here is directed at his former bandmate, Paul McCartney. This song was his response to Paul breaking apart The Beatles’ legal partnership.

Part I: How Do You Sleep?

The song starts off with a slow and raunchy chord progression: Am, C, F, E7, Am. The chords John chose here reminds me of the music blues icons such as Robert Johnson made. It is not a secret that The Beatles were inspired by Johnson either. This is due to the E7 chord. These “7” chords stack up a root, 3rd, 5th, and the 7thwhich adds an extra sense of dreariness. Within the connotation of other verses, the refrain “how do you sleep,” seems like John is asking Paul how he is able to sleep at night, content with himself after everything he has done.

Part II: How Do You Sleep?

John Lennon really packs every line of the verses full of insults, comments, and references. “So, Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise,” is John referencing The Beatles’ 1967 album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” “Those freaks wasright when they said you were dead,” alludes to the ‘Paul is dead’ theory. Allegedly, Paul died in 1966 due to a car crash and then was replaced by a look-a-like. The next lyric, “Jump when your momma tell you anything” references how Paul wrote The Beatles’ song “Let It Be.” Paul claims his mother who passed when he was fourteen came to him in a dream and told him to “just let it be.” After this encounter in his dream Paul says he felt very calm. He then turned the words into the hit song we know today. Lennon is using this to insult Paul and his quickness to write a song as soon as ‘Mother Mary’ came to him. “The only thing you sone was yesterday,” references the 1966 Beatles song “Yesterday.” John then insults Paul’s music. “The sound you make is muzak to my ears,” this is John calling Paul’s music elevator music.

Part III: How Do You Sleep?

When listening to this track you cannot dismiss the infectious, groovy rhythm section played by musicians what would soon become members of The Plastic Ono Band. The slide guitar that follows the organ throughout most of the song is played by George Harrison, who was also a Beatle in the 1960s. In this song John Lennon plays his classic Epiphone Casino, one of the guitars he is known for.

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The Conclusion:

I personally love both John Lennon and Paul McCartney as songwriting partners and even though these songs were part of their arguments, I still love both songs. I believe John lyrically won the argument, but Paul hit the nail on the head musically.