The latest in a series of revelatory pictures and documents owned by Patti Daley, once connected with guitarist Jesse Ed Davis, a good friend of the Beatles, is a letter said to have been written in 1976 by John Lennon criticizing Capitol Records' "Rock 'n' Roll Music" album.
The letter, displayed on KNBC's website and which has not been authenticated as by Lennon, suggested Capitol contact Astrid Kirchherr, who photographed the Beatles during their days in Germany, for the cover. He scathingly called it a "Monkeys (sic) reject."
He also suggested the label was damaging the group's reputation. "If you insist on using your funeral parlour picture I think you are misjudging the Beatles image/market/critics/fans... in fact you are burying them Beatles... its up to you," the KNBC-TV report by Tara Wallis quotes the letter.
John Lennon wasn't the only Beatle who publicly complained about the double album, released in 1976. Ringo Starr also criticized it, and reportedly told Rolling Stone, "It made us look cheap and we never were cheap. All that Coca-Cola and cars with big fins was the Fifties!"
George Martin also reworked the tapes, at the request of the head of Capitol Records, but they weren't used with the original British release because they weren't the original mixes. They were later used when the album was reissued in the UK.
Despite the criticism, "Rock and Roll Music" reached No. 2 in the U.S. charts. If anything, it was a good idea executed very poorly. The album has yet to be released on legitimate CD.
Comments
Always hated that cover...
You're not alone. I think just about everyone did.
Certainly Capitol Records has been been very helpful and supportive of our annual John Lennon Birthday Public Celebrations, with a very special event for John's 70th taking place Noon on Saturday, October 9 in front of Capitol Records.
Thanks, Jerry!
Capitol Music seemed to think the Beatles were part of Happy Days which was big on TV at the time...or they wanted that connection to sell records, as if the Beatles needed that sort of thing. Their song selections were somewhat dubious as well, as I recall. Not something I would ever want to see released again. JON
Looking at it from Capital's point of view, the Beatles had just sign a lucritive record contract, THEN BROKE-UP. I don't blame Capital for trying to make money off a no longer performing group.
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