Does this explain the Beatles 'toothbrush' artwork mystery?

November 18, 11:59 PMBeatles ExaminerSteve Marinucci

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     "Untitled" by Jim Dine was intended for an unknown Beatles project.
     (Courtesy Bonham & Butterfields.)

Ever since we first saw the "toothbrush" artwork by Jim Dine that was auctioned earlier Wednesday, it's been nothing but guesses as to what it was all about. Now we might have the first lead.

The following text is taken from Chip Madinger and Scott Raile's forthcoming book, "Strange Days Indeed," a daily chronicle of John and Yoko's lives from 1968-1980, and was sent to us by Chip Madinger. Additional details regarding the book, which is to be published in the autumn of 2010, will be reported at www.thisisnothere.com.

Here it is:

Saturday, January 4, 1969: Disc and Music Echo reported on an unusual Beatles project in the pipeline: Four individual albums, each one full of previously-released songs, hand-picked as favorites by each of the four Beatles. The project was apparently suggested by Capitol Records. Again, Derek Taylor commented: "This multi-album will be done mainly for America, but, like everything, there is also a strong possibility it will come out in Britain also."

Madinger wrote us that "one can only speculate if the artwork in question was related to this project.  Our research has turned up no further evidence of the compilation, so it may not have gotten any further than the initial planning stages."

We found more of the text from the Disc and Music Echo story is contained in the book, "The Beatles: Press Reports: The Press Reports 1961-1970" by W. Fraser Sandercombe, an excellent collection of original newspaper reports. The added details, that paint a more complete picture, say the Beatles "were planning to make their first live album, along with four other LPs, each one filled with songs by each individual Beatle. They were all planning to meet at Apple this week to select the new Lennon-McCartney compositions that would be recorded for the live album during their TV special." Later, the report stated, "It was expected they would record the new LP and the TV show later in the month, although just the right venue for the show had not been found."

Obviously, this part refers to the "Get Back" project, which was already underway. So was the "toothbrush" art (remember, there were five pieces of artwork all together) an early (and abandoned) direction for what eventually became "Get Back"/"Let It Be"?

More reading:

• Unused Beatles artwork sells for over $50,000 at auction
• Is the Jim Dine Beatles' 'toothbrush' artwork being auctioned Tuesday a really Fab historical find?