Tittenhurst Park

This Tittenhurst Park blog is dedicated to John Lennon's home in Sunningdale, near Ascot, Berkshire between 1969 and 1971. The aim is to gather as much material relating to the estate as possible - obviously with the emphasis on the Lennon-era, but also concerning Tittenhurst Park as it was before and after John Lennon's ownership. In addition, there will be posts about and associated with the Beatles, plus any other rubbish I feel like. The blog is purely meant for the entertainment of anyone (assuming there is actually anyone) who, like me, has an unhealthy interest in one particular Georgian mansion. Those with anything interesting to contribute in the way of links, photos, scans, stories etc. please do contact me: tittenhurstlennon@gmail.com
(Legal: this blog is strictly non-commercial. All material is the property of the photographer/artist/copyright holder concerned. Any such who wishes a picture etc to be removed should contact me and I will do so. Alternatively, if someone is happy to see their photo on here, but would like a credit/link then let me know and I'll be happy to provide one).
Enjoy!


Wednesday

John Lennon: #9 Dream

"#9 Dream" is a song written and performed by John Lennon and featured as the seventh track on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. In January 1975, it was released as the second single from that album backed by another album track, "What You Got". It continues Lennon's fascination with the number nine (he was born on 9 October, and, coincidentally, the track also peaked at number nine in the U.S. charts when it was released). The backing vocal is provided by May Pang, Lennon's partner at the time.
According to Pang's website, two working titles for the song were "So Long Ago" and "Walls & Bridges". Pang also states that the phrase repeated in the chorus, "Ah! böwakawa poussé, poussé", came to Lennon in a dream and has no specific meaning. Lennon then wrote and arranged the song around his dream, hence the title and the atmospheric, dreamlike feel of the song including the use of cellos in the hook.
Lennon liked the string arrangement he wrote for Harry Nilsson's rendition of Many Rivers to Cross (from Nilsson's Pussy Cats which Lennon produced) so much that he decided to incorporate it into the song.

The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows:

John Lennon - vocals, acoustic guitar
The 44th Street Fairies: May Pang, Lori Burton, Joey Dambra - backing vocals
Ken Ascher - clavinet
Jesse Ed Davis - guitar
Nicky Hopkins - electric piano
Arthur Jenkins - percussion
Jim Keltner - drums
Bobby Keys - saxophone
Eddie Mottau - acoustic guitar
Klaus Voormann - bass


It's the 9th September 2009, and for those of you that aren't already aware, the number nine appeared repeatedly in Lennon's life, leading some (himself included) to believe the number was of metaphysical significance, as evidenced by the facts that:
Lennon was born on 9 October 1940.
His son Sean was also born 9 October (1975).
Brian Epstein first saw Lennon and the Beatles at the Cavern on 9 November 1961, and secured their recording contract with EMI on 9 May 1962.
On the cover of Walls and Bridges, there is a painting of Lennon's from when he was eleven years old of a football player with a big "9" on his shirt.
In addition to "#9 Dream", Lennon constructed the sound collage "Revolution 9", and he also wrote the song "One After 909".
John met Yoko on 9 November 1966; 9 years after he met Paul McCartney, and 9 years before the birth of Sean.
Lennon lived at The Dakota, built in 1881 (1+8=9 & 8+1=9, 9+9=18, 1+8=9) in apartment 72 (which adds up to 9). The building is located on 72nd Street in New York City (which, again, adds up to 9).
He was murdered late in the evening of 8 December 1980 in New York, but it was already the early hours of the morning of 9 December in his birthplace of Liverpool, England. 1980 adds up to 9.

3 comments:

  1. hmm..here is a list of 9 songs that contain the number 9 in their title..Of course, The Beatles have two songs in the list. The first is “Revolution 9” and the other song is “one After 909,” which is from their album “Let It Be.” Then we have “Naughty Number Nine,” by Schoolhouse Rock and “Number Nine,” by The Twilight Singers.
    ..Next we have REM’s “9-9,” “99th Floor” by the Moving Sidewalks and Suzanne Vega’s “99.9 F.” And we certainly can’t forget “999,999” by the Nine Inch Nails and lastly, “Nine Million Rainy Days,” by Jesus & Mary Chain.” Can you think of any more..?

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  2. ..Oh, and an eerie story regarding the monster Charles Manson; during the course of the Tate/LaBianca murder investigation, Manson Family member Paul Watkins related to Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi Charles Manson's belief that "Revolution 9" was a reference to Revelation 9, a book in the Bible that speaks of apocalypse and prophecy. He believed the Beatles were speaking to him through this piece, and he drew many odd interpretations from the lyrics.

    It was also the battle of Armageddon, the coming black-white revolution portrayed in sound, Manson claimed. According to Poston: 'When Charlie was listening to it, he heard in the background noise, in and around the machine gun fire and the oinking of pigs, a man's voice saying "Rise"' (it is first heard 2 minutes and 34 seconds into the track, just after the crowd sounds that follow 'lots of stab wounds as it were' and 'informed him on the third night' and just before 'Number 9, Number 9'). This is actually Lennon saying "RIGHT!", as in "ALL RIGHT!"

    In his own statements, Charles Manson has repeatedly denied Bugliosi's assertions that The Beatles influenced his philosophy. He has acknowledged that the "kids" in his camp were fond of The Beatles, but Manson himself was never a fan. He has claimed his tastes were more toward the likes of Hank Williams and other beer hall balladeers from the late '50s and early '60s.

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  3. Digitally remastered versions of all of the Beatles studio albums are released today! Each album features the track listings and artwork as it was originally released in the U.K. and come with expanded booklets including original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited time, each of the Fab Four’s 12 proper albums will be “embedded” with a brief documentary about its making. The rereleases will include the Beatles’ 12 studio albums and Magical Mystery Tour as well as Past Masters Vol. I and II, which will be packaged as one collection. All 14 discs are available with DVDs of the documentaries in a stereo box set, and a set titled The Beatles in Mono featuring 10 discs are out today! A crew of engineers at London’s Abbey Road Studios have spent four years working on the remasters using new technology and vintage equipment, the press release says, in an effort to preserve “the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings” and ensure “the highest fidelity the catalog has seen since its original release.”

    9/9/09 is a huge day in Beatles lore, as it’s today that The Beatles: Rock Band is in stores. While it seems like other artists remaster their entire catalog every several years, Capitol/EMI have barely touched the Beatles’ discography since 1987, with the exception of 2004’s The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1 box set, which compiled and remastered the band’s first four American releases in stereo and mono formats. The soundtrack for the Beatles’ Love show also gave listeners a brief tease of how fantastic the band’s songs would sound if properly remastered, and here they are..The Beatles in Mono includes the 10 albums originally mixed for mono release, as well as two additional discs the press release says features similar songs to those on the Past Masters compilations. The mono versions of Help! and Rubber Soul boast bonuses: the albums’ original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD, per the press release. The mono collection, like the stereo one, will include all original inserts and label designs, and the CDs are designed as tiny vinyl replicas.

    Previous press releases didn’t include news regarding a possible deal with iTunes or another digital-music vendor to distribute the catalog digitally: “Discussions regarding the digital distribution of the catalog will continue. There is no further information available at this time,” the press release reads. Both Apple Corps. and Paul McCartney have expressed reluctance to release the Beatles’ music digitally until all the albums had been remastered. The solo work of each of the four Beatles is available on iTunes.

    The Beatles Remasters available today are:

    Please Please Me
    With the Beatles
    A Hard Day’s Night
    Beatles for Sale
    Help!
    Rubber Soul
    Revolver
    Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
    Magical Mystery Tour
    The Beatles (The White Album)
    Abbey Road
    Let It Be
    Past Masters
    Yellow Submarine

    ok, I'm stepping out, gonna get mine.. and play the game (whilst wearing the T-shirt:-)

    Bye!

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