John Lennon's jukebox
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In 1989, John Lennon's jukebox surfaced in an auction of Beatles memorabilia at Christie's, and was sold for £2,500 to Bristol-based music promoter John Midwinter. Lennon had apparently bought the jukebox – specifically a Swiss KB Discomatic – in 1965, and filled it with forty singles to take with him on tour. Midwinter spent several years restoring the box and researching the discs catalogued in Lennon's spidery handwriting. When Midwinter developed cancer, and his health began to deteriorate, his desire to see the player featured in some kind of documentary became all the more important.
The story finally reached its wider public in 2004, when The South Bank Show broadcast a documentary on the jukebox in which many of the represented artists were asked to comment. Developed by Steve Day at the UK television production company Initial, headed by Malcom Gerrie, the project took longer than was hoped to get picked up. A fact that was rendered all the more poignant when the show was commissioned mere days after Midwinter died. A compilation was also released, containing thirty-four of the singles' A-sides and seven of their B-sides.
Contents |
[edit] Contents of the box
The jukebox's contents cover a ten-year period between Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" from 1956 and The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream", released in 1966, whereupon Lennon stopped adding to the box. Largely by American R&B artists, they are songs that Lennon admired and many of them influenced his own writing.
Below is a list of the singles believed to be in the box. Titles in bold are featured on the CD.
| Artist | A-side | B-side | Release year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Alexander | "You Better Move on" | "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues" | 1961 |
| The Animals | "Bring It on Home to Me" | "For Miss Caulker" | 1965 |
| Richie Barrett | "Some Other Guy" | "Tricky Dicky" | 1962 |
| Len Barry | "1, 2, 3" | "Bullseye" | 1965 |
| Fontella Bass | "Rescue Me" | "The Soul of a Man" | 1965 |
| Chuck Berry | "No Particular Place to Go" | "You Two" | 1964 |
| The Big Three | "Some Other Guy" | "Let True Love Begin" | 1963 |
| Gary US Bonds | "New Orleans" | "Please Forgive Me" | 1960 |
| Gary US Bonds | "Quarter to Three" | "Time Ole Story" | 1961 |
| Booker T. & the M.G.'s | "Boot-leg" | "Outrage" | 1965 |
| Bruce Channel | "Hey! Baby" | "Dream Girl" | 1962 |
| The Contours | "First I Look at the Purse" | "Can You Do It?" | 1965 |
| Donovan | "Turquoise" | "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)" | 1965 |
| Bob Dylan | "Positively 4th Street" | "From a Buick 6" | 1965 |
| Buddy Holly | "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" | "Slippin' and Slidin'" | 1959 |
| The Isley Brothers | "Twist and Shout" | "Spanish Twist" | 1962 |
| Little Richard | "Long Tall Sally" | "Slippin' and Slidin'" | 1956 |
| Little Richard | "Ooh! My Soul" | "True Fine Mama" | 1958 |
| The Lovin' Spoonful | "Daydream" | "Night Owl Blues" | 1966 |
| The Lovin' Spoonful | "Do You Believe in Magic" | "On the Road Again" | 1965 |
| Derek Martin | "Daddy Rollin' Stone" | "Don't Put Me Down Like This" | 1963 |
| Jimmy McCracklin | "The Walk" | "I'm to Blame" | 1958 |
| The Miracles | "Shop Around" | "Who's Lovin' You" | 1960 |
| The Miracles | "Ain't It Baby" | "The Only One I Love" | 1961 |
| The Miracles | "What's So Good About Goodbye?" | "I've Been Good to You" | 1961 |
| The Miracles | "The Tracks of My Tears" | "A Fork in the Road" | 1965 |
| Bobby Parker | "Watch Your Step" | "Steal Your Heart Away" | 1961 |
| Wilson Pickett | "In the Midnight Hour" | "I'm Not Tired" | 1965 |
| James Ray | "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" | "It's Been a Drag" | 1961 |
| Otis Redding | "My Girl" | "Down in the Valley" | 1965 |
| Paul Revere & the Raiders | "Steppin' Out" | "Blue Fox" | 1965 |
| Timmy Shaw | "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia" | "I'm a Lonely Guy" | 1963 |
| Edwin Starr | "Agent Double-O Soul" | "Back Street" | 1965 |
| Barrett Strong | "Money (That's What I Want)" | "Oh I Apologize" | 1959 |
| Tommy Tucker | "Hi-Heel Sneakers" | "I Don't Want 'Cha" | 1963 |
| Gene Vincent | "Be-Bop-A-Lula" | "Woman Love" | 1956 |
| Larry Williams | "Short Fat Fannie" | "High School Dance" | 1957 |
| Larry Williams | "She Said, Yeah" | "Bad Boy" | 1959 |
- (The list currently contains thirty-eight items. One of the two missing singles is thought to be Wilson Pickett's "It's Too Late"/"I'm Gonna Leave You" (1963), but this has yet to be confirmed. [1])
[edit] CD track listing
Disc one
- "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett
- "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass
- "The Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
- "My Girl" by Otis Redding
- "1, 2, 3" by Len Barry
- "Hi-Heel Sneakers" by Tommy Tucker
- "The Walk" by Jimmy McCracklin
- "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia" by Timmy Shaw
- "First I Look at the Purse" by The Contours
- "New Orleans" by Gary US Bonds
- "Watch Your Step" by Bobby Parker
- "Daddy Rollin' Stone" by Derek Martin
- "Short Fat Fannie" by Larry Williams
- "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard
- "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong
- "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel
- "Positively 4th Street" by Bob Dylan
- "Daydream" by The Lovin' Spoonful
- "Turquoise" by Donovan
- "Slippin' and Slidin'" by Buddy Holly
Disc two
- "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent
- "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry
- "Steppin' Out" by Paul Revere & the Raiders
- "Do You Believe in Magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful
- "Some Other Guy" by The Big Three*
- "Twist and Shout" by The Isley Brothers
- "She Said, Yeah" by Larry Williams
- "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" by Buddy Holly
- "Slippin' and Slidin'" by Little Richard
- "Quarter to Three" by Gary US Bonds
- "Ooh! My Soul" by Little Richard
- "Woman Love" by Gene Vincent
- "Shop Around" by The Miracles
- "Bring It on Home to Me" by The Animals
- "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" by James Ray with the Hutch Davie Orchestra
- "What's So Good About Goodbye" by The Miracles
- "Bad Boy" by Larry Williams
- "Agent Double-O Soul" by Edwin Starr
- "I've Been Good to You" by The Miracles
- "Oh I Apologize" by Barrett Strong
- "Who's Lovin' You" by The Miracles
- It should be noted that the version of 'Some Other Guy' by The Big Three is not the one that was on the original jukebox. It is a mid 70s recording by the same group, regarded as inferior by collectors[citation needed].
[edit] References
- Upton, Laurence (2004). "Some serious slips marr an excellent idea". Retrieved Jul. 15, 2005.
[edit] External links
- A mini-site about the documentary from the PBS
