Q: Where are the other two Beatles?John Lennon: No idea.
Paul McCartney: In bed, probably. Oh, in England.
Q: What are your plans for opening a club in New York?
John Lennon: I don’t know. There aren’t any real plans.
Q: What about the rumors that you’re going to buy Generation?
John Lennon: What about them? I didn’t hear of it till Sunday myself!
Q: Will the four Beatles own 100% of Apple? And will you be equal partners?
John Lennon: Yes.
Q: Do you think that some of your records are influencing the minds of the younger generation?
John Lennon: Well, everybody’s records influence the mind, you know. All at once. Everything influences everything. Nilsson’s my favorite group.
Q: Would you comment on the mood of youth around the world, the protest movement, and what’s going on?
Paul McCartney: People want to know what’s going on, and no one knows at the moment.
John Lennon: Whether the movement is right or wrong, it’s better than no movement.
Q: Do you have any specific reason for going on The Tonight Show tonight?
John Lennon: I don’t know what happened.
Paul McCartney: We just seemed to be on it.
Q: I just wanted to ask you how you are!
Paul McCartney: Quite well! Hey, and how are you!?!
Q: High!
Paul McCartney: Six feet high and rising?
Q: Would you say that Magical Mystery Tour is a better or worse album than Sgt Pepper?
John Lennon: It’s not an album, you see. It’s turned into an album over here, but it was just music from the film. Then, it’s not an album.
Q: Has the film been bought over here?
John Lennon: I haven’t a clue and I really don’t care.
Q: Do George and Ringo feel the same way as you do about the Maharishi?
John Lennon: Yes. We tend to go in and out together, I mean, with a few spaces. So, yes.
Q: Are the Beatles going to make another movie this summer?
John Lennon: Well, we don’t know when we’re going to make it, but it will be this year or the early part of next year.
Q: What did you think of the critical reception to Magical Mystery Tour?
John Lennon: Well, I mean, it’s… it doesn’t matter. But it does. Oh, it really doesn’t matter, you know. Why it’s not on now is what matters.
Paul McCartney: They were disappointed.
Q: Were the criticisms valid?
John Lennon: Valid? I didn’t see any valid points. It was just hysteria and that bit.
Paul McCartney: You see, they expected a tinselly Christmas show, because it was shown on Christmas – and you know that it was very different from that, so we shocked them a bit.
John Lennon: They didn’t like it, you know. They thought we were stepping out of our roles. They like us to stay in the cardboard suits they designed for us.
Q: What roles do they want you to stay in?
John Lennon: Well, whatever image they have for themselves, they’re disappointed if we don’t fulfil it. We never do, so there’s always a lot of disappointment.
Q: Do you think press conferences are a drag?
John Lennon: Well, they’re not something I choose to do, but they’re fun. It’s work and business.
Q: Paul, what do you think of Jimi Hendrix?
Paul McCartney: He’s great.
Q: Why do the Beatles meditate?
Paul McCartney: Because it seems to be nice. Like cleaning your teeth, you know, it just has some kind of end product.
Q: What do you think of the Mothers of Invention?
Paul McCartney: I think they’re doing very well.
Q: What did the Beatles have to do with the creation of the marvellous fantasy characters in the Yellow Submarine?
Paul McCartney: Not much. There’s a really good artist named Heinz (Edelmann) who created them.
Q: Do you plan to sing in French or in any other language other than English?
John Lennon: No, we don’t make plans. We did ‘She Loves You’ in German, and that was about it, I think.
Paul McCartney: Then, the English version became a hit, you know.
Q: How often do you turn on?
John Lennon: It’s happening all the time, you know.
Q: Will you be doing a TV special soon?
John Lennon: I don’t know.
Paul McCartney: Maybe. Quite possibly.
John Lennon: We’ve got to do another album. We don’t know what happens until we do that.
Q: Have you ever thought of making a record, a film, or a TV special over here?
John Lennon: It’s quite possible, yes. Why not? Except that we live over there.
Q: But you could fly over again.
John Lennon: Yeah, sure. But is it worth the journey?
Q: Are there any plans for an Apple clothing store in the United States?
John Lennon: No. No plans.
Q: What is the meaning of ‘I Am The Walrus’?
John Lennon: It just means, I am the walrus. Or I was when I sat down, you know.
They also recorded an interview for Mitchell Krause for the Channel 13 programme Newsfront, and in the evening appeared on The Tonight Show, hosted by guest presenter Joe Garagiola.
Also on this day...
- 2016: Beatles press officer Tony Barrow dies
- 2010: John Lennon statue to be unveiled in Liverpool
- 2009: Beatles Trivial Pursuit on sale in August
- 2003: Paul McCartney live: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna
- 1997: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing
- 1984: US single release: Borrowed Time by John Lennon
- 1976: Wings live: Spectrum, Philadelphia
- 1963: The Beatles live: Rink Ballroom, Sunderland
- 1962: The Beatles live: Star-Club, Hamburg
- 1961: The Beatles live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg
- 1960: The Silver Beetles live: Lathom Hall, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
I was 14 and at this press conference.I wonder if this transcript contains the questions from the wider audience after the press were done. Derek Taylor opened it up to “us”. I aslo asked about meditation but I believe it was ” Why do you meditate, for rest or pleasure?”John said something snotty which I have blocked out! John Lennon spoke to me and i can’t remember what he said! Was it that he had already answered the question? The other transcript of this event online has John answering with the brushing teeth comment rather than Paul. I COULD have considered this snotty enough to close down OR he could have been further annoyed that I asked the question AGAIN and was obviously not paying attention because I was too busy peeing my pants
from excitement!
I hsve been well aware all these years that Paul met Linda the same day he met me and that somehow there was a BIG mess up in the universe- he should have been MINE!
John behaved like a real prick at this press conference harassing the press with mean spirited answers! They were only doing their jobs!
I believe Lennon was in need of a Heroin fix. He was all skin and bones compared to the Lennon who was filmed on January 25,1968 singing “All Together Now” on the Yellow Submarine insert at the the end of the movie.
Yoko Ono really did a job on the future John Winston Ono Lennon.
How do like that name change – Mr. Ono Lennon! What a feminist sap was John!
They say there’s a sucker born every minute!
John Winston Ono Lennon was the ultimate sucker in human history!!!
Binnie, I just loved your comments!!!!!!!!! Love is all we need!
“Something’s happening, but ‘I don’t know what it is, do you Mr Jones,” – sang Bob Dylan in Ballad of a Thin Man.
In another transcript I have seen, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney state their favorite group is Nilsson. Over the next several months, all of The Beatles became friends with Harry Nilsson, who eventually went to live in England for a time. It is amusing Lennon called Nilsson a “group.” He was a solo artist who used top studio musicians to create a tremendous body of recorded work, mostly from self-penned songs. His two Grammy-award winning songs were written by others. Following Lennon’s death in 1980, Nilsson spent several years campaigning for stricter gun safety laws in the U.S.