“The music of Lennon & McCartney” on YouTube

“The Music of Lennon & McCartney” is a British television special broadcast in December 1965 that celebrates the compositional collaboration between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the Beatles’ creative couple. Produced by Granada Television, the program aired on 16 December in the north of England and on 17 December across the entire ITV network.

I have mentioned it several times in my writings, but I had never seen it: I discovered by chance that it is available on YouTube, and I watched it today, on the sixtieth anniversary of its first broadcast.

Conceived as a variety show, the special was distinguished by an unusual structure: a sequence of reinterpretations of Lennon–McCartney songs performed (in playback) by British and international artists, interspersed with short spoken interventions and dialogues recited by John and Paul themselves. The two, however, were not comfortable in the role of hosts: as Paul McCartney would later admit, they had agreed to take part in the program in person more out of gratitude towards the producer Johnnie Hamp – who had supported the Beatles’ first television appearances in 1962 – than out of real enthusiasm for the format.

Filming took place on 1 and 2 November 1965 at the Granada studios in Manchester, while the Beatles were under great pressure to complete “Rubber Soul” in time for the Christmas release. Despite this, the rest of the group also took part in the show: George Harrison and Ringo Starr joined Lennon and McCartney to perform (in playback) both sides of the new single, “Day Trippers” And “We Can Work It Out”in two of the group’s few television appearances related to those songs.

The scenography, dominated by scaffolding, stairs and platforms, reflected a modern and almost industrial aesthetic, and brings to mind certain Italian TV shows from the 1960s; while choreographies and dance interventions accompanied the musical segments.

The guest cast underlined the eclecticism of the Lennon–McCartney repertoire: from Lulu to Cilla Black, from Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas to Henry Mancini, each offered a personal reading of the songs performed. Particularly significant was the presence of R&B singer Esther Phillips, flown in specially from the United States for what was her first performance in the United Kingdom. Among the most singular moments of the special, the intervention of the actor Peter Sellers stands out, who reinterprets the text of “A Hard Day’s Night” like a Shakespearean monologue, parodying Laurence Olivier’s style as Richard III.

Never rebroadcast until 1985, when Channel 4 proposed it again for the thirtieth anniversary of Granada Television, The Music of Lennon & McCartney today it remains an interesting and curious document, although not memorable.

The lineup:

Part 1

• The George Martin Orchestramedley that includes “I Feel Fine” – ends with a shot of Lennon and McCartney playing a cymbal with sticks
• Peter and Gordon, “A World Without Love” – introduced by Lennon and McCartney after hearing some covers of their songs played on props such as a Victrola gramophone, a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a transistor radio
• Lulu, “I Saw Him Standing There”
• Alan Haven and Tony Crombie, “A Hard Day’s Night”
• Fritz Spiegl’s Barock and Roll Ensemblestring quartet with recorder, “She Loves You” – introduced by Lennon and McCartney; The ensemble members, in baroque period costumes and powdered wigs, are surrounded by a group of women dressed in contemporary Mod fashion
• The Beatles, “Day Trippers” – accompanied by a group of dancers

Part 2

• Paul McCartney / Marianne Faithfull, “Yesterday” – begins with McCartney miming to the Beatles’ 1965 version and stops abruptly at the beginning of the second verse, moving on to Faithfull miming to her recent recording, sung in a different key (the singer is never shown full-length: she was eight months pregnant at the time the program was recorded)
• Antonio Vargas, “She Loves You” – preceded by Lennon and McCartney walking around the set discussing foreign language renditions of their songs
• Dick Rivers, “Ces Mots Qu’on Oublie un Jour (Things We Said Today)”
• Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, “Bad to Me”
• Cilla Black, “It’s for You”

Part 3

• The George Martin Orchestra, “Ringo’s Theme (This Boy)” – accompanied by a group of dancers
• Henry Mancini, “If I Fell” – introduced by McCartney
• Esther Phillips, “And I Love Him” – introduced by Lennon
• The George Martin Orchestra, “Another Girl”
• Peter Sellers, “A Hard Day’s Night”
• The Beatles, “We Can Work It Out”