Lennon’s ‘A Day in the Life’ lyrics for sale

John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to “A Day in the Life” are up for auction (oh boy).

Update 6/18/10: The “A Day in the Life” lyrics went for $1.2 million, about the same paid for the handwritten sheet for “All You Need Is Love.” Some lucky American. (/update)

The sheet has two versions of the song, one on each side. The first version is a rough draft, although all lyrics shown appear in the song. One of the Beatles’ best-known productions, it was the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album’s closing number — known for its druggy vibe and the eternal ending chord — a true psychedelic classic.

The Sotheby’s auction is set for June 18. The estimated price could hit $700,000, according to the auction house, although Beatles collectors are speculating the price could be a record for their handwritten song sheets. The lyrics to “All You Need Is Love” went for $1 million five years ago.

The lyric sheet reportedly belonged to longtime Beatles roadie/assistant Mal Evans, who died in 1976. His estate sold the “A Day in the Life” lyrics via Sotheby’s in 1992, with the final bid near $100,000. The owner’s bid to sell the lyrics in 2006 failed to draw a suitable bid, with expectations as high as $2 million.

Sotheby’s describes “A Day in the Life” as “the revolutionary song that marked the Beatles’ transformation from pop icons to artists,” apparently never having heard “Rubber Soul” or “Revolver.” The auction house notes that the song had “a depth that was absent from the Beatle’s earlier pop songs.” Indeed, the song is filled with studio stunts and incorporates a 40-piece orchestra. The final E maj chord — played by multiple people on three pianos — is among the most famous in music, no doubt out there still resonating. (Hear the “Oh, shit” work version of the Beatles psychedelic classic.)

McCartney’s “Woke up, fell out of bed” section doesn’t appear on the lyrics, but its insertion for the middle 8 is indicated on the second side of the sheet, which has the more polished version of Lennon’s lyrics, all capitalized. There are crossouts and corrections on both versions. The line “I love to turn you on” appears added later, in different ink.

Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting partnership had pretty much run its course by the time of “A Day in the Life.”

McCartney successfully sued the Evans estate in 1992 to halt the sale of the handwritten lyrics for “With a Little Help From My Friends.” The songwriter noted that Evans kept lyrics sheets as part of his job with the Beatles. Ten years later, McCartney stopped an auction of his “Hey Jude” lyrics, which had been stolen from his home.

Essential reading: Abbey Road studio’s diary of the “A Day in the Life” sessions.

A Day in the Life lyrics (Lennon/McCartney)

I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph

He blew his mind out in a car
He didn’t notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They’d seen his face before
Nobody was really sure
If he was from the House of Lords.

I saw a film today oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
but I just had to look
Having read the book

I’d love to turn you on

Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late.
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,
and somebody spoke and I went into a dream

I read the news today oh boy
4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

I’d love to turn you on

Roger Waters hitting ‘The Wall’ again

“Thirty years ago when I wrote ‘The Wall,’ I was a frightened young man,” Roger Waters says of the Pink Floyd classic.

Waters isn’t afraid anymore. He’s taking “the story of my fear and loss” on the road this fall, bringing an Internet-era version of the lengthy album to 35 cities.

The tour starts Sept. 15 in Toronto, with stops in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

The English musician relaunched his rogerwaters.com Web site for the tour and is writing a tour blog. It includes a signup for the lottery to access presale tickets for “The Wall.” Fans can register for up to five cities.

Waters also asks fans to provide pictures of loved ones killed in a war — soldiers or civilians — for use in the show. He’s including a photo of his dad, Eric, as one of the “Fallen Loved Ones.” The “Wall” story begins with Eric’s death in World War II.

Pink Floyd fans of a certain age remember the band touring the double-disc concept LP in 1980. A 40-foot brick wall was constructed during the show, as inflatable animals drifted overhead — included the famed Orwellian pig that resurfaced recently in the film “Children of Men.” As the concert concluded, the wall came tumbling down, revealing the band once again.

Key songs from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” include “Is There Anybody Out There,” “Comfortably Numb” and “Another Brick in the Wall (1 & 2).” Most were written by Waters.

The 81-minute work reflected Waters’ paranoia and alienation (hence the wall). Pink Floyd had visited the dark side from time to time, but “The Wall” proved a major departure into acrid sounds.

“It took me a long time to get over my fears,” Waters blogged. “Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss with its concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, Whatever!”

“The Wall” tour dates:
Sep 15:
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, ON

Sep 20:
United Center
Chicago, IL

Sep 21:
United Center
Chicago, IL

Sep 26:
Consol Energy Center
Pittsburgh, PA

Sep 28:
Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland, OH

Sep 30:
Boston TD Garden
Boston, MA

Oct 05:
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY

Oct 08:
HSBC Arena
Buffalo, NY

Oct 10:
Verizon Center
Washington D.C.

Oct 12:
Nassau Coliseum
Long Island, NY

Oct 15:
XL Center
Hartford, CT

Oct 17:
Scotiabank Place
Ottawa, ON

Oct 19:
Bell Centre
Montreal, PQ

Oct 22:
Schottenstein Center
Columbus, OH

Oct 24:
The Palace of Auburn Hills
Detroit, MI

Oct 26:
Qwest Center
Omaha, NE

Oct 27:
Xcel Energy Center
St Paul, MN

Oct 29:
Scottrade Center
St Louis, MO

Oct 30:
Sprint Center
Kansas City, MO

Nov 03:
Izod Center
East Rutherford, NJ

Nov 08:
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, PA

Nov 09:
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, PA

Nov 13:
Bank Atlantic Center
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Nov 16:
St Pete Times Forum
Tampa, FL

Nov 18:
Philips Arena
Atlanta, GA

Nov 20:
Toyota Center
Houston, TX

Nov 21:
American Airlines Center
Dallas, TX

Nov 23:
Pepsi Center
Denver, CO

Nov 26:
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, NV

Nov 27:
US Airways Center
Phoenix, AZ

Nov 29:
The Forum
Los Angeles, CA

Dec 06:
HP Pavilion
San Jose, CA

Dec 10:
GM Place
Vancouver, BC

Dec 11:
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, WA

Dec 13:
Honda Center
Anaheim, CA

Vanilla Fudge: Sludge from a Rhino box set

Rhino Handmade, the specialty label hidden deep within Warner Music, appears to have located the bottom of the reissues well.

Stand by for “Box of Fudge,” a four-disc collection from the psychedelic-era cover band from hell, Vanilla Fudge.

Those with a sweet tooth for psychedelia will be forking over $80 for the set, which packs in 41 “psychedelic gems,” including 15 unreleased tracks and a 1969 concert from the Fillmore.

Fudge fanciers will savor “an elaborate, foil-wrapped hardcover book.” As with other Rhino Handmade projects, the set is not available in stores.

Today, the Fudge are remembered for their name, their one hit — “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” — and not much else. For Boomers, Vanilla Fudge lurk in the memory as guilty pleasures or downright embarrassments, much like Iron Butterfly and Grand Funk Railroad (both superior bands).

In 1967, however, Vanilla Fudge were hot shit, playing with Janis Joplin, Cream, and the Mamas and the Papas.

The Fudge’s signature move was to slow down and freak out the upbeat hit songs of the day.

The Vanilla Fudge name still seems appropriate, as they were white boys specializing in thick and sticky covers of R&B/Motown hits — “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” “Take Me for a Little While,” “People Get Ready,” “Shotgun,” “My World Is Empty Without You” and so on.

The act was defined by Mark Stein’s B-3 organ and the explosive drum work of Carmine Appice, usually applied with the light & heavy dynamics that found favor in hard rock over the coming decade.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” with its funeral church organ and bursts of hard rock chops, played like a novelty song at the time. Hippie nation embraced the odd mix of the familiar — the Supremes’ already classic hit — with the heady-spooky vibes of the day. Promoters called it symphonic psychedelic rock. Critics called it crap.

The “Hangin’ On” single (3 minutes or so) reached No. 6 on the charts. The version of choice came on the self-titled debut album, clocking in at almost 7 minutes.

(“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” lands near the bottom of this web site’s roundup of the top 100 psychedelic songs, the Fudge’s only nod here.)

Further meltdowns ensued as the Fudge covered the pop stars of the day, starting with the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride.” Then it was on to Donovan (“Season of the Witch”), the Zombies (“She’s Not There”), Sony and Cher (an agonizing “The Beat Goes On”) and Dylan (“Like a Rolling Stone”).

The squares got theirs as well: Burt Bacharach, already reeling from Love’s cover of “My Little Red Book,” had his “The Look of Love” fudged up. The Bergmans and Michael Legrand saw “Windmills of Your Mind” churned, while Lee Hazelwood’s “Some Velvet Morning” was dragged screaming and kicking to hard rock school.

Oh, the humanity.

Vanilla Fudge ran dry in 1970, as bassist Tim Bogert and Appice founded Cactus, a blues rock outfit in the vein of Humble Pie and the Shadows of Knight.

Later, the duo teamed up with Jeff Beck in the uneventful Beck, Bogert & Appice. Beck also played on a Vanilla Fudge reunion LP in 1984, one of several attempts to reheat the band. “Psychedelic Sundae: The Best of Vanilla Fudge” was released in 1993.

A trio of other recent Rhino Handmade projects flirt with psychedelia:

• “Chicago Transit Authority” revives the band’s debut album in “true, discrete Quadraphonic sound,” taken from the 1970s Quad mixes.
• “Carnival of Sound” brings to light Jan and Dean’s move toward the sounds of the late 1960s as Berry fought to recover from his awful car crash.
• “The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees” comes with a few hits and some 1968 flower power.

Further reading:
An interesting Mark Stein interview