Episode 52 – Beatles ’71 pt6

The success of the Imagine LP was a welcome one for John and Yoko, who were settling into their new permanent residence of New York City in the fall of 1971. Immersed in both the art scene and the radical political underground, the couple had fallen in love with their new home and immediately set to work on a myriad of creative projects. On October 9th, Yoko’s This Is Not Here art exhibition premiered in Syracuse, which featured contributions from Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and others in addition to Yoko’s showcased body of work. Noticeably absent from the festivities (aside from a drunken singalong by John & party-goers of Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey) was Paul McCartney, still warring with his bandmates and stinging from Lennon’s vicious How Do You Sleep? Cut off of Imagine. McCartney was busy putting an as-yet-nameless band together, including RAM drummer Denny Seiwell, former Moody Bluesman Denny Laine and wife Linda McCartney. The group was already in rehearsal for a new LP, choosing to double down on musical endeavors rather than be swallowed whole by the endless turmoil of the Beatles split. Inspiration for a name soon came with the birth of Paul and Linda’s second child, Stella, when complications and an emergency c-section gave Paul a vision of angel’s wings saving his sweet new baby daughter. With George championing Ravi Shankar’s Apple film Raga, and Ringo knee-deep in a saddle on the set of the spaghetti western Blindman, all four former Beatles continued to stay active and productive as fall turned to winter...