John Lennon & George Harrison Japan 1966

Here is a rare photo of John Lennon and George Harrison tuning up their guitars backstage in Tokyo, Japan in 1966. From June 30 to July 2 of that year, the Beatles performed five concerts at the Nippon Budokan indoor arena in Tokyo. Of course, all the shows were sold out and the live television broadcasts captured an incredible 60% audience rating. These concerts were the first musical events ever held at the Budokan arena, which was originally dedicated for the competition of traditional martial arts. These landmark shows also inspired many young Japanese to start playing guitars and the biggest ever Japanese rock band revolution soon followed. That movement forever changed the direction of the Japanese popular music scene.

Perhaps the above photo was taken prior to the start of this show:



See also:

David Bowie tribute to John Lennon - 'Mother'

David Bowie tribute to John Lennon - 'Mother' ` Post Correction

NOTE: This post is a continuation of my earlier post that I released on 02-20-2008 and includes some additional information and slight corrections to my original account of David Bowie's tribute cover of John Lennon's 'Mother':


Bowienet News: Tony Visconti on David Bowie's Tribute Cover of 'Mother' by John Lennon



Tony Visconti: Hi Blam - I've read that string that Robpongi created about Mother. I love that recording and David's vocal performance.

"Robpongi says this, 'And, yes, that is definitely Reeves on lead with Gail and Mike on bass and piano too for sure. Now, I am wondering "why" this was never released as a full-fledged single!?!?!?! Really, this is so exceptionally good, there is no doubt that it would have gone top 10 immediately on release, for sure!' "

"For the record, it was recorded on Nassau (the island). The drummer was Andy Newmark, guitar Reeves, but piano and organ were played by the studio owner. David brought the ADAT tapes back to New York and overdubbed a vocal with me, and Reeves played a solo. I played bass and mixed it on rather primitive equipment (but that's another story). So, no Gail and Mike on that one."

"I've attached some photos from that session. I took the one of David (the guy who loaned us his "Elvis" mic wanted a piccie of David holding it) and May Pang took the other."

Source: Bowienet Photos by Tony Visconti and May Pang

And, once again here is the video: David Bowie: "Mother"




WOW! I certainly did not expect such a response from my previous post. Sorry for the confusion, but thank you very much for clarifying the whole story Mr. Tony Visconti.