I read one of those books on John, I think the one about his last year on earth written by a domestic helper.
Lennon played down his early stuff, saying he just synthesized what was out there for his commercial songs.
Well, their harmonies in spots are very Everly Brothers; singers of Cathy’s Clown, compare that kind of harmony to some of the early Beatles songs. And of course, they were clearly influenced by Elvis, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry for starters.
It seemed humble for Lennon to say such a thing but maybe there is some truth in it. I mean, the way he said it made it sound like anyone could have done it which they certainly couldn’t.
Speaking of Billy Preston, subbing for Larry Elder yesterday, Mark Davis was talking about Preston for some reason and said Preston was on that roof playing organ when the Beatles played “Get Back”. Davis also said if one finds an original 45 single of “Get Back”, the credits for the song say it is by “The Beatles and Billy Preston”.