Sleeping Arrangements
I was watching the Anthology DVD (again) the other day. There's an interesting bit in the 'new' footage where the three survivors discuss their early 'sleeping arrangements'.
Before they hit the big time, they would pair off two Beatles to a room. George mentions it was better for Ringo, being the 'new' guy, to share with John or Paul. With a bit of 'wink wink nudge nudge' the conversation breaks down and it's not really clear why that was a good idea.
In the Anthology companion book, George explains it better and says that since he (George) was instrumental in getting Ringo into the band, he thought it was better to have him room with the other two. That it would help to integrate him into the band.
I wonder if there was other reasons, too. Like maybe it was a 'defensive' move on George's part to keep John and Paul apart? Who knows. But as someone who's been in a bunch of bands myself, I know how complex the relationships can be. It's not just 'four' relationships. It's four, plus all of the possible combinations.
For example, John not only had a relationship with each of the other three, but with the other three as a 'group'. And with each group of two (e.g, Paul/George, George/Ringo, Paul/Ringo). There's like 11 or 12 possible combinations.
So here's four guys, each dealing with all the possible personalty dynamics of the band along with the other important people (George Martin, Brian Epstein), the wives and girlfriends, etc.
True, we all have to deal with these kinds of dynamics with family and work and friends. But with the Beatles those things blur. Their 'colleagues' were also their best friends. And the definition of 'family' gets fuzzy, too. Paul and George especially were together for so long from such a young age, they were like family.
Before they hit the big time, they would pair off two Beatles to a room. George mentions it was better for Ringo, being the 'new' guy, to share with John or Paul. With a bit of 'wink wink nudge nudge' the conversation breaks down and it's not really clear why that was a good idea.
In the Anthology companion book, George explains it better and says that since he (George) was instrumental in getting Ringo into the band, he thought it was better to have him room with the other two. That it would help to integrate him into the band.
I wonder if there was other reasons, too. Like maybe it was a 'defensive' move on George's part to keep John and Paul apart? Who knows. But as someone who's been in a bunch of bands myself, I know how complex the relationships can be. It's not just 'four' relationships. It's four, plus all of the possible combinations.
For example, John not only had a relationship with each of the other three, but with the other three as a 'group'. And with each group of two (e.g, Paul/George, George/Ringo, Paul/Ringo). There's like 11 or 12 possible combinations.
So here's four guys, each dealing with all the possible personalty dynamics of the band along with the other important people (George Martin, Brian Epstein), the wives and girlfriends, etc.
True, we all have to deal with these kinds of dynamics with family and work and friends. But with the Beatles those things blur. Their 'colleagues' were also their best friends. And the definition of 'family' gets fuzzy, too. Paul and George especially were together for so long from such a young age, they were like family.
posted by John Goins at 1:37 PM
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