MovieChat Forums > Imagine: John Lennon (1988) Discussion > Beatle Ed

Beatle Ed

posted 19 years ago by electricslide
26 replies | jump to latest

Beatle Ed - Paul McCartney?

What WERE they talking about, really? When John
and George sit at a table and Yoko is standing
next to John, who says something like "This is
a Beatle-wife fixing breakfast to one of the Fab 4"
and George corrects him by saying "Fab 3", and then
they talk abouut "Beatle Ed" and how is not doing
so well.. (But he's number five in Sweden, George says)
and after that the record the song "How Do You Sleep?"
together, and that song is about Paul McCartney.

"I'm like the lord of the *beep* dance. I got moves"
Ryan O'Reily, Oz.

[–] flywatter 19 years ago

i dint cach that part either
.. im sure they talking about Mccartney

[–] publius_250 19 years ago

they were making up a beatle, it was just quirky humor.

[–] al0945 18 years ago

nope they were definately talking about Mccartney...How do u sleep is an attack on Paul...remember the line "The only thing you done is Yesterday"...

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dalefl 18 years ago

Dude, the song is about Macca but they were just making fun of the stereotype that they were put in when they were at the breakfast table. In the early days they were often referred to as "Beatle Paul" or "Beatle John".

[–] MrPrudence04 18 years ago

I'm still not sure who Beatle Ed is. My first guess would be Ringo, because his All Starr Band was quite big in certain parts of Europe around that time, particularly Sweden. I don't think it was McCartney because they refer to him earlier as "the Mac", although it's possible.

George's correcting "Fab Four" to "Fab Three" is interesting also. Clearly the bitterness is still evident behind their joking around.

[–] FanuelHall 18 years ago

Prudence,

Ringo's all starr band did not come around until the eighties, well after Lennon's death.

[–] MrPrudence04 18 years ago

oh yeah. My bad.

[–] electricslide 18 years ago

Well, I still think it's McCartney since they are recording How Do You Sleep? wich is an obvious attack at McCartney.

"I'm like the lord of the *beep* dance. I got moves"
Ryan O'Reily, Oz.

[–] MrPrudence04 18 years ago

No, the conversation about Beatle Ed is around the table, not during the recording of 'How Do You Sleep?'. The recording of that is shown soon after, but that's merely the sequence of the film. I still admit however that Beatle Ed could be Paul.

[–] electricslide 18 years ago

Yes, I know it's not DURING the recording of How Do You Sleep, but they record the song right after the conversation at the table. That's what I meant.

"I'm like the lord of the *beep* dance. I got moves"
Ryan O'Reily, Oz.

[–] cartman2181 18 years ago

I suppose that it could have been either Ringo or Paul, but it was more likely to be Paul. George did still work with Ringo extensively after the breakup of the Beatles, which could explain why he said he recently saw him. However, based upon the mocking tones and bitter voices that both John and George use, and especially the exaggerated knowing wink that John gives to the camera leads me to believe they're speaking about Paul. At that particular time Paul had done a lot to alienate himself from the other three, so it's understandable as to why they would take their potshots at him. As far as the name goes, they were just using that cheeky humor in inventing names and just saying things.

[–] thefabslv 18 years ago

Personally, I don't think they were referring to any 'actual' Beatles...

If you folks are around my age (47), then you know how the media has ALWAYS referred to them individually as "Beatle John," "Beatle Paul," and so on. No doubt they found it exceedingly ridiculous after the breakup and I think it was a goof on that whole bit. They were simply enjoying a joke reference to the dummies in the media.

[–] cartman2181 18 years ago

Yea, that's also a pretty good possibility since they knew they had the cameras rolling on them and John and George both had that dry sense of humor where the liked to mock things they found ridiculous, so I'd buy that completely.

[–] dalefl 18 years ago

That's it exactly. You will notice that during the rehearsal for HDYS that John calls Paul a *beep* If they were going to be discussing him around the breakfast table then it would have been much worse than 'Beatle Ed'. If you lived through it then you would have heard the term 'Beatle ______' a couple of thousand times. They were just cracking on the 'lovable moptop' image that they had to portray when they were touring. If you've read Peter Brown's biography you may have noticed that Linda more than likely saved Paul's life when they were accosted in Africa by telling the robbers that he was "Beatle Paul".

[–] welovethesesubs0 18 years ago

I am not extremely familiar with their solo careers at that time, so would someone be kind enough to tell me why there were such a high tensions between John and Paul at the time of HDYS?

[–] thefabslv 18 years ago

It had been stewing for some time, actually... Began to come to a head during the filming and recording of "Let it Be." Some of it was due, initially, to creative differences and then disagreements on who should manage the band. Paul wanted John Eastman, Linda's father, and the other three - especially John - wanted Allen Klein (ABKCO - The same company that manages the Rolling Stones).

Things really exploded when they broke up. John had wanted to leave the band for a long time, but didn't. Then Paul announced it as pretty much a publicity stunt accompanying the release of "McCartney." He issued a Q&A regarding why he was leaving the Beatles.

The whole thing was very bitter - lawsuits all around - and it went on that way for years.

Sad... I prefer to think of the songs "Two of Us" and "Long and Winding Road" as standing bits of the brotherly love Paul and John had for each other for so long. There were touches of this love that came through later - John on stage with Elton John at Madison Square Garden in '74 or '75 when they sang a "Paul song" - "I Saw Her Standing There" - he opened it with something like, "Here's a song written by an old fiance' of mine named Paul... We just about know it." The crowd went nuts, of course. :-)

And in concerts after John's death, Paul has often sang "John songs" in tribute.

As with most of us, the older Paul gets, the more he realizes the importance of his friends' influences on his life. (Even if I think he's a bit of a jerk for wanting to reverse the "Lennon/McCartney" songwriting credit on "Yesterday." Fans know it's his song and his voice on the record. There's no need to start changing the songwriting credit the two agreed to from the start. ;-)

[–] disasterous_perfection 18 years ago

I think its Paul as well... Also what does he say soon after when he asks what George's shirt is called and George says "Range Rider" what does Lennon say?

Does he say "It used to be called Arthur..."? Just like when they asked George what his haircut was called and he said Arthur?

[–] cardaderdention 18 years ago

There talking about Paul, because Goerge and John were mad at him at that time. Thats what How Do You Sleep is all about. Heres a line from the song.
Those freaks was right when they said you were dead.

[–] IdiotaWind 18 years ago

Beatle Ed is definitely a mockery, not thinking of anyone inparticular, thats why they were discussing how his single got great in Sweden (also a joke implying he has a hit sinlge in the wierdest place - not that Sweden is wierd, but you get my point) and also making fun of Phil Spector, saying look at Beatle Phil making a pig out of himself.. they were nameing "everyone" a Beatle something to mock the whole Beatle thing, cause that wasn't even that much after breakup...

"How Do You Sleep" is attack on Paul, as is "I Found Out" and many other songs... later when he cooled down, he admitted that although thinking of Paul and directing the aggresion towards him in the lyrics, he was actually attacking himself...

[–] broombie 18 years ago

Remember Paul's reaction at hearing about John's murder? I read that he said, "It's a drag," then scratched himself. Paul was chastised for his blasé attitude at the time.

I read that the breakup started with the death of Brian Epstein. It got worse as they got older. I still have an article in my file cabinet from 1971 about how Paul was becoming very cocky towards everyone and trying to hire one of Linda's relatives to manage the group.

[–] davies_gwyn 17 years ago

Remember Paul's reaction at hearing about John's murder? I read that he said, "It's a drag," then scratched himself. Paul was chastised for his blasé attitude at the time.

i've seen this interview with him and he is obviously in a state of shock because of john's death.
and also because someone is literally asking him how he feels about it on the way home from the recording studio the night of his murder

[–] lauri-f23 16 years ago

It is Macca, no question about it. Paul was touring Sweden with the original Wings at the time, look it up. He was going around Europe, starting with University's in the UK, rehearsing his band and doing what he wanted The Beatles to do when they completed Let It Be, rather than a roof top concert. George and John refused, they didn't want to go on the road.

[–] EvasiveApollo03 16 years ago

I think the McCartney reaction is based off the fact it was probably late when he was asked about it

Thank You,Come Again

[–] meme-29 16 years ago

I read on another site when looking at this clip, that they were talking about Paul. They called him "Beatle Ed" because they were mocking his love of publicity and more "showbiz" type personality, I guess referring to Ed Sullivan.

[–] zippyzay 14 years ago

I thought they were just joking around about how they used to be titled as Beatles- Beatle John and Beatle George- and now they had broken free of that they were making up other Beatles with common names and mundane careers. I don't think it was a reference to McCartney (although John gives a huge wink at the end of the sequence).