JOHN LENNON BIRTHDAY BOX SET: GIMME SOME TRUTH OUT NOW!

As part of the celebrations for John Lennon’s 80th birthday, his most vital and best-loved solo recordings have been completely remixed from scratch for a new collection, GIMME SOME TRUTH. available now in multiple formats. ORDER NOW

JOHN LENNON IMAGINE THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION: NEW BOX SET!

John Lennon's most celebrated solo album will be honored with a number of special releases on October 5 including the six-disc Imagine - The Ultimate Collection featuring brand new 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo mixes of the Imagine album, Singles, Extras and Out-takes from 1971, Raw Studio Mixes live in Surround Sound from the centre of Ascot Sound Studios, minimalist Elements Mixes, the Evolution Documentary that explores the growth of each song from demo to final mix, and interviews with John & Yoko by old friend Elliot Mintz - to create the Ultimate Deep Listening Experience for the Imagine album.

Imagine - The Ultimate Collection

PAUL MCCARTNEY ANNOUNCES BREAK UP OF BEATLES APRIL 10 1970

The legendary rock band the Beatles spent the better part of three years breaking up in the late 1960s, and even longer than that hashing out who did what and why. And by the spring of 1970, there was little more than a tangled set of business relationships keeping the group together.

  

Each of the Beatles was pursuing his musical interests outside of the band, and there were no plans in place to record together as a group. But as far as the public knew, this was just a temporary state of affairs. That all changed on April 10, 1970, when an ambiguous Paul McCartney “self-interview” was seized upon by the international media as an official announcement of a Beatles breakup.

The occasion for the statements Paul released to the press that day was the upcoming release of his debut solo album, McCartney

JOHN LENNON: NEW 9 LP VINYL BOX SET

John Lennon's eight remastered studio albums are out now as an 9 LP Box Set on 180g Audiophile Vinyl.

Watch the LENNON trailer...

 

MARIJKE KOGER-DUNHAM: BEHIND THE SCENES DESIGNING FOR THE BEATLES

The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Press Photo

Outfits for the Beatles’ wifes I met the Beatles in early 1967 after I designed a program cover for Brian Epstein’s Saville Theatre where he showcased musical acts from England and America at Sunday night performances.

 Marijke and Simon

Mel Evans, the Beatles’ roadie, saw the program cover and brought John and Paul to the studio where Simon (my ex) and I worked.. to meet us. They were very impressed by our artwork and invited us to attend the “A Day in a Life” party at Abbey Road studios which consolidated our friendship with the Beatles.

Some time later for the live broadcast of “All YouNeed is Love”, my girlfriend Yosha (who I had invited to work with us) and I designed and made the clothing for all four Beatles.

 Marijke Koger-Dunham

Consequently we made some dresses for Patti to go to the Monterey Pop festival in California.Next Simon and I painted John’s piano at Weybridge where we got to know Cynthia a little better.
  

Visits with Ringo and Maureen followed while we were there. They had just had their baby, Zack. Then Simon and I painted a fireplace mural at George’s house, Kinfauns and I became good friends with Patti.

After that Yosha and I designed and made costumes for the “Magical Mystery Tour” film. Inventing the look was something that came naturally to us, we didn’t really have to think about it and it certainly was not nerve racking (as you suggest). ( I would have died from nervous fits)

We chose fabrics and colors the way one would paint, choosing textile patterns and colors that went well together. We bought a lot of fabrics at Liberty’s of London  where they have the most beautiful around.

Once we were commissioned to decorate the “Apple” boutique and produce the clothing, I designed the murals by making sketches on paper first (although Epstein and the Beatles gave us a“free hand”).
 

For the clothing Yosha and I also made sketches, chose the fabrics and the garments were then manufactured for mass production.

 The Fool Yosha, Marijke and Anke Ferris

Vogue wanted to do a piece on “Apple” and hired Ronald Traeger, a great photographer, to do the shoot.

We asked Patti, Cynthia and Maureen to model and because Jane was away on a theatre tour, Jenny Boyd as well. This all happened before Sgt. Pepper. Fashion is to my mind wearable art, especially when constructed of colorful textiles.

 
This is disputed in copyright law as garments are considered “useful articles” rather than a “unique creative invention”. My fashion lines included hand silk screened fabric designs, among others putting the full color spectrum on cloth for the first time in history. In short, life without color would be dreadful.

Marijke photo by Heather Harris

MARIJKE ON FACEBOOK

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Marijke has her gorgeous prints and more for purchase on her website.....

Marijke Koger-Dunham graciously contributed this story, and many of these will be a revelation to readers heretofore only familiar with her iconic psychedelic works as commissioned by The Beatles in the mid-1960s...Read more of Heather Harris' interview of her friend Marijke HERE