Beatles A Day in the Life Blog posts of '1970' 'January'

Daily Express' publishes that John cut his hair to be able to travel without being recognized.

John and Yoko stayed in Aalborg in Denmark over the new year and most of January 1970, to be with Ono’s daughter Kyoko. She was living there with Tony Cox, Ono’s second husband, and his new wife Melinde.

John made the decision to have his hair cropped shorter than at any other time in his adult life. The precise reasons are unclear, although he and Ono were in the midst of a lengthy peace campaign and were keen to remain in the public eye.

Lennon and Ono both had their hair cut on this day. It was later described by the Daily Mirror as “the most sensational scalpings since the Red Indians went out of business”. The couple kept their shorn locks in a bag for future use.

On 4 February 1970 Lennon and Ono swapped the hair for a pair of Muhammad Ali’s bloodstained boxing shorts, which they said they intended to auction to raise money for peace.

"Bag One" lithograph sales skyrocket following the police raid in which a number of John Lennon's lithographs were confiscated by Scotland Yard for being potentially pornographic. Three hundred sets of the lithographs are available for sale, at a cost of £550 ($770) per set.

January 17, 1963

Every ticket for the Majestic dance was sold in advance, much to the disappointment of an extra 500 fans outside the venue. The Cavern Club, Liverpool at lunchtime and the Majestic Ballroom, in Birkenhead in the evening.

Detectives from Scotland Yard converge upon the London Arts Gallery, raiding the John Lennon "Bag One" lithograph exhibit. They confiscate eight of the lithographs, those which have been deemed to be erotic and indecent. The warrant was issued under the Obscene Publications Act.

Today an exhibition of John Lennon’s erotic lithographs opened up at the London Arts Gallery located at 22 New Bond Street, London W1.

The lithographs, known collectively as Bag One, had been drawn by Lennon in 1969, and chronicled his wedding ceremony and honeymoon with Yoko Ono, and one of their bed-ins for world peace.

The Bag One Portfolio was published as a limited edition of 300, and contained 14 artworks. Each lithograph was signed by Lennon. The portfolio went on sale for £550, with individual prints priced at £40 each.

The exhibition lasted two weeks, but on the second day the gallery was raided and police officers confiscated eight of the 14 originals on the grounds of indecency.

Sentimental Journey, Ringo's debut studio album, seventh recording session took place on this day.

The title track had been a 1945 hit for Doris Day. Starr admired American producer Richard Perry’s work on Tiny Tim’s 1968 debut album God Bless Tiny Tim, and invited him to arrange the song.

Although they wouldn’t actually meet for another two years, Perry and Starr worked together extensively in 1973-74. Perry recorded the backing track for Sentimental Journey in America in late 1969, with guitar, bass, drums, piano, accordion, clarinet, saxophone, strings, autoharp and backing vocals.

Starr recorded his lead vocals at Olympic Sound Studios, in a session lasting from 2.30-5.30pm. His vocals were double-tracked during the middle eight section.

--US release of The Beatles soundtrack LP, Yellow Submarine (Apple). Songs: Yellow Submarine, Only a Northern Song, All Together Now, Hey Bulldog, It's All Too Much, and All You Need Is Love. Side two consists of instrumental soundtrack music by The George Martin Orchestra. 24 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #2.

Incredibly, The Beatles (minus George Harrision, who quit the group three days earlier) return to Twickenham Film Studios and the "Get Back" project. It must have been a miserable day. When the rehearsal was scheduled to begin, only two Beatles attend, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John Lennon makes a brief appearance late in the afternoon, almost as a gesture of contempt for the group. In his absence, Paul and Ringo discuss the difficulty of dealing with John when he has apparently appointed Yoko Ono to speak and act on his behalf.

Today marked an attempt to sort out the problems within The Beatles following George Harrison’s sudden departure two days earlier. All four met at Brookfield House, Ringo Starr’s Tudor mansion in Elstead, Surrey.

The meeting was not a success. The feud between Harrison and John Lennon remained unresolved, and Harrison left early without agreeing to rejoin The Beatles.