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Johnny
and the Moondogs - Meaning
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At least that was John Lennon's silly reply to the oft-asked question, as it appeared in Bill Harry's paper, "Mersey Beat," from July of 1961. But the whole story of the Beatles' name began in 1957, when young Mr. Lennon assembled his skiffle group, first calling it the Black Jacks, and then the Quarry Men. The group went through several name changes, surviving monikers like Johnny and the Moondogs, the Beatals, the Silver Beetles, the Silver Beats, and the Silver Beatles, before eventually settling on the Beatles. In March 1957, after acquiring a guitar, John formed a skiffle group with Pete Shotton and for all of a week, they called themselves the Black Jacks. The name was quickly changed to the Quarry Men, after their Quarry Bank School, partly tongue in cheek, and partly to give the group credibility, according to "Lennon" author Ray Coleman. Their school song, "Quarry Men, Strong Before Our Birth" was rather prophetic. Group members would come and go, but the Quarry Men tag lasted well into 1959, even after the skiffle craze was over. This was in part due to the fact that drummer Colin Hanton's kit was lettered that way. (In fact, Hanton remained a part of the group simply because he owned a set of drums!) By October 26, 1959, the group was streamlined to just John, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, and the threesome decided to make a second go at Carroll Levis' TV show "Discoveries." They called themselves Johnny and the Moondogs just for these auditions, which they unfortunately failed. One can't help but wonder whether Johnny and the Moondogs would have become a household word if they had passed the audition! In March 1960, new member Stuart Sutcliffe came up with the name Beatals, a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets. The name didn't last long, though, as band members went in their own directions for a brief period. George played with another group, while John and Paul played two dates, April 23 and 24, as the Nerk Twins. Around May 5, 1960, the group was known as the Silver Beetles. Brian Cassar , the leader of another Liverpool group called Cass and the Cassanovas, suggested the name change in the first place. He proposed the name Long John and the Silver Beetles, but John would have none of the Long John bit. According to Ray Coleman, Long John Silver was once considered, but rejected outright. For only one date, they called themselves the Silver Beats for a May 14 gig at Lathom Hall in Liverpool. They were advertised to appear one week later under that name, too, but that date was canceled. In early July 1960, they billed themselves as the Silver Beatles, before finally settling on simply the Beatles, around August 16, 1960. Credit for the name goes to both Sutcliffe and Lennon, though it is not certain just which one came up with the "ea" spelling. In more recent years, another theory as to the origins of the Beatles' name has been suggested by George Harrison and Beatles' press man Derek Taylor. In his second revised edition biography of the Beatles (1985), Hunter Davies intimated that Taylor told him the name was inspired by the film "The Wild One." A black leather-clad motorcycle gang is referred to as the Beetles. As Davies put it, "Stu Sutcliffe saw this film, heard the remark, and came back and suggested it to John as the new name for their group. John said yeah, but we'll spell it Beatles, as we're a beat group." Taylor repeated the story in his own Genesis book "Fifty Years Adrift."
Indeed, the film does show the Chino character referring to his gang as the Beetles. George Harrison, in a 1975 radio interview, agrees with this version of the name origin, and more than likely, he was the source for Taylor's re-telling of it. The following is an excerpt of an interview with George from radio's "Earth News." John used to say in his American accent "Where are we goin' fellas?" and we'd say "To the top Johnny!" And we used to do that as a laugh, but that was actually the Johnny, I suppose, from "The Wild Ones [sic]." Because, when Lee Marvin drives up with his motorcycle gang, and if my ears weren't tricking me, I could've sworn when Marlon Brando's talking to Lee Marvin, Lee Marvin's saying to him "Look Johnny, I think such-and-such, the Beetles think that you're such-and-such..." as if his motorcycle gang was called the Beetles. The story is repeated once more in Pauline Sutcliffe's "BackBeat," (1994) with a slight twist.
----------------------------- Bill Harry disputes the "Wild One" story in his "Ultimate Encyclopedia," because, as he claims, the film was banned in England until the late 1960's and none of the Beatles could have seen it by the time they came up with the name. If that is true, surely the Beatles had at least heard about the movie (after all, it was banned), and might have known the storyline, including the name of the motorcycle gang. That possibility, added to the fact that George, who was there, first told the story, makes it plausible. But, who knows for sure? Throughout the days of Beatlemania, and even before, the Beatles were asked "the question" many, many times. Some of their responses were caught on tape by various interviewers, and they are transcribed here.
----------------------------- October 4, 1963, from "Ready Steady Go!," with an appearance by Dusty Springfield.
----------------------------- Dec. 10, 1963, Doncaster. Included on 'ROUND THE WORLD and BEATLES TAPES VOL. II: EARLY BEATLEMANIA 1963-64 interview discs.
----------------------------- Included on THE BEATLES VOLUME II, and other interview discs.
----------------------------- A 1964 interview.
----------------------------- Feb. 10, 1964, Plaza Hotel in New York. Included on THE BEATLES TAPES VOL. II: EARLY BEATLEMANIA 1963-64 CD.
----------------------------- February 1964, in a phone interview, as it appears on the album THE AMERICAN TOUR WITH ED RUDY. Part of it is included in Geoffrey Giuliano's "The Lost Beatles Interviews" on page 16.
----------------------------- August 25, 1964, with Jim Steck. Included on HEAR THE BEATLES TELL ALL.
----------------------------- August 1971, in an interview with Peter McCabe, printed on page 89 in "John Lennon: For The Record," and later aired in the radio documentary "John Lennon: The Lost Tapes."
----------------------------- April 1990, in an interview with KTXQ-FM's Red Beard, Dallas Texas.
----------------------------- November 1991, in an interview with Bob Costas on "Later."
----------------------------- May 1997, in an interview with the New York Times concerning the title song of the "Flaming Pie" album.
--------------------------------- A comment from author and Beatle historian Bill Harry:
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