Vintage Vinyl

The Beatles with Billy Preston "Get Back"/"Don't Let me Down" Apple 2490 April 1969

Recorded in January 1969 during the nearly aborted Let it Be sessions, "Get Back" was released on April 7, 1969, and is noted as being the first time a new U.S. Beatles single was released in stereo. In their vast catalog of songs, only a handful of cities/towns were ever mentioned in their lyrics. In fact "The Ballad of John and Yoko" contains mentions of six (European) cities, more than all their other songs put together! Why the mention of Tucson, Arizona? Most likely, this was inspired by Paul McCartney's first wife, Linda Eastman who attended the UA where she studied art history and developed her interest in photography. Linda met Beatle Paul when she was in the U.K. on an assignment to take photographs of "Swinging Sixties" musicians in London. Note that 10 years after "Get Back" was released, the McCartney's purchased a 151-acre ranch in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains. Who then is Jojo? Quite possibly Joseph Melville See Jr., Linda's ex-husband. Or maybe Joanne LaPatrie, who became the wife of Denny Lane, a member of McCartney's group Wings. I remember hearing one of the KTKT jocks jokingly mention that the song was #1 in the jukebox at Jojo's, a cocktail lounge on 22nd. For this then-11-year-old boy, having your favorite band name your hometown on their new record was a thrill of a lifetime!

Lee Joseph grew up in Tucson. He's a DJ (Luxuriamusic.com), marketer of cool shit (Reverberations Media) and founder/CEO of internationally respected Dionysus Records, an indie that has long specialized in releasing super-rare music, and more. He came of age in the first wave of Tucson punk rock and is an expert on Tucson music. He now lives in California. Vintage Vinyl is a new, recurring addition to the Tucson Weekly.