The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was watching the promo clip for the song "Real Love" by The Beatles (or John Lennon if you like) and I noticed that there is footage of Mike with John and Paul in Rishikesh! Just thought I'd point it out for those interested. It's only very brief - it's about 2 and half minutes into the clip. Anyway, it made me wonder, is there more footage like this that appears anywhere else? I know that somewhere I have seen footage of Rishikesh from that time but I can't remember if Mike appears in it or not. Also, does anyone have any photos of Mike in Rishikesh? I have one or two myself somewhere but surely there are plenty of photos from that trip? In particular I'd love to see some photos of Mike with any of the Beatles.

In The Beatles anothology book, there's a photo of Mike and George, but i don't have it on me so can't scan it in :(

I think there's footage on the Anthology doc.

There's gotta be more, with the Happy Birthday Michael Love (that Wolfman Jack did)....wait, that mind have been a radio thing...dang, I cant remember

Is it the real Mike, pre-death, or the new Mike?

John's thoughts : if I ignore him he'll get the idea

George's thoughts : oh god please shut up, please shut up, please shut up

Mike's thoughts : hell yeah, I'm with the Beatles  8)

Mike has talked about being there with The Beatles....but has any Beatle ever spoken on the record about being there with Mike Love?

Here is another one.


(http://media.nowpublic.net/images//41/1/411513c0b3a7a803f8923282f77c645c.jpg)

I wonder which of these is the right direction?

(http://thighswideshut.org/images/music/beatles/beatles_in_india_lrg.jpg)

I may be wrong, but I think the first one is right.

If one is to believe him, and take into account the no doubt utterly drunken state in which this conservation occured, Van Dyke has claimed that John and Paul thought Mike was 'a jerk'. Paul has also bemusedly chatted about the amount of 'contraband' the Lovester had on him.....

Paul mentioned that he liked him in the book he did with Barry Miles.

I feel a little bad for Mike when I see these pictures. I feel that his intentions in going to India to stay with Maharishi were very pure and, after all, Mike is human. It's very likely, I think, that just wanted to fit in and be accepted in the scene there. Which he probably was, but comments like that one from Van Dyke saying that the Beatles thought him a jerk, etc... that's just mean, really. Especially considering the context. I doubt Mike was a jerk there. I'm surprised to hear about this "contraband". I guess you mean drugs? Hmm. It's not like the Beatles didn't bring tons of drugs there anyway. That's why they left, because Maharishi was against drugs and their use of drugs in his space.

Mike always speaks fondly of his trip there. Actually, when I see him talk about it I feel really touched. I can see the deep sincerity there, Mike letting his guard down for a bit, chilling on the sarcastic personality, showing his real heart.

Does anyone here know Mike personally? Despite what everyone says I bet he's a beautiful loving person to be friends with.

It seems that George and John are enjoying Mike's company in that picture

You are right hypehat, there is a picture of George & Mike in the Anthology book! I can't believe I didn't think to check that before! There is actually another picture in there as well. I have a scanner so I will scan them in and post them up when I get the chance. And Aegir, when I was going through the Beatles Anthology book before the picture appeared as you posted it.


Thanks for that Christian. I know I've seen that picture somewhere before but I'm not sure where so thanks for posting it! :)

Actually, not drugs - things like cameras, film, cigarettes, sweets et al which he sold off to his fellow campers.... hence the inverted commas. For the life of me, however, i can't remember where i read it....

Always out to make a buck!

I read that too somewhere. I believe it even said he smuggled in alcohol as well and was selling it for $. Maybe it was in the Anthology book? I don't have mine here. Typical capitalist Mike.  ::)

There is more home movie stuff available in the "rare" Beatles dvds.  ;)

Several years ago I had the opportunity to meet Paul Saltzman, the only official photographer present at Rishikesh. I was fortunate to speak with him while visiting a Cleveland Beatles convention held at the Nautica Complex by the river.

He was seated at a booth along with his daughter, and displayed some amazing photos from the event. You can see the excellent slide show here:

http://www.thebeatlesinindia.com/TBII_Images/

While I was enjoying viewing his collection we got to talking. I then asked him - "hey...did you meet Mike Love?"

His daughter instantly started laughing, and Paul kind of leaned forward and told me a story.

Apparently, when he got to Rishikesh there was a lot of networking going on, people introducing themselves and generally being caught up in the 'celebrity' of the moment. Saltzman was approached by Mike, who assumed that he must be a musician in some hipster band so he took great effort to introduce himself and welcome Paul as 'one of the gang.' Saltzman told Mike that he wasn't a musician - simply a photographer and a great fan of the 60's music scene.

At that moment, Mike said 'oh'...and abruptly turned around and walked off. He never spoke to Saltzman for the duration of the trip!  :lol

I only relate this because it reminded me of that famous meeting between Mike and Chuck Negron in the studio, where Chuck compliments him on his jacket, only to be told 'yeah, if you work real hard maybe one day you'll be able to afford one.'

I'm just saying...you can tell a lot about a guy in how he relates to the hoi palloi.  8)

Saltzman was laughing when he told me the story, and we got a good chuckle out of it. Everyone else at the ashram was friendly and chilling with the young photographer, with one notable exception  ;D

Wow. Great story to read as I am listening to "Cry Baby Cry" from the mono box set by coincidence. Brother, can you take me back from where I came from? Brother, can you take me back?

Sorry, just typing what I'm hearing and now I am in Revolution 9 territory...

How have I never seen that before, great picture.

I don't believe the Van Dyke quote, I'd say Mike and The Beatles got along just fine.

Well, I take it with a pretty large lump of salt. John and VDP were probably both incredibly drunk at the time, unless they hung out before the 'lost weekend'. I don't doubt that John and Paul said it, but i doubt if it was true.... if that makes sense.

The Beatles thought Mike was a joke. That's a fact. They've never quite insulted him, but it's clear that none of them thought he was all that.

And I know that rubs that neo-Mike supporters the wrong way, but they simply saw him as a hustler. And -- from the sound of it -- that's what he was.

John Lennon said a lot of nasty things about many people, including his own bandmates.  I'm sure that he and the other Beatles were no saints.  Mike Love a hustler, no.  Maybe a hustler in the sense that he worked hard to have continued success.  Yoko Ono strikes me as a hustler.

This first one isn't great but here it is anyway:

(http://i38.tinypic.com/ejzj0o.jpg)

And here is the one with George:

(http://i36.tinypic.com/ftmpz6.png)

Never mind that Van Dyke magically remembered it AFTER getting very pissed off about his portrait in American Family. And at the same time as his 'insult Mike Love' web contest. What about some context?  :-\

It's no secret that Lennon could be a real aresehole, it's just not pc to admit it.  On the other hand, we all know Mike's one and we love him all the more...

Mike: It should go, "Well, the Ukraine girls really knock me out, They leave the West behind"

 ;D

Interesting thread, and nice photo... Can't identify everyone there though...

I believe along with The Beatles travelled their 'wives and girlfriends'...

Anyone any ideas who accompanied Mike on his trip/stay in India?

I vauguely recall some article where Mike explains that he and his girlfriend were educated in India with respect to being vegetarians... Who would that girlfriend be...?

That's weird, Mike was still married to Suzanne when he went to India.

It's just a vague recollection, although I'm pretty sure the article had 'girlfriend' and not 'wife'...

Could have been a mistake/I could have been mistaken I suppose?  ???

Anyone know if Suzanne travelled to India then?

It's certainly possible that Mike had a girlfriend while still married to Suzanne. It doesn't seem like anyone is with Mike in that group photo, though.

Not even close. The Beatles left because they found out that the Maharishi was having a relationship with one of the women that came along for the trip.

I'm asking a question more than stating a reason; no Beatles' historian here, but....didn't Ringo leave because he got very ill on the food; his stomach/system couldn't handle what they were cooking? And, I thought Paul had stated something to the effect that he got out of the experience everything he needed and didn't see a need to continue. Also, and I'm not sure, but wasn't it Brian Epstein's death that prompted John and George to leave?

They were all angry with the Maharishi, but I think it was mainly John. I think he was the one who convinced George to go back to london with him.

Ringo liked it there but left early because he was allergic to everything or something like that. Paul had decided beforehand to stay one month and that's what he did. Epstein died the year before while they were meeting the Maharishi for the first time in Wales. George had already decided to leave the troop because they were going to another city and he wanted to go to somewhere else. He later on denied the rumours about Maharishi 'raping' some American Girl. John wanted a closure to his experience there and came back to London throwing accusations and writing Sexy Sadie.

I think the only one angry with the Naharishi was John. Ringo, Paul and George had some nice things to say about the guy in the Anthology book.

I'm sorry, I forgot you snuck there with them hiding inside John's earlobe. My mistake.

A friend of Maharishi's said the drugs thing, and I'd probably believe them over the whole molesting thing. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine the Beatles going to India and spending their time tripping balls. Sure, they might've done "meditation" but who's to say they weren't on drugs at the time?

and if the molestation thing wasn't a lie the Beets made up then I think I agree with the other theory that their manager or someone else started the rumor to get them out of there ... maybe they were too into Maharishi and considering abandoning their careers to continue their trip in India with Brown Jesus and someone needed to get them back home

Yeah, that and the hundreds of contemporary interviews with John himself. Sounds real unlikely.
Plus, i know what you're going to say next, and yes,  John changed his story on a lot of things over the years, but funnily enough, not the whole Rishikesh business. Could that possibly mean that, regardless whether someone was molested or not, he left for precisely the reason he's said he did for all these years? Surely not!

This doesn't discredit the idea that the rumor was started by someone else i.e., having not really happened and that John bought it and stuck to the story he bought. Maharishi's probably too busy sticking it to cosmic yoginis than feeling up ugly tourists.

Looks like Donovan in the middle, and Mia Farrow on the far right. Or maybe that was Mia in the middle next to Donavan...I'm not 100% sure.

I bet Donovan ruined that whole trip with his guitar. What a goofy human being he is. Hey Donovan, tell us the story about John meditating again. Pleeeeeeeease.

I think the most overplayed Donovan story is the one he tells about "Hurdy Gurdy Man", about how Jimmy Page (who didn't even actually play on the song) was supposed to be a short guitar solo, but he just kept on playing and playing and playing, this forcing Donovan to remove the verse from the song that George Harrison wrote. Donovan also claims that John Bonham and John Paul Jones played on the track (JPJ is true, Bonham is not), and that "Hurdy Gurdy Man" was part of the reason Led Zeppelin formed.

What's wrong with Donovan?

He belongs to a soon-to-be-extinct race of Elves who delight in stealing change out of the purses and pocket books of old ladies.

Thank you.  :)

according to John Toblers 1977 book on the Beach Boys, which shows a picture from the same photo shoot (albeit mirrorred), from left to right:

Cynthia Lennon, Jane Asher, Macca, Donovan, Mia Farrow, George H., the Maharishi, ML, John L, and Patti Boyd.

I'm not Donovan afficianado, but unless he's left-handed, this image is reversed.

I believe that the person in white standing next to him is Paul Mccartney. In which case you're correct....the hair is parted incorrectly.

The reason John and George are purported to have left is because Maharishi had been indulging in pleasures of the flesh; however, I have never heard it insinuated that the Maharishi was molesting or raping anybody. The fact that the three then-surviving Beatles endorsed Maharishi's Natural Law Party circa 1993, as well as the recent Paul-Ringo reunion for David Lynch's TM foundation, demonstrate the present attitude of the Beatles towards TM.

It's also worth noting that the allegations of sexual impropriety were instigated by "Magic Alex" Mardas, who had been using the Beatles as his personal bank account, and resented the potential control that the Maharishi could exercise. He was whispering in John's ear.

To elaborate, George was very clear in the Anthology book that Maharishi never did anything...called it BS. Paul, George and Ringo did support the Natural Law party but Paul refused to run for a seat Parliament with the other two...called it ridiculous. He said Olivia eventually convinced George that it was ridiculous.

I could completely see Magic Alex whispering in John's ear and John getting disillusioned. Anyone who knows John knows he was an easy con.

Per Mike, for some reason I always believed he wrote Bungalow Bill about Mike.