When it’s all edited and ready for broadcast, CBS’s Beatles reunion show on February 9th will have interviews with some of the people who worked for Ed Sullivan on his show. And there are references to John Lennon and George Harrison. John’s son with Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, is in the audience. Dhani Harrison, son of George and Olivia, plays on one track with little fanfare.
But plenty of people are MIA and never mentioned in the special. The most glaring omission is Julian Lennon, John’s eldest son, a well known musician and photographer. “Hey Jude”– which is sung at the end of the show– was written by Paul McCartney for him when Julian was a little boy. Last November Julian released a very good new album and documentary that some press attention but quietly faded away. An appearance on the show would have been a nice way to support him.
Also missing was Geoff Emerick, the Beatles recording engineer who worked on all of their sessions. Emerick worked for producer George Martin and is credited with a lot of the interesting bits and pieces that made Beatles records so wonderful. Emerick lives in Los Angeles, has worked with Paul McCartney on many of his solo albums.
But sources say Emerick’s 2006 memoir– a really good read– was too candid for some of the inner circle. He dismissed a lot of George and Ringo’s work, and had unkind recollections of Yoko as she sat in on Beatles sessions. The price Emerick paid for his candid observations: no invite to the CBS taping on Sunday.
