When Klaus Voormann told me John Lennon was indeed wearing a fake
beard (see previous post) in the center of the cover, I thanked him for
answering a question that had plagued me since I was 15 years old. What
I didn't ask
was WHY was he wearing the beard?
Well thanks to Piet Schreuders, a man who routinely solves design mysteries
(like who designed the DVD logo - more about that another time), I now
know the complete story; the one Voormann neglected to share:
"After reading your posting on Klaus Voormann and his REVOLVER cover, I
thought you might be interested in this background info on John's fake
beard.
"As Klaus mentioned in Berlin, the photos he used for his collage were
almost all taken by Robert Freeman. Klaus had cut them from fan
magazines and even some earlier Beatle album covers. One of those fan
magazines was "Beatles (U.S.A.) Ltd.", the American Fan Club annual
booklet which was entirely designed by Freeman and filled with his
photos. On page 22 of the 1964 edition was the bearded John photo.
Freeman had taken this while visiting the Beatles in Bournemouth in
August 1963 -- his first visit with the Beatles, which also produced
his famous "With the Beatles" cover image.
He later re-published this photo in his book "Yesterday".
The fake beard must have been around the hotel room and dressing rooms
that week. I have pictures of John, Paul and George fooling around with
this same article. The other photos were taken by Leslie Bryce (for The
Beatles Book Monthly) and Photography 33."
|