Strawberry Fields Forever

The Beatles were amazing. We forget how good they were. It is quite usual now for them to be slagged off or side-lined. But they were exceptional and there has been nothing so phenomenal again. Their popularity sets them up to be knocked down.They reinvented themselves from a great Rock/Pop band into a real inventive, innovative Rock Band at the forefront of the British Underground. They never followed; they led. Whether it was electronic, Indian, poetry, tape-loops, backward tapes, different formats, instruments or sounds. They were at the forefront.

In the States we had the West Coast Acid Rock Scene. In London we had the Psychedelic Underground. They would both check out what the other was doing. The Beatles were always hip.

Strawberry Fields Forever was a Psychedelic masterpiece. It should have been on the Sgt Peppers album but was merely put out as a single. Most people thought it was all Lennon’s nonsense words – He was good at nonsense words. When you look at the lyrics there are lots of meaning in them.

We are used to hearing the full range now. Back in the sixties it was all new. I remember hearing it for the first time. There had been nothing like it! It was completely new.

“Strawberry Fields Forever”