John Lennon - June 1980, The Bermuda Tapes Part 7

This is part 46 of my series on John's home demos. To understand the abbreviations I use in the description, please refer to the original video in the series. The next few videos will all be from John's trip to Bermuda where he claims he wrote Double Fantasy in three weeks. But it is apparent that most of the songs were finished before Double Fantasy and that he merely refined them to the songs we know and love today in Bermuda. These were all recorded at Villa Undercliffe which is located just outside of Bermuda's capital, Hamilton. John chose Villa Undercliffe because it had a piano and it was secluded. The last thing he wanted was for people to know he was on the small island of Bermuda. He recorded most of these demos late at night and early in the morning before the sun came up:

Watching the Wheels, unknown take (June 27th, 1980, Villa Undercliffe, Bermuda -- If you listen closely to this track, you can hear Yoko in the background. John was still undecided on how the final composition of Watching the Wheels would go, but when he gave Jack Douglas copies of the Bermuda tapes he included a piano version and an acoustic version and they decided to make it based around the piano.

Serve Yourself, unknown take (June 27th, 1980, Villa Undercliffe, Bermuda) -- This was initially available in bootleg circles, but it made a slightly different appearence on John's anthology.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• john
• lennon
• sean
• yoko
• ono
• the
• beatles
• julian

[shpeke]

Oh kewl! Whats the name of it and where can i get it?

Thanks for the info also!!

[NeilFraudstrong]

@shpeke

I always keep detailed information in the video description which lists the tracks being used in a given video.

[comedycentral70s]

@ChiroQuacker yoko said she only have the baby if john became a house-husband

[notpeterhansen]

Such a great tape from an unreal session!

I think Lennon had mixed emotions about songs like Serve Yourself, Steel & Glass and How Do You Sleep? - he meant what he was saying, but it was not a pure emotion, but a result of jealousy rooted in a deep seated insecurity. I think it's all good though, he was a beautiful guy that did beautiful things.

[flibben2]

so many songs are better in their raw, unpolished version. Another good example is George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass"(IMHO, of course).

[TheMrwilliams94]

john lennon can sooooooo funnnnnny Haaaaaaaaaa

[rios141622]

@ChiroQuacker hahah hahahahaha he got to you

[ChiroQuacker]

john lennon was rich...and he was lazy..sitting around that apartment in manhattan 24/7 would drive me nuts...trust me that had nannys and house hold help...no real man stays home with a kid all day..it is not normal and i dont believe most of the bullshit they make up about his dakota years..he was a friggin nut hermit and taking loads of dope..i have seen pics of him from '79-'80 and he looks like a shriveled up old man...

[movescamp8]

These Bermuda Tapes blow me away! I love the acoustic version of Watching The Wheels. Thank you for posting all these!

[Tidsch]

This is a great version of the song. John Dylan Lennon.