#tony bramwell

“Everyone had their stories about him (john), in awe because he seemed to know so much about so many things and was almost fearless. Pete Shotton has his stories, Ivan Vaughan has his stories - we all had our stories. In later years when we grew close, John told me how he used to think he was going crazy. At home he said he would gaze into the mirror and ask when he wound become rich and famous. “Soon John, soon,” the mirror would seductively reply. The visions were huge and all-encompassing and instilled in John the absolute conviction of his own greatness. He often said he was different from the rest of us - probably from another planet. I used to sometimes see him starring into the mirror in dressing rooms when he combed his quiff and there was something different from about his expression. The other lads would preen and fix their hair without thought, like we all did, but John would seem to go into a trance. Then he’d shake himself out of it. He was like the Fonz before the Fonz existed. He could well have been psychic, or even the genius he was later thought to be, but to adults he was always just a pain in the arse at that time. He portrayed himself as a natural rebel, but I think he was quite unhappy. In fact, you could never really get close to John. Even when he was talking to you there was always a sense of isolation, a cutoff point behind which he didn’t go, and you didn’t go.

- Excerpt from Magical Mystery Tours: My Life with the Beatles by Tony Bramwell with Rosemary Kingsland