Happy 60th Pub Day to John Lennon's "In His Own Write"

Here's a peculiar 1960s TV clip of the Beatle reciting one of the poems in his book

I came across a post on Sunday from the John Lennon Twitter account (yes, I believe it’s authentic) commemorating the 60th anniversary of "In His Own Write," Lennon’s debut book published on March 23, 1964, in the UK.

Happy 60th Pub Day as in Happy 60th Anniversary, though the acknowledgement is belated. It would have been timelier on March 23, 2024.

The post featured a peculiar 1960s TV clip of The Writing Beatle (a publisher’s description back then) reciting “The Wrestling Dog,” which is in Lennon’s quirky book of poems, short stories, wordplay and illustrations.

I wanted to share the post here, but I didn’t think the tweeted video would play on Substack, so I went to YouTube and found the one-minute clip. Since 2013, it has 15,000 views at JustBeatlesVideos. It was unknown to me until Sunday.

Here it is:

Never mind that the YouTube poster misspelled “The Wrestling Dog.”

I was curious to see where this television appearance was made. The YouTuber who posted the video didn’t put it in context. The information I sought came through an unexpected place among my Google results: The Fox 107.7, a classic rock station in Brunswick, Ga.

Veteran American radio broadcaster Paul Meacham wrote a story for the 107.7 website in 2017 and the article gave me what I wanted to know.

Lennon did the reading in the pilot/first episode of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's BBC comedy show "Not Only ... But Also." This was recorded in November 1964 and aired in January 1965.

Norman Rossington, the British character actor who played Norm in The Beatles’ first film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” is also in the clip, and Cook and Moore are at the end of it.

The John Lennon tweet also included the words of “The Wrestling Dog” above the video, which was helpful as Lennon's delivery can be challenging to follow because of his offbeat language. Nevertheless, it's quite a captivating performance piece. Witty and engaging.

It’s amusing the way he slaps himself in the face, pays no attention to the repeated yelling in his right ear and gives thumbs up as he departs.

I’ve never bought “In His Own Write.” I’ve never read “In His Own Write.” I appreciate the artistry and creativity behind poetry, but it’s not my favorite type of literature.

When I was 12 years old, I saw copies of “In His Own Write” neatly arranged on a display stand in the book department upstairs at the Canal Street Maison Blanche store in New Orleans during our family shopping trips.

It fascinated me that my then-favorite Beatle wrote a book, but that was the extent of my interest.

“In His Own Write” was published in the US on April 27, 1964. The price was $2.50. I preferred my parents spend more than $2.50 buying me a Beatles album in the Maison Blanche record department, which was on the same floor as the books.

A UK first edition of “In His Own Write” goes for $71.59 plus $30.14 shipping at AbeBooks. It’s listed in good condition.

However, a combined edition of “In His Own Write” and “A Spaniard in the Works,” Lennon’s second book, is available for free at Kindle Unlimited.

Keep in mind you have to pay for Kindle Unlimited, so free isn’t free.

I’ll just stick with the YouTube clip. It’s free.