Monday, November 22, 2010

The Beatles, I Think, Were In Dylan's Tree

The March 9, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone magazine had an article about the cover photograph of Bob Dylan's album, John Wesley Harding.  They said the photograph contained hidden images including the faces of The Beatles.  The tree directly behind Dylan when turned upside down has The Beatles faces in it.  John Berg, the man who took the photo for the cover, "acknowledged their presence" and "also spoke about the 'hand of God,' which he said was nestling along the right-hand side of the tree."
The album was released December 27, 1967.  The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album was released June 1, 1967 and their Magical Mystery Tour album was released November 27, 1967.  For all of the big-time denials of hidden images on the Beatles' albums, it's clear that Dylan was aware that the Beatles were hiding secrets on their albums and he followed suit.
As I said in my post of November 12th., Dylan met with Paul (and the other Beatles) extensively in May, 1966 and was obviously clued in to things happening to them.  He must have been told about problems in the group and he took this to heart as a poet and reflected it in at least one song, I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine.
So for all the nay-sayers who doubt hidden images and song allusions, check out the tree in Dylan's 1967 album.

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