34 Montagu Square, Marylebone

34 Montagu Square, Marylebone [ [http://www.beatlesnews.com/montagu.htm Story of Montagu Square] Retrieved: 16 November 2006 ] was the address of a London basement flat, owned by Ringo Starr of The Beatles during the mid-1960s. Its location is conveniently close to Abbey Road Studios, where the band recorded.

Starr leased the flat in 1965, before his marriage to Maureen Cox. Before long he and Maureen moved to a new home, Sunny Heights, outside London, but Starr chose to keep the lease. Paul McCartney installed recording equipment at one point, planning to use the place as a studio hideaway. Ian Sommerville installed two Revox reel-to-reel machines, and recorded William Burroughs. Miles. pp240] Sommerville had the idea that he was working exclusively for McCartney, and discouraged others hoping to record there. Miles. pp242] McCartney later gave up the flat and it remained empty until Ringo rented it to Jimi Hendrix, [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2006/10/06/hendrix_interview_feature.shtml Hendrix outside Montagu Place] bbc.co.uk: 6 October, 2006 ] in December 1966. Miles. pp242] Starr lent the flat to friends and other pop stars over the next few years, when they needed a place to stay in London. John Lennon's mother-in-law Lillian Powell stayed there, rather than at Kenwood, when she came to visit daughter Cynthia Powell.

When Lennon got together with Yoko Ono in 1968, he moved out of Kenwood and the two stayed at Montagu Square, for the next several months as the "White Album" was being made. Their experimental "Two Virgins" album had been recorded at Kenwood, but its notorious nude cover photos were taken at Montagu Square. Lennon also gave an early interview to "Rolling Stone", when a journalist visited the apartment.

Ono was pregnant during their stay, and the two were also in the throes of heroin addiction. In the autumn, the flat was raided by London's Drugs Squad, and police dogs discovered hashish on the premises. Both were arrested, and Lennon pled guilty to hashish possession, absolving Ono, who miscarried their unborn baby not long after.

After the police raid, the landlord sought an injunction against Starr, forbidding anyone but Starr or his family to live there, and for no music or instruments to be played. Starr appealed, and a compromise was reached; only Starr or a family member would live in the flat.

Nonetheless, Starr never used the place again, and sold his lease during 1969.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.beatlesnews.com/montagu.htm "The Ultimate Rock Pad"]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob41.html John Lennon's Homes]