I'm Not A Girl Who Misses Much Beatlemaniac

THE BEATLES at the ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE, 1963

“[In October 1963] The Beatles learned they would play the upcoming benefit show for the royal family. According to [Geoff] Emerick [the Beatles’ sound engineer], the band was very excited to play variety the show, as it was a clear sign they’d made it. And he recalled John plotting to tell a joke to shake up the party as soon as they booked the gig.

While adjusting a microphone, Emerick said he heard John work on his line about rattling jewelry. “Paul’s reply was a taunting ‘I dare ya!‘” Emerick wrote. When John indeed told his joke in front of the Queen Mother weeks later, Emerick wasn’t surprised.

“I heard afterward that Lennon kept winding Brian up backstage,” Emerick wrote. “Telling him that he was going to tell the audience to rattle their f*cking jewelry. Needless to say, Brian was absolutely terrified, pleading with John not to utter that word.”

In the end, John played it safe. George Harrison remembered thinking John had planned his joke well in advance. “I think he’d spent a bit of time thinking of what he could say,” George said in Anthology. “I don’t think it was spontaneous.”