Page 134 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

Birds of Different Feathers 125

directors. Jimi Hendrix was on my psychic board of directors. My pre-
vious boss was on my psychic board of directors. In fact, when I ran
into him and told him, he said, “I haven’t received any checks.” And I
replied, “Well, I’ve been sending you psychic wealth all these years.”

7
PLEASE, PLEASE COLLABORATE WITH ME

In the book The Beatles Anthology John Lennon talks about his devel-
opment of the song “Please, Please Me.” He says he was just trying to
write a Roy Orbison song. (If you sing this classic Beatles song aloud
or just hum the melody to yourself and you’re at all familiar with 1960s
rock ’n’ roll, you’ll recognize Roy Orbison’s sound right away.) As
Lennon was playing with the lyrics, there was something missing that
he wanted to bring to the song. He found what he was looking for in,
of all places, a Bing Crosby song with the words “please, please” in it.
Musicians and singers collaborate all the time when performing
one another’s material. Hendrix did Dylan’s “All Along the Watch-
tower.” Pavarotti, of course, does Puccini in many forms. Barbra
Streisand, although she has written some wonderful material, has also
collaborated with many great writers over the years, styling their
songs with her unique touch. Rap artists have taken collaboration to
an entirely new place with sampling.
You may recall a few years ago when the then three living Beatles
collaborated with the deceased John Lennon by adding their tracks to
his basement recordings of “Free as a Bird.” I had to laugh at the minor
uproar this recording caused. Many people took exception to the fab
three’s collaborative effort. California ex-governor Jerry Brown almost
blew a head gasket over it. Did he not recognize how Lennon himself
collaborated with people in the grave—Buddy Holly, for instance?
It’s not just in music. I’d say it is impossible for anyone on this
planet to get up in the morning and make it through a day without col-
laborating with some deceased soul. The question is, are you collabo-
rating with geniuses or mere mortals? If you’re doing it consciously,
it’s more likely to be the former.
❖

You can use the thoughts of other great people. You have the abil-
ity. All these thoughts become part of the public domain at a certain
point in time.