"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" - Clara-Belle the Calliope - (The Beatles)

Clara-Belle the Calliope spent the day, May 2, 2013, recording songs in Plainfield, NH. Beautifully played and selected by Professor Louie (A/K/A Aaron Hurwitz), invited guests enjoyed watching the proceedings.

The calliope was built in 1926 for Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus as their first air-driven calliope. Prior to this they used a steam-driven calliope. She was renamed "Clara-Belle" in honor of three children's entertainment related entities: Clarabell the Clown from "Howdy Doody" (originally portrayed by Bob Keeshan, who later went on to portray "Captain Kangaroo"); Clarabelle the Cow from Walt Disney cartoons; and from the animated show, "Thomas the Tank Engine", who towed two passenger cars, Annie and Clarabel.

"Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" was originally recorded for the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles. John Lennon wanted a circus-like, carnival feel to this song. Multiple recordings of taped fairground organs and calliope music were spliced together in an attempt to produce this request. After a great deal of experimentation, producer George Martin had his recording engineer Geoff Emerick chop the tape into pieces with scissors, throw them up in the air, and re-assemble them at random.

Lennon was originally inspired to write the song by a 19th century circus poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal, Rochdale, that he purchased in an antique shop on January 31, 1967, while filming video for "Strawberry Fields Forever".

For further information on Clara-Belle the Calliope please 'like' her on Facebook at:   / clarabellethecalliope