Alan Aldridge | The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (Unused Artwork) - Happiness Is A Warm Gun, c.1968

Alan Aldridge

The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (Unused Artwork) - Happiness Is A Warm Gun, c.1968

titled on image, collage with airbrush, unsigned, framed and glazed (305 x 180mm.)

This image created for The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics was likely deemed to have been too explicit at the time to have been used. The song, written by Lennon was released on the 1968 double album The Beatles ‘The White Album’. Lennon composed this lyric in three distinct sections which he referred to as “The Dirty Old Man”, “The Junkie” and “The Gunman”. His inspiration for the song title came from an article he saw in the May 1968 edition of the NRA’s publication American Rifleman. Lennon also commented that the lyrics were a double entendre for guns and his sexual desire for Yoko.

Alan Aldridge was a friend of the vendor and gave him his first job aged 17 as an illustrator in an advertising agency. This artwork was a gift from Aldridge in c. 1971 in lieu of outstanding fees.