34 Montagu Square, Marylebone - Zapple and Hendrix

Zapple and Hendrix

McCartney rented the flat from Starr in 1966, and asked Sommerville to install recording equipment (including two Revox reel-to-reel tape machines); planning to use it as a demo studio, and for recordings of spoken-word albums. The house was not far from the Abbey Road studio where The Beatles recorded, and Jane Asher's parents' house at 57 Wimpole Street, London, where McCartney was living at the time. He recorded a demo version of "I'm Looking Through You" at Montagu Square in late March 1966, and worked on the composition of "Eleanor Rigby". Sommerville moved into the flat, even though it was supposed to only be used as a studio, but defended the move by stating that he had to be "on call at all times". Sommerville recorded Burroughs there, for Apple's Zapple label off-shoot, but discouraged other people who were interested, believing he was working for McCartney exclusively. During the time Sommerville was recording Burroughs, a friend of McCartney, Barry Miles, visited the apartment:

"Ian was in the strange position of playing host in Ringo's expensive apartment, fixing everyone drinks, fussing about, cautioning everyone not to lean against the green watermarked silk wallpaper in the sitting room".

McCartney later gave up the flat, and it remained empty until Starr sub-let it to Hendrix with Kathy Etchingham, and Chandler with Lotta Null, in December 1966, for £30 ($63) a month (£265.12—$451.27 today). Hendrix and Echingham lived on the lower-ground floor, and Hendrix composed "The Wind Cries Mary" there, after an argument with Echingham about her cooking skills. For three months, between 1966–67, Hendrix shared the apartment with Gordon Haskell, a bassist who played with the psychedelic band Les Fleur de Lys. Unfortunately, when Hendrix was under the effects of LSD, he threw whitewash over the walls, forcing Starr to evict him. Starr also lent the flat to other pop stars and friends over the next few years, when they needed a place to stay in London. Lennon's mother-in-law, Lillian Powell, stayed at Montagu Square rather than at the Lennons' home, Kenwood, in Weybridge, when she visited her daughter, Cynthia Lennon.