The inspiration to write the song was a 19th-century circus poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal, Rochdale, that Lennon purchased in an antique shop on 31 January 1967, while filming the promotional video for "Strawberry Fields Forever" in Sevenoaks, Kent.
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Before the start of the first take, Lennon sings the words "For the benefit of Mr. Kite!" in a joke accent, then Emerick announces, "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite! This is take 1." Lennon immediately responds, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", reinforcing his title preference from a phrase lifted intact from the original Pablo Fanque poster.
He was talent-spotted by Pablo Fanque, who The Beatles sing about in 'Mr Kite' – he was a famous black Yorkshire showman.
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Between 1865-1867, he was a drummer performing in a circus run by Pablo Fanque, the black English circus proprietor, and John Swallows.
Shotton also recalls Lennon squinting at the words of a Victorian-era poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal that hung in Lennon's music room at Kenwood while he worked out the tune for "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!".
Pablo Picasso | Pablo Neruda | Pablo Casals | Juan Pablo Montoya | Pablo Fanque | Pablo Milanés | Pablo Alborán | Pablo Escobar | Pablo Puyol | Pablo Palazuelo | Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso | San Pablo | Petey Pablo | Pablo Márquez | Pablo Cruise | Pablo Armando Fernández | Pablo | Augustus Pablo | Pablo Trapero | Pablo Sandoval | Pablo de Olavide University | Pablo Curatella Manes | Pablo Batalla | Luis de Pablo | Juan Pablo Bonet | Steve "Pablo" Davis | San Pablo Creek | Pablo Zalba Bidegain | Pablo Solón Romero | Pablo S. Gomez |
Pablo Fanque, the black circus equestrian and later circus owner, best known from his mention in The Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, worked in Ducrow's circus for some time.
In 1850 and 1851 Pablo Fanque, the popular black equestrian and circus owner (immortalised later in The Beatles' song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!) played to near-capacity Dublin crowds for weeks.
Batty was one of the most successful circus proprietors in Victorian England, and helped launch the careers of a number of leading Victorian circus personalities, such as Pablo Fanque, the versatile performer and later circus proprietor (best known today from his mention in The Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"), and W.F. Wallett, one of most celebrated clowns of the era.
Notable surviving monuments include those of circus proprietor Pablo Fanque (1796-1871), who was mentioned in the Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" from the LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and his wife Susannah Darby, and the 1892 Leeds Fire Brigade Memorial.