Beatles News

A so-called “dark day” for George Harrison led to the Quiet One of The Beatles writing one of his most brutal songs.

The track, which featured on his triple album, All Things Must Pass, has been interpreted as a knock at his former bandmates, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Though the pair were still working with Harrison at the time he wrote the song, it appears clear the words to Wah Wah are a chance for Harrison to channel his frustrations. Fans praised the Here Comes the Sun songwriter for his brutal honesty in both the song and a diary entry which has gone down as a legendary moment for the musician.

Studio session tensions bubbled over for Harrison during the Get Back rehearsals, prompting him to briefly quit the band. Ringo Starr had previously departed the band towards the end of The White Album recording but rejoined a short while later. Starr had felt he “wasn’t playing great” and that he was “an outsider” but after a holiday to Sardinia, he rejoined the band. Harrison’s departure from the Get Back sessions lasted five days and has since been immortalised in a diary entry.

Source: Ewan Gleadow/cultfollowing.co.uk

details

In the 1960s, The Beatles were enjoying No. 1 hits like candy. And on this day in 1967, they scored yet another No. 1 in the United States with a psychedelic pop jam. On this very day, March 18, 1967, The Beatles scored a hefty hit with “Penny Lane”. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on this day. It remained at the top for one week. “Penny Lane” would remain on the chart in some fashion for 10 weeks.

The song was released as a double A-side with “Strawberry Fields Forever”. That song ended up being a bit less popular in the United States than “Penny Lane”. “Strawberry Fields Forever” peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100.
The Origins of “Penny Lane”

“Penny Lane” was written by Paul McCartney. The tune makes some pretty direct references to where he and bandmates George Harrison and John Lennon grew up in Liverpool. The lane in question was a real place, a street in Liverpool that McCartney traversed often in his youth, as did two of his bandmates. “Penny Lane” is the most stark reference to the street. Though, Lennon had previously written the song “In My Life” with an original lyric th details

On the 10th of April 1970, Paul McCartney announced what had, by then, been falsely reported so many times as to seem almost impossible—The Beatles, the biggest band to ever do it, were finished.

Within a week, McCartney had released his first solo record. Before the year was out, all three of his former bandmates had done the same. And as of today, the solo Beatles have collectively produced around 85 albums, depending how you count.

That’s a lot to wade through for anyone keen on venturing beyond the band’s tight 12-studio-album discography. But wade we must, and there is so much to learn in our wading. These records are charged with parting barbs and so variously excellent and awful and bewildering. They contain not just a huge quantity of interesting and enjoyable music, but a path toward an understanding of what it was that made the band work as it did. Who was good at what? Who needed what from whom, whose instincts were balanced by whose, and what kinds of adventures might result from the removal of the structures of the band?

If you would like to know the answers to those questions and don’t want to listen through 82 albums to get them, you’re in luck. We’ve do details

Paul McCartney is putting on sale two performances in an intimate setting at Hollywood’s Fonda Theater for March 26-27. The appearances at the 1,200-capacity venue are his first shows since wrapping up an arena tour in November.

The concerts could just be one-offs, or a two-off, but the announcement does raise intrigue among McCartney fans that he may have something else up his sleeve, like an album reveal… although history does show that the man also just likes to play.

Registration for ticket offers began at 9 a.m. PT Tuesday morning. The link is through an AXS site here. At the webpage referenced, further information shows that registration will continue through 10 p.m. PT Wednesday night, with no preference given in how early or late anyone registers through the length of that window. Fans are allowed to register for both dates, and only one registration per show will be accepted. The limit is two tickets per customer and, of course, “registering does not guarantee ability to purchase.” “Selected” fans will be sent an invitation to purchase tickets, at an unspecified time.

Source: variety.com/Chris Willman

details

Thirty years ago, The Beatles expanded their historical archive with Anthology 2, a collection that revealed rare studio recordings, outtakes and live material from the most experimental years of The Beatles.

When The Beatles released “Anthology 2” on 18 March 1996, the album served as a remarkable continuation of the band’s ambitious archival project, offering a deeper look into one of the most transformative periods in the group’s career. Arriving as the second chapter in the multi-volume “Anthology” series, the release brought together rare recordings, alternate takes and live performances spanning sessions from the 1965 “Help!” era through to the creative build-up before the band’s 1968 trip to India.

Issued by Apple Records, “Anthology 2” followed the commercial success of “Anthology 1”, which had reignited global fascination with the band’s history only months earlier. Like its predecessor, the collection debuted at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, underlining the enduring commercial power of the band decades after their break-up. The album would eventually earn multi-platinum certification in the United States and chart details

A BEATLES drumhead used on their first US TV appearance has become one of the band’s most expensive pieces of memorabilia.

Drummer Ringo Starr used the bit of kit on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 as the Fab Four propelled themselves to global superstardom.  A Beatles drumhead played by Ringo Starr on their first US TV appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, above, has sold as one of the band’s priciest memorabilia.

It is also the most expensive item belonging to Sir Ringo to ever be flogged. Earlier in the auction, another drum kit used by the 85-year-old between 1963 and 1964 sold for £1,804,700. Other Beatles items to be sold during the auction include a Broadwood upright piano used by John Lennon when he wrote Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

It was estimated to fetch around £450,000, but instead sold for £2,448,968.  

Source: the-sun.com/Thomas Godfrey

Read More<<<

When it comes to naming children, some parents flip through baby books, consult family trees, and scroll through lists of the trendiest names of the year. There's tradition and trends, and then there's giving your child a piece of rock 'n' roll history mere seconds after they’re born.

The Beatles not only wrote hits that remain playlist staples decades after they were recorded, but also gave fans a handful of potential baby names that stand out from the crowd. From the dreamy "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" to the introspective "Eleanor Rigby," these titles offer a fine-tuned selection of ideas and give each name a backstory. Why keep them in your head when they can be immortalized on a birth certificate?

Whether you want your child to be named after a song that's classic, poetic, or a bit unconventional, there's a Beatles-inspired name just waiting to make your kid the coolest in the classroom.

Let’s explore 11 iconic Fab Four tracks you can name your children after.

"Lovely Rita"
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"Hey Jude"
"Michelle"
"Doctor Robert"
"Julia"
"Martha My Dear"
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
"Sexy Sadie"
details

Fresh reflections on The Beatles' final 1966 U.S. tour highlight the chaos that shifted them from stage icons to studio revolutionaries, amid ongoing tribute events in 2026.

The Beatles' legacy continues to resonate in 2026, with recent discussions spotlighting their tumultuous final tour in 1966 that effectively ended their days as a live performing act. This pivotal moment, marked by controversies from John Lennon's comments to dangerous encounters abroad, redirected the band's focus to groundbreaking studio work. Fans and historians alike are revisiting these events as tribute shows and special events keep the Fab Four's spirit alive today.

In March 2026, The Beatles remain a cultural force, with online conversations reigniting interest in their history. A prominent article details the 'infamous' 1966 tour that spelled the end of their live performances, drawing parallels to how rare it is today for major acts to abandon the stage entirely. This reflection coincides with upcoming tribute events, signaling sustained global fascination more than five decades after their breakup.

Source: ad-hoc-news.de

details

No one is as acutely aware of how fame can create wild, true rumors about someone quite like a fellow rock star. Yet, even these iconic musicians sometimes buy into the myths and rumors about their contemporaries. John Lennon and Frank Zappa certainly had plenty of preconceptions about the other, all of which they (mostly) disproved during their first fateful meeting in a hotel apartment in 1971.

Lennon met Zappa by tagging along with Village Voice columnist and broadcaster Howard Smith, who previously told the ex-Beatle he was interviewing Zappa later that day. The “Imagine” singer told Smith how much he revered Zappa, saying, “He’s at least trying to do something different with the form,” per Barry Miles’ Zappa: A Biography.

“I’m very impressed by the kind of discipline he can bring to rock that nobody else can seem to bring to it,” Lennon told Smith. However, not even Zappa’s impressive rock ‘n’ roll discipline was enough to dispel some of the rumors Lennon believed about him.
John Lennon and Frank Zappa Proved Each Other Wrong Simultaneously

In Barry Miles’ biography of Frank Zappa, he described the Mothers of Inventio details

Paul McCartneyneeds no introduction—but he deserves one anyway.

Born in Liverpool in 1942, McCartney went from a working-class kid who traded his father's trumpet for a guitar to one half of the most successful songwriting partnership in music history. (No big deal or anything.) As a founding member of The Beatles, he helped reshape popular music, culture and an entire generation. But here's the thing about Paul McCartney—his story didn't end when The Beatles broke up in 1970. In fact, you could say that's when he really got started!

The "Live and Let Die" singer formed Wings, launched his solo career, won 19 Grammys, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II—and that's not all. At the tender age of 72, he scored a top-five hit with Rihannaand Kanye Weston "FourFiveSeconds" and broke the record for the longest gap between Billboard top-ten singles in history—29 years, if you're curious!

In November 2025, he closed out his Got Back tour—playing nearly three-hour shows to sold-out stadiums at 83 years old. He's lost bandmates, buried the love of his life and weathered one of the most public breakups in music history. And through it all, he's never stopped creating, never stopped perf details

There are a handful of Beatles tunes that feature one or some of the band’s members. “Within You Without You” is one such song that features only one Beatle: George Harrison. Released on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, this song doesn’t feature the other three members of The Beatles. But it does feature some noteworthy session talent. And they all gathered at Abbey Road Studios on this day, March 15, to record this underrated classic.

“Within You Without You” was written by George Harrison, at the time a rare contribution from the guitarist. Traditionally, members Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the main songwriters of the group. And it was clear that the band had been sleeping on Harrison’s talents.

“Within You Without You” was Harrison’s second composition that was in the Indian classical style. It was something that he had become inspired by following a 1966 stay in India to learn sitar from Ravi Shankar. The song was recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road Studio 2 in London without the other Beatles. But Harrison didn’t record it alone.

You’ll hear quite a bit of talent on this psychedelic raga rock classic. details

The return of our Behind the Curtain column continues with another anecdote from longtime music journalist and writer Steve Rosen — recalling his encounters with a big-time meet-up with George Harrison at Warner Bros. Records, circa 1974.

The day was a California postcard. A startling and fiery sun perched high above in a crystal blue sky, blazed down in diamonds of promise. It was an essential day, a meteorological marvel meant to be stored away for future reference. A day by which all other days would be measured.

“Dude,” a friend would ask the following week, “was last Tuesday the best day ever?”

You tell him it was — a sui generis day like no other. Even if the day itself was all you’d been given, that would have been gift enough. But the weather was merely an underscoring for the occasion, a gilded and golden opportunity to spend an hour with George Harrison. You would forget how to breathe before you forgot this. Simply saying the words out loud was enough to render you stupid all over again because the event was cloaked in so much magic and improbability. You muttered the words to yourself in a hushed and reverential whisper: “I hung out with a Beatl details

In February of 1968, the Beatles gathered in EMI Studios to shoot a pair of videos for their song “Lady Madonna,” their first single of that year.

Back then, of course, they weren’t called “music videos,” but instead “promotional films.” And as was often the case with the Beatles, the original plan turned into something else.

At first, the idea was to film the band miming to “Lady Madonna,” but ultimately the Beatles decided to use the studio time to record an entirely different song, “Hey Bulldog.” This is why, if you pay close attention to the video, you’ll notice the images of the band playing and singing does not match up with the lyrics and instrumentation of “Lady Madonna.”

“The group were on a roll as far as recording was concerned and didn’t want to lose a day,” film producer Denis O’Dell recalled in his book At the Apple’s Core: The Beatles From the Inside. “Rather than mime for the promo film, they asked us instead to film them recording a new song they were working on at the time. The song, a forceful rock number written predominantly by John, was called ‘Hey Bulldog,&r details

Nowadays, a studio-only artist is pretty much unheard of. It’s a shock when a musician decides not to perform live anymore, but that career trajectory was more common in decades past. The most famous outfit to ever do this was The Beatles. The band gave up life on the road long before they actually decided to split up. This decision was the result of many factors, but notably, a disastrous final tour that was destined to fail before they even played the first date. From dictators to fiery protests, one particular tour spelled the end of The Beatles’ career as a live band.

 Before The Beatles’ final tour, the band had already racked up a fair amount of controversy. Between John Lennon’s “More popular than Jesus” comments and an angry encounter with President Marcos from the Philippines, the band wasn’t situated to have a smooth run when they entered into their 1966 U.S. tour.

A trip to the Philippines prior to the tour’s start set the band up for disaster. The Beatles were supposed to meet Marcos’ wife but opted to take a day off instead. This angered the leader and ultimately sparked a mob outside the show they were set to play that day. Though they deli details

On March 9, 1966, the Beach Boys began recording their infamous single "God Only Knows" as the opener to the second side of their critically acclaimed album Pet Sounds.

The song was an immediate hit upon release, with many influential artists praising the simple songwriting and effective musicianship. Paul McCartney of the Beatles has frequently called it the best song ever written.
'God Only Knows' Marked A New Era for The Beach Boys

One of the countless reasons that Pet Sounds is so frequently cited as the greatest album ever recorded is that it was so foundationally different from anything the Beach Boys had released before. While songs like "Surfin' U.S.A." had cemented them as icons of lighthearted "surf rock", Pet Sounds proved that frontman Brian Wilson was capable of much more.

"God Only Knows" is a perfect example of the vulnerable, tender songwriting that's on display throughout Pet Sounds. It's an incredibly simple love song on the surface, with lyrics that discuss the narrator's pure love and adoration of their partner—it's not trying to be experimental or edgy, and that's what made it so refreshing.

Source: aol.com/Jack Walters

details