There's a special piece of Beatles memorabilia up for sale ... handwritten lyrics to a classic song from the 'White Album' scribbled by George Harrison and Ringo Starr!!!
The lyrics to George's signature song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are penned on the back of a studio recording sheet, and it's going up for sale through the memorabilia company Moments in Time -- and they're hawking this slice of Beatles history for $195,000.
It's pretty cool ... the lyric sheet is a working draft used during the hit song's recording way back in 1968 at EMI Studios in London.
George started the top of the sheet by writing, "I Look at You all see the love there thats sleeping -- While my guitar gently weeps" and continued at the bottom with, "While my Guitar Gently weeps as I'm sitting here doing nothing but aging still my guitar G W."
All the writing in between is scribbled by Ringo ... including an effort to work out a misspelling on the side of the sheet.
Source: tmz.com
detailsThe longtime friendship between Bob Dylan and The Beatles’ own George Harrison is a long one deeply entrenched in the joy of one another’s creativity. In fact, in 1992, Dylan would be the major reason for Harrison to perform for what would be one of the last times.
The legendary Quiet Beatle had been out from underneath the large shadow the Fab Four had cast for a few years now. His iconic album All Things Must Pass had ascertained Harrison his legendary status on his solo work alone but, despite all his experience, Harrison was never a big fan of touring after his 1974 tour.
The pain of that tour with Ravi Shankar had clearly landed quite heavily on Harrison and for many years, despite commercial success like his 1987 record Cloud Nine, the Quiet Beatle was, for the main part, remaining quiet.
Yet in 1990 something seemed to change, Harrison looked as if he gearing up for a tour of his own, for the first time since 1974. After sharing the stage in Los Angeles in 1990, Harrison, to seemingly dip his toe into the touring water, joined the legendary Eric Clapton for a joint tour of Japan, the next year.
Source: Jack Whatley/faroutmagazine.co.uk
There are a lot of ‘almost’ moments in rock and roll history, one that has always hung heavily over our heads was the very real moment Saturday Night Live nearly reunited The Beatles, had John Lennon and Paul McCartney been bothered to get up from watching it on TV.
In the iconic first series of ‘Saturday Night Live’ – America’s home of alternative weekend hilarity – show’s legendary producer, Lorne Michaels set himself a fairly big challenge: to reunite The Beatles. He started as any SNL act would, with a piece direct to camera.
Whether Michaels was performing with the real intent of reuniting the most enigmatic songwriting partnership to have ever existed in Lennon and McCartney, or he was just doing a bit, he shared the sentiment of a nation. Michaels talks directly to the camera about how The Beatles had affected so many lives, “In my book, The Beatles are the best thing that ever happened to music. It goes even deeper than that — you’re not just a musical group, you’re a part of us. We grew up with you.”
Source: faroutmagazine.co.uk
The Beatles are some of the most widely discussed people of all time. It feels like every time John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr tied their shoes has been thoroughly documented. However, one Beatles song has remained hidden from the public for decades. Here’s what we know about the lost Beatles track “Carnival of Light.”
Of the Beatles, John is often regarded as the avant-gardist. Paul, meanwhile, is known for making more conventional music. However, The Guardian reports Paul tried his hand at experimental music with a song called “Carnival of Light.”
Barry Miles asked his friend Paul to compose music for an electronic music festival called the Million Volt Light and Sound Rave. The festival was held in 1967 at the Roundhouse Theatre in London. Little did Miles know Paul would produce one of the great pieces of rock esoterica.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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There have been some incredibly famous music stars over the years from Elvis Presley to Freddie Mercury. And, of course, surviving Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney has had to deal with the highs and lows of fame for almost 60 years. In a new interview, he revealed how he tries to put fans at ease when meeting him, but also revealed which musician he still gets nervous around himself.
Speaking with The Penguin Podcast last month, the 77-year-old said: “If I had to interview someone famous tomorrow, I’d be like thinking about it all night and all morning, ‘oh my god what am I gonna do?’
“And I imagine that’s what they’re going through and normally you can see this bit of fear in the eyes or there’s shaking.
“So I like to put people at ease and say, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter [about calling me Sir Paul], I’m just some guy.’
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
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The Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road has been named the US’s biggest-selling vinyl LP of the 2010s, shifting more than 558,000 copies. The Top 10, compiled by Nielsen Music, is comprised almost entirely of old albums, from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (2), Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend (4) and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (9).
The only 21st-century releases on the list are Amy Winehouse’s 2006 album Back to Black (5) and Lana Del Rey’s 2011 debut Born to Die (10), the only original album from the 2010s to chart. The soundtrack to Marvel’s first Guardians of the Galaxy film, released in 2014, placed third with 367,000 sales, but features solely music released between 1968 and 1979.
Expanded allegations of child sex abuse by Michael Jackson do not appear to have affected his sales: Thriller placed sixth, selling with more than 334,000 copies.
Abbey Road also topped vinyl sales for 2019 in the US, thanks to an elaborate box set reissue to mark its 50th anniversary.
Source: Laura Snapes/theguardian.com
The Fab Four grew up in Liverpool together but had drastically different family lives. In an interview with The Penguin Podcast last month, Paul McCartney spoke of his comfortable upbringing compared to John Lennon’s. The Beatles star admitted: “I was very lucky. I had a very lovely family in Liverpool.”
The 77-year-old added: “And I can’t remember any aggro. I mean how lucky is that?
“I thought everyone had that kind of a family.”
However, it was when he met John Lennon that he discovered his future bandmate had a much harder time.
The young musician had lost his mother, while his father had left at a very early age.
Source: express.co.uk
detailsIn 1965, The Beatles started on a new path. After racking up No. 1 hits with songs like “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You” in ’64, the Fab Four began digging deeper. John Lennon, resolving to turn the lens on himself, had his most introspective moment to that point with “Help.”
Though he charted a path in a different direction, Paul McCartney was also growing rapidly as a songwriter. After delivering the masterpiece “Yesterday,” he followed with more clever work like “Drive My Car” and “You Won’t See” me on Rubber Soul (released later in ’65).
By then, John was turning out classics like the sitar-infused “Norwegian Wood” as well as “Nowhere Man” and “Girl.” To George Harrison, the prospect of matching this work must have been daunting. He didn’t have someone to bounce ideas off of and had little experience writing on his own.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsOne of the world’s most gifted songwriters of all time, Paul McCartney has been involved in some of the most popular and beloved music the modern world has ever known. But which one of The Beatles’ extensive back catalogue was his favourite?
In a recently unearthed interview, thanks to CBS, that question has now been answered. The star, usually very coy about picking his favourite songs, was talking to Scott Muni, a legendary broadcaster for WNEW in New York City, about his then-new song ‘We All Stand Together’ back in 1984.
The singer was promoting the track, which featured in the short animated film Rupert and the Frog Song and was credited to Paul McCartney And The Frog Chorus, when Muni hit him with the age-old question, what is your favourite Beatles song?
Source: faroutmagazine.co.uk
detailsIf you were at Paul McCartney’s 1969 marriage to Linda Eastman, you’d have noticed someone conspicuously missing — John Lennon. Actually, considering none of Paul’s Beatles bandmates attended, maybe John’s absence wasn’t so surprising.
About a week later, it was John’s turn to tie the knot with Yoko Ono. (They did so in Gibraltar.) Because of the runaway nature of John and Yoko’s nuptials, you didn’t find Paul (or anyone else) in attendance there, either.
After John and Yoko had their marriage certificate, they headed to the Amsterdam Hilton to stage their first “bed-in for peace.” If you’ve heard “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” you know most of this story.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsJohn Lennon’s departure from The Beatles split the band and rocked fans all around the world in 1970. The break-up came shortly after the Imagine hitmaker tied the knot with Yoko Ono, with the avant-garde artist bearing the brunt of the blame from The Beatles’ fanbase. The band dissolved following the release of their final album, Let It Be, and Abbey Road, having cemented their place in rock ’n’ roll history.
The split was far from amicable, sparking a feud between Lennon and his former bandmate Paul McCartney, during which they exchanged jibes publicly through the medium of their solo songs.
Later, however, they reconciled and reignited their firm friendship, which dated back to their schooldays.
Many whispers about a potential reunion circulated over the years, particularly in the latter half of the ‘70s, but it never transpired.
Source: Minnie Wright/express.co.uk
detailsThe Walrus himself, Sir Paul McCartney, was recently interviewed by BBC Radio 4’s Sarah Montague. When Montague took McCartney to task over Coldplay’s recent decision to mercifully stop touring due to their awareness of the band’s own “carbon footprint”, McCartney reassured Sarah that he has no plans to do the same. Paul McCarney ‘refuses’ listening to John Lennon songs.
“I am aware of [his carbon footprint], and you do your best. But, it is very difficult if you’re going to tour. I AM going to go on tour in America. You can’t say… ‘we’ll go by Greyhound Bus,’ because that’s just as bad! We certainly can’t just bike our way around. It’s a reality, you just have to do it, and plant a lot of trees… that’s kind of how I offset it, is by doing things that will make up for it. If I tour, that’s going to involve travel, which is going to involve a carbon footprint.”
Source: Mike Mazzarone/alternativenation.net
detailsAny Beatles fan looking for a way to spend their Christmas cash might consider buying the latest book about the band.
Kenneth Womack’s “Solid State: The Story of ‘Abbey Road’ and the End of the Beatles” puts the Fab Four’s recording of their last album in 1969 in context of the social atmosphere and advanced technology at their disposal. The electronic talk may be a little much for some readers, but it does indicate musical growth.
Remember, “Let it Be” was recorded before “Abbey Road” but released after. Of course, the Beatles’ breakup actually began before the band reconvened to make their last record.
Still, they rallied together to create an album with new sounds, notably George Harrison’s fascination with the Moog synthesizer, Geoff Emerick’s engineering, which complimented the band’s cohesiveness, and George Martin’s arrangements. The overdubs on the song “Because,” which was influenced by a Beethoven piano sonata, resulted in a nine-voice recording.
Source: Robert Hite/thesunflower.com
Around this time of year, it’s not uncommon to talk about people “of a certain age” having been around long enough not just to read about history, but to experience it.
Peter Asher has seen — has lived — that scope of history in the music world. Not as a witness, but as a person who lived it. And those were the stories he shared with a fascinated, delighted and sold-out Nighttown Monday night, and will again in another sold-out gig at the Cleveland Heights club on Tuesday night.
But “Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir to the ’60s and Beyond” was more than just a PowerPoint recitation of known history, replete with family photos, publicity stills and amazing audio and video clips. It was two-and-a-half hours of tales and anecdotes, interspersed with a little music and a lot of laughs, that put a whole era in perspective for those of us “of a certain age.” And maybe for those who’ve just read about it.
Source: cleveland.com
detailsThe Beatles were never particularly shy about revealing their influences, especially early on in their career. On the Fab Four’s first record (Please Please Me), you couldn’t help but notice the fascination with The Shirelles, the girl group who’d made “Boys” and “Baby It’s You” famous.
On their second U.S. release, fans found the band saluting idol Chuck Berry with a cover of “Roll Over Beethoven” as the first track. Later, fans heard the Fab Four’s take on several Motown hits as well as a cover of a Smokey Robinson track (“You Really Got a Hold on Me”).
Kicking off the second side, listeners got a taste of the Beatles’ live shows with a cover of “Long Tall Sally,” a Little Richard song Paul McCartney loved to shout on the bandstand. Paul once said you had leave your body to pull off a Little Richard vocal.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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