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Beatles News
One thing Beatles fans love about the Fab Four is the band members’ ability to play multiple instruments as well as sing. In early records, you would hear John Lennon on harmonica (“Love Me Do“) or Paul McCartney on piano (“Little Child”) in addition to their guitar and bass, respectively.
By the time of the Revolver sessions (1966), Paul was playing all sorts of keyboards, and he even shredded his way through a guitar solo George Harrison likely would have taken in the past. And Paul didn’t stop there.
When Ringo wasn’t around — or Paul simply felt like working on his own — he’d even play drums on Beatles songs. So when fans heard two lead guitars rocking through “And Your Bird Can Sing” on Revolver, it wasn’t a safe bet that the band’s two guitarists (i.e., John and George) were playing.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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The Beatles will always be synonymous with Liverpool, but as the iconic cover for Abbey Road proves, London plays a significant role in their history too. Yet, when all’s said and done, The Beatles belonged to everyone. They were truly a global phenomenon and their music continues to touch the hearts of music fans all over the world.
As uDiscover Music previously reported, Los Angeles joined the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Abbey Road when the city renamed its famous intersection “Abbey Road At Vine”. At the ceremony unveiling the crosswalk dedication, special guest Sir Patrick Stewart said, “The music of The Beatles transcends all barrier – flying high above borders (and walls) to unite and uplift us.”
Source: udiscovermusic.com
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It’s no news to Beatles fans that 1968’s White Album became a dark time for the Fab Four. During the recording sessions, the band would witness a walkout by Ringo, a near-fistfight between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and plenty of grumbling and dirty looks on the side.
However, there was also plenty of joy and collaboration during the White Album. According to records from the sessions, the band had a blast (very much under the influence) recording “Helter Skelter.” And Ringo had a blast making “Yer Blue,” which became a favorite for him.
But you could tell how bad things got in the summer of ’68 by how many tracks exclude other Beatles. John definitely noticed when Paul recorded “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” without help from him or George.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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With enviable energy and the simple, persistent message of “peace and love,” Ringo Starr has become one of humanity’s quintessential goodwill ambassadors. “What’s My Name,” his 20th studio album, is another bundle of positivity and cheer, with a handful of good tunes to boot.
Recorded at his home studio (Roccabella West) with a familiar cast of friends like Joe Walsh, Steve Lukather, Benmont Tench and Edgar Winter, “What’s My Name” continues Starr’s practice of including some sort of Beatle connection on his albums — a guest spot from a Liverpool lad or two, a song one of them wrote for Starr or sometimes just a reference to their collective glories.
A John Lennon demo of “Grow Old With Me” was released not long after his 1980 murder, but it wasn’t until recently that Starr found out that Lennon felt the song would be a good choice for the Beatle drummer.
Source: apnews.com
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By early 1969, The Beatles had more than their share of problems. In the Let It Be documentary, viewers see some of these issues play out in front of the cameras. But the band still had a lot left in the tank.
When the Fab Four plays on the roof of Apple studios at the end of the film, you see Paul McCartney and John Lennon get swept up in the performance. John seems particularly exuberant during the set, which included his funky guitar solo on “Get Back.”
That track, written by Paul, represented everything he’d wanted for the band in this period (“As live as live can be in this electronic age … The Beatles, as nature intended,” a press release written by Paul said). But the song’s subject matter became a source of controversy later.
Originally conceived of as a “racial satire,” Paul eventually settled on the harmless-enough tale of Jojo and Loretta. Looking back on the track a decade later, John saw it as a message Paul had directed at Yoko Ono.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Released on Oct. 23, 1984, the film reunited McCartney with Beatles-era collaborators Ringo Starr and George Martin, but couldn't approximate the fizzy excitement of A Hard Day's Night – or even the shambolic but occasionally charming Magical Mystery Tour.
Roger Ebert, the esteemed movie critic, praised the soundtrack but admitted he couldn't make sense of the McCartney-written script – adding that it was "to put it charitably, idiotic." Even the Beatles Bible, typically a safe space, describes Give My Regards to Broad Street as "ill-conceived."
McCartney starred as himself in a plot that recounts the search to find missing session tapes for a new album as a label-imposed deadline looms. It's loosely based on an actual incident when Sex Pistols lost the master for Never Mind the Bollocks back in the '70s, except with none of that group's chaotic originality.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
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Fans of The Beatles can now take a trip through the childhood sanctuary of John Lennon that inspired the song Strawberry Fields Forever, with the former children’s home in Liverpool, England, now open to the public.
Lennon used to climb over the fence from his aunt’s house, where he grew up, and play with other kids at the Strawberry Field orphanage. Its importance in shaping Lennon’s personality was laid bare in the classic 1967 hit tune.
Around 60,000 fans flock each year to the site to have their photos taken outside the famous red gates, but until now have never been allowed beyond.
“The gates are open for good,” said Major Allister Versfeld, mission development officer of the Salvation Army charity. “This is a unique opportunity for people to come and explore the garden … and just enjoy what many have said; there’s a real sense of calm and peace.”
Source: star2.com
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If there’s one song by John Lennon that has stood the test of time, it’s his peace anthem “Imagine.” It’s one of the few tracks by a former Beatle to rival the band’s biggest hits in terms of critical acclaim. While “Imagine” is his most iconic song, it was not his most successful as a solo artist. Let’s look at John’s biggest hits. “Imagine” has achieved an ubiquity that few songs have. Despite this, it’s not John’s first, second, third, or even fourth biggest hit. The dreamy ballad encapsulate John’s ethos better than any other song, but it apparently didn’t find nearly as much favor with the public upon its initial release as it has in more recent years. Many of the albums that John made as a solo artist or with his wife, Yoko Ono, are avant-garde and difficult to understand. “Imagine” is the only standard that he wrote after the Beatles broke up. The song has been covered by everyone from Lady Gaga and Madonna to Avril Lavigne and CeeLo Green.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Scrap of paper bearing autographs of all four Beatles sells for £4,200 after it was hidden in cupboard for 56 years. The band had been playing a gig at the Town Hall Ballroom in Shropshire in 1963. The owner of the paper had attended the gig and asked them to sign it for her 72-year-old said she had previously been offered £100 for the paper in 199.
The white piece of paper had been hidden in a cupboard for 56 years in order to stop the signatures from fading. Band members had signed the paper after a gig in 1963 at the Town Hall Ballroom in Shropshire, after only a handful of fans had turned up to see them perform.
The 72-year-old owner, who does not want to be named, asked the band to sign the paper after the gig.
Source: Terri-ann Williams For Mailonline
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When Beatles fans call Revolver their favorite album, they have plenty to support the pick. From the heavy George Harrison opener “Taxman” to Paul McCartney’s “Here, There and Everywhere” and John Lennon’s “I’m Only Sleeping,” the band was at or near its peak on this record.
In terms of subject matter, though, it’s among the Beatles’ darkest. If John wasn’t singing about “what it’s like to be dead,” George was offering advice “for those who die” or Paul was getting his hands dirty burying Eleanor Rigby. Weren’t these the lads who just wanted to hold your hand?
Well, Paul was still that guy in a lot of ways. He brought the sweet and innocent “Yellow Submarine” to the Revolver sessions. And he recorded the gorgeous “Here, There and Everywhere” on that record, too.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Did The Beatles ever record a bigger hit than “Yesterday”? If you go strictly by performance on the Billboard Hot 100, maybe you can argue in favor of “Hey Jude” (nine weeks on top) or “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (seven weeks).
However, if you count the number of radio plays, you’ll have a hard time making a case against “Yesterday.” In 1999, the great Paul McCartney ballad had topped 7 million radio plays. So forget the Fab Four for a moment — “Yesterday” is one of the biggest hits in contemporary music.
In fact, no song has been covered by more artists. (Over 3,000 cover versions of “Yesterday” exist.) And every time someone hears someone else’s rendition, they think of the Beatles’ original that features only Paul on guitar and string musicians behind him.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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In the spring of 1969, Paul McCartney telephoned George Martin to ask if he would be willing to work with the Beatles on a new album they planned to record in the months ahead. Martin, who was widely regarded as the most accomplished pop-record producer in the world, had overseen the making of all nine albums and nineteen singles that the Beatles had released in Britain since their début on E.M.I.’s Parlophone label, in 1962. His reputation was synonymous with that of the group, and the fact that McCartney felt a need to ask him about his availability dramatized how much the Beatles’ professional circumstances had changed since the release of the two-record set known as the White Album, in the fall of 1968. In Martin’s view, the five months of tension and drama it took to make that album, followed by the fiasco of “Get Back,” an ill-fated film, concert, and recording project that ended inconclusively in January, 1969, had turned his recent work with the Beatles into a “miserable experience.”
Source: Jonathan Gould/newyorker.com
The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has revealed how John Lennon made him cry. In speaking with GQ recently the iconic drummer for the fab four was asked about the upcoming track on his new album that was written by Lennon called “Grow Old With Me”. In which Starr states during the interview that he didn’t even hear or know about the demo that was done until a little while back. John Lennon revealed what this man did with ‘Mouth’ for him.
“I didn’t find it till this year. I never heard about it, never knew about it. I was really emotional when Jack Douglas, the producer who produced John, mentioned it to me. He said, “Have you heard what they call The Bermuda Tapes?” I said, “No, I don’t have a copy.” This disgusting restaurant photo featuring John Lennon and his widow was just uncovered.
Source: Mike Mazzarone/alternativenation.net
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A New York family has created a spectacularly spooky 50th anniversary tribute to the legendary Beatles album Abbey Road.
Jeff and Ellen Pitkin of Guilderland, New York, erected a Halloween-themed recreation of the Abbey Road album cover, which shows the four members of The Beatles crossing the famous London road.
Jeff and Ellen Pitkin of Guilderland erected a Halloween-themed recreation of the Abbey Road album cover showing the four members of the Beatles crossing the famous London road/Photo: Jeff and Ellen Pitkin
In Pitkin's display, the four members of The Beatles are skeletons crossing a made-up crosswalk on the family's lawn. The skeletons even have hair matching what the Beatles wore on the album cover.
Source: komonews.com
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If you listen to a certain corner of the internet (it began offline long ago, actually), you’ll hear some interesting theories about The Beatles. We present a taste of those in the italics below.
There’s only one thing you need to know about Paul McCartney: He’s dead. In November 1966, he blew his mind out in a car. The following year, his replacement, named William, took over on Sgt. Pepper’s. (Billy Shears is just another way of saying, “Billy’s here.”)
It’s obvious. Otherwise, why would Paul wear a black carnation in Magical Mystery Tour while his bandmates wore red ones? And why would he be barefoot on the cover of Abbey Road? That’s a clear sign he’s dead. (George Harrison is obviously the gravedigger; Ringo is the undertaker.)
We won’t even touch the part of Paul holding a cigarette in his right hand on the album cover. Everyone knows he was left-handed, and thus would only hold cigarettes in his left hand.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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