Beatles News

Tony Sheridan, the English singer and guitarist for whom the Beatles served as backup band in their first recordings, died February 16th at age 72.

Sheridan met John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best in Hamburg's red-light district in the early 1960s.  The Beatles eventually served as Sheridan's backing band at the Top Ten Club and cut their earliest recordings accompanying him as the Beat Brothers on recordings of "My Bonnie" and "When the Saints Go Marching In."

In addition to his connection to the Beatles, Sheridan is credited with being the first British musician to play the electric guitar on television, and went on tour with Chubby Checker, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry.

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A letter written by John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi sent to a teenage Beatles fan nearly 50 years ago is going up for auction. The letter was sent in 1964 from Mendips, the house where John spent most of his childhood. 

The Liverpool Echo reports that the letter in question was written to 14-year-old Susan Mottram of Newcastle, Staffordshire. While undated it is complete with addressed envelope stamped for Woolton, Liverpool, on April 24, 1964.

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Upwards of 50,000 revelers in Rio attended the "Sargento Pimenta" ---or Sgt. Pepper in Portuguese, the language of Brazil-- street party during Carnival.  The Beatles-themed celebration is one of more than 400 raucous street parties that spring up throughout Rio de Janeiro during Carnival season.
The party was the idea of Dr. Gustavo Gitelman, who gathered a large group of fans last year. The group gives the Beatles repertoire a Brazilian tweak, adapting "All My Loving" to the peppy beat of a traditional Carnival "marchinha," or march, and infusing "Hard Day's Night" with a Rio funk sound. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" morphs into a samba. Even "Hey Jude" is spiked with an infectious upbeat energy.

All the songs are sung in English, much to the delight of English-speaking visitors, many of whom can fully participate in the bloco experience for the first time.

The group's debut last year was so successful that the crowd was packed so tight it became something of a health hazard. It moved to a more spacious location this ye details

 In a new interview, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr talks about a daylong session playing with Paul McCartney and how much George Harrison influenced his own playing style.

Marr tells the Autojubilator that while nothing ever came of it professionally, he and Paul had great fun playing intensely for 8 to 9 hrs. Says Marr: “I got him to play ‘Things We Said Today’, and I think we played some Wings stuff. ‘C-Moon’, I remember.  That was fun. He and I were singing harmonies on ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ – that was a pretty good moment, too. I was only 23, maybe 24.”

Marr says of George: “George Harrison has always been one of my favorite guitar players, and his approach to the song and creating little parts and moments in records is more something that I can relate to, and along the lines of how I see myself, sure. Out of respect to the guitar greats who came out of the blues rock boom in the 60s, you have to hold your hands up and show details

Director Martin Scorsese and actor Richard Gere are lending their suppport to Jonathan Cott's new book about John and Yoko, Days That I'll Remember.

Scorsese calls the book a "lovingly assembled and beautifully written collection of conversations, observations and memories of music, friendship and days gone by", while Gere adds, "Cott has done them (Lennon and Ono) and us a great favor".

Cott first interviewed the couple for Rolling Stone in 1968.  He also conducted their final joint interview on Decmber 5, 1980.

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Paul McCartney took home his 15th Grammy--and his first for a solo album--for Kisses on the Bottom, his album of standards.  The award was announced before the telecast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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