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Beatles News
'We All Stand Together' from the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song and reached number three in the UK Singles Chart in 1984. (Parlophone)
Bears have been big business at the movies over the last few years, with Winnie the Pooh enjoying box office success via Christopher Robin, and Paddington becoming a bona fide franchise smash thanks to two hugely popular films, with another on the way.
But another bear – as cute as Winnie and Pads, and just as well-known in the UK – failed to get an invite to the celluloid party. Rupert – he of the yellow scarf, red jumper and tweed trousers – debuted in the pages of the Daily Express in 1920, and his adventures have been entertaining children of all ages ever since.
But in spite of small screen success via multiple TV shows, Rupert is yet to make his big screen debut.
Though some 35 years ago, a Beatle came close.
Source: Chris TillyContributor/yahoo.com
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In the wintry early months of 1971, John Lennon embarked on a recording project that would prove to be momentous in its influence on rock music and the world at large. The album’s title track is still sung today at protest marches, sporting events, pop concerts, prayer vigils and anywhere else people gather in unity. It will most likely still be sung and treasured for many years to come.
The Imagine album ranks high among Lennon’s towering musical achievements, both as a solo artist and with the Beatles. At turns brutally honest and achingly intimate, the record opened up new vistas of expressiveness for songwriters and creative artists in every medium.
But Imagine isn’t usually regarded as much of a guitar album. Because the disc’s piano-driven title track has become a timeless international peace anthem, it tends to loom larger in the public consciousness than the rest of the disc. Which is a bit of a shame, as “Imagine” is only one of several album tracks that find Lennon at the top of his game as a songwriter. From “Jealous Guy” to “How Do You Sleep?,” the disc reflects Lennon at his most vulnerable and his most vicious.
Source: Jon Wiederho details
The week of April 11 – 17, 1971 was a busy one for the Beatles — even though the band had split up.
During that week, each former Beatle had a solo single on the UK Top 40 chart, indicative of the public’s insatiable need for all things Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon, even after the messy and dramatic dissolution of the world’s most famous band by 1970.
Highest on the UK Top 40 chart that week was “Power to the People,” a single from John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band, a song which later turned up on the 1975 release Shaved Fish. The song sat at No. 10, sandwiched between No. 9, “Walkin” by CCS and No. 11, which we’ll get to next.
Paul McCartney’s “Another Day,” his first official solo single, was right on Lennon’s heels at No. 11 on the chart that week. Written originally during the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions, the song would later turn up on Sir Paul’s many Greatest Hits compilations and re-issued versions of RAM.
Source: Rock Cellar Magazine Staff/rockcellarmagazine.com
For many fans of The Beatles, the band’s 1970 breakup couldn’t really be the end. After each member released a solo album — several of which took shots at Paul McCartney — a reassuring calm reigned by the mid-’70s.
During that period, you’d hear John Lennon giving interviews in which he said nice things about Paul. For those familiar with the days of John and Ringo savaging their old bandmate on record, that seemed like major progress.
Meanwhile, no one ever seemed to have a feud with George Harrison. That meant the four elements that needed to be combined for a reunion had no serious problem with one another. That was more than anyone could say during the band’s final years.
In fact, once John and Paul jammed together at a 1974 recording session, the groundswell necessary for a Beatles reunion had begun. Things actually got close during this period.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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No one’s ever been able to rack up No. 1 hits in America like The Beatles did. While their recording career only lasted seven years, their early contracts kept them producing multiple albums (and plenty of singles) every year.
As you can tell by glancing at the band’s run on the Billboard charts, every Beatles studio album made was a major hit. Besides, there were years when they saw five different singles — and three different albums — reach No. 1 in the same year.
However, though 20 Beatles songs topped the charts, nearly all were written and sung by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It wasn’t until late in the band’s run that George Harrison and Ringo Starr got near the top of the charts with tunes they wrote and/or sang.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Police log books for officers who protected The Beatles from screaming fans on their first trip to America have been unveiled.
The records, which have been donated to Liverpool’s Magical Beatles Museum, list the names of the officers who guarded the band in New York as they prepared to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 and their show at Carnegie Hall.
At the latter, the logs state that there was an incident where an officer was “knocked off balance” and injured outside the Plaza Hotel while “attempting to restrain the surging crowd”.
NYPD officer Patrick Cassidy, who discovered the logs while searching in police records, told BBC: “The Ed Sullivan Theatre is in the confines of my precinct, so one day in 2013, I went into the storage area that holds these books.
Source: Damian Jones/nme.com
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The Beatles recorded their song "Something" 50 years ago on Tuesday.
It's considered the song that established George Harrison as a formidable songwriter within the group, and it's been covered by more than 150 artists — including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey and Ray Charles. In fact, "Yesterday" is the only other Beatles song that has been covered more times.
Source: MPR NEWS
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Fifty years on from the Abbey Road album - the 11th studio album by the Beatles released on September 26, 1969, and the last recording sessions in which all four Beatles participated - audiences are invited to celebrate the legacy of John Lennon.
From the producers behind shows That’ll Be The Day and Walk Right Back comes a new production for 2019, Imagine – The John Lennon Songbook, which tells the legendary story through his songbook.
Starring Jimmy Coburn, Imagine showcases all of Lennon’s greatest hits, from the early days in Liverpool's The Cavern Club with The Beatles, through to The Plastic Ono Band and his solo career.
Source: Dawn Hinsley/lincolnshirelive.co.uk
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Being the world’s most famous band can as stressful as it is exhilarating. Then there’s the unprecedented level of fame and success The Beatles had. George Harrison once described the experience as “being boxed up for 10 years.”
By the end, the band members’ tempers flared on a regular basis. After The Beatles split up in 1970, the animosity carried over into their solo recordings. You can hear a little bit on George’s All Things Must Pass, but Paul McCartney took it a step further on his second solo album.
That’s when Paul took aim at John Lennon, who responded in savage fashion with 1971’s “How Do You Sleep?” In other words, the ex-Beatles were officially at war in song, and the Lennon-McCartney partnership had flamed out in spectacular fashion.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Author Ray Connolly, a friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, has written a personal and honest account of his complicated and talented friend.
In his author’s note, Connolly recalls Yoko Ono’s phone call on the afternoon of Monday, Dec. 8, 1980, asking him to come to New York right away. “The BBC has been here this weekend,” she told him, contradicting her earlier message.
Connolly booked an early flight for the next day, but never made the trip. On Dec. 9, Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
So much has been written about Lennon and The Beatles. Is there anything more to tell? Connolly has given us insights into Lennon’s often sharp-tongued and caustic comments, a legacy of his Liverpool upbringing.
Source: Frances Monaco/postandcourier.com
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The Beatles officially parted ways in April 1970, but the writing had been on the wall for a while. In fact, John Lennon told the other members of the band he was leaving late in ’69.
By then, the band was feuding over money and who would be the next manager. Meanwhile, John had already recorded albums with Yoko Ono and jammed with Eric Clapton. He was ready to go out on his own. In 1971, he chalked up his first No. 1 solo album with Imagine.
But Paul McCartney, who by then had become something of an adversary, had already topped the charts with his first solo effort. Paul’s record landed right around the same time as the final Fab Four studio album, Let It Be. (Yes, the other Beatles resented the timing of the release.)
Source: cheatsheet.com
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The Beatles legend Paul McCartney recently shared a throwback photo of himself in his dressing room, and he looks stunning!
Michael Eavis has hinted that Sir Paul McCartney will perform at Glastonbury next year.
The music festival’s founder is hoping the Beatles icon will headline his Worthy Farm venue in Somerset for the 50th anniversary show.
He said, “Paul’s on good form at the moment.”
When asked if he had “spoken to him” and if he was coming to Worthy Farm, Michael told BBC Somerset, “Hopefully for the 50th, yeah.
“Don’t make a big thing of it though will you?”
Source: Brett Buchanan/
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John Lennon began chronicling his love for Yoko Ono in the late '60s, and that narrative continued through a posthumous album released years after his murder.
In the end, these songs would account for half of Lennon's four U.K. chart toppers – beginning with the Beatles' "Ballad of John and Yoko." Recorded during an April 14, 1969 session with Paul McCartney, the single took fans into the flurry of activity surrounding their nuptials – including their difficulties, because of residency requirements, in finding a venue.
"It was very romantic. It's all in the song, 'The Ballad of John and Yoko,'" Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1970. "If you want to know how it happened, it's in there."
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
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When you listen to the earliest Beatles albums, you are transported to a simple time in rock history. Hearing “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” the band’s first No. 1 U.S. hit, it’s impossible to imagine this innocent gang going on to record The White Album five years later.
But those five years were a lifetime for a band whose every move was watched by fans and dissected by critics. By the time John Lennon was writing “Yer Blues” and Paul McCartney recording “Helter Skelter,” that innocence seemed long gone.
However, when the Fab Four went their separate ways a few years later, no one in the band had turned 30. In brief, they were still very young men. It’s a reminder of how incredibly young — and, yes, innocent — they were when they first arrived in America (kicking off Beatlemania) in 1964.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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After The Beatles breakup in April 1970, it didn’t take long for members of the band to tell their version of the story in song. Late that year, George Harrison offered an elegant tune about late-Beatles squabbling on his debut solo work, All Things Must Pass.
That song, titled “Run of the Mill,” dropped subtle hints about his deteriorating relationship with Paul McCartney. “You’ll arrive at your own made end with no one but you to be offended,” George sang.
On Paul’s side, his Ram album from 1971 zeroed in mostly on John Lennon and Yoko Ono. “Too Many People,” in particular, pissed off John with its measured critique of John’s activism and his relationship with Yoko.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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