Beatles News

Eric Clapton has announced that his 23rd studio album, “I Still Do,” will be released May 20. It features his versions of such blues classics as Robert Johnson’s “Stones In My Passway” and Leroy Carr’s “Alabama Woman Blues,” along with Clapton’s rendition of “Little Man, You’ve Had a Busy Day,” a 1934 chestnut previously recorded by Paul Robseon, Perry Como and Eddy Arnold. (The full track listing for “I Still Do” appears below.)

The album also contains “I Will Be There,” a song of unknown vintage, which features vocals and acoustic guitar by one Angelo Mysterioso (a musical nom de plume used in previous decades by the late George Harrison). The former Beatle and Clapton were close friends who were married, in succession, to the same woman, Patti Boyd. Clapton first used his Mysterioso alias on the 1969 Cream album, “Goodbye.”

“I Still Do” is being released by Clapton’s own Bushbranch label, in association with Encinitas-based Surfdog Records. It is the English blues-rock guitar legend’s third consecutive U.S. release through Surfdog.

Launched 31 years ago, the plucky indepe details

John Lennon’s flower-emblazoned Rolls-Royce limousine was rolled off a flatbed truck, driven a short distance, and pushed into the lobby of the Royal B.C. Museum on Tuesday. The famous Phantom V touring limousine that once delivered the Beatles to Buckingham Palace in 1965 — the Fab Four received medals from the Queen — spat out plumes of white smoke as it was driven to the museum’s doors.

“It’s a canvas with a motor,” museum curator Lorne Hammond said of the 3,000-kilogram vehicle. “It’s a complicated thing to manage.” Regarded as a treasured piece of Beatles’ history and exhibited throughout North America for more than 20 years, the well-oiled machine will be displayed in the museum’s lobby until April 28.

Kasey Lee, conservation manager at the museum, said she barely slept Monday while going over the logistics of transporting the vehicle from a warehouse — in an undisclosed area in Greater Victoria — to the museum. The paint is fragile and any condensation would have played havoc with it. A tarp would scratch it. An accident would be disastrous. “It gives me more headaches than any other piece in our collection,” L details

Late Beatle George Harrison liked to laugh, as evidenced by his fondness for Monty Python and the financial backing he provided for the comedy troupe’s 1979 comedy classic, Life of Brian. According to Genesis singer-drummer and solo superstar Phil Collins, the music legend also got a kick from playing pranks on his acquaintances.

When he was 18, the then unknown Collins got a day’s work playing congas on a session for Harrison’s 1970 triple album, All Things Must Pass. Although Collins’ percussive efforts did not appear on the finished product, the event remains a treasured memory. “I went to Abbey Road, and recorded with Harrison, and Ringo was playing drums,” he tells EW. “Unfortunately, I cashed the check, because I needed it. The 15 quid meant a lot in 1969.”

Collins met Harrison several more times over the years, and the pair became friendly — friendly enough for the Beatle to prank the Genesis member, anyway. In 2001, shortly before Harrison’s death, he put out a remastered version of All Things Must Pass and around the same time sent Collins what he claimed was a version of the track on which he had played featuring the drummer’s missing ha details

Ringo Starr’s official Twitter account retweeted ‘f*** the Beatles’ after it was hacked by a prankster.

The legendary drummer’s account also said that One Direction’s Harry Styles was ‘a bit smelly’, in a post retweeted and liked hundreds of times. But a post from ‘Team Ringo’ on his official Facebook page apologised for ‘any confusion’ and said the Twitter account had been hacked. It said: “For friends following on Twitter the account was hacked this morning and we are working on resolving the issue. “Sorry for any confusion this may have caused. Peace & Love, Team Ringo.”

Ringo Starr's staff said his Twitter account was hacked after he retweeted a 'f*** the Beatles' post, as screengrabbed by a Buzzfeed journalist. One tweet from Ringo’s account had read: “Being honest here, @Harry_Styles was a bit smelly”.

The pair had been pictured in a photo together at the pre-GRAMMY gala earlier this week in Beverly Hills, California. The tweets were swiftly deleted, while Ringo fans shared their anger on his Facebook page that people would dare to hack his account.

Fan Brooks Fisher said: “You sh details

According to WWD, McCartney is planning to launch her first menswear range in time for the spring 2017 season.

Though a spokesperson for the brand declined to comment on the speculation, a male line would be natural progression for the designer, who is best known for her tailoring, separates and knitwear.

Developing ranges aimed at the men's market is an emerging trend in the fashion world, with iconic fashion houses such as Balmain and Marni both launching collections recently.

McCartney, 44, launched her fashion house in 2001, and she has since been focused on the womenswear market.

Her current collections include ready-to-wear, lingerie, eyewear, fragrance and children's clothing. Last year also marked the tenth anniversary of the successful Adidas by Stella McCartney line, which is a range aimed at the active younger audience.

In 2010, McCartney was appointed Team GB’s Creative Director for the 2012 Olympics by Adidas and designed the uniforms worn by British athletes who were competing in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Source: Sunday World

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Musicologists and verbose rock fans have dedicated thousands upon thousands of words to the merits and "behind the music" details of "important" albums such as the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. But how many books have you read about Mick Jagger's solo debut, She's the Boss? How about Bill Wyman's 1974 solo outing, Monkey Grip? Should we even bother asking about the Charlie Watts Quintet's Long Ago and Far Away?

Let's face it, regardless of how great (or, in these three cases, decent-ish) they might be, solo albums by members of legendary rock bands—from the Stones to the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Guns N' Roses—rarely (if ever) attain the same legendary status of the music released by the bands themselves.

For instance, let's take this George Harrison fellow.

Guitar-centric magazines and websites (like this one) have, deservedly, slathered decades worth o' praise on Harrison's 1962-to-1970 guitar work with the Beatles. We've broken down his guitar solos from "Something," "I'm Only Sleeping," "Let It Be" and "Old Brown Shoe." We've applauded his introduction of sitars and 12-string electric guitars into pop music. We've even dedicated Guitar World lessons to his late-Beatles-era acoustic w details

The ongoing slaughter of rhinos and elephants for the illegal trade in rhino horn and ivory is such frequent and terrible news that when good news arises, it is worth celebrating. That makes us happy to announce the naming of a baby Southern White Rhino at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy in honor of Ringo Starr.

So here's how a baby rhino comes to be named Ringo, and a little of what we hope that will accomplish. In January I was filming with the conservation teams at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, whose broad array of projects include a chimpanzee sanctuary established with Jane Goodall, armed anti-poaching teams and formidable K-9 units, and community partnerships that support local communities and enlist their help in the battle against poachers. Ol Pejeta is also home to the last three Northern White Rhinos in the world and the largest group of black rhinos in East Africa, 109 of the estimated 2,500 in the world.

While I was filming, I was introduced to a recently rescued southern white rhino who'd been found in late October at age 2 weeks, abandoned and barely alive. Now 3 months old, the quickly growing baby is cute, rambunctious and healthy, and seemed to me like the poster child of an entire species under details

You don’t just go and change Love, the Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles show.

If you want to even tinker with the phenomenally popular production, which has been packing the theatre at the Mirage hotel/casino in Las Vegas since 2006, you need to go to the source. So if you’re making some big changes, you most definitely have to run them all by the Fab Two and the representatives of the two Beatles no longer with us.

In a recent interview on a terrasse just outside the backstage of the Mirage theatre on the Strip in Vegas, Love director Dominic Champagne was talking about the major work that is going in to revamp this hit show. Champagne, who created the concept for the show with Cirque co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix, has been talking with others from the original creation for two years, and the team is now in Vegas busy making these changes.

The show is on hiatus for three weeks, and the refreshed Love will première on Feb. 25. But it will be what those in the live entertainment biz call a “soft opening.” In other words, they won’t have a big opening, but rather will continue to tinker with it in the months to come, in preparation for an official 10th-anniversary premi&e details

BBC Inside Out North West will tonight tell the story of Tony Booth, the man behind the first Beatles posters. When the Fab Four began to play at clubs around Liverpool, the main way fans found out about their gigs was through Booth’s posters.

The 82-year-old is still drawing and designing, and his posters have now become museum exhibits and collector items.

Tonight, BBC Inside Out North West tells how Booth was hired by Beatles manager Brian Epstein to help promote his artists.

He said: “I did most of the posters for the Liverpool area in the early 1960s – actually I must have done hundreds of them. “I used to be given carte blanche to change – what I wanted to do. I could put my own wording in – (like) I’d say The Fabulous Beatles which I often did.” 

Ray O’Brien, the author of the Beatles book ‘There Are Places I Remember’, said: “They’re one offs. Nobody can reproduce the work that Tony has done and people, fans from all over the world are just so pleased to get a copy of one of his posters – and it’s a little bit of history of course.” 

By: David Prior

Source: Prolific No details

The cousin of John Lennon, who had a close bond with the man considered to be one of the greatest musicians of all time, has died at the age of 82.

Largs has held the surprise connection with The Beatles going back to the early 1990s when Stan Parkes moved to Waterside Street, and gave talks to local groups including the Round Table and Rotary, about his famous cousin.

Stan was also in demand from national media, book authors, and fan groups from around the world, for his insight into the life of one of the greatest musical icons of all time. Stan was with John through the musical revolution of Beatlemania which has had such a lasting impact on popular music culture, and sat in on the recording sessions of the ‘Fab Four’, and his voice can even be heard in the background of some of the famous tracks.

Around 1994, Stan moved to Waterside Street, with his Largs born wife Jan, and stayed there for the rest of his days. John and Stan grew up in Liverpool, the sons of two sisters from a family where the women were very much in charge. Stan, who was seven years older, took young John under his wing, and they would often go out to the park, or the cinema together. As a younger man, Stan was sent to details

Forty-six years after they split, The Beatles are responsible for one in every 100 jobs in their home city of Liverpool. That was one of the standout statistics of the group's financial legacy released in a report this week. BBC News looks at the numbers behind the Fab Four.

Can't buy me love

A Liverpool City Council report found the enduring popularity of John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr still supported some 2,335 jobs in the city.

Latest figures from the council show there are about 230,800 jobs in total in the city. So that means about 1 in every 100 jobs in Liverpool relies in some way on The Beatles. That is not bad for a band that broke up in 1970.

We can work it out

The £82m impact of The Beatles 1 in 100 jobs in Liverpool are connected with interest in The Beatles 2,335 roles sustained by Fab Four 230,800 jobs in total in Liverpool 1m to 2m visitors a year said The Beatles were why they came

This might, however, be an underestimate, according to Professor Richard Evans from Liverpool John Moores University, because the figures do not take into account the marketing value of the brand or the number of people staying at non Beatles-theme details

Did you know the Beatles performed full dress rehearsals when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, 52 years ago this month?

Not only did they perform them, but the producers of the show recorded at least one of them.

In the clip below, you can see the Beatles rehearsing for the show at the Deauville Hotel in Miami, Florida, on February 16, 1964. This video was posted on the Facebook account of Masayoshi Tanimoto, who writes, “This rare footage was not broadcast and can’t be seen on any officially released videos.”

This rehearsal was for the group’s second consecutive weekly appearance on the Sullivan show. They had appeared on the program one week earlier, on February 9, making their U.S. debut. That show was presented at the program’s usual location, CBS-TV Studio 50 on Broadway in New York City’s Theater District.

For the group’s second appearance, the show headed south to Miami’s Deauville Hotel. The Beatles arrived on Thursday, February 13, and rehearsals were held over the next two days. This full-dress rehearsal began at 2 p.m. on February 15. The show was presented live on Sunday, the 16th.

By: Christopher Scapelitt details

Paul McCartney is widely expected to headline and close the 2016 edition of music festival Pinkpop. Just days later, American rock legend Bruce Springsteen is set to perform in Den Haag.

McCartney is “99 percent certain” to perform at the Limburg event, according to local media outlet 1Limburg. A verbal agreement was reportedly reached between McCartney’s management and Pinkpop director Jan Smeets, the broadcaster reported.

The performance would likely close the three-day event in Landgraaf on June 12, just six days before McCartney’s 74th birthday.

Bruce Springsteen also announced a scheduled tour stop in the Netherlands. He will be joined by his E Street Band at Malieveld on June 14. Limited tickets for the show go on sale on February 12, at nearly 90 euros including service charge.

His last concert in the country, in 2013 at Goffertpark in Nijmegen, won praise from many critics for a heartfelt performance of nearly three and a half hours in length. He played 34 songs as the rain poured down, along with bandmates Steven van Zandt of the Sopranos and Max Weinberg of Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

By: Janene Pieters

Source: NL Times

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'Beat Bugs' will feature Eddie Vedder, P!nk, Sia, James Corden and others covering well-known songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Netflix announced on Wednesday that it will premiere a new animated children's series this summer, featuring superstar covers of some of the most well-known Beatles songs.

Beat Bugs was created by Josh Wakely, who will direct, write and produce the series following a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing for worldwide rights to record covers of the John Lennon/Paul McCartney "Northern Songs" catalogue, featuring some of the most well-known Beatles songs.

The series will incorporate songs from the Fab Four to tell uplifting and life-affirming stories. The tracks, woven into the narrative of each episode, will be covered by Sia, Eddie Vedder, P!nk, James Bay, The Shins, Of Monsters and Men, Chris Cornell, Regina Spektor, James Corden and Birdy, with additional artists joining the project set to be announced.

The songs featured include "Help!," "All You Need Is Love," "Come Together," "Penny Lane," "Yellow Submarine," "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds," "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Magical Mystery Tour."

By: Hilary Lewis

Source: Holly details

Today, a collaboration has been announced between the world's most celebrated living musician and its foremost video chat and online communication platform: Paul McCartney and Skype have partnered to launch a new range of animated love themed Mojis for Valentine’s Day featuring exclusive new McCartney music coupled with Skype’s animated designs. This new set contains ten specially created Mojis.

Paul McCartney’s career is unparalleled. His music has reached hundreds of millions of people globally, spanning generations. Be it through live performances, composing pop songs, classical works, electronic music, film themes and scores, and most recently composing for the most anticipated video game of the last decade – 'Destiny', Paul has continued to explore new ways to reach people. Paul’s music brings people together and breaks down language and cultural barriers.

Mojis are short animated clips that you can use during Skype chats when words just aren’t enough. These Mojis will be completely unique to hundreds of millions of Skype users and feature sound as well as video, giving the users chat a whole new dimension. This collaboration will allow Skype users to use this medium to c details