It’s the song that just about everyone alive has heard. And it was one of the first songs to put the Fab Four on the map. On this day, February 1, 1964, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was a major first for the Liverpool band, who had previously not hit No. 1 in America before. The song entered the coveted chart at No. 45 in mid-January, and by the time it made it to No. 1 a few weeks later, the British Invasion movement was in full swing.

“I Want To Hold Your Hand” would hold that top spot for a whopping seven weeks. From there, it would be replaced by another Beatles tune, “She Loves You”. The former song, however, would stay on the Hot 100 chart for an additional 15 weeks. Today, it remains The Beatles’ best-selling single globally and has sold more than 12 million copies. The Legacy of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles Lives On.

“I Want To Hold Your Hand” was conceived by John Lennon and Paul McCartney at the behest of Brian Epstein. He (and their label) wanted the band to produce a song that would appeal to American listeners. It was in the basement of Jane Asher’s parents’ home where McCartney and Lennon took to the piano and composed the tune.

“We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball,” Lennon said of the song’s composition. “Like in ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher’s house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, ‘Oh you-u-u/ got that something …’ And Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, ‘That’s it!’ I said, ‘Do that again!’ In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that—both playing into each other’s noses.”

The Beatles would later record the song at EMI Studios in October 1963, along with the B-side, “This Boy”. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” would be the first Fab Four tune to be recorded using four-track tech at the time. After its US release on December 26, 1963, the song would be a No. 1 hit across the board. It topped charts in the US, UK, and several countries in Europe.

Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com

Although some fans and part press fueled the idea that The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were rivals, that was not true. Keith Richards has always been a big fan and a close friend of the members of the band. In fact, it was John Lennon and Paul McCartney who gave the Stones their first hit song, “I Wanna Be Your Man”.

In the years that followed, both bands wrote some of the most influential songs of all time and built incredible discographies. Throughout his career, Keith Richards has spoken about The Beatles on many occasions and has already mentioned two of their songs that he loves.
The 2 Beatles songs Keith Richards said he loves “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. 

“This was a guy (George Harrison) who could come out with a great song or a great record anytime. I was always wailing for some more. Let’s hope there’s more in the can. I always loved “Guitar Gently Weeps.” because that was a guitar- player thing,” Keith Richards told Rolling Stone in 2001.

Written by George Harrison, the song of course also featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, but it is the only Beatles song to include another guitar player. It was George’s friend Eric Clapton, whom Keith also admires, the one who recorded the guitar solo. The track was part of their self-titled album often referred to as “The White Album”, released in 1968.

Richards has already listed The Beatles as one of the greatest bands of all time, and unlike what the press claimed over the decades, there was no rivalry between the members of the two bands. In fact, they used to help each other. “John was a particular good friend of mine. Stories that cannot be told (laughs). George was a lovely guy, we got Paul (a great songwriter) and Ringo, what a guy, what a steady (beat). They came to see us play, we were playing in a pub, at Station Hotel in Richmond, that was our gig.”
Keith Richards continued:

“It was the only one we really had and everybody was having a good time. I turn around and there is, these four guys in black leather overcoats standing there. This was soon after ‘Love Me Do’. I mean this was really early on and this is early 60s. From then on we’re always good mates. When George’s new single (was ready) we always made sure we didn’t clash because in those days was like every two months you had to have a new single.”

“We would collaborate with each other. So we didn’t go head to head, because otherwise it seemed like ‘you’re either Beatles or Stones’, bullshit. And we are so similar, that’s not true. We all recognized that and it was one of the great things about it. I mean, between the two bands there was never any sense of competition, (it) was cooperation,” Keith Richards said in ‘Ask Keith‘ (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). “Here Comes the Sun”

“‘Here Comes the Sun’ it’s just beauty, beauty. What can you say? Still waters run deep. I have no doubt that there was a whole lot inside of George, and a whole lot he never revealed. But at the same time, every time he did something, he did reveal a little bit of himself. So that in fact you think you know George better than George knew himself,” Keith Richards told Rolling Stone magazine.

Curiously, Keith Richards was not a big fan of how George Harrison’s guitar was recorded on The Beatles’ early records. When talking about that once, he also recalled the strange experience of meeting Dhani Harrison, George’s son, who really resembles his father.

“George (Harrison) was another great mate of mine. I think as you say, that George Martin particularly didn’t serve his guitar sound as well as it could have been done. But it was early days and they were doing those things. They (would) make an album in one night, you know. Listen to ‘Twist And Shout’, you can hear they barely being able to get there, but great records. Just purely a matter of the recording sound, nothing to do with Geroge, he was a great friend of mine.”
He continued:

“In fact, I’ve met his son, Dhani just two, three weeks ago and there is Dhani Harrison who is the spitting image of George. I kept calling him George (laughs). He was so much like his dad, and George was such a gentle soul. I used to call him ‘farmer George’ because he liked gardening more than anything. (He is) another one sorely missed. I guess the good die young,” Keith Richards said in a video done for his old website section “Ask Keith” (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

Source: Rafael Polcaro/rockandrollgarage.com

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The Beatles’ Paul McCartney didn’t pen that many protest songs during his career. That was more John Lennon’s gig. However, Macca did pen one particular protest song that was particularly intense. And it was inspired by an event that shook Irish and English culture for decades.

That event is known as Bloody Sunday, a massacre that occurred in Northern Ireland on January 30, 1972. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a civil rights protest, and 13 men were killed by the gunfire. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing and attempting to help the wounded.

Naturally, many people were outraged and horrified by what happened. One person who was particularly pained was Paul McCartney, who rushed to write the protest song “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” the day after, on January 31, 1972. He and Wings were in the studio to speedily record “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” by February 1, accompanied by Northern Irish guitarist Henry McCullough. The song would later be released on February 18, 1972.  The Enduring Legacy of “Give Ireland Back To The Irish”

Paul McCartney’s “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” was promptly banned by the BBC and a number of other organizations, and it was more or less overlooked in the US. Despite that, the song peaked at No. 16 on the UK Singles chart, No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the Irish Singles chart.

The song would be McCartney’s first very direct political song. After its release, McCartney was condemned by much of England’s media for apparently having pro-IRA beliefs. Outside of taking sides, some critics condemned the song’s lyrics for being “simple” and an attempt to capitalize on a tragedy.

I see it differently. Considering McCartney was a lifelong pop songwriter, it makes sense that the lyrics of his first protest song would be rather simplistic. Certain lyrics are particularly devastating, too. “Great Britain and all the people / Say that all people must be free / Meanwhile, back in Ireland / There’s a man who looks like me” is one line that comes to mind.

Wings would go on to perform the song regularly throughout their first concert tour throughout England and Wales. During that period, BBC would formally ban the song. McCartney’s response? “Up them! I think the BBC should be highly praised, preventing the youth from hearing my opinions.”

Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com

 It’s all coming together.

The first look photos from the upcoming Beatles biopics starring Harris Dickinson, Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, and Barry Keoghan were released on Thursday. They were shared via photos of post cards, on the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts’s school’s Instagram account. The school was co-founded by McCartney, 83.

“The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event,” is set to premiere in 2028, helmed by Sam Mendes. Dickinson will play John Lennon, Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Quinn will play George Harrison, and Keoghan will play Ringo Starr.

In the photos, Keoghan can be seen sporting Ringo’s signature mop and mustache. Starr, 85, has voiced support for the “Saltburn” actor.

Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr in a dark blue polka dot shirt and patterned tie with headphones around his neck, looking off to the side in a recording studio. 

During a concert for his 85th birthday, per Collider, the former Beatles drummer said that he has “spent time with him” and got the impression that the Oscar nominated Irish actor “knows what he’s doing.”  But, in a July interview with Variety, Starr said that he read the scripts and brought up concerns to Mendes.

“He had a writer…he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,” Starr said, referring to his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett, who he was married to from 1965 to 1975. She’ll be played by Mia McKenna-Bruce.

During a September apperance on “In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast,” Mescal said that playing McCartney is, “f–king scary.”

The “Normal People” actor added, “It’s so exciting. I’m working again with actors that I really, really admire, and we’re stepping into something where people will have such intense opinions about who [the Beatles] are, or whether we should even be making [these movies] in the first place.”

The “Hamnet” actor noted, “But I can tell you from the inside of it that we’re approaching it with the greatest love and respect and rigor. I’ve definitely rehearsed for this longer than I’ve ever rehearsed for anything else in my entire life already. So we’re putting in the hard yards.”

 In the photos, Dickinson was shown sporting long hair as Lennon, as well as signature round glasses. Quinn was shown with long hair in a beard, as Harrison.

In Feb. 2024, McCartney, Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison granted the project full life and music rights.

In September, Mescal told Indiewire that he will “absolutely” sing onscreen and that he had spent time with McCartney, who he called “extraordinary.”

The movies will also include Saoirse Ronan as Linda (Eastman) McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, and Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd.

The four Beatles biopic movies will premiere in April 2028.

Source: Lauren Sarner/nypost.com

When one looks back at the history of The Beatles, it was a combination of chance and incredibly hard work. The Fab Four were all from the same town and started working together when they were only teenagers, but while their success can partially be attributed to luck and talent, the truth behind their stardom is that they worked themselves to the bone in ways that would frankly be considered illegal nowadays. In 1960, when all of them were still teenagers, and George Harrison was still underage, they received an offer that would change their careers, though they didn't know it at the time.

With that mismatched lineup, The Beatles headed off to Hamburg. From the start, the band shares in the Anthology, the quest was complicated. They arrived at the club at night, and there was no one to greet them. When someone finally appeared, they were taken to sleep in the closed club. After that, they all shared a room in the backroom of a cinema for months. The band was between the ages of 17 and 20, with a drummer they didn't have chemistry with, and a bass player who couldn't play the bass. And yet, in those months, Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney became the greatest musicians in the world.

Source Val Barone/collider.com

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Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson have given Beatles fans a tantalising first glimpse at their upcoming four-part Beatles anthology in the first images of themselves in character.

The actors are currently working with director Sir Sam Mendes on four ambitious new films about the pioneering group's emergence from Liverpool's vibrant club scene to become the most influential band on the planet.

While controversy has raged about the principal cast's suitability - Mescal will play Paul McCartney, with Dickinson starring as the late John Lennon, Quinn as George Harrison and Keoghan as Ringo Starr - first images of them in character suggest the films are in safe hands.

The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (LIPA) - co-founded by McCartney in 1996 - has shared postcards of the actors on set, giving fans an opportunity to judge for themselves. A first image captures Mescal as a young McCartney, the unmistakable brick walls of Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club visible as he gazes quizzically off-camera.

The band made a name for themselves as the underground club's resident band in the early 1960s, and it was here that the late Brian Epstein was encouraged to become their manager after watching them live for the first time, a decision that would change their lives forever.

Paul Mescal is seen for the first time as Paul McCartney in a tantalising glimpse at the upcoming four-part Beatles anthology, which is scheduled for release in 2028

A first glimpse of Keoghan as drummer Ringo Starr finds him wearing a black and white spotted shirt and a psychedelic tie with a pair of headphones around his neck as he works in the studio

While his hair was styled the same as Ringo's signature 'moptop', the actor also bore a striking facial resemblance to the drummer.

Elsewhere, Quinn appears to be shot as a bearded Harrison towards the end of the band's career, while Dickinson wears the iconic denim jacket and round spectacles favoured by Lennon in 1968.

LIPA captioned the Instagram post: 'We’ve been given exclusive postcards promoting the new Beatles movies! We’ve hidden them around LIPA, and we want students to find them.'

Last year, Sony finally confirmed the cast for its four highly anticipated Beatles films following months of speculation, with all four projects set for release in April 2028.

White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood will play Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd, while Irish Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has been cast as Linda McCartney, the muse to many of McCartney's songs.

Source: dailymail.co.uk/Jada Bas, Jason Chester

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