Beatles News
John Lennon’s Power to the People live EP debuts in the top 10 on three U.K. charts, earning the ... More rock, Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band new smashes. 16th August 1966: John Lennon (1940 - 1980) of the Beatles, after making a formal apology for his controversial statement that the group were 'more popular than Jesus'.
Decades after his death, John Lennon is still collecting hit singles in the United Kingdom. If he’s still doing so to this day, after so many decades have passed, he may never stop scoring new wins.
The musician created an enormous amount of material during his lifetime, both on his own and as part of The Beatles… not to mention his many collaborations with his wife, Yoko Ono. That wealth of recordings – studio, live, demo, and otherwise — has turned into a near-bottomless well of releases that continue to attract interest from devoted fans and collectors. And with the help of repackagings, remasterings, and a steady flow of special releases, Lennon seems to reach the U.K. rankings with something “new” with real regularity.
John Lennon’s Latest Hit Is a Record Store Day Exclusive
Lennon, alongside Ono and the Plastic Ono Band, returns to the U.K. rankings this frame with a short but powerful collection that was released specifically for Record Store Day. Titled Power to the People – Live at the One-to-One Concert, New York City, 1972, the effort is officially shortened to Power to the People according to the Official Charts Company. It features four live performances recorded at Lennon’s now-legendary One-to-One benefit shows, held on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
Fans of The Beatles’ soundtrack album, A Hard Day’s Night, say the lack of a Ringo Starr-led song is disappointing.
Though George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon each received at least one song with lead vocal work on A Hard Day’s Night, Starr did not have any. A post to the r/Beatles subreddit saw fans share their thoughts on why Starr may not have been given any work to do on the album. One user shared: “It’s a shame that Ringo didn’t get a lead vocal song in A Hard Day’s Night. I recently noticed that while John, Paul, and George have lead vocals in a lot of the tracks, only Ringo didn’t have any. I wonder why.”
Fans are now speculating on why Starr had not been given a lead vocal role on The Beatles‘ 1964 album. One suggested that while it may be disappointing he did not receive any vocal work on the album, his work on the film led to him becoming the main star of the follow-up film. The user wrote: “Ringo did get a scene that was so well received he became the focal point for the film Help!”
Another added: “The camera definitely loved Ringo the most. John always had the good lines and Paul is Paul, but Ringo is a true ham and the best, most natural actor of the four.” A third suggested another release from the band around the same time may be the reason Starr does not feature on vocals. They wrote: “The Long Tall Sally EP which was released around the same time gave him Matchbox.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
Brian Epstein had served as the Beatles’ manager for longer than the band had even been popular in the public eye. The band had initially caught Epstein’s attention in 1961, as they had begun to garner more attention in Liverpool’s local markets. After catching a local show, Epstein, who was new to the music management business, drew up a contract and signed on as the Beatles’ manager. Epstein was responsible for a number of different decisions regarding the band’s direction in their early years, including the shaping of their overall image, and he (reluctantly) played a key part in the dismissal of the Beatles’ original drummer, Pete Best in 1962, when he was replaced by Starr.
Throughout the life of the band, Epstein often served as the North Star for business decisions, and was a key mediator in managing conflicts and egos within the band. Most notably, Epstein was responsible for the Apple Corps venture that put all four band members in a legal partnership as a tax shelter. However, in 1967, Epstein died unexpectedly of a drug overdose, leaving the Beatles, who were not very business-minded, at a loss for what to do next.
Less than a year after Epstein’s death, The Fab Four got to work on their ninth studio album, The Beatles (commonly referred to as the White Album), the first album to be produced through their recently minted Apple Records. Though the band would go on to create three more albums after The White Album, this notably marked a shift in the band, as both McCartney and Lennon would go on to say that tensions were high during its creation, and it reflected in the end product.
Source: collider.com/Lex Williams
A new exhibit of photographs taken by Beatles legend Paul McCartney in late 19963 and early ’64 will open this Friday, April 25, at the Gagosian gallery in Beverly Hills, California. The exhibition, titled “Paul McCartney: Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963–February 1964,” includes 36 images snapped by McCartney during and shortly before The Beatles’ historic first visit to the U.S.
A video feature capturing McCartney signing prints of various photos from the exhibit and chatting with Joshua Chuang, the gallery’s director of photography, about the images, has been posted on the Gagosian’s YouTube channel. The presentation was filmed during a recent visit Sir Paul paid to the Griffin Editions fine-art photography destination in Brooklyn, New York.
At one point during the video, McCartney is shown looking at photos he took of John Lennon, and he shared some emotional reflections about his late former bandmate.
“He was a great guy,” Paul said. “And I’m so proud and happy to have known him, to have worked with him, and to have done all that stuff with him, you know? So it’s a huge thing in my life.” Many of the pics were taken as the Fab Four were experiencing the craziness of Beatlemania, as rabid fans gathered to greet the band members wherever they traveled.
“I think for me, the main feeling is just remembering the joy,” McCartney noted as he gazed at the photos of Lennon. “I suppose, you know, in life, people come and go. And if ever I have to write a note to someone, [I would] sort of say, ‘Yeah, but you know, you remember the great times you had together and stuff.’ And that’s what these pictures do for me."
Source: americansongwriter.com/Matt Friedlander
Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote the majority of The Beatles' hit songs, with Paul penning Let It Be after experiencing a heartbreaking family tragedy. Let It Be is still thought of as one of the best songs by The Beatles, but there's a heartbreaking story behind its creation.
The song was written and sung by Paul McCartney and ended up being the band's final single before Paul announced his departure. Years later, Paul opened up about the meaning behind Let It Be and explained how it had been inspired by his mom's death.
Paul's mother Mary Patricia McCartney sadly died of an embolism as a complication of surgery for breast cancer when her son was just 14 years old. Speaking to James Corden on his segment of Carpool Karaoke, Paul explained, "I had a dream in the 60s where my mum who died came to me in a dream and was reassuring me, saying, 'It's gonna be OK. Just let it be...'"
With Paul's mother being called Mary, it's often believed she is the inspiration for the "Mother Mary" lyric in the song. However, there is another version of the story. Mal Evans was a road manager and personal assistant employed by The Beatles. He worked closely with Neil Aspinall as the band's general go-to man and became close friends with The Fab Four.
Source: Scarlett O'Toole/themirror.com
Beatles fans are only just realising why Ringo Starr is always seen wearing dark glasses.
Starr, who gained international fame as the drummer for the legendary band, is known for sporting dark glasses or sunglasses. However, the reason behind this is not very well-known.
A lot of fans assume the glasses are just part of Starr’s look but this isn’t the case. Charlie Brown, a user on Quora, the American social question and answer website, has shed some light.
In his answer to the question ‘Why is Ringo Starr always wearing sunglasses?’ Charlie said: “According to numerous sources over the decades that have addressed this popular fan question about the celebrated drummer of The Beatles…
"Sir Ringo is usually seen in dark glasses (or ‘sunglasses’) because his eyes have an acute sensitivity to light - and he has occasionally cited that reason himself when asked about it. I’ve never heard an official reason for that to have developed as Ringo has aged (he’s now 81), but given the serious illnesses he lived through as a child - the light sensitivity his eyes developed as he matured might be related to his childhood health challenges.”
Starr, also known as Sir Richard Starkey, was born on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool. He spent a year in the hospital with complications from a burst appendix when he was six years old, according to Brittanica.
Source: express.co.uk/Rahima Miah
Steven Soderbergh is out to the town with an untitled feature doc, centered on the final interview of John Lennon, multiple sources tell Deadline.
This is the first doc in many years for Soderbergh, who released And Everything Is Going Fine — on the life of multi-hyphenate artist Spalding Gray — through Sundance Selects in 2010. We’re told Soderbergh is in production now, and the search for a distributor is on, with the film to be completed by end of year.
EPs on the project include Soderbergh, Michael Sugar and David Hillman of Sugar23, and Nancy Saslow and David Hudson of Mishpookah Entertainment Group.
Lennon’s final in-depth interview took place alongside wife and creative collaborator Yoko Ono on the fateful day of December 8, 1980 — the only radio interview granted around the release of their album, Double Fantasy. That afternoon, the pair met a team of three from RKO Radio at their Dakota apartment. The conversation was extraordinary and wide-ranging, reflecting the duo’s open and reflective moods. John had just turned 40 and emerged from a five-year hiatus from the music industry to care for his son, Sean. The future seemed limitless.
Source: deadline.com/Matt Grobar
The Beatles are well-known for their iconic hits including Eleanor Rigby and Hey Jude.
However, they also had moments in which they broke away from pop music conventions. Paul McCartney pointed to one obscure B-side, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), as a prime example of this unconventional approach.
Created over numerous sessions from 1967 to 1969, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) marked a departure from the band's typical output. Dubbed "insane" by Paul, the song is recognized for its surrealistic humor. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) was first worked on in May 1967, but was set aside for close to two years.
When The Beatles resumed work on the song in 1969, they opted for radical change. Turning their backs on their signature style, the musicians created a mix of musical interludes and spoken word sections.
Even by the unusual standards of the late Beatles, the song broke away from conventional structures. It takes listeners on a ride through genres like lounge jazz, ska, cabaret and even includes comedic voice-overs from Paul and John Lennon.
Reflecting on the song years later, Paul remarked, "People are only just discovering the B-sides of Beatles singles. They're only just discovering things like You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)."
Source: irishstar.com/Maria Leticia Gomes
Balancing work and family life can prove difficult for folks in just about any occupation. Now imagine trying to do it when you’re a famous rock star, facing constant travel and professional obligations to sustain your career. The Beatles’ own Macca always seemed to handle those pressures with grace. Understandably, his kids would occasionally find their way into the songs he wrote. “Waterfalls”, a song Paul McCartney released in 1980, gives out some charming fatherly advice in the lyrics.
When Paul McCartney started making the album that would become McCartney II, he did it in part because he needed a break from Wings. The band he started in the aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup had undergone many lineup changes and had come to a bit of a creative crossroads at the end of the decade.
As a result, McCartney wanted to switch things up with a solo album that wasn’t afraid to get a little experimental. He initially planned that the album would have nothing but freshly-written material. But he knew enough not to be so rigid about those guidelines.
After writing a bunch of new songs, McCartney decided to go against his earlier edict. He dusted off a song that he had worked on with Wings. The dreamy ballad, entitled “Waterfalls”, featured a chorus that seemed like one attached to a love song.
When you dig deeper into the lyrics, however, you’ll find several lines in the verses of “Waterfalls” that seem like parental advice. As McCartney explained in the book The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present, his kids were at ages where such words were warranted:
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
Despite their famously tumultuous breakup, the Beatles‘ music was more or less a group effort. They all wrote songs–some more than others, but nevertheless. They collaborated in the studio, working to make their tracks as rich as they could be. So when a member was absent from the recording process, there was a very specific circumstance behind it. Find out why individual Beatles members refused to record the three songs, below.
McCartney’s momentary absence in the studio was the result of a row with John Lennon. McCartney was infamously controlling in the studio–at least according to the opinion of his bandmates. He had a very specific vision for the Beatles songs he penned, leading to lengthy, nitpicking studio sessions. However, he took his hands off the wheel with one song in particular: “She Said She Said.” According to McCartney, this is the only Beatles track he had zero to do with.
“I’m not sure, but I think it was one of the only Beatle records I never played on.” McCartney once said. “I think we’d had a barney or something and I said, ‘Oh, fu** you!’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.”
Ringo Starr is generally considered the level-headed one of the group. He was amiable and didn’t suffer the same alienation from his bandmates the way other members did post-breakup. However, he did get fussy while recording his most famous Beatles song, “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
By Starr’s recollection, the original opening line for this track was What would you do if I sang out of tune / Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me? If that line had stuck, Starr would’ve likely been the victim of many a heckler. Though the band wasn’t sure they would tour again, the prospect of endless tomatoes to the face was enough to put Starr off the song.
“I said, ‘There’s not a chance in hell am I going to sing this line,’” Starr once said. “Because we still had lots of really deep memories of the kids throwing jelly beans and toys on stage; and I thought that if we ever did get out there again, I was not going to be bombarded with tomatoes.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
