Beatles News
Fans of The Beatles are saying their White Album release has a “slightly creepy” feeling throughout.
The sinister suggestions were shared by longtime listeners, who took to r/beatles on Reddit and shared their thoughts on the off feeling found on the album. One user asked: “Does the White Album give anyone else a slightly creepy and offputting feeling?” Several said the album does give off a sinister feeling, with one user suggesting it provides the album some crucial context. They wrote: “Absolutely. There are so many moods on the album that they all amplify each other, and the creepy songs make the happy and whimsical ones feel unsettling in the context of the whole album.
“A song like Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da or Martha My Dear is not at all sinister in isolation, but put them on the same album as Helter Skelter and Revolution #9, and they start to feel a bit haunted. The overall effect is an album that seems like a funhouse fever dream where you can sort of grasp the overall shape but it never comes fully into focus. I think it’s the greatest album ever made.”
Another agreed, adding: “You got it exactly right with your comment about Martha My Dear. It’s sort of like the end of The Shining where it’s upbeat big band and swing music playing, but it’s incredibly creepy music in the context of the movie.” A third says the “disjointed” tracklist may be the reason for such a creepy sensation.
They wrote: “It’s the kind of album that looking at the tracklist kind of feels ‘disjointed’ with all the different kind of songs, but it all comes together, it’s truly more than the sum of its parts (even if many of its parts are incredible). I feel the same about something like Bruce Springsteen’s The River.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
As of this writing, the Beatles’ “Revolution 9″ has more than 13,800,000 plays on Spotify. This has no doubt generated decent revenue, even given the platform’s oft-lamented payout rates. But compare that number to the more than half-a-billion streams of “Blackbird,” also on the Beatles’ self-titled 1968 “white album,” and you get an idea of “Revolution 9”’s place in the band’s oeuvre. Simply put, even ultra-hard-core Fab Four fans tend to skip it. Regardless, as Ian MacDonald writes in Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties, “this eight-minute exercise in aural free association is the world’s most widely distributed avant-garde artifact.”
Masterminded by John Lennon, “Revolution 9” is not exactly a song, but rather an elaborate “sound collage,” assembled in broad adherence to an aesthetic developed by such avant-garde creators as William S. Burroughs, The Beatles’ graphic designer Richard Hamilton, John Cage, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. “While the cut-up texts of Burroughs, the collages of Hamilton, and the musique concrète experiments of Cage and Stockhausen have remained the preserve of the modernist intelligentsia,” writes MacDonald, “Lennon’s sortie into sonic chance was packaged for a mainstream audience which had never heard of its progenitors, let alone been confronted by their work.”
In the new Polyphonic video above, Noah Lefevre takes a dive into those progenitors and their work, providing the context to understand how “the Beatles’ weirdest song” came together. Points of interest on this cultural-historical journey include composer Pierre Schaeffer’s resistance-headquarters-turned-experimental-music-lab Studio d’Essai; Nazi Germany, where the early Magnetophon tape recorder was developed; the BBC Radiophonic Workshop; avant-garde rocker Frank Zappa’s Studio Z; and the Million Volt Light and Sound Rave, a 1967 happening that hosted “Carnival of Light,” a Beatles composition never heard again since.
Source: openculture.com
Abbey Road reenters the Billboard 200, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, and Top Album Sales charts, ... [+] nearing 500 total weeks on the Billboard 200. HAMBURG, GERMANY - MAY 28: A general view of the 'Abbey Road Studio' room is seen at the Beatlemania exhibition on May 28, 2009 in Hamburg, Germany. The exhibition, which opens tomorrow, shows the development of the Beatles from their beginnings in Hamburg until they split up.
The Beatles are still so popular to this day that the group almost always appears on one Billboard chart or another. The band usually trades one title for a different one, based on both changing interests among American listeners as well as a handful of rules specific to the Billboard tallies that dictate which project finds space on a ranking (or doesn’t).
Most of the time, The Beatles appear with one compilation or another. It’s not uncommon for legacy acts to see just one or two collections of hit singles appear on the Billboard charts, as those are the titles that fans flock to both when they want to buy something from a favored act and when they head to streaming platforms.
This week is a bit different for The Beatles. Instead of a compilation, like either 1962-1966 (A.K.A. The Red Album) or 1967-1970 (usually referred to as The Blue Album), one of the group’s proper studio full-lengths returns, and it manages to break back onto several rosters at once.
Abbey Road is a winner yet again in America, decades after it was first released and heralded as a masterpiece. The title lands on three Billboard charts, and it didn’t find space on any of them just a few days ago.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
The Beatles icon Paul McCartney has revealed the one song that never fails to make him "break down in tears".
Despite penning classics such as Hey Jude, Band on the Run, and Get Back, it's a tune from one of his 1960s rivals that moves him to tears every time he hears it. The Beatles' star labelled the song as one of his all-time favourites, recounting an instance when he broke down in front of the original songwriter during a rehearsal of the track.
McCartney's fans have been left debating the collaborative effort, expressing their wish for more than just a handful of rare performances. A thread on Reddit saw listeners reminiscing about a 2002 rendition of the song. One user questioned why McCartney and The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson hadn't collaborated in the studio, with many pointing to a poignant moment which brought Sir Paul to tears.
One fan queried: "I've always found it perplexing who McCartney chooses to collaborate with. Very few were of this calibre but I wonder why he's never cowrote anything with Brian Wilson. Any thoughts?"
Another responded: "Although not a writing collaboration, Paul has spent time in the studio with Brian. He allegedly has an uncredited performance on the celery of The Beach Boys' delightfully weird Vegetables."
McCartney's studio cameo on a lesser-known Beach Boys tune has stirred whispers, but it's his teary-eyed experience with "God Only Knows' that has left fans moved. Sir Paul counts the Beach Boys classic as one of his dearest tracks.
Source: express.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
In 1988 George Harrison was in Hana on the island of Maui in Hawaii with his family where he had a vacation property. At the time, Harrison was also there to shoot a video for the song “This Is Love” from his 1987 album Cloud Nine.
While walking with his son Dhani one day, the two came across a sign near the beach that read: “If the wind blows, you can always adjust your sails, but, if you don’t know where you’re going, then any road will take you there.”
The words would become the base of a new song, “Any Road,” which Harrison started writing shortly after seeing that sign. Harrison held the song close until it had its place and later recorded it on and off between July 1999 and October 2001 for his 12th and final album Brainwashed.
Harrison’s lyrics follow the Eastern philosophy he followed for most of his life, of continuing forward no matter how difficult the path, or moving toward a higher state of being as in Hindu.
“The past, the present, and the future is just one cycle,” said Harrison in a video around Brainwashed. “I believe as most Buddhists and Hindus believe that it’s us coming back.”
For I’ve been travellin’ on a boat and a plane
In a car, on a bike, with a bus and a train
Travellin’ there, travellin’ here
Everywhere in every gear
But, oh Lord, we pay the price
With the spin of a wheel, with the roll of the dice
Ah yeah, you pay your fare
And if you don’t know where you’re goin’
Any road will take you there
And I’ve been travellin’ through the dirt and the grime
From the past to the future, through the space and the time
Travellin’ deep beneath the waves
In watery grottoes and mountainous caves
Source: americansongwriter.com/Tina Benitez-Eves
Paul McCartney’s next book, coming out this fall, is a reminder that the Beatles were not his only band
"Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run" is an oral history about the group McCartney formed in the early 1970s, after the Beatles broke up. With members including guitarist Denny Laine and McCartney's then-wife, keyboardist Linda McCartney, Wings rose from driving to shows in a van to selling millions of records with such hits as “Band on the Run,” “Jet,” “My Love” and “Silly Love Songs.” The band broke up in 1981.
Edited by historian Ted Widmer, the illustrated, 528-page book draws in part on hours of interviews with McCartney. W.W. Norton & Company, which also published McCartney's “The Lyrics” and “1964: Eyes of the Storm,” announced Wednesday that “Wings” will be released Nov. 4.
“I’m so very happy to be transported back to the time that was Wings and relive some of our madcap adventures through this book," McCartney, 82, said in a statement. "Starting from scratch after The Beatles felt crazy at times. There were some very difficult moments and I often questioned my decision. But as we got better I thought, ‘OK this is really good.’ We proved Wings could be a really good band.
Source: abcnews.go.com
Petula Clark was heckled by her own audience — and then John Lennon gave her some obscene advice. She became part of one of John's most significant solo songs.
Petula Clark was heckled by her own audience — and then John Lennon gave her some obscene advice. By accident, the experience helped her become part of one of John’s most significant solo songs. Sometimes, life comes at you fast!
Why John Lennon swore at Petula Clark to make her feel better
Clark is sometimes known as the First Lady of the British Invasion. Why? Well, of the few female singers who were part of that scene, she was the most successful. Several of Clark’s songs became hits in the United States, such as “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” “My Love,” “This Is My Song,” “I Know a Place,” and, most famously, “Downtown.”
During a 2013 interview with The Guardian, Clark said she once performed in Montreal and sang songs in English and French — the two official languages of Canada. English speakers were upset that she sang in French and vice versa. During that performance, Clark was jeered. Clark then spoke with a rock ‘n’ roll legend who just happened to be in Montreal.
“I really didn’t know what to do and I needed to talk to somebody who I had no connection with, and John was in town with Yoko doing a Bed-In for Peace,” she said. “So after the show one night, I went over [to] the hotel — no security, of course, I just walked in — and said I wanted to see John Lennon.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
What more can you write about the late George Harrison, who would've turned 82 on February 25?
People have been writing about the Beatles – pretty much nonstop – since 1963, when Peter Lorre, Andrés Segovia, John Coltrane, Stan Laurel and Bud Abbott still walked the earth.
Well, to answer my own question, it might actually be a story like our April 2025 cover feature – a story where all of Harrison’s albums (including everything by the Beatles) are laid out, side by side, in chronological order, along with some of his most important side trips and guest appearances, making it all seem like one huge body of work, which – guess what! – it is.
It’s a feature in which – for better or worse – oddities like Wonderwall Music, Encouraging Words and Is This What You Want? are given the same space and word count as major players like Abbey Road, Revolver and All Things Must Pass.
But perhaps the cherry on top is our new interview with George’s son, Dhani Harrison – he of thenewno2, Fistful of Mercy and solo fame – who sheds some light on another major player in George Land, 1973's Living in the Material World, home of some of the elder Harrison's finest guitar work and compositions.
Source: guitarworld.com/Damian Fanelli
“My Sweet Lord” was Harrison’s first single as a solo artist, and it was a chart-topping hit across the globe. But the song wasn’t your typical pop chart fodder. Rather, “My Sweet Lord” is a folk rock gospel song heavily inspired by Harrison’s spiritual awakening.
In 1967, George Harrison and the rest of The Beatles traveled to Rishikesh, India. At the time, Harrison was in a pretty relatable but unpleasant spot. He was struggling with his identity as a musician as well as his purpose in life outside of being part of the Fab Four. A bit of spiritual guidance was all he really needed to go down a new path in life, helped in part by the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The Spiritual Experience That Inspired “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison
Much of the music Harrison wrote during and after that famed trek to India reflects a sort of enlightenment about his life. Plenty of people, including fans and those close to Harrison, saw it as just a phase. However, the inspiration that Harrison took back with him from India influenced him until the very end of his life. “My Sweet Lord” could be seen as a defining song of that life-changing experience.
Harrison started writing “My Sweet Lord” in 1969 in Denmark with the assistance of Eric Clapton and session musician Billy Preston. The Beatles weren’t officially broken up yet, but the writing was on the wall. Harrison found solace in his growing ability as a songwriter. One could see the lyrics of “My Sweet Lord” as Harrison pleading for guidance and comfort from a higher power.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
The Beatles are back on the music charts in the United Kingdom, where all four musicians, including those no longer with us, remain legends. The group never stays away for very long, and even when one album or hit song disappears for a short time, it either quickly returns, or is replaced by another popular release from the rockers.
1, a collection of the Beatles’ biggest smashes that was released more than two decades ago, now stands as the group's only charting album. The compilation reappears on a pair of rankings across the pond as it's become a huge win once more.
This frame, 1 launches highest on the Official Albums Streaming chart. On that tally, it lands smack dab in the middle, at No. 50.
The same title manages to once again appear on the Official Albums chart, the ranking of the most-consumed projects throughout the nation. 1 re-enters that competitive list at No. 64.
While 1 may sit lower on the main albums roster than on the streaming-only chart, it has actually performed better on the former. The Beatles’ singles-packed collection hit No. 1 without issue on the Official Albums list, and it has now racked up 467 stays somewhere on that ranking. The same release stalled at No. 6 on the Official Albums Streaming roster, and it's now held on for 418 non-consecutive stays.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
