Beatles News
When The Beatles burst onto the scene in the early 1960s, they had a clear image. Their mop-top hair and love songs aimed at the seas of screaming fans made them the ultimate teenage heartthrobs, fueling Beatlemania. Their lyrics spoke directly to a version of “you,” teasing flirtation. But as the band grew, the device of using women’s names evolved into a sophisticated literary device to romanticize the mundane every day. In their almost-decade together, The Beatles used women’s names in the titles of 18 songs, meaning that it was never just a phase. From “Lovely Rita” to “Eleanor Rigby,” “Sexy Sadie” to “Michelle,” the named figures helped the band grow into sharp storytellers who found magic and power in the ordinary.
The Beatles had matured sonically and narratively by the time Revolver came around in 1966, and “Eleanor Rigby” is a great example. They were smart enough to stick to a technique that worked for them—using a specific name in the title. But they had developed the substance to go beyond romance, using Eleanor to amplify the voices of “all the lonely people.” Of course, they continued with romantic narratives. Even so, the serenades of “Julia” and “Dear Prudence” are wonderfully tender. They evoke a much more tender connection than the rock and roll spectacle of other releases named after the women in their lives or imaginations.
The Beatles Had Magic of the Mundane
The simple technique of using an individual name to connect with the masses makes each listener feel special. They feel like they are being let in on a private story because of the specific details in the lyrics. I mean, Paul McCartney was singing about his “Michelle,” not yours. So, even if you don’t connect with the girl, you connect with whoever is singing and their intimate stories.
The Beatles knew how to make listeners feel special, and that’s why everybody loves them. The Fab Four took everyday professions, like a meter maid, and situations, like “robbin’ the homeward bounder,” and elevated them into tales of wonder. By giving short stories and feelings an identity, often fictitious, they romanticized regular experiences into moments of magic.
Source: Fiona MacPherson-Amador/collider.com
1975 was the year one of the greatest collaborations in the history of music happened. David Bowie was at the peak of his career. He'd had his commercial breakthrough in 1972 with the release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and had previously enjoyed great success with his legendary single, "Space Oddity." But he had yet to conquer the American charts. That didn't happen until 1975, and in a way that surprised even Bowie himself. In 1974, he got to meet one of his greatest heroes, and thanks to that meeting, a number-one single was born. David Bowie Was Terrified to Meet John Lennon
"I think we were polite with each other, in that kind of older-younger way," Bowie explained. Apparently, he didn't have to introduce himself, since Lennon knew who he was, and treated him like an up-and-coming artist, which intimidated Bowie. "I was sort of, ‘It’s John Lennon!’ I don’t know what to say. ‘Don’t mention The Beatles, you’ll look really stupid.’”
Visconti explained that, despite the awkward first meeting, Lennon took a liking to Bowie. The pair became friends, and months later, when Lennon invited him to hang out in his hotel room, Bowie once again asked his producer to join, since he was nervous about being alone with the Beatle. The two musicians spent hours in silence, just drawing caricatures of each other with charcoal. It was a confusing but clearly intimate friendship. The next year, Lennon visited his friend when he was recording his album Young Americans in New York City, and that meeting sparked a collaboration that changed Bowie's career forever.
That day changed Bowie's life forever, not just because of the incredible success of the song, but because Lennon shared some great songwriting advice, which paved the way for his '80s transformation. In the '80s, especially in 1983 with Let's Dance, he switched from avant-garde to dance music, and it was Lennon's advice that made that possible.
Source: Val Barone/collider.com
Sir Paul McCartney treated George Clooney to a personal performance of When I'm Sixty-Four when he reached the age last year.
The Hollywood actor marked the milestone in May 2025 and he has now revealed he received a special video message from McCartney in which he belted out the Beatles classic as a birthday surprise.
When asked about his 64th birthday, George told The Los Angeles Times newspaper: "I actually got a message from Paul, which is pretty cool ...
"It was a video of him playing When I’m Sixty-Four ... I never really thought when I was cutting tobacco in Augusta, Kentucky, that I would meet Paul, much less become friends with him.
"I feel very in awe. In the scheme of people, you look at Michael Jordan as the best to ever play the game. Paul’s got to be in the conversation as one of the greats of all time. So it’s really something to have him call up and do When I’m Sixty-Four for you."
When asked if he ever sends messages to McCartney, the actor revealed he exchanges messages with the Beatles legend "from time to time".
George went on to recall the chat he had with the musician after hearing Beatles track Now and Then, which was released in 2003 after a previously unheard John Lennon demo tape from the 1970s was completed using modern technology.
George said: "Sure, [I message him] from time to time. He had this song come out, this beautiful Beatles song that had never been released ...
"Dude, it brought me down. It had that Beatles sound and vibe.
"For those of us who grew up with the Beatles being the end all and be all of everything, it just brought you to a whole other place in time. He sent it to me, and I wrote him back and said: 'Jesus, Paul. It’s really beautiful'."
The Oscar-winner went on to insist he still doesn't see himself as old now he's in his 60s.
He added: "When I look in the mirror, I don’t see myself as a 64-year-old dude. Sometimes someone will send me a paparazzi picture of me and I’ll be like: 'Who’s that old f***? Oh yeah, that’s me'."
Source: BANG Showbiz/uk.news.yahoo.com
Paul Mescal reveals he's started writing his own music after filming the Beatles biopic and shares how Paul McCartney reacted to learning the Irish actor would be playing him. Paul Mescal has revealed he's been inspired to start writing music after filming the Beatles biopic.
The actor, 29, plays Paul McCartney in the upcoming four-part film series, alongside Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
Mescal is doing all of his own singing in the films and told British GQ of the role: 'I've learned so much. It's really inspired a love'.
Confirming that he is now penning his own music, he continued: 'I've always loved music, but getting to play one of the great songwriters and great frontmen has really lit a fire in terms of personally writing music and engaging and hearing music in a different way.'
Mescal, who previously showcased his vocal abilities in the musical films Carmen and The History of Sound, also revealed how McCartney reacted upon learning he'd been cast to play him, as he praised the 'brilliant' Liverpudlian.
'He's the most brilliant man, Mescal gushed. 'I feel emotionally attached to him. He received me with great kindness and warmth.'
Paul Mescal has revealed he's started writing his own music after filming the Beatles biopic and shared how Paul McCartney reacted to learning the Irish actor would be playing him
The actor, 29, opened up about his hotly-anticipated new role in an interview with British GQ, also taking part in a quirky photoshoot for the magazine
Mescal comes from a musical family, with his sister Nell a popular singer - and the pair often duet on social media.
Source: dailymail.co.uk/Rebecca Lawrence
In the new Disney+ documentary series "The Beatles Anthology," a 1991 interview is presented in which the then-surviving Beatles describe secretly spiking the tea served to engineer Geoff Emerick and producer George Martin with "uppers" in order to get them to do studio work later into the night.
In Episode 9, George Harrison described how Emerick and Martin would want to quit for the day around 5:30, while the band wanted to continue recording.
"Some of the people here, the engineer, for instance, would be always like, trying to go home at 5:30. And we'd all be like, well, you know, trying to make history or whatever. And Mal [Evans], our roadie, had this big teapot, it was a big aluminum teapot, and he'd go out. And I remember one specific incident where he made a pot of tea and we doused the tea with uppers. And then he was up there with George Martin, and I think it was Geoff Emerick, giving them the tea. 'Cause they were, you know, "Can we go home now?" No, you can't, you bastard. Have a cup of tea. And, you know, until they were up there, you know like, til 11:00 at night."
Paul McCartney continues, "Yeah, and then they didn't want to go home. … They don't know to this day, until they see this program."
Ah, good fun in the '60s.
Source: Ruben Bolling/boingboing.net
Greatest hits albums are rarely considered art. Typically, they are money grabs in the latter half of an artist’s career. Not to downplay the inherent merits of a greatest hits compilation, as they are a good way for newcomers get a foothold in an artist’s sound. The Beatles had many greatest hits compilations, but the two that encompass the breadth of their time together are 1962–1966 and 1967–1970, a.k.a the “red and blue” albums. Allen Klein, the Beatles’ late-stage manager, compiled both of these albums. One grievance (of many) that fans have with Klein was his decision to remix the songs on both of these compilations in stereo. John Lennon also joined in on that grievance. Learn more about Lennon’s qualms with these compilations below.
There was much contention towards the end of the Beatles’ career. Klein was meant to sort out the band, but only ended up sending them into further turmoil. There was really no fixing the band’s numerous issues. If you stopped one leak, another would only let in water faster.
Creative differences ran rampant towards the end of the Beatles’ tenure. This certainly drove a wedge between the foursome. Nevertheless, their efforts as a band on their studio albums always resulted in strong pieces of work. The same, according to Lennon, can’t be said for the compilation albums made on their behalf. “It Was Embarrassing”
Both the “red and blue” albums were made in response to a bootleg “greatest hits” pair that was circulating at the same time. Klein and Apple decided to label this project with a stamp of “authenticity” so as not to miss out on any potential income opportunities.
According to Lennon, he only heard the compilations after they were released. Much to his dismay, the project had been remixed to stereo, leaving it a muddled recording that didn’t reflect the band’s original intent.
“I didn’t realize it until they put it out,” Lennon once said. “I presumed they would just copy them from the masters. I didn’t even listen to it until after it was out. I took it back and played it, and it was embarrassing.”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
The former Beatles member, 85, shared this information with USA TODAY in May 2023. Ringo named one of his longtime collaborators, Jim Keltner, for the honor. He and Jim first met in 1971 in London, where they were introduced by George Harrison, Ringo's former and late Beatles bandmate. In 1989, Ringo & His All-Starr Band launched and Jim was included as a member. The 83-year-old musician has participated as an occasional guest from 2006 to 2023 for the live rock supergroup created by producer David Fishof.
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Ringo told the outlet, "Jim is my all-time hero drummer, no one is as good as him − I love Jim, and that’s about it."
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He also took a moment to highlight Dave Grohl, former drummer of Nirvana and the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in the interview. Ringo said, "I've seen Dave Grohl play straight. He was doing backup at some party, and he was doing it straight. And I was like, OK, wow."
Jim, born James Lee Keltner, is known for his session work. He was dubbed "the leading session drummer in America" by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes.
Jim has played drums for a plethora of legendary artists (whether for their albums and/or live performances) that include Carly Simon, the Bee Gees, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, and Elton John.
Along with working with Ringo and George, Jim also worked with other Beatles member, John Lennon. He did session work for John's solo albums and albums released by late singer's wife, Yoko Ono, and their band, Plastic Ono Band.
George also gushed about Jim in an interview with Anthony DeCurtis in 1987, that was in Ashley Kahn's George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters.
The Beatles lead guitarist also considered Jim to be a "great session drummer."
While speaking about the making of his album Cloud Nine, George shared how his "core band emerged" in response to Anthony's question. Both Ringo and Jim featured on Cloud Nine.
Source: Demetria Osei-Tutu/themirror.com
Sting is thankful to The Beatles for opening the "floodgates for songwriters to have an attempt at writing songs".
The Every Breath You Take singer's touring guitarist Dominic Miller has released a songbook of 14 of the Fab Four's tracks for classical guitar titled The Beatles arranged by Dominic Miller: Guitar Solo Songbook.
Miller has revealed that he and Sting, 74, have often discussed the music and career of The Beatles, and the former Police frontman believes that the compositions of Sir Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Sir Ringo Starr paved the way for British musicians who followed, like himself.
In an interview with Rick Beato on his YouTube channel, Miller said: "As Sting has often said, actually – and we talk about this sometimes – is that the Beatles, by doing those songs and coming up with those compositions, they kind of gave a license for everyone else to have a go.
“These guys from Liverpool, if they can do it, everyone should try, and so it opened the floodgates for a lot of songwriters to have an attempt at writing songs, which had never really happened before in England, like pop songs – verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge.”
From creating his songbook, Miller is convinced that The Beatles are one of the few acts whose music still sounds good when played badly.
He said: "So there's a neighbour of ours about three or four doors down who's probably a piano teacher, and they're teaching this kid to play Bach, but it's the most beautiful thing I could ever hear. So I look forward to that moment when they have their lesson, and I hear Bach played badly with no real tempo, but that's the most beautiful thing that you can hear.
“And I think it's the same for The Beatles. If someone were to play Michelle or Yesterday badly, the magic would still come through. So that was the biggest discovery for me – how indestructible this harmony is.
“Like Bach, I think the Beatles are one of the only composers that you can play badly, and it still sounds good.”
Source: yardbarker.com
The beauty—and arguably the secret ingredient—of The Beatles was the band’s ability to bring four distinct personalities and abilities together to create something cohesive, catchy, and fun to watch. Fans swooned over Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as individual musicians. The Fab Four inherently implied all four musicians were notable and distinct. But as far as the behind-the-scenes operations were concerned, two people ran the show.
As founding members and the two musicians who had been playing together the longest, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the natural choice for any two songwriters of the four. Starr, for his part, seemed content to be the band’s backbone and throw in a novelty song every now and then. But for the band’s youngest member, George Harrison, this was a wall he would throw himself against time and time again before The Beatles’ final split in 1970.
According to an interview in Anthology, McCartney and Lennon discussed Harrison’s role in the group privately. “It was an option, you know, to include George in the songwriting team,” he said. Optional, sure. Wanted? Maybe not. Paul McCartney and John Lennon Discuss George Harrison at Woolton
Paul McCartney continued, “Without wanting to be too sort of mean to him, we had decided. I remember walking up through Woolton past Woolton Church with John one morning and, you know, going over these questions. ‘Should we? Should three of us write, or would it be better just to keep it simple? And we decided, ‘No, we’ll just keep the two of us. So, George [Harrison] used to write his own songs.”
For Harrison, songwriting was more of a novel pursuit than with McCartney and John Lennon. Just by age alone, Harrison hadn’t been playing guitar, let alone writing songs, for as long as his older bandmates. And as Harrison would later explain in Anthology, Lennon and McCartney had the advantage of already getting through their “bad song” phase. Harrison felt like he was coming in completely fresh, and considering he wasn’t a part of Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting team, he also lacked the advantage of ready assistance from his colleagues.
Interestingly, McCartney and Lennon’s meeting place of Woolton was also where the two musicians first met at the St. Peter’s Church Fete in July 1957.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
Sir Paul McCartney needs no introduction as a former member of the Beatles, one of the most revered bands in music history, and as a successful solo artist in his own right. After nearly seven decades in the music industry, McCartney is still admired for his vocals, songwriting, and proficiency on multiple musical instruments by fans worldwide. It would therefore seem unlikely that the nineteen-time Grammy Award winner and veteran artist would have any issues performing, but according to McCartney, there is one song he struggles to play live because of a particular tragedy and his deep emotional connection to it. Why Paul McCartney Can't Perform "Here Today" Without Getting Emotional.
Eventually, McCartney's grief inspired him to pen the song "Here Today," which was written in 1981 but released the following year. During the same interview, McCartney recalled what the writing session was like or "Here Today", "I found a room and just sat on the wooden floor in a corner with my guitar and just started to play the opening chords to 'Here Today.'" One particular song lyric, McCartney explained, was the most profound for him: "'The night we cried,' that was to do with a time when we were in Key West, down in Florida...We got drunk and started to get kind of emotional...On the way to that, there was a lot of soul-searching. We told each other a few truths, you know, 'Well, I love you,' 'I love you man,' 'I love that you said that,' and we opened up." Due to the emotional nature of the song, McCartney has since revealed that it's difficult for him to play live without getting worked up, so he seldom plays it during live performances.
McCartney also once revealed that The Beach Boys' song, "God Only Knows", greatly impacted him. He told BBC Radio 1 in 2007, “‘God Only Knows’ is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian. I’ve actually performed it with him, and I’m afraid to say that during the sound check I broke down.” McCartney continued, referencing his 2002 performance of "God Only Knows" with Wilson, “I got to sing it with Brian once when we did a benefit [show] together. I was okay at the actual performance; I held it together. But at the rehearsal, at the soundcheck, I lost it, because it’s very emotional, this song, I find it… ‘Oh my god, I’m singing with Brian,’ it just got me, I couldn’t. So all it is, it’s little vibrations reaching your music, it’s only little vibrations, little words, and little things. There is this powerful effect, you know.”
Source: Karly B./collider.com
