Beatles News
Music icon George Harrison said he felt "limited" and "pigeon-holed" working on one of The Beatles' most famous albums, which he dubbed as "weird."
Around 1967, after the group had sworn off touring and released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, cracks began forming in the Fab Four and they started growing apart.
Each band member yearned to work on their own separate projects and essentially wanted to break out of the Beatles bubble that had held them back for about seven years.
During a 1977 interview with Crawdaddy, Harrison said the first time he thought about leaving The Beatles, a period he called "depressing," was when the group was recording The White Album.
He explained that "it was a problem making a double album because it takes such a long time," and "it was a period that had started a bit negative."
"It was a bit difficult and we got through it and it was fine," Harrison said, but working on The Beatles' following album proved even worse for him.
Source: themirror.com/Hannah Furnell
It’s official: the Beatles movie project is really happening. Director Sam Mendes announced this week he’s making four films about John, Paul, George, and Ringo, opening in theaters in April 2028. After months of rumors, he finally confirmed the cast at Cinema Con in Las Vegas. Paul McCartney is Paul Mescal from Normal People; Ringo Starr is Barry Keoghan from Saltburn. George Harrison is Joseph Quinn, who played Eddie Munson in Stranger Things and the Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. John Lennon is Harris Dickinson, last seen spending a few hard day’s nights with Nicole Kidman in Babygirl.
The new Fab Four came out in Vegas, took an Ed Sullivan-style bow, and recited lines from “Sgt. Pepper.” “It’s wonderful to be here,” they told the crowd of theater owners. “It’s certainly a thrill. You’re such a lovely audience, we’d like to take you home with us.”
Beatles fans have been buzzing with questions ever since the project was first announced, over a year ago. There’s so much we don’t know about (to use the clunky official title) The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event. We’ve seen a lot of Fabs movies over the years, yet there’s no precedent for one this ambitious. The rest of the cast remains unknown, but according to a confidential source, the Walrus is Paul.
All four lads are played by famous movie stars with their own acclaimed careers, grown men who’ve spent more time in the gym this week than the band did in their lives. They’re already veterans — Barry Keoghan is 32, which was Ringo’s age when the band broke up. (The youngest, Dickinson, is 28; John was up to “Revolution #9” by then.) The tag is a not-especially Beatles-level catchphrase: “Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.” That’s Hollywood-speak for “toppermost of the poppermost.”
Source: rollingstone.com/Rob Sheffield
People are usually at their most interesting when they are in flux – uncertain of the way forward, of what life they ought to build. That was the case with John Lennon and Yoko Ono when they arrived in New York in 1971. They were both fleeing England – the recriminations around the Beatles breakup; the terrible misogyny and racism levelled at Ono – but also running towards the optimism and creative excitement of the New York art scene.
This is the period I have tried to recreate in my film One to One: John & Yoko – using a plethora of previously unheard phone recordings, home movies and archive. It’s an unconventional film in many ways, pitching the viewer headfirst into the life, politics and music of the time without the usual music documentary guardrails. At its heart is the One to One concert that the couple gave at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 1972 – a concert that turned out to be Lennon’s only full-length concert after leaving the Beatles.
During this time, Lennon became obsessed with a set of questions: what happened to flower power? Why hadn’t it worked? Why were the youth so apathetic? As an ex-Beatle, how could he use his celebrity to make the world a better place? How could he ever reclaim a private life when most of the world still seemed to think of him as a Beatle?
Source: theguardian.com/Kevin Macdonald
It’s the greatest story often told. The Beatles are not just the most successful musical act of all time; they are perhaps the most analyzed, deconstructed and dissected entertainers since the dawn of recorded music.
We think we know everything, but author Ian Leslie proves otherwise. His new book, “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,” is, astonishingly, one of the few to offer a detailed narrative of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s partnership. And it’s a revelation. Leslie gives a complete portrait of this remarkably fecund and frequently tortured creative partnership, which began in Liverpool in 1957 and ended in New York City on Dec. 8, 1980, with Lennon’s murder.
The basic facts of their first encounter are well known. They met in the summer of 1957 at a garden party in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton, where 17-year-old Lennon was performing with his skiffle band the Quarrymen. McCartney was there to scout Lennon, who was already establishing a reputation as a riveting stage performer. McCartney, 15, ginned up the courage to approach Lennon after his set; their bond was forged over a mutual passion for Little Richard and Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel.”
They took to songwriting with alacrity, driven by an urge to create their own material at a time when there was no precedent for a band to write its own songs. “It entailed the two of them educating each other in the art of songwriting and doing so from scratch,” Leslie writes. “And there was no division of labor.” One of their first joint compositions was “Love Me Do,” which was written in 1958, four years before the Beatles recorded it. All of their songs, whether fully realized or half-baked, were dutifully logged by McCartney into an exercise book he had swiped from school.
Source: latimes.com/Marc Weingarten
The Beatles story is one of the most enduring, beguiling and seemingly never-ending of our modern age. What else is there to be said? Ian Leslie thinks he has an answer in exploring the relationship, inner workings and chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney – the central axis of the phenomenon that was the Beatles.
This is a riveting, well-written account throwing new light on old stones – the band, John and Paul, songwriting and creativity, and the craft of some of their most critically acclaimed songs (and some lesser-known gems) – all told within a poignant narrative about male friendship, musical alchemy and loss.
There is a welcome revisionism in John & Paul. Leslie throws out the well-worn concept of completely distinct John and Paul songs – one of the central strands of numerous Beatleology studies. Instead, he sees John and Paul as creations of each other, demolishing the simplistic dichotomy of John the rocker and Paul the sentimental balladeer, John the visionary and Paul the champion of ‘granny music’. ‘There was no John without Paul, and vice-versa’ writes Leslie observing of who wrote what: ‘They were so far inside of each other’s musical minds that it does not matter.’
There are numerous powerful passages and insights into the inner working of John and Paul’s music creation. This includes how they wrote songs individually and together, assisted each other and worked in part competition, and the evolving art in the 1960s of music as a set of colours and soundscape in which the Beatles were revolutionary pioneers – and which only Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was in any way in the same league at the time.
Leslie’s approach is to chart the arc of John and Paul’s relationship through 43 songs from ‘Come Go With Me’ by the Del-Vikings, a doo-wop song Lennon played at the summer fete at Woolton when the pair first met in July 1957, to the post-Lennon assassination ‘Here Today’ by McCartney. In each he contextualises the specific song referencing the period and other songs recorded at the same time by the band or John or Paul post-Beatles.
Source: bellacaledonia.org.uk/Gerry Hassan
John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the legendary duo behind The Beatles' hits, are celebrated as some of the most iconic songwriters in history.
In their salad days, Paul and John would collaborate at their childhood homes, but as time went on and their musical tastes evolved, they began crafting tunes separately before coming together to refine them. Every Beatles track penned by John and Paul was stamped with the Lennon-McCartney label, honoring a pact they made before skyrocketing to stardom. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. Post-Beatles, John didn't hold back his thoughts on Paul's compositions, openly critiquing his contributions to Abbey Road, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the hit single Let it Be.
Reflecting on Let it Be, John remarked in a 1980 interview: "That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with The Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes 'Let It Be'."
Not every song was a hit with the band either. Your Mother Should Know, penned by Paul at his London pad and inspired by a line from the 1961 British movie A Taste of Honey, didn't resonate with everyone.
Embracing the old-timey music hall vibe similar to When I'm Sixty-Four, it was featured in the 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour, complete with a nostalgic musical...
Source: themirror.com/Dan Haygarth
John Lennon released a trio of experimental records before the dawn of the '70s, but his solo legacy really began after the Beatles split.
There would be just 10 short years before an assassin's bullets cut short his life and solo career. Fewer than 10 proper songs emerged after that awful day, first on 1984's gold-certified Milk and Honey and then on posthumous collections like 1986's Menlove Ave. and 1998's Anthology.
So, the balance of his 72-song solo career happened in an incredibly short amount of time. Lennon released six albums over five years through 1975, beginning with 1970's Plastic Ono Band, but 1975's Rock 'n' Roll didn't include any new songs. Double Fantasy arrived just weeks before Lennon was gunned down in 1980.
His best-selling album, 1971's multi-platinum Imagine, was followed by the gold-selling Mind Games in 1973 and Walls and Bridges in 1974. Only 1972's newsy, overtly political Some Time in New York City sold fewer than a half million copies in the U.S. – and it still nearly broke the Top 10 in Lennon's native U.K.
We surveyed it all in the following list, which ranks all 72 John Lennon solo songs. The only tracks that have been left aside are covers, meandering Frank Zappa jams, experimental sounds and the pointless "Nutopian International Anthem" – which is, after all, only a few moments of dead silence.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com/Nick DeRisoNick
The Beatles biopics just announced the actors cast to play the Fab Four, and people aren’t quite ready to “Let It Be.”
Last year, Sony Pictures dropped the news that Sam Mendes would direct four different but intertwining biopics about the rise of the Beatles, one movie for each band member: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. After a year-long search, the cast for The Beatles biopics has finally “Come Together.”
Paul Mescal (Normal People) will play Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) will play John Lennon, Joseph Quinn (A Quiet Place) will play George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) will play Ringo Starr.
Together, these four men represent the best and the most in-demand talent that the UK and Ireland have to offer, each rising to the status of “internet boyfriend” in recent years due to their performances in hugely successful films. But this time, the internet seems less willing to shower their praise on the boys, uncertain over whether they really make sense for a Beatles biopic.
Some Beatles fans are angry that the film went with stereotypically “hot” famous actors rather than casting unknown actors who look more like the band members.
“I love how this casting feels like they were like ‘get every vaguely different sounding It-guy,‘” one person wrote on X.
Source: yahoo.com/Clare Donaldson
The Beatles haven’t released a new album in more than half a century, but even that fact isn’t keeping the rockers from regularly occupying space on the charts dedicated to the most popular full-lengths all around the world. The legendary group is performing especially well in the United Kingdom this week, where its catalog is once again on the rise.
Two of the Fab Four’s most beloved compilations appear on the charts — and not just one ranking, but two apiece. Even more impressive is the fact that both of them are climbing, thanks to continued popularity and consumption.
This week, both 1962–1966 and 1967–1970 are on the rise. The two collections have long been favorites among diehard Beatles aficionados and casual listeners alike, as they feature most of the band’s most familiar and successful songs.
Between the two titles, 1967–1970 — often referred to as the Blue Album — comes out ahead. The compilation pushes from No. 55 to No. 48 on the Official Albums Streaming chart. At the same time, it lifts from No. 63 to No. 56 on the Official Albums chart, which blends sales and streams to identify the top performers each week.
Milestones are on the Horizon for The Beatles
If 1967–1970 manages to stick around on the Official Albums chart for one more stay, it’ll hit an important milestone — 104 weeks, or a full two years on the list. On the Official Albums Streaming chart, it’s just one frame away from reaching triple digits. Assuming it continues to perform well, it will soon claim 100 weeks on that tally.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
The Beatles were of course talented enough to hold their own and create their own music. However, it never hurt to get a little help from their friends, and they did so on numerous occasions. In addition to collaborating with musicians such as Eric Clapton and Billy Preston, they had one other major player play on several of their early tracks, and that was their producer and friend, George Martin.
Given the production quality of The Beatles’ music, Martin’s role as the lead producer was as integral as any of the four members. However, the man didn’t just control the sticks; he also tickled the ivories on several of The Beatles’ most iconic early tracks. That being so, here are three early Beatles songs that feature George Martin on the piano.
“Not a Second Time”
Released in 1963, The Beatles single “Not a Second Time” is the quintessential tune of the group’s teenie-bop era. However, amidst the boyish harmonies is a George Martin piano solo that nobody expected nor thought could fit into the song. However, George Martin did, and he executed it to near perfection.
Following its release, “Not a Second Time” didn’t receive much chart success. On the contrary, the album, With The Beatles, peaked at No. 1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Nearly every song on that album is a certified classic, and “Not a Second Time” certainly falls into that category, and it’s partly thanks to George Martin.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Peter Burditt
