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While many factors contributed to the mega-group's demise, including creative differences, business disputes, and the inevitable erosion of camaraderie that often occurs among friends after years of intense, close contact, one of the most cited reasons for the break-up has been John Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono.

The perception that Ono was controlling Lennon and manipulating him into making creative and practical decisions that served her own interests rather than his or the band's has persisted. Part of that also came from Lennon's decision to withdraw from public life almost entirely, taking a five-year hiatus, but Lennon's own assessment of that time reveals the truth of their relationship.
John Lennon "Retired" In 1975.  Between the birth of his son, Sean, on 9 October 1975, and October 1980, when he released "(Just Like) Starting Over" as a single, John Lennon essentially disappeared. History says he he "baked bread" and "looked after the baby", and his only musical activity was collaborating on "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" for Rino Starr's Ringo's Rotogravure (1976) as a writer and performer on the track. Looking back, it's been hard for some to accept that this hiatus didn't rob us of more of his work, but it was necessary for Lennon's own wellbeing.

Source: screenrant.com/Marcel Green

 

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John Lennon wrote and recorded the single “Instant Karma” in one day, at one point telling reporters he “wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner.”

The song, produced by Phil Spector, featured his Beatles bandmate George Harrison on acoustic guitar and piano, with Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono and Billy Preston contributing background vocals.

The inspiration for the tune came to Lennon during a visit he and Yoko took to Denmark, where they met up with Yoko’s former husband Tony Cox. Cox’s then wife Melinde Kendell used the term in conversation.

“Instant Karma,” Lennon’s third solo single, wound up being a hit for the rocker, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Source: kslx.com

Shortly after The Beatles split, John Lennon was publicly critical of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. He dismissed their solo efforts and work in The Beatles. By the mid-1970s, Lennon’s attitude towards his former bandmates had softened considerably. Still, he wasn’t afraid to share his honest opinion when asked about a former Beatle’s music. He said one of Harrison’s concerts hadn’t impressed him.

In 1975, Lennon reflected on a recent Harrison concert he attended. It hadn’t impressed him.

“It wasn’t the greatest thing in history,” he told Rolling Stone. “The guy went through some kind of mill. It was probably his turn to get smacked.”

Harrison embarked on a 45-show tour of North America with Ravi Shankar in 1974. The critical reception was mixed, with many lambasting the shows. Lennon believed this was a part of the typical cycle of approval for the Beatles.

“When we were all together there was periods when the Beatles were in, the Beatles were out, no matter what we were doing,” Lennon said. “Now it’s always the Beatles were great or the Beatles weren’t great, whatever opinion people hold. There’s a sort of illusion about it. But the actual fact was the Beatles were in for eight months, the Beatles were out for eight months. The public, including the media, are sometimes a bit sheeplike and if the ball starts rolling, well, it’s just that somebody’s in, somebody’s out.”

Source: MSN

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The hangover from The Beatles‘ breakup was still stubbornly lingering in 1973. Legal proceedings entangling the principals were very much still in play. Fans of the Fab Four certainly couldn’t take for granted any sign of unity from the four band members.

All of which is to say the timing of the release of two greatest hits compilations, 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, couldn’t have been any better. The collections rose to the top of the charts and sparked a massive wave of nostalgia for the dearly missed group.

Oddly enough, the whole affair might not have happened were it not for someone trying to beat the group to the punch. A company based in New Jersey released a pair of four-disc collections in 1972 titled The Beatles Alpha/Omega. At the time, copyright laws weren’t nearly as strict as they are now, so the creators of these collections decided to roll the dice.

The song selection for these sets was quite haphazard, as it not only included some random Beatles tracks that were far from hits, but it also peppered in some solo Fab Four material as well. Sound quality wasn’t ideal, as the recordings were just pulled from existing LPs, rather than the group’s master recordings.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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The Beatles are larger than life today, and it’s wild to think that the Fab Four from Liverpool ever had difficult beginnings. However, they were no different than any other ragtag group of musicians trying to make it big. They started out in the 1960s with the British Invasion movement on the up-and-up, and they managed to shine in a sea of other, similar rock bands. And one could say that it all started with The Beatles’ famed 1963 track, “Please Please Me”.

We probably have George Martin to thank for that. According to drummer Ringo Starr, nobody was willing to give them a chance at the beginning.

“I personally love George [Martin] because he gave us a shot at putting down on a piece of vinyl,” said Starr. “No one else would really have wanted to put us on the label.”

“Please Please Me” and the whole of the album of the same name saw The Beatles starting to figure out what their sound was. And the whole thing was quite rushed, unfortunately. That being said, even though they recorded more than a dozen tracks in a day (including “Please Please Me”), the result was a record that took Europe by storm. And eventually, it took North America by storm with a bit of coaxing.  Allegedly, Martin thought the demo version of the song was “dreary” and wanted them to record a Gerry And The Pacemakers cover instead. However, the band stuck to their guns and refused, mainly because they only wanted to record music they wrote themselves.

So, what’s the story behind this early-career hit from The Beatles? “Please Please Me” is a John Lennon original. According to the late great songwriter, he was attempting to write a “Roy Orbison song” and was also inspired by Bing Crosby to write the tune. Crosby was known for bookending lyrics with the first word of a line, and Lennon enjoyed the double-use of words enough to apply it to “Please Please Me”.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena

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Paul McCartney nearly wrote a follow-up to John Lennon’s How Do You Sleep? at the height of the so-called song wars.

The former members of The Beatles spent time in the studio recording songs aimed at one another, with the back and forth coming to a head when Lennon released How Do You Sleep?, a song which featured on his 1971 album, Imagine. Lennon wrote it as an attack on his former bandmate after believing McCartney’s track Too Many People, which features on Ram, was aimed at him. George Harrison appears on How Do You Sleep?, playing slide guitar, and McCartney very nearly wrote a response to Lennon’s venomous song.

According to McCartney, who spoke on Ramming: The Making of Ram, a follow-up song was planned. McCartney also confirmed the title of his album, Ram, was related to “ramming on” after the break-up of The Beatles. He said: “I just hit upon the word ram. It’s strong, it’s a male, animal. And then there’s the idea of ramming. Pushing forward strongly. Very short, very succinct kind of title you wouldn’t forget. I was in the middle of this horrendous Beatles breakup and it was like being in quicksand.

“The lightbulb went off one day when we realised we could just run away and just go to Scotland where we knew we loved it and go and hang out. So you know, you find me mowing a field on my tractor or shearing a sheep with old-fashioned hand shears, just to keep myself amused I would sit around making stuff up on the guitar. We thought that’s maybe the way to go, see what forms out of the bare elements.”

Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow

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The Beatles Create New John Lennon Songs? 26 January, 2025 - 0 Comments

The Beatles may have new songs with John Lennon coming thanks to new technology.

During an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, revealed that a couple of songs by the Beatles, originally released in the 1990s, will be remixed using artificial intelligence to enhance John Lennon’s vocals.

Following Lennon’s tragic passing in 1980, the other members of the Beatles received demos of the songs from his wife Yoko Ono. Lennon had recorded the vocals and piano for the demos at his home before he died.

The surviving members added their vocals and instrumentation and released “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” as new songs by the band.

They also worked on “Now And Then,” but decided to shelve the piece after finding Lennon’s vocals and the piano for the song could not be separated.

Later, AI made it possible for Lennon’s vocals to be isolated from the piano. Paul McCartney contributed bass and piano to the track and Ringo Starr added drums, while guitar by George Harrison was provided through a recording from the 1990s, before his death in 2001. “Now And Then” was released in 2023 as the Beatles’ last song.

Source: newsbreak.com/Bishal Roy

 

Film director Kevin Macdonald and Co-Director/Editor Sam Rice-Edwards intriguingly slice together footage never seen before from the 18 months John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived in Greenwich Village. The film ‘One-To-One: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’ documents a tumultuous part of US history. Kevin Macdonald remarked: “People of the 70s, musicians were engaged in a way we should get back to.”
Historical footage documents history as it happened

“In the film there are interesting parallels between 1972 and where we are now,” notes Sam Rice-Edwards. “I didn’t know that much about Yoko when we started. For me it deepened my understanding. Getting into her head with the missing daughter, searching for her into the 90s.”

Hearing the stories told by Yoko Ono herself back in the 70s, provides insights rarely told. Did you know John Lennon went to the first feminist convention in Boston as the only man? The film shows the women voting on whether to throw him out.

Sean Ono Lennon oversaw the remastering of the audio. Much of the footage is from Lennon’s only full-length, post-Beatles concert. Yoko Ono, herself, did not participate in the making of this film.
Concert was a benefit concert for children with disabilities housed in a 5000 plus person facility

The scenes from the last remaining large facility for disabled children are heart-wrenching. They raised 1.5 million dollars back then. This wasn’t the only social issue John and Yoko took on. They were very active.

Source: townlift.com/Kirsten Kohlwey

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Ringo Starr is set to appear on Tuesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he’ll discuss his recently released country album, Look Up.

The album is already a success for Ringo, landing on several Billboard charts, including the all-genre Top Album Sales chart, where it’s at #7.

The album is also #1 on the Current Rock Album sales, Americana/Folk Album sales and Current Country Album sales charts, at #4 on the Current Digital Album sales chart and #6 on the Overall Digital Album sales chart.

It’s even landed on the rock charts, at #23 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and at #30 on the Rock & Alternative Albums chart.

Meanwhile, on the all-genre Billboard 200, Look Up debuted at #147 and is now Ringo’s 20th album to land on that chart.

“Thanks everyone who supported me with Look Up, produced by T Bone Burnett, who did a great job, and all the musicians on it I want to thank,” Ringo shared on social media. “It’s just been a great experience for me to make this record and have the experience of it actually doing great, it fills my heart. Peace and love. Thank everybody. Thank you.”

Look Up, co-written and produced by Burnett, is made up of 11 songs, with special guest appearances by Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Lucius, Larkin Poe and Alison Krauss, the latter appearing on the album’s closing song, “Thankful,” which was co-written by Ringo.

Source: ruralradio.com

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Fans of The Beatles are praising George Harrison as one of the “greatest guitarists” of all time – for one reason in particular.

A thread of praise for the late guitarist has been shared on Reddit, where fans of the Fab Four focused on how great a player Harrison was. A post to The Beatles’ subreddit asked: “Where would you rank George Harrison in the ‘greatest guitarist’ conversation?” Users were emphatic in how great a guitarist Harrison was, with members of the group saying his best trait was how he “served the song.”

One user wrote: “He served the song. Plain and simple. Not a show off. What did the song need? He provided it. And he was stellar with what he provided. I don’t think George himself would give a shit about where he “ranked” among other players. We shouldn’t either. He was perfect for The Beatles.”

Another reply suggested this was true for all four members. They wrote: “I think that can be said for every Beatle too. A great musician doesn’t need to shred like a god, being a great musician is understanding what the song needs and providing it, it’s being able to make the musicians you’re playing with sound better. None of the Beatles were virtuosos at their instruments and nobody cares.”

While the Fab Four brought very different creative ideas to the table, Harrison was singled out for his “different way of looking at the world.” They wrote: “George was the experimenter. He tried so many different things. Some fans don’t like the Indian music but it was more than that, imo. He introduced to them a different way of looking at the world. It had an influence on their songwriting lyrically and musically. Plus… he’s funny.”

Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow

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