Beatles News
One of the most interesting things about Beatrice McCartney, the youngest child of famous musician Sir Paul McCartney, is that she lives a very quiet and private life. Beatrice actually lives a very normal, everyday life and never seems to be in the public eye, even though she was born to arguably the most important musician in the history of popular music.
Beatrice comes from a family with an unmatched musical history. Her father loved music, and her mother Heather Mills was an advocate. We will learn more about Beatrice McCartney’s life in the next article, which will focus on her childhood, her ties to The Beatles’ legacy, and what the future may hold for her.
Beatrice Milly McCartney was born on October 28, 2003, in London, England. She is the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, famous as the bass player and songwriter for the rock band The Beatles, and Heather Mills, formerly a model and activist. She is the youngest of Sir Paul McCartney’s five children and his only daughter. She is from a creative and generous family with great feats attached to their names.
Source: explosion.com/explosion.com
Paul McCartney has returned to his home city through the years for numerous appearances and projects - but on one particularly visit to Liverpool, he had to keep a "closely guarded secret." In more recent years, the former Beatle has been spotted back in his hometown for a graduation ceremony at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), to perform at the Philharmonic pub and more.
But back in the 1980s, many will remember when Sir Paul made a rare television appearance on BBC sitcom Bread, alongside his late wife, Linda. Loved by millions since it first aired in 1986, Bread was a massive hit, reaching 21 million viewers at its peak.
Written by Carla Lane, the series followed the lives of the the close knit families from Dingle and filmed on the steep Victorian terraced Bread streets, which went on to become some of the most well known streets in Liverpool. Among them was Elswick Street, which the ECHO recently visited - and residents living on the street told us how the sitcom life isn’t too far from the truth.
Now nearly 40 years on from when Bread first aired, we've delved into the archives to uncover a number of behind the scenes photos from the set of the hit BBC series. Courtesy of our archive, Mirrorpix, we also found a number of photos, unseen for years, of Paul and Linda on set 36-years-ago.
At the time, the ECHO reported how the famous couple spent two days filming in the city on a "top secret" visit, to appear in an extra-special episode of the Scouse sitcom. The BBC was believed to have launched a £1,500 security operation to keep the McCartney's away from curious star-spotters and the scenes filmed followed Linda setting up an animal rescue centre in Liverpool and meeting the Boswell family.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Jess Molyneux
The Beatles never reunited before John Lennon's death. During his lifetime, though, he thought a band reunion was possible.
John Lennon said he lost interest in The Beatles when he met Yoko Ono. He remained in the band until 1969 when he told Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr that he wanted to move on. The band’s split was acrimonious, with the former Beatles insulting each other in interviews and songs. By the early 1970s, though, Lennon told a friend that he believed in the possibility of a reunion.
John Lennon was optimistic about a Beatles reunion by the early 1970s
In 1973, Lennon sat down with his friend, Elliot Mintz, for an interview. Mintz noted in his book, We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me, that he asked the question that was on everyone’s mind at the time.
“After carefully pulling out of the McDonald’s lot, I cautiously navigated to a surprisingly desolate stretch of beach near the Malibu pier, where the camera crew taped John and me talking about everything from his new album to his memories of Beatlemania to the ultimate question on everybody’s mind — and the one John had been asked at least a thousand times before: the possibility of a Beatles reunion.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
The musician often called the Quiet Beatle sat in the background during the initial years of the Lennon & McCartney partnership, slowly building a voice of his own as a songwriter. The band’s latter years witness George Harrison coming to the forefront, writing music that is easily the equal of his illustrious peers.
A new generation seem to be agreeing. The top Beatles track on Spotify is ‘Here Comes The Sun’ – penned by George Harrison for their ‘Abbey Road’ album, it receives over 687,000 plays on the platform every single day.
George has just broken a new record, too. ‘My Sweet Lord’ – the gospel-drenched yearning for meaning that appears on his classic solo album ‘All Things Must Pass’ – has become the most streamed song by a solo Beatle daily on Spotify.
The song edges out Paul McCartney’s ‘FourFiveSeconds’ and receives 449,000 plays on Spotify every single day.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
Sir Ringo Starr just realized the voice he always wanted.
The 84-year-old The Beatles legend, rose to fame after lending his drumming skills to the iconic band alongside the late John Lennon, George Harrison, and Sir Paul McCartney. While he certainly can "hold a tune", he reached the epiphany of how everything "worked out" for them because of the songwriting talent each member possessed.
In a conversation with The Sunday Times, he stated, "Well, I always wanted to be someone else. Like Jerry Lee [Lewis] or someone! I mean, I can hold a tune, as long as it’s in my key.” "And it just worked out with the Beatles because John and Paul were great writers,” Starr added.
The iconic musician continued, "That’s what made us. And I’d get one song. And a couple of them were really good, you know, With a Little Help from My Friends and Yellow Submarine. They’re still huge and I still do them on tour. They wrote me a lot of really nice songs."
With the release of his latest music album, Look Up and is touring with his band, Ringo Starr and Friends, he admitted that it is still "fun."
"The band sounds great. We have a fun time and we just do it,” Starr told the outlet of performing. Recalling his time in the past, he mentioned, "In the late Nineties, I would put in, like, two or three from the new album, and you could feel the room empty. It happens to everybody.”
"I was with (Sir Elton John's) mother at Wembley Stadium. He came on and said, ‘I’m only going to do the new album.’ Me and his mother left after three tracks because we didn’t know them,” Ringo Starr mentioned, recalling an incident that almost everyone can relate with.
Source: geo.tv
John Lennon liked a goofy Paul McCartney song from the early 1980s. It’s not clear which version of the track John liked.
John Lennon didn’t always like Paul McCartney’s songs, but he praised one of Paul’s solo hits from the early 1980s. Sadly, the track John liked sounds like it was performed by Kermit the Frog. Listeners loved the song anyway. John Lennon didn’t care about Paul McCartney’s solo songs.
During a 1980 interview from the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed Paul’s post-Beatles work. “Somebody asked me what I thought of Paul’s last album [McCartney II] and I made some remark like I thought he was depressed and sad,” he said. “But then I realized I hadn’t listened to the whole damn thing. I heard one track — the hit, ‘Coming Up,’ which I thought was a good piece of work. Then I heard something else that sounded like he was depressed.
“But I don’t follow their work,” he added. “I don’t follow Wings, you know. I don’t give a s*** what Wings are doing, or what George’s new album is doing or what Ringo is doing. I’m not interested, no more than I am in what Elton John or Bob Dylan is doing. It’s not callousness. It’s just that I’m too busy living my own life to be following what other people are doing, whether they’re Beatles or guys I went to college with or people I had intense relationships with before I met The Beatles.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
When The Beatles broke up, John Lennon publicly aired his grievances with the band and his former bandmates. He made it clear that he was ready to move on and did not share the warm opinion of the band that so many did. Within a few years, though, Lennon said he had let go of these bad feelings. He claimed that his memories of The Beatles were fond, despite what he may have said in the past.
In the early 1970s, each of the former Beatles constantly fielded questions about whether or not the band would reunite. Lennon, who broke up the band, said a reunion was a possibility. His friend, Elliot Mintz wrote about it in his book We All Shine On: John Yoko and Me.
“‘It’s quite possible, yes,’ [John] said as we sat on the sand. ‘I don’t know why the hell we’d do it, but it’s possible.’” He’d spoken publicly about his problems with the band, but he claimed he’d moved past them. By 1973, he said he didn’t harbor any bad feelings about the band.
Source: Showbiz CheatSheet
50 years ago this month, music superstar Paul McCartney, his wife Linda and his band Wings flew into New Orleans to record songs for the album “Venus and Mars” at Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn’s Sea-Saint Recording Studio in Gentilly.
News of the former Beatle’s visit made the front page of the Jan. 8, 1975, States-Item, with reporter Jack Davis writing that McCartney had received a temporary visa to stay in the city until March 1. Davis explained that the visa “will not allow McCartney to do any work other than the recording, meaning that performances by the 31-year-old rock star and songwriter are not permitted.” But fans did get glimpses of him coming and going from the studio on Clematis Street in Gentilly, where the couple’s three children also joined them.
About a month later, during a press conference aboard the excursion boat Voyageur, Paul McCartney said New Orleans was selected as a recording site because “it’s warm and it’s a musical city,” according to Millie Ball’s Feb. 14, 1975, story in The Times-Picayune. Music legends Lloyd Price, Earl King, Dr. John and Professor Longhair dropped by the sessions which also featured Toussaint on piano.
The McCartneys spent Fat Tuesday costumed as clowns and watching Mardi Gras parades from an apartment above Kolb’s Restaurant on St. Charles Avenue. McCartney wrote the song “My Carnival” the next day and recorded it at Sea-Saint. Joining the session were Meters band members Leo Nocentelli and George Porter Jr. as well as singer Benny Spellman on backup. McCartney also wrote “Going to New Orleans,” influenced by Professor Longhair and featuring McCartney whistling like the music icon. Neither song was released on “Venus and Mars,” although “My Carnival” was issued in 1985.
Source: Blake Pontchartrain/nola.com
George Harrison had a handful of hit songs after The Beatles broke up, but his best one didn’t hit No. 1. Interestingly, the tune in question was supposed to sound a bit like The Beatles’ “Penny Lane.” George’s best song might have hit No. 1 if he hadn’t made a particular decision. George had three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: “My Sweet Lord”/”Isn’t It a Pity,” “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” and “Got My Mind Set on You.” Those are all good songs, but they aren’t George’s best. The pinnacle of his career was “What Is Life.”
The tune combines George’s rock ‘n’ roll tendencies with his spiritual outlook and producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound technique. The lyrics are clever, as they could be interpreted as being about loving a partner or loving God. It’s hard to listen to it without feeling some uplift, whether you are spiritual or not.
During a 2001 interview with Billboard, George discussed the origin of “What Is Love.” “When we were going through all the tapes, I just found this version that was like a rough mix [at Trident Studios in London on August 9, 1970] on which I tried having this piccolo trumpet player like the guy who played on ‘Penny Lane,'” he said. “It wasn’t actually the same bloke but I wanted that sound. So I had an oboe and a piccolo trumpet and I had this part for them all written out but they couldn’t play it the same; they couldn’t do this this kind of ‘hush’ phrase, and they played it very staccato like a classical player. So I must have just recorded them on it, then rough mixed it, and then ditched that.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles were set to get back together in the mid-1970s, but drummer Ringo Starr has shared the reason the band said no – despite being offered nearly £41million for one just performance.
Legendary rock group The Beatles had a chance to reunite for a lot of money but turned it down for just one reason. Ringo Starr, the band's drummer, shared the group were offered $50million in 1976 – the equivalent of £200million today – to get back together for a one-off performance.
It seemed a tempting deal for the Fab Four but they eventually turned the offer down. Starr and fellow surviving Beatles member Paul McCartney briefly reunited at the Wings frontman's show in London late last year. But a full Beatles reunion never came to be after their break-up in 1970.
Their final live performance took place from the Abbey Road Studios' rooftop, where new songs like 'Don't Let Me Down' and 'Get Back' were performed. With Starr and McCartney reuniting on stage to play Helter Skelter and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, some fans remembered the massive offer presented to the band in 1976.
While the band's members would go on to work with one another on some of their solo projects, such as when Starr and George Harrison collaborated on the single 'When We Was Fab,' the four never worked together as a unit again.
But that could have changed in 1976 when, Starr says, the group was offered a large sum to get back together. While each of The Beatles' members believed they would reform at some point and play some live shows, their offer of a reunion was prevented due to one strange reason.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
