Beatles News
Fifty years ago, the Beatles entered their final year as a working rock ’n’ roll band. And in the ensuing decades, the reasons for their eventual disbandment have been debated ad nauseam. Was it Yoko Ono’s constant presence in the studio? Paul McCartney’s increasingly controlling nature? John Lennon’s rage to break free of the partnership that he had brokered with McCartney after their meeting in a Liverpool churchyard in July 1957? Or simply Ringo Starr’s apathy or George Harrison’s need to strike out on his own and fulfill his promise as a songwriter in his own right?
In truth, although each of the above was a contributing factor, by January 1969 a much darker force had made its presence known in their world. During that fateful year, the Beatles suffered, as so many families do today, from the daily pain and bewilderment of an opioid addiction.
Although we have slowly come to recognize the opioid epidemic as the Western world’s most perilous health crisis, we have yet to turn the corner in terms of stemming its tide.
Source: salon.com
Ringo Starr features in Rolling Stone's latest episode of 'The First Time'. From recalling the moment he decided to be a drummer, to meeting John, Paul and George in Liverpool, the video highlights lots of 'first times' for the former Beatle.
Ringo reminisces about the first time he meditated with the Maharishi in India, in 1968. "He gave some lectures and then gave us a mantra that we could mediate on. That was the first time for me. And the last time I mediated was this morning. Peace and love!"
Source: genesis-publications.com
Paul McCartney will include three previously unreleased tracks on a new deluxe version of his latest solo album, Egypt Station. The “Traveler’s Edition” will be limited to 3,000 copies and is set to arrive May 10th via Capitol Records.
Fans will be able to access pre-orders by signing up for a mailing list by 9 p.m. ET today, February 14th. Unique links providing first access to pre-orders will be sent out at 9 a.m. ET Friday, February 15th.
The Egypt Station Traveler’s Edition will include the original album, pressed on 180 gram vinyl, as well as “Egypt Station II,” pressed on “Night Scene” blue vinyl. The latter record boasts three previously unreleased cuts – “Frank Sinatra’s Party,” “Sixty Second Street” and an extended version of the single “Who Cares” – as well as four live performances of Egypt Station songs recorded at Abbey Road, the Cavern Club, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and Grand Central Station.
Source: rollingstone.com
The Beatles were one of the biggest musical acts in history. Fisher-Price is cutting them down to size.
Sixty years after the debut of the famed Little People toys – which are designed, engineered and marketed out of the company's East Aurora headquarters – the Fab Four will be the subject of a Collectible Line that will debut this fall.
Each of the band members – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – will be featured in a $19.99 four-pack in the style and costume of 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine.
Source: Dan Miner/wgrz.com
Danny Boyle’s new movie Yesterday imagines a world where nobody has ever heard of The Beatles. What sort of world would we be living in if the Fab Four hadn’t shaken things up 50 years ago?
1. The “mythology” of a band
Band meets at school, learn their chops, take over the world, get self-indulgent, split acrimoniously. The Beatles story is the greatest showbiz tale of all. It has comedy, tragedy, triumph and defeat. Liam and Noel Gallagher sniping at each on Twitter is all very well, but John and Paul wrote and recorded actual songs about how much they disagreed with each other. The Beatles did everything: sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, even religion and meditation!
Source:radiox.co.uk
Drummer Denny Seiwell discusses his time with Paul McCartney and Wings, his friendship with McCartney over the years and much more …
When The Beatles imploded, Paul McCartney, by all accounts, was shattered. Without a band, or the friends that had traveled that remarkable road together with him, he retreated with his new wife Linda to his Scottish farm, with its barebones living quarters, and, depressed, he drank himself into a stupor.
“I think I was just trying to escape in my own mind,” McCartney said in 2012. “I had the freedom to have just have a drink whenever I fancied it. I over did it, basically, I got to a point where Linda had to say ‘look, you should cool it’.”
He released the homespun McCartney, recorded largely at his London home (though the best bits, like the instant classic “Maybe I’m Amazed,” were recorded at Abbey Road Studios), but, although it’s now considered a classic, it was met with derision by both the public at large and his bandmates.
Source: Jeff Slate/rockcellarmagazine.com
George Harrison may have been known as the shy, quiet one when The Beatles sat at the peak of their popularity. However, once the group broke up, it became clear he had plenty to say.
His triple-album All Things Must Pass (1970), released soon after the breakup, hinted at just how much Harrison would say in the coming decades. The massive work was a huge success, eventually selling six million copies and earning George his first Grammy nominations as a solo artist.
Nearly two decades later, he could be seen starring in MTV videos with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty in their super-group, The Traveling Wilburys. After eight years of touring and recording with John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Harrison wasn’t fazed in the slightest.
Though George died much too young (at 58 in 2001), he left behind an impressive recording output and imposing fortune. Here’s a look at his career in music and how much the guitar legend was worth at the time of his death.
Source:cheatsheet.com
Was John Lennon’s masterpiece a product of his imagination, or was the Sgt Pepper track based on real life events?
On Easter Monday, 2 April, Radio X will be counting down the Top 100 Best British Songs Of All Time - as voted by YOU. Will this classic track be on there? Find out more!
A Day In The Life is - to put it simply - The Beatles’ masterpiece. But it was based on not just one, but a number of true stories.
The awesome finale to the classic Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album from 1967, this was the perfect example of the John Lennon and Paul McCartney songwriting team.
The world-weary verses were Lennon’s, while the upbeat, down to earth section was pure McCartney.
Source: radiox.co.uk
Do you judge your favorite actors and films by how many Oscars they win? No, no one does, but it’s nice to be recognized. For some reason, the Academy frequently does a poor job of awarding some deserving artists every year.
The same goes for every awards show, and it’s not hard to figure out why. There’s just no exact science to these things. Just look at the person who’s racked up the most Grammy Awards in history: George Solti.
The most common response will be, “Who? ” It’s a good question. The answer is: a Hungarian classical conductor who lived from 1912-97. He won 31 Grammys. Behind him is a two-way tie between Quincy Jones and Allison Krauss.
If you’re looking for your favorite rock band — say, The Beatles — that’s also the most popular recording artist of all time, don’t. They only won seven, and a mere handful while they were together.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Martin begged off. Even Paul McCartney said he was unsure at first. Producer Jeff Lynne, however, was thrilled at the prospect of a '90s-era Beatles reunion.
He'd been working with George Harrison for some time, producing his 1987 comeback album Cloud Nine and collaborating in the Traveling Wilburys. "One day, George said to me, 'You fancy doing it, then – the Beatles one?'" Lynne told the San Francisco Gate in 1995. "And I said, 'Uhhhhh, yes, please.'"
John Lennon's involvement came in the form of an old unfinished demo, recorded in 1977 for a planned musical called The Ballad of John and Yoko that was put aside in the wake of his murder. Yoko Ono provided the tapes that also included rough early versions of "Real Love" (which they later completed), "Grow Old Along With Me" and "Now and Then" (which they passed on).
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
