Beatles News
An amazing 70 bands from more than 20 countries, along with fans from around the globe, will be flocking to Liverpool, spiritual home of the Fab Four, to celebrate.
JAMES MOORE has dug out 20 memories from their long and winding road..
1. The Beatles have sold more records than any other group – over one billion units – and had 31 UK top 40 hits including 17 No1 singles, plus 15 UK No1 albums.
2.Hailing from Liverpool, John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a church fete in 1957. By 1960 the song-writing duo had teamed up with guitarist George Harrison and changed their name from the Silver Beatles to the Beatles.
Source: James Moore/dailystar.co.uk
Come together
He often fantasises of getting the old band back together - but it never runs smoothly
ROCKER Sir Paul McCartney has dreams of a Beatles reunion - but admits the fantasy gigs always end up in disaster.
The music legend, 76, says he often fantasises about reuniting onstage with Ringo Starr and the late John Lennon and George Harrison, although the performances never go to plan.
Paul often dreams about getting the old band back together
He said: “We’re playing a dreadful gig somewhere, and the audience are walking out. That happens a lot.
“But it’s kinda nice – I get to meet John and George. So that’s kinda good.”
Source: Adam Nutburn/thesun.co.uk
The legendary “fifth Beatle” died two years ago after a lifetime as a successful record producer.
And now a new biography is claiming Martin had a “cold war” with The Beatles in 1968 when they recorded The White Album.
Author Kenneth Womack details the affair in his new book, Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, the Later Years, 1966-2016.
The Guardian reveals the claim is that Martin would turn up to recording sessions and just sit reading newspaper and eating chocolate.
Womack alleged: “I asked them [the sound engineers] what George was doing when John was playing a particularly guitar part or when Ringo was working on some drum part.
“They would say ‘nothing, he was in the back of the booth, reading newspapers, sharing his chocolate with us.’
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
A handwritten letter from John Lennon’s Aunt, Mimi Smith, which dates from September 1967 and refers to The Beatles visit to Bangor, is set to be auctioned next weekend.
The Beatles visited Bangor on 25th August 1967 to attend a conference at the Normal College, now the University’s Management Centre, led by Maharishi Yogi, a guru in Transcendental Meditation.
The visit to Bangor however was tragically cut short, after the group heard the news on Sunday 27th August, that their manager Brian Epstein had died age 32, following an overdose of sleeping pills.
Source: thebangoraye.com
He was the producer often referred to as the fifth Beatle. But George Martin was “frozen out” by the band while they were making the White Album in 1968, a new biography claims.
Its author, Kenneth Womack, said that a “cold war” between Martin and the band led to him turning up to those recording sessions with “a large stack of newspapers and a giant bar of chocolate” – only to sit at the back of the control booth reading and eating. Martin had produced Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of many landmarks of music that he oversaw, but he would speak “only if he was called on by the Beatles” while they made the White Album.
Source: Dalya Alberge/theguardian.com
Thirty years ago, an album called The Traveling Wilburys appeared and quickly went platinum. It had four famous singer-songwriters and one famous producer-musician performing under stage names. It was the work of George Harrison. The actual story of the Wilburys album captures what can happen when a group of talented artists gathers, often by chance, at a certain time when everything is right, the stars are lined up, and the creativity is focused.
In April 1988, Harrison needed to record a B-side for a European single. There was a deadline issue and Harrison asked Bob Dylan for the use of his Malibu studio. Tom Petty and Roy Orbison joined them, and with Dylan cooking barbecue, Harrison instructed the musicians, including producer Jeff Lynne, to make up words to his chords.
Source: Michael Corrigan/idahostatejournal.com
“Yesterday” was, in effect, the first solo record from a Beatle. Paul McCartney famously wrote the song’s melody while asleep, hearing it in a dream. He held onto it for weeks, convinced that he’d been thinking of some nagging previously existing melody. He sang it for people, asking them whether they knew what song it was. Nobody knew, so McCartney finally decided, rightly, that it was his. (Not that the Beatles were ever that shy about swiping musical ideas.)
McCartney kept tinkering with “Yesterday” on the set of the Beatles’ movie Help!, reportedly aggravating both director Richard Lester, who threatened to take away his piano, and the rest of the band. He kept working on the words, too. For a while, the song’s working title, as a sort of private in-joke, was “Scrambled Eggs.” When McCartney did figure it out, when he recorded it, he was the only Beatle to do so.
Source: Tom Breihan/stereogum.com
From singing “Eleanor Rigby” in the first person to why “The Long and Winding Road” is the best Beatles cover of all time
Aretha Franklin’s genius took so many forms — as a singer, a songwriter, an album-crafter, a live performer. But the Queen was also one of history’s most audacious Beatle fans. Nobody ever sang the Beatles like Aretha. Since she was one of the few Sixties musicians as famous and revered as they were, she felt free to take any approach she pleased to a Fabs song — sometimes radically reworking it, as when she sang “Eleanor Rigby” in the first person. When Aretha sang any song, even a Beatle song, she claimed it as her own — and the Beatles knew it. Nothing could make them prouder than getting one of their songs stolen by the Queen. When Paul McCartney wrote “Let It Be,” he sent an acetate demo to Aretha in hopes she’d record it, knowing full well she’d outsing him on it. (Needless to say, she did.)
Source: Rob Sheffield/rollingstone.com
The two surviving Beatles paid tribute to Aretha Franklin today following the news of the Queen of Soul’s death. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr issued separate statements, each praising the artist for her musical impact.
“Let’s all take a moment to give thanks for the beautiful life of Aretha Franklin, the Queen of our souls, who inspired us all for many, many years,” McCartney wrote, paired with a photo that was shot looking up at her as if in awe. “She will be missed but the memory of her greatness as a musician and a fine human being will live with us forever. Love Paul.”
Starr simply wrote, “God bless Aretha Franklin the queen of soul and peace and love to her family.” He accompanied the note with emojis for music, peace and love.
Source: Kory Grow/rollingstone.com
Macca's first studio album in five years is out next month
Paul McCartney has shared a new single from his forthcoming album ‘Egypt Station’, and revealed the full tracklisting for the record.
You can watch the lyric video for the single ‘Fuh You’ below. It’s the third track to be revealed from the album, following ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Come On To Me’ which both appeared together in June.
he latest single finds the former Beatle exploring a contemporary pop sound, and is a change in direction from the relatively traditional-sounding tracks we’ve heard thus far.
The album’s full tracklisting has also appeared, with Macca tweeting an individual illustration for each track, or ‘station’ in a thread you can see below.
That tracklist in full:
Source: Patrick Clarke/nme.com
