Beatles News
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band live in the shadow of The Beatles. In an interview, the “Back Off Boogaloo” singer explained the difference between the two groups. He only told half the story.
Ringo Starr said The Beatles and the All-Starr Band were centered on different things
During a 2021 interview with Vulture, the “You’re Sixteen” singer discussed the difference between the Fab Four and the All-Starr Band. “The Beatles were definitely a different part in my life,” he said. “I was in bands before The Beatles and then I was just there. Then it went mad, but we were making good music.
“That’s the four of us — and I can speak on behalf of the four of us on this. It was always about the music,” the “Photograph” singer added. “We were serious about the music and it still shows to this day. You can still listen to...
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Looks like Ringo Starr may be getting ready to finally release his long-talked-about country album. The Beatles drummer just shared a new picture on Instagram that shows him wearing a cowboy hat, with many fans in the comments speculating that it’s a tease for the country album.
Ringo initially revealed that he was working on a country record back in May. He later shared that he was working with T. Bone Burnett on the project, telling USA Today in an interview that it wouldn’t be released “until October, at least.”
The country album will be a follow-up to Ringo’s latest EP, Crooked Boy, which was released in April. That album was produced by Linda Perry, who previously worked with Ringo on two of his earlier EPs, writing “Coming Undone” for Change the World and “Everyone and Everything” for EP3.
Source: mikeeves@wxhc.com
The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is often seen as the best album ever. But what is the best song from Sgt. Pepper? Here’s a look into a oddball masterpiece.
The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’ has the best and the most bizarre song in the history of pop
Sgt. Pepper is often classified as a psychedelic album. That’s accurate, but the track listing varies. It includes baroque pop (“Lovely Rita),” Indian classical music (“Within You Without You”), hard rock (the title track), and circus music (“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”). The best song on the record is its most psychedelic — the album closer: “A Day in the Life.”
“A Day in the Life” is superb for two obvious reasons: its instrumentation and its lyrics. Let’s start with the instrumentation. The tune variously sounds loose and tense, poppy and experimental, upbeat and languid. And yet,...
Source: imdb.com
We know Paul McCartney can do it all when it comes to songwriting and performing, but “Granny” songs? That was the derisive term used by John Lennon to describe McCartney’s occasional fondness for material that borrowed heavily from music of the pre-rock era.
Lennon meant it as an insult (especially when using it in interviews following The Beatles’ breakup). But we actually quite like some of these tracks, especially these five.
“When I’m Sixty-Four” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
The whole idea behind Sgt. Pepper’s, which was largely McCartney’s, was the four men should imagine that they were a different band than The Beatles, opening the doors to material they might not have otherwise even considered. McCartney then jumped through that door with “When I’m Sixty-Four,” a throwback to American vaudeville or British music hall songs. What’s interesting is Macca wrote this when he was still a teenager, showing that even at a young age, he harbored a deep respect for musical eras that had come before him. And he did those genres great justice with this charming track.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
The estate of former Beatles star John Lennon has appointed a UK music licensing company to collect royalties on all sound recordings where the late singer or his widowed wife Yoko Ono are listed as a performer.
Music licensing company Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) will collect neighbouring rights royalties for the estate when music from the pair is played in public venues including shops, bars, or aired on commercial radio or TV.
Lennon died in 1980 in New York after he was shot by Mark David Chapman.
The John Lennon estate said in a statement: “PPL has shown they are the leaders in advocating for neighbouring rights globally.
“We have the utmost respect for the team and look forward to working with them.”
PPL analysed radio and TV airplay data from the 21st century to compile a list of most played Lennon recordings – which saw Woman take the top spot.
Source: Ellie Iorizzo/standard.co.uk
Ringo Starr said some things about The Beatles' "Love Me Do" that are just plain wrong. His comments don't make sense in light of his career.
Sometimes, classic rock stars don’t understand their own work. Ringo Starr said some things about The Beatles’ “Love Me Do” that are just plain wrong. His comments don’t make sense in light of The Beatles’ career or Ringo’s career as a solo artist.
Ringo Starr said The Beatles’ ‘Love Me Do’ is his defining song. During a 2023 interview with Vulture, Ringo was asked to name the defining song of his career. “Because it was the first song, my answer is ‘Love Me Do,'” he said. “We were on vinyl. We made a record.
“Even though when I got to the studio, George Martin had a session guy for the drums, Andy White, but I played on it anyway,” the “Photograph” singer added. “He played it, I played it — he’s on the album, I think, and I’m on the single, so go figure. We were just blessed that George Martin took a chance on us because many record labels sent us down. But the fun was the fact that we were still touring. And only the BBC was playing the song. It would say, ‘Oh, at 3:14 p.m., this song will be on the BBC.’ So we’d all pull over and think, ‘Wow, we’re on the radio.’ I mean, it was a really big moment. It was magic because we were on this piece of vinyl all to ourselves.”
Ringo opined that the Fab Four made many fabulous tracks after “Love Me Do.” However, that tune would always be important to him because it was his first. He seemed proud that The Beatles wrote many songs without being able to read music.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
While George Harrison could be critical of The Beatles, he still thought their music sounded good — as long as it wasn’t produced in the United States. For the most part, he explained, The Beatles had control over their creative output. They were able to put what they wanted on their albums, in the order they thought was best. This changed when publishers in the United States got ahold of their records.
George Harrison did not like the way U.S. publishers made The Beatles’ music sound
According to Harrison, many of The Beatles’ records did not meet the standards the band set for themselves. When their label in the United States began releasing their music, they went against the band’s wishes for how to present their albums. While it didn’t bother him much in the years after the band broke up, it once stung.
Source: imdb.com
The Fab Four were the biggest band of the 1960s, if not the entirety of the 20th century. They pushed through their career as a band for seven years (give or take) before ultimately calling it quits (officially) in 1974, though the band was done with long before that year. Many would say that The Beatles had gone through their breakup by 1970.
So, what caused The Beatles to break up? Surely the Fab Four could have enjoyed another few decades of fame, considering their insanely massive popularity. Lesser bands have lasted longer. What happened?
Well, it’s complicated. Live performances for The Beatles were very different from live performances for other bands. Beatlemania was a certified global phenomenon. Though, by 1965, the band started to see it as more of a pandemic.
George Harrison was allegedly the first to want to stop touring, but Paul McCartney was dead-set on maintaining an ongoing tour schedule. Eventually, the other two were sick of it too, and McCartney couldn’t help but agree: Live performances were exhausting and had become, at times, straight-up dangerous. After their 1966 tour of the US, they decided to retire from touring for good.
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
It’s natural to get excited when your favorite artist puts out a new album, but on occasion that excitement turns to disappointment when the album isn’t as great as you’d hoped it would be.
Rolling Stone is examining that very subject with its just-released list of the 50 most disappointing albums of all time.
The mag notes that albums on the list aren’t necessarily bad, but were considered disappointing when they came out. Also, some disappointing albums are only disappointing because of the artist who released them, with the mag noting they could be “seen as a masterpiece if almost anyone else” recorded them.
Topping the list is John Lennon’s 1972 release, Some Time in New York City, calling the protest songs on the album “half-a****, at best,” and noting they “seemed dated almost instantly.”
The mag adds, “Some Time in New York City is as disposable as the newspapers on the cover,” referring to the album’s artwork, which featured a fake newspaper front page.
Coming in at #2 is The Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request, followed by Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait at #3, David Bowie’s Tonight at #4 and Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy at #5.
Source: mikeeves@wxhc.com/wxhc.com
George Harrison didn't make any music in 1977. He shared why his step away began to feel embarrassing to him.
For a good portion of his time with The Beatles, George Harrison fought to have his bandmates take his music seriously. He wanted to be a songwriter and contribute to the band’s albums like John Lennon and Paul McCartney did. When the band broke up, Harrison finally had the chance to showcase his music in the ways he’d always wanted. After less than a decade, though, he tired of the music industry altogether. He admitted he went a full year without making any music, a fact that eventually embarrassed him out of his semi-retirement.
After nearly two decades in the music industry, Harrison completely stepped away from music in 1977. He said he didn’t so much as write a song.
“Well, all of 1977 I didn’t write a song, I didn’t do anything; I was not working at all really, so I decided I’d better start doing something,” he told Rolling Stone. “I’d just turned off from the music business altogether.”
George Harrison plays guitar during the Concert for Bangladesh.
Source:Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
