Beatles News
The Beatles – “She Loves You”
HIT #1: March 21, 1964
STAYED AT #1: 2 weeks
On the July afternoon in 1963 when the Beatles were settling in to record “She Loves You,” a horde of screaming girls broke into their studio and had to be chased out. And “She Loves You” sounds like the sort of song that you might record after being rescued from an adoring mob. It’s got a nervous, exhilarated energy to it — always pushing forward, never settling down. And after a lifetime of thinking of Ringo Starr as a goofy conductor on a kids’ TV show, it’s instructive to hear him let loose here. In those early Beatles days, he was an absolute motherfucker, and the breathless momentum that he generated had a lot to do with what made those songs so great. The hook from “She Loves You” is what everyone remembers. And even though the phrase “yeah yeah yeah,” had shown up in plenty of pop songs before “She Loves You,” it still became a kind of totem with this track, with grown-ups immediately dismissing the band’s yeah-yeah-yeah music and kids adapting it in their own songs whenever possible. But there’s lyrical subtext to the song, too.
Source: Tom Breihan/stereogum.com
In February of 1964, halfway through my sixth-grade year, the Beatles came to America. By coincidence, Aunt Shirley was returning from a trip to England on the same day the Beatles were landing at the recently renamed John F. Kennedy Airport. When we went to pick Shirley up, the airport was still crawling with dazed teenage girls; the Beatles had landed a mere couple of hours earlier. On the drive back into town, Shirley revealed that she had originally been booked on the same Pan Am jet that the Beatles were on, but at the last minute had changed her flight to TWA because, she explained, they had this great new feature: a projector was set up at the back of the aisle and a screen up front, and they showed a movie. I was aghast: For this, Shirley had missed being on the same plane as the Beatles?
Source: Ben Fractenberg/forward.com
There are moments where history changes very, very quickly — floodgates open, landscapes reshape themselves, comets crash into land. When the Beatles finally arrived in America, that was one of those inflection-point moments.
In terms of sheer popularity — nothing else, just popularity — the Beatles did things that nobody else will ever accomplish. Between 1964, when they first showed up on our shores, and 1970, when they finally broke up, the Beatles had 20 singles that appeared at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. They spent a grand total of 59 weeks at #1. As a commercial entity in America, they only really lasted six years, and yet they spent more than a year of that time at #1. After they broke up, every member of the band had multiple solo songs that made it to #1 — yes, even Ringo. As solo artists, they kept hitting #1 into the late ’80s. Their run was baffling, monumental. They were vikings, visigoths, conquistadors. They ransacked our land and left it looking completely different.
It was instantaneous, more or less. The band was a phenomenon in the UK all through 1963, but Capitol, the American subsidiary of their label, was reluctant to release their music over here. Instead, the band released a couple of singles on smaller labels in the US in 1963.
Source: Tom Breihan/stereogum.com
This image appeared as McCartney’s Facebook profile picture on June 9, 2018. One fan commented: “Wow! A white horse in the snow…beautiful!”
Fact: The Beatles released their two-record album The Beatles (aka the “White Album”) on Nov. 22, 1968 in Britain. (America had to wait three more days.)
Fact: The Beatles released their acclaimed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album on June 1, 1967 in the U.K. (U.S. audiences got it on June 2.)
Fact: Apple Records Ltd., in conjunction with Capitol Records and Universal Music commemorated the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper with an elaborate reissue campaign – with remastering overseen by Giles Martin, son of George – in a variety of formats. A Super Deluxe Edition of 4-CDs/1-DVD included a mono mix, a stereo mix and a slew of outtakes and other goodies. These releases proved to be massively successful in terms of sales and well received by fans and critics.
Source: bestclassicbands.com
Ringo Starr bought a Pentax in Japan the first time The Beatles toured there and has had an eye behind the lens ever since. One of his first solo hits, written with George Harrison, was “Photograph.” Credited as Richard Starkey M.B.E., he was the director of photography for the band’s surreal film Magical Mystery Tour. Now that he’s a knight, and a hard day’s one at that, he’s putting out a scrapbook, Another Day In The Life, capturing his photographic art.
“I love taking photos of random things, and seeing how they all fit together,” Ringo said in a statement. “Whether it is at home or on the road, certain things catch my eye – and when I see something that interests me, that’s the emotion of it, and I want to capture it. I am a photographer as well as a musician.”
Source: denofgeek.com
he Pepper Effect Combines the Spirit of the Beatles with the Classroom
Long-time school educator and self-proclaimed Beatles fanatic, Sean Gaillard, has just released The Pepper Effect, a new book that talks about how the band's secrets to success and creative collaboration can be applied not only in the schoolhouse, but to life.
"The creative and collaborative legacy of The Beatles does resonate in education," said Gaillard. "I wanted to share their inspirational story and describe how educators can transform a schoolhouse into a masterpiece as The Beatles did."
The Beatles' fabled Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, often considered their creative zenith, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. The historic moment inspired Gaillard to conceive of (with a little help from his friends) a radio show called "The Pepper Mindset", a seed idea which became the framework for the book.
Source: beatlesnews.com
Paul McCartney and CBS Late Late Show host James Corden gave fans a shock Saturday (June 9) when they showed up at several Beatles sites in Liverpool, England.
The pair were seen at the Beatles statue in Liverpool, McCartney's childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road and on Penny Lane at the roundabout mentioned in the Beatles song.
McCartney and Corden were all smiles when they posed for a selfie at the statue of the Fab Four.
While in Liverpool, he also made a stop at the Philharmonic Dining Rooms, where he played a set with members of his band. The Liverpool Echo reported that tickets were being offered yesterday to locals for a "secret gig" with a global superstar.
Additionally, there's another mystery for McCartney/Beatles fans: his profile photo Twitter is now showing just a white box and all his Instagram photos have disappeared, indicating that an announcement of some kind could be on the way.
He has been known to have been working on a new album for some time, but rumors have also been flying about a special Beatles release to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles, or the "White Album."
Source: Steve Marinucci/billboard.com
Beloved Beatle George Harrison died in 2001, just weeks after contracting lung cancer. But according to REELZ’s new docuseries, Autopsy: George Harrison, the famed guitarist spent years worrying about his death after a madman attacked him inside his mansion.
“So far in my investigation, I’ve found that George was a prolific smoker, which would’ve undoubtedly been a trigger for the cancer. I’ve also found that a scar to his lung following a knife attack might have created an environment in which the tumor could’ve grown,” says Autopsy’s Doctor Michael Hunter in the show teaser.
The attack took a toll on Harrison in more ways than one. As RadarOnline.com readers know, a crazed man stabbed the musician inside his own home on December 30, 1999, nearly killing him. His wife, Olivia Harrison, told pals that it only made him more paranoid, as he previously lost longtime friend and The Beatles bandmate, John Lennon to homicide.
Source: radaronline.com
The official affidavit filed in 1970 by Paul McCartney to initiate the break-up of The Beatles is to be auctioned at Christie’s next week (June 14).
The legal document, which features annotations by John Lennon countering McCartney’s claims, is expected to fetch $100,000 to $150,000.
On the affidavit, filed on New Year’s Eve 1970, McCartney lists 25 reasons why he is seeking official dissolution of The Beatles’ partnership. Many of those points are countered by Lennon in handwritten annotations.
One of the key reasons cited by McCartney is the band’s decision to cease touring: “Whilst we had been touring the relationship between us was very close.” To this Lennon counters: “many fights on tour about leadership.”
Source: uncut.co.uk
You open your first European tour in six years and another legend – in the same city for her own concerts – shows up and joins in on one of your signature songs. That’s what happened Wednesday night (June 6) In Paris when Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band opened their tour on the continent. During the finale – the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends” – none other than Joan Baez joined the fun to sing along.
Baez is currently playing the same venue – L’Olympia – for a series of 10 concerts as part of her Fare Thee Well tour.
The 2018 All Starr Band includes Colin Hay of Men at Work, Steve Lukather of Toto, Gregg Rolie of Santana and Journey and new member Graham Gouldman of 10cc. On percussion and sax is Warren Ham and on drums Gregg Bissonette.
Source: bestclassicbands.com
