Beatles News
Before he found fame with the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), guitarist Randy Bachman cut his teeth playing in cover bands around his Canadian home town of Winnipeg. This was where his lifelong admiration of George Harrison crystallized.
“I was always the George Harrison guy in every band I was in,” Bachman says. “The drummers in those bands got to sing Ringo’s songs and I was always delegated to sing George’s songs.”
Many decades down the road, Bachman decided to relive that experience on his new album, By George, By Bachman, a collection of 11 songs written by George Harrison with one track, “Between Two Mountains,” that Bachman wrote as a tribute to the former Beatle, who passed away in 2001. Had he lived, Harrison would have turned 75 this year, and Bachman celebrates his own 75th birthday this September 27. So the timing seemed ideal to Bachman, who takes a very freehanded approach to Harrison’s compositions on the disc, departing markedly from the original chord progressions, melodies and grooves. But he feels that Harrison would have approved.
Source: Alan di Perna/guitarworld.com
A wise musician always pays attention to the other artists on the bill — you never know where you're going to hear them next, or when they might turn out to be the next biggest band in the world. Just ask Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge, who still remembers watching the Beatles perform at a Liverpool gig where the Moodies were billed as "Birmingham's top band."
"They played a song called 'Long Tall Sally.'" Edge recalled during an hourlong Q&A session at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held prior to the band's upcoming induction this weekend. "Well, at the time, that was dead in Birmingham, because we had no idea about sounding ethnic. ... So we're all there sitting in the back, having a beer and thinking these guys are going to, you know, bomb out because we were playing all the good stuff."
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
f you remember the '60s, you weren't there: so it is said of that explosive decade of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll when girls sashayed down the Kings Road in tiny skirts and Biba boots, boys wore ruffled shirts over tight velvet trousers and London was the epicentre of cool.
Oblivion came with the territory: Eric Clapton was supposed to have slept with more than 1000 women but as he told me in an interview for Fairfax Media, "I wouldn't know, I was in a blackout for quite a few of them".
Pattie Boyd and her then husband George Harrison in England in 1968.
Pattie Boyd was both muse and wife to Clapton, to George Harrison before him and no stranger to drug and booze-fuelled partying. But there was little danger of failing memory for her. She kept a record of the wild years – portraits and reportage style snaps taken with a Polaroid and, later, on a Hasselblad.
Source: Jane Wheatley/smh.com.au
Ringo Starr has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with BMG, the company announced on Tuesday (April 10). The agreement covers Starr's Beatles and solo catalog, spanning nearly 50 years, as well as future compositions.
Among the over 150 titles included in the deal are his songwriting contributions with The Beatles'
"What Goes On" from Rubber Soul, "Flying" from Magical Mystery Tour, "Don't Pass Me By" from The White Album, "Octopus's Garden" from Abbey Road and "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" from Let It Be, as well as other rarities.
As a solo artist, Starr has released 19 studio albums, spanning from 1970's Sentimental Journey to last year's Give More Love. His 1973 album, Ringo, peaked and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and is RIAA certified Platinum, with singles "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen" topping the Hot 100 chart.
Source: billboard.com
The handwriting of Kurt Cobain, David Bowie, John Lennon and other rock stars has been turned into fonts.
The Songwriters Font project includes typefaces developed from “original handwritten letters and notes” by Cobain, Bowie and Lennon, as well as Leonard Cohen and Serge Gainsbourg.
“Songwriting is about inspiration,” say creators Julien Sens and Nicolas Damiens. “Write songs as the ones who inspired you before. The Songwriters fonts have been created to give musicians inspiration.”
“Writing lyrics with the handwriting of influential songwriters helps imagination to develop. Being in the mood of Bowie, Cobain, Cohen, Gainsbourg, Lennon, might be purely imaginative… but that’s precisely the point.”
See some examples of the fonts beneath.
Source:
A piece of Beatles memorabilia is going up for sale for $375,000 — lyrics handwritten by Paul McCartney for the 1968 classic “Hey Jude” at a recording session.
The same lyrics are seen being used by John Lennon in a videotaped recording, hung from a mike stand. The song is credited to Lennon and McCartney and adapted from a ballad McCartney wrote for Lennon’s son Julian, originally called “Hey Jules.”
Moments in Time dealer Gary Zimet, who is selling the item, said, “This rare lyric sheet was seen being used by Lennon in a filmed recording session and is written all in McCartney’s hand.”
Source: Page Six Team
George garden idea grows
A GARDEN inspired by musician George Harrison is set to be created in Mill Meadows in Henley.
The location is favoured by the late Beatle’s widow Olivia, who still lives at Friar Park, the home they bought in the Seventies.
Henley in Bloom is working with Gae Exton, from the Harrisons’ charity the Material World Foundation, to develop the idea. Mayor Kellie Hinton, who chairs Henley in Bloom, said the charity would fund the project.
She said: “They are keen for the garden to be at Mill Meadows. It’s a great location by the flowing water and away from traffic as well as being looked after by the council’s parks team.
“They are happy to fund the garden and are not expecting us to come up with a huge amount of money as they are aware of our budget constraints.” Giles Reynolds, the head gardener at Friar Park, will be involved with the design.
Councillor Hinton and council administrator Becky Walker will look around Mill Meadows for several possible locations for the garden. These will then be considered with Mrs Harrison and the charity as well as the Henley in Bloom committee. The final design will be signed off by the full council.
Cllr Hinton said the River & Rowing Museum, which is in Mill Meadows, would also be involved. Meanwhile, plans to improve a town entrance could receive a cash boost. Henley in Bloom has backed plans to renovate a green area in Bell Street near the mini-roundabout at Northfield End.
Source: Henly Standard
Toronto police are working to identify a woman who allegedly stole an individual stone from a Yoko Ono exhibit at the Gardiner Museum on Friday. As Global News reports, the rock, which is inscribed with the words “Love yourself,” was taken from the museum after 5:30PM. The suspect was caught on security camera footage walking south from the museum.
The rock, which has an appraised insurance value of $17,500, was part of a three-part interactive instillation from Ono called The Riverbed. One of these three parts is an interactive work called “Stone Piece,” which “features a pile of river stones that have been honed and shaped by water over time,” according to the museum’s website. “Ono has inscribed some of the stones with words, such as dream, wish, and remember. Visitors are invited to pick up a stone and hold it, concentrating on the word, and then placing the stone upon the pile of other stones in the center of the room.”
Source: Rob Arcand/spin.com
Yoko Ono Lennon, Southern California-based Beatles tribute band the Fab Four and the California Department of Motor Vehicles have joined forces to combat hunger in the state with the sale of specialty license plates featuring the iconic self-portrait image of the late John Lennon.
The Emmy Award-winning Fab Four unveiled the design for the new plate at its show at City National Grove of Anaheim on Saturday, April 7, and asked fans to pre-order the design, which will be put into production after 7,500 pre-paid applications are received by the DMV. Proceeds from the plates, which cost anywhere from $50-$103 depending on customization at CaliforniaImagine.com, will go directly to the California Association of Food Banks to help supply food an estimated 2 million Californians in need.
Source: ocregister.com
The Yellow Submarine & other 50-year-olds
The animated film, featuring Beatles music and the Beatles themselves, tells the story of Pepperlandia, an undersea paradise that was invaded by the Blue Meanies who hate music.
The Yellow Submarine, the animated film featuring Beatles music and the Beatles themselves, is turning 50 years old this year. The musical fantasy inspired by Ringo Starr’s composition of the same title, first hit the theaters on July 1968 and a version that was restored frame by frame with a remixed soundtrack, is set to have a special theatrical run this year to commemorate the event.
Directed by George Dunning using a process called limited animation, The Yellow Submarine tells the story of Pepperlandia, an undersea paradise that was invaded by the Blue Meanies who hate music. These bad guys imprisoned the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in a music-proof glass globe and rendered the people immobile. The King sent out his servant Young Fred to bring back The Beatles and rescue Pepperlandia. So the Fab Four were soon on board The Yellow Submarine and on the way to a fun psychedelic adventure.
Source: philstar.com
