Beatles News
All you need to do is say this little word.
I know it sounds absurd but it's true.
The magic in the mantra will give you the answer.
And swallow this that's all you gotta do.
So recommends the "Happy Rishikesh" song of The Beatles. The Beatles did swallow the mantra but whether and to what extent they got the answer is the moot point.
But one thing is for sure - their visit to Rishikesh to meditate in Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram from February to April in 1968, 50 years ago, was transformative in many respects. The beginning of The Beatles’ end began in the sylvan foothills of the Himalayas.
Later that year, they released the White Album - a double album in white sleeves with nary a graphic nor a text save the band’s name embossed on the cover. The recordings began in May.
The album cover was as dramatic in its simplicity as its predecessor Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s was with its vivid colours and razzmatazz. The music reflected this simplicity and, as with the cover, stood out in stark contrast to the earlier offering. While Sgt Pepper’s was fuelled by LSD, the White Album was inspired by marijuana - most likely sourced locally.
Source: dailyo.in
Paul McCartney and George Harrison's widow and son have publicly remembered the late Beatle on what would have been his 75th birthday.
"Happy Birthday Georgie. Wonderful memories," McCartney tweeted along with a black and white photograph of the two of them together during the Beatlemania days.
Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 58.
His widow, Olivia Harrison, and his son, Dhani Harrison, tweeted an invitation for fans to celebrate George's birthday by watching a video of Billy Preston and Eric Clapton performing the Harrison song "Isn't It a Pity" at the star-studded Concert for George in 2002.
McCartney and Ringo Starr are the only surviving members of the English band that rocketed to global fame in the 1960s. John Lennon was shot to death in 1980.
In the first week of July 1966, barely a month after George (Harrison) met Ravi Shankar for the first time, he along with the other members of the band were in Delhi, the Capital of India, for a brief 24-hour flying visit. Some weeks after he started his lessons, George had been told by his tutor
In the first week of July 1966, barely a month after George (Harrison) met Ravi Shankar for the first time, he along with the other members of the band were in Delhi, the Capital of India, for a brief 24-hour flying visit. Some weeks after he started his lessons, George had been told by his tutor that he needed to get a decent sitar which would be available only in India. Since the Beatles were planning their first tour of Asia in late June and early July, the plan was that on their return journey to England, George would get off in Delhi, buy a good sitar, spend a few days getting his first feel of India and then head back home to prepare for the band's tour of the United States some weeks later. After many twists and turns during a traumatic Asian tour, with the boys debating whether they too wanted to stop over in Delhi, fate took matters in hand and, almost as a fait accompli, brought all the Beatles to India for the first time:
Source: indiatoday.in
The "quiet Beatle" George Harrison would have turned 75 on February 25. A look back at the life of the boy from Liverpool who became the Fab Four's lead guitarist.
A brooder and introvert, George Harrison always seemed to be in the shadows of the alpha males John Lennon and Paul McCartney during his time with The Beatles. Yet he made it onto the Rolling Stone list of the 100 best guitarists of all time with his very special slide guitar technique at number 11.
The musical pioneer's legacy is "the combination of ritual Indian music with secular western pop music in the sense of a global music without ethnic or religious boundaries," said the curator of the rock'n'popmuseum in Gronau, Germany, Thomas Mania.
Source: Deutsche Welle/dw.com
Former Beatle George Harrison would have turned 75 on Sunday and fellow guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, from the E Street Band, is setting his alarm to celebrate.
Van Zandt, along with Bachman Turner Overdrive founder Randy Bachman and Ringo Starr’s musical director Mark Rivera, are meeting at E. 32nd St. venue The Cutting Room at 8 a.m. on Sunday for a visit with Ken Dashow, who hosts “Breakfast With The Beatles” on Q104.3.
“They will be telling their favorite George stories and strapping on some guitars to jam to a few Beatles tunes,” according to an insider tied to the appearance.
Van Zandt, a big Beatles fan, was joined on stage by Harrison’s old bandmate Paul McCartney during a November performance in London where the two of them performed a rousing rendition of “I Saw Her Standing There.” Video of that performance nearly broke the Internet. Harrison died in 2001 at 58 after a long battle with cancer.
Source: nydailynews.com
Former Beatles guitarist George Harrison would have turned 75 on Sunday, Feb. 25. Harrison was seen in various ways over his life. It is factual that he was the youngest of the four Beatles and the primary lead guitarist.
He also was pigeonholed at one point as the quiet Beatle, then as a curiosity when he started inserting Eastern Hemisphere music elements, such as the sitar instrument and a penchant for personal reflection, into his songs. The period from February to April 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles spending time with yogis in India.
Beyond his Beatles years in the Sixties, Harrison had a wide ranging solo career. He dropped to a much lower profile after the late 1970s, then had a big comeback in 1988 with "Got My Mind Set On You" single and following work in the Traveling Wilburys supergroup, which included Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. Harrison died on Nov. 29, 2001, from lung cancer, less than two years after receiving wounds from a man who broke into his house and stabbed Harrison in the chest in December 1999.
Here are the top four charting songs by Harrison as a Beatle and solo artist, plus five extras that should not be overlooked.
Source: Bret Hayworth/siouxcityjournal.com
The 2002 George Harrison tribute concert brimmed with music greats – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton, among them – who played the late Beatle's best known songs, a year after his death at age 58.
But the show ended on an unexpected note with respected, but far-from-superstar musician Joe Brown strumming a ukulele center stage at Royal Albert Hall, singing "I'll See You in My Dreams," a big hit from 1925.
It marked a pure "George" moment: low-key, but high-impact. Just a pal playing one of Harrison's favorite instruments, performing a sad and sweet song about love, loss and the power of memory.
"Concert for George" earned a theatrical rerelease and a reissue on vinyl this week in honor of a Beatles milestone that otherwise might have gone largely unheralded by all but hardcore fans: the 75th anniversary of Harrison's birth.
Source: By Jere Hester/nbcconnecticut.com
Despite the adulation and enthusiasm of the growing band of Beatles fans in India, their trip to Rishikesh was not without its controversies. There were many people in the country who were openly hostile to both Maharishi [Mahesh Yogi] and the arrival of the rock band and other celebrities from the West in his ashram. In the Lok Sabha, the elected Lower House of the Indian Parliament, the Opposition went up in arms alleging that the yogi was in cahoots with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and that many of his guests from abroad were actually foreign spies. The charge was led by communist members of Parliament who formed a sizeable block in the Opposition benches and were supported by the socialists who too felt that something fishy was happening in Rishikesh.
Source: Ajoy Bose/scroll.in
By early 1963, the value of the songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney was obvious to Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Artists were lining up to record their new compositions. Following the release of their debut single "Love Me Do," producer George Martin recommended Dick James Music to Epstein as a publisher that could do a good job maximizing the value of the Beatles' music. James' idea: a new company owned by James, McCartney, Lennon and Epstein. On Feb. 22, 1963, Lennon and McCartney signed contracts that created what they thought was their own music publishing company: Northern Songs.
"We just signed this thing, not really knowing what it was at all about [and] that we were signing our rights away for our songs," McCartney recalled in Many Years From Now. "John and I didn't know you could own songs. We thought they just existed in the air.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
The letter, thought to be signed by all four Beatles members, is expected to fetch around £12,000
The typed letter to Atlanta DJ Paul Drew, who travelled with the band, was signed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in September 1965.
It reads: “Dear Paul, we just thought that we would like to write to you all and say thanks very much for your help on the tour.
"We enjoyed it and appreciated your patience and co-operation. Hope to see you next year.“
The letter was written by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1965
Anything signed by all four Beatles is highly collectable but to have it on NEMS stationary and addressed to Paul Drew takes it to another level.
Source: Andrew Aldridge/express.co.uk
