Beatles News
Beatles fans, get your credit cards ready: On May 26, the Fab Four is unleashing a lavish revamp of 1967’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in honor of the landmark album’s 50th anniversary. Among the notable features of the reissue are outtakes and alternate versions of songs from the vaults — including the “Pepper”-era double-A-side single “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” — and a new stereo mix of the record that producers claim buffs up the painstaking vibe of the original mono mix.
“They were trying to create this immersive world that the stereo didn’t have,” Giles Martin, the man responsible for the new stereo mix (and, incidentally, the son of the late Beatles producer George Martin), recently told Rolling Stone about the original mono mixing sessions. “Nobody paid much attention to the stereo mix. What we did [today] was work out what they were doing in the mono mix and apply it to stereo.”
It’s a no-brainer that the Beatles team would choose to release a deluxe reissue of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The LP has sold over 11 million copies in the U.S. alone and remains one of the band’s most beloved records.
From an artistic standpoint, the album ushered in the Beatles’ most expansive and experimental phase, and featured even more studio innovations. “On ‘Pepper,’ it was like starting over from scratch, getting down to the individual tonalities of the instruments and changing them,” engineer Geoff Emerick told Guitar World. “They didn’t want a guitar to sound like a guitar anymore. They didn’t want anything to sound like what it was.”
By: Annie Zaleski
Source: Salon
Unseen footage of the Beatles on the set of their 1965 movie Help! will soon go on sale after the 8mm film was unearthed after 50 years in storage.
Actor Leo McKern, who played the evil swami Clang in the Beatles' second feature-length film, shot the 8mm film while on the set of Help! The Beatles appear in 10 minutes of the footage, which has an asking price of approximately $45,000.
"This is footage taken in 1965 of people who at the time were the most famous people on earth at the pinnacle of their collective career," books dealer Neil Pearson, who is selling the footage, told Reuters.
McKern reportedly filmed the Beatles during the Help! "snow scenes" in the Austrian Alps, with the group tobogganing and messing around with their stunt doubles on set.
There is also footage of candid behind-the-scenes moments between band members, including Paul McCartney smoking a cigarette and taking photographs.
The 8mm reel contains footage of McKern playing with his then-10-year-old daughter Abigail on the Help! set, as well as the Beatles' then-wives and girlfriends on set, the Guardian reports. Leo McKern died in 2002. The "snow scenes" footage remained in the family's garage until Pearson unearthed it while sorting through the McKern family's collection of children's literature.
By: Daniel Kreps
Source: Rolling Stone
Last year, Stella McCartney launched her first millennial fragrance POP, a fresh and feminine scent that champions the notes of tuberose and sandalwood.
It was deemed more than just a fragrance, as the brand wanted to push a message across to the younger generation: ‘It is about a mindset rather than an individual woman,' they declared. 'Bold. Authentic. Irreverent.’
The campaign was equally impactful with millennial stars including Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon, the musician Grimes, animal activist Kenya Kiniski Jones, and actress and campaigner Amandla Stenberg taking centre stage. In an era where designer perfumes are declining in favour of niche fragrance houses, it was a clever move for McCartney to delve into a younger market, which amounts to over 13.8 million potential customers.
It was clearly a success though as today, McCartney is unveiling a sequel scent, POP Bluebell, from £44. The fragrance promises to be delicate yet distinctive with the British bluebell note bringing a depth and personality to the collection.
“As human beings, we’re always changing, and POP is evolving with its wearers," the British designer explained. "I really love these girls – their spirit, their independence – and wanted to follow them on the next stage of their adventures. In POP Bluebell they’ve lived life and learnt, and become only more beautiful in the process.”
By: Victoria Hall
Source: The Telegraph
Paul and Linda McCartney weren’t the only ones John Lennon had harsh words for in letter form.
An angry letter that Lennon wrote concerning the distribution of his and Yoko Ono’s experimental album “Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins” is being auctioned off by Boston-based RR Auction.
In the handwritten piece of correspondence, addressed to Martin George of Rock Ink & Roll Ink, the rock icon expresses frustration with difficulty in getting the 1968 record out to the masses.
“Yoko and I got Two Virgins out in spite of being past owners of Apple [the Beatles’ record label]. We made it in May and they f–ked us about till November! Then E.M.I. (who have the real control) wrote warning letters to all their puppets around the world telling them not handle it in any way,” the letter reads.
The album was the first music released by Lennon following the breakup of the Beatles. E.M.I., Apple’s parent company, refused to distribute it due to the fully nude photo of John and Yoko that adorned its front and back.
By: Bryan Hood
Source: Page Six
A collection of sixties memorabilia is being sold off by Welsh singer Mary Hopkin - one of the first artists to be signed to The Beatles’ Apple label.
The Pontardawe -born star, who shot to fame with 1968 UK number one single Those Were The Days, is auctioning off a collection of clothes she wore at the height of her fame, including designer stage dresses when she sang with the stars - and a rare Beatles poster from the cusp of the Fab Four’s superstardom.
The poster is advertising the Beatles’ August 1963 gig at The Pier Pavilion in Llandudno, North Wales, and is expected to auction for £400 to £800.
The same month the band went straight to number one with their second hit, “She Loves You”, marking the eruption of Beatlemania across the world.
The small concert in the north Welsh seaside town was priced at 4/6d, 6/6d and 8/6d, and was part of the Beatles’ tour of smaller venues around the UK. Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said: “It was right that the poster should be delivered to our auction rooms in Colwyn Bay, only three miles from the venue where The Beatles played that night.
Source: Wales Online
The timing could not be better for the WAVE 3 News Abbey Road on the River to pay homage to the iconic and acclaimed album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was released by The Beatles 50 years ago in 1967, and is set for the much anticipated re-release on May 26, which coincides with the five-day festival, coming up May 25-29, 2017.
Sgt. Pepper, regarded as one of the first concept albums, is known for being one of the most influential and innovative albums of all time. It won four Grammy’s, and included hits like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” and “A Day in the Life.”
The new, remixed special anniversary edition of the Sgt. Pepper album includes previously unreleased takes from their recording sessions.
More than 15 events will celebrate the groundbreaking album throughout the weekend, including 9 concerts, a presentation by internationally recognized Beatles expert Scott Freiman, and a “Pepper at 50” panel discussion with author Bruce Spizer, Beatle best friend and long-time aide Tony Bramwell, and “Beatle Brunch” Radio Host Joe Johnson.
On Saturday, May 27 at 11:45 p.m., a listening party will be held for the release of the new Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Edition.
The WAVE 3 News Abbey Road on the River will be held in Jeffersonville, Ind. at the Big Four Station Park on Memorial Day weekend, May 25-29. The 2017 lineup includes Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone, Grammy-winner Peter Asher, Rock-n-Roll Hall of Famers The Family Stone, The Grass Roots, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders, Ambrosia, and former Wings band members Laurence Juber (guitarist) and Steve Holley (drummer). More than 50 bands from around the world will perform on eight indoor and outdoor stages over the course of the five-day event.
Source: The Lane Report
They might've come from Liverpool, but The Beatles certainly left their mark all over London. Here are some of our favourite London locations connected to the band: take a trip around the sights, and indulge in your very own Magical Mystery Tour of the capital.
1. Dodge the cars at Abbey Road Studios and crossing
Start your day at what's probably the most famous London Beatles landmark: Abbey Road.
The Fab Four didn't just record their Abbey Road album here; this was the location the band recorded nearly all their albums and singles from 1962 to 1970 at this famous address.
Take care if you stop for photos on that iconic pelican crossing: cars don't like stopping for the inevitable hoards of tourists all doing exactly the same thing...
2. Sample the delights at the Beatles Coffee Shop
If you've successfully swerved the traffic in the name of Instagram perfection, celebrate with a cup of coffee from The Beatles Coffee Shop at St John's Wood station.
By: Zoe Craig
Source: Londonist
A new letter reveals the reason why the BBC banned The Beatles' psychedelic masterpiece 'A Day In The Life'.
The Fab Four will issue an expanded version of 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' shortly, casting new light on one of the most vital documents of the psychedelic era.
Much mythology has crowded around the album, so it's always nice to uncover a fresh artefact, a new shard of light on such a vaunted release.
The Beatles official Facebook page shared a remarkable letter from the BBC, detailing its reasons for banning 'A Day In The Life'.
It explains: "We cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that the words "I'd love to turn you on", followed by that mounting montage of sound, could have a rather sinister meaning".
The letter continues: "The recording may have been made in innocence and good faith, but we must take account of the interpretation many young people would inevitably put upon it. "Turned on" is a phrase which can be used in many different circumstances, but it is currently much in-vogue in the jargon of drug addicts".
By: Robin Murray
Source: Clash Music
If the Kennedy Center Honors is the venue’s biggest end-of-the-year party, the annual Spring Gala gives it a run for its money for live music.
Last year, a star-studded lineup of musicians — Leslie Odom Jr., Babyface, Valerie Simpson, Mary Wilson and BJ The Chicago Kid — turned out to salute the iconic music of the late Marvin Gaye.
On Monday night, this year’s ceremony delivered “Come Together: A Celebration of John Lennon,” saluting the genius behind so many Beatles hits, as well as a solo career that was tragically cut short.
“You’re wondering if we’re going to get to your favorite John Lennon song: ‘Norwegian Wood,’ ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’ ‘Power to the People,’ ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,’ ‘Dear Prudence’? Sorry, we’re not doing any of those. Get over it,” emcee David Duchovny joked. “We would’ve loved to have played them all, but if you wanted to spend that much time sitting in a seat at the Kennedy Center, you’d be over in the Opera House watching ‘Madame Butterfly.’ … Your [butt] thanks us!”
The event kicked off with a tone-setting group performance of “Come Together” by Taj Mahal, Shawn Colvin, Jim James and Duchovny, who stuck around on stage to sing Lennon’s catchy “Instant Karma.”
After that, the unbelievably talented Corinne Bailey Rae came out to belt “Don’t Let Me Down,” followed by Esperanza Spalding wailing Lennon’s aching single “Mother” over an upright bass.
By: Jason Fraley
Source: WTOP
Turner prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller is to stage a haunting tribute to the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, in the run-up to events in Liverpool marking 50 years since the release of the band’s groundbreaking album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The artist, who created the centenary commemoration of the lost soldiers of the Battle of the Somme last year and a controversial re-enactment of the Battle of Orgreave, has designed a series of posters that will go up around the city later this month. They will bear powerful slogans about Epstein’s devotion to the Beatles, some associating his sacrifices with those of a religious martyr.
“Rock music is a belief system, in a way, and Brian Epstein dedicated everything to the Beatles and to their success. His main concern was their well-being,” said Deller. “In terms of its characters and stories, the way we feel about rock’n’roll music since the Beatles is like religion, or at least an alternative belief system.”
When the city’s mayor, Joe Anderson, announced a carnival of arts that will begin on 25 May, the Merseyside statue of the band members – John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr – provided a handy visual reminder of the Beatles’ musical legacy. Yet, for Deller, the spectral presence of Epstein, who died in 1967 at the age of 32 after Sgt Pepper had been released, is always present alongside the Fab Four.
By: Vanessa Thorpe
Source: The Guardian
