Beatles News
The Beatles were of course talented enough to hold their own and create their own music. However, it never hurt to get a little help from their friends, and they did so on numerous occasions. In addition to collaborating with musicians such as Eric Clapton and Billy Preston, they had one other major player play on several of their early tracks, and that was their producer and friend, George Martin.
Given the production quality of The Beatles’ music, Martin’s role as the lead producer was as integral as any of the four members. However, the man didn’t just control the sticks; he also tickled the ivories on several of The Beatles’ most iconic early tracks. That being so, here are three early Beatles songs that feature George Martin on the piano.
“Not a Second Time”
Released in 1963, The Beatles single “Not a Second Time” is the quintessential tune of the group’s teenie-bop era. However, amidst the boyish harmonies is a George Martin piano solo that nobody expected nor thought could fit into the song. However, George Martin did, and he executed it to near perfection.
Following its release, “Not a Second Time” didn’t receive much chart success. On the contrary, the album, With The Beatles, peaked at No. 1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Nearly every song on that album is a certified classic, and “Not a Second Time” certainly falls into that category, and it’s partly thanks to George Martin.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Peter Burditt
One name many music fans know around the world is Ringo Starr, but not everyone knows what it means.
The musician, now 84, claimed worldwide fame as the drummer in the Beatles, and their music is still adored by millions today. Even though the band have been in people's lives since the '60s, not all fans know the significance of his name.
In fact, the topic recently came up on Reddit when fans were discussing what he prefers to be called. One social media user wrote: "Does Ringo prefer to be called Ringo Starr or Richard Starkey?
"I just started reading 'You Never Give Me Your Money', and the author calls him Starkey throughout, because of the 2009 ad where he said 'don't call me by my stage name'. Is that accurate? Does he prefer to be called by his birth name?"
It's fair to say fans had all sorts of thoughts, with several offering various suggestions. One simply replied: "Richy/Richard is reserved for his friends and family, and Ringo is for the rest of us."
Another wrote: "I've always called him Ringo Starr, or just Ringo, since I'm not always going to use his last name. I've called him by his stage name since I first knew The Beatles, before I even considered myself a fan of them, and I rarely call him Richard or Richard Starkey."
One more added: "Richy or Richard is used by his bandmates and friends and stuff, but Ringo is for the general public." Whatever he prefers, it's fair to say that his stage name is pretty bold, and there's actually a quirky reason as to how it came about.
Back in the late 1950s, Ringo was playing music with many skiffle groups, and it was then that he gained the stage name Ringo Starr. It's said to have come from the rings he wore back then, and also because it helped to give him a country and western twang.
The Beatles formed in 1960 but, at the time, Starr was actually a part of another group in Liverpool known as Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. At the time, the band did gain a bit of UK success, but he decided to quit the Hurricanes when he was invited to join the Beatles in August 1962. He took the place of Pete Best, and teamed up with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
Source: express.co.uk/Katie-Ann Gupwell
In 2028, the world will experience a musical and cinematic event that's never really happened before. Three years from now, in April, Sony Pictures will release four separate (but connected) movies about the Beatles, all directed by Sam Mendes. The four actors playing each Beatle have been revealed, but one person has some thoughts about the other historical figures in the movie. Namely, herself.
George Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd, recently took to X and fired off a tweet about how the movie would handle her role in the story of the biggest rock band of all time. "I wonder who will be cast to play me?" she said. "That's assuming that I get to feature in any of the movies..."
An international model in the 1960s, Boyd married Beatles guitarist George Harrison in 1966. They later divorced in 1977. Boyd then married famed guitarist Eric Clapton, a friend of Harrison's. In fact, the famous Clapton song, "Layla," was based on Clapton's romantic feelings for Boyd, while she was still married to Harrison. Clapton and Harrison remained friends, despite the fact that Boyd left Harrison for a different guitarist. To this day, Boyd points out that Harrison frequently cheated on her, which is why she formally left him in 1974. In a recent interview, she called Harrison's infidelities "blatant." Clearly plenty of material for a movie!
Source: yahoo.com/Ryan Britt
Over the past several years, Paul McCartney has been reintroducing music lovers to his former group, Wings. While the band may not be as iconic as The Beatles, or even quite as talked about as McCartney’s solo efforts, its discography is full of gems that fans have loved since they were new, decades ago.
Wings has been celebrated throughout the past several years with multiple re-releases, deluxe editions, and other special projects that highlight the great material it recorded. The band’s Venus and Mars is enjoying a brand new life across the pond as it returns to the charts, and even manages to debut on several tallies.
Venus and Mars shows up on three charts in the U.K. The album debuts on two of those rankings, marking a real comeback for a title that first dropped almost exactly 50 years ago.
The release opens at No. 6 on the Official Vinyl Albums chart, which ranks the bestselling vinyl releases in the country. The same collection also lands at No. 18 on the Official Albums Sales ranking. That tally measures the top-selling full-lengths across all formats, not just vinyl.
While Wings has appeared on the Official Vinyl Albums chart before, top 10 success is still somewhat new for the band. Venus and Mars gives the group just its second-ever top 10 on that tally. The first came last year when Band on the Run, credited to Paul McCartney and Wings, hit No. 3 and managed two weeks somewhere on the list.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
Mendes was nominated for four Academy Awards and won Best Director in 2000 for his work on American Beauty. More recently, he received critical acclaim for 1917, which earned him his other three Oscar nominations.
Of course, the Beatles are still considered one of the most influential bands in all of music history. They became one of the leading figures in the 1960s counterculture movement and pushed in the "British Invasion" of the US pop market. They racked up 25 Grammy nominations and won eight, including Best New Artist in 1964. From songs like "Here Comes the Sun" to "Come Together" to "Let It Be," the words "music" and "the Beatles" are practically synonymous.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the films are being made with the blessings of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, who are all offering up the "full life stories and music rights" for the scripted films. Apple Corps, the group's notably selective label, also signed off on the movies.
Source: buzzfeed.com/Nora Dominick
Sam Mendes confirmed that his long-threatened Beatles biopic quadrilogy would be released in its entirety in April 2028. That’s right, all four Beatles movies want to hold their hands, so Sony is releasing them helter-skelter in theaters in the same month. Based on the logline (“Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary”), we believe the plan is still to do a movie for each Beatle to combine into an interlocking cinematic Voltron.
Sony also made its cast official, too, with Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. All this raises more questions, such as who’s playing Brian Epstein and George Martin? How many years will it cover? Will the Blue Meanies be involved? We simply do not know. All we know is that each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.
Source: yahoo.com/Matt Schimkowitz
Paul McCartney and John Lennon were not only the dynamic duo behind The Beatles' hits, but they also penned tunes for other big names in the 60s, with McCartney also providing the inspiration for the name of an iconic rock band.
The ECHO has delved into how the pair - whose tense relationship is often cited as one of the reasons why the band split up - crafted The Rolling Stones' first smash 'I Wanna Be Your Man,' as well as supplying chart-toppers to groups like Badfinger with 'Come and Get It' and Peter and Gordon with 'A World Without Love.'
Beatles manager Brian Epstein was well aware of the goldmine he had in John and Paul's songwriting genius, with McCartney once writing 'a huge' song for the Beatles but then giving it to another band. He often tasked them with creating hits or passed on their compositions to other acts under his wing.
One such beneficiary was Bootle's own Billy J. Kramer and his band, The Dakotas. Billy soared to stardom in the swinging sixties, thanks to a series of chart-busters from the Lennon-McCartney team, including 'Bad to Me,' which hit the top spot in the UK charts in 1963, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The origins of 'Bad to Me' are somewhat muddled. Billy claimed in a 1964 interview that it was co-written with Paul in the back of a van.
Yet, John gave a different version in a 1980 Playboy interview, asserting that he wrote it solo while vacationing with Brian in Spain in April 1963. John shared with the magazine: "I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time."
Source: irishstar.com/Dan Haygarth
Fans of the legendary songwriter Paul McCartney are calling his work on a movie soundtrack one of the most underrated albums in his discography.
Give My Regards to Broad Street, the film which stars McCartney, along with fellow Beatles member Ringo Starr, was praised by fans who say it is one of the best albums in the Wings frontman’s discography. Though the film did not do much at the box office or for critics at the time, fans of McCartney are suggesting it is one of his most underrated pieces of work and that there are several “great” songs on the album. One user took to the r/PaulMcCartney subreddit and wrote: “The most underrated Macca album is Give My Regards to Broad Street. And I’m not kidding.
“The album is usually maligned more than any other McCartney record (together with Driving Rain and Wild Life). Most songs/versions in Give My Regards to Broad Street are good, and several are just great.” Other users agreed with their assessment of the 1984 album and movie release, but also tipped the Fireman albums as the truly underrated pieces from McCartney’s backlog.
One user wrote: “Technically it’s a Fireman album, but Electric Arguments is greatly underrated.” Another added: “Electric Arguments is one of those albums where I like any given song heard in isolation but for whatever reason feels a bit of a slog to sit through in one listening session.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
As the spring season blossoms across the northern hemisphere, music enthusiasts are revisiting legendary compositions, including an extraordinary Beatles gem. George Harrison, often dubbed “the quiet Beatle,” created musical magic with a song written in just three minutes that continues to captivate audiences even in spring 2025. The three-minute miracle: “It’s all too much”
While George Harrison crafted numerous masterpieces during his career, “It’s All Too Much” stands as the remarkable composition he reportedly wrote in just three minutes. This psychedelic anthem, released on the “Yellow Submarine” album, emerged from a moment of pure inspiration in 1967. Unlike his more celebrated works like Something or Here Comes The Sun, this rapid creation showcases Harrison’s ability to channel spontaneous creativity.
“George had this incredible ability to capture complex emotions in simple melodies. ‘It’s All Too Much’ came to him almost fully formed – a brilliant example of his songwriting efficiency,” notes Dr. Emily Richardson, Professor of Music History at Berkeley School of Music.
As we enjoy the refreshing changes of spring, it’s fitting to remember Harrison’s own musical rebirth. The late 1960s represented his creative spring – a period when he emerged from the shadow of Lennon-McCartney to establish his unique voice. This three-minute creation period symbolizes the spontaneous blooming of his artistic confidence.
Source: journee-mondiale.com
The music world lost a giant of a talent when George Harrison passed away at the age of 58 in 2001. Even then, Harrison wasn’t finished bestowing his musical grace upon us, thanks to the release of the posthumous Brainwashed album a year later.
For the most part, the album steers clear of details about the health problems that Harrison was enduring. “Stuck Inside A Cloud”, however, stands out as a brave and touching evocation of a man in physical, mental, and emotional distress.
George Harrison scrambled to put together his final album once he received a terminal diagnosis. Luckily, the record was in progress well before that time. Harrison had been compiling material for a while in preparation for a return to his solo career.
It became clear that he might not live to see the album completed. So, Harrison entrusted some musical confidants with a blueprint to finish whatever was still in progress. They included his son Dhani, longtime collaborator and former ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne, and session drummer Jim Keltner. Keltner had worked with Harrison all the way back to All Things Must Pass.
Because the song seems to refer to Harrison’s health issues, you might assume that “Stuck Inside A Cloud” came from the final months of his life. Keltner reported in an interview with Modern Drummer that the song was one Harrison had been kicking around for a while. And it floored Keltner every time he played it.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
