Beatles News
Olivia Harrison was among hundreds of people honoring Ravi Shankar at a memoria10l in California. Said Olivia of Ravi’s relationship with George : "They were like father and son as well as brothers... they made each other laugh as if they shared a secret. And I'm sure they did."
A suitcase that likely belonged to George Harrison in the early 60’s is currently on display in the UK. The case was found after a Beatles appearance at the Irby Village Hall on September 7, 1962, one of Ringo’s first appearances after officially joining the group.
Ravi Shankar will receive a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy on Feb. 10th. Grammys spokeswoman Stephanie Schell says he was selected before his death and notified of the honor the week before he passed. Shankar died in California after failing to recover from surgery.
The other Grammy lifetime award recipients are Carole King, the Temptations, classical pianist Glenn Gould, jazz musician Charlie Haden, blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins, and Patti Page, famous for songs such as "(How Much Is That) Doggie In The Window."
Yoko Ono has been awarded a German human rights prize for peace activism with her husband, John Lennon, as well as her more recent work championing gender and marriage equality.
Ono picked up the Rainer Hildebrandt Medal at Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie Museum, next to the former Cold War border crossing.
Said Yoko: "I'm very honoured to get this award and I will consider this award as an encouragement to do more work in humanitarian causes."
The letters Mick Jagger wrote to singer Marsha Hunt, the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar", have sold for £187,250 ($301,472). Jagger wrote to Hunt from the set of the movie "Ned Kelly" during the summer of 1969, and mentions topics including the lunar landing and his thoughts on the newly-married John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Paul McCartney says the "real stars" of the Hurricane Sandy relief concert at New York's Madison Square Garden were the first responders. And while they didn't perform, they got themselves a curtain call at the end of the nearly six hour long show on December 12th, which also featured the Rolling Stones, the Who and Eric Clapton, among many others.
The man George Harrison thought of as a second father--and whom he called “the godfather of world music--Ravi Shankar, has died at age 92.
The renowned sitar player taught George to play the ancient Indian instrument, and thus had a great impact on the Beatles’ music in the latter half of their career—and by extension, the Beatles’ fans and late Sixties culture. But Shankar had started collaborating with Western musicians from the classical and jazz worlds as early as the 1950s.
The copy of “Double Fantasy” John Lennon signed for his killer hours before his death is up for auction.
The record John signed for Mark David Chapman on Decemeber 8, 1980 was found outside the Dakota apartment building in New York City. The album was used as evidence against Chapman, then returned to the man who found it. The album was last up for sale in 2003, when it went on sale for $525,000—or 327,357 pounds.
Chapman was denied parole for a seventh time earlier this year.
 | Former Wings guitarist Henry McCullough is reportedly doing much better after suffering a heart attack in early November. Examiner.com reports that McCullough’s former Wings bandmate, Denny Seiwell, says he has been in contact with the family, and they report that Henry is improving, and there is hope he will recover completely. In the immediate wake of the heart attack, there had been erroneous reports that McCullough had died. McCullough was part of Wings for 18 months starting in 1971, and it’s his guitar solo on “My Love” from the Red Rose Speedway album. |
 | Paul McCartney is set to fulfill a “personal ambition” and appear in the final print edition of British comic, The Dandy. When he learned that the comic would only be available online after the December 12th issue, Paul wrote a letter to the comic’s creators, saying, “The Dandy was a favourite comic of mine when growing up in Liverpool and each week I would look forward to the exploits of Desperate Dan and his other comic book colleagues."
He continued: "In 1963, when asked what my personal ambition was, I replied – to have my picture in The Dandy! I hope it's not too late!" |
