Beatles News
It was arguably rock’n’roll’s most brutal and historic piece of passive aggression. Midway through The Beatles’ umpteenth rehearsal attempt to nail down “Two of Us”, the song destined to open 1970’s Let It Be album, George Harrison grew frustrated at Paul McCartney’s overbearing direction, and subtly cracked. “I’ll play whatever you want me to play, or I won’t play at all if you don’t want me to play,” Harrison placidly intoned, steely and faux-subservient. “Whatever it is that will please you, I’ll do it.”
Seething behind those seemingly innocuous words – captured on film as part of the Let It Be project, in which the fracturing Beatles attempted to write an album on camera – lurked seven years of resentment on the part of the most underrated Beatle. Seven years of having his songcraft crushed beneath the wheels of Lennon and McCartney’s hit-making juggernaut. Of exclusion from the band’s creative hierarchy, borderline insulting publishing splits and fighting to the point of exhaustion for his songs to be heard, let alone recorded. A resentment that would soon play a significant role in tearing the world’s greatest band apart.
Source: Mark Beaumont/independent.co.uk
Sixty years after the onset of Beatlemania and with two of the quartet now dead, artificial intelligence has enabled the release next week of what is promised to be the last “new” Beatles song.
The track, called “Now And Then,” will be available Thursday, Nov. 2, as part of a single paired with “Love Me Do,” the very first Beatles single that came out in 1962 in England, it was announced Thursday.
“Now And Then” comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by the late John Lennon, which were taken by his former bandmates to construct the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” released in the mid-1990s.
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison worked on “Now And Then” in the same sessions, but technological limitations stood in the way.
With the help of artificial intelligence, director Peter Jackson cleared those problems up by “separating” Lennon’s original vocals from a piano used in the late 1970s. The much clearer vocals allowed McCartney and Starr to complete the track last year.
The survivors packed plenty into it. The new single contains guitar that Harrison had recorded nearly three decades ago, a new drum part by Starr, with McCartney’s bass, piano and a slide guitar solo he added as a tribute to Harrison, who died in 2001. McCartney and Starr sang backup.
McCartney also added a string arrangement written with the help of Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin.
As if that wasn’t enough, they weaved in backing vocals from the original Beatles recordings of “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “Because.”
Source: DAVID BAUDER/kktv.com
He's a music legend adored by fans the world over.
And Sir Paul McCartney wowed a packed stadium in Newcastle, New South Wales, on Tuesday with his greatest hits.
The 81-year-old former Beatle was every inch the showman as he took to the stage in a double-breasted navy blue jacket.
He completed his 60s-inspired look with a white shirt, and snug-fitting black stove-pipe trousers.
The famed singer-songwriter and Beatles founder wore his long greying hair with a side part.
The former Beatle was every inch the showman as he took to the stage in a double-breasted navy blue jacket
For the nostalgia-filled show which included Beatles tunes like Can't Buy Me Love, Got To Get You Into My Life and Love Me Do, Sir Paul played a classic Hofner bass, which he made famous during his days playing with the Fab Four.
The sold-out Newcastle concert, held at the 33,000 capacity McDonald Jones Stadium, was Sir Paul's third show in Australia for his Get Back World Tour.
Sir Paul treated fans to some of his most famous tunes from every part of his career during the show, including hits he penned with his band Wings.
Source: A. James/dailymail.co.uk
I know, I know: You’re looking at that headline and thinking, “Uh, the Beatles broke up years ago, there are only two of them that are alive, how could they release a new single?”
Here’s the answer: Back in June, Paul McCartney announced he would be using AI to help turn a demo with John Lennon into a new single with all four Beatles on it. There was a ton of speculation — would it be the much-discussed Now and Then? — and some uproar over the idea of using AI assistance.
McCartney then tweeted this to clear up confusion, which … didn’t clear up much beyond “It’s all real and we all play on it.”
Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project. No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year.
We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it. Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much…
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 22, 2023
Got all that? Good. Because this was a tweet from The Beatles on Wednesday:
Source: Charles Curtis/ftw.usatoday.com
Legendary classic rock producer George Martin predicted that one of The Beatles' songs would hit No. 1. He was wrong multiple times over.
Legendary classic rock producer George Martin predicted that one of The Beatles’ songs would hit No. 1. He was wrong multiple times over. However, he still worked on many other Beatles songs and one of Paul McCartney’s most famous solo hits.
During a 2020 interview with Uncut, Martin discussed the impact Martin had on The Beatles. “‘Please, Please Me,’ originally we brought to him as a very slow [Roy] Orbison-esque ballad,” he recalled. “‘Last night I said these words … Come on — joojoo — come on — joojoo’ — you can imagine Roy Orbison doing it.
“George said, ‘It might be good a bit faster,'” he said. “We go, ‘No.’ He used this skill of persuasion and he got us. ‘Oh, go on then, we’ll try it.’ So we did, ‘Last night I said.‘ He goes, ‘There’s your first No 1.'”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
It did not take long for the pieces to come together.
Through the efforts of legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, local drummer and Beatles historian Gary Astridge, and Daemen University leader John R. Yurtchuk and his wife, Carolyn, an 8-foot, 6-inch “Peace & Love” sculpture was unveiled earlier this month in the International Honorary Peace Garden in the university’s Saffrin Square.
The installation of the sculpture didn’t coincide with one of Starr’s tour stops with his All-Starr Band, so he didn’t attend the unveiling, but the 83-year-old drummer – known for flashing the peace sign throughout his musical career – posted a video to social media at the end of his tour to share his excitement about the debut.
Source: Ben Tsujimoto News Staff Reporter/buffalonews.com
George Harrison’s witty response to being stabbed 40 times has been revealed in a new biography.
Released today (October 24), the new book is written by Philip Norman and explores the life of the Beatles member in a new light.
Titled George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle, the biography also discusses the 1999 incident, which left the musician fighting for his life after being stabbed 40 times.
The moment took place when Harrison and his wife Olivia became victims of a home invasion, and upon hearing someone break into his home, the guitarist got out of bed to investigate.
From there, he was soon confronted by a man named Michael Abram who was holding a knife. An altercation followed as Harrison attempted to wrestle the knife out of Abram’s hands, however, the intruder managed to get on top of the Beatle and stabbed him 40 times. He only stopped upon being struck over the head with a lamp by Olivia.
In the book, the incident is described in detail and it is also revealed how Harrison described the attack to his son Dhani with a darkly witty sense of humour (via Far Out).
According to the musician’s son, Harrison described Abram by saying: “He wasn’t a burglar and he certainly wasn’t auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys.”
Source: Liberty Dunworth/nme.com
Not only did launch The Beatles into superstardom, he also offered up his home in London as a hideout for the Fab Four to escape their hordes of screaming fans. Fast forward to today, and the late manager’s Mayfair townhouse has hit the market for £8.75 million (or roughly $10.7 million).
The Grade II-listed Georgian dwelling measures 3,800 square feet and features five bedrooms plus an adjoining mews house. The latter is connected to the main house through the basement and is where Paul McCartney, , , and Ringo Starr used to hang. It’s also believed to be the place where they worked on their eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Originally built in the 1750s, Epstein acquired the swank abode in the 1960s as his private residence. He later turned the townhouse into an early version of the Apple Corps headquarters before he died of an accidental overdose in 1967. Following Epstein’s passing, the residence was purchased by author and politician Norman St John-Stevas, Lord St John of Fawsley, a close advisor to Margaret Thatcher.
Source: Abby Montanez/yahoo.com
he Beatles legend became one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time but he and his brother Mike were met with a tough crowd when they performed at a Butlin's holiday camp as a child, reports.
McCartney was just 11 when he performed in the talent show after he had been taught to harmonise by his father James and the siblings did their best to channel The Everly Brothers.
The 81-year-old star recalled on his new podcast 'McCartney: A Life in Lyrics', "The Everly Brothers sang in harmony, so me and my brother did. We sang 'Bye Bye Love'. We didn't win - obviously not talented enough for the Butlin's crowd!"
McCartney previously described how his childhood holiday to Butlin's was a great adventure. He told the Daily Mirror in 2021, "I was 11 when I went to Butlin's Pwllheli holiday camp and the photos of me show I'm still wearing my school cap and short school trousers."
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
George Harrison discussed the behind-the-scenes of The Beatles' first 'Ed Sullivan Show' set, and what was "tacky" about the show's production.
The Beatles‘ Ed Sullivan Show set changed rock ‘n’ roll, music in general, and the entire course of human history. No, that’s not going too far. Shockingly, George Harrison revealed he didn’t even rehearse for this seminal event. Here’s why — and why the performance mattered so much to him.
The book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters features an interview from 1977. During that interview, George discussed the behind-the-scenes of The Beatles’ first Ed Sullivan Show appearance. “The Sullivan show was funny because I didn’t attend the rehearsal, I was sick somehow on the flight over on the first trip to the States,” he recounted.
Sullivan’s crew wasn’t all that helpful. “The band did a long rehearsal for the sound people, they kept going into the control room and checking out the sound,” recalled George. “And finally, when they got a balance between the instruments and the vocals, they marked on the boards by the control and then everybody broke for lunch. Then we came back to tape the show and the cleaners had been ’round and polished all the marks off the board.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
