Beatles News
By the time The Beatles recorded The White Album, the band was already becoming quite fractured personally and professionally. It was 1968, and the band’s most ambitious effort was the project, almost ending their partnership. The White Album was The Beatles’ ninth studio album and the only double LP they would ever record. But one moment in the studio led John Lennon to go “ballistic” on Paul McCartney, leading to a moment that would forever change one of their most iconic songs.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr recorded The White Album in mid-1968. The album features 30 songs, 19 of which were written during March and April 1968.
However, tensions between the bandmates heightened as the recording wore on. Lennon and McCartney couldn’t agree on the recording of several songs.
The collaborators worked for one week on just two songs, claimed Abbey Road Studios recording Geoff Emerick. He wrote the 2006 memoir Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles.
Source: Lucille Barilla/cheatsheet.com
"Come Together" and its wacky lyrics kick off 'Abbey Road' in epic fashion. It provided The Beatles with one of their final number one singles topping the Billboard Hot 100 and staying on the chart for 16 weeks. It has one of the coolest, most-recognizable intros in music history. Simply put, it's 4:19 of rock and roll perfection that is unlike anything else in the Beatles catalog.
54 years ago today, The Beatles released their massive, eleventh studio album, Abbey Road. It is the last album the group recorded. Let It Be was the last album completed before the band’s break-up in April 1970. They recorded it mostly in the summer of 1969. They eventually released it on this day, September 26th, 1969, in the United Kingdom, and 1 October 1969 in the United States. It reached number one in both countries. A double A-side single from the album, “Something” / “Come Together” debuted in October, which also topped the charts in the US.
Source: Brent Porche/wmmr.com
Paul McCartney requires little introduction—he’s arguably the most iconic rock artist alive. Born in 1942, the English musician became famous with The Beatles as their bassist. But after The Beatles broke up in 1970, McCartney continued to enjoy success as a solo artist. His three-album solo run from 1970 to 1973, in particular—comprised of McCartney, Ram, and Band on the Run—can safely be classified as one of the most inimitable creative streaks of all time.As is the case with any of The Beatles, most of McCartney’s work is stellar. Diving deeper than the hits is an endlessly rewarding undertaking. Here are five of the many hidden gems McCartney released under his own name.
1. “Temporary Secretary”
“Temporary Secretary” came to life during a period of heady jamming that birthed the 1980 record McCartney II. Its arrangement has as much in common with new wave and early techno as it does classic rock. It’s built on bassy synthesizer arpeggiations and a simple drum groove. The song’s lyrics are about a man yearning to hire a secretary, for reasons that go beyond professional assistance. It’s a true McCartney oddity that highlights his enduring knack for experimentation.
Source: Ted Davis/americansongwriter.com
John Lennon and Paul McCartney had contradictory memories of who penned The Beatles' "Come Together." They discussed the tune's relationship to a Chuck Berry song.
Any hardcore fan of The Beatles will know that Paul McCartney’s memories didn’t always align with John Lennon’s. John said The Beatles’ “Come Together” was his work. Meanwhile, Paul said he was the one who made it “a genius record.”
During a 2017 interview with The Washington Post, Paul discussed his songwriting partnership with John Lennon. “We had a very easy manner where both of us knew that the other was only in it to help and we were pooling our resources,” he said. “So many times I would help John out with a problem in his song, but conversely, he’d do exactly the same with me. We knew that we would do that, and it was perfectly allowed.
“It’s not a question of pushing,” Paul added. “It’s a question of just being. I’m writing, ‘It’s getting better all the time’ and John comes in with, ‘Couldn’t get no worse.’ Instead of going, ‘Oh, you’re spoiling my lovely song.’ I go, ‘Genius, great.’
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Years before Olivia Newton-John left her cinematic mark as Sandy Olsson in Grease, the late Australian singer-songwriter already had a number of hits from her first 10 albums.First breaking out in the early 1970s, Newton-John released her debut If Not For You in 1971, a covers album of contemporary artists from the 1960s and early ’70s. The album featured her renditions of the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster-penned “Me and Bobby McGee,” later becoming a posthumous hit for Janis Joplin, and the title track, which she pulled from Bob Dylan’s 11th album New Morning.Newton-John’s Dylan cover became her first hit, topping the charts internationally, including the U.S. on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, where it spent three weeks. Her tender rendition of “If Not For You” also broke the top 40 of Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 25, and peaked at No. 7 in the UK.
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
In 1963, Beatlemania began in the United Kingdom, soon spreading across the globe, especially in North America. Since the Beatles first came to the world stage, no band has ever repeated their dominance or captured the time so well. However, many Beatles conspiracy theories have grown in the 60 years since that era. A recent online post delves into fans' ideas on deeper truths. Here are some suspicious takeaways.
1. “Two of Us” Was About John
The first thread concerns the song “Two of Us,” which appears on the Let it Be movie soundtrack and album of the same name. “Paul just insists this is about him and Linda, but the lyrics are about him and John,” says one observer. “I think Macca was getting nostalgic as the band started to crumble into dust.”
Source: Ben Rice/wealthofgeeks.com
The concert was scheduled to end at midnight. But the 15,000 people crowded into Crisler Arena were content to hang around.
John Lennon was worth the wait.
The former Beatle and his wife, the artist Yoko Ono, were giving their first U.S. performance in two years in support of John Sinclair, a radical poet imprisoned for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. Sinclair, a graduate of UM-Flint and founder of the White Panther Party, was 29 months into a sentence of up to 10 years. His incarceration made him a cause célèbre for those who viewed Sinclair as a political prisoner and victim of oppressive drug laws.
“I won’t be bringing a band or nothing like that because I’m only here as a tourist, but I’ll probably fetch me guitar, and I know we have a song that we wrote for John. So that’s that,” Lennon said in a recorded message two days before the Dec. 10, 1971, concert.
The sold-out John Sinclair Freedom Rally was a mishmash of music, poetry, and political speeches. Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, and Commander Cody – all Michigan performers – shared the stage with poet Allen Ginsberg, Black Panther cofounder Bobby Seale, and several members of the Chicago Seven, activists charged with, and later acquitted of, inciting a riot outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Source: record.umich.edu
An illustration of Paul McCartney sits under the words “Paul Lives on!” The Northern Star Editorial Board apologizes to the singer for encouraging false rumors of his death. (Eleanor Gentry | Northern Star)
The Northern Star Editorial Board would like to sincerely apologize to Paul McCartney, a musical icon, for our false Sept. 23, 1969, print issue that unethically speculated that he was dead.
A 1969 Northern Star publication shows an article speculating if Paul McCartney is alive. (Bridgette Fox | Northern Star)
In 2004, the Star finally decided to yield to the truth that McCartney is not dead in an article covering the sordid history of the “Paul is dead” rumors.
However, it has recently come to light that our infamous 1969 article was plagiarized from a Times-Delphic article written a week prior to our article. The Times-Delphic is the student-run newspaper of Drake University.
To the Times-Delphic, we sincerely apologize for plagiarizing your journalistic efforts.
Source: northernstar.info
Ringo Starr is inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame where he was the Inaugural recipient of the ... [+] Joe Chambers Musicians Legacy Award on September 24, 2023.
On Sunday afternoon, in front of an invitation-only group of friends and musicians, the legendary Ringo Starr was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. While the Nashville museum honors musicians of all genres, with the names of many notable recipients on the walls, there was something special in paying tribute to one of the Beatles, and the man Peter Frampton calls “one of the greatest drummers of all time.”
Before the ceremony, Ringo graciously agreed to briefly walk a small red carpet answering a few questions from the media. He touched on his love of country music, noted he has three new EPs in the works, and when asked if he has any advice for up-and-coming musicians he simply said, “Just keep playing. I have grandsons and I tell ‘em the same thing.”
Source: Pam Windsor/forbes.com
The Beatles were awarded their MBE's on 26 October 1965
A complete set of Beatles autographs obtained by a firefighter who was receiving his MBE on the same day as the band are to be sold at auction.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed a book for George Goodman at Buckingham Palace on 26 October 1965.
He said it was for his daughter, adding "I don't know what she sees in you" - a comment later repeated by McCartney.
The signatures go on sale in Lichfield, Staffordshire on 9 October.
Mr Goodman's daughter Joy, now 70, said she had had the autograph book "tucked away for years", but felt it was now time to pass it on to a collector who would appreciate it.
Source: Caroline Gall/bbc.com
