Beatles News
London’s National Portrait Gallery has recently put a set of photographs taken by Paul McCartney during the early years of The Beatles on display. McCartney had a chat with CBS News about the exhibit and commented on George Harrison living ‘the life’ while talking about the band’s pictures in Miami.
Looking at his former bandmate’s photo with an anonymous woman in a yellow bathing suit, the singer said:
“In that picture, yeah. I don’t think I was trying to protect her identity. I love her bathing costume. [It’s] so great, and you know, there’s George, like I keep saying, living the life. He’s got a drink, which is probably a scotch and coke. He’s got tan, girl in the yellow bikini. For a lad from Liverpool, that was exceptionally wonderful.”
McCartney also shared a bit about another picture of the members wearing terrycloth jackets. He explained:
“The hotel supplied them. You know, you normally get like a robe, but this place – because it was Miami – had these little cool short things and hats. We lived in them for days. Even Brian [Epstein], our manager. We thought they were really cool items of clothing.”
Source: Zehra Kabak/rockcelebrities.net
John Lennon revealed what he thought of 'The White Album' in retrospect. He lumped it in with several of the band's other albums.The Beatles‘ The White Album is actually just called The Beatles. During an interview, Paul McCartney examined the origin of the title. In addition, John Lennon revealed what he thought of the album in retrospect.In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said he worked on the packaging of The White Album with artist Richard Hamilton. Hamilton is most remembered for his pop art piece Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? The artist asked Paul a fateful question.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Released as a single in 1966, “Paperback Writer” topped the charts in several countries, from the United Kingdom to the United States, Ireland and Australia. Truly, it’s got a sublime melody and a catchy rhythm. It’s a song you find yourself singing almost by accident. But how did McCartney come to write the lyrics?
Well, he can thank his Aunt Lil. “Years ago, my Auntie Lil said to me, ‘Why do you always write songs about love all the time? Can’t you ever write about a horse or the summit conference or something interesting?'” McCartney said in 1966, according to author Nicholas Schaffner in the 1978 book, The Beatles Forever. “So, I thought, ‘All right, Auntie Lil.'”
McCartney, who was the song’s primary writer but who wrote “Paperback Writer” with John Lennon, landed on the subject of a paperback book writer when one day he saw Beatles drummer Ringo Starr backstage at a concert venue reading a book. That’s when he knew what the subject of his next song would be.
Source: Jacob Uitti/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney wanted to legalize marijuana. In a debate about an ad he put out, the House of Commons used a quote from him to show drugs were bad.In 1967, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr took out a full-page ad in the Times about drugs. The Beatles believed Britain should legalize marijuana, so they financed an ad advocating for this and signed their names. It immediately caused a stir. In the House of Commons, the Minister of State gave a lengthy speech in which she quoted McCartney. She intended to show, based on his words, the dangers of drug use.In 1967, all four Beatles helped finance a full-page advertisement advocating the legalization of marijuana. While they were among the 64 signatories supporting legalization on the ad, McCartney worried about negative publicity if people found out they paid for it. Word quickly got out, though, and caused an uproar.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Here's how Ringo Starr met his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett, and what their marathon first date consisted of. Ringo Starr married his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett (originally Cox) in 1965. They were married for 10 years. Here’s the story of how they met. Before Ringo got together with Maureen, he actually got engaged to a woman named Geraldine. Though, they eventually decided to break off the engagement. When Starr was with Geraldine, he became aware of Maureen Cox, who was going out with the Rory Storm (the band Ringo was in at the time) guitarist Johnny “Guitar.” But because they were both with other people at the time, Starr didn’t make a point to speak to her.
Source: Kelsey Goeres/cheatsheet.com
A movie star who is still remembered today is on The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' three times and one time she's barely visible.The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band features numerous famous people on the cover. One movie star is featured on the album three times. During one of those appearances, she’s depicted as a doll.
The cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper includes people from many fields. For example, it includes authors like Karl Marx and Oscar Wilde, musicians like Bob Dylan and Dion DiMucci, and religious leaders like Aleister Crowley and Paramahansa Yogananda.
Despite this, Hollywood stars make up a huge portion of the people on the album. Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, W. C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, Bette Davis, Tyrone Power, and Marlene Dietrich are all there. According to Goldmine, child star Shirley Temple is on Sgt. Pepper three times. Each appearance is very different from the last.
The first time Temple appears on the cover, she’s in the front row of the crowd. Her hair is barely visible behind the wax figures of John Lennon and Ringo Starr. She can also be seen prominently on the right side of the front row in black-and-white. She’s depicted as a small child rather than the adult she was at the time.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney and Jane Asher dated for five years. For about three of those years, the Beatle lived with his girlfriend and her family. He adored their family dynamic. Shacking up with his then-girlfriend was a distinct pleasure that broadened the musician’s horizons. At the beginning of their relationship, McCartney would always check himself into a hotel after visiting with Asher and her family or rush off to catch a flight out of Heathrow for Liverpool. But he hardly stayed over.
Source: Kelsey Goeres/cheatsheet.com
When The Beatles finally hit the mainstream, they were constantly fighting in the singles charts to gain that highly-coveted number-one single.
But in January, 1963, it finally happened when they released their third single: Please Please Me.
The track hit the airwaves on January 11, 1963, and reached the top spot in the New Musical Express and Melody Maker Charts. However, it only hit number two in the Record Retailer chart - the list that would go on to become the official UK Singles Charts. As a result, Please Please Me has since been left out of the band's number ones compilation over the years.
With that said, the genius track came directly from one Beatles star: John Lennon - with a little production help from his friend George Martin.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
The collection will be at The Chrysler Museum of Art from December 5, 2023 – April 7, 2024.
The Chrysler Museum of Art will present Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm from December 5, 2023 – April 7, 2024.
Traveling from the National Portrait Gallery in London to Norfolk, the Chrysler Museum of Art will be the first venue in the United States to host this major exhibition.
Captured by McCartney using his own Pentax Camera, the exhibition features more than 250 photographs taken between November 1963 and February 1964, illuminating the period in which The Beatles became international superstars. The photographs were rediscovered in McCartney’s personal archive in 2020.
Source: Will Schube/udiscovermusic.com
Ringo Starr said "Photograph" is one of the best songs he ever wrote. He said some of the track's greatness had nothing to do with him.
During a 2007 interview with The Gainesville Sun, Ringo was asked if “No No Song” was one of his favorite songs from his catalog. “I have great memories of when we recorded that, because the last thing any of us were doing was saying ‘No’ in those days,” he said. “Things have changed, of course.
“Photograph’ is beautiful,” he said. “That’s one of the best songs I’ve ever written. I was writing it with George Harrison, so that also helped.” Notably, George co-wrote or produced other famous Ringo tunes like “Back Off Boogaloo” and “It Don’t Come Easy.”
“In those days, and still to this day, I only play three chords,” he added. “I’d write these songs, and then I’d give them to George and he would put in 10 more chords, and they’d think I was the genius.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
