Beatles News
If you listened to John Lennon’s 1975 album Rock ‘n’ Roll and knew nothing else about it, you’d probably hear it as a bit of a lark that allowed the ex-Beatle to pay homage to the music he grew up idolizing. And it is that, to an extent. But when you know why and how the record was made (and how it almost wasn’t), you’ll appreciate that Lennon was able to hold this thing together at all.
With lawsuits upon lawsuits, gunplay, and stolen tapes involved, the album at times felt more like international espionage than simple Rock ‘n’ Roll. And, oddly, the whole saga started with a Beatles song. The opening song off Abbey Road, the final album The Beatles recorded together before their breakup, was “Come Together,” credited to Lennon/McCartney but pretty much 100% written by John Lennon. That’s why Morris Levy came after Lennon, claiming the song sounded a bit too much like the Chuck Berry song “You Can’t Catch Me,” for which Levy owned the publishing.
These claims took place a few years after The Beatles had broken up and Lennon was in the middle of his solo career. He didn’t want to be sued, so he agreed with Levy to record and release a few songs from Levy’s publishing catalog of golden oldies as a kind of goodwill gesture. Studio time in Los Angeles was squared away in late 1973.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
A former member of the Beatles is bringing his drum kit to the Valley Dale Ballroom next month.
No, it's not Ringo Starr — original Beatles drummer Pete Best is coming to town.
Flashback: Best played alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison for two years, until the band replaced him with Starr in 1962.
The band went on to enjoy Beatlemania, while Best later left the music industry for two decades. He now tours with a band playing Beatles hits and original songs.
The intrigue: The Cyrkle, a classic rock band that toured with the Beatles in 1966, will be the opening act.
Want to go? The July 28 show at 1590 Sunbury Road will feature a pre-concert lecture at 2:30pm ($59-79) with Best and his brother, Roger, followed by a 4pm meet and greet ($65).
The concert starts at 6pm ($59-99).
Source:Axios
On June 12, 1965, the British government announced that The Beatles would each be made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace later in the year; the selection sparked criticism, with some MBEs returning their medals in protest.
"We were at Twickenham Film Studios one afternoon when Brian (Epstein) showed up and took us to the dressing room rather secretively. We wondered what it was all about. He said, 'I've got some news for you - the Prime Minister and the Queen have awarded you an MBE,' and we said, 'What's that?' - 'It's a medal!'"
Paul
"(Brian) said, 'What do you think, boys?' I had no problem with it - none of us had any problems with it in the beginning. We all thought it was really thrilling: We're going to meet the Queen and she's going to give us a badge. I thought, 'This is cool.'"
Source: thebeatles.com
The Beatles helped revolutionise the way pop acts utilised the studio. The band’s quick-fire debut album ‘Please Please Me’ was famously completed in a matter of hours – by the time of ‘A Day In The Life’, the Fab Four would spend entire weeks on a single tracks. One song, however, went further – and spanned entire eras of their creative lives.
Released as the B-side of ‘Let It Be’ – their final UK single, and penultimate American single – ‘You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)’ is a jaunty music hall pastiche that epitomises The Beatles’ offbeat, surrealist sense of humour. It also stands as evidence both of their fastidious nature in the studio, and the ruptures during their final years together, taking some four years to perfect.
John Lennon initially sketched out the song during writing sessions in the Spring of 1967 – a hugely productive time for the songwriter, with LSD helping to unblock his pen. In one interview, he recalled how the title came to him after glancing through a nearby phonebook.
That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul. I was waiting for him in his house, and I saw the phone book was on the piano with ‘You know the name, look up the number.’ That was like a logo, and I just changed it.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
Revolver features some of the most iconic songs in The Beatles’ catalog, including classics like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and “Here, There and Everywhere.” But where it really gains separation from other rock albums is in the depth of its lineup of songs. That includes “And Your Bird Can Sing,” which is somehow catchy and elusive all at once.
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What is the song about? What did its main writer, John Lennon, think about it? And what unique instrumental touch did The Beatles add to the song to help it stand out? All the answers and more ahead as we explore “And Your Bird Can Sing.”
Lennon’s Throwaway
Songwriters can often be harshest on their own material. This was especially true of John Lennon, who often denigrated work from his past that many fans absolutely loved. “And Your Bird Can Sing” was one of those songs. In interviews discussing his Beatles work, he quickly dismissed it as nothing more than a throwaway.
Many have speculated that Lennon did so because he didn’t want to reveal the target of the song. Over the years, folks have hazarded various guesses about whom Lennon was addressing and who their “bird” was supposed to be. Since Lennon didn’t specify, there’s no way to verify it.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
It was like squashing a cockroach, they said.
Put your toe down in one spot, rotate your hips and your ankle, shimmy them shoulders and snap your fingers to the beat. That's how you kill a bug, and it's how you do The Twist – but beware. In the new book “Shake It Up, Baby” by Ken McNab, there are some Beatles you really want around.
The first day of 1963 was remarkable for one thing: Great Britain was in the midst of “an extraordinary polar plunge that would last three long, depressing months.” Also on that day, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived on a plane home from Hamburg, “just four nameless faces in the crowd.”
They had no idea that this would be the year “when everything changed.”
They were still getting used to one another, jostling for control. Their manager, Brian Epstein, was toiling to make the four men famous: constantly calling record companies, landing gigs, booking recording studios – one at which the Beatles would record an entire album in a single day. They toured constantly, dozens and dozens of concerts with one reward: their song “Please Please Me” started to rise on the British music charts.
Source: Terri Schlichenmeyer | For The Guam Daily Post
They say it's his birthday and, in this case, the collective "they" gets one right: Paul McCartney will turn 82 on June 18.
The living legend keeps making music at the place where his eternal Beatle boyishness and august, aging revelations meet. To celebrate Sir Paul, I dug deep into his solo catalog, surfacing with 23 favorite tracks. No Beatles and, here, no Wings. Just cuts from albums that bear McCartney's name alone.
Any favorites list is up for debate, and no doubt readers could draw their own map through Macca's work. Mine reveals a very distinct history: as a middle-schooler, I chased my dad's love of Beatles records into McCartney's latest solo offering, 1993's "Off the Ground."
Not exactly beloved by critics, that album still sounds like long car rides and late-night listening sessions, and will show up often as my list narrows toward the top.
That's an expression of my relationship to McCartney. But maybe this tally will introduce a new-to-you gem, reacquaint you with a personal classic or just offer up an excuse to celebrate the man and his music. Here are 23 tracks, in very particular order:
Source: columbiatribune.com
He had no idea he was about to become part of an unprecedented global phenomenon, which perhaps explains his nonchalance. In a week before his new band’s first single was to be released, this young drummer wrote to a friend and told them: “I got a phone call asking me would I join the Beatles and I said yes”.
The letter from Ringo Starr is one of two lots in a sale at Christie’s which capture the Beatles in an era of pre-fame naivety. A banjo played by John Lennon, which was present on the day he met Paul McCartney, will make its first appearance at a major auction house on July 10.
Jack Blackburn/thetimes.com
Donovan is a folk/psychedelic rock singer who became famous for 1960s tunes such as “Atlantis,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Mellow Yellow,” and “Season of the Witch.” He famously went on The Beatles’ trip to India to study meditation. Donovan’s personal website says that he taught George a descending chord pattern that the Beatle would later use on the ballad “Something.”
Gold reports that, during a 2024 interview with Record Collector Magazine, Donovan discussed his influence on the “My Sweet Lord” singer. “I became George’s mentor for songwriting,” the Hurdy Gurdy Man recalled. “He was in the shadow of John and Paul for so many years and I said, ‘Look, I’ll show you a few tricks, how to encourage the songs.’
“There’s a way to encourage the song to come,” he added. “You can tease it, like fishing. I told him how to play a chord then put your ear on the guitar, listen to the open chord and try a tempo. You can hear melodies, believe it or not. Melodies appear, but you’ve got to be quick to catch them.”
Source: MSN
We tend to think of the relationship between The Beatles and producer George Martin as one of support and mutual goodwill and, for the most part, it was. But in the earliest going, Martin tried to sneak a song past The Beatles and was rebuffed, not once, but twice.
This is a story about a song called “How Do You Do It?” that Martin tried to foist upon The Beatles as their first single and then, failing that, their second. The Fab Four had other ideas, which was a good thing, because who knows how music history might have been altered otherwise.
Before we get into the tale of “How Do You Do It?” it helps to know The Beatles weren’t exactly in demand as a group when they signed with EMI Records. They had been turned away by other labels before finally getting a deal in 1962. In other words, it’s not like they came into their relationship with the label in a position of strength.
Source:Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
