Beatles News
George Harrison brought the sounds of India to The Beatles on songs like “Love You To” and “Within You Without You.” But that wasn’t his only lane. On “Piggies” off the White Album, he used a positively antiquated, very properly British musical backdrop to make a stinging comment on society at the time.
What is “Piggies” about? How did Harrison get help with the writing from both a fellow Beatle and a beloved relative? And who stepped in to play the harpsichord on the track? Let’s dive deep into this porcine production by the Fab Four.
When you look at the songwriting that George Harrison did as a member of The Beatles, an interesting contrast emerges. On the one hand, Harrison could take a cosmic, spiritual overview of the world while urging others to do the same. This was a byproduct of his own study of religion and his inner yearning to make sense of life and death.
But he could also turn on a dime and pick apart the injustices perpetrated by the powers that be. He famously did that on “Taxman,” which was, in its way, The Beatles’ first ever protest song, well before John Lennon started to get political on songs like “Revolution.”
Around the same time that he wrote “Taxman,” Harrison also penned “Piggies,” another piece of social commentary set to music. Stuck for some of the lyrics, Harrison turned to Lennon, who chipped in the line to eat their bacon (it was originally pork chops). Meanwhile, Harrison’s mother Louise, of all people, came up with the phrase damn good whacking to help out the middle eight.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Back in 1973, John Lennon and Yoko Ono founded an imaginary country, Nutopia. Launched to great fanfare at a press conference held at the New York City Bar Association in Midtown Manhattan, it was a reaction to Lennon's ongoing problems with the US immigration service, who were threatening to deport the former Beatles man back to the UK.
"Citizenship of the country can be obtained by declaration of your awareness of Nutopia," he explains. "Nutopia has no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people. Nutopia has no laws other than cosmic. All people of Nutopia are ambassadors of the country. As two ambassadors of Nutopia, we ask for diplomatic immunity and recognition in the United Nations for our country and its people."
"Anybody could be a citizen of this country," says Yoko Ono today. "Anybody could be a citizen of this country. Citizens were automatically the country’s ambassadors. The country’s body was the airfield of our joint thoughts. Its constitution was our love, and its spirit our dreams. We produced a white handkerchief from our pockets and said, “This is a flag to Surrender to Peace.” Not 'Fight for Peace’, but 'Surrender to Peace’ was the important bit."
Source: Fraser Lewry/loudersound.com
Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John and Yoko, has said his music collaboration with Sir Paul McCartney’s son James came about “naturally” and was not to “fulfil something for the Beatles fans”.
The multi-instrumentalist, 48, has released a song called Primrose Hill with McCartney, an ode to London’s panoramic viewing spot in Regent’s Park.
Speaking about the track to Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music, Ono Lennon said: “It was really special for me. It actually happened quite some time ago, so I wasn’t sure if the song was going to come out or not.
“And so I was very surprised when he gave me a text and said ‘Hey, can we put Primrose Hill out?’ and I was like ‘Well, it’s about time I was hoping you would put it out!’ So yeah, I was thrilled you know. I thought he had forgotten about it or whatever.
“But it happened very naturally. I think a lot of people, I’ve been seeing just the comments section (which I guess one should avoid) but I’ve noticed that people kind of assume we’re trying to start something or we were doing it in order to fulfil something for the Beatles fans.
“But actually it came about very naturally. I was just at his flat in London and he was telling me about a girl he had a crush on, and he was sort of writing a song about it and he kind of wanted me to help him.
“And so all I really did was say ‘Well hey, where did you guys go on your first date?’
Source: Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter
On "Everything Fab Four," the acclaimed actor discusses the Beatles, his career and Netflix series "A Man in Full"
Emmy Award-winning actor Jeff Daniels joined host Kenneth Womack to talk about the lesson he learned from George Harrison, the beauty of “Get Back,” his new Netflix series “A Man in Full” and much more on “Everything Fab Four,” a podcast co-produced by me and Womack (a music scholar who also writes about pop music for Salon) and distributed by Salon.
Daniels, who has lit up the screen for decades in such films as “Dumb and Dumber,” “The Squid and the Whale” and “Arachnophobia,” is also a stage actor and playwright, in addition to being a musician. And his introduction to how music could change the world arrived in elementary school when the Beatles debuted on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964. As he told Womack, “You could just feel a change in the room. Here were fourth-grade girls, and they were in love with these British mop tops.”
His own admiration for the band didn’t really take off until a few years later, with the release of their “Sgt. Pepper” album. “It freed them up to chase anything,” said Daniels, “as long as it was different than what they'd done before.” Little did he know that as he continued to buy each album the Beatles released from then on, that one day he would end up in the same room – professionally – with one of his musical heroes.
“In 1988 I got cast in an indie movie called ‘Checking Out,’” he told Womack, which was produced by George Harrison’s company Handmade Films. While shooting in Los Angeles, Harrison visited the set. “A photographer captured a photo of George talking, because he was the only one who could talk. I was in awe and unable to speak.” Daniels had his guitar with him and asked George to sign it, and the former Beatle obliged – and ended up playing 20 minutes’ worth of songs for the people in the room. “He knew he was giving us a gift that we would talk about forever. It was a very giving thing for him to do, and I never forgot that.”
Source: salon.com
Ringo Starr just released a new four-track EP titled Crooked Boy that was written and produced by acclaimed songwriter and producer Linda Perry. In the coming weeks, the former Beatles drummer will be launching a new tour with his All Starr Band, but Ringo says that fans who attend the shows shouldn’t expect to hear him perform any of his new tunes.
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Starr was interviewed recently by Nic Harcourt from the Los Angeles-area radio station 88.5 FM The SoCal Sound, and was asked if he planned to play songs from Crooked Boy.
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“No, I’m not playing the new music,” Starr said. He then quipped, “I’ll mention it. I thank the five of them for buying it, usually.”
Source: Matt Friedlander/americansongwriter.com
The music of the Beatles won't be on iTunes or other Internet outlets in the near future, according to John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.
Apple Corps, the Beatles' holding company, has not managed to agree on terms with EMI Group, the company that licenses the group's recordings, Reuters reported.
"Don't hold your breath ... for anything," Ono told Reuters.
Technology giant Apple Inc (AAPL) and Apple Corps had a long trademark dispute over the use of the name, which was eventually settled in 2007. Still, the deal did not lead to any Beatles songs being released on the iTunes platform.
"(Apple CEO) Steve Jobs has his own idea and he's a brilliant guy," Ono, 77, said. "There's just an element that we're not very happy about, as people. We are holding out."
Source: Hugh Collins/aol.com
The app Lumenate has transformed the icon's 1973 peace and love anthem into nine different meditation mixes
You’ve probably meditated to John Lennon‘s music before, but now you can officially do it on the app Lumenate.
Lennon’s estate partnered with the company to deliver nine meditation mixes of “Mind Games,” the title track to his 1973 record. The song’s mixes are slowed down and extended — with four focusing on the brain waves Beta, Delta, Gamma, and Theta — that work with the app’s frequencies to drive listeners deeper into consciousness.
In addition, the nine mixes are paired with the phone’s flashlight to create a trippy psychedelic experience. The project launches today in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
“I’m very happy to be working with Lumenate on this release for Mental Health Awareness Month,” Sean Ono Lennon said in a statement. “I think our ‘Mind Games’ project is fun, meaningful, and potentially mind-expanding. I have been using the Lumenate app for my own personal meditations since it launched, and have had many profound experiences. My father was famously into meditation. I remember trying the ‘flicker machine’ he kept in the bedroom, which is what first introduced me to the idea of stroboscopic brain wave induction. I thought it made sense to combine the music of ‘Mind Games’ with the science of Lumenate. I really hope people enjoy the results as much as I have.”
Source: Angie Martoccio/rollingstone.com
Alec Baldwin hasn't minced words when it comes to Paul McCartney!
On the Wednesday, May episode of the Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson podcast, the former 30 Rock star, 66, opened up about the time he jokingly called the Beatles musician, 81, an "asshole."
While discussing his experience living in Los Angeles, Baldwin spoke about a yoga class he'd attend with a group of well-known friends.
"I used to take a yoga class with Lorne [Michaels], John Eastman, who's Paul's brother in-law, John Alexander, the painter, Lorne and I, there were five of us. We would take a yoga class. We called ourselves the 'yoga boys,'" he began.
Alec Baldwin in New York City in December 2022.
Baldwin continued: "And the only one who was really adept at yoga was McCartney. He would do a handstand or a headstand and he had the most lithe body you've ever seen — and back then he was in his late '60s — and he was so fit. One time he does a headstand before he leaves, and he gets up and whispers to me, he goes, 'I'm gonna go take my daughter to lunch. I'll see you guys later.'"
The Blue Jasmine actor then joked he had some choice words for McCartney.
"I looked up at him after he does the headstand and I go, 'You're an asshole.' And I never thought I'd call one of The Beatles an asshole, but he was just always showing us up with his physical skills! He was a very fit guy," Baldwin concluded.
However, his days in L.A. are limited, as he revealed he's in the process of moving his family to Vermont.
Source: Ilana Kaplan/people.com
The late Beatles icon's sitar has been sold at auction for the impressive amount.
George Harrison's sitar has been sold at auction for $66,993 (£53,520).
The Beatles icon - who died in November 2001, aged 58 - bought the instrument on Oxford Street, London in 1965 and used it during the recording sessions for Norwegian Wood, which featured on the band's Rubber Soul album.
Now, the iconic sitar has sold at Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles for an eye-watering sum of money.
Harrison visited India for the first time in 1966, where he studied the sitar under the tutelage of Ravi Shankar.
The medieval Indian instrument ignited Harrison's lifelong passion for the country's music and culture as well as Hindu spirituality, while encouraging the use of sitars among other Western musicians.
The Beatle subsequently created a series of Indian-style compositions on the likes of Within You Without You and Love You To.
Source: radiox.co.uk
“I’m surprised Paul allowed it”: David Gilmour says he found The Beatles Get Back documentary “a hard watch”
David Gilmour says he was surprised that Paul McCartney allowed The Beatles‘ 2021 documentary Get Back to be made, having admitted he found it a “difficult watch”.
The eight-hour long documentary was pieced together by Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson after he was given over 60 hours of unused archive footage from when the Fab Four were recording 1970’s Let It Be, which ended up being their final album. Naturally, however, it does paint a picture of the discord in the band at the time which contributed to them parting ways.
In the new print edition of Uncut, the Pink Floyd guitarist says he can often be found watching documentaries about bands from the ’60s and ’70s, meaning Get Back would probably be right up his street.
Explaining why he found it difficult viewing, he points to “Paul being domineering and and John ducking back because of the moment he was in at the time and George leaving and coming back. Horrible, really, I mean it’s lovely for us to watch, but I’m surprised Paul allowed it.”
Indeed, another Beatles documentary, Let It Be, is set to come to Disney+ next week. The restored 1970 documentary has been difficult to obtain throughout the years, prompting a large amount of bootlegging, but it will now be available to stream for the first time.
Source: guitar.com
