Beatles News
Paul McCartney was proud of writing 1 Beatles song. He could hardly believe it when a friend disliked the song for its sound.
Throughout their time as a group, The Beatles received praise for the way they pushed musical boundaries with their songs and albums. This has earned them a permanent place in the musical canon. As they were releasing songs, though, it occasionally brought them ridicule. While listening to a new Beatles song, a friend responded with disbelief. He thought it sounded like a joke.
In 1965, The Beatles released Rubber Soul. The album marked a shift for the band into more introspective, mature songs. When the band played one of the album’s songs, “Michelle,” for a friend, though, he responded with confusion.
“We’d just put out ‘Michelle,’ and I remember one night at the Ad Lib club David Bailey hearing it and saying, ‘You’ve got to be joking — it is tongue in cheek, isn’t it?'” Paul McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology. “My reaction was: ‘Piss off! That’s a real tune,’ and was quite surprised that he’d think that.”
Over time, though, McCartney grew to understand Bailey’s reaction. The song was a departure from The Beatles’ earlier work and the music of the first half of the decade.
“Looking at the Sixties now, I can see why he did, because everything was very ‘Needles And Pins’, ‘Please Please Me’, and suddenly — ‘Michelle,'” McCartney said. “It came a bit out of left field, but those are often my favorites. I mean, one of Cliff Richard’s best ones was ‘Living Doll.’ When he came out with that it was quite a shock, with its acoustics; but it was a well-formed little song.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
In a recent Instagram post, former drummer for The Police, Stewart Copeland (a groove monster in his own right) offers specific evidence of Ringo Starr's superior stills at achieving groove in a song.
Copeland suggests comparing the three different versions of "Love Me Do," the first Beatles recording. The first one is with original Beatles drummer, Pete Best, the second is with a hired session musician, Andy White, and the third is with Ringo.
At one point in Copeland's post, he claims that, when Andy White is on the throne, and George Martin has moved Ringo over to the tambourine, the groove of the song has actually migrated along with him. It's pretty subtle, listening to it here, but it's a fun thought.
Since there is so much perennial debate over Ringo's skill as a musician, it's nice to see a breakdown of his undeniable strengths, which as Copeland points out, are groove and inventiveness.
Source: Gareth Branwyn/boingboing.net
Paul McCartney was proud of writing 1 Beatles song. He could hardly believe it when a friend disliked the song for its sound.
Throughout their time as a group, The Beatles received praise for the way they pushed musical boundaries with their songs and albums. This has earned them a permanent place in the musical canon. As they were releasing songs, though, it occasionally brought them ridicule. While listening to a new Beatles song, a friend responded with disbelief. He thought it sounded like a joke.
In 1965, The Beatles released Rubber Soul. The album marked a shift for the band into more introspective, mature songs. When the band played one of the album’s songs, “Michelle,” for a friend, though, he responded with confusion.
“We’d just put out ‘Michelle,’ and I remember one night at the Ad Lib club David Bailey hearing it and saying, ‘You’ve got to be joking — it is tongue in cheek, isn’t it?'” Paul McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology. “My reaction was: ‘Piss off! That’s a real tune,’ and was quite surprised that he’d think that.”
Over time, though, McCartney grew to understand Bailey’s reaction. The song was a departure from The Beatles’ earlier work and the music of the first half of the decade.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Best Classic Bands site reports that George Harrison will be the subject of a new biography coming from acclaimed Beatles biographer, Philip Norman. The book will be titled George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle.
It is described as a rare and revealing portrait of the most misunderstood and mysterious Beatle, and is based on decades-long research and unparalleled access to inside sources. The publishing date is set for October 24, 2023, from Scribner in the U.S. and Simon & Schuster in the U.K. Norman is the author of the New York Times bestseller John Lennon: The Life and the million-copy selling Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation.
In its announcement, the publisher notes: “Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was allowed to contribute only one or two songs per Beatles album out of the dozens he wrote.”
Source: Ljubinko Zivkovic/livinglifefearless.co
John Lennon said The Beatles didn't pay much attention to their manager. Still, they didn't want to make music without him.
The Beatles began working with their manager, Brian Epstein, on their rise to fame. He helped them grow as artists and was an essential part of their success. Though he appreciated the way The Beatles changed his life, he once decided he’d had enough of them. The band told him that if he sold them to another label, they would stop making music altogether.
Though Epstein was the band’s manager, he didn’t have all that much power over them.
“Brian could never make us do what we really, really didn’t want to do,” John Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology. “He wasn’t strong enough.”
Epstein grew frustrated with this dynamic, though, and eventually told The Beatles he was going to sell them to another label. They refused to listen to him on this, either.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr lied about his job to impress girls. He shared that this didn't always work out the way he intended it to.
Before The Beatles, Ringo Starr’s career ambitions had a lot to do with what would look good to girls. After recovering from an illness, Starr took a job on a boat with hopes of earning a position at deep sea. He also hoped the position would win him popularity with women. His attempts at flirting didn’t often go well, though.
Starr was sick for much of his childhood. Once he began to recover, he took a job on a local boat, hoping it would launch a career for him.
“Then I worked on the St. Tudno, a pleasure steamer that went from Liverpool to Menai in North Wales,” he said in The Beatles Anthology. “I wanted to go deep sea, and this was an easy way to get my ticket. If you did three months on the local boats, it was easier to get on the big liners. I got as far as the day boats, but that was it.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
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"Day Tripper" by Otis Redding (1966)
Since the Beatles had great respect for Redding as an artist, it made sense the soul and R&B legend would take his turn at one of the band's biggest hits. "Day Tripper" seemed like a song made for Redding's special vocal styling. His soulful take on the classic, with Booker T. & the M.G.'s backing him up, is one of the great covers of all time.
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"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" by Jimi Hendrix (1967)
The legend goes that Hendrix was so captivated by the title track from one of the greatest records of all time that he couldn't wait to play it live on stage. He did so just days after the record was released. In true Hendrix greatness, he shreds from beginning to end without an ounce of pretentiousness. Hendrix was not shy about his respect for the Beatles, and the feeling was mutual, as Paul McCartney would often talk about.
Source: Jeff Mezydlo/yardbarker.com
The Beatles returned in 2023 with their first new single in decades, much to the delight of fans. The band’s “Now And Then” cleverly utilized artificial intelligence technology to allow all four members of the group to contribute to the tune–even though half of the outfit is no longer with us. “Now And Then” became a quick hit on many Billboard charts, but on most of those, it didn’t hold on very long.
The single is still present on a handful of Billboard rankings to this day, months after it was released. As the cut continues to perform well, it has not only become a welcome win for the group, but their longest-charting hit single on a number of lists.
“Now And Then” has spent the most time on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. That tally ranks the most-consumed rock and alternative tracks in the U.S., as its name suggests. The list uses a methodology that combines sales, streams, and radio airplay to show what rocking tunes America loves.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Paul McCartney cites the crowds as a reason he continues touring as the 'Got Back' tour concludes.
Paul McCartney recently reflected on the “Got Back” tour and revealed why he keeps touring.
“When people ask me, ‘Why do you still do it (touring)?' it's because of the crowds,” McCartney revealed. “Brazil has been fantastic. It's a beautiful nation. When you go on stage with an audience like that, the feedback you get, it's like meeting a dear friend in the street you haven't seen for a long time. But it's that 40,000 times over.”
Since the Beatles' breakup, McCartney has continued going strong. He has released several solo albums and even formed a second band, Wings. As a part of Wings, they embarked on five tours. After Wings' dissolution, McCartney has embarked on 17 solo tours.
The “Got Back” tour was McCartney's first since the pandemic. It kicked off with a show in Spokane, Washington. 15 shows were played across North America, and the tour's first leg culminated with a headlining show at the Glastonbury Festival. In 2023, McCartney and his band hit the road again.
Source: Andrew Korpan/clutchpoints.com
Of course, Paul McCartney‘s work with The Beatles will always be a major calling card. However, his solo work is equally (if not more) impressive. Without his bandmates in tow, he could truly flex the expanse of his musicianship.
McCartney put an onus on writing and performing songs all on his own. A famously particular recording artist, McCartney has been documented making his fellow Beatles record take after take trying to get a song the way he envisioned it. Going at it completely solo likely freed him up from having to relay his vision to those around him. Instead, he simply put pen to paper and notes to tape.
Find the four best songs written and performed solo by McCartney, below.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
