Beatles News
If this New Year’s Celebration at Times Square follows the pattern set since 1986, just before the ball drops and we turn our calendars forward, someone will sing John Lennon’s classic song, "Imagine." It is a good thing to close out the past and look to the future by imagining the world as it could be.
John Lennon sat down at his piano in Berkshire, England one morning in early 1971 and composed the song that became his most popular single. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named it the greatest song of the last 100 years. Australians chose “Imagine” as the greatest song of all time. But for many of us, there is a greater vision of how the world could be.
Every time we quote the Lord’s Prayer, we are invited to imagine the world as it is meant to be. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven ….” What would the world look like if that prayer were answered? How would the world differ from the world we know?
If God’s will were done on earth, there would be no more crime. Theft, violence and murder would end. Prisons would empty. Neighbor would no longer sue neighbor. Court dockets would clear.
Source: timesrecordnews.com
During John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s 1969 bed-in-for-peace recording of “Give Peace a Chance,” at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the couple had an unexpected guest performing along with them. Joining Lennon on guitar was Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers.
Lennon and Smothers had become friends years earlier and shared similar social and political views. Smothers, who died on December 26, 2023, at the age of 86, naturally connected to the anti-war sentiment of Lennon’s protest song since his father was a U.S. Army officer who died in 1945 as a prisoner of war in Japan.
Smothers, along with his brother Dick, never shied from giving a comical spin to socio-political issues penetrating the late ’60s, including their opposition to the Vietnam War and views on civil rights, and more on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The repeated censorship of the show by CBS ultimately led to its demise just two years after its premiere.
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney has said that The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ was subconsciously inspired by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
The music legend spoke about the origins of this classic track from the Fab Four, during an episode of his podcast show, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics.
According to McCartney, his late mother Mary said the phrase ‘Let It Be’ to him in a dream, with the musician stating that Hamlet may have inspired him to write the hit.
Mary McCartney passed away from cancer in 1956, when Paul was just 14 years old.
In this episode of McCartney: A Life In Lyrics, Macca addressed how this track came about.
“In those days [at school], I had to learn speeches off by heart. So I could still do a bit of ‘to be or not to be’, or ‘O that this too too solid flesh”, he said.
McCartney continued, “And it had been pointed out to me recently that Hamlet, when he has been poisoned, he actually says, ‘Let it be’ – act five, scene two. He says ‘Let be’ the first time, then the second time he says, ‘Had I but time — as this fell sergeant, Death, Is strict in his arrest — oh, I could tell you. But let it be Horatio”.
Source: Dalton Mac Namee/nova.ie
Paul McCartney is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in the world. He began his music career as a member of one of the biggest rock bands in history. Then, after The Beatles parted ways, he started Wings, another massively popular band. Currently, McCartney is pursuing a solo career and sharing his story with the world. Recently, he shared a series of photos looking back on 2023.
McCartney has had many “big” years since The Beatles formed. This year, however, may have been one of the biggest in recent memory. 2023 saw the release of a new song from the Fab Four, McCartney’s photos getting time in a gallery, and a new tour for the former Beatle. He also started a podcast in which he gave an in-depth and intimate look at his life and career. You can see his collection of photos from 2023 here.
Source: Clayton Edwards/americansongwriter.com
Six decades ago sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and changed popular culture forever.
The Beatles had become megastars in Europe starting in late 1962, with the release of their first British single, “Love Me Do.” In 1963, they spent eight weeks atop the UK singles chart. Meanwhile in America, they were almost completely unknown. The Beatles’ British label, EMI, had had no luck placing the group’s records with its American affiliate, Capitol. Beatles releases had instead come out on small, regional labels like Vee-Jay and Swan, with little success.
Finally, manager Brian Epstein urged the group to write a song which would appeal to American teenagers, while simultaneously insisting that Capitol release his group’s records.
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” was the song. Once it was released, it was reportedly selling 10,000 copies an hour at one point in New York City alone. By the time the group landed in America in February, the song was in the midst of a seven-week run at the top. It would be replaced by their own “She Loves You,” which would give way to “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Three more chart-toppers followed in 1964, and the Fab Four would eventually notch 20 number-one singles.
Source: Kabir Bhatia/ideastream.org
Following the ill-fated breakup of the iconic band in April 1970, Lennon lived a secluded life with his family.
Therefore, a harrowing adventure on the Bermuda Triangle, infamous for disappearing ships and planes, freed Lennon’s mind to pursue music once again.
This gave way to his to-be solo Lennon album eventually released as a joint effort of the former Beatles member and Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy.
Music legend and founder of The Beatles, John Lennon owes it to the Bermuda Triangle. Following the ill-fated breakup of the iconic band in April 1970, Lennon lived a secluded life with his family, away from any music indulgence. The English songwriter was known for his eccentric personality, often acting on his whims and fancies.
Therefore, a harrowing adventure on the Bermuda Triangle, infamous for disappearing ships and planes, freed Lennon’s mind to pursue music once again. Lennon traveled to Bermuda in June 1980, months after which he was assassinated in his New York apartment.
Source: Tiyasa Biswas/fandomwire.com
This week’s Hot 100 reflects the tracking period just before Christmas Day arrived, so it makes sense that this may be the busiest frame of the year for holiday hits. The upper reaches of the ranking are almost entirely owned by various seasonal smashes, and a handful of beloved older compositions finally find their way back to the tally before the new year arrives.
This week, John Lennon returns to the Hot 100–Billboard’s ranking of the most-consumed songs in the U.S. The superstar finds his way back to the tally with his Christmas cut “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” The tune reappears on the list at No. 48 as the biggest gift-giving day returns.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is credited not just to Lennon, though it was released during his solo career. The tune is credited to the duo John & Yoko. It also features both The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Ringo Starr recorded a New Year’s song from one of the most important living songwriters. His track begs to be compared to a George Harrison song with a similar theme.
Ringo Starr recorded a song from one of the most important songwriters of the 1980s and 1990s. He said it would be a great New Year’s anthem. Despite this, the tune never mentions the holiday. His track begs to be compared to a George Harrison song with a similar theme.
Diane Warren is a songwriter who has worked on hits such as Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Ace of Base’s “Don’t Turn Around,” and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” During a 2021 interview with Variety, Ringo discussed working with Warren. “I asked Diane Warren for a song, and she sent over ‘Here’s to the Nights,'” he said. “Of course, she sent it over in the key of F-demented, and I was like, ‘F***!’ [Laughs.] With Benmont Tench’s help, we lowered the key to somewhere a human can sing.”
Ringo was proud of his work on “Here’s to the Nights.” “As we finished that track, I thought, ‘Well, Diane, it’s like a great New Year’s Eve singalong,'” he said. “Because I think many of us have a couple of nights we don’t remember, and friends we won’t forget. That’s a great sentiment — it’s hers, but it’s great.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
It’s really quite fascinating, really, how Band on the Run became such a smash hit. Yes, of course, Sir Paul McCartney—a quarter of the greatest band in music history—is at the helm, but, before December 1973, that type of leadership on a solo quest didn’t always equate to a stroke of brilliance for the Fab Four. Just look at John Lennon’s Two Virgins or Mind Games, or George Harrison’s Electronic Sound, Ringo Starr’s Beaucoups of Blues or, even, McCartney’s first Wings album, Wild Life. In fact, that first handful of years after their breakup in the spring of 1970, the Beatles each took a bit to get their footing—well, except for Harrison, whose All Things Must Pass was an aces source of mastery composed largely of tracks he was never given the green light to put on a Beatles record when they were still together.
Band on the Run, though—not Ringo or All Things Must Pass or John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band—is the greatest Beatles solo album ever put together and, just perhaps, the greatest Beatles album ever. I say this knowing full well that virtually no one will agree with me. This is a cross I’ve made peace with bearing. If you are familiar with my writing, you are likely aware that I am a staunch McCartney stumper (I do have a tattoo of the “cute one” on my leg, afterall). Even when he released the career-low Egypt Station just a few years ago, I was one of the few listeners who came out of the woodwork to say that “Fuh You” is actually good. It’s a disease to awe over the work of one man so much, and the original title of this essay was going to be something along the lines of “Band on the Run is the Best Beatles Album of All Time.” I actually don’t think it’s a tight race, either. All Things Must Pass makes it interesting but, ultimately, falls short on account of it being a double-album when it could’ve (and should’ve) been a single LP.
Source: pastemagazine.com
John Lennon thought he was going to be jumped when he left Hamburg. Here's why he was so nervous on the trip back to Liverpool.
John Lennon left Hamburg, Germany, without the other Beatles. The government had deported George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Pete Best, and Stuart Sutcliffe remained in Germany with his girlfriend. Lennon did not enjoy his time alone in the city and liked his trip back to England even less. He shared why he felt terrified on the journey.
After Harrison, McCartney, and Best left Hamburg, Lennon remained for a brief time.
“They were all deported and I was left in Hamburg, playing alone with another group of musicians,” he said in The Beatles Anthology. “It was quite a shattering experience to be in a foreign country, pretty young, left there all on my own. We’d spent our money as we went along. I didn’t have any to spare and being stuck in Hamburg with no food money was no joke especially just around Christmas.”
Source: Emma McKee/Showbiz Cheatsheet
