Beatles News
Dr. Arthur Janov believed the repressed pain of childhood trauma led to neurosis and felt the resolution could be achieved by re-experiencing specific incidents and expressing the resulting pain through therapy. He called it primal therapy, and it was developed to elicit the repressed pain in a way traditional talking therapy does not. John Lennon, actor James Earl Jones, and pianist Roger Williams all advocated primal therapy. It was in 1970 that Janov published his first book The Primal Scream. In March of that year, he started treating both John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Mother” by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
Mother, you had me
But I never had you
I, I wanted you
You didn’t want me
So, I
I just got to tell you
Goodbye
Goodbye
Julia
Lennon’s father Alf was a merchant seaman who was away from home the majority of the time. When Lennon was 5 years old, his father returned and planned to take the youngster to New Zealand. Lennon’s mother Julia objected and convinced her estranged husband to leave the boy. She gave custody to her sister Mimi, who lived close by. Lennon couldn’t help but feel abandoned even though he reconnected with his mother in his teenage years. She bought him his first guitar and showed him banjo chords, encouraging his love of rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. On July 15, 1958, Julia Lennon was killed when she was hit by a car after leaving her sister’s house.
Father, you left me
But I never left you
I needed you
You didn’t need me
So, I
I just got to tell you, mm
Goodbye
Goodbye
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
On Aug. 7, a vandal spray-painted obscene graffiti over the iconic John Lennon mural at 1020 Garnet Ave. in Pacific Beach. The popular mural, painted in 2006, based on a famous photograph of the musician, was damaged beyond repair.
Haseeb Akbarzada, the owner of the business where it happened, 365 Reloaded Smoke Shop on Garnet near Cass, decided to paint over the entire wall with the intent of reviving the mural.
Now, that’s happening, as muralist Jon Hamrick (@Just_Jon1), from Pacific Beach, has started painting a new John Lennon mural.
vandal
San Diego Police hopes that someone will recognize the person from the surveillance video and turn them in before other murals are damaged.
There has been a public outcry in the aftermath of the destruction of the original artwork. “The members of beautifulPB are deeply saddened by the defacing of this beloved mural,” said Ryan Stock, beautifulPB’s new president. “We believe that fostering vibrant, shared spaces — where people of all backgrounds come together, living life in peace — is key to preventing such acts. As great urbanist Jane Jacobs wisely said, ‘Eyes on the street’ are vital to the health and safety of our community.”
Source: Dave Schwab/sdnews.com
When The Beatles needed a bassist after Stuart Sutcliffe left the band, Paul McCartney took the job because nobody else wanted to volunteer. After all, it wasn’t exactly the glory spot in the lineup at that time.
But McCartney’s skill and imagination in devising his bass parts for Beatles songs helped to transform the way the instrument was utilized by rock bands. Here are five of those bass parts that emerged from the mix to make their presence known.
“I Saw Her Standing There” from Please Please Me (1962)
The very first song on the very first Beatles album (Please Please Me in 1962) established what McCartney could bring to the table as a bassist. Considering the blistering tempo of the song, he easily could have chosen to play a more minimal role, popping in occasionally with chosen notes. Instead, he charges headlong into the breach, giving the song an unstoppable rhythmic pulse. Listen to the way he smoothly interacts with Ringo Starr’s drums, even though Starr had only joined the band just a few months prior to this recording.
“Nowhere Man” from Rubber Soul (1965)
This is just one example of many where McCartney’s playing gives a Beatles song an extra melodic kick. And when you break it all down, the tunefulness on the instrument is the element Macca was able to deliver most consistently. He wasn’t the first to play that way, and he’s been open about the debt he owes to James Jamerson, the legendarily melodic bass player for the Funk Brothers at Motown. On “Nowhere Man,” that influence comes to the fore as McCartney creates enticing countermelodies that weave around John Lennon’s main vocal.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Beatlemania struck Cincinnati 60 years ago as fans got the chance of a lifetime to see The Beatles perform live at Cincinnati Gardens on Aug. 27, 1964.
Based on news reports of the day, Cincinnati didn’t quite know how to handle it all. The Enquirer reported that authorities were bracing for “teen-age massteria,” with the level of preparations usually reserved for presidential visits.
The frenzy had been building for months, since the Fab Four – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – made their American debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9 before 73 million television viewers.
The lads from Liverpool, England, scored nine top-10 songs already that year, and in April had held the top five spots on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Their film “A Hard Day’s Night" just released in theaters. This was the height of Beatlemania, and The Beatles were coming to Cincinnati. Teenage fans hold up signs to grab The Beatles' attention outside Cincinnati Gardens before the concert on Aug. 27, 1964.
Source: cincinnati.com
Sixty years ago, on Aug. 21, 1964, a young Beatles fan from North Dakota was staying at Seattle’s Edgewater Inn when she got to experience nearly every classic rock fan's dream: hanging out with The Beatles.
This week Nancy King, 76, revisited the place she called her "mecca," getting "back to where [she] once belonged."
"Oh, it’s good to be back!” said King, stepping out of her rental car.
She said her mind was instantly flooded with memories.
"They had the police boats just to make sure the teenagers weren’t trying to scale the wall to get in here," said King. "It was just packed."
On their first North American tour, The Beatles played the Seattle Center's Coliseum, and in the hours before their show, a photographer snapped a photo of them fishing out of their hospitality suite at the Edgewater.
Source: king5.com
Let me take you down to Strawberry Fields— no, not the memorial in New York’s Central Park to the former Beatle John Lennon, who was slain in Manhattan in 1980, but to the place that inspired his song, where the Salvation Army is conducting an experiment in mixing tourism with faith and social action.
The original Strawberry Field was a children’s home in Liverpool, just around the corner from John Lennon’s childhood home. It inspired the Beatles’ 1966 track “Strawberry Fields Forever,” penned by Lennon (who added an “s” to its name), as well as what may be one of the most innovative projects undertaken by the Salvation Army, the Christian anti-poverty movement founded in mid-1800s London.
Strawberry Field is known for its red gates festooned with strawberry motifs, which are often thronged with tourists taking selfies and some adding to the graffiti on the gates’ stone pillars. But the army has now deployed the site’s connection to the Beatles to draw more visitors to fund its mission and encourage people who would never consider stepping inside a church to find out about Christianity.
The children’s home, closed in 2005, has been demolished. In its place is a new structure that contains a prayer space, a café, and an exhibition about Lennon and the Beatles that includes one of Lennon’s pianos. The building also houses a training project to help young people with special needs get into work.
Source: Catherine Pepinster/religionnews.com
Just about every song in the Fab Four’s discography has touched the heart of at least one fan through the years. And there are plenty of songs by The Beatles that fans would kill to be able to hear again for the very first time. Let’s look at a few of our favorites!
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1. “Blue Jay Way”
This 1967 Magical Mystery Tour track isn’t the band’s most well-known track by any means. It’s a deep cut of sorts, if you would consider anything The Beatles recorded to be a deep cut.
“Blue Jay Way” almost feels like a homage by the band for the band. It has all of the go-to stylistic and artistic choices that the Fab Four popularized, bouncing from tape speed to tape speed and offering a generous dose of their unique use of phasing and flanging. George Harrison’s voice is otherworldly on this one.
2. “Tomorrow Never Knows”
This writer personally heard this song for the first time decades after it was released, and the memory of it is still quite fresh. Even in the 1990s, few songs matched the energy, psychedelic nature, and overall musical power of “Tomorrow Never Knows” from the 1966 record Revolver.
It was the first song to be recorded for the album. From its droning bass to its notably new overall style, The Beatles had not written and recorded a song quite like it during their career.
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
You would think The Beatles, as successful as they were, would have enjoyed some sort of autonomy about what they did or didn’t want to do when they were at the height of their popularity. That wasn’t always the case. For example, they were forced to come up with new material for the soundtrack to Yellow Submarine, a 1968 animated movie based on their music.
The fact that they had zero to do with making the movie didn’t excuse them from having to contribute songs to the project. They obliged with some leftovers and throwaways. But, this being The Beatles, even those songs turned out to be pretty special. Here’s how it all went down.
The Beatles lucked out in that Yellow Submarine, a film over which they little control (not that they wanted to deal with it anyway) turned out as well as it did. Even though the actors hired to do the voices of the Fab Four didn’t always sound like them, the whimsical tale (beware those villainous Blue Meanies) and psychedelic animation charmed audiences.
Those audiences probably didn’t realize the group only agreed to the film because they were contractually obligated to do one more picture. While the animated film was being made in 1967, they were too busy with making their own music and a television movie of their own devising (Magical Mystery Tour) to give any input to the film’s producers.
To satisfy those producers, the group agreed to provide four songs for the soundtrack. In addition, there would be several cuts from their catalog used in the film. George Martin, the group’s producer, also came up with orchestral music for the film’s score.
Source: Jim Beviglia /americansongwriter.com
The site of The Beatles first ever performance is set to be honoured with a commemorative plaque.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison played alongside Stuart Sutcliffe - the band's original bass guitarist - and Pete Best, the original drummer, at the Jacaranda on Slater Street in Liverpool in August 1960.
The World Origin Site plaque will acknowledge the "hidden gem where the band cut their teeth" before their breakthrough Hamburg tour.
The band, later made up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr, had a string of classic albums such as Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. Their best known hits include Yesterday, Hey Jude, A Hard Day's Night and Let It Be.
Dave McCabe, the frontman of The Zutons, paid tribute to the venue, which still hosts live music every night, serving as a vital hub for grassroots performances and sustaining Liverpool's musical heritage and future. "Grassroots music venues like the Jacaranda are so important because without them there’s no growth, there’s no education and there’s no real experience.
"They give you a chance to learn about what it is you love about music and find an answer as to why you wanted to do it in the first place." Martin Wilkie, director of World Origin Site, said: "We are here to help venues, museums and companies focus on the people, places and moments that have helped to make our modern world.
"We started by highlighting the laboratory in which Fleming discovered Penicillin, Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers proved man could fly, and even The Isle of Wight where Marconi built the world’s first radio station."
Source: bbc.com
Behind the Meaning of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero”.
Post-Beatles, John Lennon certainly couldn’t have been considered “working class.” He was lucky enough to be apart of one of the greatest bands of all time and his bank account certainly reflected it. Nevertheless, Lennon didn’t forget about the everyman. He used his voice to fight for those that struggled to rise to the top like he did. Uncover the meaning behind “Working Class Hero,” below.
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Behind the Meaning of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero”
Lennon released this caustic song in the early ’70s. His biting lyrics, at the same time, bolstered those in the working class and chided the folks on the hill. After having reached the upper echelon, Lennon turns back to tell those behind him, “Hey, this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
As soon as you’re born, they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
Lennon often spoke about his issues with fame. He even hopped on David Bowie’s “Fame” to make a finite statement about it. In this song, he issued a warning in the form of a reality check. A working class hero is something to be, he tells his listeners. Though they likely spend their days dreaming of having what Lennon had, he argues the contrary.
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home, and they hit you at school
They hate you if you’re clever, and they despise a fool
Till you’re so f***ing crazy, you can’t follow their rules
When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty-odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can’t really function, you’re so full of fear
“I like ‘Working Class Hero’ – as a song, or a poem or whatever it is,” he once said of this track. “I think its concept is revolutionary. It’s for the people like me who are working class, who are supposed to be processed into the middle classes, or into the machinery. It’s my experience, and I hope it’s just a warning to people.”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
