Beatles News
In 1961, the 18-year-old George Harrison purchased his first American-made guitar, a 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet, from a former merchant seaman named Ivan Heyward, for 75 pounds sterling, after he saw an advertisement in the Liverpool Echo. After giving it good use on “Please Please Me” and “I Saw Her Standing There,” he eventually passed it to his old friend from the Beatles’ days in Hamburg, Germany, the artist/musician Klaus Voormann. When Harrison was ready to shoot the cover for his new album Cloud Nine in 1987, he retrieved his “old black Gretsch” from storage in Los Angeles, had it refurbished, and posed with it, smiling widely in front of a stratospheric backdrop. You couldn’t see his eyes because of the light flare in his sunglasses, but it’s pretty clear from the content of the album they were twinkling with mischief.
Source: Mark Leviton/bestclassicbands.com
May Pang, left, who had a relationship with John Lennon, during a period when he was separated from Yoko Ono, will share photos from that time in a show at AnArte Gallery.
For decades, complete strangers have told May Pang they knew all there was to know about her and her 18-month relationship with John Lennon.
“I’ve had many fans or people, they all say, 'I know everything about you,' and I say, 'You do? ' And they go, 'Yes, I’ve read everything,'” Pang said in a telephone interview. “After so many years, my story took on a life of its own, with other people telling it. At first, it doesn’t bother you, but after a while, now it’s bothering me. Now people are hearing different stuff that’s not correct.”
Pang has been working to set the record straight about her time with the former Beatle. They were together from 1973 to 1975 when he was separated from Yoko Ono, an era in his life dubbed “the lost weekend.”
Source: Deborah Martin/expressnews.com
Paul McCartney‘s hit-making abilities are something of a marvel. It’s no surprise he has secured nine No. 1 songs throughout his career, given he pretty much wrote the book on how to craft a timeless pop offering. Below is our definitive ranking of McCartney’s Billboard Hot 100 hits.
9. “Listen To What The Man Said“
First up we have “Listen To What The Man Said.” We have no qualms with this track. It’s fun and a good listen but we find it to be a little less powerful than some of the other hits on this list.
8. “With a Little Luck“
“With a Little Luck” features a rhythmic melody that is hard not to sing along to. It’s a little quirky and very ’70s, but we see why it was such a hit amongst McCartney fans upon its release. That being said, it’s not one of McCartney’s signature tracks, meaning its appeal hasn’t been as long-lasting as some of his other No. 1’s.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney discussed John Lennon's role in writing The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus." Some of Paul's comments are a little questionable.
Paul McCartney discussed John Lennon’s role in writing The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus.” Some of Paul’s comments are a little questionable. Regardless, “I Am the Walrus” is one of the key tracks of John’s career.
During a 2009 interview with Clash, Paul discussed his feelings about “I Am the Walrus.” “I think in a way, for instance something like ‘I Am the Walrus,’ someone like John probably doesn’t get enough credit, because those sessions, those preparatory sessions, were very important because they set the style and often gave very accurate briefs of what we wanted,” he opined.
“For instance, all of John’s ‘Everybody’s got one’ and ‘Ho ho ho, hee hee hee, ha ha ha’ [from ‘I Am the Walrus’], all that stuff was from John at a session with [The Beatles’ producer] George Martin, a preparation session,” he added. “We’d be around at John’s house or George’s house, and he’d say, ‘I want to go, ‘Ha ha ha.’ So, George would write all that in the score, and John would sort of say, ‘Well, it could go like that or like that,’ but we couldn’t write so we needed George to translate our thoughts. That was how it worked, and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ came about that way — it was going to be another classical foray, but different from ‘Yesterday.'”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
This story is the second in a two-part series about travel destinations of interest to fans of The Beatles, including a magnificent place I found ‘accidentally’… Read the first part here.
New York City is where John Lennon put down roots in 1971, and where his life was tragically taken nine years later. Right next to Central Park is The Dakota, the historic apartment where he lived with Yoko Ono. I’ll admit it was a little strange to stand across the street from that building, seeing the entranceway where he was shot, and have it feel eerily familiar after seeing it depicted so many times in the media.
Tucked inside the park is Strawberry Fields, a five-acre memorial landscape honouring Lennon’s life as a musician and peace activist. The Imagine mosaic is a peaceful place to stop and reflect, or just sit and watch “the wheels go ’round and ’round” around you.
Source: RoseAnna Schick/winnipegfreepress.com
See the trailer to the three-part Apple TV+ docuseries, narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, examining the aftermath to the Beatles legend’s assassination
There have been a number of eye-opening Beatles documentaries through the years, from the Beatlemania doc Eight Days a Week; a tribute to the Fab Four’s loyal secretary, Good Ol’ Freda; Martin Scorsese’s poignant George Harrison: Living in the Material World; and last but certainly not least, Peter Jackson’s recent eight-hour opus Get Back, chronicling the recording of the group’s final album, Let It Be, and subsequent demise.
Now, we have what hopes to be the definitive documentary about the aftermath of Mark David Chapman’s 1980 assassination of John Lennon outside the Dakota.
Premiering Dec. 6 on Apple TV+, and narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, the three-part docuseries John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial features new information gleaned from FOIA requests, as well as the first on-camera interviews with a number of people surrounding the tragedy, including Richard Peterson, a taxi driver/witness to the shooting; the Dakota concierge who desperately tried to save Lennon’s life; and Dr. Naomi Goldstein, the first psychiatrist who assessed Chapman.
Source: Marlow Stern/rollingstone.com
Director Rob Reiner revealed that production of the mockumentary sequel begins February
Rob Reiner, who directed the original 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap, revealed during a podcast aired Monday that Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Garth Brooks will make appearances in a new sequel.
The original starred David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) who played band members of the fictional English heavy metal band Spinal Tap. During an interview on Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, Reiner said part two, which was announced May last year, would begin shooting by the end of February.
McKean, Shearer, and Guest are expected to reprise their roles as the fictional band, and along with directing the new film, Reiner is set to return as filmmaker Marty DiBergi.
“We never thought we would do a sequel,” the director previously told NME. “It was only because we started to talk to each other and we came up with an idea we think might work — we don’t know it will. We’re going to try. The bar is incredibly high. We debated whether or not we should do it… I said, ‘Look at us, we’re all in our 70s. How much time are we going to have [left] to have some fun?’”
Source: Charisma Madarang/rollingstone.com
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr recently teamed up to help finish the new Beatles track “Now and Then.” Still, the old bandmates and good friends do more than just make music when they get together. McCartney posted a recent photo of him and Starr on his Instagram that shows them enjoying a plate of vegetarian pasta.
The pic was taken by McCartney’s daughter Mary and is among a variety of images that appear in her new cookbook, Feeding Creativity, which is available now.
In a promotional YouTube video for Feeding Creativity, Mary explains that the publication is a hybrid between a photo book and a vegetarian cookbook. The concept behind the book is that she would visit various creative friends and family members and bring them different meals. During her visits, she would take photos of those friends and family members and would discuss the food that they love and what inspires their creativity.
Source: Matt Friedlander/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles spent quite some time on the road. Their touring schedule was robust. So much so, that the end of their career saw them all but announce their retirement from the road. Nevertheless, they logged many hours on the tour bus prior to calling it quits. Because of this, life on the open road became a familiar facet of their music. Find our four favorite road songs from the fab four, below.
1. “Magical Mystery Tour“
The Magical Mystery Tour
Is waiting to take you away
Waiting to take you away
Perhaps The Beatles’ most distinctive road song is “Magical Mystery Tour.” The song acted as the title track for both a record and an accompanying film. The made-for-TV project saw the foursome get into all kinds of wacky shenanigans while out on the road. The equally mystifying song pairs perfectly with the off-kilter movie. No other band could pull “Magical Mystery Tour” off.
2. “Two of Us“
Two of us riding nowhere
Spending someone’s hard-earned pay
You and me, Sunday driving
Not arriving, on our way back home
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Iconic musician Ringo Starr and His All Star Band have announced six shows on the Las Vegas Strip next year.
According to a news release, Starr and his band — Steve Lukather, Edgar Winter, Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette — will return to The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas for six dates in 2024.
Promoter Live Nation says the performances are scheduled for May 22, 25, 26, 29 and 31 and June 1, 2024 at 8:30 p.m.
“I’ve always said I’m my happiest when I’m playing with great musicians - and this band is one of the very best. But even so,” Ringo said with a laugh, “sometime during and just after every tour I think ok that’s it - I’m going to stop touring. My family don’t believe me anymore and so it comes as no surprise to them that once again, I’m taking the All Starr Band back on the road! We’ll be doing 12 shows in May and June, going back to Mexico - which I love - and we’ll be doing a bit of a residency in Las Vegas at The Venetian. See you out there and until then I send you peace and love.”
Source: FOX5 Staff/fox5vegas.com
