Beatles News
After The Beatles broke up in 1970, many wondered if John Lennon and Paul McCartney would ever team up again. The pair had a few opportunities, including a possible reunion on Saturday Night Live, but they were rarely seen in public together again. The pair almost went on a dinner date in New York, but Lennon’s reunion with Yoko Ono sidetracked that evening.
Lennon and Ono briefly separated between 1973 and 1975. During this period, Lennon began an affair with their assistant, May Pang. The couple went to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where Lennon had a few incidents of public drunkenness that included him getting thrown out of several venues.
In an interview with Variety, Pang spoke about the difficult time period in Lennon’s life, saying that she didn’t have much interest in interfering with their marriage, but Ono was pushing her toward the affair. Pang also confirmed that Ono was having an affair around the same time.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Peter Jackson's documentary Get Back is a one of a kind look into the process of the world's most famous band, The Beatles. The film was compiled from over 60 hours of footage that was taken back when The Beatles were recording their album Let It Be in 1968. Until now, these sessions were known for causing the split between the group when Yoko Ono allegedly sat on Paul's amp. However, Peter Jackson's eight-hour cut shows audiences an unfiltered look at the band. It shows their ups and downs, and how they manage to find enjoyment working together through difficult times.
Throughout the film, The Beatles are tasked with making an album they can perform live. To achieve this, the group sifts through a wide array of material before figuring out which songs make the cut and which don't. The following list contains songs that were played by the band in the documentary, but not finished for the Let It Be album they are seen working on.
Source: Spencer Philip/movieweb.com
Former Beatles member, Ringo Starr remains one of the entertainment icons whose career has stood the test of time. Born Richard Starkey, he took up the name Ringo because of his habit of wearing numerous rings. The legend started his career as a drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes before joining the famous Boyband, The Beatles, as a replacement for their former drummer, Peter Best in 1962.
His membership in the group brought him to the limelight and he won nine Grammys out of 27 nominations. The 82-year-old was also presented a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as a member of the band. Apart from his successful career, Starr has been married twice and has all three kids from his first wife and two stepchildren from his second wife.
Starr met his first wife, Maureen Cox, at The Cavern Club, Liverpool in 1962 and he proposed to her in 1965. 21 days later, the pair tied the knot on February 11 at London’s Caxton Hall Register Office with The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein serving as the Best Man and fellow bandmate, George Harrison was present as a witness.
Source: Peace A/doyouremember.com
John Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” had an intro reminiscent of an earlier song. The Beatles covered the earlier song.
Sean Ono Lennon discussed his reaction to “Instant Karma!” and his father’s music in general.
John Lennon‘s “Instant Karma!” is one of his most popular solo songs. During an interview, he said part of it sounded like an earlier track. Subsequently, John’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, discussed what he feels when he hears “Instant Karma!”The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon features an interview from 1974. In the interview, John discusses some records he enjoyed. “Another American record, that nobody I know over here seems to have ever heard of,” he said. “And it’s called ‘Some Other Guy,’ by Richie Barrett. There is a strange bootleg of The Beatles singing it rather crappily from the Cavern somewhere way back in ’61.” One of The Beatles’ performances of the song can be found on the 1994 album Live at the BBC.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
After John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr found global success with their music, they decided to expand into film with A Hard Day’s Night. The film was The Beatles’ first time acting on camera, and they did it with varying degrees of success. While they had fun shooting the film, watching it was a different story. The band’s press officer, Derek Taylor, said all but Harrison left during the band’s viewing of the film.
In 1964, The Beatles decided to further capitalize on Beatlemania by releasing a movie. In it, the band played themselves. McCartney explained that they had fun doing it, but he didn’t think they were particularly good actors.
“The first film we ever made, and we’re having a good time,” said McCartney, per the book George Harrison on George Harrison. “We’re not very good actors, but we’re trying hard. That’s the most important thing, really — having a try, isn’t it?”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
This year January 30th was the 54th anniversary of The Beatles' legendary rooftop concert at Apple Corps HQ in London's Savile Row. The 1969 event was the final live show The Beatles ever played and also brought an end to their then-upcoming documentary and final album, Let It Be. But once the Fab Four started playing loudly, police attended after receiving some noise complaints. And before long, arrests were threatened.
Kenneth Womack, a Beatles scholar, recalled that the band's road manager, Mal Evans, was told the police were going to intervene unless the music stopped.
He explained: "The police demand that [The Beatles] turn down the sound or stop the concert. They tell Mal they intend to arrest The Beatles. At that point, Mal turns off George Harrison’s amplifier."
However, after he turned off Harrison's amp, he was screamed out by the quiet Beatle, prompting him to turn it back on.
Evans, who was The Beatles' road manager, then recalled in his diary how he was then arrested by the police who were trying to shut down the live performance.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
No band has had more pages written about them than the Beatles. There are books that examine every day of the band’s history, large volumes about their recordings and books devoted entirely to their gear. Yet for all that has been written about them, there is still much mystery about the finer details, such as what exact guitars and amps they used to record specific songs.
We set out to answer that last question by closely examining a select group of songs spanning the Beatles’ entire recording history. A big part of the challenge is that a great amount of conflicting info exists, even among the experts. Even the members of the Beatles, producer George Martin and engineers like Geoff Emerick have provided conflicting accounts, and sometimes those people have contradicted themselves.
Photos taken during the recording sessions provide helpful hints, but all too often crucial details are missing, and the best anyone can do is speculate. Internet forums are frankly a hell-hole of highly opinionated alpha characters who insist they have golden ears but are usually pulling utter BS out of their golden rears.
Source: Chris Gill/Guitar
It's a case of Love Me Do and Silly Love Songs for the ex-Beatle, who wrote My Valentine for his third wife Nancy. Ahead of February 14, Sir Paul told his website that he hides cards around the room “and sometimes things even spill into the next day - it’s completely silly”.
Sir Paul said: “I would say that being a father and being a husband are two completely different things.
“As far as being a dad is concerned, I’ve always just tried to give my kids a bit of guidance if they seem to need it - but that was mainly when they were younger.
“Now that they are older, they’re guiding me! They don’t need so much guidance these days but if there’s ever a problem, I’m very happy to be the guy they come to. So, that’s largely the thing of being a dad.
“You’re just there to help, and I suppose have fun with - we do have a lot of fun. Now they’re older we can have a drink together, for instance!
Source: Tara Fair/express.co.uk
In addition to being a rock star, Paul McCartney is a husband and father, and those are two roles that are very important to him. In a new post on his website, the Beatles legend responds to a Twitter question about what the two roles mean to him, noting they are “two completely different things.”
“As far as being a dad is concerned, I’ve always just tried to give my kids a bit of guidance, if they seem to need it – but that was mainly when they were younger,” he explains. “Now that they are older, they’re guiding me! They don’t need so much guidance these days but if there’s ever a problem, I’m very happy to be the guy they come to.”
He adds, “You’re just there to help, and I suppose have fun with – we do have a lot of fun. Now they’re older we can have a drink together, for instance!”
As for being a husband, he says the most important thing is “just trying to be good to my wife Nancy (Shevell) and trying to be considerate and romantic.” And it sounds like Nancy can expect something special later this month.
Source: kslx.com
In 1965, Queen Elizabeth awarded The Beatles MBEs, and John Lennon found the whole situation baffling. By appointing each member of the band a Member of the British Empire (MBE), the queen honored the band’s contributions to British society. It caused some controversy, though, and even the members of the band weren’t sure why they were receiving the honor. Lennon explained that he found the whole thing “daft” and said he hadn’t been a fan of the ceremony.In 1965, the queen awarded the band MBEs, which rewarded their contributions to society. This decision sparked controversy; some believed that giving The Beatles the distinction cheapened it for other recipients. The band was just as surprised as everyone else.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
