Beatles News
Paul McCartney has revealed a previously-unseen picture of The Beatles from the band’s last ever official gig at Candlestick Park, San Francisco in 1966. The image shows the Fab Four walking across the grounds of the park, wearing sharp suits, with John, Paul and George each carrying their guitars, while Ringo walks ahead. They are flanked by police and officials, with floodlights illuminating their path across the stadium. McCartney released the image after playing to an audience of 50,000 at the same stadium on Thursday night for Farewell To Candlestic: The Final Concert. The show marked the final performance at the venue, which is closing after 54 years. Although The Beatles’ last ever concert was an impromptu show that took place on the rooftop of the Apple headquarters on Saville Row in 1969, their last official gig was held at Candlestick Park, and on Thursday night McCartney played the song the band had ended on, “Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard.
The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) will present starting Friday a pop-up exhibit of nine photos taken from the Beatles' first Seattle concert in 1964. The display, which will be found in MOHAI's Grand Atrium, commemmorates the 50th anniversary of the rock legends' Northwest leg of their visit, made during their first trip to the United States. Taken by Timothy Eagan, the images capture the Aug. 21, 1964 concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Eagan, who would later become a P-I staff photographer, was 19 years old when he took the photos. In addition to the pop-up exhibit, MOHAI will add 27 images to its online photo archives for public access. In all, 80 negatives were donated to MOHAI by Timothy Eagan's brother, Mike Eagan.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --Traffic was so bad for Candlestick Park's last show that some fans heading to watch Paul McCartney actually gave up and went home without seeing him. There were people who say they felt like the traffic was worse than other events and that it felt like someone dropped the ball. McCartney put on an amazing show to send Candlestick Park out in style. Fans who did make it say they loved the show and that McCartney played about 40 songs. He waited about an hour to go on because the stadium was only half full at 8 p.m. due to traffic problems. There were still many people that didn't make it because they said they were stuck on the highway for hours. Those who made it in say it wasn't easy getting out, but say it was worth it because they loved the show.
The Beatles ended their disappointingly short set on Aug. 29, 1966, at Candlestick Park with a barely-audible-above-the-screams version of "Long Tall Sally." Just before the band hopped in an armored car on that day, John Lennon promised "We'll see you next year!" More than half a lifetime later (17,512 days to be exact), Paul McCartney returned to Candlestick for what will probably be the last major event at the 54-year-old concrete edifice. The Beatles never played a commercial show again, but McCartney arranged his schedule to send the stadium off, with a pre-demolition show that few in attendance will forget. The key word there is "in attendance." Some of the worst Bay Area event traffic in recent memory forced thousands of concertgoers to say goodbye to Candlestick from an idling car outside the stadium. McCartney did his best to accommodate the stragglers, starting at 9 p.m. and playing a nearly 2 1/2 hour show with more than 30 songs.
A DOCUMENTARY photographer from Faversham is ready to present his photos of John Lennon to Yoko Ono. John Stewart Farrier has now teamed up with Faversham’s Maihen Picture Framing Company, in West Street, to finalise the piece. The photos of John Lennon were taken almost 50 years ago by Mr Farrier and were previously unseen until a few years ago. There are twelve pictures of the former Beatle, the negatives of which were left undiscovered in a loft for around 45 years. Mr Farrier discovered them towards the end of 2011 and they went on display for the first time earlier this year at The Proud Gallery in Chelsea, London. He now intends to present the photographs to Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono at The Folkestone Triennial, where she will be featuring as an artist.
Collectors of Paul McCartney’s music may have to add a new format – a version of PlayStation or Xbox — to their stacks of LPs, tapes, CDs, DVDs and digital downloads. His next major project is the score for Destiny, the highly anticipated video game from Bungie and Activision, due on Sept. 9. For the last four years, on and off, Mr. McCartney has been working on the score for the game in a collaboration with Marty O’Donnell – until recently Bungie’s house composer, responsible for the widely praised Halo soundtracks – and Mike Salvatori. He has also written a theme song for the game, which he plans to release as a single soon after the game is released, said Lev Chapelsky, the general manager of Blindlight, a Los Angeles company that puts musicians and game companies together.
The Dream Weaver and Really Wanna Know You hitmaker will publish Dream Weaver: Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison in October (14). A press release announcing the new book reads: "Dream Weaver is ultimately a story of a spiritual journey and Gary's lifelong friendship with George Harrison. At 33, Gary Wright was at the highest point in his career. His album, The Dream Weaver, had been on top of the charts for months with two hit singles - Dream Weaver and Love is Alive - and during the summer of '76, he was part of a massive arena tour with Peter Frampton and Yes. "Earlier, while still living in England, he recorded music with legendary musicians Eric Clapton, B.B King, and George Harrison, who would later become one of his best friends.
A Martin D-28 left-handed guitar signed by Paul McCartney is up for auction, with proceeds going to the Nature Conservancy's African Elephant Initiative. Bidding began on Wednesday on eBay with a starting price of $10,000. Along with his signature, McCartney paid tribute to Woody Guthrie's famous, fascist-slaying six-string, by scrawling, "This guitar saves elephants" on the Martin as well. Money from the auction will go to the Nature Conservancy's efforts in Africa, China and other locations to increase security and protection for elephants, as well as reduce the demand for ivory. If bidding on the McCartney-signed guitar is out of your price range, though, the campaign still welcomes any and all donations.
One of the earliest photos of The Beatles in Liverpool’s Cavern Club is being auctioned later this month along with a series of other recently unearthed snaps taken of the the band at the beginning of their career. The picture, taken in 1961, features Paul McCartney at the front of the stage and Pete Best on drums – a year before he was replaced by Ringo Starr. Stephen Bailey – the manager of The Beatles Shop, in Liverpool – said the forthcoming memorabilia sale includes a series of negatives brought into the Mathew Street store by a man who casually told him: “My father was a professional photographer and these might be of interest to you.” Mr Bailey said the man then handed over a series of envelopes of transparencies which all turned out to be in perfect condition. Another shot which stands out features George Harrison, John Lennon, McCartney and Best posing with six girls.
FitzPro Ltd, which supplies audio-visual solutions to help businesses save time, money and the environment, has opened its new premises on Tiverton’s Business Park. Managing Director Rich Denham has more than 25 years’ experience in electronic engineering. Mr Denham, who was also sound engineer and logistics manager for the Exeter-based tribute band The Fab Beatles, set up the new company and recruited a team of experts to help run and build the business, which specialises in helping firms use the latest audio-visual and video-conferencing technology to the best advantage. He said: “We already have blue chip clients in London, such as TSB, Best Western and infrastructure investment company John Laing, but now we want to offer the same quality service and equipment to companies in Devon. “We specialise in helping firms save time and money by keeping their staff connected wherever they may be, on the road, working from different offices or from home, so people spend less time travelling and more time doing what is most profitable.
