Ringo Starr celebrated his 85th birthday in Beverly Hills Monday with his annual Peace & Love event, but the big day was also marked in a very special way in his home city of Liverpool, England.

According to the U.K.’s The Independent, the city where The Beatles were founded unveiled the “Peace and Love Sculpture” in honor of Ringo. The silver statue, revealed by the city’s Beatles Story museum, features a hand making the peace sign and was created using a casting of Starr’s right hand. A similar statue is currently on display in Beverly Hills.

The unveiling was attended by locals, as well as students from Ringo’s primary school, St. Silas CE.

Ringo is known for spreading peace and love. In fact, on every birthday he asks fans to spread the message at 12 p.m. PT. This year the message was shared in over 38 countries and was also beamed from mission control in Houston to the International Space Station.

Source: everettpost.com/ABC News

When Carl Perkins joined Paul McCartney in the studio, the plan was to work on one of McCartney's songs for his upcoming album. The Beatles covered several of his songs, so McCartney was very excited about the collaboration. However, while he was working with the former Beatle, he decided to show him a song he'd been working on to get his input. Little did he know, he was about to trigger an incredibly painful memory. The song was "My Old Friend," and one particular line absolutely devastated the bassist.

When Perkins sang the line, “Think about me every now and then, old friend,” McCartney couldn't handle it and broke down in tears, immediately stepping out of the room. Perkins was bewildered and worried he'd done something wrong, but Linda McCartney quickly reassured him and explained what had happened. Years later, Perkins cleared the mystery in an interview.

"Paul was crying, tears were rolling down his pretty cheeks, and Linda said, 'Carl, thank you so much.' I said, 'Linda, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.' She said, 'But he’s crying, and he needed to. He hasn’t been able to really break down since that happened to John.'" 

Paul McCartney believes this one John Lennon song helped shape the world as we know it. While Lennon said those words to McCartney the last time they saw each other, that wasn't the last time they talked. In the 70s, Paul and Linda McCartney were playing together with Wings and raising a family in the UK, while Lennon settled in New York City with Yoko Ono and withdrew from the public eye when his youngest son, Sean Ono Lennon, was born in 1975. But while their lives didn't leave much room for them to meet up, the two friends still talked on the phone regularly, especially during the quiet times.

In his book, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, he recalled one of the last conversations they had on the phone. They were both family men at the time, and Lennon in particular had become a homemaker, being his son's primary caretaker. McCartney shared with readers that they would talk about baking bread, something they both had become interested in. About the last time they talked, he said elsewhere that "It was just a very happy conversation about his family, my family. Enjoying his life very much, Sean was a very big part of it."

Source: collider.com/Val Barone

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The Beatles were not always proud of the work they produced. In particular, John Lennon was happy to take aim at some of the band's output he wasn't fond of.

He shared his disdain for the 1967 album 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and Paul McCartney's work on the 'Let it Be' single and the closing medley on 'Abbey Road'. It wasn't just Paul's work that John criticised. He notably said he wished he had not written 'It's Only Love'. About it, he said: "That's the one song I really hate of mine. Terrible lyrics."

‌And as The Beatles rose to fame, they had to work on more than just music. John did not particularly love having to star in films and admitted he didn't enjoy working on the film 'Help!'. The 1965 film followed the success of their 1964 movie debut 'A Hard Day's Night' but it was widely viewed not to have hit the heights of its predecessor. ‌

A New York Times review of the film said: "It's a fiasco of farcical whimseys that are thrown together in this film – a clutter of mechanical gimmicks and madcap chases... Funny? Exciting? Different?

"Well, there's nothing in "Help!" to compare with that wild ballet of The Beatles racing across a playground in 'A Hard Day's Night', nothing as wistful as the ramble of Ringo around London all alone ... The boys themselves are exuberant and uninhibited in their own genial way. They just become awfully redundant and – dare I say it? – dull."

Critic Leslie Halliwell said it was an: "exhausting attempt to outdo 'A Hard Day's Night' in lunatic frenzy, which goes to show that some talents work best on low budgets."  

The film's plot sees George Harrison, Paul and John try to save Ringo Starr from a cult and scientists, hellbent on taking a ring sent to the drummer by a fan in what was a parody of the James Bond series.

The film was shot in studios in London and on location in Austria and the Bahamas during spring 1965 but the band's hearts weren't in it, it seems.

About the filming process, John said: "'Help!' was a drag". He added: "We were on pot by then and all the best stuff, with us breaking up and falling about, was left on the cutting room floor."

Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk

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After The Beatles broke up in 1970, all four of them launched their solo careers. George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney all tried out different sounds. However, towards the start, you could still hear elements of The Beatles in their music. However, that was not the case for John Lennon, as he seemingly plagued every part of The Beatles’ influence and sound out of his very being. As a result, he created works that many people, particularly Beatles fanatics, weren’t fans of. Including John Lennon’s contemporary, Paul Simon.

John Lennon and Paul Simon never really saw eye to eye. Concerning his favorite member of The Beatles, Simon divulged that it was Paul McCartney. In addition to declaring his favorite member of the Beatles, another moment that planted a wedge between the two musicians was when they clashed in the studio during one of their collaborations.

Needless to say, Simon and Lennon were not fans of one another. And that frustration was not just a personal one, as Paul Simon was also not a fan of John Lennon’s work following The Beatles’ breakup. Paul Simon Said Lennon Never Did Anything “Interesting or Innovative”

As stated previously, Lennon’s work with The Beatles and after The Beatles sit in stark contrast to one another. Consequently, the perceptions of the music often mimic that stark contrast, and Paul Simon’s opinion of the music resides on the negative end of the spectrum.

Concerning his distaste for Lennon’s solo music, Paul Simon told Rolling Stone in 1972, “It’s not that I’m not interested in what Lennon has to say. I am. He usually has my ear. When he makes a record or makes a record or makes a statement, I’ll read it or listen to it.”

Simon added, “I am a potential audience for him, But I find that he seldom says anything that’s interesting or innovative to me, and yet, I listen, based on a long-standing respect. Based on his musicianship, based on the fact that he was involved in some great music over the years, and so I keep listening to stuff that’s no longer great.”

Harsh words, but given their history and Simon’s affection, seemingly for more traditionally original-sounding music, these comments come as no surprise. However, to a lot of people, these comments also might seem outlandish. After all, some of Lennon’s solo works include the iconic songs, “Imagine”, “Jealous Guy”, and “Instant Karma!” Though to each their own.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Peter Burditt

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John Lennon gave one of his final interviews to Playboy in September 1980, where he spoke about making new music with his wife Yoko Ono, along with many other aspects of their life together. Some interesting moments include the fact that he had settled into being a house-husband. This involved spending his days baking bread and taking care of his son, Sean.

By this time, word had spread that Lennon and Ono were making music again after retreating from the public eye in 1975. When asked what he’d been up to, Lennon shared surprisingly freely.

“I’ve been baking bread and looking after the baby,” he said. When asked what else he’d been doing, he replied, “That’s like what everyone else who has asked me that question over the last few years says. ‘But what else have you been doing?’ To which I say, ‘Are you kidding?’”

Lennon continued, “Because bread and babies, as every housewife knows, is a full-time job. After I made the loaves, I felt like I had conquered something. But as I watched the bread being eaten, I thought, Well, Jesus, don’t I get a gold record or knighted or nothing?”
John Lennon Revealed That He Owed His Authenticity as an Artist to His Relationship With Yoko Ono

John Lennon was then asked why he became a house-husband. He apparently took to bread and babies as easily as he took to music. His answer was revealing, briefly touching on his time with The Beatles. He also explained the stresses of producing so much music in a short time.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Lauren Boisvert

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The connection between rock ‘n’ roll and backward messaging has been discussed ad nauseam. Countless rockers have been accused of hiding little tidbits in their recordings, hoping to catch the ear of particularly observant fans. While not all the theories these “backward messages” have sparked have stood the test of time, there is one that we can’t seem to shake: the notion that John Lennon admitted to Paul McCartney’s death and replacement by a clone on “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

The “Paul is Dead” theory is another highly debated topic. While McCartney himself has denied the rumors for decades now, the “proof” is irrefutable in some fans’ minds. One piece of evidence is Lennon’s mumbled lyric at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
John Lennon’s Mumbled Lyric at the End of “Strawberry Fields Forever” That Fed Into the “Paul Is Dead” Conspiracy

“I am alive and well and concerned about the rumors of my death,” McCartney once said, nodding to the “Paul is Dead” theory. “But if I were dead, I would be the last to know.”

The “Paul is Dead” theory is one of the most famous rock n’ roll myths. As the story goes, McCartney died in a car crash in the middle of the Beatles’ heyday, leaving those in charge of the band with no choice but to replace him with a look alike.

Due to the lack of any finite proof, believers have clung to the smallest morsels of evidence. One of those morsels is Lennon’s whispered phrase at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
“Cranberry Sauce” or “I Buried Paul”?

Lennon whispers an unintelligible phrase at the tail-end of this Beatles classic. According to the musician himself, he was saying “Cranberry Sauce.” While we’re not sure why he would slip that into this psychedelic anthem, it’s not the weirdest thing Lennon ever did…

Those in the “Paul is Dead” crowd have another theory. According to them, Lennon said, “I Buried Paul.” Lennon says this barely above a whisper. As a result, it sparked a significant amount of discussion about what he actually said. Needless to say, if his saying “I Buried Paul” were true, it would be a colossal bomb for Lennon to drop. Believers might be grasping at straws here, but we’ve heard crazier theories. There could be some truth to this claim.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper

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