A public reunion of the world's best-loved songwriting duo nearly took place the night of April 24, 1976.

During a broadcast of the sketch comedy Saturday Night Live, executive producer Lorne Michaels delivered a plea to camera for a Beatles reunion. Lorne Michaels offering $3000 for a Beatles reunion.

"It's also been said that no one has yet to come up with enough money to satisfy you. Well, if it's money you want, there's no problem here," Michaels said.  "The National Broadcasting Company has authorised me to offer you this cheque to be on our show. A certified cheque for $3000."

The crowd laughed at what was a comically small sum.  "This cheque is made out to The Beatles," Michaels continued.

"You divide it anyway you want: if you want to give Ringo less, that's up to you."  Unbeknownst to Michaels, Lennon and McCartney were watching TV together a few blocks away.

The pair had buried the hatchet and had tuned in to what was at the time a new comedy program. Lennon later revealed they gave serious consideration to crashing the studio for a sudden cameo. "We were watching it and almost went down to the studio, just as a gag," he said.

"We nearly got into a cab, but we were actually too tired." The next day McCartney arrived unannounced at Lennon's door to hang out.

Lennon rebuked McCartney for not calling first, and the two went their separate ways, never to see each other again.

Source: 9news.com.au/Nick Pearson

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With “Long Long Road,” his twenty-second studio album, Ringo Starr has settled into one of his career’s finest grooves. While he will surely be remembered for his classic 1970s LPs “Ringo” (1973) and “Goodnight Vienna” (1974), his recent return to his country roots has been a genuine boon for music lovers everywhere.

Starr’s previous forays into country and western include the exquisite “Beaucoups of Blues” (1970), produced by Pete Drake, and last year’s “Look Up.” With T. Bone Burnett holding forth in the producer’s chair yet again, “Long Long Road” matches its predecessor’s penchant for warmhearted storytelling and well-played musical confections.

And like his frequent tours with his All-Starr Band, Starr’s backing band on “Long Long Road” features a selection of top-notch players and guest artists. Having written or co-written six of the album’s songs, Burnett has proven himself to be one of Starr’s most able and industrious collaborators. He also has a knack for teasing out some of Starr’s best performances in years.

Source: salon.com/Kenneth Womack

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Cover songs pop up in the most unexpected places. Even in the 80s, when everyone was trying to take music fearlessly into a new era, artists often made those futuristic moves with songs that were somewhat long in the tooth.

These four songs from 1988 all ascended to high levels on the US pop charts. And all were first performed in the 60s.
“Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison

Cloud Nine represented a return to the limelight for George Harrison after years of mostly steering clear of the machinery of the music scene. To make this grand return, Harrison chose “Got My Mind Set On You” as the LP’s first single. Aside from the modern drum sound, the song seemed as Beatlesque as Harrison had permitted himself to be on a recording in many years. That’s why people are often surprised to learn that Harrison sourced the song from a 1962 R&B single by James Ray. Harrison first heard it in 1963 while on a pre-Beatlemania visit to America. Those minimal lyrics, which emphasize the single-minded pursuit of the narrator, clearly stuck with Harrison. The song hit No. 1 in January of 1988, the last ever US chart-topper by a solo Beatle.
“A Groovy Kind Of Love” by Phil Collins

Collins enjoyed success with various cover songs throughout the 80s, including The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” and Stephen Bishop’s “Separate Lives”. With “A Groovy Kind Of Love”, he took the source material and found a way to update it for an 80s audience. The British band The Mindbenders made it to No. 2 on the charts in 1966 with the song. Collins dusted it off as a single on the soundtrack of Buster, a film in which he starred in 1988. He slowed the tempo down just a tad and added a dreamy instrumental section in the middle. Those changes gave the song a bit more emotional heft, which Collins played up with a strong vocal. This take on “A Groovy Kind Of Love” didn’t stop at No. 2, reaching the top spot instead.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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Released in 1967 as the final track on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles was accompanied by some of the band’s most iconic songs, from “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

But unlike the pop and rock influences present in the other songs on the album, the side two song took an experimental turn that ended up influencing the genre for decades to come.

It starts with a soft strumming guitar that’s quickly joined by piano, followed by John Lennon’s voice softly singing about reading the news, telling the story of a man’s tragic death as the drums kick in. The song then takes a turn with orchestral glissandos and tape effects, shifting the mood dramatically, before there’s an abrupt twist via an alarm clock sound. Paul McCartney then sings in an upbeat tone about waking up and starting his day, eventually explaining he “went into a dream.”

At that point, vocal harmonies jump in, moving the song back to Lennon’s dreamy soundscape, which once again gets interrupted by urgent strings that border on musical discord. A piano chord breaks through for around 30 seconds, softly fading out of the experimental pop song.

Source: yahoo.com/Gabriela Arevalo

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Beatles legends Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have teamed up to record what could be their final song together - a nostalgic duet about growing up in Liverpool. Home To Us will appear on Sir Paul’s new album when it is released next month.  ‌

And there is even a new ‘Fab Four’ on the track, as it also features backing vocals from the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and Texas’ Sharleen Spiteri.  ‌A small gathering of fans were treated to an album preview in Los Angeles last week with Beatle Sir Paul. And amongst the songs played was Home To Us, which initially Ringo played drums on but later also sang on. The pair are thought to duet on the chorus.

‌Sir Paul told the audience: “Ringo’s never done a duet with one of the Beatles.”  Ringo also confirmed he had made a song with Sir Paul on the Jimmy Kimmel show earlier this week, but kept the full details under wraps.‌

Ringo said: “It started two years ago with the drums, it was like in reverse, the drums went on first. It’s amusing and very real because that is where we come from.”  The theme of the song is based about where they grew up in Liverpool which Sir Paul describes as being “a little rough, but home to us”.

Last month the first track from the album, The Boys From Dungeon Lane, was released called Days We Left Behind.  The album is said to be a revisit to his the formative years in Liverpool that went on to shape not only his life, but “the very foundations of modern popular culture”.

Speaking about Days We Left Behind, Paul said: “This is very much a memory song for me. The album title, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, comes from a lyric in this track. I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else? It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool.”

Source: mirror.co.uk/Mark Jefferies

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Ringo Starr is getting candid about his days with the Beatles, including the one rule the band never broke even as their fame skyrocketed.

The legendary drummer revealed the one simple habit that remained unchanged until the very end. They always shared rooms on tour.

"You guys were roommates when the Beatles would tour," host Jimmy Kimmel said during Monday's episode of his show, prompting Starr to reflect on the band’s early days.

The legendary drummer said the band always shared two rooms between four members. "Well, we were always four of us in two rooms," Starr said. "So, I was roommates with everybody. You know, Paul was roommates with everybody. Depended where they put the suitcases. We just went and shared a room."

The host asked whether that changed once they became the biggest band on the planet. Starr revealed it didn’t.

"No, right up to the last day of the last tour — or the last night of the last tour — we shared," Starr said.

Long before private jets and sprawling entourages became standard for global superstars, Starr and his bandmates — Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison — were simply four young men navigating fame together, suitcase by suitcase.  Kimmel took the conversation in a more humorous direction, asking, "Wow. That’s really cool. When you visit each other at your homes now, do you get into bed together ever?"

Starr laughed, "No. No, not anymore."

Source: Stephanie Giang-Paunon/Fox News

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