Paul McCartney has penned some words on how they shot the iconic cover for The Beatles‘ ‘Rubber Soul’ for the re-release of their classic 1965 album. Check them out exclusively on NME below.

The Fab Four’s landmark sixth album is currently heading to Number One in the UK charts, 60 years after its original release. Released last week (Friday October 2), the expanded edition comes presented in new stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes, and with a box-set alongside the original mono mix and the original Capitol US Album version mixed by producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell.

As well as the original tracklist – which features fan-favourites including ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Michelle’, and ‘In My Life’ – there is also be the contemporary double A-side single, ‘Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out’, and a selection of previously unreleased session recordings and home demos.

The Super Deluxe Special Edition Super comes as either a 5-LP box-set or a 4-CD box-set, with 68 tracks and an 88-page hardbound book featuring a brand new written introduction by McCartney, and a foreword compiled from the late John Lennon’s own words.

McCartney’s introduction comes with insight into the making of the album cover with photographer Robert Freeman. Read it in full below:

“Our friendship with the photographer Robert Freeman, who had lived in the same block of flats at John, meant that he was an obvious choice to take the cover photograph. We did the session with Robert, and he showed us the results. The method he used in those days was to project the images he had taken on to a white piece of cardboard the shape and size of an album cover.

Source: nme.com/Andrew Trendell

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Four months after returning with The Boys of Dungeon Lane, Paul McCartney, never short of songs, has pulled out a handful more. Three songs from Macca’s album sessions with Andrew Watt feature on a new expansion of the June LP, alongside a “flip mix” of “Home to Us,” the Ringo Starr duet from the record. (The new version reverses their parts.) Stream the full expanded album below or skip to track 15 for the new songs: “City Fox,” “One Night Stand,” and “Chelsea Boots.” 

Source: pitchfork.com/Jazz Monroe

On the surface, John Lennon might have been seen as the Beatle most likely to form a lasting bond with Bob Dylan, such were the often cynical and aloof parallels of their character traits. Yet, it was The Quiet One who became the lifelong pal, and who would persuade the American to be part of his second celebrated chart-topping group.

Bob had met all four Fabs at the same time, on their first visit to the US in 1964, infamously introducing them to the delight of marijuana during an all-night and well into the early hours pow-wow at New York’s Delmonico Hotel. Whenever Dylan subsequently played in the UK, at least one Beatle’s name would be on the guest list, and they made sure he was among the first to hear albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver, tacitly acknowledging the debt they felt their rapidly developing craft owed him.

In his 2026 book Where The Music Had To Go: How Bob Dylan And The Beatles Changed Each Other, author Jim Windolf suggests the demands of their respective careers were an obstacle in them ever getting especially close. He also argues that neither Lennon nor McCartney were in the frame to forge any kind of lasting friendship with their contemporary and admirer; John’s outlook and demeanour were too similar, while the ever wary Paul was too competitive.

However, the deeper roots of the Bob and George friendship date from 1968 when Harrison was in the US checking out potential acts to sign to the group’s then fledgling Apple label. Dylan invited him to spend Thanksgiving at his home in Woodstock, upper New York state, and the visit stretched on for several days.

Source: Terry Staunton/uncut.co.uk

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Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote dozens of songs for the Beatles, most of which are credited to the iconic "Lennon-McCartney" and, on rare occasions, "McCartney-Lennon." As teenagers, the duo made a pact that both their names would appear on their songs, regardless of who wrote them. This partnership set the stage for one of music history’s most legendary songwriting collaborations.

Some of the Beatles’ fan favorites actually began as songs penned by a young Lennon and McCartney in Liverpool, both before and during their days with the Quarrymen. Whether written solo or as a team, these tracks foreshadow the artists’ creative genius; a genius that would one day set the tone for the musical landscape of the 1960s and 70s.

Here are four Beatles songs John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote as teenagers.

"Hello Little Girl"
"One After 909"
"I'll Follow the Sun"
"Love Me Do"

"Hello Little Girl"

John Lennon wrote his first song, "Hello Little Girl," in 1957 when he was just 16. Inspired by a 1930s or ‘40s tune his mother used to sing to him, Lennon’s first musical endeavor is credited to Lennon-McCartney. The Beatles performed it during their 1962 Decca audition. The Fourmost and Gerry & The Pacemakers recorded their own versions, and the Beatles followed in 1963. "Hello Little Girl," an idea jotted down by a young Lennon, eventually appeared on the Fab Four's Anthology 1.

“That was me. That was actually my first song. That always fascinated me for some reason or another. It’s also connected to my mother. It’s all very Freudian. She used to sing that one. So I made ‘Hello Little Girl’ out of it,” Lennon revealed during his “last major interview” with David Sheff.

Source: mentalfloss.com/Logan DeLoye

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Through moving lyrics entwined with themes of peace, love and spirituality, George Harrison offered fans harmony at a time of intense political unrest—a message that has transcended his lifetime. Harrison and his bandmates transformed the world as we know it, leaving behind an immutable impact on society. The Beatles’ profound influence is now documented within the grooves of vinyls, silver bromide of film, and voices of older generations as they pass down those stories to their children.

While photographed and interviewed relentlessly throughout their career, Harrison was also simultaneously documenting himself and The Beatles in private, capturing moments that make these larger-than-life rock gods feel incredibly human. The images take us inside his mind and behind the scenes of the band; the intimacy between them palpable in a boyish smile, a sideways glance, or the dropping of that happy facade entirely. Harrison’s images bounce back and forth between highlighting the stars as they were perceived to be and the people they actually were. In The Third Eye: Early Photographs by George Harrison, Harrison’s archival photography is published alongside essays from Olivia Harrison, George Saunders and Colm Tóibín. Below, find a glimpse behind the cover and be transported back to the heart of Beatlemania.

Source: interviewmagazine.com/Isabella Socci

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As production continues on Sam Mendes's The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event, Paul Mescal and Joseph Quinn have recreated an iconic Beatles moment in a newly released set photo.

With Mendes' four-film Beatles event slated for release all at once in April 2028, filming has been taking place in Liverpool and London since 2025. The cast includes Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.

A new image from the upcoming biopic, shot in Liverpool, shows Mescal and Quinn in character as the production recreates the moment Barry Chang collected the band from Gambier Terrace, where John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe once lived.

The scene shows the Beatles leaving for Hamburg, where they would develop their live act. Morfydd Clark was also spotted on set playing Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon’s first wife.  In the new image, Quinn and Mescal can be seen atop a vehicle, seemingly packing their equipment as they prepare to set off on their journey.

As well as the famous foursome, Harry Lawtey is set to star as Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bass guitarist for The Beatles, who was a member of the band during its formative period in Hamburg, Germany.

Also in the cast are Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground star Mia McKenna-Bruce as Ringo Starr's wife Maureen Starkey and Lady Bird's Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney.

Shōgun's Anna Sawai will play Yoko Ono, John Lennon's wife and musical collaborator, while Sex Education and The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood will portray Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's wife.

"Maureen, Linda, Yoko and Pattie are four fascinating and unique figures in their own right," said Mendes, "and I'm thrilled that we've managed to persuade four of the most talented women working in film today to join this amazing adventure."

Source: digitalspy.com/Harriet Mitchell

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