John Lennon credited Black artists, especially Chuck Berry, as The Beatles’ biggest musical influences.  Lennon highlighted Liverpool's exposure to Black music, unlike much of Britain and Europe.  "Berry is the greatest influence on earth," Lennon declared, naming Berry, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard.

It’s no surprise that The Beatles drew inspiration from musical legends before them, from the Everly Brothers to Elvis Presley. But as talented as the Fab Four were, even John Lennon couldn’t deny the impact of one artist — the one he crowned the “greatest influence on earth.”  For Lennon, hearing blues, R&B, and early rock ’n’ roll, music rooted in African American culture, was one of the most transformative experiences of his life. Of course, second only to meeting his wife, Yoko Ono.

While visiting JET’s new Chicago offices in 1972, Lennon looked back on his Liverpool childhood and the iconic musicians who influenced the path of his music.

“Liverpool is a seaport city and many Blacks live there. The ugly scars of an earlier, racist-colonial period in England still mar the ports. Slave rings are still anchored to the front of the docks there,” he said.  “But it was usually hipper, this port city, than most of the country. We’d been hearing funky Black music all our lives, while people across Britain and Europe had never heard of it.”

Lennon explained that his musical tastes were inspired by the sailors and travelers passing through Liverpool. “I grew up with blues music, country and western music. The sailors came in, brought folk music, -all kinds. I was at college and listened to the music.”

When The Beatles first arrived in the United States in 1964, Lennon said they were surprised by how little recognition Black artists received, despite their massive influence on rock and roll.

“The amazing thing about America was (in 1963-64) people asked ‘where is the influence-who influenced us?’ And all the musicians we named were Black but, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. We didn’t know anything about the race records business then. Music to us was music.”

Whenever people in the U.S. asked who inspired their sound, Lennon made sure to give credit where it was due.

“And we were talking about all these Black people and the questioners’ faces fell. They said, ‘Oh, you don’t go for The Beach Roys, Jan & Dean?’ And we said, ‘C’mon man, that’s rubbish’ One thing we always did was to tell where we got our music from.”

So who, according to Lennon, earns the title of the greatest influence on music? “Berry is the greatest influence on earth. So is Bo Diddley and so is Little Richard. There is not one white group on earth that hasn’t got their music in them. And that’s all I ever listened to. The only white I ever listened to was Presley on his early music records and he was doing Black music.”

Chuck Berry’s influence on Lennon, and The Beatles, was undeniable. Take “Come Together,” the song borrows the lyric “Here come old flat-top” and echoes the rhythm of Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.”

Berry’s fingerprints are also all over “Back in the U.S.S.R.” In 1968, speaking on Radio Luxemburg, even Paul McCartney admitted, “Chuck Berry once did a song called ‘Back In The USA,’ which is very American, very Chuck Berry.”

Source: Isabella Torregiani/parade.com

If you’re a massive fan of The Beatles, you’ve undoubtedly perused the numerous documentaries on the Fab Four. Disney will release a restored and expanded documentary series, The Beatles Anthology, on November 26. 

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, The Beatles Anthology has been restored and will be released with previously unseen footage of the Fab Four.  The docu-series premieres on Disney+ with the first three episodes on November 26, 2025.
Beatlemania continues to take hold of the world with The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, a four-part movie series starring Paul Mescal (as Sir Paul McCartney), Barry Keoghan (as Ringo Starr), Joseph Quinn (as George Harrison), and Harris Dickinson (as John Lennon).

What is The Beatles Anthology?

Disney has released the trailer for the upcoming restored docu-series, which will premiere on November 26 with the first three episodes. Then, the next three will release on November 27, and the final three on November 28.

Originally broadcast in 1995, The Beatles Anthology features John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr discussing their time in the band, from their early days in Liverpool through the peak of Beatlemania and global fame. It was also followed by a Grammy Award®-winning home video release.

This restored version has been expanded from eight to nine episodes and restored for streaming. The new ninth episode includes previously unreleased footage of Paul, George and Ringo from the 1990s Anthology series.

The series joins other Beatles content on Disney+. So, if you need your Beatlemania appetite satisfied, you can stream Let It Be, Beatles ’64, and the Emmy®-winning The Beatles: Get Back.

The original series was part of a multimedia retrospective project. This included the docu-series, a three-volume set of double albums, and a book. What about The Beatles Anthology albums?

The albums were called Anthology 1, 2, and 3. They included rare tracks, demos, outtakes, and previously unreleased recordings from The Beatles’ career. Some of the most notable tracks were “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,”. The surviving Beatles made these new songs by using John Lennon’s demos.

In addition to Disney+ releasing the restored and expanded TV series, Apple Records is also releasing a new compilation album. It is titled Anthology 4. Producers used AI (machine learning-assisted audio restoration technology) to extract and refine John Lennon’s vocals from recordings for the album. Anthology 4 will also feature remixes of songs from the original albums, including “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”.

It is set to release on 21 November 2025.

Source: Orlaith Costello/womensweekly.com.au

During their reign, The Beatles were the No. 1 band in the world. You can argue that fact until you’re blue in the face, but that is the reality, and the numbers prove it. In the roughly eight years they were together, The Beatles had 20 No. 1 hits and 19 No. 1 albums. Needless to say, they dominated the charts, and consequently, they kicked these three iconic songs from No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Both of these songs are certainly among the greatest of all time. Without context, determining which song knocked the other out of the No. 1 spot is a coin toss. In 1970, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks. However, when “Let It Be” was released, that changed.

A month after the release of “Let It Be”, The Beatles booted Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” from the top spot. Subsequently, the iconic Beatles single stayed at the No. 1 spot for two weeks. It was the band’s penultimate No. 1 hit on the chart.
“Paperback Writer” & “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones

In 1966, the Rolling Stones’ early smash hit, “Paint It Black”, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for two consecutive weeks. Like clockwork, The Beatles swooped in and claimed the top spot on the chart with “Paperback Writer”.

Released in May of 1966, “Paperback Writer” took over the No. 1 spot roughly a month after its release. Following its No. 1 placement, the quintessential Beatles number spent two non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the chart. Despite overtaking the Stones, “Paint It Black” is still remembered as one of the greatest songs of 1966.

Source: Peter Burditt/americansongwriter.com

Other than the occasional track, like the 1972 single “Give Ireland Back to the Irish,” Paul McCartney isn’t generally associated with topical songs. But he’s changing his tune, so to speak, as part of a new protest by musicians against copyright theft by AI companies.

Originally released this past February, the album Is This What We Want? consisted entirety of background noise taped at recording studios, but no actual voices, songs, or instruments. The project was designed to draw attention to the way AI companies could exploit recorded music, along with other art forms, as the basis for projects, thanks to a proposed change in U.K. copyright law. According to a statement from the album organizers at the time, the record’s use of silence was meant to symbolize “the impact we expect the government’s proposals would have on musicians’ livelihoods.”

For the album’s upcoming vinyl release on Dec. 8, McCartney contributed his own blank slate: “Bonus Track,” which spans 2 minutes and 45 seconds long of silence.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, McCartney discussed his concerns about AI infiltrating his business. “You get young guys and girls coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it,” he said. “They don’t have anything to do with it, and anyone who wants can just rip it off … When it gets on the streaming platforms, somebody’s getting [the money], and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn’t just be some tech giant somewhere. Somebody’s getting paid. Why shouldn’t it be the guy who sat down and wrote ‘Yesterday’?”

Source: David Browne/rollingstone.com

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The mid-1970s were a tumultuous time for George Harrison, marking a period he called a “bit of a bender” as he spread himself thin on multiple music projects, partook in plenty of drugs and alcohol, and watched his relationships falter (or fail completely). Interestingly, his former bandmate, John Lennon, was going through a similar phase during what would become known as Lennon’s “lost weekend.” Several years had passed since The Beatles split, and the comedown was proving to be rather difficult.

For Harrison, this translated into some rather lackluster and divisive music, including a track he released on November 18, 1974. The ex-Beatle released two singles in the States: “Dark Horse” as the A-side and “I Don’t Care Anymore” as the B-side. The latter track had clear country and skiffle influences, harkening back to Harrison’s early days with The Beatles in Liverpool. But aside from this rootsy homage, the song did little to impress critics. Most seized the opportunity to reference the song title, claiming that the performance and lyrical content showed Harrison really didn’t care. If he didn’t, they wondered, why should they?

“The singer begins by announcing that he needs a B-side number,” one review read. “One can’t take him very seriously after that, and thank goodness. The lyrics, which wantonly defend an adulterous relationship, must be condemned, to borrow from ‘Devil’s Radio’, as ‘words that thoughtless speak.’ This is not what we need to hear from anybody.”

Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com

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“I was just too frightened – it was too big a moment with everyone looking at the guitar player. I couldn’t do it”: Paul McCartney was meant to be the Beatles’ lead guitarist – then stage fright led him to George Harrison.

Picture “The Beatles” in your mind – what do you see? There's the logo, four mop-top lads in suits, screaming girls mobbing airport runways... and Paul McCartney plucking away at his Hofner violin bass guitar.  Obviously, though, generational talent that he is, McCartney is and always has been a mean guitarist as well. Even before the world's most famous rock group went their separate ways, McCartney had already put to vinyl an enviable catalog of six-string greatness.

PAUL McCARTNEY: A great thing about Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and the provinces, is that they all have places with famous names, and the first gig with The Quarry Men was on Broadway – in Liverpool. (We made our first record in a little demo studio in Kensington, Liverpool.)

For my first gig, I was given a guitar solo on Guitar Boogie. I could play it easily in rehearsal so they elected that I should do it as my solo. Things were going fine, but when the moment came in the performance I got sticky fingers; I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ I was just too frightened; it was too big a moment with everyone looking at the guitar player. I couldn’t do it. (I never played a solo again until a few years ago.) That’s why George was brought in.

I knew George from the bus. Before I went to live in Allerton, I lived in Speke. We lived on an estate which they used to call the Trading Estate. (I understand now that they were trying to move industry there to provide jobs, but then we didn’t ever consider why it was called a trading estate.)

Source: Guitar World/Jackson Maxwell