Music can be a spellbinding thing. With closed eyes and the right song on, the listener can be transported to a very specific place and time – to one’s first kiss, a time of euphoria or tragedy. Answering a fan-submitted question on his website, Paul McCartney has listed his three favorite albums, citing their ability to recall particular moments in his life as his reasons for choosing them.

“My partner and I have recently been discussing the albums and songs that have soundtracked our lives,” McCartney fan, Alex, writes. “Are there any albums that take you back to certain periods in your life? And does performing your own music evoke similar memories?”

The Beatle, who has recently reunited with his iconic Hofner bass after it went missing for half a century, was forthcoming with his answer, listing his three favorite records, but falling short of sharing the times, places, and emotions they bring flooding back.

“My favourite albums by other people,” he says, “tend to be: Music from Big Pink by the Band, Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, and Harvest by Neil Young. They are the three classics that I love to listen to, and they all remind me of certain times in my life.”

Brian Wilson wrote 1966 album Pet Sounds after his crippling stage fright saw him retire from the road and seek solace in the studio. Rich with timeless classics including “God Only Knows,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” it established the guitarist and vocalist as one of his generation's finest pop arrangers.

Source: guitarplayer.com/Phil Weller

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John Lennon and Paul McCartney are the most successful songwriting pair in the history of music, regarding both numerical success and intangible success. The last thing we need to do is remind you about how much they’ve accomplished, and frankly, if we wanted to do it in full detail, this article would be well over a thousand words. Though what is not as widely known is how McCartney and Lennon’s juxtaposing personalities led to the most iconic musical partnership of all time.

On the surface, one can pick up on the differences between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. McCartney, in a general sense, is far more jubilant, politely compliant, and willing to take part in the game of being the most famous musician in the world. Lennon was seemingly not that, as he was rebellious, dark, and guarded, and spoke his mind no matter the situation. However, it’s these differences, and others, that quite possibly made them such a successful pair

In The Beatles canon, it is fairly common knowledge that Paul McCartney was the more talented musician, and John Lennon the more talented poet. Attesting to that fact is George Martin in the book, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. “All the time [Paul’s] trying to do better, especially trying to equal John’s talent for words. Meeting John has made him try for deeper lyrics. But for meeting John, I doubt if Paul could have written ‘Eleanor Rigby,’” stated Martin.

Source: newsbreak.com/Peter Burditt

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John Lennon often talked about the fact that he wanted the verses to the songs that he wrote to have the same musical potency as the choruses. Although he never stated this intent, Lennon also had a knack for dropping lines into the middle of his songs that could stop you in your tracks with their profundity. In his classic song “Strawberry Fields Forever”, a couplet in the second verse summed up much of what the song was meant to convey. And it also provided a stunning glimpse into just how Lennon saw himself within the wider world.

As The Beatles prepared to make new music in 1967, John Lennon and Paul McCartney originally gave themselves a brief to write about their childhoods. Although they soon abandoned the idea, it stuck around long enough to influence the songs that would serve as the band’s first single of the year, a double A-side.

McCartney wrote “Penny Lane”. The song takes a specific look at the people and places he remembered encountering as a kid. Lennon based “Strawberry Fields Forever” around a local park area within the grounds of a Salvation Army home. But the location simply served as a touchstone for happier memories, a la Rosebud in Citizen Kane.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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‘The Beatles Anthology’ Expands With a 9th Episode and 4th Volume

This episode goes behind the scenes of the 1995 documentary; new mixes of “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” are coming out; and an updated book is due.

The Beatles are back: Unreleased demos and never before seen footage are coming later this fall.

The fourth volume of the band’s “Anthology Collection” of recordings (including 13 new demos) is arriving, along with a capstone episode to the 1995 eight-part documentary and a 25th-anniversary edition of “The Beatles Anthology” book.

The album, “Anthology 4,” includes new mixes of “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” The release will accompany remastered versions of the first three “Anthology” albums as well, and will be available Nov. 21.

Source: nytimes.com/Michaela Towfighi

John Lennon was certainly not a man known for biting his tongue, whether conversationally or musically through his lyrics, and that included his feelings about a controversial career move Bob Dylan made in the late 1970s. (Though, to be fair to Lennon, everyone seemed to have an opinion on this interesting pivot in the singer-songwriter’s discography.)

Lennon’s snarky response to arguably one of the best songs to come out of this Dylan era never made it to an official album. The song landed on posthumous archival releases, though, granting us insight into Lennon’s opinions that went deeper than what he was willing to divulge to the press. 

Love it or hate it, Bob Dylan’s Christian era was a pivotal moment in his career. For critics, it was difficult to reconcile this gospel-preaching Dylan with the 1960s rebel who spoke out against authoritarian figures of all kinds. For Dylan purists, it was one of many unique stages in his musical career, yet another testament to the songwriter’s broad abilities. These camps inevitably included some of Dylan’s contemporaries, who felt strongly one way or another about his late 1970s career shift. John Lennon tried to ride the fence on the issue…to the press, anyway.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis

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The classic music documentary series, The Beatles Anthology, is being remastered by Peter Jackson’s production companies and will stream on Disney+ later this year. As well as digitally enhanced versions of the original eight episodes, there will also be a brand new ninth episode, created from previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr coming together around the release of the original series.

The series, which was first broadcast by ITV in 1995, was hailed as the definitive documentary on the Beatles thanks to the way it reunited the surviving three Beatles with their producer George Martin, former press officer Derek Taylor and one-time road manager Neil Aspinall to tell the tale of their career in their own words. Its release was accompanied by the single, Free As a Bird, the first new piece of music put out by the scouse quartet since their disbanding. It was so shrouded in secrecy that record label EMI used armed guards to protect it ahead of its release.

The remastered series, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the original, is the latest Beatles project from Jackson’s Wingnut Films and Park Road Post teams. They previously worked on the eight-hour Disney+ docuseries The Beatles: Get Back – which used remastered footage originally filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his 1970 film Let It Be – and the accompanying concert movie, which Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw called “unmissable.”

It will be accompanied by an album featuring session outtakes, previously unreleased demos and other rare recordings, curated by Martin’s son Giles. Anthology 4 includes new mixes of the singles originally released to accompany the Anthology TV series, Free As A Bird and Real Love, featuring de-mixed John Lennon vocals used by the songs’ original producer, Jeff Lynne. Giles Martin has also remastered the three original Anthology albums, released in 1995 and 1996. The project will be released in November, alongside an updated version of the Anthology book.

Source: theguardian.com/Alexi Duggins

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