For the most part, the Beatles had a keen sense of which member should take on lead vocals. Most of their catalog feels right and just–every member playing to their strengths. However, there are a few songs that could’ve done well with a switcharoo. Below, find three Beatles songs that arguably beg for a different frontman.

“When I’m Sixty Four”

While “When I’m Sixty Four” screams “Paul McCartney”, it would have an entirely different tone if Ringo Starr were to have been the lead vocalist. From McCartney’s point-of-view, this Beatles song is a syrupy-sweet mark of devotion. Like many of his best tracks, “When I’m Sixty Four” sees McCartney wear his heart on his sleeve when he sings, Will you still need me, will you still feed me / When I’m sixty-four? If this song had been given to Starr, it would’ve been a light-hearted tune, akin to “Yellow Submarine”. It would’ve been given a shot of humor–one that would’ve likely helped this song in its heyday. Many, like John Lennon, felt this tune was a little too schmaltzy for the Beatles. Starr’s irreverent take would’ve helped to cut some of the heavy-lifting fans had to do.

“Across the Universe”

On paper, “Across the Universe” seems more like a song George Harrison would’ve written amid his Hare Krishna days. It’s just heady enough to give off the impression of higher enlightenment and meditative practice. Lennon sings this song perfectly well. His distinctive vocals helped make this song a classic in the Beatles’ catalog. However, we dare to say that Harrison on lead vocals could’ve made an even bigger splash. But, all’s well that ends well, we guess. Harrison had plenty of songs that flexed his soul-searching intellect.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper

Read More<<<

Everyone knows John, Paul, George, and Ringo — the Beatles who rocked the world. But behind every great band is a squad of secret weapons, the unsung legends who kept the magic alive. Meet the “Fifth Beatles”: the managers, musicians, and mates who played crucial roles in the Fab Four’s rise to superstardom. From early bandmates to behind-the-scenes masterminds, their stories are just as fascinating as the music itself.

Stuart Sutcliffe
The Beatles’ original bassist and close friend of John Lennon, Sutcliffe was as much a visual architect of the band’s early image as he was a musician. His moptop hairstyle set the style for the band, even if his playing was less than polished. Sadly, he left the band early and passed away young.

Pete Best
Drummer before Ringo, Pete Best toured and played with the Beatles during their crucial Hamburg and Liverpool days. Despite being replaced just before their big break, Best’s role in the band’s development is undeniable, earning him a solid claim to the title.

Chas Newby
A temporary bassist who filled in briefly after the band returned from Germany, Newby played a handful of shows before returning to university. His brief tenure helped the Beatles keep their momentum before McCartney took over on bass.

Jimmie Nicol
For eight shows on the 1964 world tour, Nicol stepped in as drummer when Ringo was ill. His stint was short but historic, making him the “fifth Beatle” on tour, albeit briefly.

Brian Epstein
The Beatles’ manager, and arguably the most important figure in their rise to superstardom. Epstein’s business savvy, belief in the band, and grooming helped transform them from a local Liverpool act into global icons. McCartney and Martin called him the real “fifth Beatle.”

Source: thatericalper.com/Eric Alper

Read More>>>

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MSUCG) announced the opening of the exhibition Yoko Ono called “Unfinished”, scheduled for Thursday, June 19th at 20 p.m., in the exhibition spaces of the Petrović Palace and the Perjanički dom in Kruševac, Podgorica. The exhibition curators are Maša Vlaović, Gunar B. Kvaran and Connor Monahan.

Yoko Ono is one of the key figures of avant-garde and conceptual art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Her work knows no boundaries; it moves fluidly between experiment, performance, poetry, music and film, while her tireless social and political activism, especially in the field of women's rights and peace initiatives, forms the core of her work.

Her art breaks down traditional boundaries between artistic disciplines and rejects the passive role of the audience, inviting each individual to become an active participant, co-creator, and agent of change.
A wide spectrum of creativity

From her early “instructional works” from the 1950s, through performances and films that call for collective action, to contemporary installations, Yoko Ono builds an authentic artistic language in which the personal and the universal, the poetic and the political, the spiritual and the physical constantly intertwine.

Source: en.vijesti.me/Vijesti

Read More<<<

The Beatles' fans were left stunned by the revelation that John Lennon and Paul McCartney almost reunited for an album post Fab Four's split.  The legendary songwriting duo had entertained the notion of collaborating on a fresh record in the 1970s.

Wings, spearheaded by McCartney following his departure from the Beatles, was busy crafting a new album at the same time Lennon mulled over an impromptu studio reunion with his former writing partner partner.  Had he attended the studio with McCartney it would have been an occasion which would have marked their first joint effort since The Beatles disbanded.

However, the stars never aligned, and Lennon and McCartney never shared the recording studio again. Fans have only recently discovered how close the pair came to working together once more.

If Lennon had joined McCartney at the recording sessions, his involvement would have likely been some of the tracks of 'Venus and Mars', Wings' milestone album now celebrating 50 years since its release.  A fan shared on the r/PaulMcCartney subreddit: "On this day in 1975, Wings released 'Venus and Mars'. As the follow-up to 'Band on the Run', the album continued Wings' run of commercial success.

"John Lennon almost visited the recording sessions and considered writing with Paul again. What's your favourite track?"

Beatles enthusiasts have been heaping praise on the classic album while speculating on how Lennon might have influenced what has become a McCartney masterpiece.  Fans have taken to sharing their fond memories of the album, with one user commenting: "This has always been my favorite Wings album.

"The popular songs weren't played to death on FM radio back in the day quite as much as the songs from Band on the Run, and I think it's pretty clear this was the best incarnation of Wings' lineup."

Source: express.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow

Read More>>>

Kiss have firmly left their stamp on the world of glam rock, but they carved out their sound thanks to the music legends that came before them. In fact, Gene Simmons insists that rock and roll wouldn’t be the same today without The Beatles.

Speaking on The School Of Greatness, the Kiss bassist named The Beatles as some of the greatest musicians and songwriters in musical history. “The Beatles are above and beyond anything that anybody’s seen in music over, oh, 200 years?” he says. “Easily. Not since the Renaissance.”

As proof of the band’s genius, he points to how unlikely it was for a group of lads from Liverpool to succeed in the industry. “You have to understand, they only existed for seven years and they came from a place that was a pool filled with liver – Liverpool – where nothing ever happened,” he explains. “High unemployment rate, no experience, no resume, no nothing!”

Despite the circumstances, The Beatles were able to toy with music in a way few had before them. “‘I wanna hold your hand’, ‘She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,’” he sings as evidence. “That last chord, that minor ninth, is a sophisticated chord, if you know about music. It’s almost like a jazz chord – unheard of in rock music!”

He then points to other ‘great’ rock songs in comparison to The Beatles, noting how the Liverpool stars rarely teased their audience. “[The Rolling Stones’] Satisfaction is one of the great songs… yet it takes about 40 seconds to get to the first ‘I can’t get no…” he says. “[Cream’s] Sunshine Of Your Love takes about 50 seconds to get [to] ‘I’ve been waiting so long’.”

The Beatles, on the other hand, always cut to the chase. Simmons re-imagines how the lads might have written the 1965 track, Help!: “‘I just wrote a new song’, ‘What is it called?’, ‘It’s called Help!’, ‘How does it go?’, ‘It goes like this: Help! I need somebody. Help!’”

He then points to Yesterday, Michelle, and Hey Jude to further back his case. “There’s not even an introduction, nothing,” he explains.

Source:guitar.com/Emily Swingle

Read More<<<

The sheer magnitude of the Beatles’ fame makes it easy to forget that when they first reached the peak of their stardom in the mid-1960s, they were just a group of ragtag, young 20-somethings who happened to land a big break. When the future Fab Four first met, they were even younger teens. For most of us, the idea of forging an entire career (and, more generally, a life) with the people we hung out with in high school. Yet, that’s how the Beatles, one of the biggest rock bands of all time, got their start.

Indeed, before they were topping the charts and touring the world, the band’s primary songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, were busy trying to see what kind of trouble they could get into at their childhood homes.

And like the resourceful lads they were, they certainly found it. Paul McCartney Describes “Teenage Fool Antics” With John Lennon

The Beatles saw and did more exciting and wilder things during their short tenure as a band than most people will experience in their whole lifetimes. But before they got their big break in the early 1960s, they weren’t that different from any other aspiring young male musician. They taught each other chords, made up silly lyrics to their favorite cover songs, and tried desperately to attract the opposite sex with little to no avail. Paul McCartney and John Lennon longed for the day they could get famous just from playing their guitars. But before that could happen, the two friends passed the time looking for ways to feel older and “cooler” while they wrote their music.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis

Read More<<<