A collection of seven thousand autographs, including a self-portrait of Beatles guitarist John Lennon and Yoko Ono, has sold for more than £55 thousand at a Bristol auction house.

The items belonged to Dutchman Jan van Bree, who started collecting in 1957 after he wrote to Italian singer Beniamino Gigli and received a handwritten reply. Van Bree went on to collect signatures from celebrities across the world by writing them letters, waiting outside theatres and buying historical autographs.

The collection, which auctioneers have described as 'the best they've ever seen,' includes signed cheques, programmes, and letters.

Andrew Stowe of Auctioneum, which sells across Bristol and Bath, said: "I was awestruck." The Lennon and Ono sketch was drawn during the couple's 1969 'bed-in' anti-war protest.  

"It’s the sheer variety of Jan’s collection that makes it so special," Andrew added.

"We’ve got autographs from all areas of history, entertainment and political figures. We’ve got sixteenth century royalty alongside Black Sabbath, John Steinbeck alongside Laurel and Hardy. "It’s a comprehensive ‘who’s who’ of famous signatures". 

Van Bree stored most of his collection in albums but also kept hundreds loose.

He died in April 2024 and the collection was put up for sale by his family.

Source: ITV News

Imagine taking a nice peaceful walk by the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and spotting Paul McCartney - yes, THAT Paul McCartney - just hanging out under a random overpass? No security detail, no adoring fans swarming him, just Sir Paul lounging up by the concrete pillars, soaking up the sunshine and the scenic majesty of....a highway bridge and the "usual graffiti". It's hilarious how cheerfully he narrates, “Here we are in Tulsa! Some sort of overpass!” as if he’s stumbled upon one of America's great wonders.

It's beautiful, and in a weird way - it all makes sense. McCartney has always been about simplicity - finding melody in the mundane and whatnot. Maybe he was there to reconnect with nature, or maybe he just wanted to smoke a funny cigarette in peace. He was known to enjoy some marijuana back in his day....

Either way, it’s kind of awesome. A Beatle sitting under a bridge in Tulsa, pondering the universe, maybe humming a tune, maybe lighting something up. If nirvana/enlightenment has a location, it might just be that patch of grass under an Oklahoma bridge with Sir Paul smiling at the clouds. It's brought on some great comments as well....

Source: Robbie Fox

Read the comments<<<

The Fab Four released a ton of music while they were together in the 1960s. And they continued to release deep cuts, first takes, demos, and more after the band called it quits. There’s a lot to pick through when it comes to Beatles deep cuts. Personally, I’m a fan of the following three tunes. Let’s take a look!

“Free As A Bird”

Can a song be a deep cut if it made it all the way to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 2 on the UK Singles chart? Considering this band has a laundry list of memorable hits and “Free As A Bird” rarely seems to make it to anyone’s list, I’ll go ahead and include this standout track from Anthology 1.

Released decades after the band broke up in 1995, “Free As A Bird” was a fast hit for fans of The Beatles in the mid-1990s. It’s a lovely John Lennon composition with a soft rock vibe to it. To be honest, I’m really not sure why so many people forgot about it.

“Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1)”

The album version of “Tomorrow Never Knows” is obviously not a deep cut, but this first take certainly is. This is one of my all-time favorite Beatles deep cuts, and I only just discovered it a few months ago. It’s somehow even more psychedelic than the album version. Truly, I find myself listening to this take more than the famous Revolver version. You’ll find the first take of “Tomorrow Never Knows” on Anthology 2, released in 1996.

“Ain’t She Sweet”

This is not a Beatles original, but the Fab Four certainly did something cool with it. “Ain’t She Sweet” was originally composed and written by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen in the year 1927 as a jazz-pop tune. It was quite popular, particularly throughout the rest of the 1920s. The Beatles loved this tune quite a bit, and John Lennon was a fan of the tune for a while before it was brought to the Fab Four’s plate. Their version was first released as a single in 1964, though it was originally recorded in 1961. If you want some Beatles deep cuts that showcase what the band sounded like when they first started, give this one a spin.

Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com

Read More>>>

The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr and the band's producer, George Martin, agreed that one album was a mistake.

Shortly after meeting in 1957, the group's chief songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, began writing songs together. Soon, their songwriting partnership became one of the most successful in music as they crafted hit after hit.

However, as the Fab Four began to drift apart and explore other interests, most of the tension between Lennon and McCartney stemmed from their differing approaches to songwriting. While McCartney wanted to make catchy hits, Lennon strived to experiment with thought-provoking tunes. What resulted was a messy double-album called The White Album.

While some of The Beatles' biggest hits arrived on the 30-track record, including Blackbird and Happiness Is A Warm Gun, The White Album is considered one of the Fab Four's most chaotic endeavors.

George Martin, often referred to as the Fifth Beatle, had a significant issue with the project. "I thought we should probably have made a very, very good single album rather than a double," he admitted, according to the Anthology book.

However, Martin knew Lennon and McCartney didn't want to break up the tracks. He added, "But they insisted. I think it could have been made fantastically good if it had been compressed a bit and condensed.

"A lot of people I know think it’s still the best album they made. I later learned that by recording all those songs, they were getting rid of their contact with EMI more quickly."

Songs like Wild Honey Pie, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey, and The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill tend to be some of the most forgotten songs in The Beatles' entire catalog. It's obvious that they were filler.

 Even Starr agreed the album was a mistake. "I agree that we should have put it out as two separate albums," Starr said. "The White and Whiter albums."  Meanwhile, McCartney's issue with the album wasn't its length. According to Far Out, he admitted that pushing the band to do its best, something he normally did, was no longer enjoyable. So, The White Album wasn't "a pleasant one to make."

Lennon, on the other hand, later admitted to Martin that he wanted to re-record all of The Beatles' songs. While speaking with Robert Sandall, Martin recalled that Lennon had plans for certain songs as well.

He explained, "We were just chatting about old times, and he suddenly came out and said, 'I'd like to do everything we've done over again.' And I said, 'You don't think we did anything right?' He said, 'Most of what we did was crap.' I said, 'Well, what about Strawberry Fields?' and he said, 'ESPECIALLY Strawberry Fields.'"

Source: Hannah Furnell/irishstar.com

After the break-up of the biggest band in the world, what comes next? Man on the Run, the new documentary featuring rare unreleased music and footage from Paul McCartney, premieres 25th February on Prime Video.

Man on the Run takes viewers on an intimate journey through Paul McCartney's extraordinary life following the break-up of The Beatles and the formation of Wings with his wife, Linda. From Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville, the film chronicles the arc of Paul's solo career as he faces down a myriad of challenges while creating new music to define a new decade. Through unprecedented access to previously unseen footage and rare archival materials, the documentary captures Paul’s transformative post-Beatles era through a uniquely vulnerable lens.

Man on the Run, presented by Amazon MGM Studios, is produced by Tremolo, in association with MPL and Polygram Entertainment, will be released in select theaters and subsequently available on Prime Video February 25 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Producers include Morgan Neville, Chloe Simmons, and Meghan Walsh for Tremolo; Scott Rodger and Ben Chappell for MPL; and Michele Anthony and David Blackman for Polygram Entertainment. Executive producers include Caitrin Rogers and Paul McCartney.

The film coincides with the release of Paul's book Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, which will be available on 4th November 2025, WINGS the definitive self-titled collection available on streaming and limited edition vinyl on 7th November, and Paul's Got Back tour dates across North America this autumn.

Source: paulmccartney.com

Ringo Starr’s solo career proved that he could write some excellent songs. But while he was with The Beatles, he lacked the confidence in that department to stack up against the work of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. Lennon and McCartney made sure that Ringo’s voice was still heard. These three songs, written by the pair, proved tailor-made for Ringo Starr as a vocalist.

“Yellow Submarine” from ‘Revolver’ (1966)

The early drafts of the song that would become “Yellow Submarine” read much darker than the finished version. A demo that was unearthed for a reissue of Revolver found John Lennon singing, in hushed tones, these lyrics: “In the place where I was born, no one cared, no one cared.” Nothing like the happy-go-lucky sea captain narrator who would eventually populate the song. That’s probably because there was no water vehicle involved in the beginning. Somewhere along the line, The Beatles decided to make it into a kids’ song. Rock bands rarely attempted such a thing. Paul McCartney came up with the concept of the “Yellow Submarine”. He and Lennon clearly had a blast making up the seaworthy sound effects in the instrumental break. Ringo Starr’s vocal also carries a lot of the weight, imbuing the simple melody with charm and wonder.

“With A Little Help From My Friends” from ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Tired of every piece of music that they created being scrutinized to the hilt, The Beatles decided to record Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the guise of an imaginary group. The gambit didn’t really deflect any attention. In fact, the album became one of the most closely studied in the history of music anyway. And they didn’t really follow the concept through past the opening and closing songs. But Ringo Starr did help put the idea across by coming on to the fake stage and delivering “With A Little Help From My Friends” as the crooner Billy Shears. Lennon and McCartney wrote the song as the kind of thing you might expect an entertainer like that to perform as a showstopper. And Starr rose to the occasion. He’s extremely lovable, engaging in back-and-forth exchanges with Lennon and McCartney in the verses. And he brings home the high note at the end for everything it’s worth.

Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com

Read More<<<