The donation was described as an "extraordinary endorsement"

Yoko Ono has made a "generous" donation to ensure the continuation of a free concert series in Liverpool. Yoko made a donation via Spirit Foundation to the Tung Auditorium’s lunchtime concert series at the University of Liverpool's Yoko Ono Lennon Centre.

Spirit Foundations is the charitable foundation established by Yoko and John Lennon and the donation ensures the continuation of the popular free concert programme for the next three years. The series will now be known as the Yoko Ono Lennon Lunchtime Concert Series in honour of her contribution.   A spokesperson from Spirit Foundations said: “It gives us great pleasure to know the popular lunchtime concert series will continue. Music has power — it can heal, connect, and uplift.

‌"By supporting this series, it is our hope that audiences from all backgrounds will continue to experience the joy, inspiration and sense of unity that live music brings. The fact that these concerts remain free and accessible makes this support especially meaningful."

Yoko is an honorary graduate and long-standing philanthropic supporter of the university. The newly renamed series will launch on September 24 with a performance by rising local artist Remée, presented in partnership with BlackFest.

Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Dan Haygarth

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John Lennon had a distinctively droll sense of humor, a wealth of insights from a career defined by unfathomable success and public scrutiny, and, yes, a charmingly rough handwriting style. If a letter from the musician showed up in your mailbox, you could probably figure out the source without even glancing at the return address. And for most aspiring folk artists, receiving such a note would have been life-changing—that is, if it was even delivered.

That scenario is now forever linked to Steve Tilston, a British singer-songwriter who shared his experience in 2010. It all dates back to an interview with underground music magazine ZigZag from 1971, conducted shortly after the release of his debut LP, An Acoustic Confusion. As Tilston recalled to the BBC in 2010, the ZigZag interviewer asked the 21-year-old artist "whether, if I received untold wealth and fortune, it would have a detrimental effect on my songwriting." He added, "I thought it was bound to, but obviously John Lennon disagreed, and he wrote to me to point out the error of my ways."

The letter itself, which included the former Beatle’s phone number, is both thoughtful and gently snarky—classic Lennon. "Being rich doesn't change your experience in the way you think," he wrote. "The only difference, basically, is that you don't have to worry about money—food, roof, etc. But all other experiences—emotions, relationships—are the same as anybody’s. I know. I've been rich and poor. So has [wife] Yoko [Ono] (rich—poor—rich). So whadya think of that." The message is signed "Love, John & Yoko," accentuated by self-portrait doodles.

The exact origins of the letter are reportedly unclear, but Tilston said he was contacted in 2005 with a request to confirm its authenticity. "I got an e-mail from the man who now owns it. I don't know how he came upon it," he told the BBC. "He bought it in America, and he asked me to verify if I was the Steve Tilston who the letter was addressed to." The musician only revealed his incredible tale in 2010, when a journalist asked him to share something about his life that people didn’t know. “So I said, ‘Oh, there was this letter John Lennon sent me with his phone number on it,'" he told The Guardian in 2015.

Source: good.is/Ryan Reed

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In one of his final interviews before his death, John Lennon explained the true meaning behind one of The Beatles' most enduring and debated lyrics - 'the Walrus was Paul'

John Lennon once opened up about The Beatles' enigmatic lyric "the Walrus was Paul" from their 1967 hit Glass Onion.

‌The phrase had sparked wild speculation and conspiracy theories among fans about clandestine messages in Beatles tunes. Yet for Lennon, the truth was simpler. "That's me, just doing a throwaway song, à la 'Walrus', à la everything I've ever written," Lennon confided to Playboy's David Sheff in 1980. "I threw the line in – 'the Walrus was Paul' – just to confuse everybody a bit more."

This revelation came years after devotees started poring over Beatles lyrics for concealed clues, especially amid the notorious "Paul is dead" hoax.

Lennon often penned enigmatic verses that left admirers pondering their actual significance. However, when quizzed on the notable Glass Onion line, he clarified it wasn't meant for deep analysis.  "I thought Walrus has now become me, meaning 'I am the one,'" he continued. "Only it didn't mean that in this song. It could have been 'the fox terrier is Paul,' you know." ‌

He remarked, "I mean, it's just a bit of poetry. It was just thrown in like that." Yet, he conceded that the song did carry some weight. Lennon acknowledged, "The line was put in partly because I was feeling guilty because I was with Yoko and I was leaving Paul.

Source: irishstar.com/Ayaan Ali

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When you’ve led a life as storied as Paul McCartney’s, it must be tempting to write every song about the experiences that you’ve had. Although Macca has occasionally dipped into nostalgia in his songs, he mostly keeps that tendency in check.

Interestingly enough, his occasional reminiscences in song often go flying right past his Beatles days. On his 2007 track, “That Was Me”, he looks back with incredulity to his pre-fame youth.  

Paul McCartney’s 2007 album Memory Almost Full took a while to reach fruition. McCartney started compiling the songs for it four years earlier, recording bits of it with his touring band. But he shelved the project for a bit to work with producer Nigel Godrich. Those sessions became the acclaimed 2005 album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard.

Coming off that success, McCartney didn’t take too long to dive back into Memory Almost Full. He touched up some of the songs that the band had finished. In addition, he wrote new material to fill out the running order.

Despite the disjointed creative process, he stumbled into one of his most thematically cohesive albums. As the title suggests, many of the songs look back and try to make sense of the past. “That Was Me”, which is part of an album-ending medley of songs, goes way back, as McCartney explained on the album’s promotional website:

“People often say they can remember more from their childhood than they can from a month ago. I think that is a fact of life – I don’t know why. So all I had to do for this song was to think back.”  Behind the Lyrics of “That Was Me”

McCartney shapes “That Was Me” as a series of snapshots, ones that he can call up in his mind even when he doesn’t have a picture on which he can rely. He seems to be confiding in his audience, taking them aside to explain to them that this person from such humble beginnings is indeed the guy singing to millions in the present.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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TODAY is Global Beatles Day, and we’re remembering the band that changed the face of music forever.

The day, also known as World Beatles Day, honours and celebrates the ideals of The Beatles. The date, June 25, was chosen to commemorate the day the band participated in the BBC show Our World in 1967, performing “All You Need Is Love” for an international audience.

The event was inaugurated in 2009 by Beatles fan Faith Cohen, who calls it “a thank you or love letter to The Beatles”.

It is celebrated with music and a variety of events celebrating peace and harmony.
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. (we know you know that Beatles Fans)

They are widely regarded as the most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form.

Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock.

As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, The Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era’s youth and sociocultural movements.

The band is the bestselling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They are the most successful act in the history of the US Billboard charts, with the most number one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (20), and they hold the record for most number one albums on the UK Albums Chart (15) and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million).

Source: uk.news.yahoo.com

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The Beatles turned the studio into a lethal weapon on their 1966 album Revolver. Producer George Martin and the four men in the group went to great lengths to create sounds that broke down the boundaries of pop music.

The music from Revolver is endlessly surprising and compelling. So too are some of the stories behind the making of this legendary LP by the Fab Four.

John Lennon gained a reputation as someone who loved his shuteye. He wrote about it on Revolver in the song “I’m Only Sleeping”, which defended his right to sleep away even his waking hours. His penchant for sawing logs also inadvertently led to one of the most momentous songs on the record. Paul McCartney arrived at Lennon’s abode one day to start a writing session. But he had to wait a bit for his pal, because Lennon was still sleeping in when Paul arrived. To make the most of the time, McCartney settled out near the swimming pool. By the time Lennon awoke, Macca had pretty much written the gorgeous ballad “Here, There And Everywhere” while waiting. 

We tend to think of “Yellow Submarine” as the ultimate kids’ song. The fact that it was turned into a well-regarded animated movie certainly plays into that notion. But when it began, it was something much different. A recent reissue of Revolver included some of the working tapes for the various songs on the album. On that release, you can hear John Lennon singing these downcast lyrics to the main melody of the verses: “In the place where I was born / No one cared, no one cared.” That’s a far cry from the finished version, one where Ringo Starr sings of the wonders of the ocean blue while Lennon and Paul McCartney make crazed aquatic noises. 

Whenever The Beatles came to America, everybody wanted to have an audience with them. That included other rock stars and Hollywood celebrities. At one point, while taking a little breather in California during a tour break in 1965, the band threw a party at the house where they were staying. During that party, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr all took LSD. Harrison had a somewhat adverse reaction during his trip, believing at one point that he was dead. Actor Peter Fonda, who attended the party, tried to comfort Harrison by telling him how he had lived through a near-death experience as a child. Lennon made the incident the basis of the lyrics to “She Said She Said”.

Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com

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