Imagine, released in 1971, dug as deep lyrically as John Lennon’s solo debut (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band). But Lennon also focused on making the album a more commercial affair that would reach a wider audience. He ended up with perhaps the most beloved album of his career. Here are five tidbits of trivia surrounding the songs on Imagine.

The whole idea behind the Imagine album was for John Lennon to deliver his opinions and beliefs in ways that were much more palatable to the music listening masses. Thanks to this strategy, the title track became an anthem almost instantly upon its release. Lennon had borrowed some ideas from Yoko Ono’s work for the concept of imagining a better world. After the song was released, Lennon mused that he should have given Ono credit as a co-writer. Years later, he would make good on his devotion to Ono’s musical input, as she would write and sing half the songs on Double Fantasy. 

John Lennon did everything he could to leave behind the specter of The Beatles once he left the group. On his first solo album, he even included the song “God”, which made clear his intention to put the Fab Four in his rear view mirror. But he didn’t shy away from some of the writing he did before the band broke up. In the case of “Jealous Guy”, Lennon reached back to a song that he wrote back in 1968 when he was on retreat in India with his other Beatles. It was originally called “Child Of Nature” and was inspired by a lecture given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com

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April 10, 1970, is one of the most memorable days in music history. It is the day the world lost the greatest band of all time, The Beatles. The Beatles’ breakup came in the form of a press release announced by Paul McCartney. To this day, the breakup seemingly makes many skip a heartbeat and lose a breath or two. It was just that culturally severe to the world. Though it wasn’t unexpected, as The Beatles’ breakup was years in the making, and their growing divide was rather common knowledge.

The most common timeline of The Beatles’ demise more or less starts in 1968 with the recording of the White Album and ends in 1970 with McCartney’s announcement. That is the arc the majority of fans refer to and have accepted. However, a source close to The Beatles once said that their demise started years before their end. Specifically, after The Beatles quit touring.

That source is Hunter Davies, the author of the only authorized biography of The Beatles. According to Davies, The Beatles’ decline started before the White Album, and in total, lasted roughly around four years.

Source: Peter Burditt/americansongwriter.com

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Las Vegas has hosted its share of spectacles (and then some), but nothing quite like the night Sir Paul McCartney turned Allegiant Stadium into Abbey Road West. One of pop music’s most celebrated living legends brought his Got Back tour to Sin City, and the result was a euphoric, nearly three-hour romp through a rock n’ roll time machine that had nearly 60,000 fans singing, dancing, crying, and grinning like teenagers seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan all over again.

It was McCartney’s first show at Las Vegas’ shiny Allegiant Stadium—opened in 2020—and the energy was off the charts from the opening chord. With no Los Angeles stop on this leg, the stars turned out in force, with Amy Schumer, Drew Carey, and even Celine Dion among the crowd of fans and fellow icons who came to worship at the altar of Macca.

McCartney remains the embodiment of rock’s eternal youth. At 83 years young, he’s still cheeky, tireless, and bounding across the stage like a man half his age. This Got Back run marks his first major North American tour since 2022, and though he’s now playing to grandkids of his original fans, the music has lost none of its bite or brilliance.

He and his band—including Wix Wickens on keys, Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray on guitars, Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, and the Hot City Horns—opened with “Help!”, Paul’s voice as bright and urgent as ever, before slamming into “Coming Up”. “This world needs a little peace and understanding,” he said in earnest, before nodding to his show as the biggest party in Vegas on a Saturday night. That led into a run of “Got to Get You Into My Life”, “Drive My Car”, and a horn-soaked “Letting Go”.

Source: liveforlivemusic.com/Josh Martin

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Sony's long-awaited Beatles movie biopic plans are finally coming together.

Director Sam Mendes took the stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas to reveal the cast for the features and said that all four films are set for theatrical release in April 2028. The surprising plans to make four films - one for each member of the famed band - were first announced last year.

Drumroll, please: Mendes also brought the cast onstage. Set to star in the films are Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. Each of the four movies will focus on one of the members of the Fab Four.

"We're not just making one film about the Beatles - we're making four," Mendes said. "Perhaps this is a chance to understand them a little more deeply."

Mendes claimed that Sony film boss Tom Rothman called the projects "the first binge-able theatrical experience." After hitting the stage, all four actors recited lyrics from the band's song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and then took a Beatles-style synchronized bow.

"You have to match the boldness of the idea with a bold release strategy," Rothman told The Hollywood Reporter last year about the project that earned the Oscar-winning director a coveted signoff from the group's selective label Apple Corps. "There hasn't been an enterprise like this before, and you can't think about it in traditional releasing terms."

Source: MSN

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Sixty-two years ago today, on October 5, 1962, a single song marked the start of the most influential band in modern music history. “Love Me Do” introduced The Beatles to the world and launched a career that would transform popular music forever.

“Love Me Do” was released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone Records, under the catalogue number R4949, according to the official Beatles website. It was backed with “P.S. I Love You,” and became The Beatles’ debut single after years of performing in Liverpool and Hamburg clubs.

The song was one of the earliest originals from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, written several years before the group was signed. Early recordings featured three different drummers – Pete Best, Ringo Starr, and session player Andy White. Each one offered a slightly different sound that captured the band’s developing identity.

Though “Love Me Do” only reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1962, it was a big deal for an unknown band with no radio reputation. The harmonica-led tune and dual vocals by Lennon and McCartney gave the track a unique sound that set it apart from the heavily orchestrated pop that was dominating British airwaves at the time.

For The Beatles, “Love Me Do” was proof that original songwriting could connect with a mass audience. At the time, most new artists launched with cover songs, but this release showcased Lennon and McCartney’s ability to write and perform their own material.
The Beatles relaxing on a sofa during their early years in London.

When “Love Me Do” was reissued in the United States in 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, confirming that the little tune from 1962 had become a global phenomenon.

Plus, its influence extended beyond the charts. The single demonstrated the band’s signature blend of catchy melody and authentic charm, a formula that would soon define 1960s pop.

After “Love Me Do,” The Beatles released “Please Please Me,” “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” With each song, their popularity skyrocketed and before long, they became the biggest act in the world.

In 1982, to mark the single’s 20th anniversary, EMI reissued “Love Me Do” in the UK, where it climbed to No. 4 and was proof that the song’s appeal had continued across generations.

Today, “Love Me Do” is remembered as the song that opened the door. With just a few harmonica notes and two voices in harmony, The Beatles began the journey that cemented them in pop culture history.

Source: Whitney Danhauer/parade.com

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The first recorded use of guitar feedback can be found on The Beatles‘ I Feel Fine, according to John Lennon.

The guitarist claimed he and George Harrison‘s work on the track would be an innovative moment not just for the band but for music history, as it is allegedly the first recorded example of guitar feedback. Lennon would claim this in interviews after The Beatles broke up, where he would speak highly of the song. Lennon once described his work with Harrison on the A-side track as featuring a “typical Beatles bit”, and it seems to have worked. The song would top the charts in the UK and the US on release. Lennon would suggest I Feel Fine featured the first “feedback”, and doubled down on it in later interviews, going as far as to say The Beatles were ahead of Jimi Hendrix and The Who.

He said in 1972: “This was the first time feedback was used on a record. It’s right at the beginning.” Lennon would claim again in 1980 in an interview with Playboy, issuing a challenge for anyone to find a conscious use of guitar feedback. He said: “That’s me completely. Including the guitar lick with the first feedback anywhere.

“I defy anybody to find a record… unless it is some old blues record from 1922… that uses feedback that way. So I claim it for the Beatles. Before Hendrix, before The Who, before anybody. The first feedback on record.”

Before these claims surfaced, Lennon would suggest I Feel Fine is more a “typical Beatles bit” than anything else. He said: “George and I play the same bit on the guitar together– that’s the bit that’ll set your feet a-tapping, as the reviews say. The middle-eight is the most tuneful part, to me, because it’s a typical Beatles bit.”

Source: Ewan Gleadow/cultfollowing.co.uk

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