Beatles News
Though it would showcase the strengths of George Harrison as a songwriter better than The Beatles ever did, All Things Must Pass was not a smooth time for the so-called quiet one.
Harrison’s breakout solo album would come just a year after The Beatles had formally dissolved. His fellow bandmates had released projects of their own, but it was All Things Must Pass and songs like My Sweet Lord that gave Harrison a head start in his post-Beatles career. Despite the triple album featuring some of Harrison’s all-time great songs, including the Bob Dylan-inspired I’d Have You Anytime, the Something songwriter found himself feeling musically “paranoid” as a result of working with Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The songwriting duo would hardly let Harrison’s songs feature on The Beatles’ albums, leaving Harrison with a backlog of quality material that he placed on All Things Must Pass.
Speaking back in 1977 to Crawdaddy Magazine, Harrison confirmed that having Derek and the Dominos play on most of the songs, as well as finding a love for the Dylan-inspired I’d Have You Anytime, helped with the pains of recording his massive studio album.
He said: “I liked different songs for different reasons. I liked the first song that was on the album, I’d Have You Anytime, and particularly the recording of it, because Derek and the Dominos played on most of the tracks and it was a really nice experience making that album– because I was really a bit paranoid, musically. Having this whole thing with the Beatles had left me really paranoid.
“I remember having those people in the studio and thinking, ‘God, these songs are so fruity! I can’t think of which song to do.’ Slowly I realised, ‘We can do this one,’ and I’d play it to them and they’d say, ‘Wow, yeah! Great song!’ And I’d say, ‘Really? Do you really like it?’ I realised that it was okay… that they were sick of playing all that other stuff. It’s great to have a tune, and I liked that song, I’d Have You Anytime because of Bob Dylan.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
Kev McManus, Head of Liverpool UNESCO City of Music, reflects on this week’s announcement about a new home for The Beatles Story and how it will help support future talent…
Apple Corps will be opening a huge, new state of the art Beatles attraction in Liverpool in 2028. It is great news for the city in so many ways but for me what really struck home were the quotes from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Both acknowledged that The Beatles and Liverpool are inseparable. The city made them, and their ongoing love for the place shone through in their words.
The other really exciting element for me was the announcement that every ticket sold to The Beatles Story will contribute to the Apple Corps Liverpool Trust, a charitable initiative established to provide financial support and opportunities for emerging Liverpool artists. This type of support is absolutely vital at the moment – a time when it is increasingly difficult for emerging artists to breakthrough into a music industry that has changed beyond all recognition since the days that The Beatles did so.
This gift back to the city and its musicians is a brilliant gesture and it is why during the local press launch we had some musicians who had benefitted from our own talent development programme, LIMF Academy. Bethane, Koj, Michael Aldag and Astles are all now forging successful careers in the music industry. They were all able to talk about how important the type of support that this funding will facilitate can be. Yaw Owusu, who developed the LIMF Academy concept and has managed it alongside the team from Culture Liverpool, was also there to give his insights into why programmes like this are invaluable in helping emerging artists to develop sustainable careers.
In May this year Liverpool partnered with Hamburg for the Hamburg River Festival. There is obviously a very strong link between the two cities because it is widely recognised that their stints in Hamburg helped forge The Beatles into the all-conquering group they became. In recognition of the fact the Liverpool’s musical development didn’t end with The Beatles, we sent over five emerging artists from the Academy stable who showcased the strength and diversity of our incredible music offer. And as a nod to the historic link we did send over a young Beatles cover band, Beatles Complete. To be honest I think this is what The Beatles themselves would have wanted. They were a group that always pushed forward and rarely looked back. They were constantly innovating musically and taking in influences from all over the world, pushing boundaries and looking forward. So it feels only fitting that they are looking to support the next generations of musical talent with funding from what will be an amazing attraction that will bring in visitors from all the world.
Source: liverpoolexpress.co.uk/Paul Johnston
I like the Beatles, and I'm almost definitely sure that you do too. But I'm afraid their 21st-century omnipresence – impressive for a band that split up 56 years ago – is starting to bring me slightly down.
It has been revealed that there is to be a ginormous new Beatles museum in Liverpool, opening in 2028. Its 9,290 sq m will be packed with props and costumes from the four – yes, four – biopics of the band to be released the same year under the auspices of Sam Mendes. All this will come on top of the opening to the public of the band's former Apple Records headquarters in Savile Row, repurposed as another sanctum. This one promises seven floors of memorabilia.
Oh, and the dodgy Richard Curtis film Yesterday is being transformed into a stage musical, featuring the songs of Showaddywaddy – no, not really, it's The Beatles again.
One can't help feeling a little bit over-Beatled. Growing up in the Seventies, I naturally found the Sixties a bit naff, and the lingering overhang of The Beatles a bit tedious. Were people ever going to stop boring on about them?
After all, when you grow up after a big sensation has flared and died, you take it for granted. It will never be a surprise to you, just part of the furniture. Like everybody else I was reared on Beatles tunes, but I inevitably developed the usual teenage disdain for the kind of music that everybody likes.
Like the moon landings, it was only years later, in adulthood, that I appreciated the momentous quality of The Beatles, the almost uncanny combination of genius-level talents, their constant innovation, where every record surpassed and expanded on the one before.
In fact, I realised that their ubiquity concealed their strangeness. There is the oddly pristine, unsexy, clean-as-a-whistle quality of their sound, which unwittingly future-proofed them in a way that no other band or artist could quite match. Their songs are both very Sixties and so tuneful and memorable that they seem to exist outside time. Even their weirder excursions are strangely, hypnotically beguiling. Their records tower over you, which is something pop music never normally does.
Source: yahoo.com/Gareth Roberts
John Lennon was one of the first writers whose lyrics were studied by fans for their insight and depth. But Lennon became a little bit wary of those who’d try to find meanings that he didn’t think were there.
As a result, he adjusted late in The Beatles years and early in his solo career. He started keeping the lyrics simple. And he still found ways to captivate with his words and music.
“Don’t Let Me Down”
Lennon’s first response to those who went diving deep into his lyrics was to make them deliberately obtuse and nonsensical. The Beatles’ tracks “I Am The Walrus” and “Glass Onion” offer excellent examples of this approach. He eventually decided that he’d try to keep things as simple and direct as possible. “Don’t Let Me Down”, released as a B-side in 1969, offered the first evidence of this approach. Still relatively new to his relationship with Yoko Ono, Lennon used the song to plead for reliability from her. He doesn’t do anything fancy with the lyrics. Instead, he relies on his impassioned vocals, recorded during The Beatles’ rooftop concert at the start of 1969, to communicate.
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
Lennon missed the first chunk of sessions for the Abbey Road album in 1969 while recuperating from minor injuries suffered during a car accident. That’s part of the reason his songwriting output was somewhat diminished compared to what fans had come to expect from him on a Beatles album. “Come Together” was his major offering on the record. Meanwhile, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” doesn’t expand much, in lyrical terms, beyond the wording in the title. Over and over, Lennon professes his unquenchable desire for his significant other. The Beatles take the focus off the words by working up quite a maelstrom of sound behind him, especially in the extended coda.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
George Harrison may not have been part of The Beatles’ legendary songwriting partnership of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but he had a talent early on for songwriting that deserved to be nurtured. He really stepped into his own in 1969 with a few self-penned Beatles tunes that would go on to change songwriting forever. These tunes were just a preview of what Harrison would do with his solo career.
“Something” from ‘Abbey Road’
Let’s start with the obvious. “Something” is one of The Beatles’ most enduring hit songs. And it’s easily one of the biggest releases from the Fab Four in 1969. Harrison penned “Something” as a love song with a beautifully constructed melody. The way those harmonics shift throughout the song is gorgeous. Many listeners at the time couldn’t believe how little Harrison had contributed to the band as a songwriter up until that point. “Something” would be Harrison’s first composition to get the A-side single treatment.
“Something” was a smash hit across the board back in 1969. It peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 4 on the UK Singles chart. “Here Comes The Sun” from ‘Abbey Road’
How about a sweet, flowery number? “Here Comes The Sun” is one of those Beatles songs that younger listeners have caught on to. Just look at how much love it gets on streaming services. This enduring classic was written by Harrison and has that beautiful simplicity to it often associated with folk pop. Those vocals that come in layers, the use of the ol’ Moog synth; the entirety of “Here Comes The Sun” is still a delight after all these years.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
Apple Corps will take over management of the award-winning attraction The Beatles Story in 2028, moving it to a new location in St Johns Shopping Centre. The new experience will transport fans from The Beatles' post-war Liverpool childhoods through Hamburg, The Cavern, Beatlemania, Abbey Road, Shea Stadium, Savile Row and beyond, using immersive technology, original artefacts and spectacular reconstructed sets to bring the Beatles’ extraordinary story to life.
Fans will also be able to visit a brand new Yellow Submarine experience at Liverpool's iconic St Johns Beacon tower, also arriving in 2028.
Add your details below to confirm your interest in The Beatles: Liverpool 2028, be the first to receive all updates and to be notified when tickets go on sale.
The Beatles Story will be open as usual in 2026 and 2027. Please visit beatlesstory.com for more information
Nearly 59 years after the Beatles’ historic 1968 visit to the iconic Chaurasi Kutia in Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, the popular Beatles Ashram is all set to feature in an ambitious four-film project on the legendary band, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes.
An international film production delegation on Sunday met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to discuss the proposed February 2027 shoot for The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, being made by Neal Street Productions for Sony Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Apple Corps.
The production is expected to bring more than 100 international crew members and around 150 Indian professionals to the state. Local arrangements are being coordinated by On The Road India, with opportunities expected for local technicians and service providers.
The four films will tell the individual stories of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The cast includes Harris Dickinson as Lennon, Paul Mescal as McCartney, Joseph Quinn as Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Starr. A simultaneous global theatrical release is planned for April 2028.
The Beatles visited Rishikesh in February 1968 to study transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Their stay became a landmark chapter in the band’s history, with several songs written during the period later appearing on their albums.
Source: prashantnews.com
Some biographies give you a glimpse into music history. Others make you feel like you’ve stumbled into a private family album belonging to the greatest band that ever lived.
There are Beatles fans, and then there are Beatles obsessives. You know the type. The ones who can tell you which version of a song appeared on which release, who played what on a particular recording, and why a seemingly insignificant moment in a documentary deserves an entire afternoon of discussion. The ones who have spent years devouring every photograph, interview, bootleg and scrap of Beatles history they can get their hands on, convinced there must still be something out there they haven’t seen.
Enter THE THIRD EYE: Early Photographs, a remarkable collection of George Harrison’s personal photography, published by Penguin Random House, and quite possibly one of the most exciting things to land in the hands of a Beatles tragic in some time.
We’ve seen the Beatles from just about every conceivable angle. We’ve watched the documentaries, read the biographies, studied the album sleeves and pored over countless photographs of four lads from Liverpool who somehow changed the world. But there’s something genuinely mind-blowing about seeing these moments through George’s own lens, particularly when so many of the photographs have never been collected in a book like this before.
Spanning the years 1963 to 1969, THE THIRD EYE brings together more than 200 photographs and 8mm film stills, capturing the Beatles at work, at play and in those rare moments when the machinery of Beatlemania momentarily loosened its grip. From their earliest adventures in America to Australia, Paris, India and beyond, this is history from the inside. Not another photographer positioned outside the barricades, but George Harrison himself, camera in hand, documenting the extraordinary world he was living in.
Source: fortemagazine.com.au/Tammy Walters
How should you listen to the Beatles? However you like, and as often you can. But faced with all that material, how – to coin a phrase – do you do it? In the aim of offering something like a benign, George Martin-style guiding hand, we’ve put together this series to put Beatles songs in your weekly calendar – hopefully bringing some fresh takes on their music, and on the hectic nature of their lives and creative development along the way.
The week of October 19th contains many of the different colours in the Beatle spectrum. In 1966, this is the week that George Harrison returns from India, where he has been taking a sitar course with Ravi Shankar. Today in 1968 is the day that John and Yoko are in court after a drugs bust. At the start of the career, however, the autumn is a time for harder work: a date at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton (October 19th, 1963), and in 1964, where they enter the Scottish phase of their UK tour, with dates in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow.
In Dundee they are interviewed for Scottish TV. “Where are we now?” someone asks. In the face of weariness, John Lennon enters the mildly surreal by way of reply.
“Cake,” he says.
Even the interviewer is puzzled.
“I Saw Her Standing There”
October 20th, 1963. It’s a Sunday morning three months after “She Loves You” came out and a BBC Beatles session recorded in front of a studio audience four days earlier is blasting out of your transistor radio. First up? The opening track of their debut album.
It’s now almost exactly a year since The Beatles became a chart phenomenon. In a couple of weeks’ time, they will release a stop gap 7” EP – or “extended play” – called No 1 whose title (we think, though no one makes the reason completely clear) commemorates that anniversary, and bridges the unbearably long wait for fans hungry for new material.
“I Saw Her Standing There” (presumably because it deserves to be recognised as more than just an album track) will be the lead-off track of the new EP, and this succinct Beatles show in fact is almost like an EP itself, comprising this track, followed by a run-through of the group’s story so far: “Love Me Do”, “Please Please Me”, “From Me To You” and “She Loves You”.
There would be more BBC radio sessions to follow but those hoping to witness The Beatles live in a small London theatre as part of a BBC studio audience were soon dashed. Brian Epstein had concerns for the Beatles’ safety in such a small space, and decreed that this would be their last such show – a booking for December 4th was cancelled.
“How Do You Do It?”
The Beatles had kindred spirits on Merseyside, and on October 21st 1961, they combined to play with one of them. By this time veterans of both Hamburg rock ‘n’ roll clubs and the Merseyside beat scene, The Beatles were happy to combine informally with Gerry and the Pacemakers for a date at Litherland Town Hall, a venue which the Beatles played more than any other excepting the Cavern and Aintree Institute. The name of this supergroup? The Beatmakers!
Source: uncut.co.uk/John Robinson
A Lincolnshire holiday camp played a little-known but crucial part in the birth of The Beatles.
A young, bearded Ringo Starr was playing drums with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes at the Butlins in Skegness in the summer 1962 when Paul McCartney and John Lennon arrived to try and recruit him to the band. Bobby Thomson, who was bassist in the Hurricanes, recalls the duo arriving early one morning after driving all night from Liverpool. "I think that was the whole idea, to invite him to join the Beatles," he said.
"Because I was with Ringo they didn't come out with it. They could have, it wouldn't have bothered me." He said that a few weeks later in mid August the band were having breakfast when an announcement over the speaker system asked Starr to report to reception.
He asked Thomson to come with him and the pair arrived to find a phone call from Beatles manager Brian Epstein asking if Starr would like to join the group. Keystone via Getty Images Black and white photograph of the five members of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes with the group wearing matching dark suits Bobby Thomson stands on the far left and Ringo Starr is far rightKeystone via Getty Images
Bobby Thompson (second left) played bass for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes alongside a young Ringo Starr (far right)
Starr later recalled the conversation in an interview. "The boys would like you to join The Beatles. What do you say?
"I said, 'no, I'd love to, when?' And he said, 'oh, tonight'. I said, 'I can't', this was Wednesday, 'I can't come tonight. I'm in a band, I'll come Saturday'."
Thomson said that during the call with Epstein the drummer was told to lose his facial hair.
"He didn't want to shave his beard off," Thomson said laughing.
"So the beard came off and he got the haircut to match."
Madeline Morrison, who worked as a Redcoat at the Clacton camp, said people were surprised when the rumours of Starr joining The Beatles soon started to spread throughout Butlin's.
"Rory Storm was a big, big name," she said.
"I've got playbills where Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were above The Beatles."
She added people said he had been taken to the hairdresser: "He's got the Beatle haircut, he's joining them.
"You know, all this sort of stuff would jump round all the camps because we were all villages."
Source: bbc.com/Karl Bird
