Beatles News
No matter how successful and world-renowned a musician becomes, there will still be a “suit,” or record label executive, telling them what to do—Paul McCartney being no exception. When the former Beatle felt pushback from his labels in the mid-1990s, the artist in him was ready to take offense.
But by the mid-1990s, McCartney was no spring chicken in the industry. He knew that there were silver linings to the favor-slash-command EMI and Capitol were expecting. And as is often the case in rock and roll history, this temporary delay ended up working in McCartney’s favor. Paul McCartney Was Asked (Or Told) Not to Make Another Album
In the mid-1990s, Capitol in the United States and EMI in the United Kingdom were gearing up to release three albums as part of their massive Beatles Anthology series. Speaking with Billboard in 1997, Paul McCartney recalled, “One of the bigwigs at the record company said, ‘We don’t want a [solo] record from you for the next two years. We don’t really need a record off you for a while.’ I was almost insulted at first.”
And indeed, it’s easy to see why he would be. Who tells Paul McCartney not to make new albums? However valid, these feelings didn’t last long. “I thought, ‘Well, yeah, it would be silly to go out against yourself in the form of The Beatles,’” McCartney said. “So, I fell in with the idea and thought, ‘Great. I don’t even have to think about an album.’ What a great, lovely, lazy couple of years. Although we worked quite hard on the anthology.” Working on ‘Anthology’ Helped Inform His Next Album, ‘Flaming Pie’.
Putting his solo work to the side to dive into the anthology of his former band, The Beatles, was another blessing in disguise. As Paul McCartney told Billboard, revisiting his old band’s catalog helped recalibrate his artistic vision. He remembered The Beatles’ ethos in their earliest, most optimistic years, when they sought to make music “for the kid in the bedroom somewhere because we had recently been that kid in a bedroom.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
It wasn’t all that often that all four Beatles were active at the same time as solo artists. Whether or not they consciously steered away from releasing music on top of each other isn’t clear. But you’ll note there aren’t too many years when all four put music out to battle for the public’s attention.
The year 1974, however, was a different animal. In fact, the US pop charts featured all four with at least one big hit single at some point during that calendar year. Here’s a look back.
We think about the mid-70s as a bit of a wayward period for John Lennon, what with the whole “Lost Weekend” and all. But he pulled focus quite well for his Walls And Bridges album in 1974. He cleaned up while making the album and insisted that all around him do the same. And he produced it himself, steering clear of any Phil Spector chaos in the process. Lennon also received some help from a friend to score what was his first No. 1 hit as a solo artist. Elton John came aboard to perform a rollicking duet with Lennon on “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”. The song’s success famously led to Lennon appearing with Elton live at Madison Square Garden.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
A major new TV drama about the formative years of The Beatles has started production in Germany and Liverpool. Hamburg Days will chart the band's early era when they performed more than 250 gigs in the German port city between 1960 and 1962.
It has been inspired by the memoirs of artist Klaus Voormann, who played bass on some Beatles records and designed the cover of their Revolver Album in 1966. Produced and financed by both British and German companies, Hamburg Days will also film in Merseyside and Munich. The six-part drama will be shown on BBC One.
Producers say it will show the band – which at the time included bassist Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best – meeting Voorman and photographer Astrid Kirchherr, sparking the group's transformation from "a scrappy group of teenagers into the greatest music phenomenon the world has ever known".
Kirchherr, who died at the age of 81 in 2020, has been credited with helping develop the band's aesthetic style and famous mop top hairstyle. She was also engaged to Sutcliffe, who left the band to do an arts course in Hamburg but died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 21 in 1962.
Source: bbc.com/Rumeana Jahangir
Paul McCartney has been making music with Ringo Starr ever since the classic Beatles lineup was solidified in 1962. But they’d never actually duetted on a track until McCartney began assembling his upcoming LP The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, and the new song “Home To Us” felt like a natural place to feature Starr on vocals alongside himself.
“In writing the song I’m talking about where we came from,” McCartney told members of the press who assembled in Abbey Road on May 5 to hear a preview of the new album. “In common with a lot of people, you come from nothing, and you build yourself up. Ringo was from the Dingle, and that was well hard. He said he used to get mugged coming home because he worked. Even though it was crazy, it was home to us.”
“I made the song around that idea and sent it to Ringo,” he continued. “He sent me back a version where he just added some lines to the chorus, so I thought, maybe he doesn’t like it. I rang him, and he said he thought I only wanted him to sing one or two lines, and I said I’d love to hear him sing the whole thing. So we took my first line, Ringo’s second line, and then we had a duet. We’d never done that before. Then we wanted some backing vocals and I had the idea it would be nice to hear girls. Chrissie Hynde said she’d do it, and Sharleen Spiteri, they’re mates. So they did it.”
Like many songs on The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, which was produced by Andrew Watt, “Home To Us” looks back on McCartney’s life with a heavy dose of nostalgia. The title comes from a line one “Days We Left Behind,” which references an area near Liverpool’s River Mersey where McCartney played as a child. It also reflects on the “secret code” he shared with John Lennon at his childhood home. “I stand by what I said,” he sings. “The promise that I made will never be broken.”
“This was a lot of memories of Liverpool for me,” McCartney told the press, “but also any days we’ve left behind. Everyone’s got them – school, old mates. [The song] has memories of John in the middle, that’s lovely to go back to.” When asked what sort of “secret code” he had with Lennon, McCartney laughed. “I’m not telling,” he said. “You make a lot of stuff up when you write songs.”
Source: rollingstone.com/Andy Greene
Sir Paul McCartney shocked and delighted fans with a return to Abbey Road studios - playing them his new album and admitting it was “emotional” talking it through with memories of his life and career.
The Beatles legend returned to the venue where the Fab Four recorded many of their biggest hits to launch his LP The Boys of Dungeon Lane which will be released later this month.
A few dozen lucky competition winners were led into Studio two which had been set with a stage filled with framed bird sketches, a chair and a guitar.
Sir Paul then emerged from a control room and walked down some stairs and said with a grin: “Hello and welcome. This is a listening party. I’m going to play the album and then try to find something to say about it!”
But Paul found plenty of words to accompany the 14 tracks and even had anecdotes about the choice of venue.
He said some strings and woodwind parts of the LP had even been recorded at Abbey Road recently and then looking back to the Beatles days said: “We were here forever, we spent days and days in this studio.
“We used the tradesman’s entrance, up the stairs is the posh entrance for people like George Martin!”
Both on the song lyrics and in the talk he regularly referenced Liverpool and growing up in the city, where he would meet John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison and go on to before the fab four, amongst the most famous people in the world.
After playing the single Days We Left Behind, which was released in March he said: “It is a little emotional because I’m talking about John and George and Ringo.
Source: mirror.co.uk/Mark Jefferies
The special exhibition – at Hamburg’s City Hall – features a rare set of Beatles photographs and letters
It opens as a Liverpool City Region business and culture delegation heads to Hamburg to strengthen economic ties
The exhibition has been created to celebrate Liverpool City Region’s role as the official partner of Hamburg’s annual port festival – Hafengebustag A Mayoral Joint Declaration of Intent will be signed during the visit to identify and promote long-term economic and maritime cooperation
A special exhibition featuring a rare set of Beatles photographs and letters written by the band’s five original members whilst in Hamburg, is set to go on display in the German city this week.
Entitled Harbour Cities-Global Stages, the exhibition has been created to celebrate Liverpool City Region’s role as the official partner of Hamburg’s annual port festival – Hafengebustag. Encompassing 48 panels, across six pillars, the free exhibition will go on public display in Hamburg’s City Hall – the Rathaus Rathausdiele – from May 7-25 and is expected to be seen by more than 10,000 people.
The Beatles section features historic elements such as the only Lennon and McCartney letter in existence, the first photograph of John, Paul and George performing together, a photo of their first gig in Hamburg as well as an insight into how they had started to feel like stars and how they secured their first recording contract.
Source: liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk
George Harrison didn’t always get his due in The Beatles, but when he did get a song out, it proved to be among the band’s most successful ventures. Harrison was able to remove any blockades—i.e., bandmates who thought they knew better—once he launched into his solo career. His time as a solo artist produced many audience-thrilling tracks, including the three below. These songs rivaled anything he did with The Beatles, proving that any snubs he got while with the band were unfounded.
We’re starting off this list with Harrison’s cover of a Bob Dylan staple, “If Not For You.” This sweet, simple ballad feels as though Harrison could’ve written it himself. He sings it with complete earnestness, and it’s tender enough to be his writing.
Regardless of the fact that this song is a cover, it remains one of Harrison’s most stunning solo songs. The former Beatle did Dylan proud with this intimate redo. It may not beat out “Something,” but it’s a strong contender for Harrison’s best ballad.
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)”
Never has a song summed up someone’s ethos better than “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” did for Harrison. The former Beatle was all about spirituality, and this song is indicative of that. It features the intimate, tender songwriting that became a hallmark for Harrison—both in his time with The Beatles and as a solo act.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
The Rolling Stones have released a cryptic Instagram post, hinting at the possible release of new music. The rock group shared a 13-second video to their 4.2 million fans on Friday, featuring their signature tongue and lips logo over a moving background including what appears to be different letters, words and symbols.
The posts come amid rumours that the band are preparing to release a new album, which would be their first since their 2023 Grammy Award-winning record Hackney Diamonds. Rumours of new music were first sparked last month when a series of cryptic messages including posters and QR codes linked to The Cockroaches popped up around London, believed to be connected to the band.
The Rolling Stones have also reportedly released music and performed gigs under the pseudonym The Cockroaches, with teaser videos hinting at the name shared to their Instagram.
The Cockroaches later released a limited-edition vinyl single, titled Rough And Twisted on April 11, which was reportedly only sold exclusively at independent record stores.
Formed in London in 1962, The Rolling Stones have a long history of chart-topping albums and number one singles, including (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Paint It Black and Start Me Up. The band has had various members throughout the years, with its current line-up consisting of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood. After the long-serving member Charlie Watts passed away in August 2021 at the age of 80, musician Steve Jordan has stepped in as the group’s drummer.
Source: mirror.co.uk/Myriam Toua
The Beatles broke all sorts of new ground during their decade-long reign, both onstage and in the studio. In the nearly six decades since their 1970 split, few musical acts have come close to matching the Fab Four’s musical impact. That musical dynasty officially began 63 years ago today (May 2, 1963) when they first reached the top of the charts with their single “From Me to You”.
In many ways, “From Me to You” is the earliest example of the masterful songwriting partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who wrote the song on a coach trip to Shrewsbury while the Beatles were on tour with British jazz-pop star Helen Shapiro.
The title came from the letters section in British magazine the New Musical Express, which they were reading at the time. “We nearly didn’t record it because we thought it was too bluesy at first, but when we’d finished it and George Martin had scored it with harmonica, it was all right,” recalled Lennon in 1980.
The Beatles released “From Me to You” in April 1963, less than a month after their debut studio album, Please Please Me. Their first two singles, “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me” had done well in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 17 and No. 2 on the pop charts, respectively. But “From Me to You” catapulted the Fab Four to a new level of fame in their home country, topping what would become the official UK singles chart.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Erinn Callahan
Writing a melody as timeless and moving as The Beatles’ “Yesterday” isn’t something most of us would consider a “problem.” But in the mid-1960s, that’s precisely what that song was for the Fab Four.
Although the song is credited to the Lennon-McCartney partnership and billed as The Beatles (as was “the creed of the day,” per producer George Martin in Anthology), “Yesterday” was solely a Paul McCartney composition. The melody came to him in a dream, he came up with the lyrics, and he’s the only Beatle performing on the album version.
Therein was the problem: The Beatles were a rock band. And “Yesterday” didn’t have rock ‘n’ roll or a band to speak of. Speaking to PBS, Martin recalled the song “presented a problem for me, and I think for The Beatles, too, in that it didn’t fit the pattern. It wasn’t a song you could do with two guitars, bass guitar, and drums. It was something much more delicate.”
So, Martin set out to do the most important producer job of all: getting the roadblock out of the way. George Martin Helped Define “Yesterday,” and Paul Made Sure Some Rock Remained.
Both the band and producer George Martin recounted reaching a consensus that “Yesterday” ought to be performed solely by Paul McCartney. There was nothing that George Harrison, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr could think to contribute, and they preferred to sit out instead of muddying the song’s potential. It was Martin who suggested they bring in strings, though McCartney had his hesitations.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
