Beatles News
The Beatles were the most commercially successful musical act of their era. The band remains hugely popular, and many of their records have yet to be beaten. The individual members also enjoyed bestseller status with some of their releases, though on occasion, they weren’t afraid to try some unusual things, which meant that sales and awards weren’t necessarily guaranteed.
John Lennon often followed what his heart told him, instead of chasing numbers and sales. One of his less-understood albums that never became the massive win that the musician was accustomed to has returned and become a chart success again, and it’s been decades since it was last seen.
Mind Games reappears on the U.K. albums chart this week. Lennon’s solo album lands at No. 39 on the list of the most-consumed full-lengths in the country, becoming a top 40 smash yet again.
Lennon’s solo collection has been away from the U.K. ranking for a long, long while. The last time it was seen on the albums chart across the pond was back in February 1974.
Mind Games returns following its highly-anticipated re-release. The album was recently expanded to feature a lot of new material, including remixes from his own son, Sean. Several editions of the deluxe product were made available, with some including lengthy audio commentary on the songs. Up to six CDs were sold in some instances, and a coffee table book is apparently on the way as well.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
If it was quarantine fever that prompted Paul McCartney to return to all-DIY studio mode for his new album, “McCartney III,” it may be the the lack of any looming global tour that really helped set the record’s diverting and loose mood. His previous release, 2018’s “Egypt Station,” created with a full band and big-name producers like Greg Kurstin and Ryan Tedder, had its quirks but was clearly designed as the kind of commercial project that would not just reinstate the former Beatle at No. 1 on the charts (which it did) but provide fresh set-list grist that wouldn’t have stadium bathroom queues forming all at once. “McCartney III” is almost nothing but the quirks, undertaken in isolation with an initial intended audience of probably just one: a certain Sussex vegan sheep farmer who must’ve realized by April or May that he’d rather spend the pandemic woodshedding than shearing.
As probably every fan has heard or figured out by now, “McCartney III” is a sequel to 1970’s “McCartney” and 1980’s “McCartney II” in name, methodology and year-ending-in-zero only, and not so much in style. Because when it comes to that, “III” doesn’t really have one — it’s all over the place, and delightfully so, even if he occasionally lands upon a subgenre that you wish he stuck with for more than a song or two.
Source: Chris Willman/ca.news.yahoo.com
The 1966 Beatles album Revolver is loaded with incredible songs. One of the most underrated tracks on the album would definitely be “She Said She Said”. It was one of many songs credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, the song was actually only written by Lennon with some help from George Harrison. McCartney didn’t really have much to do with it, according to the man himself in Barry Miles’ biography called Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. Paul McCartney even said that “She Said She Said” is one the rare instances in which he didn’t play on a Beatles song.
So, what happened? According to McCartney, it started with some creative differences he had with the band shortly before they recorded it. He did participate in the first takes for the song, but McCartney did not contribute to the final recording at all.
Why Didn’t Paul McCartney Play On “She Said She Said”?
Paul McCartney has always been known as the perfectionist of The Beatles. So when the band opted to experiment with more psychedelic elements around the mid-1960s, there was quite a bit of head-butting. McCartney pitched an arrangement for “She Said She Said”, which was ultimately ignored. That didn’t sit well with McCartney.
“John [Lennon] brought it in pretty much finished,” McCartney said in his biography. “I’m not sure, but I think it was one of the only Beatle records I never played on. I think we’d had a barney or something, and I said, ‘Oh, f**k you!’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.”
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
The lineup for the upcoming Venice Film Festival was just announced, and it includes two Beatles-related documentaries.
One to One: John and Yoko, directed by Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, focuses on the relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
A previous announcement about the film describes it as “a moving look at the couple’s life upon their entry into a transformative 1970’s New York, exploring their musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world.” It centers around the pair’s 1972 One to One Concerts, which were Lennon’s only full-length performances after The Beatles’ 1970 breakup. They featured Yoko, The Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory and special guests.
The other is Things We Said Today, from Andrei Ujica. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film focuses on The Beatles’ first North American tour, which happened in 1964.
The Venice Film Festival will take place Aug. 28 to Sept. 7.
Source: ruralradio.com
More than 60 years after Pete Best was ejected from The Beatles and replaced by Ringo Starr, reasons for the ouster continue to be a matter of conjecture.
He wasn’t a good enough drummer. His bandmates were jealous of his good looks stealing female fans’ attention.
His quiet, reserved personality didn’t mesh with the more outgoing, playful personalities of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. It was strictly a business decision.
Pete Best, original drummer for The Beatles, will present a slideshow and lecture at the Valley Dale Ballroom on Sunday, followed by a performance with his band.
Over the next six decades, the list of reasons snowballed. Subsequent interviews with The Beatles revealed what some saw as animus toward Best, particularly in the case of Lennon.
“The reason he got in the group in the first place was because the only way we could get to Hamburg, (Germany), we had to have a drummer,” Lennon said in an interview posted on Beatles historian David Bedford’s website.
McCartney was a bit kinder, saying that Best was a “really good drummer” who merely “wasn’t quite like the rest of us.”
Source: dispatch.com
As more source material comes out about the Beatles, fans are discovering much more about The Beatle they thought they had figured out: George Harrison. In past years Harrison had always been presented as the “Quiet Beatle.” However, as his legend lives on this persona has been shed as folks learn that the artist pulled no punches when it came to speaking his mind.
This information was made public in a 1992 recording session video where viewers can watch Harrison openly criticize Neil Young’s guitar playing. “I’m not a Neil Young fan, personally” Harrison states, “[Young’s playing] it is good for a laugh.”
Harrison goes on to bag Young’s style in the video. He also notes where this musical disagreement all originated—Bob Dylan’s ’30th Anniversary Concert’ at Madison Square Garden in 1992. The concert took place shortly before the release of Harrison’s 1992 recording session.
The concert included a star-studded lineup: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Harrison, and Young. Despite the talent on stage, Harrison believed that Young did the show a grave disservice with his lead playing. In the middle of Young’s solo Harrison looked at Clapton and said “What’s going on?” Clapton’s simple response-“don’t look at me, it’s not me.”
Source: Peter Burditt/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles versus the Rolling Stones is a popular debate. It really strikes a cord with rock fans. Everyone has their pick and they stick by it, vehemently. Though the bands don’t necessarily fuel that fire these days, there was a time when their friendly rivalry was real.
Their intertwining histories as a band started in the early ’60s, when John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned a single for the Stones.
In 1963, Lennon and McCartney happened to run into the Stones’ manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. At the time, the Beatles were steadily rising in the rock ranks and the Stones’ were still trying to find their footing.
“Oldham had almost literally bumped into Lennon and McCartney as they stepped out of a cab,” Bill Janovitz wrote in Rocks Off: 50 Tracks that Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. “He invited them to the studio where the Stones were rehearsing…The two finished off what had been a McCartney sketch of an idea, handing it the Stones for their single.”
The song in question was “I Wanna Be Your Man.” Though the Beatles would go on to release a version of the up-tempo tune themselves, the Stones were the first to put it out. It helped to not only establish the band in England, but also began to set them apart from their fellow mop tops.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Hey, you’ve got to hide your tapes away.
For a time in the mid-2000s, The Mirage housed the most famous music catalog in history and hardly anyone knew.
The Beatles’ master tapes were reportedly kept in tightly guarded vault backstage at Love Theater, during the early days of “Love” at the hotel. Word of the history of these tapes made the rounds as the show closed July 7, and the hotel itself shut down July 17. Cirque PR rep Ann Paladie has not verified the history of the tapes related to the production.
But sources familiar with the music’s chain of possession report the masters were delivered from Abbey Road studios as theater construction was being completed in late 2005 through early 2006. The tapes were then sent back to England.
In keeping with the integrity of The Beatles’ catalog, the sound studio at Love Theater was created to the specifications of Abbey Road Studios. The annex served as the show’s audio nerve center throughout its run.
“Love” opened in June 2006, with The Beatles’ original producer George Martin leading the original sound editing. His son Giles Martin oversaw the remixing of the music for the live show, working from the original tapes in Las Vegas.
Just entering the “Love” studio required clearing multiple levels of security, requiring several hand scans and heavy security personnel inside the entire venue.
Giles Martin returned for a refresh of the music leading to the 10th anniversary in July 2016. Pieces of the original score were removed and added. By that time, Martin worked from digital copies and not the tapes themselves.
Source: John Katsilometes/spokesman.com
If you don’t particularly like George Harrison’s music, chances are you’ve missed out on some of his best works. Not only was his solo career quite lucrative, but his songwriting contributions to The Beatles were similarly well-put-together. Let’s take a look at five Beatles songs that George Harrison wrote that could very well change your mind if you don’t like his music!
1. “If I Needed Someone”
If you don’t like George Harrison, you’ve likely rarely heard some of his best songwriting contributions. “If I Needed Someone” is a great example of Harrison’s talent for simple yet effective melodies. This track from the 1965 album Rubber Soul is reminiscent of The Byrds with a unique folk-rock vibe.
2. “Taxman”
This track from the 1966 record Revolver is a bit sassy and also a little bit political. It challenged the British tax operation at the time, which wasn’t exactly in good taste, considering that Harrison was filthy rich. Still, it’s a simple yet beautifully composed song.
[See The Beatles’ Ringo Starr Live In 2024]
3. “It’s All Too Much”
This George Harrison-penned tune was featured in the 1968 movie Yellow Submarine and the subsequent soundtrack. It is a pure, unabashed, and notably English psychedelic wonder. Harrison packed so many different types of sounds, instruments, and effects into this song.
4. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
The Fab Four might be a pervasive part of modern pop culture, but we’d bet you might not have heard these interesting facts about the Beatles. (Save for hardcore Beatlemaniacs, of course.) From their Liverpool roots to John Lennon’s uncanny connection to certain numbers, there is no shortage of real and fantastical lore surrounding the iconic pop-rock group.
In honor of the seven years, seven months, and 24 days the Beatles were actively together—there’s a bonus fact for free—we’ve rounded up seven of the most interesting tidbits about the band you probably didn’t know.
1. They almost copied the name of an American rock group
Before the Beatles were, well, the Beatles, the original quartet floated a number of possible band names—including cheeky stage names each member took for themselves. After then-bassist Stuart Sutcliffe left the group’s earliest incarnations, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison performed as The Quarrymen for a brief time.
Lennon, who was a big admirer of American rock and roller Buddy Holly, suggested they rename the band the Crickets. Of course, Holly and his band already performed under this stage name, prompting McCartney to shoot the idea down. The trio settled on the Silver Beetles instead and, eventually, just the Beatles.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
