Beatles News
Kevin Macdonald's documentary 'One to One: John & Yoko' will screen at the Venice Film Festival alongside Andrei Ujica's 'Things We Said
The Beatles are getting some attention at this year’s Venice Film Festival, which unveiled its 2024 lineup on Tuesday.
The legendary band, who dominated the music industry for an entire decade from 1960, has earned spots in the prestigious fest’s documentary section in different capacities. Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ doc One to One: John & Yoko focuses on the intense and public relationship between the two artists, while Things We Said Today from Romania’s Andrei Ujica, on the other hand, is a look at the band’s famous and first North American tour – a film that was supposed to be ready 10 years ago.
On John Lennon‘s official website, Macdonald’s feature documentary from Mercury Studios is described 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.” Macdonald himself said: “I wanted to make a film that surprises and delights even the most dedicated Lennon and Ono fans by focusing on one transformative period in their lives and telling the tale through their own words, images and music… Built around the beautiful 16mm film footage of the only full-length concert John gave after leaving the Beatles, I hope the film will introduce the audience to a more intimate version of John & Yoko – while also reflecting their politically radical and experimental sides.”
Source: Lily Ford/hollywoodreporter.com
John's 1973 solo album 'Mind Games' was re-released on Friday, July 12, 44 years after the Beatles legend's death.
John Lennon's son Sean Ono Lennon is reflecting on his father's legacy and the responsibility he feels to share John's music with the world.
The Beatles legend was shot and killed outside of his New York City residence, the Dakota, by Mark David Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980. He was 40 years old when he died and would have been 84 on his upcoming birthday — October 9.
Ahead of the milestone, Sean, 48, whose mother is Yoko Ono, spoke to The Sunday Times about his father and his music as he promoted the re-release of John's 1973 solo album Mind Games, which dropped on July 12.
Per the outlet, some of the new mixes of the tracks deliberately amplify John's voice, while others focus on certain instrumental elements.
“One thing that distinguishes my dad’s solo career is how personal his lyrics became," Sean — who was 5 when his father died — told the outlet. "It is like a diary, and it is my duty to bring attention to my father’s music. Not just my duty to him, but a duty to the world."
Source: Esme Mazzeo /people.com
Who were better, the Beatles or Rolling Stones? Tribute concert aims to settle the debate.
The debate between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones has been going on ever since they first crossed paths on the charts 61 years ago.
The argument at the time, and one that still persists, was that the Beatles were a pop group and the Stones were a rock band: the boys next door vs. the bad boys of rock. So who’s better?
These two legendary bands will engage in an on-stage throwdown - a musical “showdown” if you will – at the Downey Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 pm. - courtesy of tribute bands Abbey Road and Satisfaction – The International Rolling Stones Show.
Taking the side of the Fab Four is Abbey Road, one of the county's top Beatles tribute bands. With brilliant musicianship and authentic costumes and gear, Abbey Road plays beloved songs spanning the Beatles' career. They face off against renowned Stones tribute band Satisfaction who offer a faithful rendition of the music and style of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the bad boys of the British Invasion.
Where did the idea for the show come from?
“Music fans never had a chance to see the Beatles and the Rolling Stones perform on the same marquee,” said Chris LeGrand, who plays “Mick Jagger” in the show.
“Now, music aficionados can watch this debate play out live on stage.”
The Downey show is part of a 125-stop tour of the U.S., Australia and Canada and has been touring since 2011. The production includes some of the more popular songs from the two rock pioneers and covers the scope of their musical careers, although the set list for Satisfaction usually includes Rolling Stones songs up to the 1980s.
Source: thedowneypatriot.com
The song arrived just a dozen years before the date promised in its forward-looking title. But thanks to the cleverness and talents of Paul McCartney and Wings, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” seemed like a distant future that none of those who were living would still be around to see.
What is the song about? How did McCartney write it based on a single line? And how did he and the two remaining Wings members manage to pull together for such a dynamic song and album? Let’s look back, and then ahead (or maybe forward, and then back?) at “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five.” The story of Wings, the band that Paul McCartney formed not long after The Beatles collapsed, is one of stalled momentum and impressive resilience. Case in point: their 1973 album Band on the Run. It ended up a triumph, but only after a series of events that raised the degree of difficulty exponentially.
When first formed, Wings struggled to impress critics, but they were coming off a string of successful singles in 1972 and an album from earlier in ’73 (Red Rose Speedway) that contained their first U.S. No. 1 hit (“My Love”). But at the moment when there seemed to be no stopping them, disaster struck when two members of the band (Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell) bailed on the project right before recording was set to start in Lagos, Nigeria.
A series of mishaps befell the remaining three members of the group (McCartney, wife Linda, and Denny Laine) once they arrived in Nigeria, not least of which was having the working tapes of the songs stolen from McCartney by knife-wielding robbers. But the trio kept their focus, and they ended up with what’s regarded as their best album. “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” plays a big part in that as the evocative closing track.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
It’s been decades since the world’s biggest band broke up, but The Beatles’ famous songwriter and core member Paul McCartney is still going strong. McCartney still speaks fondly about The Beatles’ music to this day and has done quite a bit to keep the band’s musical legacy as clean and preserved as possible. However, McCartney is just like any other musician or songwriter; there are some songs that he wrote that just aren’t his cup of tea. Though, where other musicians will admit to outright hating their songs, McCartney will often casually mention that he wasn’t partial to certain tracks.
So, which song from The Beatles’ legendary discography was McCartney not a fan of? There are a few. But there is one song that he actually shared a distaste for along with John Lennon. And if you know anything about Beatles history, you know that the two rarely agreed on anything.
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
Round blue-tinted glasses given by John Lennon to a man who was visiting the Abbey Road studios where the Beatles recorded are to go on sale.
The John Lennon-style glasses were handed to the man, who was with his girlfriend, in 1968 and are expected to fetch £2,000 to £3,000. It is not clear who they belonged to at the time.
A Catherine Southon Auctioneers & Valuers spokesperson said: “The young man saw the spectacles lying on the piano and went to pick them up but was told by his then girlfriend to leave them, to which Lennon replied ‘it’s OK, he can have them’.”
The glasses are expected to fetch £2,000 to £3,000. The spectacles will go under the hammer alongside a collection of 33 black and white photographs taken at Abbey Road in 1968 and 1969, including some snapped on the day of the photoshoot for the Beatles’ album cover where the band walked across a zebra crossing.
The photos, some featuring Paul McCartney, George Harrison, George Martin and Ringo Starr, will be sold with the copyright for an estimated £200 to £300.
The items will go up for auction on July 31 at Farleigh Golf Club in Surrey.
Source: Anahita Hossein-Pour/independent.co.uk
Needing a bit of a hit, Paul McCartney and Wings embraced a little bit of controversy on the 1972 single “Hi, Hi, Hi.” Some of that controversy was accidental, some of it was warranted, but all of it helped boost the song to become the band’s biggest hit to that point.
What was the song about? Why was McCartney’s band somewhat reeling at the time of the song’s release? And how did a misheard lyric lead to a ban from the BBC? Let’s get the lowdown on “Hi, Hi, Hi.” Wings Struggling to Fly.
It was never going to be a cakewalk for Paul McCartney to get Wings off the ground. There were always going to be comparisons, not only to The Beatles as a group but also to what the former Beatles were doing as solo artists in the early ’70s. But the extent to which Wings struggled to gain acceptance from critics was a bit of an eye-opener.
Their 1971 debut album Wild Life was purposely kept loose and disheveled by McCartney, but many writers felt it came off sounding lazy and unfinished. Macca decided to spend 1972 releasing non-album singles while the band toured. But while the first two of these did moderately well in the charts, they also earned their share of criticism.
“Give Ireland Back to the Irish” drew ire from those who liked McCartney writing simple, tuneful ditties and didn’t want him getting involved in politics. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” overcorrected, drawing derision from those who thought that McCartney was releasing trivial stuff and wasting his talents. Wings really needed their third single of ’72 to do some damage.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Watch as among the world’s greatest drummers, including Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, Stewart Copeland of the Police, Questlove of the Roots, Tré Cool of Green Day, Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all salute Ringo Starr from behind his famous Ludwig kit, now on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland!
Source: That Eric Alper
The Beatles were growing fast in a musical sense by 1965, incorporating a wide variety of influences into their new music. Bob Dylan was one of those influences, and the Help! track “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” certainly owes a bit to Dylan.
But it also comes away sounding like a quintessential Beatles record, thanks to the touches the band added to the song while recording it. Here’s the story and meaning behind the achingly pretty and sad “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.”
Bob and the Boys
The Beatles met Bob Dylan in 1964 in New York City. By then, they were mutual admirers of each other’s work. The Fab Four liked that Dylan wrote about adult topics with fearless candor. Dylan liked how The Beatles electrified their message to make the biggest possible impact. As it turned out, each entity was moving, style-wise, in the direction of the other.
In the case of The Beatles emulating Bob, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was an admitted attempt by John Lennon to infuse his songwriting with the confessional honesty for which Dylan was known. He explained as much when looking back at the song in an interview found in The Beatles Anthology book:
“‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’ is my Dylan period. It’s one of those that you sing a bit sadly to yourself, ‘Here I stand, head in hand …’ I’d started thinking about my own emotions. I don’t know when exactly it started, like ‘I’m a Loser’ or ‘Hide Your Love Away,’ those kind of things. Instead of projecting myself into a situation, I would try to express what I felt about myself, which I’d done in my books. I think it was Dylan who helped me realise that—not by any discussion or anything, but by hearing his work.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Already one of history's greatest rock bands, The Beatles were even more than the sum of their parts. In the wake of the band's legendary 1960s run came a number of high-profile solo releases from each individual member. That includes Ringo, whose eponymous 1973 album peaked at #2 on the U.S. charts and yielded two #1 singles … with a little help from his friends, of course.
What's no less striking than the substantial output of each respective Beatle is the evolution of their signature sounds and styles. From George Harrison's idiosyncratic slide guitar to John Lennon's raw candor, certain albums were nearly as groundbreaking as the group efforts that preceded them. Acclaimed releases such as "All Things Must Pass" and "Plastic Ono Band" also helped redefine the personas of their creators.
Then there's Paul McCartney, or Macca, which is his English nickname, who arguably carried the torch of Beatles-style melodies into each of the subsequent decades. At the same time, he tirelessly explored an assortment of production styles and peripheral genres, including classical and electronic. As a solo artist or with Wings, Macca has released over 20 top 10 singles to date, putting his post-Beatles career in the same ranks as some of music's bestselling acts.
Source: MSN
