Beatles News
Just under six decades ago, on May 30, 1968, the Beatles went into the studio to begin recording their eponymous “White Album,” a double-album full of career-defining hits but one that did not come without its fair share of regrets from those involved, including producer George Martin and musicians Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. For as creative and inspired as the album was, the dynamics in the studio were fraught at best. The Fab Four was fast approaching the end.
Seemingly just as quickly as they burst onto the scene several years earlier, the Beatles seemed to be departing from their time as one of the greatest, most popular rock bands in the world in a similarly impressive blaze of glory. As for Martin’s regrets? Starr posed an interesting solution that was just as goofy and lighthearted as one might expect from the affable percussionist.
George Martin Regretted This Aspect Of The White Album
The Beatles’ 1968 “White Album” is a massive beast of a record. The double album release featured cuts like “Blackbird,” “Helter Skelter,” “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” “Rocky Raccoon,” and many, many more. While not all 30 tracks would become the band’s most popular songs, it was a particularly impressive collection of writing styles, creative inspiration, and musical arrangements. But producer George Martin had his doubts about including that many tracks at one time.
“I thought we should probably have made a very, very good single album rather than a double,” he said in Anthology. “But they insisted. I think it could have been made fantastically good if it had been compressed a bit and condensed. A lot of people I know think it’s still the best album they made. I later learned that by recording all those songs, they were getting rid of their contact with EMI more quickly.”
Drummer Ringo Starr had a laughable solution to Martin’s qualms with the album: “I agree that we should have put it out as two separate albums,” Starr said. “The ‘White’ and ‘Whiter’ albums.” In a testament to the different wavelengths the band was operating on at the time, not everyone agreed that there was too much on the double record. (We’d wager a bet that you can guess which try-hard Beatle was okay with the lengthy tracklist.)
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
On This Day, May 30, 1964…
The Beatles hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with their debut single, “Love Me Do.”
The track, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, had the pair duetting on vocals. The song was recorded three different times, with different drummers. Original drummer Pete Best initially recorded it, and then it was rerecorded with his replacement, Ringo Starr. A third version featured session drummer Andy White, which was featured on The Beatles’ Please Please Me album.
In addition to the U.S., “Love Me Do” topped the chart in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
Following “Love Me Do,” The Beatles went on to have 20 #1 hits, the last being 1970’s “The Long and Winding Road,” from their album Let It Be.
Source: everettpost.com
George Harrison was the baby of the Beatles. He was the youngest member and, as such, was victim to his bandmates’ “older brother” mentality. He was brought into the mix by Paul McCartney, who subsequently guided the younger musician on his journey to becoming a rock star. Harrison soon grew tired of McCartney’s constant reminders that he was older and more experienced. It led to the fracturing of their relationship and was one of the contributing factors in the Beatles’ breakup. Learn more about this conflict below.
The Main Conflict Within the Beatles, According to George Harrison
There were several conflicts within the Beatles, but the rift between Harrison and McCartney might have been the most consequential. As stated earlier, Harrison was always treated as someone who needed the mentorship of his older bandmates.
McCartney and John Lennon, tended to favor their own artistic decisions over that of the younger Harrison. Though there may have been several things that contributed to this dynamic, Harrison seemed to think it was in large part due to how McCartney and Lennon saw him–even from the earliest days of their career.
“Paul and I went to school together,” he added. “I got the feeling that, you know, everybody changes and sometimes people don’t want other people to change, or even if you do change, they won’t accept that you’ve changed. And they keep in their mind some other image of you, you know. Gandhi said, ‘Create and preserve the image of your choice.’ And so different people have different images of their friends or people they see.”
Harrison and Paul McCartney
While Lennon was also involved in Harrison’s creative strife with the Beatles, he pointed a finger at McCartney when talking about his biggest struggles with the band.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
Breakups are messy. Breakups between bandmates who changed the world? That’s songwriting gold. Even after The Beatles went their separate ways, they never truly stopped talking to each other—they just started using guitars and microphones instead of group chats and press statements. Whether it was affection, frustration, or playful jabs (depending on which member you asked), the Fab Four kept their complicated brotherhood alive in lyrics and melody.
Here are 8 songs The Beatles wrote at one another—proof that even when the band broke up, the music kept the conversation going, good and bad. Mostly bad. Until 1980.
1. “Too Many People” – Paul McCartney
From the album: Ram (1971)
Paul was clearly holding a grudge—and a guitar. This track kicks off with veiled digs at John and Yoko, accusing someone of preaching too much and taking liberties. “Too many people going underground,” he sings, with a melodic smirk.
2. “How Do You Sleep?” – John Lennon
From the album: Imagine (1971)
John’s scorched-earth answer to Paul’s subtle shade. With George Harrison on slide guitar (!), John doesn’t hold back: “The only thing you done was ‘Yesterday’… and since you’ve gone you’re just ‘Another Day.’” Ouch. Fire, meet gasoline.
3. “Back Off Boogaloo” – Ringo Starr
From the single: Back Off Boogaloo (1972)
Ringo’s glam-rock stomper has long been rumored to throw playful punches at Paul’s solo work. Lines like “wake up, meathead” raised eyebrows, especially with Paul’s vegetarian lifestyle. Subtle? Not quite. Funky? Absolutely.
4. “Dear Friend” – Paul McCartney
From the album: Wild Life (1971)
Paul brings the olive branch—and a piano. A slow, sorrowful ballad asking John, “Is this really the borderline?” It feels like Paul stepping back from the feud and extending a heartfelt moment of reconciliation.
Source: thatericalper.com/Eric Alper
In terms of legacy-making months, February has always been good to The Beatles. The band’s triumphant 1964 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" will always resound in the history of popular music, to be sure. Then there’s the group’s first full-length concert at the Washington Coliseum a few days later. And these Fab Februarys have never truly ebbed, with Paul McCartney staging a series of intimate, pop-up concerts in Brooklyn this very week.
Which brings us to the latest Beatles book to hit the shelves. Robert Rodriguez and Jerry Hammack, the authors of "Ribbons of Rust: The Beatles’ Recording History in Context," are undertaking one of the most ambitious new projects in Beatles studies. In a painstaking effort to account for the band’s origins and influences, Rodriguez and Hammack contextualize the bandmates’ lives and work in terms of their historical and sociocultural moment. The book series draws its name, by the way, from the recording tape upon which the group imprinted their masterworks, those “ribbons of rust”—iron oxide bonded to polyethylene terephthalate.
The first volume in the series traces the fertile and transformative era from July 1954 through January 1963, when the Beatles were poised to conquer Great Britain with the chart-topping “Please Please Me” single. Rodriguez and Hammack are ideally situated to undertake this multivolume work. Rodriguez is the author behind one of Beatles criticism’s seminal books, "Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock ‘n’ Roll," and the host of the popular "Something about the Beatles" podcast. For his part, Hammack is the author of "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual" series.
Source: Kenneth Womack/Yahoo.com
Recording a song in less than a few days isn’t common, even by today’s standards. Sometimes, multiple takes of multiple vocal and instrumental tracks are just plain necessary in order to produce a good song. Sessions can last for days or even weeks. However, that was not the case for the following four songs, which were recorded in the span of only one single day. Let’s take a look! A few of these songs might shock you.
“Twist And Shout” by The Beatles
It’s crazy to think that a song this good only took a day to record. However, “Twist And Shout” by The Beatles was, indeed, recorded in just a single day. In fact, the whole of Please Please Me, the Fab Four’s debut, was recorded in one single day on February 11, 1963. A few overdubs here and there were added at a later date by George Martin, but otherwise, that whole record launched the biggest music career of the 20th century. And it’s crazy to think that they rushed it.
“Instant Karma” by John Lennon
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
Not everyone believes in ghosts. Many would chalk up a supernatural visit to a bunch of mumbo jumbo. John Lennon would likely include himself in that camp, but his first wife, Cynthia, would claim herself to be a true believer, at least after they moved into their first home together.
Shortly after taking ownership of a historic home in the early 1960s, Cynthia Lennon became aware of a strange presence lurking around the house. Though it wasn’t what ultimately got her out of that home–that can be blamed on Lennon’s infidelity–it proved to be a significant moment in her life. Learn more about the ghost that haunted the Lennons below.
Well, I’d rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or I won’t know where I am
Hot off the success of the Ed Sullivan Show, the Lennons bought their first home for £20,000. The home was over 50 years old and in need of a little TLC. Despite the rundown aspects of the home, there was something else that caused Cynthia Lennon to object to the purchase: an unsettling presence.
Yes, it seems the Lennons were victims of a haunted house trope. John Lennon was the unaware home buyer with stars in his eyes, while Cynthia Lennon was wary of an eerie vibe. It affected her so much that she wrote about it in her memoir.
“We searched out a vast villa with its own pool–we were told it had once been a convent,” Cynthia Lennon once wrote. “No sooner had we moved in than we discovered the place was haunted.”
She went on to describe ghostly moments around the house, including flickering lights and other unexplained circumstances.
“Lights would keep going off, objects would move mysteriously and we all felt a strange presence,” she added. “We planned a party to cheer the place up, but halfway through the evening the electricity was cut off and a huge storm blew up.”
Eventually, Cynthia Lennon moved out of that haunted house, due to John Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono. Though the circumstances were not ideal, Cynthia was likely somewhat happy to get out of there. We sure would be…
You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That’s the end, little girl
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
John Lennon and Paul McCartney stood as an unparalleled song-writing duo, crafting the bulk of The Beatles' hits with their work jointly credited under Lennon-McCartney, regardless of individual or collaborative efforts.
Reflecting on their writing dynamics, Wilfred Mellers penned in 1972: "Opposite poles generate electricity: between John and Paul the sparks flew. John's fiery iconoclasm was tempered by Paul's lyrical grace, while Paul's wide-eyed charm was toughened by John's resilience."
However, as the late 1960s rolled around, their relationship started to deteriorate. The band experienced growing tensions, impacting the recording sessions for iconic albums such as 'The White Album,' 'Let It Be,' and 'Abbey Road.'
Disputes over creative differences and Yoko Ono's presence in the studio exacerbated the rift, leading John and Paul to part ways. Following their final recording session for 'The End' from 'Abbey Road' in August 1969, John informed the group that he intended to leave, likening it to asking for a 'divorce' from The Beatles.
Subsequently, a distressed Paul withdrew to his home to create his initial solo work, 'McCartney'. With the release of this album in April 1970, Paul made his departure from The Beatles public via a press statement accompanying the album, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The Beatles' final album 'Let it Be' was released in May 1970, almost a month after the band officially split. The album, composed of recordings from February 1968 to April 1970, sparked further disputes among Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison.
Source: themirror.com/John O'Sullivan, Dan Haygarth
From fired to retired.
Drummer Zak Starkey posted a statement on Instagram Monday clearing up the circumstances surrounding his latest exit from The Who.
Starkey, 59, claimed that bandmate Roger Daltrey told him he wasn’t “fired” from the group for a second time, but rather “retired” and free to work on his own projects.
“NOISE&CONFUSION!!!! I had a great phone chat with Roger at the end of last week which truly confused both of us!!!” Starkey wrote.
“Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work on my own projects,” Starkey shared. “I explained to Rog that I have just spent nearly 8 weeks at my studio in Jamaica completing these projects, that my group Mantra Of The Cosmos was releasing one single at the beginning of June and after that had run its course ( usually 5/6 weeks ) I was completely available for the foreseeable future….Rog said ‘Oh!’ and we kind of left it there.”
Starkey insisted that he and Daltrey, 81, are “on good terms and great friends as we have always been.”
“Gotta love these guys,” the musician added. “As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!’ XXX.”
Starkey, who is the son of Beatles legend Ringo Starr, joined The Who in 1996.
He was fired from the band for the first time last month following his performance during the group’s two charity shows for Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall in late March.
Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend were allegedly “upset” with Starkey over the gigs.
Starkey spoke out about his blindsided departure, revealing that he “suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf” in January.
Source: nypost.com/Eric Todisco
Ringo Starr had one regret ftom The Beatles. Ringo Starr’s career as one of the members of The Beatles is impressive, but that doesn’t mean the music star doesn’t have regrets about his career.
The band, which broke up in 1974, consisted of Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. Over the years, much has been made of what the various band members thought about their time together, including much about Harrison, who walked out of the band and refused to perform with another member again, and even penned a track that was aimed towards McCartney and Lennon before his death.
However, despite some of the drama, Starr had a different view. This was something he revealed when he shared his biggest regret when it came to the group’s split. While the band did split up in 1974, and never had any official reunions, they did sometimes join forces.
This was until all hopes were dashed when Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in 1980. Any chance of a partial reunion was further dashed when Harrison died from lung cancer in 2001.
The fact that he couldn’t have a proper reunion with his bandmates before their deaths was reportedly something that Starr regretted.
“I think the stumbling block was just sitting around and saying, ‘OK, let’s do it,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “And we never got to that.”
“You know, we did in twos, we talked about it…We still had the songs, and we still could play,” he continued. “We could have put it together.”
Source: Lauren Martinez/themirror.com
