Beatles News
On This Day, May 1, 1966 …
The Beatles performed a 15-minute set at the New Musical Express Annual Poll-Winners All-Star Concert at the Empire Pool in London.
The performance, which took place in front of about 10,000 people, wound up being the band’s final scheduled live performance in Britain. Their actual final live show was the 1969 concert on the roof of Apple Studios, but that was a surprise.
The Beatles performed a five-song set at the NME show, with performances of “I Feel Fine,” “Nowhere Man,” “Day Tripper,” “If I Needed Someone” and “I’m Down.”
Other artists on the bill that night included The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Spencer Davis Group, Herman’s Hermits and Roy Orbison.
Source: KSHE 95
The Beatles had to keep a bruising schedule in the early years of their recording career. In addition to their constant touring and live appearances, they were generally expected to crank out a pair of albums and a couple of singles per calendar year.
This itinerary helped them develop as writers, especially John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The duo handled pretty much all the group’s original compositions at that time. It explains how fascinatingly offbeat tracks like “I’ll Be Back”, which appeared on A Hard Day’s Night in 1964, came into existence.
If you’re looking for a turning point in The Beatles’ career in terms of their writing skills, A Hard Day’s Night is a great choice. Their third album also represented the first time that Lennon and McCartney wrote every single one of the tracks.
It was an extremely atypical feat in the rock and roll world. Cover songs still loomed as a huge part of the average band’s recording repertoire. Lennon and McCartney were essentially getting songwriting reps that their peers lacked. You can understand why their writing was vastly improving.
John Lennon came up with the idea for “I’ll Be Back”, and likely did the bulk of the writing. Keep in mind, however, that this was an era where McCartney would often add his two cents to Lennon’s compositions (and vice versa). Thus, it’s likely that there was some collaboration in the finished product.
Source: Jim Beviglia/American Songwriter
Paul McCartney, who recently revealed his favorite Beatles track, has shed light on the unexpected roots of the iconic Beatles tune Golden Slumbers.
Featured on The Beatles' Abbey Road album, the song has been reimagined by various artists, including Neil Diamond and Mumford & Sons. While the melody is well-known to fans, many were taken aback to learn that the lyrics originated from a Victorian song named Cradle Song.
In an episode of his podcast Paul McCartney: A Life In Lyrics, Paul - who admitted to being outraged after a fan theory emerged on a classic Beatles track - delved into the creation of the song. "That chorus that I've used as a chorus, literally, is the lyrics to an old Victorian song," McCartney, who will be played by a hit Irish actor in the upcoming Beatles biopic, said.
When queried if this was what's referred to as sampling, Paul's response was more forthright. He candidly responded, "Well, it's called stealing."
Source: irishstar.com/Scarlett O'Toole
Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach's love story is more than 40 years in the making.
In fact, on April 27, 2025 it will be exactly 44 years since the pair tied the knot in front of 70 guests in London after meeting on the set of the movie Caveman not long before. In celebration of the couple's anniversary, here's a look back at some iconic photos from the early days of their relationship!
Starr and Bach first met more than 40 years ago on the set of the 1981 movie, Caveman, in which they played love interests.
The two were both in relationships at the time and told Playboy in 1981 that they "weren't together" until the end of the filming.
"A lot of garbage has been written about us, none of it interesting," Bach said. "The truth is, we weren't together until the very end of Caveman. Working, we got along fine, but we each had other people, our respective friends. Then, all of a sudden, within a week — the last week of shooting — it just happened. We changed from friendly love to being in love."
Source: uk.news.yahoo.com
On their 1972 album Some Time In New York City, John Lennon and Yoko Ono featured a controversial song with an overall well-meaning message. However, as well-intentioned as it may have been, the song “Woman Is The [Redacted] Of The World” may not have been the radically supportive statement that Lennon and Ono were hoping for.
According to the 2016 book Public Interests: Media Advocacy And Struggles Over U.S. Television by Allison Perlman, Ono initially uttered the phrase in a 1969 interview with Nova magazine. The phrase has been partially attributed to Zora Neal Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God, in which one of its characters relays a similar statement.
Additionally, Lennon stated in a 1972 television interview that James Connolly, an Irish revolutionary, was also an inspiration, specifically via his quote, “the female worker is the slave of the slave.” The song was apparently meant to express that “women were the most oppressed group in the world and within oppressed groups themselves, women are the most mistreated and relegated to the lowest status rung,” according to Perlman.
Source: Lauren Boisvert/American Songwriter
Tensions ran high during The Beatles' final days. After the sessions for 1968's 'The White Album' were marked by disagreements, which saw Ringo Starr leave the band temporarily, the mood remained difficult during the 'Get Back' sessions, which resulted in their final album 'Let it Be'.
Recording of 'Let it Be' commenced in January 1969 at Twickenham Studios, with the idea that The Beatles would work on an album and prepare for a return to performing live - having retired from touring in 1966. It was all captured on camera for an accompanying documentary.
Things did not quite go to plan and George Harrison walked out of the studio, quitting the band, on January 10, 1969. It came after an argument with Paul McCartney about George's guitar playing.
George had also pitched a number of songs to The Beatles, including 'All Things Must Pass', during those sessions, but they didn't show much interest. About that time, George told Musician Magazine in 1987: "I just got so fed up with the bad vibes – and that arguments with Paul were getting put in the film. I didn't care if it was The Beatles, I was getting out".
Though he would return to the band on January 15 - on the conditions of leaving Twickenham, returning to the more familiar surroundings of Apple Studios, and cancelling live shows, George still wasn't best pleased. It was seemingly the beginning of the end for The Beatles - John Lennon asked for a 'divorce' from the band later that year and their split was made public in 1970.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Dan Haygarth
For years, fans of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles thought the “rivalry” that was often explored in pulpy magazine articles was (more or less) fabricated. However, according to Paul McCartney, it looks like that beef was actually real.
“I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what The Stones are,” McCartney said in an interview with The New Yorker from 2021. “I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”
A week after McCartney made his comments, Mick Jagger took to the stage at a Rolling Stones show as said that McCartney should be “joining us in a blues cover.” There’s your proof, folks. The rivalry was real, even though it was likely pretty tame and playful.
So, why was the rivalry between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones a good thing? In my opinion, it resulted in some really killer music.
A Legendary Rivalry That Yielded Some Killer Rock Tunes
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones first met back in 1963 and even partied together for a bit. The Stones would then sign a big record deal with Decca, after being recommended to do so by none other than George Harrison.
Source: Em Casalena/American Songwriter
John Lennon was a perfectionist of sorts, both as a solo artist and as a part of The Beatles. Like anyone with a perfectionist bone in their body, he outright criticized and slandered a few of his own songs, as well as Paul McCartney’s contributions. Sometimes, that criticism was well-placed. Other times, it definitely was not. Let’s look at just a few songs that John Lennon famously hated, and why I personally think he was wrong to be so harsh about them.
1. “It’s Only Love”
This track from Help! took quite a few takes to make it to the record. Even then, it never got a proper single release and only made it to American audiences via the US version of Rubber Soul.
“That’s the one song I really hate of mine,” Lennon said of “It’s Only Love”. “Terrible lyric.”
I really don’t agree with that. I don’t think Lennon was some otherworldly god that couldn’t produce bad music or anything. But, he definitely penned worse tracks than “It’s Only Love”. (“Run For Your Life” is just one example, and Lennon also hated that one as well.)
2. “Paperback Writer”
This non-album single from 1966 is a surprising one on this list, considering it shot to no. 1 in the US and UK upon its release. However, Lennon didn’t think very fondly of this tune.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
John Lennon’s Power to the People live EP debuts in the top 10 on three U.K. charts, earning the ... More rock, Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band new smashes. 16th August 1966: John Lennon (1940 - 1980) of the Beatles, after making a formal apology for his controversial statement that the group were 'more popular than Jesus'.
Decades after his death, John Lennon is still collecting hit singles in the United Kingdom. If he’s still doing so to this day, after so many decades have passed, he may never stop scoring new wins.
The musician created an enormous amount of material during his lifetime, both on his own and as part of The Beatles… not to mention his many collaborations with his wife, Yoko Ono. That wealth of recordings – studio, live, demo, and otherwise — has turned into a near-bottomless well of releases that continue to attract interest from devoted fans and collectors. And with the help of repackagings, remasterings, and a steady flow of special releases, Lennon seems to reach the U.K. rankings with something “new” with real regularity.
John Lennon’s Latest Hit Is a Record Store Day Exclusive
Lennon, alongside Ono and the Plastic Ono Band, returns to the U.K. rankings this frame with a short but powerful collection that was released specifically for Record Store Day. Titled Power to the People – Live at the One-to-One Concert, New York City, 1972, the effort is officially shortened to Power to the People according to the Official Charts Company. It features four live performances recorded at Lennon’s now-legendary One-to-One benefit shows, held on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
Fans of The Beatles’ soundtrack album, A Hard Day’s Night, say the lack of a Ringo Starr-led song is disappointing.
Though George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon each received at least one song with lead vocal work on A Hard Day’s Night, Starr did not have any. A post to the r/Beatles subreddit saw fans share their thoughts on why Starr may not have been given any work to do on the album. One user shared: “It’s a shame that Ringo didn’t get a lead vocal song in A Hard Day’s Night. I recently noticed that while John, Paul, and George have lead vocals in a lot of the tracks, only Ringo didn’t have any. I wonder why.”
Fans are now speculating on why Starr had not been given a lead vocal role on The Beatles‘ 1964 album. One suggested that while it may be disappointing he did not receive any vocal work on the album, his work on the film led to him becoming the main star of the follow-up film. The user wrote: “Ringo did get a scene that was so well received he became the focal point for the film Help!”
Another added: “The camera definitely loved Ringo the most. John always had the good lines and Paul is Paul, but Ringo is a true ham and the best, most natural actor of the four.” A third suggested another release from the band around the same time may be the reason Starr does not feature on vocals. They wrote: “The Long Tall Sally EP which was released around the same time gave him Matchbox.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
