Beatles News
George Harrison walked out on the Beatles on January 10, 1969, and his diary offers a glimpse into how he dealt with the split.
1969 excerpt from George Harrison's diary reveals what he did moments after he ‘left the Beatles’
The 20th century was blessed with the Beatles, whose soul-stirring music resonated across the globe. Composed of vivid and talented artists, the band was an integral part of the music industry. But in 1969, George Harrison left the Beatles for his own reasons and quit the band. According to Diaries of Note, a letter from that year sheds light on Harrison's reasons for leaving and his subsequent actions. On January 10, 1969, Harrison detailed in his diary what he did moments before and after he "left the Beatles." The band had been practicing tirelessly for their final album. Besides that, some tension and disagreements were building up among members.
Source: Angelina C Dsouza/scoop.upworthy.com
Beatles lore has long held that the film Let It Be was a depressing portrait of the band falling apart. According to the same lore, that’s why Peter Jackson’s Get Back was such a revelation. Revisiting Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s footage of the group at work in January 1969, Jackson discovered there was far more joy around than anyone suspected – including the surviving Beatles.
Yoko remains a darkly brooding presence (the revisionism that sees her as benign needs its own revision)
All of which, it now turns out, only goes to prove the ever-reliable power of suggestion. I vaguely remember seeing Let It Be on TV in the 1970s, before it disappeared until last week – and finding it as miserable as I already knew everybody said it was. Except that it really isn’t. Having started watching the film on Disney+ in the mental equivalent of the brace position, I soon found myself successively giving way to relief, delight and a familiar sense of awe at all the Beatles achieved, and at how quickly they achieved it.
At one point, Paul looks back with amusement on the band’s time in India with the Maharishi, gently ribbing John for his uncharacteristic lack of scepticism. This long-vanished era, you then realise with a jolt, was less than a year before. Likewise, when the group exuberantly play rock’n’roll songs from their Hamburg days, it’s hard to believe that those days – the ones before they revolutionised pop music at least twice – were only as far from them as the Brexit referendum is from us.
Source: James Walton/spectator.co.uk
The Beatles are one of several musical acts from decades past that typically manage to appear on at least one Billboard chart every week. The group’s music is still incredibly popular, so it’s not odd to see them rise and fall on the weekly tallies, as Americans can’t stop streaming and buying their many hits.
All that consumption has helped The Beatles return to two rankings this time around. They find their way back with an album that was released decades after they split up and which has gone on to become one of the most successful compilations of all time.
The Beatles' 1 reappears on the Billboard 200 this week at No. 175. That’s a fairly low position for the beloved compilation, but the fact that it’s returning, and not simply climbing or sliding back, shows a noticeable uptick in consumption from one frame to another. It has essentially climbed at least 26 spaces, as last frame it must have been sitting at No. 201, at its highest—though of course no such position actually exists.
In the past tracking week, 1 moved another 8,488 equivalent units. That sum includes only 443 pure purchases, so fans listening on platforms like Spotify and Apple Apple Music did most of the work when it came to bringing The Beatles back to the Billboard 200.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Following their sell-out Number #1 Tour across Ireland in Summer 2023, The Classic Beatles are back with their Magical Mystery Tour in 2024. Relive the sights and sounds of the Sixties in a stunning 2-hour show stuffed with the best songs ever written.
The Classic Beatles are the only Beatles Tribute band personally endorsed by Sir George Martin (Legendary Beatles Producer) and to have performed for the Queen. Widely recognised as one of the best Beatles Tributes in the world, The Classic Beatles Magical Mystery Tour 2024 is sure to satiate even the most hardened of Beatle Fans. Expect a whole new set – from Moptop to Rooftop – with all the hits and some new deeper cuts NEVER BEFORE performed live!
With multiple costume changes and lots of cheeky banter, catch The Classic Beatles at the top of their game for a great night’s entertainment. Fan favourites in the set include: ‘In My Life’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Rain, Tomorrow Never Knows’, ‘A Day In The Life’, ‘Your Mother Should Know’ and loads more incredible songs.
“The vocal resemblance is uncanny” – Sir George Martin
“Best Beatle Tribute band on planet Earth” – Ryan Tubridy
“These guys are ridiculous! Very impressive” – Tom Dunne
“Fastidiously authentic!” – Eamonn Carr
Source: Civic Theatre/journalofmusic.com
The Beatles drummer has given a new interview where he discussed the band's working relationship and Ringo Starr believes The Beatles would have made far fewer records if it wasn't for Paul McCartney.
The famous Fab Four drummer has opened up about the dynamics of the band in a new interview, where he discussed how they rowed and in later years relied on McCartney to motivate them.
Speaking to Dan Rather for AXS TV, the Yellow Submarine singer explained: "We didn't get along. We were four guys. We had rows. It never got in the way of the music, no matter how bad the rows got, once the count in, we all gave our best".
The drummer also went onto explain that the band - completed by the late John Lennon and George Harrison - found it hard to motivate themselves as they got older and their families grew.
"And that was a little later too, which I think is a natural thing," he added. "Suddenly, we’ve got lives and I've got children and you know, the effort that we put in 'cause we worked really hard was starting to pale a little and, you know, we always thank Paul to this day.
"Because of Paul, who was the workaholic of our band, we made a lot more records than John and I would’ve made. We liked to sit around a little more and then Paul would call ‘Alright lads’ and we’d go in."
Source: Jenny Mensah/radiox.co.uk
Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys have discussed their new Disney+ documentary, the support they had from The Beatles, and the health of songwriter Brian Wilson.
Interviewed by Mariella Frostrup alongside The Beach Boys’ documentary director Frank Marshall at Abbey Road Studios, the pair revealed that the 81-year-old Wilson – who has recently been placed under conservatorship for what his doctors call a “major neurocognitive disorder” – was still able to perform with the band for the film.
“Brian remembered things that I had forgotten from high school at times,” said Love. “His long-term memory is right there. He does need the help medically – but I think as long as he’s alive he’ll play that piano.”
“I’ve always been interested in how they all came together,” said Marshall, producer of the Indiana Jones, Bourne, Jurassic World and Back To The Future franchises and director of the 2020 Bee Gees documentary How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, on his reasons for making the film.
“[I was] always curious about the music and what made it happen. Documentary filmmaking is a journey of discovery – like a little treasure hunter you’re looking for those golden nuggets along the way. And in this case, it was kind of amazing. We uncovered some really great things that hadn’t been seen before.”
Source: Mark Beaumont/nme.com
From the day he was born on October 9, 1940, to his final breaths in a New York City hospital on 9th Avenue, John Lennon seemed to be perpetually followed by the number nine for better or worse. He alluded to his connection to the number nine in various tracks over the years, including “Revolution 9,” “One After 909,” and “#9 Dream.”
But the coincidences didn’t stop there. For someone who was notorious for his glib responses about songs having no real meaning (like, for example, “I Am the Walrus” or “Happiness is a Warm Gun”), Lennon was surprisingly open to the notion that there was an uncanny connection between his life’s overarching trajectory and one specific numerical value. John Lennon’s Connection to the No. 9 Started At Birth.
The Liverpudlian musician, author, and activist’s connection to the number nine started on his birthday, the 9th of October. While Western calendars classify October as the 10th month, Lennon’s birthday fell in the ninth month of the year according to the Chinese calendar.
His childhood address contained three nine-letter words: 9 Newcastle Road, Wavertree, Liverpool. Other early connections to the number nine revealed themselves in multiples of the number, like the No. 72 bus Lennon regularly rode as a student at Liverpool Art College. Two of Lennon’s first bandmates, Stuart Sutcliffe and Paul McCartney, had nine-letter surnames.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
Ringo Starr has new music out this year, but don't expect to hear it on tour.
The drummer was recently asked by Variety about previous comments he'd made regarding not playing new material on the road with the All-Starr Band because people tend to use those moments for bathroom breaks.
"I promise you, any band out there, say 'I'd like to do something from my new LP, EP, CD,' and you can feel the vibe of people going to the toilet, or going to find some T-shirts," Starr explained. "This, with the All Starrs, is so great because [playing the hits] is why we're there: We're the best 1-800 band in the land right now, with Colin [Hay] and [Steve] Lukather and everybody."
For those who do want to hear the new songs, Starr's newest EP, Crooked Boy, was released in April, produced by Linda Perry.
"Linda did a great job," Starr told Variety. "She wrote me four great songs, so I'm only playing drums and singing them, and the rest of the instrumentals, that's the band she found. And a big find for me was Nick [Valensi of the Strokes], on guitar — he was so great."
Country Music Coming From Ringo Starr
And there's more, too. Starr is currently working on his first full-length LP since 2019, a country album whose title has yet to be revealed. It's a collaboration with T Bone Burnett, who wrote Starr nine songs even though the drummer wasn't originally planning on making a full album.
Source: Allison Rapp/ultimateclassicrock.com
Sir Paul McCartney has put his 2012 London Olympic boots up for auction to raise funds for the Meat Free Monday campaign.
The shoes, which he wore when he performed at the opening ceremony of the sports event, will be sold by Sotheby’s with an estimate of £10,000 to £15,000.
Sir Paul said: “As it was time for me to get myself a new pair of boots, I thought this might be a good way to help our Meat Free Monday campaign celebrate its 15th anniversary.
“Me and my boots have great memories of that special evening at the Olympic opening ceremony in London. It was a high to be involved with such an awesome and spectacular event. Something I’ll remember forever.”
He started the non-profit campaign with his daughters Mary and Stella McCartney to encourage people to not eat meat for one day a week to help the environment and animal welfare.
Sir Paul’s boots are similar to the shoes he wore while in the Beatles, and are now made without animal products.
Originally made by Anello and Davide, a footwear company specialising in theatrical footwear, the Beatle boots were an offshoot of the classic Chelsea boot.
The auctioned pair was crafted from alternative suede by Steven Lowe for Crispinians based in Eastbourne.
Source: Charlotte McLaughlin/standard.co.uk
Before they were selling out stadiums for tens of thousands of adoring fans, the Beatles were performing in rather racy venues across the U.K. and Europe. Aside from the questionable sleaze of the clubs they were able to book, the young musicians dealt with meager pay, shoddy sleeping arrangements, and an overwhelmingly lukewarm audience reception.
But everyone has to start somewhere, right? The Beatles’ First Racy Venue Was An Afternoon Strip Club Affair
Years before Ringo Starr would join the Fab Four fold, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison performed under the moniker the Silver Beetles with a rotating cast of percussionists. When they couldn’t find a drummer for hire, McCartney opted to sit behind the kit.
Harrison recalled the first and last professional gig where McCartney played drums in The Beatles Anthology. “It was in Upper Parliament Street where a guy called Lord Woodbine owned a strip club. It was in the afternoon, with a few perverts (five or so men in overcoats) and a local stripper. We were brought on as the band to accompany the stripper, Paul on drums, John and me on guitar, and Stuart [Sutcliffe] on bass.”
The dancer walked onstage and gave the band sheet music to a piece called “The Gypsy Fire Dance.” However, no one in the Silver Beatles could read sheet music, and they quickly began asking the stripper about the tempo and the melody before giving up on the number altogether. “We decided to do ‘Ramrod’ instead because we knew it,” Harrison said.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
