Beatles News
Listen, I want my (okay, fine, Sabrina Carpenter’s) tiny, handsome boyfriend Barry Keoghan to stay booked and busy as much as the next Banshees of Inisherin stan. However, I think I have to draw a tenuous personal line in the sand at seeing him in filmmaker Sam Mendes’s series of four interconnected biopics following each member of the Beatles, the cast of which is alleged to include Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Charlie Rowe as George Harrison, and Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
As a lifelong Ringo girl, I should be thrilled to see one of my favourite actors portraying the legendary drummer – not to mention the Paul Mescal of it all! (A surprisingly apt McCartney, IMO.) But loath as I am to sound like one of those old cranks who need you to know that they saw the Stones live in 1970-something – and also that pizza used to cost a dollar – I just can’t help feeling somewhat disheartened at the prospect of the real-life Beatles getting the full-on, glossy biopic treatment. (Beatles movie musicals, however, I’m strangely okay with; just ask me how many times I saw Across the Universe as a teen.)
No part of American life is too sacrosanct for the biopic treatment, but if I may pretentiously quote Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, “Our memories are getting more beautiful and less real every day.” The prevalent Hollywood attitude towards biopic casting, which seems to hold that everyone should be roughly eight times more attractive than the people in real life – albeit with a slightly more attainable-looking haircut – reflects that sentiment.
Source: vogue.ph
George Harrison was undoubtedly playing catchup in The Beatles’ songwriting race to the more experienced duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. His 1965 song “I Need You” represented a significant leap forward in his writing as he became more established in that realm.
What is “I Need You” about? What instrumental effect helped to set it apart? And why was it an important song in Harrison’s songwriting development? Let’s find out all that there is to know about this somewhat unheralded track by the Fab Four.
Considering he was the youngest Beatle, and that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were already writing songs even before the group had a chance to record them, it’s no surprise George Harrison was at a disadvantage in terms of developing as a songwriter. He immediately found a crucial role as the band’s lead guitarist, and, for the first several years of the group’s success, that was enough.
From 1962 to 1964, a time span which encompassed four Beatles albums, Harrison wrote just one song. “Don’t Bother Me,” which was included on the 1963 album With the Beatles (the group’s second LP) sounded like a somewhat rough first try. Harrison later said the song was important for him if for nothing else than it proved he could do it.
Considering that 1964 contained a plethora of newly released Beatles material, and that none of it was attributed to Harrison, it might have seemed at the time he would never again return to songwriting. But then “I Need You” appeared on the soundtrack for Help! and Beatles fans heard a much more confident songwriting voice emanating from Harrison.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
The day he quit The Beatles, George Harrison went home and wrote a song that'd become one of his most beloved solo tracks.
Like all bands, they had their feuds. Though, given The Beatles were the most famous and influential musical group throughout the sixties, all eyes were on them. Almost always.
So when frictions between the four-piece were aired, it sent ripples of worry throughout their fanbase and the wider world. Naturally creative disputes would arise when you've got two equally talented songwriters jostling for supremacy over The Beatles' immaculate output, let alone three.
But with John Lennon and Paul McCartney to contend with, George Harrison seldom got a look in. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney reconciled and nearly reformed The Beatles.
During the filming of the 1970 documentary Let It Be - and later Peter Jackson's revisionist documentary Get Back which restored the original footage - George's frustration would come to a head.
With the four members seemingly struggling to be in the same room together, it was Paul McCartney's uncompromising creative vision which pushed everyone else to the margins.
Whilst John didn't seem too bothered, and Ringo Starr focusing on a concurrent acting career, George felt he was wasting his time. So he quit the band.
The day he quit The Beatles, George went home and wrote a song that'd become one of his most beloved solo tracks.
Source: Thomas Curtis-Horsfall/goldradiouk.com
Producer/engineer Glyn Johns recorded the whole of the Let It Be sessions for the Beatles in 1969, and mixed a raw version of the album that wouldn’t be released for another 52 years — so he’s far from a fan of the Phil Spector-embellished album that came out in 1970. “He did a terrible job,” Johns says on the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. “Don’t misunderstand me — I respect Phil Spector for his early work tremendously. But somebody like Phil Spector shouldn’t ever be allowed near a band like the Beatles, in my view. Phil Spector was always the artist in the records that he made. He treated the artists like parts of the machine to make the end result. I don’t think the Beatles ever require that kind of input.”
Source: MSN
For most Beatles fans, their movies are laudable. Rife with the band’s titular humor, irreverent, and fun-loving, each of the Beatles’ films was a triumph in one way or another. Nevertheless, John Lennon felt that one film in particular was more humiliating than a success. Find out which film that is, below.
According to Lennon, the process for making the Beatles’ second film, Help!, was a doozy. The band was at the height of Beatlemania and, as such, had numerous responsibilities that far outweighed the usual asks of a rock band.
While filming Help!, Lennon says the band was forced to spend time with pre-teen fans to appease what he called “Jumped-up middle-class b***hes and b****rds.” He says, if they refused, there would be threats about going to the press–which would risk ruining everything the band had built so far.
“It was always that, they were always threatening what they would tell the press about us, the bad publicity if we didn’t see their bloody daughter with braces on her teeth,” Lennon once said. “And we had these people thrust on us.
“Like sitting with the governor of the Bahamas because we were making Help! and being insulted by these fuckin’ jumped-up middle-class b***hes and b****rds who would be commenting on our work and our manners,” he continued. “I couldn’t take it. It hurt me so; I would go insane, swearing at them and whatever. It was awful. All that business was awful. It was a fuckin’ humiliation.”
He went so far as to call the entirety of his time in the Beatles a humiliation. “One has to completely humiliate oneself to be what the Beatles were, and that’s what I resent,” he said.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Music fans around the world mourned the loss of George Harrison upon his death in November 2001 at 58 years old. A year later, they received a wonderful farewell gift in the form of Brainwashed, his final studio album.
Not only was it his last album, but Brainwashed turned out to be one of his best. How did it all come together? And who helped carry the project forward in Harrison’s absence? It’s an amazing story befitting an amazing album.
When he released his surprising comeback album Cloud Nine in 1987, it looked like George Harrison had re-energized his solo career in such a way that we could expect more material coming from him in a hurry. But the follow-up album never quite materialized.
Harrison still wasn’t all that keen on the promotional and touring duties that were expected of a rock artist. He also got caught up in other events. There were two albums with his buddies in the Traveling Wilburys, as well as the time spent helping fellow Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr complete the Anthology project.
That’s not to say that he stopped thinking about releasing his own music. In fact, as the ’90s wore on, he started to assemble songs that seemed like they could work on a solo album. When he overcame a throat cancer scare in 1997, it seemed he would have the time to work on this record. Fate intervened, however, and made Brainwashed, by necessity, a team effort.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
The final bow is set for July 6th at The Mirage, Las Vegas. Come and celebrate the last shows of The Beatles LOVE.
The groundbreaking production celebrating the music and legacy of The Beatles through the artistry of Cirque du Soleil, will conclude its historic Las Vegas run at The Mirage on July 6, 2024 as the resort begins its transformation into The Hard Rock Las Vegas. Tickets to performances are on sale at cirquedusoleil.com/beatles-love.
Celebrating its 18th anniversary this year, The Beatles LOVE is a vibrant and thrilling production, driven by its GRAMMY®-winning soundtrack and breathtaking aerial artistry, colorful visuals and high-energy choreography on a 360-degree stage.
“The Beatles LOVE has been seen by more than 11.5 million guests since opening in 2006,” said Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group CEO Stéphane Lefebvre. “It’s been an honor for all of us at Cirque du Soleil to collaborate with The Beatles and Apple Corps Ltd. on what can only be described as a masterpiece. We are grateful to the creators, cast, crew and all involved in bringing this show to life and we know The Beatles LOVE will live on long after the final bow.”
Source: thebeatles.com
A new feature documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s life in New York in the early 1970s has been announced. One to One: John & Yoko features newly transferred and restored 16mm film footage including Lennon’s only full-length concert performances after The Beatles, as well as previously unseen and unheard personal archives, including phone calls and home movies recorded and filmed by the couple themselves.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, One to One: John & Yoko comes over 50 years after The Beatles broke up, and Lennon was fatally shot in 1980 as he and Ono returned to their home in the Dakota building overlooking New York’s Central Park. The film 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.” At the core of the story are the One to One Concerts at Madison Square Garden, where Lennon was accompanied by Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests. The remixed concert audio was produced by Sean Ono Lennon, who shared: “Kevin’s documentary brings completely fresh insight into my parents’ lives during their Bank Street and early New York years, showing first hand their unwavering dedication to promoting peace and non-violence during a turbulent era of unrest, corruption and unnecessary war.”
Source: klbjfm.com
If you listened to John Lennon’s 1975 album Rock ‘n’ Roll and knew nothing else about it, you’d probably hear it as a bit of a lark that allowed the ex-Beatle to pay homage to the music he grew up idolizing. And it is that, to an extent. But when you know why and how the record was made (and how it almost wasn’t), you’ll appreciate that Lennon was able to hold this thing together at all.
With lawsuits upon lawsuits, gunplay, and stolen tapes involved, the album at times felt more like international espionage than simple Rock ‘n’ Roll. And, oddly, the whole saga started with a Beatles song. The opening song off Abbey Road, the final album The Beatles recorded together before their breakup, was “Come Together,” credited to Lennon/McCartney but pretty much 100% written by John Lennon. That’s why Morris Levy came after Lennon, claiming the song sounded a bit too much like the Chuck Berry song “You Can’t Catch Me,” for which Levy owned the publishing.
These claims took place a few years after The Beatles had broken up and Lennon was in the middle of his solo career. He didn’t want to be sued, so he agreed with Levy to record and release a few songs from Levy’s publishing catalog of golden oldies as a kind of goodwill gesture. Studio time in Los Angeles was squared away in late 1973.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
A former member of the Beatles is bringing his drum kit to the Valley Dale Ballroom next month.
No, it's not Ringo Starr — original Beatles drummer Pete Best is coming to town.
Flashback: Best played alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison for two years, until the band replaced him with Starr in 1962.
The band went on to enjoy Beatlemania, while Best later left the music industry for two decades. He now tours with a band playing Beatles hits and original songs.
The intrigue: The Cyrkle, a classic rock band that toured with the Beatles in 1966, will be the opening act.
Want to go? The July 28 show at 1590 Sunbury Road will feature a pre-concert lecture at 2:30pm ($59-79) with Best and his brother, Roger, followed by a 4pm meet and greet ($65).
The concert starts at 6pm ($59-99).
Source:Axios
