Beatles News
On June 12, 1965, the British government announced that The Beatles would each be made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace later in the year; the selection sparked criticism, with some MBEs returning their medals in protest.
"We were at Twickenham Film Studios one afternoon when Brian (Epstein) showed up and took us to the dressing room rather secretively. We wondered what it was all about. He said, 'I've got some news for you - the Prime Minister and the Queen have awarded you an MBE,' and we said, 'What's that?' - 'It's a medal!'"
Paul
"(Brian) said, 'What do you think, boys?' I had no problem with it - none of us had any problems with it in the beginning. We all thought it was really thrilling: We're going to meet the Queen and she's going to give us a badge. I thought, 'This is cool.'"
Source: thebeatles.com
The Beatles helped revolutionise the way pop acts utilised the studio. The band’s quick-fire debut album ‘Please Please Me’ was famously completed in a matter of hours – by the time of ‘A Day In The Life’, the Fab Four would spend entire weeks on a single tracks. One song, however, went further – and spanned entire eras of their creative lives.
Released as the B-side of ‘Let It Be’ – their final UK single, and penultimate American single – ‘You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)’ is a jaunty music hall pastiche that epitomises The Beatles’ offbeat, surrealist sense of humour. It also stands as evidence both of their fastidious nature in the studio, and the ruptures during their final years together, taking some four years to perfect.
John Lennon initially sketched out the song during writing sessions in the Spring of 1967 – a hugely productive time for the songwriter, with LSD helping to unblock his pen. In one interview, he recalled how the title came to him after glancing through a nearby phonebook.
That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul. I was waiting for him in his house, and I saw the phone book was on the piano with ‘You know the name, look up the number.’ That was like a logo, and I just changed it.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
Revolver features some of the most iconic songs in The Beatles’ catalog, including classics like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and “Here, There and Everywhere.” But where it really gains separation from other rock albums is in the depth of its lineup of songs. That includes “And Your Bird Can Sing,” which is somehow catchy and elusive all at once.
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What is the song about? What did its main writer, John Lennon, think about it? And what unique instrumental touch did The Beatles add to the song to help it stand out? All the answers and more ahead as we explore “And Your Bird Can Sing.”
Lennon’s Throwaway
Songwriters can often be harshest on their own material. This was especially true of John Lennon, who often denigrated work from his past that many fans absolutely loved. “And Your Bird Can Sing” was one of those songs. In interviews discussing his Beatles work, he quickly dismissed it as nothing more than a throwaway.
Many have speculated that Lennon did so because he didn’t want to reveal the target of the song. Over the years, folks have hazarded various guesses about whom Lennon was addressing and who their “bird” was supposed to be. Since Lennon didn’t specify, there’s no way to verify it.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
It was like squashing a cockroach, they said.
Put your toe down in one spot, rotate your hips and your ankle, shimmy them shoulders and snap your fingers to the beat. That's how you kill a bug, and it's how you do The Twist – but beware. In the new book “Shake It Up, Baby” by Ken McNab, there are some Beatles you really want around.
The first day of 1963 was remarkable for one thing: Great Britain was in the midst of “an extraordinary polar plunge that would last three long, depressing months.” Also on that day, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived on a plane home from Hamburg, “just four nameless faces in the crowd.”
They had no idea that this would be the year “when everything changed.”
They were still getting used to one another, jostling for control. Their manager, Brian Epstein, was toiling to make the four men famous: constantly calling record companies, landing gigs, booking recording studios – one at which the Beatles would record an entire album in a single day. They toured constantly, dozens and dozens of concerts with one reward: their song “Please Please Me” started to rise on the British music charts.
Source: Terri Schlichenmeyer | For The Guam Daily Post
They say it's his birthday and, in this case, the collective "they" gets one right: Paul McCartney will turn 82 on June 18.
The living legend keeps making music at the place where his eternal Beatle boyishness and august, aging revelations meet. To celebrate Sir Paul, I dug deep into his solo catalog, surfacing with 23 favorite tracks. No Beatles and, here, no Wings. Just cuts from albums that bear McCartney's name alone.
Any favorites list is up for debate, and no doubt readers could draw their own map through Macca's work. Mine reveals a very distinct history: as a middle-schooler, I chased my dad's love of Beatles records into McCartney's latest solo offering, 1993's "Off the Ground."
Not exactly beloved by critics, that album still sounds like long car rides and late-night listening sessions, and will show up often as my list narrows toward the top.
That's an expression of my relationship to McCartney. But maybe this tally will introduce a new-to-you gem, reacquaint you with a personal classic or just offer up an excuse to celebrate the man and his music. Here are 23 tracks, in very particular order:
Source: columbiatribune.com
He had no idea he was about to become part of an unprecedented global phenomenon, which perhaps explains his nonchalance. In a week before his new band’s first single was to be released, this young drummer wrote to a friend and told them: “I got a phone call asking me would I join the Beatles and I said yes”.
The letter from Ringo Starr is one of two lots in a sale at Christie’s which capture the Beatles in an era of pre-fame naivety. A banjo played by John Lennon, which was present on the day he met Paul McCartney, will make its first appearance at a major auction house on July 10.
Jack Blackburn/thetimes.com
Donovan is a folk/psychedelic rock singer who became famous for 1960s tunes such as “Atlantis,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Mellow Yellow,” and “Season of the Witch.” He famously went on The Beatles’ trip to India to study meditation. Donovan’s personal website says that he taught George a descending chord pattern that the Beatle would later use on the ballad “Something.”
Gold reports that, during a 2024 interview with Record Collector Magazine, Donovan discussed his influence on the “My Sweet Lord” singer. “I became George’s mentor for songwriting,” the Hurdy Gurdy Man recalled. “He was in the shadow of John and Paul for so many years and I said, ‘Look, I’ll show you a few tricks, how to encourage the songs.’
“There’s a way to encourage the song to come,” he added. “You can tease it, like fishing. I told him how to play a chord then put your ear on the guitar, listen to the open chord and try a tempo. You can hear melodies, believe it or not. Melodies appear, but you’ve got to be quick to catch them.”
Source: MSN
We tend to think of the relationship between The Beatles and producer George Martin as one of support and mutual goodwill and, for the most part, it was. But in the earliest going, Martin tried to sneak a song past The Beatles and was rebuffed, not once, but twice.
This is a story about a song called “How Do You Do It?” that Martin tried to foist upon The Beatles as their first single and then, failing that, their second. The Fab Four had other ideas, which was a good thing, because who knows how music history might have been altered otherwise.
Before we get into the tale of “How Do You Do It?” it helps to know The Beatles weren’t exactly in demand as a group when they signed with EMI Records. They had been turned away by other labels before finally getting a deal in 1962. In other words, it’s not like they came into their relationship with the label in a position of strength.
Source:Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Taylor Swift fans are convinced that she will bring out Sir Paul McCartney as a special guest in Anfield.
The American singer-songwriter is heading to Liverpool to for three nights from Thursday, June 13 to Saturday, June 15 for The Eras Tour. Swifties think that on her 100th show on Thursday, June 13, Taylor has a big surprise planned and it could be a Paul McCartney performance.
Speculation was already rife but was whipped up when Taylor was spotted hanging out with Paul's daughter Stella McCartney. The fashion designer posted a picture of the Reputation singer wearing one of her dresses backstage with their friend Cara Delevingne at her last Cabaret show in London.
Commenting underneath the post, one fan said: "Paul at Liverpool with Taylor? (eyes emoji)." At the Super Bowl 2024, Taylor was also pictured chatting with the Beatles star.
Posting to TikTok another fan said: "I don't know why no one's talking about this" and then shared a video added: "the 100th show of the Eras Tour is on the 13th of the 6th month of the year aka Taylor's half birthday and is in Paul McCartney's hometown."
Source: Ellen Kirwin/liverpoolecho.co.uk
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 favorite 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 toward 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. (Remember Kristen Stewart and Joan Jett in the Runaways movie?) For the Beatles, though, who typified a kind of genuine, non-threatening-boy appeal from the start of their careers, this approach just breaks my heart. I mean, I’ll never be mad to see Keoghan and Mescal on the big screen, but…let men be a little ’70s-style weird with it, facial-architecture-wise!
Source: Emma Specter/vogue.com
