Beatles News
It’s impossible to underestimate the influence of Richard Lester’s Beatles collaboration A Hard Day’s Night, released 60 years ago on 6 July 1964. Its imagery of the Fab Four rapidly entered the lexicon of popular culture, its antic approach to pop music on screen going on to influence everything from fashion, attitudes and culture to music videos and MTV. With an initial background in advertising, Lester’s third feature proved he was an astute and vibrant filmmaker, all but defining the fun, energetic surrealism of 1960s British culture in one fell swoop.
Scripted by Alun Owen, A Hard Day’s Night follows a day in the life of the lads at the height of Beatlemania. John, Paul, George and Ringo, playing themselves, are joined by Paul’s conniving but very clean grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell) as they make their way to a live television concert in London. Unable to be restrained from misadventures by their manager Norm (Norman Rossington) and their roadie Shake (John Junkin), the Fab Four find themselves in the upper echelons of the capital: a world filled with ad agencies, high-end casinos and wine soirées with the music press. With Ringo going AWOL only hours before the show, however, will the group reunite in time for their live broadcast concert?
As the film was intended as promotional material for its music as much as a feature (one which United Artists funded so they could exploit the loophole of being able to distribute the soundtrack), Lester approached the project with his creative verve firing on all cylinders. Rather than simply being a string of music videos, A Hard Day’s Night is a beautiful and atmospheric portrait of London just as it started to swing. From lavish venues to industrial landscapes, all filmed on location, Lester’s film is one of the great London portraits of the decade.
Source: bfi.org.uk
From a self-portrait sketch to a never-before-released ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ drawing, Ocean Blue Galleries, 109 Duval St., offers 50 to 60 limited-edition prints of John Lennon’s artwork July 5 and 6. CONTRIBUTED
Sure, you’ve heard “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” but have you SEEN it?
The song, of course, is one of 73 that John Lennon wrote for The Beatles, but it’s also a drawing, also by Lennon, showing a bespectacled figure in an A-line dress floating above a field.
That drawing, along with dozens of others by John Lennon, are now on display and available for sale at Ocean Blue Galleries, 109 Duval St., Key West. Celebrations of the never-before-released, limited edition prints by John Lennon will take place at the gallery Friday and Saturday, July 5 and 6, from 2 to 7 p.m.
“I’m always shocked by how many people, including some diehard Beatles fans, don’t know about the art component to John Lennon’s career,” said Daniel Crosy, the Los Angeles-based art representative who has been working with Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, for the past 15 years, releasing Lennon’s drawings and handwritten lyric sheets to the art-, music- and peace-loving public.
“Yoko had been releasing some of John’s prints at pop-up galleries and art shows for years, but recently wanted my help in bringing it to the fine art world, and Ocean Blue Galleries is a perfect fit,” said Crosby, who had worked previously with the gallery owners Amber and Jay Shaffer. “The estate of John Lennon has a connection with Key West given its legendary open-mindedness and welcoming atmosphere. And listen, let’s be honest, John Lennon knew how to get his party on, too.”
Source: Mandy Miles/keysweekly.com
Elton John headlined England’s Glastonbury Festival in 2023, and he just revealed the surprising gift he received from Paul McCartney following the performance.
At one point during the Glastonbury set Elton was heard complaining about his pants falling down, which apparently prompted the gift from McCartney.
During a Glastonbury-focused online Q&A, Elton was asked why his pants were dropping during the show and he replied, “Because they were too big!”
He then revealed that McCartney, who was on hand to witness the set, later sent him gold suspenders “to keep my trousers up the next week,” noting the gift “made me laugh so much!”
Elton’s Glastonbury set was his first time playing the iconic festival. It was also his final U.K. performance. He retired from the road in July 2023 after a show in Stockholm, Sweden.
Source: Classic Rock News
The Beatles can almost always be found on at least one chart in the U.K. The band remains the most successful of all time pretty much everywhere in the world, but especially in the country where they got their start.
The rockers regularly fill at least one spot on the U.K. albums chart, though they don’t have just one title that sticks around. Instead, the band trades one studio effort for another almost every frame, as streaming activity and the tastes of fans mean that there’s some pretty consistent switch-ups when it comes to the Fab Four.
This week, The Beatles’ 1962-1966 compilation is back on the U.K. albums chart. The project, which includes their biggest hits from the years mentioned in its title, reappears at No. 83.
1962-1966 has now spent 64 weeks on the ranking of the most-consumed albums in the U.K. The compilation peaked at No. 3 decades ago, and recently, it’s managed to return more frequently than in many years.
The Beatles’ 1962-1966 is the band’s third title to hit the U.K. albums chart in just the past month. The group almost always appears on the list with a gathering of hit singles, as those are the releases that sell well and rack up the most streams. But due to what fans prefer, and a number of other factors, the rockers keep swapping one title for another.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Paul McCartney’s second band, Wings, gave him the freedom to write about more personal topics than he was able to while with the Beatles. Naturally his wife and bandmate, Linda, played a significant role in the personal side of his songwriting. Though he penned many songs for her, there is one song in particular that stands out in Macca’s mind. Check out which song that is, below.
Meaning Behind “You’re in My Heart' by Rod Stewart and the Famous Girl Who Inspired It
[RELATED: The Beatles Song That Paul McCartney Was Scared to Record]
Paul McCartney’s Favorite Wings Song
A love so warm and beautiful
stands when time itself is falling,
A love so warm and beautiful
never fades away
We have to agree with McCartney’s laud of the song “Warm and Beautiful.” The simple ballad captures the feeling of all-encompassing love. Though he might lay it on a little thick, the sentiment reads as heartfelt and not schmaltzy.
McCartney once named “Warm and Beautiful” one of his all-time favorite Wings songs. Partly because of how gushing it was of Linda and partly because it’s nostalgic to him.
“A love so warm and beautiful/Stands when time itself is falling,” McCartney wrote in The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present. “I like that idea instead of just saying, ‘It will go on forever.’ I got a good feeling writing this song and listening to it now, I still do. ‘Love, faith and hope are beautiful.'”
“The brass solo is lovely for me,” he continued, explaining why the song reminds him of childhood. “Because it harks back to the brass bands that were so common when I was a kid; there would often be brass bands in the park or in the streets. My dad played trumpet, as I never fail to mention, and he had his own little band – Jim Mac’s Jazz
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
As the old adage goes, life imitates art, and in the case of George Harrison’s memorial tree, life imitates art in laughably ironic ways. Just over a decade after Harrison died from cancer at 58 in Los Angeles, California, the city honored the former Beatle and avid gardener with a botanical memorial in Griffith Park.
The L.A. City Council planted a pine tree sapling shortly after Harrison’s passing in the scenic park that overlooks the sprawling metropolis. By 2013, the tree had grown to over 10 feet tall. One year later, the tree had met its tragically humorous demise.
An Insect Invasion Killed George Harrison’s Memorial Tree
The pine tree overlooking Los Angeles was a touching tribute to the musician who spent his final years in southern California. Beneath the tree, the city installed a small plaque that read, “In memory of a great humanitarian who touched the world as an artist, a musician, and a gardener.” The plaque also included one of George Harrison’s favorite quotes from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: “For a forest to be green, each tree must be green” (via BBC).
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles‘ “In My Life” stands as one of the most thought provoking rock ballads of all time. As such, it’s beloved by fans the world over–including a fair few musicians. Check out three of our favorite covers of this Beatles classic, below.
Madison Cunningham makes quick work of whatever song she decides to cover. She sounds particularly enchanting on her cover of “In My Life.” Recorded in an intimate setting, nothing distracts from Cunningham’s vocals. While the original version of this song has something upbeat about it, Cunningham’s version highlights the poignant qualities of the lyrics.
There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain...
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
The closest the Beatles ever got to reuniting in the studio during John Lennon's lifetime was on Ringo, Ringo Starr's third solo album. It was released in the U.K. on Nov. 23, 1973, and soared to the top of the charts and became the drummer's only platinum solo LP.
Starr, Lennon and George Harrison gathered in Los Angeles on March 12, 1973, along with longtime Beatle buddies Billy Preston (a sideman on 1970's Let It Be) and Klaus Voormann (who drew the cover art for 1966's Revolver), to record the Lennon-composed album track "I'm the Greatest."
"We were like big girls again," Starr told Bill Minkin in 1977. "We were all looking at each other smiling. We hadn’t played together in four years. We were just smiling while we were playing. It was nice."
Source: Nick DeRiso/ultimateclassicrock.com
This coming July 7, Ringo Starr will celebrate his 84th birthday — and as is his custom, the Beatles legend will do so with a series of global celebrations with fans all over the world.
It’s his annual Peace & Love birthday event, and will find Ringo gathering with friends and loved ones.
Per a news release, Ringo and his wife Barbara Starkey will be joined on his birthday by family and friends, including Joe and Marjorie Walsh, Fred Armisen, Ed Begley Jr, Gregg Bissonette, Ben Dickey, Steve Dudas, Ben Harper, Greg Leisz, Asa & Roy Orbison Jr, Matt Sorum, Stephen Stills, Nick Valensi, Diane Warren, Don Was, Willie Watson, Gabe Witcher and more.
They will gather together in Los Angeles for Ringo’s annual Peace & Love Birthday event, and at Noon give the traditional “Peace and Love” exclamation. NASA continues to support spreading the message to and from the universe, including messages of Peace & Love on their socials from across the solar system.
And here’s a list of all the countries expected to take part in the “Peace and Love” celebration at noon local time:
Source: rockcellarmagazine.com
It is perfectly fine that John Lennon’s 1973 album, Mind Games, will be released July 12, 2024, in six (count ’em—six) different mixes—including a “super deluxe box” priced at a mind-blowing $1,350 that is limited to 1,000 copies, but…
Why re-re-re-release a 50-year-old second-tier Lennon album (except for the title track, and “Intuition” and “Meat City,” in this writer’s opinion), when an album or two of entirely new Lennon songs could be issued instead?
What? New Lennon songs? Yes.
Artificial intelligence “demixing” technology now enables all of Lennon’s home tapes from the ’70s to be upgraded to studio quality, or close to it, as was demonstrated by “the last Beatles song,” as Paul McCartney dubbed the Lennon composition “Now and Then,” released in November 2023. The terrible quality home cassette of “Now and Then” (abandoned as the proposed third reunion Beatles track in 1995) was AI-stripped of electronic buzz, echoey piano and background TV noise, leaving Lennon’s vocal pristine and beautiful.
This is not to suggest that all the home tapes simply be AI-improved and released. It is to say that these demos, usually done with nothing more than a handheld recorder, now invite completion with full arrangements, musicians, harmony vocals, bells and whistles.
The cache of tapes, made mostly during Lennon’s so-called “house husband” years from 1975 to 1980, are legendary. Many were aired on The Lost Lennon Tapes radio series in the ’80s, and have turned up on bootlegs. There are complete songs, partial songs, early versions of works later finished very differently. There are ballads (“That’s the Way the World Is”), anthems (“Gone From This Place”), jokes (the biting “Serve Yourself” parody of Bob Dylan—released on the Lennon “Signature” boxed set), complete songs (“She’s a Friend of Dorothy,” “You Saved My Soul,” “One of the Boys,” many others).
Source: Rip Rense/bestclassicbands.com
