Beatles News
Earlier this year, the world learned of Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes’ plans for a full-on Beatles cinematic universe. Mendes — whose past credits include American Beauty, 1917, and two of the Daniel Craig James Bond movies — is working with Sony and the Beatles’ Apple Corps movie to make four different biopics, one about each Beatle, and they’ll all supposedly open theatrically in 2027. Now, we’re getting unconfirmed reports that Mendes has cast all four Beatles.
According to ScreenRant, Harris Dickinson, the young British actor who recently appeared in Triangle Of Sadness and The Iron Claw, will play John Lennon. He’ll also appear in Steve McQueen’s forthcoming World War II film Blitz. In his young career, Dickinson has shown a real gift for playing doomed, sensitive dirtbags. John Lennon could credibly be described as both doomed and sensitive; the “dirtbag” part is more up in the air.
Paul Mescal will reportedly take the role of Paul McCartney, which is a nice little first-name match-up. Mescal already has an Oscar nomination for Aftersun, and he’s known for being extremely hot and for playing intricate, internal roles in things like All Of Us Strangers and the Normal People miniseries. Later this year, he’ll star in Gladiator II, and he’s also taking part in Richard Linklater’s production of Merrily We Roll Along, a musical that’s filming intermittently over years. His profile is extremely high.
I’m less familiar with Charlie Rowe, the former child actor who’s supposedly been tapped to play George Harrison. Rowe’s most prominent role to date has been as music publisher Ray Williams in the Elton John biopic Rocketman, and he’s also been on the TV shows Red Band Society, Salvation, and Slow Horses. (His Slow Horses character was the absolute worst, but he played “being the worst” quite well.)
Source: Tom Breihan/stereogum.com
Although gaining the title of “the quiet Beatle”, George Harrison used his words for songs as he helped write hits like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Taxman”, and “Here Comes the Sun.” While landing a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Beatles, the musician also gained entry in 2004 for his solo career. Considered an icon in the music industry, Harrison’s Washburn acoustic guitar, which he used to play “Here Comes the Sun” is finding its way to auction after John Lennon’s guitar recently sold for nearly $3 million.
While Lennon’s guitar brought home a staggering amount of money, which set a record, Harrison’s guitar looks to go around $100,000. With the guitar for sale at gottahaverockandroll.com, the auction will run until June 7. And given its historical significance to the Beatles, there is sure to be a bidding war to bring up such a memorable instrument held by an iconic musician.
Much like Harrison, actor Jeff Daniels knows the pressures that come with being in the spotlight as he starred in iconic films like Dumb and Dumber. And while both found careers in different spaces in entertainment, their paths crossed thanks to the film Checking Out. Recalling his interaction with Harrison, Daniels revealed in 1988, during the production of the film, the musician visited the set since it was produced by his production company, Handmade Films.
Source: Chris Piner/americansongwriter.com
George Harrison decided to throw his hat back in the ring with Cloud Nine in 1987. After years of steering clear of the fame game, he enlisted Jeff Lynne to help him out in his quest to his return to the pop/rock limelight.
Mission accomplished, thanks to rejuvenated songwriting and sparkling guitar work. Let’s look back at the five songs that reign supreme on Cloud Nine, one of the ‘80s most successful comeback records.
5. “This Is Love”
Let’s face it: You can’t really have a Beatles solo album if there’s not at least one ode to love on it. Harrison keeps this from getting too wishy-washy thanks to an insistent beat and urgent melody that dips into moody minor keys in the chorus. Lynne’s touch with arranging backing vocals is all over the album, and it’s especially effective on this track. “This Is Love” was a minor hit when released as a single in the UK towards the end of the album cycle, and it’s aged pretty well thanks to a message of positivity that never really gets dated.
4. “Devil’s Radio”
For the most part, Cloud Nine is a pretty easy-going album. It kind of sails along on the same good-natured vibes that would also characterize what Harrison and Lynne provided with the Traveling Wilburys. But Harrison’s songwriting bite shows up on this track, and it’s welcome. Sounding off on gossip doesn’t sound like going out on too much of a limb. But considering Harrison was on the receiving end of a lot of baseless rumors due to his reluctance to bask in the spotlight, it’s understandable. You can hear relish in his voice as he tosses off the one-liners here.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles are the most-covered artists of all time, and it makes sense why. They’re the biggest band of the 20th century, and they popped out hit after hit before they finally disbanded in 1974. These are four of the most covered Beatles songs of all time, and we can expect their numbers to just keep growing!
It’s worth noting that internet lore asserts that “Yesterday” is the band’s most covered song of all time. However, it’s widely believed that this record is outdated and inaccurate.
1. “Here, There And Everywhere”
This 1966 hit from Revolver has been covered 562 times (as of 2023). The track was penned by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. McCarney is on record saying that “Here, There And Everywhere” is one of Lennon’s favorites that McCartney composed. One of the most famous covers of the song was done by Davis Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame, where the right amount of psychedelia was added to the already dreamy track.
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
A swipe at Prince Harry's book Spare led to death threats aimed at John Lennon's son, the musician said in a social-media post.
Seán Ono Lennon told followers on X, formerly Twitter, that he had been targeted after he suggested the Duke of Sussex should have called his memoir "Spare Me."
He wrote: "I've had 3-4 death threats since making fun of Harry's book title and then later saying it was justified because he's an idiot and that he and I both deserve to be mocked. Yay internet."
One response that Lennon highlighted read: "Mark david chapman should've dealt with your father before he had a chance to p*** you out of his womb."
Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon in December 1980, and was sentenced to 20 years to life before being repeatedly denied parole, including as recently as March.
Source: Jack Royston\newsweek.com
Escaping the behemoth shadow of the Beatles seemed nearly impossible for its former members following their 1970 breakup, but John Lennon credits one facet of his life, in particular, for helping him break out of the music industry’s toxic cycle of endless creation, production, and promotion.
One decade after the band’s official split, John Lennon and his second wife, Yoko Ono, sat down for a 1980 interview with Playboy that was as unfiltered and uncensored as one might expect for a magazine of that ilk. Lennon didn’t mince his words, regularly pushing back against the journalist’s questions of potential Beatles reunions and retrospectives.
But amidst the at-times confrontational interview, Lennon offered a glimpse into how he managed to break free from a musical regimen he had been locked into since his early 20s.
By the time John Lennon and Yoko Ono sat down with Playboy writer David Sheff, the pair had already diverged musically from Lennon’s former band. Lennon had released several albums, both as a solo artist and with Ono under the Plastic Ono Band. Eventually, Lennon stepped away from the music industry to focus on raising his and Ono’s son, Sean. He told Sheff his decision to become a “house husband” was a no-brainer.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
Ringo Starr is on the phone from Las Vegas and he’s got lots of fab things to talk about, including some that have been largely kept under wraps.
“I’m giving away all the secrets here!” said Starr, who has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and as a member of The Beatles.
Simultaneously thoughtful and animated, the illustrious drummer, vocalist and bandleader happily discussed a number of topics. They included his upcoming country album with “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” music mastermind T Bone Burnett; a possible new Beatles’ project with Oscar-winning film director Peter Jackson; and the yet-to-be-determined future of “The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil,” which on July 6 will conclude its 18-year run at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
And there’s more.
Source: Gazette Extra
Paul McCartney recalls finding ‘better deal’ for The Beatles
Paul McCartney has taken a trip down the memory lane when he was a member of The Beatles.
In All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Steven Gaines and Peter Brown, Paul recalled looking for big deals for his band, unlike Allen Klein Epstein, who was managing The Beatles at that time.
He explained, “That was one of the times that my ambitions sort of got the better of me. I was only trying to get us a better deal. But it ruined it a little bit there, I mean I’m sure not greatly, but he didn’t like me too much after that for a week or two, you know, (expletive).”
Paul added, “After all I’ve done for him, asking for twopence more, and implying I’m not as good as Klein, so you know, it was like you can have them.’”
Later on, Paul reflected on his relationship with Allen during a conversation with The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein.
He noted, “With Brian, I remember talking about [Allen] Klein — being in a lift in Hilly House, and saying, ‘We just heard that The Rolling Stones were getting sixpence royalty per record’ or something like that, and we knew that we got four.”
Source: jang.com.pk
The story of the feminine forces who inspired some of the greatest music of all time and more.
The Beatles are a pop culture phenomenon that will unlikely ever be touched by any musical opponent. They created countless songs that inspired other great artists and still live and breathe as freshly today as they did in the ’60s. From unbridled experimentalism and pushing artistic boundaries to crafting some of the best love songs of all time, they truly accomplished it all. But what about the women behind The Beatles?
The group might be portrayed as a tight-knit boy’s club, but it was far from the truth. Feminine energy played an undeniable role at every stage of The Beatles’ career from inspiring love songs to introducing them to new concepts and even shaping their image as a band. Here are all the women behind The Beatles.
English model and actress Pattie Boyd first met her soon-to-be husband, George Harrison, on the set of the 1964 promotional film, A Hard Day’s Night.
“On first impressions, John seemed more cynical and brash than the others, Ringo the most endearing, Paul was cute, and George, with velvet-brown eyes and dark chestnut hair, was the best-looking man I had ever seen. At a break for lunch, I found myself sitting next to him. Being close to him was electrifying,” Pattie would later recall of the fateful meeting.
Whilst Pattie eventually became George’s wife, inspiring songs like Something and I Need You (as well as an infamous rock love triangle with Eric Clapton), one of her biggest contributions to The Beatles is often overlooked.
It’s no secret that LSD played an integral role in The Beatles’ discography, but it was Pattie Boyd’s dentist, John Riley, who first introduced the band to it. The unassuming dentist laced John, Cynthia, Pattie and George’s coffees with the psychedelic during a dinner party in 1965.
Source: Georgia Weir/womensweekly.com.au
The late Michael Parkinson is rightly regarded as one of the premier television interviewers in the UK and the list of stars that appeared on his BBC chat show encompassed nearly every big name from the '70s to the early 2000s. It's a surprised then to discover that the BBC wiped most of its first series – including a bizarre but revealing 1971 appearance by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
This wasn't unusual at the time; for reasons cited including the broadcaster having no concrete policy on archiving until 1978 and simply needing to wipe tapes so they could be reused, or destroyed as they weren't deemed of value. This meant early episodes of iconic shows including Dr Who, Not Only Peter Cook By Dudley Moore, Hancocks Half Hour, Steptoe And Son and The Avengers were lost forever. Mostly…
In 2009's An Audience With Michael Parkinson, he revealed that a recording of his 1971 interview with Lennon and Ono existed, despite the whole first series of his chat show that it was a part of being wiped from the BBC archive.
Source: Rob Laing/uk.news.yahoo.com
