Beatles News
Inspiration can hit when you least expect it, and for Paul McCartney it came in the form of mishearing one of his road crew members while on tour with The Beatles. In a recent episode of his iHeartRadio podcast Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, Macca revealed that he came up with the title for the band's iconic 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band after a member of his crew asked him for salt and pepper.
“I was with our roadie Mal [Evans], a big bear of a man,” he recalled. “I was coming back on the plane, and he said, ‘Will you pass the salt and pepper?’ And I misheard him. I said, ‘What? Sgt. Pepper?’ He said, ‘No, salt and pepper.’ And I always returned to one of the things about the Beatles, and me and John [Lennon], was that we noticed accidents.”
In each episode of the podcast, McCartney talks in depth about specific songs and recently spoke about the real reason he wrote "Hey Jude," which was penned for John Lennon's oldest son Julian after John and his first wife Cynthia divorced.
Source: Katrina Nattress/litefm.iheart.com
As Beatlemania swept through the Western World, the music of Lennon & McCartney pivoted at the end of 1964. The acoustic guitars of “No Reply,” “I’ll Follow the Sun,” and “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” replaced the electric sounds on “She Loves You,” “Please Please Me,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” This was a time before they found their footing with folk/rock and started moving toward a more psychedelic sound. The Beatles used more country elements and recorded Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, and Buddy Holly songs as they filled out their album Beatles for Sale. While they were in the studio recording “Eight Days a Week,” John Lennon started playing a guitar riff, which would go on to be the main structure of their next single. Let’s take a look at the story behind “I Feel Fine” by The Beatles.
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
Last fall the Beatles released “Now and Then,” a long-awaited digital reunion between all four Fabs was made possible through cutting edge technology. Touted as the final entry in the band’s storied cannon, it provided fans with a happy ending to a 60-year saga and the chance to hear Paul McCartney join voices with his late partner John Lennon once again. Though indeed moving, it was a reunion that didn’t occur in reality. The Beatles tragically never reconvened in the studio prior to Lennon’s murder on Dec. 8, 1980 — robbing the world of more potential Beatles albums, and McCartney of his dear friend.
Many assume that Lennon and McCartney’s recording relationship ended with the band’s breakup at the dawn of the ‘70s. But in truth, they quietly teamed up in an LA studio for a one-off impromptu session in 1974. The results were chaotic, unfinished, and (technically) unreleased, but the bootleg tapes are historic for capturing that iconic vocal blend for the very last time. It proves that despite the bitterness of the prior breakup, their bond remained intact.
The diverse and nuanced reasons for the Beatles’ split are as complex as the men themselves, requiring volumes of books — not to mention legal documents — to unravel. The partnership was dealt its mortal blow with the death of band manager Brian Epstein in August 1967. McCartney did his best to navigate the group through the ensuing upheaval, but his de facto leadership was read as overbearing by his band mates — particularly Lennon, who, since the world beating success of 1967’s groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, had largely abdicated his creative role due to his own emotional maelstrom of insecurity, boredom, and resentment. “After Brian died, we collapsed,” Lennon said in an infamous interview with Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner in December 1970. “Paul took over and supposedly led us. But what is leading us, when we went round in circles? We broke up then. That was the disintegration.”
Source: Jordan Runtagh/people.com
Sir Brian May has revealed that he initally refused to contribute to a tribute to John Lennon as he didn't think he could do it justice. The Queen guitarist regularly performs to packed stadiums worldwide but the thoughts of reading one of the late Beatles poems filled him with dread.
He was asked to contribute to a project to mark the 60th anniversary of John's book of poems In His Own Write. Brian was just one of a host of special guests asked to perform their favourite of John's poems to mark the occassion with the likes of Stephen Fry and Noddy Holder also contributing.
However Brian was trepedacious about taking part and took to his Instagram to explain why. Alongside a video of him reciting John's poem Alec Speaking he wrote of his fears.
"I contributed this little reading to a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the publication of a little book of original poems called "In His Own Write - by the brilliant Beatles man John Lennon. The invitation came from Tim Quinn - an old friend from the days when I worked on the Amazing Spiderman radio series with amazing author Dirk Maggs.
"In the beginning, I said – "No, I can't do it, because it needs to be done in a Liverpudlian accent. I also didn't feel I could perform "Good Dog, Nigel ", because I found it upsetting when the book was released, when I was young, and I still find it upsetting now," he admitted.
Source: Fran Winston/express.co.uk
It’s natural to find yourself at odds with your art when looking back on it years after the fact. People change–as do their tastes and opinions. Even an undisputed songwriting force, such as John Lennon, isn’t safe from the inevitable change of heart. In fact, there was one song that Lennon found so unappealing, he went as far as calling it “abysmal.”
In the earliest days of the Beatles’ career, they tended to lean toward songs that had an ear-worm melody and a relatively simple lyric. “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” “Love Me Do.” “Please Please Me.” Don’t get us wrong, they are classics, but they certainly aren’t songs someone could deem to be intricately written.
It was an affinity Lennon felt carried over unto “It’s Only Love” from Help! As always, Lennon wrote this tune with Paul McCartney–though most of the song is credited to Lennon. While McCartney remains somewhat favorable of the track, Lennon found it to be one of his worst songwriting bouts.
“‘It’s Only Love’ is mine,” Lennon once said. “I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song.”
It’s only love and that is all
Why should I feel the way I do?
It’s only love and that is all
But it’s so hard loving you
In contrast, McCartney found the song to be right on par with what the band should be aiming for.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band drew its name from a hilarious misunderstanding.
Paul McCartney revealed the true origins of the title on a March 13 episode of his podcast, Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics. He admitted that Sgt. Pepper – one of The Beatles’ most prolific albums, complete with Grammy-winning songs and culturally-shifting concepts – derived its iconic name from something he once misheard.
“I was with our roadie Mal [Evans], a big bear of a man,” he told his guest, author and poet Paul Muldoon
“I was coming back on the plane, and he said, ‘Will you pass the salt and pepper?’ And I misheard him. I said, ‘What? Sgt. Pepper?’ He said, ‘No, salt and pepper,’” he recalled.
“And I always returned to one of the things about the Beatles, and me and John [Lennon], was that we noticed accidents,” he mused.
Hence, the name “Sgt. Pepper” stuck.
Source: thenews.com.pk
George Harrison thrived whenever folks underestimated him the most. When The Beatles broke up, the “Quiet Beatle” outperformed his more-renowned bandmates with his first solo album All Things Must Pass. And when people wrote off his solo career in the ’80s, he delivered the smash Cloud Nine, which put him back on top of the pop charts against all odds.
Cloud Nine proved a confident, exciting artistic statement, one that combined classic rock and roll songcraft with sharp production. But it might not have occurred in quite the same manner if Harrison hadn’t hooked up with a simpatico producer who happened to know a thing or two about writing pop hits.
When news sprang in 1987 that Harrison was making a new solo album, the rock and roll world wasn’t exactly shaken to the core. Yes, he was an ex-Beatle, so that would always carry weight. But he had shown little interest in going all-in with his solo career since the early ’70s. Harrison hadn’t toured in a decade, and he did less than the minimum in promoting Gone Troppo, his listless 1982 album that came and went without making much impact.
Now here he was five years later, trying to compete in a vastly changed music scene. But he had a secret weapon. After appearing at a benefit with him, Harrison sent word to Jeff Lynne to ask if Lynne might consider producing the ex-Beatle. Lynne was considering walking away from music after shuttering Electric Light Orchestra, the hitmaking group he had fronted to massive success. But the chance to work with one of his idols was too tempting to pass up.
Lynne worked pretty much side-by-side with the artist at Harrison’s home studio in his Friar’s Park estate in England. Harrison brought songs he had written for the project, but the two also wrote a few together, most notably “When We Was Fab.” The two built up most of the songs together, with drummer Jim Keltner often providing the foundation.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney is often asked about his favorite Beatles song, and he admits it's a hard question to answer, but "if pushed," he admitted recently, it's "Here, There and Everywhere."
McCartney named the song as his favorite on a newly released episode of his podcast, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, going on to explain how Fred Astaire was a partial inspiration for the 1966 track that appeared on Revolver.
"I was a big fan of Fred Astaire, I still am," he said. "And unlike the studio executives, who thought he could dance a little, has no voice. I always loved his voice, I still do."
McCartney also explained how he wrote the song one day while waiting for John Lennon to wake up for the day.
"I would go out to his house for a writing session, and he wasn't always up," he said. "So I would often have 20 minutes, half an hour while someone told him I was here, and he would get up. I remember sitting out by his swimming pool in his house in Weybridge, which is a golf suburb of London. I had my guitar because I was ready for the writing session. So we sat out and started something...it just went quite nice and smoothly. So by the time I came to write with John, by the time he deemed to get up and have his coffee, I would have something to go on."
Source: Allison Rapp/ultimateclassicrock.com
The Beatles weren’t eager to come together with "The Greatest."
It was 1964 when photographer Harry Benson took the Fab Four to meet Muhammad Ali. At the time, the fighter was preparing to go toe-to-toe against Sonny Liston while the band was gearing up to appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
"When you photograph Muhammad Ali, you always get something interesting," Benson chuckled to Fox News Digital. "Ali told them, ‘Your music is not that good.’ Let’s just say they didn’t particularly like that. And then the Beatles said, ‘We hear you’re not that good as a boxer.’"
"They still laughed about it, but it wasn’t a match made in heaven," Benson added.
According to Benson, Ali kept declaring how the foursome were "tiny, small, little men" in comparison to his towering frame. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, in particular, weren’t impressed.
Source: Stephanie Nolasco/foxnews.com
The first, whispered “Shoot me,” followed by Paul McCartney’s iconic bass line, makes the Beatles’ 1969 hit “Come Together” undeniably recognizable within seconds. However, the song’s compositional origin is as cloudy as its lyrics, which Lennon once described as “gobbledygook.”
“Come Together” is the opening track off ‘Abbey Road,’ setting the signature tone for the Beatles’ eleventh and highly acclaimed album. But before it served as the ‘Abbey Road’ opener, a much different version of the track was used for a political campaign.
A Favor For A Famed Friend
The origins of “Come Together” stretch back to psychedelic advocate and 1970 gubernatorial hopeful Timothy Leary. The Harvard University psychologist spent the early 1960s testing and promoting the beneficial qualities of marijuana, LSD, and psilocybin mushrooms. At a time when recreational drugs like marijuana were largely vilified, Leary gained a reputation in some circles as a dangerous criminal. In others, he was a revolutionary.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
