Beatles News
Although they reshaped music as we know it, the Beatles never shied away from their influences. Their earliest albums included covers of songs by some of their favorite American artists, including Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Carl Perkins and groups from the Motown stable.
Those influences were rooted deep in their music sensibilities. George Harrison’s eye-catching Futurama guitar was bought so he could mimic his hero Holly at a time when Fender Stratocasters hadn’t yet made it to the U.K. Paul McCartney often doffed his hat to his forebearers, whether by channeling Little Richard's singing style or drawing Motown stylings into “Got to Get You into My Life.”
But perhaps the most obvious tribute to a fellow group was "Back in the U.S.S.R.," a McCartney composition from the 1968 White Album that was recorded with all the trimmings of a classic Beach Boys tune. And indeed, the Beatles were Beach Boys fans. John Lennon and McCartney were both heavily influenced by Brian Wilson's songs, arrangements and recordings on Pet Sounds, and they considered the group's multilayered harmonies as good as their own.
So how did "Back in the U.S.S.R." become a Beach Boys tribute? It got some help from a Beach Boy: Mike Love.
The Beatles met Love in February 1968, when they all went to study Transcendental Meditation in Rishikesh, India, with guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison wrote a huge portion of the White Album while there, including "Back in the U.S.S.R."
Source: yahoo.com/Phil Weller
Freed of the pressure of leading a band, Paul McCartney decided to let his experimental flag fly in his 1980 album McCartney II. That relaxed spirit made its way into the lyrics, which occasionally revel in their silliness.
But for the least song on the album, McCartney went back to more traditional songwriting strengths: a pretty tune and heartfelt lyrics. “One Of These Days”, a prime deep cut from his catalog, emerged from that process.
Paul McCartney started to grow weary of fronting a band as the 70s ended. After all, they had been fulfilling that role for the better part of two decades. Barely a year had elapsed after The Beatles announced their break when McCartney started up Wings, who carried him through the majority of the 70s.
In 1980, Paul McCartney took the opportunity to record a DIY solo album. He played all the instruments on McCartney II, including synthesizers, which provided the dominant sound of the record. Aside from the ear-candy single “Coming Up”, much of the album was given over to offbeat tracks like “Temporary Secretary” and “Bogey Music”.
McCartney did go a more familiar route for the closing track. As he explained in an interview (as quoted by Beatles Bible), an unexpected visitor caused the change in direction.
“‘One Of These Days’ all happened when a Hare Krishna bloke came round to see me,” said McCartney. “He was a nice fellow, very sort of gentle. After he left, I went to the studio, and the vibe carried through a bit. I started writing something a bit more gentle that particular day. The song seemed right as a very simple thing, and it basically just says, ‘One of these days I’ll do what I’ve been meaning to do the rest of my life.’ I think it’s something a lot of people can identify with.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
One of the most controversial moments of The Beatles’ career has to be when John Lennon said in an interview that the Fab Four were “bigger than Jesus” back in 1966. It was a huge debacle that angered a lot of conservative Christian Americans. It led to a pretty unpleasant North American tour for the band that year. Despite Lennon’s attempt to clarify his comments, the damage had already been done. Some concerts were full-on unsafe for The Beatles because of that statement being massively blown out of proportion. Just as well, the controversy was likely a contributing factor to the band calling it quits on touring later that year.
Decades later in 2010, the Catholic Church officially published an article in its newspaper, the L’Osservatore Romano, written by Giuseppe Fiorentino and Gaetano Vallini. In the article, the Vatican declared that it had officially forgiven John Lennon for his remarks comparing The Beatles to Jesus.
Some saw the article as an agreeable farewell to the whole debacle that never really disappeared from the Fab Four’s legacy. However, Ringo Starr was not happy about the Catholic Church’s “forgiveness” of his late friend and bandmate.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
Although they reshaped music as we know it, the Beatles never shied away from their influences. Their earliest albums included covers of songs by some of their favorite American artists, including Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Carl Perkins and groups from the Motown stable.
Those influences were rooted deep in their music sensibilities. George Harrison’s eye-catching Futurama guitar was bought so he could mimic his hero Holly at a time when Fender Stratocasters hadn’t yet made it to the U.K. Paul McCartney often doffed his hat to his forebearers, whether by channeling Little Richard's singing style or drawing Motown stylings into “Got to Get You into My Life.”
But perhaps the most obvious tribute to a fellow group was "Back in the U.S.S.R.," a McCartney composition from the 1968 White Album that was recorded with all the trimmings of a classic Beach Boys tune. And indeed, the Beatles were Beach Boys fans. John Lennon and McCartney were both heavily influenced by Brian Wilson's songs, arrangements and recordings on Pet Sounds, and they considered the group's multilayered harmonies as good as their own.
So how did "Back in the U.S.S.R." become a Beach Boys tribute? It got some help from a Beach Boy: Mike Love.
Source: guitarplayer.com/Phil Weller
While many musicians — from Queen to Johnny Cash — have gotten the biopic treatment, doing a movie about The Beatles was once believed to be a near impossibility. The life and music rights have long been considered far too expensive for any filmmaker to attempt a Beatles biography onscreen. But in 2028 the Beatles are getting not one but four feature films planned via Sony Pictures.
Sam Mendes (Skyfall, 1917) is directing the movies, each one focused on a different band member, that will star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. Said Mendes of the ambitious project at Sony’s 2025 CinemaCon presentation, “We need big cinematic events to get people out of the house.”
Here is what we know so far about the Beatles movies. When Will the ‘Beatles’ Movies Be Released?
All four Beatles films are set for theatrical release in April 2028. “You have to match the boldness of the idea with a bold release strategy,” Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024 about the films. “There hasn’t been an enterprise like this before, and you can’t think about it in traditional releasing terms.” He told Mendes the films would be “the first binge-able theatrical experience.”
It is unclear what the exact dates for release are and in what order the films will hit theaters. Who Is Playing Paul, John, George and Ringo?
Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney. Mescal broke out in Hulu’s Sally Rooney series Normal People before going on to an Oscar-nominated role in the drama feature Aftersun and blockbuster Gladiator II. Harris Dickinson, a film festival favorite whose credits include the A24 movie Babygirl, will play John Lennon. Joseph Quinn has been cast as George Harrison after landing roles in the Netflix series Stranger Things and Marvel Cinematic Universe as The Fantastic Four character Johnny Storm. Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan, known for features like Saltburn and The Banshees of Inisherin, will play Ringo Starr.
Source: hollywoodreporter.com/Mia Galuppo
Opening this week is “One to One: John & Yoko,” a film about the only full concert that John Lennon gave once he left the Beatles. Directed by Kevin Macdonald (Sam Rice-Edwards receives a co-director credit), it features restored footage of that August 30, 1972, concert in New York City, as well as a meticulous recreation of the West Village apartment Lennon and Yoko Ono shared when they moved to Manhattan in 1971.
Please don’t be offended by my opening question. I think it’s refreshing that there’s fare for those outside movie theaters’ most desired market of 12-34 year olds. I’m sure there are discerning people in that age bracket who would enjoy the aforementioned movies, just as I’m sure there are older folks who enjoyed “A Minecraft Movie.”
But let’s be real here. To fully enjoy these movies, I think you had to be there when their events occurred. Watching the footage, I got the sense I was missing out big time because I lacked the nostalgia factor.
So, the rest of this review has been rated NC-55. If you’re under 55, please leave now. Don’t worry, I’m coming with you, because I am not old enough to read my own review.
Source: bostonglobe.com/Yvonne Abraham
In the early months of 1966, whenever Paul McCartney sat down at a piano, wherever it was, he would start tinkering with a song he called “Miss Daisy Hawkins.” From the moment he found its first five syllabic notes, the song seems to have found its themes: loneliness, futility, the end of life. McCartney was twenty-three. Without discussing it, both John Lennon and Paul came back from their break with songs about death, written from a detached, omniscient perspective.
In “Tomorrow Never Knows” John dispenses instruction from the mountaintop. In two minutes, “Eleanor Rigby” captures the entire lives of two individuals in a series of stark images. Musically, both songs are stripped down to a few parts in order to distill and intensify some essence. “Eleanor Rigby” confines itself to a narrow melodic range and the song has minimal harmonic development: like “Tomorrow Never Knows,” it alternates between just two chords.
Set in a minor key, its tightly wound, almost claustrophobic verse plays out over an accompaniment—a string section arranged by George Martin—that sticks close to the tonic, except when the cellos burst into a galloping run up the scale. This section is joined to a refrain in which the singer asks where all the lonely people come from while the cellos play a Bach-style descending line. Paul is joined by John and George for a second refrain—“Ah, look at all the lonely people”—in which the melody soars up before tailing off. In the final section, the two refrains come together in contrapuntal harmony. The mood throughout is tense and austere.
Source: lithub.com/Ian Leslie
George Harrison never wanted to work with one Beatle again but said it 'wasn't personal'
The Beatles officially broke up in 1970 after Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the band and it seems tensions remained between him and George Harrison
When Paul McCartney announced his decision to quit The Beatles, it caused a lot of tension with his former bandmates.
The singer-songwriter, now 82, stepped away from The Beatles in 1970 and the group disbanded, with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr turning their backs on Paul. John aired his frustration at his former friend in songs such as How Do You Sleep?.
Ringo also took aim at Paul with the track Back Off Boogaloo in which he called him a "meathead." As for George, he largely kept his opinions out of the spotlight until a press conference for his 1974 solo tour.
George had fueled rumors of a Beatles reunion when he covered a number of Beatles song in his set. In response, he was asked about the band during the press conference.
Source: themirror.com/Scarlett O'Toole
It’s 1964. The Beatles are the biggest band on Earth, Beatlemania is boiling over, and they’re about to make their movie debut. The soundtrack? An all-original album that opens with the most iconic chord in pop history. A Hard Day’s Night isn’t just a soundtrack—it’s a musical coming-of-age, a Lennon–McCartney songwriting masterclass, and a cultural time capsule all in one. But did you know these five behind-the-scenes nuggets? Prepare to “ooh!” and “yeah yeah yeah!”
1. The Opening Chord Has a Fan Club of Its Own (And a Math Professor Too)
The jarring, jangling, electrifying Fadd9 chord that opens “A Hard Day’s Night” has been analyzed by everyone from musicologists to mathematicians. George Harrison played it on a Rickenbacker 12-string, while George Martin added piano notes, Paul plucked a high bass note, and Ringo chimed in with subtle percussion.
One math professor even used Fourier transforms to break it down—basically turning rock history into rocket science. No chord has ever launched a film, an album, and a frenzy quite like this.
2. Ringo Starr Accidentally Named the Movie, the Album, and the Hit Single
After a particularly grueling day of filming and gigging, Ringo muttered, “It’s been a hard day’s night”—a classic Ringo-ism. Everyone laughed, but the phrase stuck. It became the movie title, the album name, and the chorus to a chart-topping hit that Lennon wrote overnight. That’s right: one tired drummer gave birth to a cultural phenomenon, proving once again that sometimes genius sounds like gibberish at first.
3. “Can’t Buy Me Love” Was Recorded in Paris—And Nearly Had Harmonies
The Beatles were holed up in a luxurious Paris hotel when Paul McCartney wrote “Can’t Buy Me Love.” It was one of the few Beatles songs recorded outside the U.K.—tracked at Pathé Marconi Studios. The first take actually had background harmonies, but the band scrapped them after one listen. The stripped-down version made history as the first single without their signature vocal blend—ironic for a band known for harmony, huh?
Source: thatericalper.com/Eric Alper
The Beatles grew impressively as songwriters in the relatively short time that they recorded together. They generally stayed ahead of the curve when it came to using storytelling techniques that set their songs apart from their peers. One way that they were able to accomplish this was by occasionally springing a bit of a surprise on their listeners with a little twist to the story at the song’s end. Check out the following four examples of unexpected endings to songs by The Beatles to see what we mean.
“Drive My Car” from ‘Rubber Soul’ (1965)
The story goes that Paul McCartney brought an early version of this Rubber Soul opening track to John Lennon. Lennon rejected it on the basis that the lyrics, about diamond rings, sounded trite. Hence, McCartney went back to the drawing board. He came up with a story that works at face value if that’s the way you want to take it. A guy, needing some financial assistance, acts as a driver for a high-toned miss. Late in the song, however, he finds that the woman doesn’t quite have the assets that she promised him. You could also read this song as one giant metaphor about shifting power dynamics in a sexual relationship. In any case, the reversal of fortune at the end of “Drive My Car” adds a little bite to the story.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
