Beatles News
The Beatles’ best of the best:
1. “Twist and Shout” (1963): This represented the Beatles before they had become so musically condescending. John Lennon’s vocals were simply magnificent. I once read “the way (Lennon’s, Paul McCartney’s and George Harrison’s) harmonies came together at the song’s climax … was perhaps the most iconic moment of their career”. It’s hard to argue that. (Also, remember this song from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?”)
2. “Yesterday” (1965): In 1997, this masterpiece was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. There are more than 2,200 cover versions out there.
3. “Day Tripper” (1965): Lennon described “Day Tripper” as a “drug song” in 1970,[and in a 2004 interview McCartney said it was “about (LSD)”.
4. “Revolution” (1968): The song opens with arguably the best guitar riff of the modern pop era via Lennon, followed by the famed scream from McCartney.
5. “The Long And Winding Road” (1970): The quintessential soft rock ballad?
6. “In My Life” (1965): Rolling Stone magazine ranked this No. 21 among its 500 greatest songs of all time in 2021.
7. “Something” (1969): Critics have long said this particular song, coupled with his work on “Here Comes The Sun,” vaulted George Harrison to the same level of songwriter as band mates Lennon and McCartney.
8. “Lady Madonna” (1968): Surprisingly, it’s McCartney’s keyboard work — not his guitar abilities — that punctuate this song.
9. “Back in the U.S.S.R.” (1968): For the past 57 years, every time I hear the line “Come and keep your comrade warm” I have to smile.
10. “Hello, Goodbye” (1967): “You say yes, I say no … “
Source: Muddy Rivers News
John Lennon described what Bowie did in his glam rock days as “just rock ’n’ roll with lipstick on”. I was in the lipstick camp. But if Ziggy was from Mars (magical realism with a dash of science fiction) and the Beatles were from Liverpool (trippy social realism) then of the Fab Four, my heart-throb was Ringo. Screeeeam! His wit, deadpan expression and how unbothered he always seemed at the height of the Beatles’ fame made him all the more alluring. When I discovered he joined the band after a summer job drumming at Butlin’s, I loved him even more.
As it happens, George Harrison might be my favourite songwriter out of these four blazing talents – “Something” is a truly uncanny love song. It’s hard to convey a mood that is onside with ambivalence and certainty at the same time. And when I cook spaghetti to “My Sweet Lord”, I appreciate its yearning to see and know something unknowable. Harrison was a Hare Krishna devotee. An older friend once told me that in the Sixties, after chowing down lots of psychedelic drugs, there was a split between those who delivered themselves to spirituality and those who dragged themselves to psychoanalysis.
But Ringo and George are not the subjects of Ian Leslie’s empathetic and enjoyable literary equivalent of a biopic, or perhaps psycho-pic, John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs. Leslie has devoted his considerable writing talent to focus on Lennon and McCartney. As the blurb tells us in somewhat overfamiliar language:
Source: newstatesman.com/Deborah Levy
The Beatles had their first number one in America when I Want to Hold Your Hand topped the Cashbox chart in 1964 and they were then sent into a studio to record a German version
The Beatles skyrocketed to international fame in 1964, but that didn't mean they were always happy to get in the studio and record.
During a 19-date residency in Paris, the band's manager Brian Epstein broke the news to them that I Want to Hold Your Hand had rocketed to number one on the US' Cashbox charts — their very first American chart-topper.
By February 1, the track clinched the top spot on America's main chart, the Billboard Hot 100, holding the title for an impressive seven weeks. Convinced of their global potential, Epstein marked that moment as the beginning of their push into international markets.
Given their early stardom in Hamburg, Odeon Records in Berlin persuaded Epstein and producer George Martin that recording German versions of their hits like She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand could enhance sales in West Germany.
The Beatles then found themselves in Paris' PatheĢ Marconi studio. However,......
Source: themirror.com/Dan Haygarth
Paul McCartney and John Lennon met on Saturday, July 6, 1957 — 12 years after the war, 10 years before they released Sgt Pepper — amid the pageantry of a suburban English garden party in Woolton, Liverpool: brass band, fancy-dress parades, cake stalls and hoopla games. Paul, 15 years old, was over from Allerton, a mile or two across the golf course. He didn’t hang out in Woolton much — it was a posh neighbourhood, a little prissy — but a friend from school, Ivan, lived there, and had suggested they go to the fête. There would be girls, plus Ivan had this local friend, John Lennon, whom Paul might like to meet, or at least see play with his group, the Quarry Men.
At about 4pm, he and Ivan arrived at St Peter’s Church. The noise of Lennon’s group was billowing through humid air from the field next to the church. Paul had seen John around, on the bus, in the chip shop, and he was already fascinated by him. Paul was an intellectually hungry boy who was unconvinced by school and unimpressed by the prospect of an office job. Here was this older lad, nearly 17, a leather-jacketed, sideburned, vulpine rocker who seemed to have already made an irreversible break from workaday life.
Source: thetimes.com/Ian Leslie
Peet’s Coffee has announced it will no longer charge extra for plant-based milks.
The decision comes just days after Sir Paul McCartney, a longtime advocate for animal welfare, penned an open letter to the East Bay company urging it to eliminate the $1 surcharge for vegan milk.
“We were proud to introduce the first fully plant-based menu item at scale for coffee shops in 2021,” Gordon Bitter, a senior vice president at Peet’s, said in a statement. “Now, we’re excited to take the next step by offering non-dairy options at the same price as all milk-based drinks.”
Starting June 4, beverages with non-dairy options — including oat, almond and pea protein milk — will be offered without an upcharge.
“I am really happy to hear this!” McCartney said in a statement Saturday, March 15.
Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, also celebrated the decision.
“With a little help from our friend Sir Paul McCartney, PETA notched a swift win for animals, the planet, and kind consumers, who shouldn’t be punished for making the ethical and healthy choice to ditch dairy,” she said in a statement.
Source: sfchronicle.com/Aidin Vaziri
Today in history:
On March 22, 1963, The Beatles’ debut album, “Please Please Me,” was released in the United Kingdom on the Parlophone record label.
After taking the UK by storm in 1963, The Beatles became famous around the world in 1964. They were on a 19-date concert residency in Paris on January 25, 1964 of that year when manager Brian Epstein told them they had achieved their first number one in America when 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' topped the US's Cashbox charts.
The song was number one on the USA's main chart - the Billboard Hot 100 - by February 1 and stayed there for seven weeks. Brian had decided they needed to target international markets from that point on.
As The Beatles had been big hits in Hamburg in their early days, Berlin-based Odeon Records told Brian and producer George Martin that singing in German would allow the band to sell more records in West Germany. So The Beatles were sent into the Pathé Marconi studio in Paris on January 29.
Translations of 'She Loves You' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' were given to them. However, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were not too keen on the idea and wanted to stay in their hotel.
Mr Martin recalled: "I fixed the session for late-morning. Norman Smith, myself, and the translator, a chap named Nicolas, all got to the studio on time, but there was no sign of The Beatles. We waited an hour before I telephoned their suite at the George V hotel.
Source: uk.news.yahoo.com/Dan Haygarth
Elvis Presley's relationship with The Beatles was a complex one. The iconic band, known as The Fab Four, were greatly inspired by the King of Rock and Roll during their formative years in the 1950s.
However, when they finally met six decades ago this August, Elvis viewed them as competition, given their thriving music careers compared to his own. By 1970, he was expressing to President Nixon that The Beatles were "un-American" due to their ties with the hippie drug culture. Despite this, Elvis ended up performing several of their hits live during his residency years, including Yesterday and Hey Jude.
The Daily Express had an exclusive chat with David Stanley, Elvis' step-brother, on the very Las Vegas stage where the star performed every show.
During our discussion, the trusted member of the Memphis Mafia and bodyguard revealed that Elvis "loved George Harrison out of all The Beatles."
David disclosed: "He thought George was the most prolific writer. He really liked his writing."
He then proceeded to name Elvis' top four Beatles songs, all written by the Quiet Beatle. George has written quite a few songs for his band, and four of them was written by his supermodel ex-wife Pattie Boyd.
Source: themirror.com/George Simpson
Yoko Ono knows her social status changed after she and her late husband John Lennon met.
In archival footage from the trailer for One to One: John & Yoko, the Japanese multimedia artist and musician, now 92, reflects on how the public’s perception of her changed after she married the Beatles singer. “I was considered a bitch in this society,” a young Ono says about 40 seconds into the nearly two-minute teaser.
She adds, “Since I met John, I was upgraded into a witch.” His words could also be heard over clips of their time together.
“I fell in love with an independent, creative genius,” the British rock star confessed. “I started waking up.”
The former couple met in London in 1966, when he happened to stop Lennon by Ono's solo exhibit. Soon after, an affair began, which prompted Lennon to leave his first wife, Cynthia Lennon, whom he shared a 5-year-old son, Julian, with.
They married in 1969 and Lennon and Ono became one of the most polarizing and high-profile couples, even beyond his death in 1980.
Ono’s presence in his life seemingly motivated Lennon to explore new ways of creating music and bring new experiences to his fans.
Source: people.com/Angel Saunders
Paul McCartney and PETA have joined forces to urge Peet’s Coffee to eliminate its plant milk surcharge.
The Beatles star penned an open letter to Eric Lauterbach, president and CEO of Peet’s Coffee, urging him to eliminate the company’s 80 cent-$1 surcharge for vegan milk.
“It recently came to my attention that Peet’s has an extra charge for plant-based milks as opposed to cow’s milk. I must say this surprised me as I understand that your company is committed to reducing methane emissions and water waste, yet cow’s milk significantly contributes to them,” McCartney wrote in the letter, dated March 3. “I would like to politely request that you consider dropping the upcharge on plant milks, just as Starbucks and Dunkin’ have recently done.”
PETA’s campaign against the coffee chain, headquartered in Emeryville and founded in Berkeley, is set to expand on Monday, March 17, when a Peet’s billboard featuring the punny slogan “For Pete’s sake” is set to go up directly outside of one of the coffee shop’s East Bay locations. Members of the nonprofit organization, formally known as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, are also set to gather outside of Peet’s flagship store at 2080 Chestnut St. in San Francisco, where another billboard is expected to go up in April.
In addition to in-person demonstrations, PETA plans to run full-page advertisements in Emeryville newspapers. Paul McCartney and PETA are urging Peet’s Coffee to eliminate its surcharge on plant-based milks, which can cost up to $1.
Source: sfchronicle.com/Zara Irshad
