Beatles News
The Beatles had a clear vision for "Please Please Me." When their producer first heard it, he made them take it in a completely new direction.
“Please Please Me” was an early hit for The Beatles, but it might not have made it far in its original form. According to Beatles producer George Martin, the initial version of the song was slow and dull. When he pointed this out to the band, they felt embarrassed that they hadn’t noticed.
When The Beatles first played “Please Please Me” for Martin, he could scarcely keep from yawning. They wanted it on the first single, but he thought it was too boring as it stood.
“In the first year, I had the final decision on songs (I didn’t later on, but I did then), but they persuaded me to let them have their own songs on both sides of their first single,” Martin said in The Beatles Anthology. “I was still thinking that we should release their recording of ‘How Do You Do It.’ They said, ‘Couldn’t we do one of our own, “Please Please Me?’ When I heard it originally, it was a Roy Orbison type of song, a very slow rocker, with a high vocal part, rather dreary, to be honest.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
As The Beatles captured the hearts of millions, Paul McCartney captured it all on his Pentax film camera. Now, a new exhibition, ‘Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes Of The Storm’ takes visitors inside the 1963–64 frenzy of Beatlemania, as the band’s first U.S. tour skyrocketed them to global fame.
More than 250 of McCartney’s photographs, recently rediscovered in his archives, reveal his singular vantage point at the center of this whirlwind of attention and adoration—illuminating both the historical, and the personal, moments McCartney and his bandmates experienced together. First on view at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England, ‘Eyes Of The Storm’ makes its New York debut at the Brooklyn Museum, opening May 3, 2024, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. It is scheduled to run to August 18.
“Since first arriving in New York in February 1964, Paul McCartney has built a strong, everlasting connection to the city. His vibrant photographs from The Beatles’ first visit capture the energy of the city, the excitement of the American fans, and the frenzy of the band’s status as celebrities. Yet the images also record The Beatles’ fun and delight with each other. Through McCartney’s lens, we feel the intensity of being at the center of such extraordinary events,” says Catherine Futter, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Curator of Decorative Arts.
Source: Tim Peacock/udiscovermusic.com
Referred to as “the fifth Beatle,” producer George Martin famously steered the Fab Four’s recording career from their Beatlemania days through their psychedelic phase. Martin revolutionized pop music in the process. Much has been written about his ties to The Beatles. Let’s take a look at five fascinating facts about George Martin that don’t have to do with The Beatles.
1. Martin Took Oboe Lessons From the Mother of Peter and Jane Asher
As a child, Martin learned to play the piano, dreaming of being the next Sergei Rachmaninoff. When German warplanes blitzed England, Martin was inspired to enlist in the Naval Fleet Air Arm. He was an aerial observer whose primary duty was reconnaissance. Upon his demobbing, he Studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Conservatory in London. He studied piano and oboe.
His Oboe instructor was Margaret Eliot, mother of Peter and Jane Asher. In 1950, Martin was hired by EMI Records at 3 Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood. Parlophone was the smallest arm of EMI with artists such as Roberto Inglez, Mandy Miller, Bob Harvey, Sidney Torch and His Orchestra, The Five Smith Brothers, Jimmy Shand, Humphrey Lyttleton, Karl Haas, and Ray Cathode—hardly household names. Martin learned as he worked on sessions recording novelty records, South American Music, Music Hall Performers, Orchestras, and comedy skits. He was put in charge of classical and baroque music, as he served as the assistant to the head of the label, Oscar Preuss.
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney said a famous cartoonist was rude to Yoko Ono. He believed John Lennon handled the situation surprisingly well.
Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono did not get along, a fact that John Lennon knew well. He resented the way McCartney and George Harrison treated Ono and they grew frustrated with her presence in the studio. Despite this, McCartney said he maintained a level of respect with her because she was his bandmate’s partner. He found it impressive that Lennon didn’t hit someone who didn’t show her any respect.
Lennon and Ono met in 1966 and married in 1969, shortly after Lennon’s divorce from his first wife, Cynthia. Lennon’s bandmates had their problem with Ono, but so did people outside The Beatles. McCartney recalled watching footage of someone being openly rude to Ono in front of Lennon.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney has always been protective of the Beatles’ legacy – that’s just one of the many reasons he saw the Fab Four’s final single ‘Now & Then’ through to completion. Along the way he’s had to correct a few wrongs, and push back on a few slights – and sometimes, it’s personal.
Take 1994 film Backbeat. Coming ahead of the Anthology project, the independent film aimed to shine a light on the Beatles time in Hamburg, focusing on the tragically short life of bass player (and noted visual artist) Stuart Sutcliffe.
Played immaculately by Stephen Dorff, Ian Hart stepped in as John Lennon, while Gary Bakewell played Paul McCartney. A whirlwind ride through the group’s pre-history, it highlighted the sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ roll ‘n’ roll induced in by the Fab Four – well, three of them, anyway.
At the time of its release, Paul McCartney revealed his distaste, insisting they had airbrushed out his rock ‘n’ roll leanings. “One of my annoyances about the film Backbeat is that they’ve actually taken my rock ‘n’ rollness off me,” he told interviewer Andrew Grant Jackson.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
John Lennon began doing a Jerry Lee Lewis impersonation while onstage. His performance made George Harrison laugh so hard he couldn't play guitar.
During one of The Beatles’ most stressful concerts, John Lennon managed to make George Harrison laugh onstage. He began behaving in such an outrageous fashion that all of his bandmates took note. According to Lennon, his joking was so successful that Harrison couldn’t play his guitar.
The Beatles’ concert at Shea Stadium in New York was their largest up until that point. They were incredibly nervous before taking the stage. Once they did, though, Lennon began to behave comically. He did a Jerry Lee Lewis impression and began playing the piano with his feet. Harrison found all this hilarious.
“I was putting my foot on it and George couldn’t play for laughing,” Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology. “I was doing it for a laugh. The kids didn’t know what I was doing.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney has always been protective of the Beatles’ legacy – that’s just one of the many reasons he saw the Fab Four’s final single ‘Now & Then’ through to completion. Along the way he’s had to correct a few wrongs, and push back on a few slights – and sometimes, it’s personal.
Take 1994 film Backbeat. Coming ahead of the Anthology project, the independent film aimed to shine a light on the Beatles time in Hamburg, focusing on the tragically short life of bass player (and noted visual artist) Stuart Sutcliffe.
Played immaculately by Stephen Dorff, Ian Hart stepped in as John Lennon, while Gary Bakewell played Paul McCartney. A whirlwind ride through the group’s pre-history, it highlighted the sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ roll ‘n’ roll induced in by the Fab Four – well, three of them, anyway.
At the time of its release, Paul McCartney revealed his distaste, insisting they had airbrushed out his rock ‘n’ roll leanings. “One of my annoyances about the film Backbeat is that they’ve actually taken my rock ‘n’ rollness off me,” he told interviewer Andrew Grant Jackson.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
You might have assumed that all of the footage ever shot of The Beatles had already seen the light of day or been broadcast. Not so, it turns out – and Anne Margaret Daniel has seen the new footage, shot on 8mm, during the filming of the movie Help!
Previously unseen footage of The Beatles: now, that's a phrase that'll speed the pulses of people of all sorts, and ages, who fell in love with rock ’n’ roll music, any old way you choose it. I’ve just spent an hour watching three and a bit minutes of 8mm film, never released and indeed never known of until now, and I am both dazzled and grateful.
Thomas Emmet Mullins is a Dublin-based illustrator, designer and advertising specialist, who has recently brought you the new Irish 2 euro coin. He also created a charity auction vinyl 7-inch single of the Rolling Stones' 'Dead Flowers' that is one of the rarest records in the world.
For the past twenty years, Mullins has had an eBay alert set for "Beatles 8mm.”
"Years ago,” he explains, "when I was shooting 8mm of my own, I thought it would be interesting to see if there was any fan footage or the likes for sale on eBay. There was nothing, and so I set an alert on the site to remind me if some ever came up. Then I completely forgot about it.”
Source: Anne Margaret Daniel/hotpress.com
Paul McCartney was the final Beatle to try LSD. Despite this, he was the first to tell the public that the band had take the drug.
In 1967, Paul McCartney admitted that The Beatles had taken LSD. This, of course, sparked major controversy and brought criticism to the band. Each of McCartney’s bandmates had taken LSD more than him, but they’d avoided speaking about it publicly. They weren’t happy with McCartney for breaking the news to the media.
In 1967, McCartney gave an interview in which he admitted to having taken drugs.
“I remember a couple of men from ITN showed up, and then the newscaster arrived: ‘Is it true you’ve had drugs?’” he said in The Beatles Anthology. “They were at my door — I couldn’t tell them to go away — so I thought, ‘Well, I’m either going to try to bluff this, or I’m going to tell him the truth.’ I made a lightning decision: ‘Sod it. I’ll give them the truth.’”
The band received swift criticism for this. While none of the other Beatles thought it should be a problem, they wished McCartney had kept his mouth shut.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney met Queen Elizabeth in 1965. Starr shared what they said to her when she asked about the band.
In 1965, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr received MBEs from Queen Elizabeth II. The Beatles went to Buckingham Palace to receive the honor and awaited their meeting with the queen. While they were nervous, they also cracked a few jokes. Starr recalled one joke he and McCartney made that had him wondering if the queen would punish them.
While The Beatles were surprised to receive MBEs, or Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire medals, they agreed to accept them. When they received them, they met Queen Elizabeth II. When the queen asked them questions about the band, Starr and McCartney simultaneously cracked a joke. Starr joked that he worried the queen would hate it so much that she sentenced them to death.“I went up and the Queen said to me, ‘You started the group, did you?’ and I said, ‘No, I was the last to join.’ And then she asked, ‘Well, how long have you been together as a band?’ and without the blink of an eye, Paul and I said, ‘We’ve been together now for forty years and it don’t seem a day too much,’” Starr said. “She had this strange, quizzical look on her face, like either she wanted to laugh or she was thinking, ‘Off with their heads!’”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
