Beatles News
Fans speak of most Beatles albums with awe and reverence. LPs like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, The White Album, and several others in the band’s catalog are generally mentioned among the greatest rock albums ever recorded. That’s why it’s a surprise that an album like Beatles for Sale, released in 1964, doesn’t get much attention at all, at least not compared to other Fab Four records.
We’re here to change that, because we think Beatles for Sale needs to be more than just a trivia answer for those trying to list all of their albums. On the contrary, we think it’s deserving of classic status in its own right, and we’re here to tell you why.
Beatles for Sale was the Fab Four’s fourth studio LP released in the United Kingdom, arriving in December 1964. (Like most early Beatles albums, it was chopped up and repurposed for release in America, with most of the 14 tracks ending up on either Beatles ’65 or Beatles VI in the U.S.)
It was recorded during a particularly busy time in the group’s schedule, although it’s fair to say their schedule was always hectic in the early years. They didn’t release any singles from the album in Great Britain, choosing instead to release the non-album tracks “I Feel Fine” and “She’s a Woman” as the A-side/B-side of a single just a few weeks ahead of the album.
They recorded the album in fits and starts whenever they had time to grab some studio time in the second half of 1964. Perhaps the most damning criticism of Beatles for Sale came from a guy who helped to put it together: Beatles producer George Martin, who said the following of Beatles for Sale in the Mark Lewisohn book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions:
“They were rather war-weary during Beatles for Sale. One must remember that they’d been battered like mad throughout ’64, and much of ’63. Success is a wonderful thing, but it is very, very tiring. They were always on the go. Beatles For Sale doesn’t appeal to me very much now, it’s not one of their most memorable ones. They perked up again after that.”
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
The cover of John Lennon's 'Double Fantasy' depicts him kissing Yoko Ono. The record's title is not simply a reference to the two of them working together.
The cover of John Lennon‘s Double Fantasy depicts him kissing Yoko Ono. The record’s title is not simply a reference to the two of them working together. John revealed the name has a spiritual meaning. John Lennon’s ‘Double Fantasy’ was inspired by John’s view of prayer.
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John revealed his opinions about prayer. “The consciousness is, ‘Let’s see what we shall pray for together. Let’s make it stronger by picturing the same image, projecting the same image,'” he said. “And that is the secret. That is the secret. Because you can be together but projecting different things.”
Yoko said these dual projections were “double fantasies,” alluding to the title of their newest record. “Double fantasies at the same time,” John replied. “And you get whoever’s fantasy is strongest at the time or you get nothing but mishmash. You’re defeated both ways.” John’s views are similar to the widespread spiritual practice of manifesting, also known as the law of attraction. In modern times, the law of attraction was popularized by Rhonda Byrne’s 2006 self-help book The Secret.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon and Paul McCartney worked closely together on “A Day in the Life.” They each wrote portions of the song and married the parts together to create the finished product. Lennon was often hard on McCartney’s writing, but he complimented the work his bandmate put into the song. He believed that one line McCartney wrote was particularly beautiful.
John Lennon admired one of Paul McCartney’s contributions to ‘A Day in the Life’
While Lennon and McCartney wrote closely together in the early years of The Beatles, they drifted apart as the 1960s progressed. Still, some songs were the product of their close collaboration in later years. “A Day in the Life” was one of them.
“Paul and I were definitely working together, especially on ‘A Day In The Life,’” Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology. “The way we wrote a lot of the time: you’d write the good bit,...
Source: IMDb
Sir Paul McCartney defended himself against critics of what has often been deemed his “schmaltzy” songwriting about love, in the latest episode of a podcast about his lyrics.
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics explores what inspires the legendary Beatles artist, in conversation with the poet Paul Muldoon.
All this singing about love over the years, Muldoon noted in an episode released on Wednesday 6 March, has made some “harder boiled” music fans and critics “dismissive”, as they accuse McCartney of being “sentimental”, “schmaltzy” and “lacking in sophistication”.
The “Can’t Buy Me Love” singer, 81, was ready with a rather derisive response to those critics, remarking: “I think a lot of people who are cynical about it, haven’t been lucky enough to feel it. You often wonder what the critic who damns it looks like, what his or her life looks like.
“I often want to get a photograph of them and go, ‘Oh it’s him, of course, I’m not listening to him.’ Because you kind of outlive them, anyway. They come and go.”
It was then suggested by Muldoon that, while some critics were tired of the subject of love in McCartney’s songs, others were specifically disdainful of his “over-earnest” attempts to conjure up “the sound of love… schmaltz and musical grandeur”, in the style of many classic love songs.
McCartney revealed that he wrote “Silly Love Songs” with his band Wings as a sort of riposte to those critics, after coming close to accepting their cynical worldview. It was released in 1976, the same year the band, the lineup for which included his late wife Linda McCartney, embarked on their Wings Over the World tour.
“I was being accused of just writing silly love songs, and was in danger of starting to buy into this idea that you should just be a bit tougher, and more worldly,” he said.
Source: Roisin O'Connor/independent.co.uk
Sir Paul McCartney had a major proud dad moment at a Paris Fashion Week event on Monday. The Beatles legend, 81, was spotted in a special family reunion moment alongside his wife Nancy Shevell, 64, in an iconic McCartney crossover moment.
The 'Let It Be' singer was spotted alongside his fashion designer daughter Stella McCartney, 52, at her Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show at Paris Fashion Week alongside Stella's older sister Mary McCartney, 54.
The 'Hey Jude' songwriter was the picture of a proud parent as he was seen posing for photographs in a white open-necked shirt with black trousers, a black longline coat, and a pair of dark sunglasses.
His New York-native businesswoman wife was seen looking lovely in a striped dress that was cinched at the waist with a tan leather belt that was teamed with an ivory wool coat and a pair of white pointed-toe mules.
Source: hellomagazine.com
Who is Paul McCartney’s musician son, James McCartney? He shunned the spotlight for years, but just joined The Beatles legend to watch his sister Stella McCartney’s show at Paris Fashion Week.
Paul McCartney’s lesser-known son James just made a rare appearance in support of his sister Stella McCartney at Paris Fashion Week on March 4.
The 46-year-old was joined by his father, who sat in the front row alongside Paris Jackson and The Beatles’ Ringo Starr for the exclusive event. Paul’s daughter Mary and his wife Nancy Shevell were also in attendance.
James McCartney has shunned the spotlight for years, and although he has followed in his father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in music, he still remains very low-key in comparison to other members of his famous family.
Source: scmp.com
After The Beatles broke up in April 1970, John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, began primal therapy sessions with Arthur Janov. The technique emphasized reliving repressed traumas. Lennon threw himself into the process, just as he had done with Transcendental Meditation several years before. Revisiting his emotional wounds became “too primal.” Ono later said the therapy helped curb his possessiveness toward her when he realized his jealous feelings were rooted in events from before they met. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Jealous Guy” by John Lennon.
I was dreaming of the past
And my heart was beating fast
I began to lose control
I began to lose control
I didn’t mean to hurt you
I’m sorry that I made you cry
Oh no, I didn’t want to hurt you
I’m just a jealous guy
Possessive and Insecure
Lennon told author David Sheff in 1980, “The lyrics explain themselves clearly. I was a very jealous, possessive guy toward everything. A very insecure male. A guy who wants to put his woman in a little box, lock her up, and just bring her out when he feels like playing with her. She’s not allowed to communicate with the outside world—outside of me—because it makes me feel insecure.”
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
A snowstorm and an unlikely combination of musical influences helped propel The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” to the top of the British charts, while its path in America took a much longer route.
“Love Me Do” by The Beatles was the first single released by Parlophone Records. It peaked at No. 17 on the British charts, which was encouraging. The constant touring and long hours onstage contributed to the groundswell of support from the growing number of fans. This very moment in their career was crucial. The follow-up single had to come in strong to continue the momentum.
As soon as the recording session ended, their producer, George Martin, believed they had their first No. 1. Let’s look at the story behind “Please Please Me” by The Beatles.
Last night, I said these words to my girl
I know you never even try, girl
Come on (come on), come on (come on)
Come on (come on), come on (come on)
Please, please me, whoa yeah, like I please you
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
John Lennon told the rest of The Beatles that he was leaving the group in 1969. He felt that it was time for him to mature.
John Lennon met Paul McCartney and George Harrison when they were teenagers, and they performed together in The Beatles all through their 20s. When Lennon left The Beatles, he said he did it because he wanted to be able to grow up. He didn’t think it was possible to do this while in the band.
John Lennon said he felt he couldn’t mature in The Beatles
In 1969, Lennon told his bandmates that he no longer wanted to be in The Beatles. His life had been intertwined with his bandmates’ for so long and he was ready for a break.
“We’re all individuals. And in The Beatles we grew out of it,” Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology. “The bag was too small. I can’t impose far-out films or far-out music on George and Paul if they don’t want to do it. Vice versa, Paul can’t impose on me whatever he likes, especially when there’s no common goal anymore. We have to live our own lives separately.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Sixty years after the onset of Beatlemania and with two of the quartet now dead, a “new” Beatles song, “Now And Then,” was released in 2023.
More than 60 years have passed since four relatively unknown musicians from Liverpool, England arrived at the EMI Studios in London to record their first single. Within two years of the September 1962 session, the world would know their names, collectively and individually, as the mania identified with them swept the globe. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and the recently-added Ringo Starr had no idea what was to come in the years ahead. No one could have imagined.
Six decades later, the world still seems to be waiting for the Beatles, just as America had been in late-1963 on the heels of a presidential assassination. The worldwide phenomenon was a combination of music, energy, hairstyle, humor, wit and fun that made young people smile, adults cover their ears and educated professionals search for sociological significance. Their music served as a soundtrack for the 1960s. Their songs transcend time.
The Beatles as a functioning unit would last until 1970 when the four men who had crammed a lifetime into the insanely hectic years of Beatlemania stepped away with a final bow.
Throughout the 1970s, there were offers attempting to bring the group together but the dream was never realized. In some ways, the fact that the Beatles never did reunite only added to the mystique. The closest to a reunion came in 1973 during recording sessions for Starr’s “Ringo” LP. All three of his former bandmates participated, writing songs along with supplying vocals, keyboards and guitar work, though all four were never together in-studio at the same time.
Source: lewistownsentinel.com
