Beatles News
John Lennon and Paul McCartney had contradictory memories of who penned The Beatles' "Come Together." They discussed the tune's relationship to a Chuck Berry song.
Any hardcore fan of The Beatles will know that Paul McCartney’s memories didn’t always align with John Lennon’s. John said The Beatles’ “Come Together” was his work. Meanwhile, Paul said he was the one who made it “a genius record.”
During a 2017 interview with The Washington Post, Paul discussed his songwriting partnership with John Lennon. “We had a very easy manner where both of us knew that the other was only in it to help and we were pooling our resources,” he said. “So many times I would help John out with a problem in his song, but conversely, he’d do exactly the same with me. We knew that we would do that, and it was perfectly allowed.
“It’s not a question of pushing,” Paul added. “It’s a question of just being. I’m writing, ‘It’s getting better all the time’ and John comes in with, ‘Couldn’t get no worse.’ Instead of going, ‘Oh, you’re spoiling my lovely song.’ I go, ‘Genius, great.’
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Years before Olivia Newton-John left her cinematic mark as Sandy Olsson in Grease, the late Australian singer-songwriter already had a number of hits from her first 10 albums.First breaking out in the early 1970s, Newton-John released her debut If Not For You in 1971, a covers album of contemporary artists from the 1960s and early ’70s. The album featured her renditions of the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster-penned “Me and Bobby McGee,” later becoming a posthumous hit for Janis Joplin, and the title track, which she pulled from Bob Dylan’s 11th album New Morning.Newton-John’s Dylan cover became her first hit, topping the charts internationally, including the U.S. on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, where it spent three weeks. Her tender rendition of “If Not For You” also broke the top 40 of Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 25, and peaked at No. 7 in the UK.
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
In 1963, Beatlemania began in the United Kingdom, soon spreading across the globe, especially in North America. Since the Beatles first came to the world stage, no band has ever repeated their dominance or captured the time so well. However, many Beatles conspiracy theories have grown in the 60 years since that era. A recent online post delves into fans' ideas on deeper truths. Here are some suspicious takeaways.
1. “Two of Us” Was About John
The first thread concerns the song “Two of Us,” which appears on the Let it Be movie soundtrack and album of the same name. “Paul just insists this is about him and Linda, but the lyrics are about him and John,” says one observer. “I think Macca was getting nostalgic as the band started to crumble into dust.”
Source: Ben Rice/wealthofgeeks.com
The concert was scheduled to end at midnight. But the 15,000 people crowded into Crisler Arena were content to hang around.
John Lennon was worth the wait.
The former Beatle and his wife, the artist Yoko Ono, were giving their first U.S. performance in two years in support of John Sinclair, a radical poet imprisoned for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. Sinclair, a graduate of UM-Flint and founder of the White Panther Party, was 29 months into a sentence of up to 10 years. His incarceration made him a cause célèbre for those who viewed Sinclair as a political prisoner and victim of oppressive drug laws.
“I won’t be bringing a band or nothing like that because I’m only here as a tourist, but I’ll probably fetch me guitar, and I know we have a song that we wrote for John. So that’s that,” Lennon said in a recorded message two days before the Dec. 10, 1971, concert.
The sold-out John Sinclair Freedom Rally was a mishmash of music, poetry, and political speeches. Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, and Commander Cody – all Michigan performers – shared the stage with poet Allen Ginsberg, Black Panther cofounder Bobby Seale, and several members of the Chicago Seven, activists charged with, and later acquitted of, inciting a riot outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Source: record.umich.edu
An illustration of Paul McCartney sits under the words “Paul Lives on!” The Northern Star Editorial Board apologizes to the singer for encouraging false rumors of his death. (Eleanor Gentry | Northern Star)
The Northern Star Editorial Board would like to sincerely apologize to Paul McCartney, a musical icon, for our false Sept. 23, 1969, print issue that unethically speculated that he was dead.
A 1969 Northern Star publication shows an article speculating if Paul McCartney is alive. (Bridgette Fox | Northern Star)
In 2004, the Star finally decided to yield to the truth that McCartney is not dead in an article covering the sordid history of the “Paul is dead” rumors.
However, it has recently come to light that our infamous 1969 article was plagiarized from a Times-Delphic article written a week prior to our article. The Times-Delphic is the student-run newspaper of Drake University.
To the Times-Delphic, we sincerely apologize for plagiarizing your journalistic efforts.
Source: northernstar.info
Ringo Starr is inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame where he was the Inaugural recipient of the ... [+] Joe Chambers Musicians Legacy Award on September 24, 2023.
On Sunday afternoon, in front of an invitation-only group of friends and musicians, the legendary Ringo Starr was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. While the Nashville museum honors musicians of all genres, with the names of many notable recipients on the walls, there was something special in paying tribute to one of the Beatles, and the man Peter Frampton calls “one of the greatest drummers of all time.”
Before the ceremony, Ringo graciously agreed to briefly walk a small red carpet answering a few questions from the media. He touched on his love of country music, noted he has three new EPs in the works, and when asked if he has any advice for up-and-coming musicians he simply said, “Just keep playing. I have grandsons and I tell ‘em the same thing.”
Source: Pam Windsor/forbes.com
The Beatles were awarded their MBE's on 26 October 1965
A complete set of Beatles autographs obtained by a firefighter who was receiving his MBE on the same day as the band are to be sold at auction.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed a book for George Goodman at Buckingham Palace on 26 October 1965.
He said it was for his daughter, adding "I don't know what she sees in you" - a comment later repeated by McCartney.
The signatures go on sale in Lichfield, Staffordshire on 9 October.
Mr Goodman's daughter Joy, now 70, said she had had the autograph book "tucked away for years", but felt it was now time to pass it on to a collector who would appreciate it.
Source: Caroline Gall/bbc.com
John Lennon used the phrase "a hard days night" in a short story that came out before The Beatles' song with a similar name. The short story hasn't aged well.
Ringo Starr‘s contributions to The Beatles get understated, but there’s one way they might be overstated. Ringo is credited with coming up with the title of The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night.” John Lennon gave Ringo a lot of credit, while still acknowledging he used the name first. Specifically, John used it in a nonsense story that hasn’t aged particularly well.
In a 1980 interview from the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed the origins of the name A Hard Day’s Night. “[Director] Dick Lester suggested the title Hard Day’s Night from something Ringo’d said,” he said. “I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringoism, where he said it not to be funny, just said it.” John published In His Own Write, a book of avant-garde stories, in March 1964. For comparison, the film A Hard Day’s Night and the song and album of the same name came in July 1964.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
1. Ringo Starr
2. Bob Dylan
3. Dolly Parton
4. Willie Nelson
5. Paul McCartney
6. Frankie Valli
7. Mick Jagger
8. Yoko Ono
9. Rod Stewart
10. Dionne Warwick
11. Brian Wilson
12. Buddy Guy
13. Barbra Streisand
14. Pat Boone
15. Dick Van Dyke
16. Neil Diamond
17. Billy Joel
18. Paul Simon
19. Chubby Checker
20. Bill Hayes
21. Bobby Rush
22. Petula Clark
23. Smokey Robinson
24. Linda Ronstadt
25. Dion DiMucci
26. Billie Jean Horton
In the last several years we’ve lost many of our musical heroes. Though it’s sad that so many legends are gone, we’re also fortunate that many are still around.
If you’re interested in the oldest musicians still alive in 2023, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive into 26 artists who have reached significant age milestones.
Source: Hope Davis/musicinminnesota.com
The legacy and fascination of The Beatles continues in the city - but not many know what it is like to walk in the same footsteps every day as a member of the Fab Four before their days in the spotlight.
The late John Lennon lived in his childhood home, Mendips in Woolton, from 1945 to 1963 and it was there that he wrote some of his earliest work before The Beatles rose to stardom. Living with his aunt Mimi, in later years it was Lennon's widow Yoko Ono who bought the house in March 2002, donating it to the National Trust in order to save it from demolition and property speculators.
The childhood home of Paul McCartney - 13 Forthlin Road - is also owned and managed by the National Trust, with many citing it as the birthplace of The Beatles. And whilst the sites continue to attract thousands upon thousands of tourists and Beatles fans from across the globe year on year, not a lot of people can say they have lived in a house of this historic significance to The Beatles story.
Source: Jess Molyneux/liverpoolecho.co.uk
