Beatles News
While they were a going concern, the Beatles gave their fans a special gift every Christmas.
This year, fans of the Fab Four have been blessed with the gift of 'Now and Then', the last ever Beatles single, as well as a pretty snazzy Abbey Road-style Christmas jumper.
Back during the band's 1960s heyday though, their biggest supporters – dubbed "Beatle people" by the band – got an annual gift via their membership of The Beatles fan club, which was ably managed by Fifth Beatle Freda Kelly.
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Even to this day, these records are incredibly difficult to come by, and they're not available on streaming, to download, or general sale in the shops.
For those who weren't on board at the beginning, an LP compilation was sent out to fan club members in 1970 – called From Then To You in the UK and The Beatles Christmas Album in the US – but they're not any easier to find today.
Source: Mayer Nissim/goldradiouk.com
Yoko Ono has moved away from her longtime residence at the Dakota building in New York City and is now living on a 600-acre farm in upstate New York with a small community.
Ono has no plans to sell her apartment at the Dakota and seems content living a peaceful life off the grid.
Despite unknown health issues, Ono is said to be in good spirits and enjoying her new surroundings on the farm she shared with her late husband, John Lennon.
Yoko Ono is living off the map these days, in a community that has a population of 280 people. Ono and her husband, John Lennon, initially purchased the property in 1978. She was married to the legendary musician and Beatle in 1969. The couple fought against being deported from the U.S. at one point, and Lennon was spied on by the FBI.
Source: Elizabeth DeMaine/thethings.com
George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, is confident that her late husband approved of The Beatles‘ just-released tune “Now and Then.”
In a post to George’s social media accounts, Olivia shares a “surprising magical story” about how a clock that her husband purchased gave her a sign that he supported the song’s release.
“We were in this store, George saw this clock made out of bits and pieces and it had some Scrabble letters and it just said ‘Now And Then,’” she explains. “He was attracted to it for some reason, he just took it off the wall and bought it. [He] built this little Russian dacha in the garden and hung the clock on it and there it sat for 25 years.”
She notes that last summer after cleaning it and putting it on her mantelpiece, she got a call from Paul McCartney about the unfinished tune from their Anthology sessions.
“I said, ‘I remember it, it’s called ‘Now and Then.’ And I’m standing there looking at the clock,” she says. “We were so moved and happy that this thing that George had held in his hand somehow magically appeared. And I said, ‘I think this is Georgie saying it’s OK.’”
Source: wdrv.com
The Beatles’ compilation albums 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 (also known as the Red and Blue Albums, owed to the distinctive cover art), re-enter Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Nov. 25) at Nos. 6 and 5, respectively, following their expanded reissue on Nov. 10.
The titles sold 22,000 and 24,000 in the week ending Nov. 16 in the U.S., according to Luminate. Each told sold less than 500 copies in the previous week. For both titles, it is their largest sales week since the week ending Dec. 24, 1994, when they sold 37,000 and 40,000, respectively.
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Upon their original release in 1973, the 1962-1966 album contained 26 songs, while 1967-1970 held 28 tunes. (On the Billboard 200 chart, 1967-1970 reached No. 1, while 1962-1966 peaked at No. 3.) For the 2023 reissue, 21 songs were added to the two albums — 12 songs on 1962-1966 and nine on 1967-1970. The latter’s additional cuts include the recently released new single “Now and Then,” which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 – marking the Fab Four’s 35th top 10-charting hit.
Source: Keith Caulfield/billboard.com
Rush bandleader Geddy Lee opened up about how the Beatles musician provided the band with a little encouragement
If Rush tours again, fans might need to thank Paul McCartney for it.
In an interview with Rolling Stone published Sunday, Geddy Lee, 70, opened up about how The Beatles musician, 81, tried to convince Rush — who completed their final tour in 2015 — to tour again.
The Rush bassist and bandleader revealed in the conversation that it was Dave Grohl, whom he calls "a very lovely man," that initially introduced them at one of Taylor Hawkins' tribute concerts.
"Dave [Grohl] was so sweet. He comes up to us at rehearsal and he goes, 'Paul McCartney’s up next to rehearse, and he’s outside, and he said to me, ‘Dave, I’ve never met anyone from Rush before.' And I said, 'I’ve never met him! Bring him in, please.' And he came in," Lee told the outlet.
Although it seemed like the "Let It Be" performer wasn't exactly familiar with Rush's music, Lee "got the sense he knew who we were and had heard about us." That didn't stop him from encouraging Rush to get back on the road.
"He had never listened to us. So at the show, he was there. He watched the set. I think he was really curious because people probably had mentioned us to him," Lee said.
Source: Ilana Kaplan/people.com
When George Harrison sat down with Guitar Player's then Editor At Large Dan Forte for the cover story of the November 1987 issue, he was promoting the release of his 11th solo album, Cloud Nine. The lead single from the album – a version of the Rudy Clark song Got My Mind Set On You – would take him to number 1 in the Billboard charts but, affable and humble as ever, Harrison was happy to look back over his entire career, including the recording of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, The Beatles' Hamburg days, his love of Gretsch guitars and much more. Here we reprint that interview in full…
With all that's been written about the Beatles and their indelible stamp on music, fashion, and pop culture, they are individually still criminally underrated as musicians. Not only did they inspire a generation to plug in electric guitars and harmonize, but they also influenced how guitar players played, how bassists played, how drummers drummed, and how singers sang. And while each later took turns reinforcing the obvious – that something magical and greater-than-the-sum happened when they played as a band – their separate instrumental contributions can't be overemphasized.
Source: Dan Forte/guitarplayer.com
He was always the 'mystic' one.
George Harrison even wrote a song called 'Mystical One' later in his career, slightly riffing on his title within The Beatles because of his fascination and eventual conversion to Eastern beliefs.
Well, according to his widow Olivia Harrison, there may be some substantiation to his nickname where their recent single 'Now and Then' is concerned.
Posting a video on to George's official Instagram profile, she revealed the "surprising magical" backstory about the artwork for the vinyl.
Olivia explained that the song's title appeared on a ragged old clock George found in a shop some years back.
He was drawn to it, as there was a Scrabble letter stuck to the clock which said, "Now And Then", which would turn out to be the title of The Beatles' final ever song.
Strangely enough, Olivia dug out the clock and renovated it recently, before Paul McCartney got in touch to see how she felt about releasing the forgotten demo.
"We were in this store, George saw this clock made out of bits and pieces and it had some Scrabble letters and it just said 'Now And Then'," Olivia Harrison recalled about the first time they came across the clock.
Source: Thomas Curtis-Horsfall/goldradiouk.com
In the summer of 1968, Paul McCartney was reading Melody Maker when he stopped on a quote from Pete Townshend.
“Pete said: ‘We’ve just made the raunchiest, loudest, most ridiculous rock’n’roll record you’ve ever heard,” McCartney recalled. “I never actually found out what track it was that The Who had made, but that got me going, just hearing him talk about it. I was always trying to write something different, trying to not write in character, and that one little paragraph was enough to make me make a move. I thought we should a do a song like that, something really wild, and I wrote Helter Skelter.”
McCartney was thinking about the fairground slides of his childhood, coupled with the sense of social unrest in the world that summer. “I was using the symbol of a helter skelter as a ride from the top to the bottom – the rise and fall of the Roman Empire – and this was the fall, the demise, the going down,” he said.
On July 18 The Beatles learned the song and recorded three extended takes at Abbey Road Studios. The first two were 10 and 12 minutes respectively, the third stretched to 27:11. A four-minute excerpt of the latter, released on Anthology 3, has the song being played at half speed, almost like a second cousin to Yer Blues. McCartney may have also been toying with an alternative title, as other bootlegs show him occasionally singing ‘Hell for leather’ instead of ‘Helter Skelter’.
Source: Bill DeMain/yahoo.com
Paul McCartney is a very busy man these days. He recently dropped a new single with The Beatles, "Now and Then," which became a quick global hit and helped him make history in a number of ways. He is also in the middle of touring Brazil, with dates into the end of 2023. On top of that, he's also got a successful podcast, and likely other projects in the works. Now, according to one report, he might be considering heading to Las Vegas for a very special reason.
According to the New York Post, McCartney is one of a select few names being considered as the next act to headline the Sphere. The team in charge of the multi-billion dollar high-tech venue is on the hunt for a second name that is popular enough to bring in huge crowds and prestigious enough to keep the brand strong, and McCartney could be just the right fit.
The venue was inaugurated only a few weeks ago by U2. The band's appropriately-titled U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere concert residency launched in late September, and while it was initially set to run only a few weeks, the group extended it. Now, the rockers have dates into February 2024, but after that, nothing is scheduled.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Musician, songwriter, and occasional actor Ringo Starr appreciates his memories of The Beatles but does not let them take hold of him. In the December 2023/January 2024 issue of AARP The Magazine (ATM), the legendary drummer opens up about his early musical memories, his joyous path through life, his new EP Rewind Forward and his ongoing relationship with The Beatles 60 years after their iconic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
While Starr’s life has always revolved around music, his memories of music as a child hold a significant influence on him. He recalls how his stepfather shared both music and an open mind with him, moments so poignant that he made it a point to share music with his own children the same way.
He also shared with ATM about his time with The Beatles and the brotherhood they shared. From laughing off rumors of John Lennon following him around with a pen and paper to note his every thought to his memory of the band hearing their song “Love Me Do” on the radio for the first time, no one could understand The Beatles like The Beatles. Starr’s fondness runs so deep that he never could join another band full-time. However, he’s never let that fondness hold him back. With his All Starr Band, he continues to tour and make music with friends and even works out every day to put on the best show possible.
Source: press.aarp.org
