Beatles News
This makes absolutely no sense to me. Ringo Starr just celebrated his 83rd birthday? Not possible. I was just a flighty 14-year-old when my bedroom walls were covered in The Beatles posters and my dresser had all kinds of Ringo dolls on top. So, by now you might have guessed that Ringo was my favorite Beatle. Well, I must confess that this is not really the case. Problem was that by the time I made up my mind who to choose, all my other friends had picked Paul, John and George — in that order — before me and I didn’t want to be the one that went along with the pack. So Ringo won by default, you might say.
Source: Ellyn Laub/sun-sentinel.com
Even the Beatles have some less-than-memorable tunes. No band is safe from the occasional flop. Even Paul McCartney has gone on record saying he dislikes a number of Beatles songs. Find five of his least favorites below.
1. “She Said She Said”
McCartney’s dislike of “She Said She Said” stems more from the making of the track than it does from the song itself. When they got into the studio to record “She Said She Said,” McCartney got into a row with the other members and ultimately decided not to play bass on the track.
“I think we had a barney or something, and I said, ‘Oh, fuck you!'” McCartney explained. “And they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.”
Though no one knows for sure, the argument is said to have been started by John Lennon, who poked fun at McCartney for not dropping acid at a recent party. Whatever the cause, it’s the only song on Revolver to not feature McCartney.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney infuriated John Lennon while working on 'The White Album.' An audio engineer thought he was doing it on purpose.
Recording The White Album brought the simmering problems between Paul McCartney and John Lennon to the surface. They bickered in the studio, made their dislike of each other’s songs clear, and even stormed out of recording sessions. Lennon made his hatred of McCartney’s song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” clear, mainly because McCartney was a perfectionist with it. An audio engineer working with the band wondered if McCartney purposely tried to irritate his bandmate.
According to engineer Geoff Emerick in his book Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles, Lennon “openly and vocally detested” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” He rolled his eyes every time they rehearsed it, which was often. McCartney repeatedly made the band play the song in order to get it right. Each time, Lennon grew more frustrated.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Antiques Roadshow left guests gasping on Sunday's episode as they learnt the value of an incredible piece of John Lennon memorabilia.
During the latest episode, one guest discovered how much money a house number of The Beatles star's childhood home was worth by expert Raj Bisram. The guest said: "This is the number to John Lennon's childhood home", which left Raj, as well as the audience, speechless as they shouted "Wow".
Explaining how he acquired the memorabilia, the guest said: "In 1965 when John Lennon's family decided to sell their home, a couple bought it and moved in for just a couple of months. They sold it and moved on. Then the next couple who bought it, they didn't tell them that it was John Lennon's house, so they moved in.
Source: Olivia Wheeler/irishmirror.ie
Dolly Parton was able to reunite Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for her upcoming Rockstar album, and we’re finally going to get to hear it.
Dolly announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she’s releasing her cover of The Beatles “Let It Be” on Friday, August 18. Not only does the song feature Paul and Ringo, but it also has Mick Fleetwood and Peter Frampton.
Dolly shares, “This song is really special to me.”
Source: kslx.com
Ringo Starr revealed what it was like to watch footage of himself and George Harrison composing The Beatles' "Octopus's Garden" together.
The Beatles‘ “Octopus’s Garden” is one of the most famous songs Ringo Starr wrote. George Harrison helped him write the track. Despite this, George said the tune was entirely Ringo’s.
During a 2023 interview with Vulture, Ringo was asked what it was like for him to view the scene in the documentary The Beatles: Get Back where George helps him write “Octopus’s Garden.” “It’s emotional for me to watch,” he revealed. “The first time I watched that scene … well, I can play any song you’d like as long as it’s in C on the piano. Keep that in mind.”
Ringo gave fans more insight into the way the tune came together. “I got a few of those verses, and when I went back to the studio — because it was in C — George was sitting there and took an interest,” he said. “He said, ‘F flat, D minor,’ whatever. Nowhere I could go. I don’t know these chords. I’m a 12-bar guy. And then, he gets up, and you see that footage you’ve experienced. He always helped out, George. It was great. I miss him every day.”
The book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters features an interview from 1969. In it, he revealed why he liked “Octopus’s Garden,” which he attributed to Ringo alone. “I mean, most people say, ‘Oh, well, it’s Ringo,’ or you know, ‘Ha-ha,’ or something,” he said. “But it’s great that Ringo should do it. You know, why shouldn’t he do it. And it’s just like a country and western tune anyway. And it’s a happy tune and it’s all that.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr enjoys playing a cover more than any of The Beatles' original songs. Paul McCartney said the Fab Four never thought about the implications of the tune's lyrics.
Ringo Starr played a girl group song with a band that was a contemporary of The Beatles.
The Beatles put their own spin on the song.
That cover appeared on the group’s album, Please Please Me, which was a hit in the United Kingdom.
Many of The Beatles‘ songs were covers. Ringo Starr enjoys playing one of those covers more than any of The Beatles’ original songs. During an interview, Paul McCartney said the Fab Four never thought about the implications of the tune’s lyrics that much.
During a 2023 interview with Vulture, Ringo was asked which song he enjoyed performing live the most. “‘Boys,'” he said. “I’ve been doing it forever and it’s a girl’s song. A wonderful girl group called The Shirelles did the original.” The Shirelles were an American group most known for the Carole King-penned hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
In the wake of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young‘s 1970 No. 1 album Déjà Vu, all the members were pursuing solo projects. Graham Nash released his debut, Songs for Beginners, by 1971, while Stephen Stills was on his third release, and Neil Young was in between After the Gold Rush and Harvest.David Crosby was also working on his 1971 solo debut, If I Could Only Remember My Name, which included singles “Music is Love” and “Orleans,” along with a song he wrote and recorded earlier called “Laughing.”
The idea around “Laughing” came after George Harrison told Crosby about the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who The Beatles had spent time with while studying transcendental meditation in 1968. Though Harrison believed in the guru, the other Beatles were a bit skeptical of their newfound sage.
“I was very taken with George,” said Crosby in 2022. “I liked him a lot. He was very friendly to me. He invited me over to his house. We had dinner together. We talked a lot. Paul [McCartney] was very friendly to me, John [Lennon] was very friendly to me, Ringo [Starr] was very friendly to me, but the one that I had the relationship with was George.”
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
A unique, myth-busting outtake photo from The Beatles Sgt Pepper's cover shoot is set to fetch thousands when it goes up for auction this week.
The picture shows The Fab Four in their colourful outfits as they posed for the most famous album sleeve of all time in 1967.
But auctioneers claim it dispels a long-held rumour that McCartney didn't pose with the group on the day, due to a falling-out with the rest of the band.
The back of the album featured Macca with his back turned, prompting speculation among fans that it wasn't actually him.
Experts claimed he had fallen out with the band and did not want to join the others for the group photo for the front of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
They said he may have posed alone and was later added in. However, auctioneers say this image proves he was there.
Source: Paul James/independent.co.uk
Paul McCartney’s 1970 solo debut marked the start of a nearly 30-year collaboration with his wife Linda. Shortly after the Beatles‘ demise, McCartney followed up McCartney, which featured Linda, with his second album Ram in 1971. That same year, they expanded their musical partnership into Wings with Linda on keyboards, former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Denny Seiwell, and a collection of musicians.
Wings released seven albums from Wild Life in 1971 to Back to the Egg in 1979. Together, Paul and Linda co-wrote the majority of Wings tracks, including “Live and Let Die,” which would be used as the theme song of the 1973 James Bond film of the same name, along with more collaborations on Paul’s subsequent solo albums. They even co-penned “Six O’Clock” for Ringo Starr‘s 1973 solo album Ringo.
Following McCartney’s Thriller collaboration with Michael Jackson on “The Girl Is Mine,” Paul’s fourth solo album, Pipes of Peace, included two more collaborations with Jackson — “Say Say Say,” featuring Linda on backing vocals, and “The Man.”
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
Beatles Adult T-Shirt: Abbey Road Best Seller 