Beatles News
Comedy legend Eric Idle has opened up on his strong friendship with the late George Harrison. The Monty Python star struck up a close bond with The Beatles icon when they met at a party in Los Angeles in the 1970s.
However, Eric lived in Merseyside as a child and he told the ECHO in an exclusive interview how he's convinced he met the iconic musician when they were both children. He said: "I hung out with someone called George on the Red Noses in New Brighton when I was about five and I often wondered if it was him because we got on so well when we met.
"It was like I already knew him and we were talking all night. He was wonderful and he had such a great effect on my life." The 82-year-old will pay tribute to his friendship with the All Things Must Pass writer in his new show, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, LIVE!, which is coming to the Liverpool Empire on September 14.
The one man musical is described as "an evening of comedy, music, philosophy and one fart joke", and Eric told the ECHO how one song is dedicated to George. He said: "There's a couple of singalongs. there's some touching songs. I've written a song for George because I miss him so much. That's really quite emotional because you see us on screen."
Eric became one of George's closest friends after their meeting in California. The comedy icon said the similar status they both held in their respective groups was why they had such an understanding of one another.
He said: "We were both the individual in between two strong powerful forces. He had Lennon and McCartney, I had Chapman and Cleese; Palin and Jones.
"I think we were both in a similar role. The younger one, a little bit overpowered and you had to find and fight for your own space in it." George was a huge fan of Monty Python's work and Eric lifted the lid on the While My Guitar Gently Weeps writer's incredible gesture that ensured The Life Of Brian, could get made.
Eric explained George remortgaged his house and his assets to raise the £4.5m budget for the classic 1979 film, which is regarded as one of the most influential comedies of all time. He added: "He raised the entire money. That was everything he had and he put it all in on a Monty Python film. Imagine telling the wife. 'What did you do today?' Well, I've remortgaged our house, I've remortgaged our company and I've put it all into a Monty Python film about religion.
"It's an unbelievable story. I don't think people quite appreciate how extraordinary that is. Putting all your money on a Python project. I asked him why he did it and he said, 'It was because I wanted to see the movie.'"
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Ryan Paton
While the title of the greatest band of all time is completely subjective, we can all probably agree that The Beatles receive it the most often. They broke up in 1970, and 54 years later, The Beatles continue to stay relevant and attract the attention of fans across the globe. The Beatles’ resounding success comes, of course, from a plethora of different factors. However, at the root of it is ultimately their timeless music.
To some Beatles fans, the Fab Four didn’t create a bad song. Now, you might agree or strongly disagree with that statement, and if you are part of the latter, you might cite these three songs as “bad” Beatles songs. Despite these “bad” Beatles songs, they are still, in fact, one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
“Revolution 9”
One could make the argument that The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” isn’t even a song. Rather, it’s just a bunch of arbitrary noises meshed together, seemingly created as an experimental way to throw off listeners and bolster The Beatles’ psychedelic mystique. However, that is what makes it a “bad” song, as it isn’t traditional in any sense of the word.
“Revolution 9” was seemingly a deliberate decision by The Beatles. After all, did the most talented musicians in the world at the time not realize that this song would face major criticism? I think not, but regardless, in their extensive catalog of hits, this is certainly not a crowd favorite.
“Wild Honey Pie”
Also residing on The Beatles’ 1968 White Album is the ever-so weird “Wild Honey Pie”. Like “Revolution 9”, this Beatles track was seemingly created to confuse and baffle listeners. Needless to say, it did just that, as the song hosts one lyric and features harshly grotesque instrumentals.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Peter Burditt
George Harrison’s exotic soundtrack to Joe Massot’s swinging sixties cinematic head trip film Wonderwall was the first solo Beatle project – that is, of course, if you don’t count Paul McCartney’s 1966 soundtrack to The Family Way, which was actually credited to The George Martin Orchestra.
1968’s Wonderwall Music is all over the musical map—delightfully so—with songs ranging from classical Indian ragas to jaunty nostalgic-sounding numbers to proto-metal guitar freakouts. It’s a minor classic, and I wish more people knew about it. I’ve long been an enthusiastic evangelist for this album, sticking tracks on mixed CDs and tapes for quite some time. Even avowed Beatlemaniacs tend to have missed out on Wonderwall Music. It’s a real overlooked gem.
Harrison’s principle collaborator for the Wonderwall soundtrack was orchestral arranger John Barham who transcribed Harrison’s “western” melodies into a musical annotation that the Indian musicians in Bombay could work with. Barham was a student and collaborator of Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, who had introduced him to the quiet Beatle.
Barham, who would soon go on to compose the soundtrack to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s psychedelic western El Topo and contribute to Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, played piano, harmonium and flugelhorn, and acted the role of orchestral arranger on certain tracks.
Harrison later said Wonderwall Music was “partly an excuse for a musical anthology to help spread the word”, before going on to explain: “I used all these instruments that weren’t as familiar to western people as they are now, like shehnais, santoor, sarod, surbahars, tabla tarangs.”
Source: dangerousminds.net/Richard Metzger
Music can be a spellbinding thing. With closed eyes and the right song on, the listener can be transported to a very specific place and time – to one’s first kiss, a time of euphoria or tragedy. Answering a fan-submitted question on his website, Paul McCartney has listed his three favorite albums, citing their ability to recall particular moments in his life as his reasons for choosing them.
“My partner and I have recently been discussing the albums and songs that have soundtracked our lives,” McCartney fan, Alex, writes. “Are there any albums that take you back to certain periods in your life? And does performing your own music evoke similar memories?”
The Beatle, who has recently reunited with his iconic Hofner bass after it went missing for half a century, was forthcoming with his answer, listing his three favorite records, but falling short of sharing the times, places, and emotions they bring flooding back.
“My favourite albums by other people,” he says, “tend to be: Music from Big Pink by the Band, Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, and Harvest by Neil Young. They are the three classics that I love to listen to, and they all remind me of certain times in my life.”
Brian Wilson wrote 1966 album Pet Sounds after his crippling stage fright saw him retire from the road and seek solace in the studio. Rich with timeless classics including “God Only Knows,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” it established the guitarist and vocalist as one of his generation's finest pop arrangers.
Source: guitarplayer.com/Phil Weller
John Lennon and Paul McCartney are the most successful songwriting pair in the history of music, regarding both numerical success and intangible success. The last thing we need to do is remind you about how much they’ve accomplished, and frankly, if we wanted to do it in full detail, this article would be well over a thousand words. Though what is not as widely known is how McCartney and Lennon’s juxtaposing personalities led to the most iconic musical partnership of all time.
On the surface, one can pick up on the differences between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. McCartney, in a general sense, is far more jubilant, politely compliant, and willing to take part in the game of being the most famous musician in the world. Lennon was seemingly not that, as he was rebellious, dark, and guarded, and spoke his mind no matter the situation. However, it’s these differences, and others, that quite possibly made them such a successful pair
In The Beatles canon, it is fairly common knowledge that Paul McCartney was the more talented musician, and John Lennon the more talented poet. Attesting to that fact is George Martin in the book, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. “All the time [Paul’s] trying to do better, especially trying to equal John’s talent for words. Meeting John has made him try for deeper lyrics. But for meeting John, I doubt if Paul could have written ‘Eleanor Rigby,’” stated Martin.
Source: newsbreak.com/Peter Burditt
John Lennon often talked about the fact that he wanted the verses to the songs that he wrote to have the same musical potency as the choruses. Although he never stated this intent, Lennon also had a knack for dropping lines into the middle of his songs that could stop you in your tracks with their profundity. In his classic song “Strawberry Fields Forever”, a couplet in the second verse summed up much of what the song was meant to convey. And it also provided a stunning glimpse into just how Lennon saw himself within the wider world.
As The Beatles prepared to make new music in 1967, John Lennon and Paul McCartney originally gave themselves a brief to write about their childhoods. Although they soon abandoned the idea, it stuck around long enough to influence the songs that would serve as the band’s first single of the year, a double A-side.
McCartney wrote “Penny Lane”. The song takes a specific look at the people and places he remembered encountering as a kid. Lennon based “Strawberry Fields Forever” around a local park area within the grounds of a Salvation Army home. But the location simply served as a touchstone for happier memories, a la Rosebud in Citizen Kane.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
‘The Beatles Anthology’ Expands With a 9th Episode and 4th Volume
This episode goes behind the scenes of the 1995 documentary; new mixes of “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” are coming out; and an updated book is due.
The Beatles are back: Unreleased demos and never before seen footage are coming later this fall.
The fourth volume of the band’s “Anthology Collection” of recordings (including 13 new demos) is arriving, along with a capstone episode to the 1995 eight-part documentary and a 25th-anniversary edition of “The Beatles Anthology” book.
The album, “Anthology 4,” includes new mixes of “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” The release will accompany remastered versions of the first three “Anthology” albums as well, and will be available Nov. 21.
Source: nytimes.com/Michaela Towfighi
John Lennon was certainly not a man known for biting his tongue, whether conversationally or musically through his lyrics, and that included his feelings about a controversial career move Bob Dylan made in the late 1970s. (Though, to be fair to Lennon, everyone seemed to have an opinion on this interesting pivot in the singer-songwriter’s discography.)
Lennon’s snarky response to arguably one of the best songs to come out of this Dylan era never made it to an official album. The song landed on posthumous archival releases, though, granting us insight into Lennon’s opinions that went deeper than what he was willing to divulge to the press.
Love it or hate it, Bob Dylan’s Christian era was a pivotal moment in his career. For critics, it was difficult to reconcile this gospel-preaching Dylan with the 1960s rebel who spoke out against authoritarian figures of all kinds. For Dylan purists, it was one of many unique stages in his musical career, yet another testament to the songwriter’s broad abilities. These camps inevitably included some of Dylan’s contemporaries, who felt strongly one way or another about his late 1970s career shift. John Lennon tried to ride the fence on the issue…to the press, anyway.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
The classic music documentary series, The Beatles Anthology, is being remastered by Peter Jackson’s production companies and will stream on Disney+ later this year. As well as digitally enhanced versions of the original eight episodes, there will also be a brand new ninth episode, created from previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr coming together around the release of the original series.
The series, which was first broadcast by ITV in 1995, was hailed as the definitive documentary on the Beatles thanks to the way it reunited the surviving three Beatles with their producer George Martin, former press officer Derek Taylor and one-time road manager Neil Aspinall to tell the tale of their career in their own words. Its release was accompanied by the single, Free As a Bird, the first new piece of music put out by the scouse quartet since their disbanding. It was so shrouded in secrecy that record label EMI used armed guards to protect it ahead of its release.
The remastered series, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the original, is the latest Beatles project from Jackson’s Wingnut Films and Park Road Post teams. They previously worked on the eight-hour Disney+ docuseries The Beatles: Get Back – which used remastered footage originally filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his 1970 film Let It Be – and the accompanying concert movie, which Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw called “unmissable.”
It will be accompanied by an album featuring session outtakes, previously unreleased demos and other rare recordings, curated by Martin’s son Giles. Anthology 4 includes new mixes of the singles originally released to accompany the Anthology TV series, Free As A Bird and Real Love, featuring de-mixed John Lennon vocals used by the songs’ original producer, Jeff Lynne. Giles Martin has also remastered the three original Anthology albums, released in 1995 and 1996. The project will be released in November, alongside an updated version of the Anthology book.
Source: theguardian.com/Alexi Duggins
Sir Paul McCartney has hinted at a return to the Anthology series of albums by The Beatles.
Appearing on McCartney's Instagram, as well as Sir Ringo Starr's and the official Beatles accounts, a new post appears to make a nod towards the famous series of albums. The carousel of images contained the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, with no caption.
Each of the numbers feature images from the Beatles' three-volume double set of albums inside. This has led to Beatles fans speculating what this could mean, and many are now convinced that the post is a precursor to the return of the Anthology series.
Anthology was a multimedia project that was put together by the three surviving Beatles at the time, featuring live versions, alternate takes, unreleased material, outtakes and never-before-seen interviews and photos.
Anthology 1 was released in late 1995, followed by 2 and 3 the following year. The series also featured the first new music from the band since the death of John Lennon, with McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr working with Jeff Lynne on the tracks 'Real Love' and 'Free as a Bird'.
It also included remnants of a song called 'Now And Then' from 1978. In 2023, they were able to use AI technology to finally release it using clean Lennon vocals. Fans are now hoping that perhaps the same technology could be used to release fresh versions of 'Free As a Bird' and 'Real Love'. It's possible that the post could be looking towards a re-release of the Anthology documentary on Disney+.
More details on the cryptic posts are expected to be released in the coming days.
Source: goldradio.com/Tom Eames
