Beatles News
It’s been 60 years since The Beatles released Help!, their fifth British LP. Perhaps because it was attached to a chaotic movie, or maybe because it was followed up by a series of masterpiece albums, this 1965 LP doesn’t quite get its proper due.
The Beatles were transitioning away from the simplicity of their early stuff into much more lyrically and musically complex work. Here are some tidbits about the making of the album that you might not have known.
“Yesterday” now stands as one of the most important songs in pop music history. It showed that a rock band need not release music reliant on the instrumentation we usually associate with the genre. And thanks to the touch of producer George Martin, it demonstrated a way for strings to be incorporated into a pop music structure without overdoing it. Still, The Beatles felt a little self-conscious about the whole thing at the time of its release. That’s why they chose not to release it as a single in England. In America, where they had less control over their catalog, it did come out as a single. And it soared to dizzying levels of success in the process.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
A demo version of the John Lennon song Imagine has left fans wondering if the former Beatle knew he “had a hit on his hands”.
The title track of Lennon’s 1971 album would be released to critical acclaim from the press and public. Imagine would make it to third on the Billboard 100, and while it would never top the charts in the UK or US, it would become one of Lennon’s best-known solo songs. Fans believe Lennon knew he “had a hit on his hands” because of how well-formed the song is during its demo phase. Others have praised the early version of Lennon’s much-loved song as a “wonderful listening” experience that highlights the “beauty” of the song.
One comment underneath the YouTube upload of the Imagine demo reads: “He obviously knew he had a ‘hit’ on his hands. It’s so perfect and fully formed: the lyrics, the melody, the chords. He really delivered a masterpiece.”
Another agreed, adding: “There is always something wonderful listening to demos. Often they capture the rawness and beauty of the melody and lyrics. As this does…” Other listeners were full of praise for the early years of a song which would go on to become “life changing” for many across the globe.
A fan wrote: “The best of these demos is the freshness and the feeling of joy of knowing he’s really enjoying playing the song.” Another shared: “I love listening to demos, I just love watching a track transform into something beautiful.” A third added: “Amazing how stuff like this can sit around waiting to be found.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
The Beatles have never completely vacated the charts in the United Kingdom — at least not for long. Whether as a band or via the solo work of its members, the impact of the biggest band of all time can always be felt. Reissues, vinyl exclusives, and one-off special surges in popularity keep the music of all four artists coming back. This frame, it’s John Lennon who returns to a pair of tallies with one of his most direct and politically-charged solo statements. “Power to the People” Is Back
“Power to the People,” credited to John Lennon, Yoko Ono – as simply John & Yoko – and the Plastic Ono Band, is back on two U.K. singles rankings. The track returns at No. 29 on the Official Vinyl Singles chart and at No. 36 on the Official Physical Singles list. A top 40 comeback more than half a century after the tune’s drop is the kind of surge any artist hopes for. A Late Arrival to the Charts
Though “Power to the People” was first issued in 1971, it didn’t become a charting hit in the U.K. until April 2025. It debuted that month on both the Official Vinyl Singles and Official Physical Singles charts, and even found room on the Official Singles Sales ranking as well, for two weeks.
This isn’t the cut’s first reentry since its April debut. In June, “Power to the People” climbed to No. 24 on the Official Vinyl Singles chart and No. 27 on the Official Physical Singles ranking, and then disappeared. A No. 5 Peak for “Power to the People”
To date, “Power to the People” has spent seven weeks on the vinyl tally and eight on the physical singles list. Its best showing was in the cut’s first week on the rosters, when it opened at No. 5 on both charts — a peak it hasn’t matched since.
Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre
During her 70-year reign, it would be easier to ask which celebrities Queen Elizabeth didn't meet. She rubbed shoulders with everyone from Elton John to Lady Gaga at events like the Royal Variety Performance, movie premieres and charity galas. She also presented plenty of honors during royal investitures, and in 1965, she awarded the members of The Beatles with their MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). According to Craig Brown's biography Q: A Voyage Around The Queen, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison—who were in their early twenties at the time—had quite the crush on Queen Elizabeth before their trip to Buckingham Palace.
The late Queen was just 27 during her 1953 coronation, and Brown wrote that the four Beatles "had entertained lustful thoughts about the young Princess Elizabeth" when they were teenagers. In 2017, Paul McCartney reflected on their feelings about the monarch during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, sharing, "They were very formative teenage years, and The Queen was, sort of, 24 or something, so, to us, she was a babe."
"We were like, 'Phowar!'" he continued, adding "there was a certain lustfulness in us teenagers" when it came to Elizabeth. "Just look at the heat on her!" he said, repeating a phrase "we used to say in Liverpool."
When it came to their MBE ceremony, Brown wrote that either the foursome's "teenage infatuations clouded their brains" or else it "might have been the marijuana that John Lennon later claimed they had smoked in the palace loo before the ceremony." No matter what happened, the author noted that the band's "conversation with The Queen proved awkward."
Source: marieclaire.com/Kristin Contino
Both Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are doing something they've never done when it comes to the new biopics that are in the works, and that's not only backing the project but actively getting involved. They are both promoting the films on their social media, and Starr, in particular, has had several meetings with the cast and crew. Recently, while he was interviewed during a show in celebration of his 85th birthday, he opened up about his feelings regarding Barry Keoghan being cast to play him in the biopic. He said he doesn't know exactly how he will choose to play the part, but that he has "spent time with him" and was reassured that the Irish actor "knows what he's doing."
"He's fabulous. He has a great love of The Beatles."
Ringo Starr's involvement in the upcoming movies extends beyond just meetings with the cast. He's also been working closely with the writers and has spoken candidly whenever he disagrees with their decisions. In a recent interview with Variety, he revealed that Sam Mendes had given him the chance to read the four scripts and had asked for his thoughts. Some things, Starr admitted, were not up to his standards. Especially the characterization of him and his family. “He had a writer — very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,” Starr explained, referring to his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett.
Source: collider.com/Val Barone
The Mets will honor the 60th anniversary of the Fab Four's performance at Shea Stadium, where they will host the Mariners on Aug. 15 for The Beatles Night at Citi Field.
The 1965 performance was a milestone because The Beatles became the first rock band to perform a major stadium concert. A 50-minute documentary titled "The Beatles at Shea Stadium" captured the show. At the time, the multipurpose stadium was home to the Mets and New York Jets.
The celebration will begin with a performance by 1964 the Tribute in front of Shea Bridge at 6:15 p.m. ET. The first 15,000 fans to enter Citi Field will receive an exclusive Shea Stadium replica.
The first pitch will be thrown by members of the game-day staff who worked the famous concert. A themed fireworks show will be held after the game.
Source: espn.com/Jesse Rogers
‘Grow Old With Me’: A Look Back at the Song That Brought John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Back Together Again
During the making of Ringo Starr’s 2019 album What’s My Name, his producer Jack Douglas brought up the Bermuda Tapes: had he heard the message John Lennon had left for him on them?
These tapes were demos recorded in the summer of 1980 that went unreleased by John, who died in December of that year. In them, he enthusiastically states that one of the songs would be “great!” for Ringo.
The message seemed to have come out of nowhere but would act as a major inspiration almost forty years later.
“That’s why I love life,” Ringo says. “Things just arrive!”
He says the song he heard following the message was beautiful. Why it was left unfinished, they will never know — but Ringo was up for the task.
In the studio, he recorded vocals and piano. And when his friend and fellow Beatle Paul McCartney came into town, he asked him to come and work on it with him. Over the years, the two had continued to collaborate, and asking Paul to join in on this track just made sense.
“He can only enhance the track,” Ringo says of Paul, “that’s all he does when he plays, every time.”
That makes three Beatles back together again on this record — but Ringo suggests it’s almost like the whole band is present.
Source: q107.com/epatel617
Cultivating just the right environment for the studio is not always an easy task, considering all the external distractions, sicknesses, and general mindlessness that can cause a recording session to turn sour. Fortunately for Tom Petty, George Harrison was on hand while the Florida rocker was tracking what would become one of his most iconic and inspiring hits, “I Won’t Back Down.”
The context in which Petty wrote the song already added a significant layer of emotional distraction. The Full Moon Fever single was Petty’s direct response to a harrowing attack he and his family endured at their California home, which made revisiting the song as cathartic as it was uncomfortable. Moreover, Petty was incredibly sick the day that they were going to lay down the vocal track. Enter George with the ginger.
Save any obvious exceptions, like major trauma and injury, one of the worst things that can happen to a singer on the day of a recording session is to get a head cold. Singers’ instruments are their bodies: the lungs, diaphragm, larynx, sinuses. If mucus or inflammation affects any of these elements of the vocal passageway too strongly, it won’t just ruin a take. It can make it to where the singer can’t phonate anything at all besides a whispery rasp. When you’re at the level Tom Petty was at when he was recording Full Moon Fever, suddenly, all those head colds become expensive wastes of studio time.
Luckily for Petty, George Harrison was in the studio hanging out that day. “I had a terrible cold,” Petty recalled in a 2010 interview with Mojo. “George sent to the store and bought a ginger root, boiled it, and had me stick my head in the pot to get the ginger steam to open my sinuses, and then I ran in and did the take. I put my heart and soul into those records. I remember things about making them pretty vividly. It’s a great job to have. The best thing to do with your life, I always tell young people, is to try and figure out what you like and make it your work. I’m incredibly fortunate in that respect.”
Harrison’s quick thinking helped reduce the inflammation in Petty’s airways, helping him phonate enough to get through his vocal takes. But that wasn’t the only way the former Beatle helped Petty create the final version of “I Won’t Back Down.”
The Former Beatle Pointed Out A Particularly Cringey Lyric
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
What more can be said about The Beatles? In many ways, the Liverpool, England-born group symbolized the 1960s. They came around in a big way around the time when the decade began, and they departed as a group when the decade concluded. They evolved over that short time from a bubblegum pop band to a psychedelic, cerebral group.
But perhaps what distinguishes The Beatles most of all is that they wrote so many songs that people like to sing along to. Below, that’s exactly what we wanted to dive into. We wanted to highlight three of those catchy songs. Indeed, these are three Beatles songs we just can’t stop singing along to in our spare time.
“Yesterday” (Single, 1965)
The song that came to Paul McCartney in a dream, “Yesterday” has since become one of the Fab Four’s fan favorite tracks. On it, McCartney sings over a strummed acoustic, remembering and lamenting the loss of love. In the past, things seemed so much easier and clearer. But today—it’s just so difficult. That’s the message he croons in this straightforward but sublimely catchy song that the band released right there in the middle of the 1960s. Today, we all know the words.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Single, 1963)
One of the songs that helped introduce the former Mop Tops to the American audience, the group played this tune live on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. With that, The Beatles had landed, and they were instant stars, as young music fans screamed their heads off while the band played their early proto-rock and bubblegum tunes. Years later, they would grow out their hair and sing songs inspired by meditation and psychedelics. But in the beginning? It was all about hand-holding. Still, we can’t help but sing along.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jacob Uitti
Why Did The Beatles Leave Out "If You’ve Got Trouble"?
As many know, Starr was the band’s drummer and was not much of a singer. But for every project and album they released, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison wanted Starr to shine on at least one song for experimental reasons. But when it was time to record “If You’ve Got Trouble,” many issues arose. Why “If You’ve Got Trouble” was scrapped from Help! was pretty simple. The song did not make much sense, and the lyrics were all over the place. Compared to the songs on the album, such as “Help!” and “Yesterday,” “If You’ve Got Trouble” fell short. It was of poor quality, and it left the band with no choice but to reject it from the album.
"Act Naturally" Replaced "If You’ve Got Trouble" on The Beatles' Help! AlbumThe-Beatles-Eight-Days-a-Week-The-Touring-Years
Instead of releasing “If You’ve Got Trouble,” they released a cover of “Act Naturally” for the UK version of Help!, which was first performed by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in 1963. It was recorded months after they scrapped “If You’ve Got Trouble”, and it was recorded in 13 takes. This would be the last cover that the Fab Four recorded until the Get Back and Let It Be sessions in 1969.
“Act Naturally” was released as a B-side to “Yesterday” as a non-LP single, and was not a part of the Help! movie that the album was from. Starr’s cover of the 1963 track peaked at number 47 in the charts in October 1965, while “Yesterday” went on to become a cultural classic. “Act Naturally” and “Yesterday” then appeared on the 1966 album Yesterday and Today, which was released in the United States and Canada. "If You’ve Got Trouble" Was Released Years Later
“If You’ve Got Trouble” was forgotten for a long while, until producer George Martin rediscovered it in the vaults of EMI studios, as Starr revealed in Anthology. When it was rediscovered, Harrison admitted to having no recollection of making the song, but he called it “the most weird song.” “It’s got stupid words and is the naffest song. No wonder it didn’t make it onto anything,” he said.
Source: collider.com/Teguan Harris
