Beatles News
When you’ve led a life as storied as Paul McCartney’s, it must be tempting to write every song about the experiences that you’ve had. Although Macca has occasionally dipped into nostalgia in his songs, he mostly keeps that tendency in check.
Interestingly enough, his occasional reminiscences in song often go flying right past his Beatles days. On his 2007 track, “That Was Me”, he looks back with incredulity to his pre-fame youth.
Paul McCartney’s 2007 album Memory Almost Full took a while to reach fruition. McCartney started compiling the songs for it four years earlier, recording bits of it with his touring band. But he shelved the project for a bit to work with producer Nigel Godrich. Those sessions became the acclaimed 2005 album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard.
Coming off that success, McCartney didn’t take too long to dive back into Memory Almost Full. He touched up some of the songs that the band had finished. In addition, he wrote new material to fill out the running order.
Despite the disjointed creative process, he stumbled into one of his most thematically cohesive albums. As the title suggests, many of the songs look back and try to make sense of the past. “That Was Me”, which is part of an album-ending medley of songs, goes way back, as McCartney explained on the album’s promotional website:
“People often say they can remember more from their childhood than they can from a month ago. I think that is a fact of life – I don’t know why. So all I had to do for this song was to think back.” Behind the Lyrics of “That Was Me”
McCartney shapes “That Was Me” as a series of snapshots, ones that he can call up in his mind even when he doesn’t have a picture on which he can rely. He seems to be confiding in his audience, taking them aside to explain to them that this person from such humble beginnings is indeed the guy singing to millions in the present.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
TODAY is Global Beatles Day, and we’re remembering the band that changed the face of music forever.
The day, also known as World Beatles Day, honours and celebrates the ideals of The Beatles. The date, June 25, was chosen to commemorate the day the band participated in the BBC show Our World in 1967, performing “All You Need Is Love” for an international audience.
The event was inaugurated in 2009 by Beatles fan Faith Cohen, who calls it “a thank you or love letter to The Beatles”.
It is celebrated with music and a variety of events celebrating peace and harmony.
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. (we know you know that Beatles Fans)
They are widely regarded as the most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form.
Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock.
As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, The Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era’s youth and sociocultural movements.
The band is the bestselling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They are the most successful act in the history of the US Billboard charts, with the most number one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (20), and they hold the record for most number one albums on the UK Albums Chart (15) and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million).
Source: uk.news.yahoo.com
The Beatles turned the studio into a lethal weapon on their 1966 album Revolver. Producer George Martin and the four men in the group went to great lengths to create sounds that broke down the boundaries of pop music.
The music from Revolver is endlessly surprising and compelling. So too are some of the stories behind the making of this legendary LP by the Fab Four.
John Lennon gained a reputation as someone who loved his shuteye. He wrote about it on Revolver in the song “I’m Only Sleeping”, which defended his right to sleep away even his waking hours. His penchant for sawing logs also inadvertently led to one of the most momentous songs on the record. Paul McCartney arrived at Lennon’s abode one day to start a writing session. But he had to wait a bit for his pal, because Lennon was still sleeping in when Paul arrived. To make the most of the time, McCartney settled out near the swimming pool. By the time Lennon awoke, Macca had pretty much written the gorgeous ballad “Here, There And Everywhere” while waiting.
We tend to think of “Yellow Submarine” as the ultimate kids’ song. The fact that it was turned into a well-regarded animated movie certainly plays into that notion. But when it began, it was something much different. A recent reissue of Revolver included some of the working tapes for the various songs on the album. On that release, you can hear John Lennon singing these downcast lyrics to the main melody of the verses: “In the place where I was born / No one cared, no one cared.” That’s a far cry from the finished version, one where Ringo Starr sings of the wonders of the ocean blue while Lennon and Paul McCartney make crazed aquatic noises.
Whenever The Beatles came to America, everybody wanted to have an audience with them. That included other rock stars and Hollywood celebrities. At one point, while taking a little breather in California during a tour break in 1965, the band threw a party at the house where they were staying. During that party, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr all took LSD. Harrison had a somewhat adverse reaction during his trip, believing at one point that he was dead. Actor Peter Fonda, who attended the party, tried to comfort Harrison by telling him how he had lived through a near-death experience as a child. Lennon made the incident the basis of the lyrics to “She Said She Said”.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
In October 1980, in one of his last interviews, John Lennon was asked what he thought about Paul McCartney‘s recent projects with Wings and whether he was ever surprised by his former bandmate’s creative output. His reply was telling. “No, he never surprised me. Like, can you be surprised by your brother? From aged 15 on?”
And he was right. Lennon and McCartney were so tight-knit that they were practically blood-related - and John recognized that their sibling-like relationship was still very much in existence, even a decade after The Beatles had split, with all four members going their separate ways. ll
From the thousands of books and biographies that have been written about them, Paul’s relationship with John was not especially complex - they admired each other, respected each other - despite the slight age difference, and having different personalities. In some ways they shared a similar background, growing up in the south end of post-war Liverpool just as an exciting new brand of music, rock ‘n’ roll, started seeping in from the United States. They both got the bug at the same time.
They had a mutual understanding - one glance, one raised eyebrow, a smile, the occasional comedy expression... enough for them to know exactly what the other was thinking, without having to say a word.
As individuals, they were different but complimentary - in terms of their characters and musically - their singing voices just seemed to go together perfectly. Added to that, the Beatles were different to the rest in that they really were a group - not a frontman with a backing band. They functioned as a unit, one which Mick Jagger described as like “a four-headed monster”, John and Paul were its unspoken leaders. As George Harrison was keen to point out in the Anthology series: “An attitude came over which was John and Paul… of okay, we’re the grooves, and you two [George and Ringo] just watch it. Not that – they never said that or did anything. I think John and Paul were the stars of The Beatles“.
Source: en.as.com/Andy Hall
The Beatles used a performing trick to stand them apart from other acts. Music icon Paul McCartney said The Beatles found ways to stand out from their peers, including using one performance trick that boosted their gigs.
For decades since The Beatles took music by storm in the early 1960s, fans, scholars, authors, journalists, scientists, religious leaders, and even haters have wondered what made the Fab Four special.
Everything about them has been documented repeatedly in virtually every single form of media, and while some have come close to encapsulating the reason for their greatness, no one other than them can truly explain their own phenomenon. McCartney, who has never shied away from talking about The Beatles' history, including what made them tick, once tried to explain what The Beatles did to distinguish themselves from their competition.
Along with their own specific skills in the recording studio, he revealed that the band was highly proficient when it came to performing for their fans. However, one trick truly set them above the bar: playing certain covers.
From their early days, McCartney explained, The Beatles made themselves unique by writing their own songs, but they still knew when to pay homage to their inspirations and change it up with a cover. This balance of original and covered songs translated to their gigs, too.
Source: themirror.com/Hannah Furnell
The Beatles' rise to fame was as quick as it was dramatic. After becoming Liverpool's biggest band in 1962, they took the UK by storm in 1963, scoring their first official number one single with 'From Me to You' before their debut album 'Please Please Me' topped the charts after its March release.
By 1964 they were world famous. The Fab Four were on a 19-date concert residency in Paris on January 25, 1964 of that year when manager Brian Epstein told them they had achieved their first number one in America when 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' topped the US's Cashbox charts.
The song hit number one on the USA's main chart - the Billboard Hot 100 - by February 1 and stayed there for seven weeks. From that point, Brian decided they needed to make the most of international markets.
As The Beatles had been big hits in the clubs of Hamburg in their very early days, Berlin-based Odeon Records told Brian and producer George Martin that singing in German would allow the band to sell more records in West Germany. As such, The Beatles were sent into the Pathé Marconi studio in Paris on January 29 to sing in a foreign language.
Translations of 'She Loves You' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' were given to but John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were not too keen on the idea. Instead, they wanted to stay in their hotel.
Mr Martin recalled in 'The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions' by Mark Lewisohn: "I fixed the session for late-morning. Norman Smith, myself, and the translator, a chap named Nicolas, all got to the studio on time, but there was no sign of The Beatles. We waited an hour before I telephoned their suite at the George V hotel.
"Neil Aspinall answered, 'They're in bed, they've decided not to go to the studio'. I went crazy – it was the first time they had refused to do anything for me. 'You tell them they've got to come, otherwise I shall be so angry it isn't true! I'm coming over right now'.
"So the German and I jumped into a taxi, we got to the hotel and I barged into their suite, to be met by this incredible sight, right out of the Mad Hatter's tea party.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Dan Haygarth
"Jane Asher – Paul's girlfriend – with her long red hair, was pouring tea from a china pot, and the others were sitting around her like March Hares.
"They took one look at me and exploded, like in a school room when the headmaster enters. Some dived onto the sofa and hid behind cushions, others dashed behind curtains.
After the Fab Four called it quits for good in 1970, fans around the world were anxiously waiting for the announcement of a proper reunion. Before the sad passing of John Lennon in 1980 and George Harrison in 2001, fans were hoping that at least some semblance of a reunion would happen. It never really did.
However, in the 1970s, a Beatles reunion was apparently on the table. And we can thank George Harrison (not exclusively, but partially) for it not actually taking off. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, I’ll leave up to the diehard fans. Still, it’s an interesting story if nothing else.
Shortly after The Beatles broke up in the early 1970s, the possibility of a reunion was not even considered. The Fab Four were beefing with each other, there were lawsuits being thrown around, and Paul McCartney and John Lennon had taken to writing a few beef tracks about each other. It was a mess.
Eventually, things died down, and each member of the former band went on to produce excellent solo works. As things settled further, rumors of a potential reunion began to circulate. However, they would never come to fruition. And guitarist George Harrison was pretty dead set on a reunion never happening.
Lennon, however, was open to the idea and pitched it pretty publicly. “If we record, we record,” said Lennon a few years after The Beatles disbanded. “I don’t know. As long as we make music.”
Similarly, McCartney would say that “anything could happen.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
When people think of the Beatles, the first thing that comes to mind is not their drug use, at least for most people. When compared to some of their wilder contemporaries, the Fabs feel somewhat innocent. But that certainly doesn’t mean the band didn’t partake from time to time.
They famously entered into a psychedelic era in the mid-’60s, fueled by LSD and other hallucinogens. They were also not strangers to marijuana. The Beatles’ post-introduction to drugs was markedly more experimental in the studio. Like many of their contemporaries, drugs provided a creative spark. There was one studio session wherein John Lennon accidentally took drugs, luckily leading to one of the Beatles’ best psychedelic songs.
When we think of the Beatles and drugs, it’s hard for the mind not to immediately go to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although we don’t have the statistics, this feels like the Beatles’ “highest” album. That’s likely due to the inclusion of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”–which Lennon swore up and down wasn’t about LSD…However, there is another song that rivals “Lucy” in terms of drug use: “Getting Better.”
John Lennon was in the habit of taking “uppers” in the studio to deal with the long nights. On this particular occasion, Lennon accidentally took a massive dose of LSD instead of his usual fare. It made him noticeably off-kilter in the session.
“We were overdubbing voices on one of the Pepper tracks, and John, down in the studio, was obviously feeling unwell,” George Martin once recalled. “I called over the intercom, ‘What’s the matter, John? Aren’t you feeling very well?’”
“It wasn’t until much later that I learned what had happened,” he continued. “John was in the habit of taking pills, ‘uppers’, to give him the energy to get through the night. That evening, he had taken the wrong pill by mistake – a very large dose of LSD.”
Staying true to his songwriting partner, Paul McCartney decided to join in on the LSD trip, if only so Lennon wouldn’t be alone.
“But Paul knew, and went home with him and turned on as well, to keep him company,” he added. “It seems they had a real trip. I knew they smoked pot, and I knew they took pills, but in my innocence I had no idea they were also into LSD.”
The Beatles and Their Extracurricular Activities
The Beatles haven’t been shy about their drug use. They have been as forthright about their wild years as any of their peers.
Lennon’s LSD-inspired “Lucy” is perhaps their most famous drug-fuelled track, but it certainly doesn’t stop there. There’s “With a Little Help From My Friends” (with its references to getting high). Elsewhere, they penned a love letter to pot with “Got to Get You Into My Life.”
Despite their experimentation with drugs, their journey never took them too far into the heavy stuff. At least, McCartney said heroin and the like weren’t for him.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
“Yesterday” by The Beatles is a musical blank canvas, open to interpretation, reinvention, and—sometimes—utter reinvention in genres the Fab Four never saw coming. With over 2,000 known versions out there, here are 10 of the most genre-bending, mood-swinging, mind-tilting covers of “Yesterday” you never knew you needed… until now.
1. Marvin Gaye (1970)
Motown’s smoothest operator took “Yesterday” and wrapped it in satin. His version, from That’s the Way Love Is, lives in a warm, soulful haze—like heartbreak at sunset, with a bassline for a hug.
2. Molly Hatchet (2012)
Southern rock titans Molly Hatchet brought muscle and denim to “Yesterday” on Regrinding the Axes. Imagine a bar fight breaking out in the middle of a memory—that’s how hard this one hits.
3. En Vogue (1992)
If ’60s harmonies got a ’90s R&B glow-up, this is it. En Vogue’s a cappella spin on “Yesterday” doesn’t just cover it—it serenades it with perfect pitch and powerhouse soul.
4. La Lupe (1967)
Known as the Queen of Latin Soul, La Lupe’s fiery version on El Rey y Yo turns “Yesterday” into a dramatic, Havana-flavored rollercoaster. Sad? Maybe. Subtle? Absolutely not.
5. Boyz II Men (1994)
No instruments. No frills. Just four voices, blending like butter. Boyz II Men closed their blockbuster album with an a cappella version that somehow made “Yesterday” feel even more eternal.
6. Count Basie & His Orchestra (1966)
Big band meets Beatle ballad. The Count swung “Yesterday” like it was born for the dance floor, with Bill Henderson on vocals and the horns adding a Gatsby touch to Lennon & McCartney’s melancholy.
7. Dr. John (1975)
Recorded in a studio disguised as a nightclub, Dr. John’s version smokes with New Orleans swagger. It’s voodoo blues for a Sunday hangover, dressed in feathers and funk.
8. Sarah Vaughan (1966)
One of jazz’s greatest voices opened her Pop Artistry album with “Yesterday,” turning it into a smoky lounge confession that sounds like she wrote it herself in another lifetime.
9. Ras Attitude (2013)
Reggae meets Liverpool. Ras Attitude’s take on a tribute compilation gives “Yesterday” an island heartbeat, proving heartbreak feels a little better with a skank rhythm underneath it.
10. Cathy Berberian (1967)
Opera diva meets Beatlemania. Berberian turned “Yesterday” into an avant-garde aria, complete with vibrato and theatrical drama. It’s not background music—it’s a front-row ticket to surrealism.
Source: thatericalper.com/Eric Alper
When The Beatles broke up, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr all seemed a bit adrift for their first few years as ex-members of The Fab Four. Only George Harrison seemed to be thriving on his own, at least in terms of his career choices.
Maybe that’s because Harrison no longer had to answer to his bandmates when it came down to the material he wanted to present. If he wanted to go the spiritual route, as he did on the 1970 track “Hear Me Lord”, there was no one to stop him. The final year or so of The Beatles as a group was a particularly unhappy time for the four members in terms of their interactions. In one notorious example, George Harrison clashed with Paul McCartney while cameras were rolling in January 1969 on a documentary about the group’s new record.
Earlier that fateful day, Harrison had tried to interest the other members in a new track of his called “Hear Me Lord”. Unfortunately, like so many other Harrison compositions of that era, The Beatles couldn’t be bothered to do much with it. Harrison added it to his stockpile of unrecorded songs. He would unleash that stockpile upon the world as part of the triple album All Things Must Pass in 1970.
As was the case throughout the album, producer Phil Spector preferred a maximalist approach on “Hear Me Lord”. He threw multiple instrumentalists in the mix, including three guitarists, two bassists, three keyboardists, and two horn players. In addition, he multitracked Harrison’s vocals to add to the effect.
But what stands out most about the track is how forcefully Harrison voices his passion. Several of his songs with The Beatles touched on spirituality, but never so overtly. On his own to put forth whatever message he wished, Harrison dove into a direct conversation with a higher power on “Hear Me Lord”, a track that essentially closes out the sung part of All Things Must Pass. (The final album mostly features instrumental jam sessions.) Examining the Lyrics of “Hear Me Lord”
“Hear Me Lord” is essentially an earnest prayer, albeit one tinged with Harrison’s clever wordplay. He begins by admitting his folly. “Forgive me Lord,” he sings. “Please, those years that I ignored you.” Then he suggests that others see commitment to God as a price they have to pay. “Forgive them Lord / Those that feel they can’t afford you.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
