Beatles News
If it was possible to pinpoint a single moment when the Beatles’ journey took a turn away from “just pop stars” to being serious artists, then it was the release in December 1965 of their second LP of the year, Rubber Soul.
Just four months earlier, Help! had shown signs that their music was becoming more erudite, with songs like “Yesterday” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” bringing new sounds to the mix. By the following year’s Revolver, they were charting a new course, reinventing pop music with otherworldly pieces like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
Rubber Soul, sandwiched between the two, reflects the joys of both camps. Glorious pop songs such as “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” and “If I Needed Someone” seem loaded with a knowing wink that the times were indeed a-changin’. But it was on “Michelle,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “In My Life” that the sophistication of their songwriting and performance clearly raised the bar.
Source: Paul McGuinness/yahoo.com
When The Beatles broke up in 1970, each member wasted no time jumpstarting their solo careers. George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon released solo work in the same year. Some had more success than others, but it proved that each member could work without being part of The Beatles. Here is a ranking of the first solo albums released by each member.
4. ‘Sentimental Journey’ – Ringo Starr
Surprisingly, Ringo Starr was the first Beatle to drop a solo album, released a few weeks before The Beatles officially announced they were breaking up. Sentimental Journey is a collection of covers performed by Starr and produced by George Martin. While many of the covers are nicely done, many Beatles fans were confused about Starr emerging with an album that stuck closer to the popular music formula.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Many of The Beatles’ songs are perfection. While not every song is a knockout, many have remained prominent, even as the years go by. However, John Lennon was often cynical about some of his work with The Beatles, and there is one song he said he wished he could have re-done, and it may surprise fans. The Beatles all grew up in Liverpool, and several songs are based on locations from their hometown. John Lennon wrote “Strawberry Fields Forever” about a location he used to play in as a child near his home. The 1967 track is based on a garden from Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army children’s home in Liverpool. In Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney detailed what the garden looked like and why it was important to Lennon.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Several Beatles songs are part of the fabric of modern music. It’s difficult to tell the story of classic rock and pop music without the Fab Four. Still, some Beatles songs were banned in the United States. Before they wrote tunes that foreshadowed the end of the band, the Fab Four penned tunes that U.S. radio wouldn’t touch.
1. ‘Cold Turkey’
OK, so it’s not a Beatles song, but John Lennon wrote it during his Fab Four days before releasing it on his solo debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, in 1970. So we’ll call “Cold Turkey” a song by one of the Beatles that was banned in the United States. And it’s easy to see why. The lyrics describe heroin withdrawal in plainly harrowing detail, and it featured some of John’s freaky singing (read: screaming) over a heavy, distorted guitar riff near the end. It’s not an easy listen, but some fans didn’t have to worry about stumbling across it on their radio since most stations refused to play it.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison said he didn’t consider himself a “guitar hero” for several reasons. Many other things sidetracked him on his guitar-playing journey, and he only played his instrument when necessary. However, George couldn’t have been more wrong about his self-assessment. He’s one of the best guitarists in rock ‘n’ roll.
During a 1989 interview with Mark Rowland (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George said, in a way, he knew he was supposed to be a guitar player, but he didn’t feel like one.
He only picked up the guitar to write a tune or make a record. Most of the time, George was happy to relinquish his guitar-playing rights to another guitarist if it meant he got to work with that person. For instance, George often allowed his friend Eric Clapton to appear in his songs because he just liked working with him.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Working with Paul McCartney would be a dream for many musicians. He proved himself to be a talented musician and songwriter with The Beatles. Some of their most notable songs feature only Paul by himself. Collaborating with the bassist wasn’t a bucket list item for guitarist Chris Spedding, but he said Paul’s whining proved how different he was from other musicians.
The closest you could get to a Beatles reunion in the mid-1980s was getting two of the remaining three members in the same studio.
Since George Harrison paused his solo career after 1982’s Gone Troppo, that meant Paul and Ringo Starr. And Paul was the only option since Ringo spent most of the decade on the sidelines, too.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles members rarely performed songs by themselves, but there were times when they recorded solo tracks. While there was primarily only one lead vocalist on each song, the other members were usually in the background, rocking out on their instruments. However, there are a few songs by Paul McCartney that he sang and played the instruments on without any other members. Here are four Beatles songs featuring only Paul McCartney. “Blackbird” is a 1968 song from The White Album. The track addresses the racial tensions during the U.S. Civil Rights movement. After witnessing the Little Rock Nine, a group of students escorted into a recently desegregated school in Arkansas, he was inspired to write a song. In Many Years From Now, McCartney said the title refers to a black woman and is written from her perspective.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Many of The Beatles’ fans were shocked and devastated when the band announced they were splitting up. However, behind the scenes, it was inevitable as tensions between the band members rose. While it’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason why The Beatles called it quits, there are a few songs that hint at their dissolution.
“The Ballad of John and Yoko” was a single released in 1969 that chronicled the events of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s wedding, along with their honeymoon activities that included the infamous “bed-in” peace protests. The track featured only Lennon and Paul McCartney. George Harrison and Ringo Starr didn’t skip the track out of spite but because it felt like a track specifically for Lennon.
While this song didn’t create turmoil within The Beatles, it was a sign that Lennon was becoming more interested in creating music with Yoko rather than his fellow bandmates. In Anthology, producer George Martin said “The Ballad of John and Yoko” was evidence that John Lennon had already “mentally left the group.”
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
The short but winding road that made the Beatles the greatest recording act and pop-culture sensation of all time ended publicly on this day in history, April 10, 1970.
Paul McCartney announced a "break with the Beatles" in press materials that accompanied the scheduled release of his first solo album a week later.
His announcement confirmed months of rumors about the band's dissolution.
"Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family," McCartney said in the statement.
Not one of the Liverpool lads had yet turned 30 when the Beatles imploded after a brief but spectacular seven-year period of prolific creative genius perhaps unmatched in human history.
Source: Kerry Byrne/foxnews.com
Paul McCartney almost called it quits after The Beatles broke up.
The rock legend admitted that when the group disbanded in 1970, he wasn't sure he would be able to embark on a solo career as he feared it would pale in comparison. In a post published on his website on Tuesday, McCartney answered fan-submitted questions about taking risks in his career. He replied, “The main question I had was whether to keep going after The Beatles because it was a hard act—some might say, an impossible act—to follow.” He continued, “The ingredients in the Beatles were so unique. You had John [Lennon] right there, who could have made any group brilliant. Then you had George [Harrison]'s talent, and Ringo [Starr]'s, and then me.”
Source: Emily Kirkpatrick/vanityfair.com
