Beatles News
No artist did more to legitimize rock music as a serious art form than the Beatles — and perhaps no accolade symbolized that shift more than the band's magnum opus, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the first rock LP to win Album of the Year at the 10th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 29, 1968.
The Fab Four had shown a staggering amount of growth since winning their first two Grammys — Best New Artist and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for "A Hard Day's Night" — in 1965. The Rubber Soul track "Michelle" earned them another trophy for Song of the Year in 1967. Still, the most coveted prize of the ceremony had eluded them so far, with Help! and Revolver losing back-to-back years to Frank Sinatra's September of My Years and A Man and His Music, respectively.
Source: Doug Podell/1067wllz.iheart.com
The Beatles worked together to make some of the most enduring music of the twentieth century, but they didn’t do that without some fights along the way. The band met as young teenagers and spent most of their time together; arguments were bound to happen. There is, of course, the long-running feud between Paul McCartney and John Lennon and the court case after the band broke up. Some of their lesser-known fights were just as explosive, though. Somewhat surprisingly, George Harrison was at the center of many of them.Before The Beatles were famous, they played in German nightclubs and had five members. Their one-time guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe was often the butt of the band’s jokes, and he frequently clashed with McCartney. During a concert, something McCartney said about Sutcliffe’s girlfriend led to a fistfight.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr could always rely on a little help from his friends. The drummer’s 1973 solo album was the only post-Beatles record to feature every member of the Fab Four (albeit on different songs). Yet Ringo got stood up by Bob Dylan as the ex-Beatle worked on a solo album in 1987. Similar to the time Paul McCartney threatened him and made Ringo emotional, Dylan wasn’t very kind to one of his friends.
The story of The Beatles conquering the United States is practically rock history 101 at this point. After winning over English fans with their earliest singles, the Fab Four won over millions of U.S. fans with their Feb. 9, 1964, appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The band met Dylan when they toured the U.S. more extensively later that year. That was also the first time The Beatles got high, and Ringo was the first to smoke Dylan’s stash.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
Each of The Beatles was married at least twice, and their ex-wives remained a part of their lives over the years. After their divorces, though, each of these women went on to build a life outside of their famous ex-husbands. Here’s what Cynthia Lennon, Maureen Starkey, Pattie Boyd, and Heather Mills did after their divorces, and where they are now.
John Lennon was the first of The Beatles to get married when he wed Cynthia Powell, his classmate at the Liverpool College of Art. She met Lennon in the late 1950s, when they were both enrolled in the school, and they began a relationship. They married in 1962, after Cynthia discovered she was pregnant.
In 1968, the couple divorced after Cynthia learned about Lennon’s affairs, including one with Yoko Ono. Their split was acrimonious; he accused her of cheating on him and they fought over the settlement and custody of their son, Julian.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Toward the end of The Beatles, George Harrison grew more frustrated with his creative restrictions. His music often took a backseat to John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s, and he believed McCartney had too much control. Paul’s stubbornness appeared during the “Hey Jude” recording session, further frustrating George Harrison. The Beatles ended in 1970 as each member went in different ways musically. George Harrison might have been the most relieved to no longer be in the band as he had felt restricted in The Beatles. He wanted to bring unique sounds to the band but was often stifled by McCartney. In a 1979 interview with Rolling Stone, Harrison called McCartney “pushy” and said it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to be in another band together.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney finally got Stevie Wonder to the recording studio to make “Ebony and Ivory” on Feb. 27, 1982. The former Beatle waited a long time for the “Superstition” singer to show up after they made plans to record the song.
In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul said he wrote “Ebony and Ivory” in 1980 “as a response to the problem of racial tension, which had been the cause of a lot of friction in the U.K. around that time.”
He made the demo in his Scottish recording studio and asked Wonder if he wanted to help him record it. They were old friends, first meeting in 1966 after a 15-year-old Wonder played a show in London.
Paul and Wonder agreed to meet at Monserrat, where producer George Martin had a recording studio. However, Paul didn’t yet know that Wonder operated on his own time.
Wonder was “supposed to show up but he didn’t. So there was a lot of phoning, which is the way it is with Stevie. ‘We’re here. When are you coming out?’ It was always ‘this Friday.’
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
An exhibition of Linda McCartney’s 30-year photography career just opened in Tucson, Arizona. The Linda McCartney Retrospective, co-curated by Paul and Mary McCartney and the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, has been traveling the globe since 2013, but this is its first stop in North America.
As part of the exhibit, CCP students got to ask Sir Paul some questions about Linda’s work, including what parts of her photography most excited her.
McCartney notes that she was “excited about all her photography, because it was her life,” sharing that when she started out her photography was focused on the music scene, but then shifted to “family life with the kids, horses, countryside and landscapes.”
He notes, “Whatever situation she was in she would use it for her art, and her craft naturally developed that way.”
Source: kslx.com
Tony Parkin said when the Beatles played York's Rialto they "came on with such energy it just blew you away"
Music fans in York have been reminiscing about The Beatles playing the city for the first time on the 60th anniversary of the gig.
The band first performed in York on 27 February 1963, at the Rialto theatre.
John, Paul, George and Ringo were on tour with Helen Shapiro, who missed the York show through sickness.
Graham Metcalf , who was there on the night, said though the Fab Four were only fifth on the bill, when they came on stage the venue "went wild".
The Beatles played York four times that year, along with gigs at Harrogate's Royal Hall and Scarborough's Futurist Theatre.
Source:BBC News
The Beatles are one band that probably doesn't need an introduction, but for those who dwell under rocks, here's a quick one. Formed in Liverpool at the start of the 1960s, they comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Though they only remained together until 1970, they made a staggering amount of music throughout the decade. The first half of their discography mainly comprised straightforward pop/rock, and the second half was more experimental.
Their legacy endures to this day, thanks to their timeless music, the fascinating and dramatic history of the band itself and its dissolution, and their films. While The Beatles didn't revolutionize cinema the same way they reshaped popular music, all four members have featured in numerous movies of both fictional and documentary varieties. The following are some of the best feature films and documentaries featuring The Beatles, with all being essential watches for fans of the band.
Source: Jeremy Urquhart/collider.com
“Penny Lane” was meant for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles’ producer didn’t think the title track from Sgt. Pepper was anything special. The title song became a double A-side single alongside “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was originally going to feature “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The band’s producer, George Martin, said the title track of Sgt. Pepper wasn’t anything special. Subsequently, he discussed how that song changed the course of the album.
The book The Beatles: Paperback Writer includes an excerpt from Martin’s 1979 book All You Need Is Ears. In it, Martin discusses how the album Sgt. Pepper came together. The songs “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” were originally supposed to be part of the album.
Subsequently, The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, said the band needed a new single. Martin decided the band should release “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” as a double A-side single, as those were the two best songs the band wrote for the album. He felt that combo was the best single the band ever did. Ultimately, neither song appeared on Sgt. Pepper.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
