Beatles News
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
Most people likely know George Martin from his time as a producer for the Beatles throughout the 1960s. He also helped them get signed to EMI Records after other labels initially rejected the band. Upon his death in 2016, Paul McCartney likened him to a "fifth Beatle." However, his influence went further than the Beatles. Other music producers like Alan Parsons, Mark Ronson, and Jimmy Jam have lauded Martin's work. Ronson referred to Martin as a "genius at bringing out the best in his artists" (per American Songwriter).Martin had a hand in the career of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck as well. Before Beck earned himself eight Grammy awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 as a solo artist and as part of the Yardbirds in 1992, Beck managed to get into a recording studio with Martin. He saw firsthand what made Martin such a formidable producer.
Source: Anna Robinson/grunge.com
Many know him for his tremendous contributions to the Beatles’ career, but Sir George Martin touched many artists’ lives apart from the Fab Four. Throughout a career that spanned over six decades, George Martin worked in the fields of music, film, television, and live performance and got in the studio with many names in the music industry, such as the Police, Celine Dion, Jeff Beck, Cheap Trick, America, UFO, Ultravox, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Elton John.
As the head of EMI’s Parlophone label, Sir George Martin helped the Beatles reach worldwide success with his excessive involvement in the band’s career and contribution to their orchestral arrangements and instrumentation. He later formed his own production company, Associated Independent Recording, and built a recording studio on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. This secluded island witnessed numerous rock icons record their albums, including the Rolling Stones, Rush, Black Sabbath, and Duran Duran.
Source: Elif Ozden/rockcelebrities.net
Recorded between May and October 1970, George Harrison’s “What Is Life” became the second single to be released from All Things Must Pass. It entered the US Hot 100 on February 27, 1971, and went on to become George’s second Top 10 hit in America.
In the UK, “What Is Life” was issued as the B-side of “My Sweet Lord.” As a single, it topped the Swiss charts, and did really well in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, and Norway. The song was written quickly by George, and he thought originally that Billy Preston would record it for his solo album.
George had started work on All Things Must Pass, but they were running out of tracks at the famous studio, because it only had a four-track machine, so he went to Trident at St. Anne’s Court in London’s Soho where they had an 8-track recorder. According to engineer Ken Scott, “Working with George was always a joy. When he did backing vocals, it was all George. It was tedious, but it was so much fun. We would double it and bounce those down, and double some more and bounce those, getting the mix as we went along.”
Source: Richard Havers/yahoo.com
George Harrison said his fellow Beatle Ringo Starr played the drums like he played the guitar. The two musicians were similar without even trying. Here’s what George said.
During a 1987 interview on Dutch TV, George explained that his former bandmate was like himself as a musician. George explained that for so many years, they’d all grown up together, so they knew each other’s level of musicianship.
According to George, Ringo never practiced the drums, just as he never practiced the guitar. However, whenever they needed to play, they knew how to do it perfectly.
“As a drummer, I know Ringo is a great drummer, but he’s bad,” George said. “He doesn’t practice, but it doesn’t seem to matter he just picks up the drumsticks. For my songs, he’s very good because he listens to the song once and he knows exactly what to play.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
While The Beatles broke up in 1970, they had stopped touring by 1966. While many fans were disappointed they could no longer see their favorite band perform live, the decision to stop touring was great for The Beatles’ music. In the four years where The Beatles stopped touring, the group was able to make their most commercially successful music.
The Beatles’ final tour occurred in North America in the summer of 1966. The tour consisted of 18 concerts and ended at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. While the public was unaware this would be their last tour, The Beatles knew they needed to take time away from performing. The screaming from fans was becoming too much, and they no longer enjoyed the experience.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
