Beatles News
Legendary producer Glyn Johns and Ringo Starr share tales of the album that should have been — and Johns recalls working with the Stones, Zeppelin and The Who Producer/engineer Glyn Johns recorded the whole of the Let It Be sessions for the Beatles in 1969, and mixed a raw version of the album that wouldn’t be released for another 52 years — so he’s far from a fan of the Phil Spector-embellished album that came out in 1970. “He did a terrible job,” Johns says on the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. “Don’t misunderstand me — I respect Phil Spector for his early work tremendously. But somebody like Phil Spector shouldn’t ever be allowed near a band like the Beatles, in my view. Phil Spector was always the artist in the records that he made. He treated the artists like parts of the machine to make the end result. I don’t think the Beatles ever require that kind of input.”
Source: Brian Hiatt/rollingstone.com
George Martin wanted to scrap George Harrison’s last-minute addition to The Beatles' song “She Loves You” until the rest of the band overruled the producer.Not every Beatles song was a massive success. The band gave up on one tune when they couldn’t sing it. Still, the misses were few and far between. If George Martin had his way, he would have shelved “She Loves You” because of George Harrison’s last-second change. The Beatles overruled Martin and scored one of their biggest hits.
The Beatles had a No. 1 hit in England with “From Me to You” in April 1963, but they weren’t yet the dominant force they became after they recorded “She Loves You” in July of that year. They were still relative upstarts. Martin insisted the band ditch Harrison’s nearly imperceptible addition to “She Loves You.”
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
In a recent appearance, Paul McCartney addressed the allegations of whether he tried to erase John Lennon’s legacy.
Reflecting on the distortions and the need to set the record straight, the musician said:
“So, I think with all these distortions that were beginning to happen, there’s kind of a sort of revisionism that was starting, I sensed. And I thought, well, look, I don’t want to kind of put John down at all. I mean, I’m his biggest fan. I’m the last person to do that because I really feel very privileged and loved every second that we had together.”
He then explained his perspective on their songwriting partnership:
“I mean, let’s face it, to be McCartney in the Lennon-McCartney songwriter partnership was fantastic, but it was a question of me thinking, ‘Well, I better stick it down now before the memory goes completely,’ which is going fast; even as we speak, it’s ebbing away.”
Sharing his side of the story, Paul continued:
“And I better get with someone I know and trust, like Barry Miles, who wrote the book, to actually just put forward my side of things. Because the kind of thing that started to happen was… George Martin wrote a book called ‘The Summer of Love,’ and he asked me to proofread it just to see if his memory was the same as mine, and he got to a song called ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.’
Source: Bihter Sevinc/rockcelebrities.net
Paul McCartney said many of his songs were inspired by his childhood experiences. For example, he revealed freak shows he used to visit influenced The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour."
Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” was inspired by a fake five-legged sheep.
Paul said he and John Lennon wrote The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” together.
In retrospect, John wasn’t sure if he contributed to the track at all.
Paul McCartney said many of his songs were inspired by his childhood experiences. For example, he revealed freak shows he used to visit influenced The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour.” Notably, Paul said these freak shows became cherished memories for him.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said trips to fairgrounds and freak shows when he was young inspired him to write The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour.” “I used to go to the fairgrounds as a kid, the waltzers and the dodgems, but what interested me was the freak shows: the boxing booths, the bearded lady and the sheep with five legs, which actually was a four-legged sheep with one leg sewn on its side,” he said. “When I touched it, the fellow said, ‘Hey, leave that alone!'”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison was a great rock n’ roll guitarist for The Beatles, but he was also fascinated with cultural music, such as Indian music and reggae. He had a passion for Indian music that led to him learning the sitar and adopting a more spiritual lifestyle. He also found reggae to be an intriguing genre and said the genre was somewhat similar to The Beatles. Reggae originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and became an influential genre thanks to artists like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. The music intrigued Many international audiences as it not only introduced them to the culture but also had a distinct sound that blended many genres and instruments.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
NASA celebrated Ringo Starr’s 83rd birthday on Friday by blasting the voice of the Beatles drummer “across the universe.”
“Happy 83rd birthday, @RingoStarrMusic! Right now, we’re beaming your message of #PeaceAndLove across the universe toward Stephan’s Quintet via the Deep Space Network, our 24/7 communications link with spacecraft exploring the cosmos,” NASA tweeted. “Here’s to many more orbits to come!”
A pre-recorded message of Starr saying his annual “peace and love” chant was beamed out from a Barstow, Calif., station toward a grouping of five galaxies known as Stephan’s Quintet on Friday at noon, The Messenger reported.
For the last 15 years, Starr has marked his birthday each year by leading friends in the chant of “peace and love,” according to Variety.
Source: Julia Shapero/thehill.com
Paul McCartney may have wanted to share two birthday posts this week, but it made more sense for them to "Come Together."
The legendary singer-songwriter, 77, took a few moments on Friday to celebrate two very important men in his life on their shared birthday: Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr, and his late father James McCartney.
"Happy Birthday to two of my heroes," McCartney wrote alongside photos of both men.
"It’s Ringo and my Dad’s birthday so let’s have a great day to celebrate these two great people - Paul"
For Starr, McCartney shared a recent shot of the famed drummer as he threw up his signature peace sign. And for his father, McCartney shared a throwback black-and-white baby pic of him standing next to his mother, Mary. James died back in 1976.
Throwback image of Paul McCartney's parents.
Source: Brenton Blanchet/people.com
Sir Ringo Starr may be 83 today, but he seems to be getting younger with his ever-youthful vigour.
As is his wish every year, The Beatles drummer took to social media urging fans around the world to make peace hand signs and wish each other “Peace and Love”.
In an Instagram video, he said: “The best gift you could give me is, as you know, Peace and Love with the sign, Peace and Love.
“So if you want to join me at Noon your local time July 7, 2023. And wherever you are, riding on horses, down the mine, on a bus, it doesn’t matter, hanging out in the park.
“Remember say or just even think, ‘Peace and Love!’ Thank you, Ringo, thanks you, thank you. Peace and love.”
Sir Paul McCartney has sent his best wishes to his fellow surviving Beatle on Instagram.
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
Beatles guitarist George Harrison hoped to celebrate the new year at a hip London club, but the doorman insulted him to his face when his clothes weren’t up to snuff.By the middle of 1964, there weren’t many places George Harrison could go and not be known. And there weren’t many places — restaurants, clubs — that wouldn’t welcome a world-famous member of The Beatles. Yet the guitarist found one, and the doorman insulted George to his face when his clothes didn’t meet the dress code.
If the Beatles were world-famous by the middle of 1964, then they were legends in the making in late 1966.
Harrison and his bandmates traded their impersonal raucous live performances for studio devotion, and it paid off with seminal albums such as Rubber Soul and 1966’s Revolver. The Fab Four had also starred in two massively successful and popular movies — A Hard Day’s Night and Help!.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney is a genius when it comes to songwriting. The British-born former Beatle knows how to captivate, educate and even obfuscate when it comes to his message and lyrics. For evidence of this look no further than the hit song by the former Mop Tops, “Let It Be.”Why is this song such a work of genius craftsmanship? Even though Beatle John Lennon has said, “I don’t know what [Paul was] thinking when he writes ‘Let It Be’.” We think we do. Keep reading to find out.
The Beatles were a comet. The one that burned the brightest. Formed in 1960 by young teenagers in Liverpool, England, the band broke up in 1969 or 1970, depending on how you want to count it. Their final album was the 1970 release, Let It Be, which recently earned renewed attention thanks to the elaborate 2021 docu-series on Disney+, The Beatles: Get Back.
The docu-series shows the Fab Four in 1968 working on their final album under a time crunch, thanks to a movie that Ringo Starr was set to shoot. But there is more happening, guitarist George Harrison quits the band for a few days. Frontmen John Lennon and Paul McCartney are both clinging to their twin-flame artistic relationship and are constantly at odds. Both men are also shadowed by new love interests, Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney. In Get Back, we see a band on the edge. But through tension can come great art.
Source: Jacob Uitti/americansongwriter.com
