Beatles News
Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ “Drive My Car” was difficult to write. He said it had a “little twist” similar to the one in “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).” The track was not included in the original American edition of Rubber Soul.
Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “Drive My Car” includes a lyrical twist. In addition, he said the song was challenging to put together. Notably, the track was initially released on different albums in the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the 2015 book Conversations with Paul McCartney, Paul said it usually doesn’t take a long time for him to write a song. He felt his best songs usually came together “in one go.” He said every time he tries to write a song, he wants to know if he’ll be able to finish it.
In addition, he discussed the origin of “Drive My Car.” He said he had a difficult time figuring out what the lyrics of the song should be. The Beatles came up with a line about gold rings and disliked it, but they couldn’t think of a substitute.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
The Grammy Museum Experience recently opened The Beatles exhibit and it has become one of the hottest attractions in Newark at the Prudential Center — apart from going to see the New Jersey Devils. Taking a stroll inside the exhibit, Beatles fans take a trip down memory lane, looking back at clothing worn by the band, photographs, and memorabilia from the 60s. Plus, there’s a lot to do at the exhibit with the interactive displays. Read on to learn more about The Beatles exhibit in Newark.
The “Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles!” exhibit was curated by the Grammy Museum and Fab Four Exhibits. The Newark location drew inspiration from the Los Angeles Grammy Museum, which previously had the same exhibit. The exhibit opened on Friday, November 18th, following the opening night reception where May Pang, a former music executive who worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant, made a special appearance.
Source: Diana Cooper/hobokengirl.com
Joe Elliott of Def Leppard likes one Wings song better than all The Beatles’ songs. He said it sounded like someone having a picnic in a field in the countryside. He said he likes to listen to one of Wings’ albums when he lights a candle and takes a bath.
Joe Elliott of the classic rock band Def Leppard discussed his favorite Wings song. He said it sounded incredibly different from The Beatles’ songs. In addition, he contrasted it with some of Wings’ biggest hits.
In a 2022 article from Stereogum, Elliott discussed his favorite song Paul ever wrote. “With the greatest respect to everything he’s ever written in the world ever, and the obvious ‘Live and Let Dies‘ and ‘Band on the Runs‘ and ‘Jet‘ and etc., I’m going for ‘Little Lamb Dragonfly’ off Red Rose Speedway,” he said.
“When I first heard that song, I was 13 or 14,” he added. “There was something very melancholic about it that just sucked me in. It sounded like someone doing poetic license on phrases, sat on a blanket at some country field having a picnic.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Over the years, John Lennon wrote a number of angry letters to Paul McCartney. The songwriting pair famously feuded over the years, and Lennon made his feelings toward his former bandmate clear through his strong language. In one letter, Lennon took issue with the way McCartney described The Beatles’ impact on music. He thought McCartney overstated the band’s importance.
By the late 1960s, tensions in The Beatles rose, and they grew increasingly frustrated with one another. Lennon and McCartney were particularly irritable with one another, which they expressed through songs in their solo careers.
“We were writing songs at each other,” McCartney said on The Howard Stern Show. “Like weaponizing songs.”
In McCartney’s “Too Many People,” he seemed to poke at Lennon and Yoko Ono’s anti-war activism. Lennon hit back with “How Do You Sleep?” In it, he wrote, “Those freaks was right when they said you was dead,” and “The only thing you done was yesterday/And since you’ve gone you’re just another day.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a No. 1 single to another singer. John played one of The Beatles’ most famous songs to this singer before it was a hit. The singer in question also recorded a hit cover of one of The Beatles’ early tunes.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a No. 1 single to another singer. Subsequently, Paul explained why they did that. Notably, the singer in question had a few hits that were written by the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.The Beatles’ original manager, Brian Epstein, was also the manager for Billy J. Kramer. According to the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said he and John gave Kramer some of their songs because they were his friends. During a 2015 interview with The Vinyl District, Kramer discussed one of his interactions with Epstein. “He said, ‘We’ve been offered a record deal and you need an original song.’
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr’s “You’re Sixteen” features vocals from a rock star who was Ringo’s friend. The song became a massive hit.
It appeared on Ringo’s most successful album as a solo artist.
The 2015 book Ringo: With a Little Help discusses Ringo’s friendship with fellow rock star Harry Nilsson. “They became really, really close friends, and a lot of it was based on how much alike they were,” said Apple Records employee Chris O’Dell. “They shared a sense of humor. You can never underestimate Ringo’s sense of humor.
“It’s there, it’s a huge part of who he is,” O’Dell added. “Harry was also like that. He kind of lived in this bouncy little world of his own. It was the ’70s and everybody was partying, but I think they respected each other’s musical talents. They were like brothers.” O’Dell said Nilsson loved garnering the respect of other musicians.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr and The Beatles had women (not just teenage girls) swooning when they hit it big. The drummer seemingly lost the chance at one relationship in 1964 because he was intellectually dumb. Yet the drummer might not have minded. Ringo found love years earlier and spoke the sweetest words of the woman who became his first wife.
John Lennon got married soon after Ringo joined The Beatles. The drummer started a committed relationship with Maureen (Mo) Cox around the same time. Yet John had to hide his marriage and Ringo his relationship from the public; the predominating wisdom of the day said pop stars should be single to appeal to more female fans.
Female Beatles fans threatened (and in one case assaulted) Cox when she and Ringo started dating. Even as he spent nights at clubs and faced throngs of American fans after the Fab Four’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the drummer remained committed to her.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
When Paul Simon visited George Harrison at his estate in England, he asked him about boulders on the property. Harrison told Simon that the boulders had been there when he moved in. He told his former bandmate, Ringo Starr, a different story, though. Harrison made up a story to make Starr think Paul McCartney left him out of a promotional campaign.
Simon and Harrison became friends in 1976, after they performed on Saturday Night Live together. Simon visited Harrison’s home, Friar Park, for the first time in 2000.
“I hadn’t seen George for several years and was anxious to know, in person, how he was faring after the harrowing attack he’d endured just ten months earlier, on New Year’s Eve 1999,” Simon wrote for a special edition of Rolling Stone, “Remembering George.” “‘I’m really happy to see you,’ he said as we shook hands and embraced, ‘and these days, when I say I’m really happy to see someone, I mean I’m really happy.'”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison claimed he didn’t understand how so many different nationalities around the world knew and liked The Beatles. Every time he and his band traveled to a new place, George thought no one would know who they were. He was deeply mistaken
Throughout most of his life, George made contradictory statements about The Beatles. On the one hand, he thought they were innovative and a cultural phenomenon. At the same time, he didn’t think their music was that good. He sometimes even called his own songs average. To him, it was questionable if any of The Beatles’ songs would’ve been hits if any other band had recorded them.
If George believed The Beatles were only OK, despite their cultural impact, he would never understand why fans harped on about them and wanted them to continue.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Tonight Rod Stewart will hit BBC 2 at 8pm in a feature that will show off some of the star's biggest performances from throughout the years. While he has some legendary songs under his belt - such as Maggie May, Sailing and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? to name a few - he was caught in controversy in 1980 by The Beatles star John Lennon. The Fab Four singer claimed Stewart had "used" some of the band's last-ever recorded songs.
Lennon said Stewart's song The Killing of Georgie employed the same melody as The Beatles hit Don't Let Me Down. The star told journalist David Sheff in 1980: "By the way, Rod Stewart turned that [Don't Let Me Down] into ‘[Georgie] don’t go-o-o.’ That’s one the publishers never noticed."
He jokingly asked: "Why didn’t he just sing Don’t Let Me Down? The same reason I don’t sing other people’s stuff: because you don’t get paid."
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
