Beatles News
He was best known for his formal portraits of prominent politicians and entertainers. Less famously, he took thousands of candid shots of John, Paul, George and Ringo.
Henry Grossman, a photographer who was best known for his formal portraits of celebrities and other public figures — but who also, less famously, immortalized the Beatles on film in thousands of unscripted antics while juggling a side career as a Metropolitan Opera tenor and a Broadway bit player — died on Nov. 27 in Englewood, N.J. He was 86.
His son, David, said he died in a hospital several months after sustaining injuries in a fall.
Source: Sam Roberts/nytimes.com
George Harrison said the press called him a Howard Hughes-like recluse just because they didn’t catch him going to the clubs every night. They claimed the former Beatle never ventured out past Friar Park’s gates. However, George insisted he didn’t go to places where the press could find him.
George became disenchanted with many things in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He’d already disassociated himself from fame and stardom in the mid-1960s, but he also grew tired of what record companies wanted from him and how the press treated him.
After a hectic early 1970s, George wanted to unwind and settle down. He stopped doing interviews and making appearances. George only seemed to make the music he wanted when he felt like it. He filled his time with gardening, raising his son, Dhani, and making demos here and there.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
There are many songs recorded by The Beatles that never saw the light of day. Many times, the band would be dissatisfied with the final product. However, one song was abandoned by The Beatles because they struggled to sing it.
In 1965, The Beatles starred in the movie Help!, a musical comedy that was also accompanied by a soundtrack featuring new music from the band. The movie was a critical and box office success, but it is mainly remembered today for its soundtrack.
Help! was the fifth studio album from The Beatles and included several hit songs such as “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “Help!,” “Ticket to Ride,” and “Yesterday.” Three songs became No. 1 hits on charts worldwide, including the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The album also performed well, reaching platinum status in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Argentina.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr never seemed to have trouble making friends. The drummer once said joining The Beatles was like going to school since he didn’t know the other three. Even though the Liverpool musicians knew of each other, Ringo had a steep learning curve when he took over the drum kit. Still, he formed tight bonds with his Fab Four bandmates. Ringo formed fast friendships with other musicians, too, yet he was never safe from a little good-natured harassment from Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, and Ringo seemed to handle it well.Ringo unsurprisingly formed close bonds with his Beatles bandmates after joining the fray. That skill extended beyond the band and came into sharp focus when the Fab Four fractured.The drummer had an intimate relationship with a drummer who once wanted to replace him in The Beatles. When the band broke up, Ringo harnessed one of his passions to contribute to a T. Rex album, but not as a drummer. He and Harry Nilsson became fast friends.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles didn’t officially break up until 1970, but the band was already beginning to rupture internally before that. In 1969, George Harrison temporarily left The Beatles and wrote a song that captured his frustrations with his fellow bandmates. He did return to the band, but not before airing out his grievances.
In 1969, The Beatles were recording what would be their final album, Let it Be. The recording sessions were captured in the 1970 documentary of the same name, and footage showed high tensions between the band. While Paul McCartney and John Lennon had always been the main songwriters for the band, Harrison had long felt ignored and reached his breaking point while the band was recording the track “Two of Us.”
After breaking for lunch, Harrison came back and nonchalantly announced he was leaving the band, telling them, “See you round the clubs.” While Harrison didn’t officially say why he left, he later said that part of it could be blamed on McCartney.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
While Paul Simon had problems with John Lennon, he was a big fan of his Beatles bandmate, George Harrison. The two musicians became friends after performing on Saturday Night Live together, and they maintained a friendly relationship for years. Simon drew comparisons between them musically, but he explained they got along because Harrison was pleasant company. He said he liked him so much because Harrison was a normal person.“The roots of my friendship with George Harrison go back to 1976, when we performed together on Saturday Night Live,” Simon wrote for “Remembering George,” a special edition of Rolling Stone. “Sitting on stools side by side with acoustic guitars, we sang ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Homeward Bound.’ Though we’re in the same generation and weaned on Buddy Holly, Elvis and the Everly Brothers, it must have seemed as strange to him to be harmonizing with someone other than Lennon or McCartney as it was for me to blend with someone other than Art Garfunkel. Nevertheless, it was an effortless collaboration.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles altered the music world forever. They were voted the most “mood-boosting” band by one recent survey, and are considered the most influential band of all time by many. Though the band parted ways way back in 1969, they have never left the pop culture conversation. Their legacy of timeless hits became a never-ending debate about which are the best Beatles songs. And there are many, many to choose from — which means there isn’t one “right” answer.
Of course, the “best” means different things to different people. In a survey of 2,000 adults, “Let It Be” by The Beatles was listed as one of the most relaxing tunes. For the saddest song, the youngest age range selected “Yesterday.” And “The Long and Winding Road” also made the list of saddest songs ever.
Are magic mushrooms the magic behind the band? Psychedelics became popular during the “Flower Power” movement of the 1960s. They even inspired a host of bands including, reportedly, The Beatles. Or, maybe the magic came from transcendental meditation? This form of meditation first gained international recognition when The Beatles traveled to India to learn its secrets.
Source: Stephanie Vallette/studyfinds.org
Do you Remember?
From the art of writing song lyrics, guitar playing, and stage performance, no other singer has exerted as much influence on John Lennon as Chuck Berry. “When I hear rock, good rock, the caliber of Chuck Berry, I just fall apart,”John admitted in an interview, “and I have no other interest in life. The world could be ending if rock ‘n’ roll is playing.”
He wasted no time singing a duet with his idol while he and his wife, Yoko Ono, co-hosted The Mike Douglas Show in February 1972. The trio performed a killer version of Berry’s 1959 song, “Memphis, Tennessee.”
Berry and Lennon were joined in the rendition by a backing band with Yoko Ono on percussion. A few minutes into the performance, she added an avant-garde wail to the sound, which embarrassed Berry and made him give the cameraman a stern look.Mid-way into the song, she grabs the mic one more time to contribute to the duet, but she lets out another wibble-wobble wail. The engineer who had taken the cue decided to switch off her microphone to avoid further interruptions.
Source: doyouremember.com
One of The Beatles‘ first hits was “I Saw Her Standing There.” The track was written by Paul McCartney, who was still attending school in Liverpool. Before The Beatles were formed, Paul McCartney played hooky with John Lennon to write this future Beatles hit song.
During his youth, McCartney attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys. The institute was also attended by George Harrison, who McCartney met during his time there. While this school provided him with an adequate education, McCartney’s true passion was music. One day, McCartney played hooky with Lennon and wrote one of The Beatles’ earliest hits, “I Saw Her Standing There.”
“I wrote it with John,” McCartney said in a 1988 interview (shared via Beatlesinterviews.org). “We sagged off school and wrote it on guitars. I remember I had the lyrics, ‘Just seventeen/Never been a beauty queen,’ which John… it was one of the first times he ever went, ‘What? Must change that!’ And it became, ‘you know what I mean.’”
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Eric Clapton and George Harrison had a friendship many would admire. Clapton met the Beatles members while he was in the Yardbirds — he was the supporting act for their Christmas Show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. Although Clapton and the Fab Four had a strong bond that lasted for years, the Beatle he felt closest to was George Harrison. So, the Hammersmith Odeon show marked the beginning of a long-lasting friendship between the two.
Clapton and Harrison teamed up and worked on several music projects throughout the years. On Cream’s fourth and final studio record ‘Goodbye,’ the two collaborated on the song ‘Badge.’ They wrote it together as Clapton couldn’t finish the song by himself on time. Eric also helped George with a Beatles song — during the recordings of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ the Beatle invited Clapton to help him anonymously.
Source: Elif Ozden/rockcelebrities.net
