Beatles News
In a new interview with QFM96's "Torg & Elliott" radio show, AC/DC singer Brian Johnson was asked if he has ever met somebody famous that he was "in awe" of. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes, that has happened, and it was [THE BEATLES legend] Paul McCartney. I didn't know what to say to him. I mean, for the first time I was absolutely tongue-tied. And then [fellow BEATLES legend] Ringo Starr walked in beside him. And it was Paul that spoke to me, 'cause he heard me talking to somebody. And he said, 'Hello, Geordie.' You know, because they call us Geordies, with the accent. And I went, 'Hello, Paul. Sir Paul. Your honor. Your majesty.' I didn't know what [to call him]. [Laughs] I just came across like I was breaking a friend's teeth in — I couldn't speak. So it was hard. And then we became friends, which is even harder to describe. If you're in a hotel and somebody like McCartney says, 'Fancy a spot of lunch, kid?' And you go, 'Yes.'"
Source:blabbermouth.net
In 1962, Ringo Starr joined The Beatles, replacing drummer Pete Best. The band had hired him because they believed he was a better drummer than Best, but Starr soon began to worry that they were questioning his abilities. Just two weeks after Starr joined the band, they replaced him with a session drummer during a recording session. Starr immediately began to worry that they were going to fire him.
After replacing Best, Starr joined the band in the studio. He struggled with his timekeeping on the song “Love Me Do.” Producer George Martin wasn’t happy about this.
“I didn’t rate Ringo very highly,” he said per the book Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr, “He couldn’t do a roll — and still can’t — though he’s improved a lot since.”
Martin was unsatisfied with Starr’s performance, so he decided to replace him with Andy White, a session drummer, in another recording session.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Sir Ringo Starr, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Mary McCartney attend the Disney Original documentary premiere (Dave
Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr were joined by a host of famous faces as they celebrated the UK premiere of a new documentary on Abbey Road Studios.
Directed by Sir Paul’s daughter Mary, If These Walls Could Sing is billed as the “first feature-length documentary” on the world-famous London venue.
The Beatles recorded most of their music at Abbey Road, with their 11th studio album released in 1969 named after the venue.
The Disney original documentary will explore the “breadth, diversity and ingenuity” of the studios across its nine decades.
It will also feature “intimate interviews” revealing how “artists, producers, composers and the dedicated engineers and staff of Abbey Road all found their musical language and community, while vivid archive footage and session tapes give exclusive access to these famously private studios”.
Source: Naomi Clarke/Yahoo Entertainment
Ringo Starr never seemed to let fame change his personality. A Beatles business partner said he and his wife lived like simple people in their mansion. Starr had a casual response to a near-death experience in Mexico. The drummer’s down-to-earth attitude is part of his personality. And there’s more proof. Ringo had a classic reaction that included making a joke when one of his solo albums flopped.
Ringo’s 1992 album Time Takes Time was a comeback record of sorts.
It was The Beatles drummer’s first album of new material since 1980’s Stop & Smell the Roses (1983’s Old Wave didn’t land in the United States until 1994). Time Takes Time was also his first solo record since embracing sobriety. Starr spent years living with his addiction. He finally heard his little voice telling him the truth about his addiction when he found sobriety in 1988.
Starr enlisted the help of Tom Petty, Harry Nilsson, Jeff Lynne, Jeff Baxter (of the Doobie Brothers), and dozens more professionals on Time Takes Time. He designed it to be a No. 1 hit, but it failed miserably.
Did Ringo dwell on his failure? Of course not. The grounded Ringo had a classic response to his solo album flop that included making a joke about the record company’s name.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
An idea or experience generated many of The Beatles‘ most prolific songs. John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison regularly dove into their personal history to pen some of their most memorable tunes as a band and solo artists. Paul McCartney admits to focusing on core memories to help flesh out some of his biggest hits, including a drunken experience that formed the backstory of his 1982 tribute to John Lennon, “Here Today.”
McCartney has a method he uses to generate song ideas. This formula has served him well for over 60 years. He shared his technique in an interview with NPR.
“If I were to sit down and write a song, now, I’d use my usual method: I’d either sit down with a guitar or at the piano and just look for melodies, chord shapes, musical phrases, some words, a thought just to get started with,” he shared.
Source: Lucille Barilla/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison‘s son, Dhani, grew up around a lot of good music; it was unavoidable. From Dhani’s perspective, though, his life was ordinary. He thought his father “pushed buttons for a living” and had no idea George helped make Yellow Submarine.
Eventually, Dhani learned about his famous father. George kept Dhani out of the spotlight because he wanted his son to have a good childhood, unlike some musicians’ children.
Once Dhani knew about his past and fame, though, George never pushed music on him or tried to get him to follow in his footsteps. That choice was up to Dhani. He took a long time to decide.'
Source: Hannah Wigandt /CheatSheat
The wife of late Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison has expressed joy about her return to Liverpool as she hopes to show a new side of him to fans.
Olivia married George - famed for penning the likes of Here Comes the Sun for the Fab Four - in 1978, and was with him until his death in 2001. Her collection of poems, Came the Lightening, was published last month (November 2022) but has been years in the making.
Olivia told the ECHO she started writing in "2018 or 2019", but when 2021 came around - two decades on from George's death - she realised she could release a collection with one poem for each year without him.
Source: Storm Newton/liverpoolecho.co.uk
George Harrison once revealed which of his songs he liked best that everyone else overlooked. The former Beatle tended to like the songs that didn’t do well on the charts.
In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George wrote that writing songs stemmed from something deeper in someone like him who was born during a war. If you get all the persecution of being born in war, vibrations making you wonder what it’s all about, “you can see where it all comes out. I mean in your dreams.
“So it’s the unwinding of your nervous system,” George wrote. “The corresponding experience to what winds you up comes out in your dreams. To write a song then, even one like ‘Don’t Bother Me,’ helps to get rid of some subconscious burden.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
At the height of Beatlemania, everyone was getting The Beatles’ mop top haircut. The same thing happened to a lesser extent when George Clooney rocked the Caesar in the ‘90s. The Beatles’ do came from an outside source. Original “Fifth Beatle” Stuart Sutcliffe’s fiance, Astrid Kirchherr did the mop top. Here’s how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and former drummer Pete Best adopted the style.
Beatles historian David Bedford appeared on the Beatles City podcast on Aug. 23, 2020 to talk about Sutcliffe. Bedford was also in charge of Sutcliffe’s fan club. He explained how Sutcliffe’s hairdo, from Kirchherr, became the signature Beatles style.
Astrid Kirchherr gave Stuart Sutcliffe the first Beatles mop top
Sutcliffe was The Beatles’ first bass player. While performing with the band, he met Kirchherr. Their connection was intense and immediate.
Source: Fred Topel/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon said one song turned the Plastic Ono Band into The Beatles. He said people undervalued Yoko Ono’s role in the Plastic Ono Band. He discussed how people reacted to the group after one of their songs became a huge hit.
John Lennon said people dismissed the Plastic Ono Band when they released their first song, “Give Peace a Chance.” Subsequently, he said another song transformed the Plastic Ono Band into The Beatles. The track in question was an international hit.
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon includes an interview from 1975. In it, John compared Wings to the Plastic Ono Band. “Wings is almost as conceptual a group as Plastic Ono Band,” he said.
“Plastic Ono was a conceptual group, meaning whoever was playing was the band,” he added. “And Wings keeps changing all the time. It’s conceptual. I mean, they’re backup men for Paul.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
