Beatles News
Wednesday night was the New York City premiere of If These Walls Could Sing, a documentary about London’s Abbey Road Studios directed by Mary McCartney that will premiere on Disney+ on December 16. For some inside information, the filmmaker, photographer and cookbook author turned to one of Abbey Road’s most well-known regulars: her dad, Paul McCartney.
Speaking to People, Mary says, “I was with him and I was like, ‘I’m going to make this documentary about the history of Abbey Road,’ and he would just sort of give me little tips. It was good! He was mulling it over and he sort of told me little anecdotes.” What Paul wanted to stress, she says, is how important the people who worked there were to the Beatles’ career.
Source: wdrv.com
Many of us know Ringo Starr as the drummer from the Beatles, but did you know he is an accomplished photographer too? I think you may be pleasantly surprised to see what happened when he swapped his drumsticks for a camera.
Rock and roll stars are usually on the receiving end of a camera rather than taking pictures themselves. Ringo Starr experienced both sides of that equation, as he was just as keen to take pictures as he was being in them. The reason I know this is thanks to photographer and educator Tatiana Hopper's latest video, where she shares the story of Starr's love of photography.
Source: Paul Parker/fstoppers.com
Ringo Starr said his career went downhill after one of his albums. He said he stopped caring as much about his music and more about his sex life. He felt one of his later albums was an artistic comeback.
Ringo Starr discussed the reason he had the chance to make albums. He said his career went downhill after he released one of his most famous albums. Subsequently, he said he was responsible for the decline of his recordings.
Ringo released his album Time Takes Time in 1992. That same year, Rolling Stone asked him if it felt odd that two decades had passed since he started releasing solo albums.
“Yes, it is,” he said. “Not to mention 25 years since that other album by those other guys — the one about the sergeant. And thanks be to God. I suppose I got that chance because The Beatles became such monsters.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
When The Beatles added Ringo Starr as their drummer, the perception was he was just along for the ride. Even though he copied another song for his only Beatles drum solo, Ringo was hardly a passenger on the Fab Four’s flight to fame. However, he was along for the ride on a plane that nearly crashed, and Ringo had the most Ringo-like response to his near-death situation.The timekeeper sometimes acted as a buffer between John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. Ringo developed close bonds with his bandmates. He moved in with George when The Beatles first relocated to London. He only roomed with Paul on tour. Ringo became neighbors with John after the drummer moved out of his London apartment and later bought one of his houses. Those close friendships and his ingrained down-to-earth attitude helped The Beatles handle fame in a way that kept them from ending up like Elvis Presley.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon's death left the star furious he hadn't made some preparations during his life.
John Lennon died 42-years-ago this week on December 8, 1980. The Beatles star was murdered outside his home, The Dakota, in New York City. His death affected people around the world, but his nearest and dearest friends were devastated by the tragic loss. All except George Harrison, who was reportedly very angry about the events.
Harrison's life was recounted in the Martin Scorsese documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. In the feature, Harrison's wife, Olivia Harrison, revealed her husband's thoughts following Lennon's tragic murder. She said Harrison was "really angry" at Lennon for his lack of preparation.
She said he was furious that "John didn’t have a chance to leave his body in a better way".
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
Klaus Voorman, Earl Slick and MOJO’s writers on how John Lennon changed the world… with what he sang, played, said and did.
1. By the way he sang Twist & Shout
Tempered in the furnaces of The Cavern and the Star-Club, The Beatles’ vocal attack was the closest any British rock’n’roll singers had come to the fire, energy and expression of American originators such as Little Richard and Larry Williams, The Isley Brothers and Barrett Strong. And it was Lennon’s raw, open-throated singing that sold these influential interpretations. In the summer of ’63, Twist And Shout, a raucous set-closer, was the lead track on their UK Number 1 EP and made their earlier singles sound, well, British, while Lennon’s vocal – the last recorded in a 12-hour February 11 session for Please Please Me – had a bug-eyed desperation that made an unlikely virtue of his understandably failing pipes. The Beatles’ Twist And Shout is slightly slower than The Top Notes’ 1961 original, and closely followed the Isleys’ cover, right down to McCartney and Harrison’s scream-inducing “whooos!”, but in 2 minutes 33 seconds it made every previous milky British imitator of real rock’n’roll redundant.
Source: mojo4music.com
Ringo Starr became known as the funny Beatle. Ringo Starr shared the way comments about his appearance impacted him.
People sent Ringo Starr death threats because of his appearance.
The Beatles became some of the most famous people in the world in the early 1960s. They had hoards of fans and constantly made public appearances. Though they received adoration, they also were the subjects of much public scrutiny. Ringo Starr became the target of many comments about his appearance. He said that he considered plastic surgery because of them.After forming in 1960, The Beatles began to see the early stages of Beatlemania in 1963. That year, stores stocked Beatles dolls, wigs, and other branded items. Fans gave each member of the band different monikers: John Lennon was the smart Beatle, Paul McCartney was the cute Beatle, George Harrison was the quiet Beatle, and Starr was the funny Beatle.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
On December 8, 1980, the world was rocked by the news that Beatles star John Lennon had been murdered. The culprit was a man named Mark Chapman who gunned Lennon down right outside his place of residence.
Given the sudden nature of the incident and the fact that The Beatles had broken up close to a decade earlier, none of Lennon's former bandmates were close to him in terms of proximity when the shooting occurred.
Despite their differences, each of them was devastated by the news and mourned the loss of their former bandmate and friend.
Source: marca.com
Ringo Starr was more than just The Beatles’ beat master. He was also a buffer between the other members of the band and someone who never lost his warm personality as his fame grew. Ringo and his wife lived like simple people, even when they were millionaires. He had a down-to-earth reaction when John Lennon brought Yoko Ono into The Beatles’ inner circle. He made friends easily, and Ringo formed an intimate relationship with another drummer who wanted to take his job in The Beatles.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr achieved worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles. Even though he copied another drummer for his famous solo on “The End,” Ringo made a huge impact on rock ‘n’ roll music and earned praise from Elvis Presley’s drummer and other professional musicians. Still, he always relied on a little help from his friends, and in one situation, George Harrison made Ringo sound like a genius on one of his biggest solo songs.
Acrimony and intraband squabbling brought The Beatles to an end at the beginning of the 1970s. That didn’t stop Ringo and George from collaborating soon after the Fab Four disbanded.
George forgot about his contributions, but Ringo played drums on two-thirds of George’s 1970 solo debut, All Things Must Pass. The former Richard Starkey later played on George’s albums Living in the Material World, Dark Horse, Somewhere in England, and Cloud Nine, per All Music.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
