Beatles News
John Lennon is the father of Julian Lennon and Sean Taro Ono Lennon. Becoming a father, though, and “feeling like a real father” was a “slow process,” as the Beatles member wrote in a note to his first wife, Cynthia. Here’s what we learned from Cynthia Lennon’s memoir John.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono with their children from previous marriages Julian Lennon, 6, and daughter Kyoko, 5, pictured taking a walk during their Scottish Holiday | Daily Record/Daily Record/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Amidst his stardom with the Beatles, John Lennon began a relationship with his college classmate Cynthia Lennon (then Cynthia Powell). After she became pregnant with her son Julian, the two got married.
Source: Julia Dzurillay/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney said John Lennon‘s last-minute addition to The Beatles‘ “All My Loving” made it magical. The songwriting partners added something special to each other’s songs every time.
In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote about writing “All My Loving.” He said he wrote it while traveling on a tour bus and doesn’t think he wrote it about his girlfriend, Jane Asher.
Paul wrote, “So I was on a tour bus somewhere in the U.K., with nothing to do, and I started to think of these words: ‘Close your eyes . . ‘ Although we’d met at this point, I don’t know that I was thinking specifically of Jane Asher when I wrote this, though we were courting.
“It’s probably more of a reflection on what our lives were like then – leaving behind family and friends to go on tour and experience all these new adventures.
“It’s one of the few songs I’ve written where the words came first. That almost never happens, I usually have an instrument with me. So, I’d started work on the lyrics on the bus, and back then we were playing what was known as the Moss Empires circuit.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison‘s estate could have many more of his unreleased songs to give to fans. The spiritual Beatle gave clues to their existence many times, and his family has released some through remastered versions of his albums.
The former Beatle didn’t release that many solo albums. However, that doesn’t mean George wasn’t constantly recording and writing music. There must be tons of unreleased tracks because George never stopped making music.
In Harrison, George’s widow, Olivia, wrote, “George left the world his uniquely beautiful melodies, and some of them were barely born, played once, maybe.
“Every Dictaphone or tape machine in the house was found with a cassette inside bearing the beginning of a new song, some on piano, ukulele or guitar, some with hysterically funny words, some with fiercely serious lyrics, but all crafted from creativity he knew to be a divine gift.”
George would also constantly scribble lyrics down on bits of paper that he’d squirrel away. Olivia, who often helped her husband in the songwriting process, told Billboard that George would be “walking around and take a piece of paper out of his pocket and it would end up somewhere. Maybe he would stick it in a book or in a drawer or somewhere.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” was difficult to write. Paul asked a frequent Beatles collaborator to help him craft the song.
He said “Live and Let Die” prepared him to create one of his most famous albums.
Paul McCartney‘s “Live and Let Die” was written for the James Bond movie of the same name. Paul said the title of the song made it challenging to write. Subsequently, he explained how it paved the way for some of his other music.
The James Bond film Live and Let Die was based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name. According to the 2015 book Conversations with Paul McCartney, Paul read the book before writing his song “Live and Let Die.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Paul told Mojo about his writing process. “On the Sunday, I sat down and thought, OK, the hardest thing to do here is to work in that title,” he said. “I mean, later I really pitied who had the job of writing Quantum of Solace.” For context, Quantum of Solace is the title of a later 007 movie.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia Lennon, described her life adjacent to the Beatles in her memoir. However, this experience also extended to other wives of the band members, with Cynthia Lennon sharing a close friendship with the self-described, ‘Beatles girls.” Here’s what we learned from John.
Around the same time John Lennon and Paul McCartney began writing music, the “Imagine” singer began his relationship with classmate Cynthia Lennon (then Cynthia Powell). After she became pregnant with her first son, Julian, the two got married.
That made John Lennon the first Beatle to get married. Due to safety concerns, the Beatles’ wives were rarely seen in public alongside the band. Still, they formed a close friendship, according to Cynthia Lennon.
George Harrison was the last Beatle to fall in love, doing so at 21 years old. He met Pattie Boyd while filming A Hard Day’s Night and married her shortly after. According to Cynthia Lennon, she was “friendly” and “easy to get on with,” similar to the “rest of us Beatles girls.”
Source: Julia Dzurillay/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon had a unique relationship with each of the Beatles members, as noted in the memoir John. That includes Ringo Starr who, according to Cynthia Lennon, often had the songwriter “in stitches with his jokes.”With Ringo Starr added as the final member of the Beatles, this band became the source of Beatlemania. John Lennon was even writing music before that, as part of the Quarrymen. Around the same time, he began a relationship with classmate Cynthia Lennon (then Cynthia Powell).
In her memoir John, Cynthia Lennon described her life adjacent to the Beatles. That includes her perspective on the band’s friendships.
“John’s relationship with each of the other Beatles was different,” Lennon wrote. “He was at his most relaxed with Ringo, who often had him in stitches with his jokes. He treated George with the mix of fondness and disdain as he might have shown a younger brother.”
The age difference was particularly noticeable when Harrison made music with Lennon and McCartney for the Quarrymen. He was a teenager when he first met Cynthia Lennon, with the celebrity describing him as a “kid who tagged along.”
Source: Julia Dzurillay/cheatsheet.com
According to George Harrison, American recording studios were superior to anything The Beatles used throughout the 1960s. However, the Fab Four didn’t exactly care that they were working with outdated equipment. They were still able to make hits.
“But those early sounds, I hated them,” George said. “I remember midway through the ’60s there’d be all these American groups we’d bump into, and they’d say, ‘Hey, man, how did you get that sound?’ And I realized somewhere down the line, I was playing these Gretsch guitars through these Vox amps, and in retrospect they sounded so puny.
“It was before we had the unwound third string, that syndrome, and because it was always done in a rush and you didn’t have a chance to do a second take, we just hadn’t developed sounds on our side of the water.
“I mean, listening to James Burton playing them solos on the Rick Nelson records, and then we’d come up with this stuff–it was so feeble.”
So, The Beatles were doing groundbreaking things without even knowing it half the time. Eventually, despite being innovative, other bands began influencing The Beatles unlike ever before.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
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
