Beatles News
Ringo Starr was already an accomplished and sought-after drummer when The Beatles asked him to join. That didn’t make it easy. He compared it to going to school — he was the new kid and everyone else was already friends. Ringo once shared a brutally honest take about his place in the band, but he found a positive to being the fourth Beatle early in his tenure.
Ringo’s steady rhythm and ability to craft the perfect beat for each song helped propel The Beatles to the top of the charts. He found fame and fortune with the Fab Four, but that didn’t mean his life was a breeze.
The drummer was once brutally honest about his place in The Beatles. He understood he was the least talented songwriter. He played what the others told him to, and then felt bad when other drummers praised that work. Ringo was sometimes the whipping boy when frustrations between the other three boiled over.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison kept an eye on John Lennon‘s son, Julian Lennon, especially once the younger musician entered his music career in the 1980s. As the son of his late best friend, how could he not? On his debut album, one of the things that amazed listeners about Julian was how much he sounded like John.
However, according to George, the similarities between the father and son ended with their looks and sound.
During an interview on Good Morning Australia, George spoke about Julian. He said the younger singer might have long hair and glasses like John, but the father and son were nothing alike. Julian took after his mother, John’s first wife, Cynthia Lennon.
“Julian happens to be very talented, he’s really good,” George said. “He’s got a lot of good tunes; he’s only just started to try and do lyrics, but apart from him physically looking like John a bit, with his glasses and long hair, he really isn’t anything like John. He’s more like his mother.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Despite often having critical views of The Beatles‘ music, George Harrison did like some of his band’s songs, including “Polythene Pam.” He said it reminded him of his home, Liverpool, and the risqué songs people used to sing there. It wasn’t a bad rock ‘n’ roll tune either.
For decades after The Beatles’ split, and even occasionally during their lifetime, George often revealed his contradicting views of his band. On the one hand, he thought what they did culturally was astounding and sometimes didn’t believe what a significant phenomenon they were. Meanwhile, George couldn’t help but question whether what The Beatles accomplished was all that good.
However, George revealed he thought some songs were good, including “Polythene Pam.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. These four names live on in the memory of millions who, more than a half-a-decade later, still sing their songs. The Beatles are an empire of media that goes far beyond music: video clips, films, documentaries, museums, basically, a fantastic legacy of tunes that continue to move the world. Though the band's lifespan didn’t last for a decade, their prolific career keeps new generations hooked with every new release.
During the last ten years, most of their albums turned fifty, prompting remastered versions to be launched, all with extra material, alternative takes, and more fantastic content. However, their latest success was in the form of a documentary.
Source: Martin Cantet/Read More<<<
There are loads of tours where fans can marvel at former homes of all four members of the The Beatles. But the one run by the National Trust is your only opportunity to have a nose inside two of the properties.
Members of the public can head to Liverpool to peak inside Paul McCartney’s childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road and John Lennon’s former abode, Mendips, at 251 Menlove Avenue.
McCartney moved to Forthlin Road with his father and brother following his mother’s death in 1956. The National Trust describes the home as an example of post-war terraced council housing and says visitors can ‘expect to see mismatched wallpaper, clutter and threadbare sofas’. The National Trust has owned it since 1995.
Mendips belonged to Lennon’s aunt Mimi and her husband George, who took custody of him after his parents separated in 1946. Once described by McCartney as ‘one of the almost posh houses’ of the area, the property was donated to the National Trust by Yoko Ono in 2002.
Source: Amy Houghton/timeout.com
A former John Lennon aide recalled times when the former Beatle envied the sort of songs Paul McCartney was writing.
While Dan Richter was instrumental in helping the former bandmates reconnect after their acrimonious split in 1970 he told The Telegraph that Lennon knew McCartney had talents he didn’t share. (Richter was around during the Beatles' last few months.)
Richter recalled, at one point, “John got somebody to make a list of all the Beatles’ songs, and then we had to say which were his and which were Paul’s.” On another occasion, Lennon’s entourage visited a “fancy restaurant” where a band was playing as guests ate dinner. "When they saw John come in, they started playing ‘Yesterday,’" Richter recalled. "John was so pissed off!"
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
Read More<<<
The Beatles released their final album, Let It Be, in 1970, before splitting up for good. The band's 13th album included some major hits, including Across the Universe, Get Back, Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road - to name but a few. But it also included one of George Harrison's best-loved songs: I Me Mine. However, when the band started recording the track, John Lennon was nowhere to be seen.
The Beatles assembled at Abbey Road for the final time on January 3, 1970, to record their last song together, I Me Mine. The album version of the track is credited to Harrison on vocals, acoustic guitars and lead guitars; Paul McCartney on harmony vocals, bass guitar, Hammond organ and electric piano; and Ringo Starr on drums.
At the time, Lennon was out of the country. He had flown out of the UK on December 29, 1969, alongside his wife, Yoko Ono, to the small city of Aalborg in Denmark.
The couple stayed with Ono's first husband, Tony Cox, and his new wife Melinde. Lennon and Ono were visiting her daughter and stayed at Cox's farmhouse until January 25, 1970.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
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
