Beatles News
Whether together or in their solo careers, the members of The Beatles are best known for their work as songwriters. Given that their discography contains some of the most beloved and influential music made in the 20th century, that’s not at all surprising. But the band’s members also had some notable sidelines — George Harrison’s work in film production comes to mind, for one thing.
But The Beatles also had a literary side. Paul McCartney’s poems and lyrics have been published to much acclaim, while Lennon also made a few headways into the world of books. And it turns out that the two of them worked on a literary project together in their time before the Beatles — namely, a work for the stage.
A new article at Far Out has more details on this obscure (and, ultimately, uncompleted) venture, which McCartney discussed on an interview with the BBC program This Cultured Life. McCartney said that he recently discovered the manuscript at his home. “It’s quite a funny little thing,” he told host John Wilson. “It’s called Pilchard and it’s about the Messiah.”
Source: Tobias Carroll/insidehook.com
Paul McCartney has written hundreds of hit songs by himself and collaborated with other artists, including John Lennon and his late wife, Linda. While these duos created successful singles and albums, McCartney reveals that Lennon and Linda’s songwriting processes differed.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were frequent collaborators during their time with The Beatles. The two were responsible for many of The Beatles’ greatest hits, including songs like “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Eight Days a Week,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Hello Goodbye,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and “Yellow Submarine.” There is debate on who deserved more credit for specific songs, but the two were a dynamic duo in the 1960s.
After leaving The Beatles, McCartney worked with Linda on many songs in his solo career and with Wings. The two are credited with writing the album Ram together and the song “Live and Let Die” for the 1973 James Bond movie of the same name. Linda did write some songs by herself that appeared in her posthumous album Wide Prairie.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney’s daughter Stella was born after The Beatles broke up, but she said she spent much of her childhood watching her father recover from the band’s split. The breakup was acrimonious, particularly for McCartney. He sued the group to maintain the right to their music, which turned his bandmates against him. While they later reconciled, McCartney had a hard time dealing with the dissolution of the band that had meant so much to him.
Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon appointed Allen Klein as The Beatles manager, and McCartney disagreed with the decision. When the band broke up in 1970, he sued.
“The only way for me to save The Beatles and Apple — and to release Get Back by Peter Jackson and which allowed us to release Anthology and all these great remasters of all the great B
eatles records — was to sue the band,” McCartney told GQ. “If I hadn’t done that, it would have all belonged to Allen Klein. The only way I was given to get us out of that was to do what I did.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison and Ringo Starr knew each other for the entirety of their adult lives. The two men were friends and collaborators for years, but they had their fair share of rough patches. Relations between the former members of The Beatles were thorny after they broke up and, in the 1970s, Harrison had an affair with Starr’s wife. They overcame even this, but some things about Harrison still frustrated Starr. One of these was his incessant playing of the ukulele.Harrison learned about the ukulele through British musician George Formby. After seeing Formby play, Harrison vowed to learn to play the instrument himself. Harrison played the ukulele throughout the 1960s but became more fixated on it in the 1980s. He invited musician Joe Brown to come to his home to play it with him.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney’s daughter Stella grew up with one of the most famous people in the world as her father. He has countless fans and had already been releasing celebrated music for years by the time she was born. Still, he was a dad and could be a bit embarrassing. Stella said that for the most part, though, she respected her parents enough that she didn’t often feel embarrassed by them.
Paul McCartney and Stella McCartney pose together near a bookshelf.
When McCartney married his first wife, Linda Eastman, he adopted her daughter Heather. The couple also shared daughters Mary and Stella and a son named James.
After Linda’s death in 1998, McCartney married Heather Mills in 2002. They divorced acrimoniously in 2008, but they share a daughter, Beatrice. McCartney married Nancy Shevell in 2011, but they do not have children.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono have famously not always been on the best terms. Soon after The Beatles broke up, John Lennon even said that he would never forgive McCartney and George Harrison for the way they treated Ono. Several years later, though, Lennon and Ono separated, and he was living apart from her during his Lost Weekend. According to Ono, McCartney helped the couple reunite.
When Ono and Lennon got together, his Beatles bandmates, particularly McCartney and Harrison, were not welcoming to her.
“You can quote Paul, it’s probably in the papers, he said it many times at first he hated Yoko and then he got to like her,” Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1971. “But, it’s too late for me. I’m for Yoko. Why should she take that kind of s*** from those people?”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Elvis Costello said one of The Beatles’ songs encapsulates the best of Paul McCartney. He discussed seeing Paul perform the song live.
The track in question appeared on one of the Fab Four’s most famous albums.
Elvis Costello said one of The Beatles‘ songs encapsulates everything great about Paul McCartney. Subsequently, he noted the song is not a rock ‘n’ roll song. Notably, the track appeared on one of The Beatles’ most famous albums.
In a 2022 article from Stereogum, 80 artists named their favorite composition by Paul in honor of the singer’s 80th birthday. Some chose Beatles songs, some chose Wings songs, and others chose songs from Paul’s solo career.
Costello said his favorite composition by Paul was “For No One” from The Beatles’ Revolver. “‘For No One’ is everything that’s great about Paul McCartney in one song — except for the fact that it isn’t a rock ‘n’ roll song, which he can do great,” he said. “But it’s a really beautiful melody.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney has always been an activist for issues he is passionate about. Back with The Beatles, he often spoke up on racial discrimination and he and the band refused to play at any segregated venue. Today, Paul McCartney is an activist for climate change and once wrote a song about it where he called Donald Trump a “mad captain.”Egypt Station is the 17th solo studio album from McCartney and debuted in 2018. The album features 16 songs, including “Come On to Me,” “Who Cares,” “Fuh You,” and “Back in Brazil.” Egypt Station debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and is the first number one album for McCartney since 1982’s Tug of War.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison said The Beatles made music videos because there was “too much mania.” Plus, it was cheaper than going on shows like the BBC’s Top of the Pops. It was a simple, cost-effective, and convenient decision for the group, not a creative one.
By 1966, The Beatles were worn out, mentally and physically, from touring the world virtually non-stop since becoming famous. It had exhausted them, made them paranoid of assassination, and bored them. Beatlemania was in full swing, and they wanted out.
They’d become the first rock band to play a sports arena, Shea Stadium, in 1965, performing to the largest audience ever. Yet fans’ screams roared louder than the PA system. They began questioning the point of touring if it tired them so much and fans weren’t interested in listening to them.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison almost spoiled the surprise of The Traveling Wilburys months before the supergroup recorded their debut album. The former Beatle, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison hadn’t even recorded their most famous tune, “Handle With Care.”In 1987, George entered the recording studio to record Cloud Nine, his first album in five years. He asked ELO frontman, Jeff Lynne, to co-produce the album. In November 1987, it hit shelves. However, in April 1988, George discovered that the record company wanted one more song for a European 12-inch single. George had to record one quickly.
The former Beatle asked Lynne to help him write it, and Dylan allowed them to use his recording studio. Roy Orbison and Tom Petty tagged along to watch. George and Lynne wrote the song that became “Handle With Care.”
However, it seemed strange to George to have four of the best singers/songwriters in the studio and not work on it with him. So, he invited all four rock stars to record “Handle With Care.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
