Beatles News
Allan Kozinn talks with 207 about what he learned through writing the book that focuses on Paul McCartney from 1969 to 1973.
PORTLAND, Maine — Allan Kozinn wrote about music for more than 35 years for The New York Times, at times writing extensively about Paul McCartney and The Beatles.
His latest book, “The McCartney Legacy,” is the first of a projected three-volume series on Paul McCartney from 1969 to 1973.
The book begins in the final years of The Beatles and goes through the years that followed. Kozinn writes about some of the hardships McCartney faced in the early 70s, how he dealt with the band's breakup, and what it meant for his musical and financial future.
Source: Aaron Tanguay/newscentermaine.com
With Peter Jackson's epic three-part documentary miniseries The Beatles: Get Back currently celebrating its one-year anniversary, many fans have been wondering if more material from the famous sessions will be unleashed on the public. When it was put out on DVD and Blu-ray earlier this year, it only contained the same 468 minutes that’s available streaming on Disney+, with no extra footage or bonus material of any kind, so there’s been a lot of speculation about a possible extended future edition.
Jackson assembled Get Back from 60 hours of footage and over 150 hours of audio of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr working in January 1969. This would become Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary and the same-titled Phil Spector-produced LP, Let it Be. Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter journalist Kim Masters on The Business podcast that “there’s five or six hours of fantastic material that we didn’t include, and I don’t want it to go back into the faults for fifty years. So, let’s just say that it’s a conversation that’s happening, but it’s not necessarily a definitive one at this point."
Source: Daniel Cook Johnson/movieweb.com
In May 1963, William and Margaret Young left a Glasgow, Scotland slum with seven of their eight children, including George, Angus, and Malcolm, and moved to Sydney, Australia, to begin a new life, according to "AC/DC – The Early Years & Bon Scott." The boys would soon turn to music in their new homeland. But one brother, Alex, stayed behind in Scotland and eventually drifted down to London, where he would unknowingly become the connection between the Beatles and AC/DC.
By the late 1960s, the Beatles were making a lot of money and decided, in part for tax reasons, to launch Apple Corps, an umbrella company for their various projects. "It's a business concerning records, films, and electronics," John Lennon announced during a press conference in New York City in May 1968, according to NPR. The band released both its own music, beginning with the single "Hey Jude" in August 1968, and other artists' music as well. Apple Publishing was one of their early endeavors and this is where Alex Young comes into the picture.
Source: Andrew Amelinckx/grunge.com
John Lennon felt The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” inspired a song from the 1970s. He was correct.
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” became a massive hit in the United States.
The Beatles‘ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” inspired a song from the 1970s. John Lennon noticed the similarity. Subsequently, he confronted the song’s writer while drunk.Devo is a nerdy rock band most known for the hit single “Whip It.” During a 2022 interview with Stereogum, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh discussed one of his band’s early songs.“If you listen to the first song on the first Devo record, I start off ‘Uncontrollable Urge’ with basically the same intro as ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand,'” Mothersbaugh revealed. “In the song, there’s a deconstructed ‘yeah yeah yeah.’ It didn’t go unnoticed by John Lennon.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Ex-Beatle and top recording star Paul McCartney (left) shakes with Paul McCartney ... [+] (right) in a World War I battlefield scene from a video to promote his title role British release single "Pipes of Peace" from the album of the same name. Filmed in Kent, England, McCartney depicts a British soldier (left) and a German soldier (right) meeting during a ceasefire when troops used to play football before returning to their trench warfare.
Source: Peter Suciu/forbes.com
With songs from 1970 to last year, Mega Macca collection makes a "Wonderful Christmastime" gift.
The new Paul McCartney box set includes more than 50 years of singles – 65 re-creations of previous 7-inch releases and 15 new ones, plus a book – in a wood crate that comes with straps to make it easier to lift. Have silly love songs ever weighed so much? It’s the ultimate way to preserve, and sell, a music format that was originally intended to be disposable.
All told, The 7” Singles Box makes a solid case for McCartney as the auteur of the three-minute pop song. In The Beatles, McCartney helped remake the album as an ambitious art form – but he remains devoted enough to singles to keep a jukebox in his London office. By some measures, he’s the most successful singles artist of all time: The Beatles are No. 1 on Billboard’s ranking of the top-charting Hot 100 acts of all time and McCartney is No. 13 as a solo artist (including his work with Wings). When it came out, “Mull of Kintyre” was the best-selling single in U.K. history – and it may not even be one of the dozen best songs here.
Source: Robert Levine/billboard.com
It’s hard to argue that Ringo Starr didn’t make significant contributions to classic rock music. He put the beat in The Beatles and found fame and fortune because of it, but living a life of luxury was never his intention. Ringo and his wife lived like simple people in their mansion; the money, honors, and awards were just side benefits of making music. Yet Ringo’s songs helped him earn a rare honor in France years before the British recognized his greatness.
Ringo Starr with his medal after earning France's highest honor as Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the only member of The Beatles to be so honored.
Ringo probably could have retired at 30 years old when The Beatles broke up in 1970, but that wasn’t his way. The drummer felt the need to keep going. He found success when he did.
Several of Ringo’s solo songs found chart success in the United States and the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. His solo hits helped Ringo lead a jet-setting lifestyle that allowed him to flit between England, the U.S., and Monaco at a moment’s notice.
The drummer lived part-time in a luxury apartment in Monaco. The tiny European country was where Ringo received a rare French honor years before the English did the same.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
It’s not easy getting a record deal from a label, considering that even the legendary Beatles struggled to convince numerous executives to sign them in. Recently, during the premiere of Mary McCartney’s ‘If These Walls Could Sing,’ Ringo Starr shared with the Scottish Sun how challenging it was for the band to find a label and how the Abbey Road Studios were there to save them.
It might be safe to say that Abbey Road had been pretty welcoming when the four lads of the Beatles were looking for any place to record their tunes, but the record executives weren’t so sure about the band’s talents. So, when Ringo was asked how important was Abbey Road Studios in the Beatles’ career, the drummer decided to pay some tribute.
“They have a little bit for us,” Starr said as he discussed what was so special about the famous recording studio. “We were just blessed that we got a record deal because of George Martin, and he was working out of here because we were refused by many record labels. And George took a chance, and then we came here, and we did ‘Love Me Do,’ and we went on from there.”
Source: Melisa Karakas/rockcelebrities.net
George Harrison surprised his friend and comedian, Eric Idle, the first time they met. The former Beatle brought his soon-to-be friend to the recording studio, where another singer-songwriter was recording.
Idle wrote, “I had heard that George wanted to meet me, but I was somewhat shy of meeting him. I was shy and tried to avoid him, but he snuck up on me in the back of the theater as the credits began to roll. I hadn’t yet learned he was unstoppable.
“We began a conversation that would last about twenty-four hours. Who could resist his opening line? ‘We can’t talk here. Let’s go and have a reefer in the projection booth.’ No telling what the startled projectionist felt as a Beatle came in with one of the actors from the movie he had just projected and lit up a joint.”
Idle couldn’t get rid of George after that.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison said The Beatles needed space to grow. That was one of the biggest reasons they separated in 1970. They all just wanted to fly the nest and experience other things.
During a 1987 interview, Dutch TV pointed out to George that he was only 27 when The Beatles split, yet he’d experienced many unimaginable things. Dutch TV asked what kind of person he was and what he felt when The Beatles split.
George replied, “In no less than 25 words? I don’t know. At the time, when we split, we’d had too much input from everything, all that being closed together, mania, everything like that. We needed a rest from each other, and we needed space to grow.
“I think it’s important because we’re growing all the time and when you, like that situation, it’s just like a family. You’re so close together, and then you grow older, and you want to move, and you want to go into your own house and have your own friends, and that was necessary.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
