Beatles News
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr had a frightening near-death experience after being involved in a terrible car accident. In 1980, Starr, now 85, met Barbara Bach on the set of the movie Caveman, and the pair quickly formed a bond.
Just a few months later, they were en route to a party in Surrey when their visibility was hampered by thick fog. As they approached a notorious black-spot at the Robin Hood Roundabout on the A3 at 60 mph, Starr had to swerve to avoid an oncoming truck.
This caused the couple to skid fifty yards, leading to Starr's white Mercedes crashing head-on into two lampposts. Despite injuring his leg, Starr managed to get his partner out of the car to safety.
After extracting his Bond star girlfriend from the wreckage, the musician reportedly went back to the car to grab a pack of cigarettes.
Miraculously, both escaped the crash with minor injuries, but the horrifying collision completely totaled Starr's luxury car, reports the Express.
In a chilling coincidence, the accident occurred just half a mile away from where Marc Bolan tragically died in a car accident just three years earlier.
Just three weeks after their crash, Bach, now 77, told her father that she planned to marry the Beatles star. The couple married in a ceremony at Marylebone Town Hall a year later, in 1981, and have remained married ever since.
Source: MSN
John Lennon and Paul McCartney couldn't always agree on who had written what when they were composing The Beatles' songs. The two wrote the vast majority of the band's songs and every track John and Paul wrote while in the band was credited to Lennon-McCartney, irrespective of whether it was a joint effort or predominately written by one of them.
That was the result of a pact made before they rose to fame and it very occasionally led to disagreements. The ECHO has looked at how they had different recollections on who wrote the majority of 'Eleanor Rigby', 'In My Life' and 'And I Love Her'.
They were not the only songs where this was the case either. The track 'Do You Want to Know a Secret' featured on the band's 1963 debut album 'Please Please Me' and was released as a single in the USA the following year.
The song, which was sung by George Harrison, had been written in 1962 but John and Paul had differing accounts on how it was written.
About it, John said in a 1980 interview: "My mother was always… she was a comedienne and a singer. Not professional, but, you know, she used to get up in pubs and things like that. She had a good voice. She could do Kay Starr.
"She used to do this little tune when I was just a one- or two-year-old… yeah, she was still living with me then… The tune was from the Disney movie – ‘Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell. You are standing by a wishing well.’
"So, I had this sort of thing in my head and I wrote it and just gave it to George to sing. I thought it would be a good vehicle for him because it only had three notes and he wasn’t the best singer in the world.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Dan Haygarth
Looks like The Beatles have some news to share.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers appear to be teasing some upcoming news with various posts on social media and their website.
On Instagram they posted pictures of the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, each featuring images associated with the band. On X they posted a video with audio of a countdown and screaming fans as images of the band members are shown with the same numbers flashing in front of them.
Both posts include Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison tags, as well as a link to the band’s website, which features what appears to be the back of a canvas frame, with the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. There’s also a place for fans to sign up for the latest Beatles news.
As for what The Beatles may be teasing, speculation in the social media comments seems to be focused on a possible fourth installment in the band’s Anthology series.
The Beatles released their original Anthology album, titled Anthology 1, in 1995, featuring rarities, outtakes and live performances from early in their career. It also included the new song “Free as a Bird,” which at the time was the first new Beatles song in 25 years. The song incorporated an old demo recorded by John Lennon with new music recorded by McCartney, Starr and Harrison.
The original release was followed by Anthology 2 and Anthology 3, which covered later years of the band’s career. Both came out in 1996, with Anthology 2 also featuring a new song, “Real Love.”
All three Anthology albums topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart.
So often in life, we don’t realize we’re experiencing something for the last time while it’s happening. The last time we see a friend, the last time we go out to eat at a beloved restaurant that shuts down, the last time we leave our childhood home’s front door. On August 20, 1969, the Beatles walked out of Abbey Road Studios for the last time, and it’s hard to say whether they knew it was the last.
On the one hand, the Fab Four as a collective wasn’t exactly in great spirits. Nearing a breakup and eager to pursue professional endeavors, leaving the studio with their soon-to-be ex-bandmates for the last time was likely more freeing than bittersweet. But with all of the events that happened in the years following, we can’t help but feel they must have picked up on that same melancholic hindsight.
Although, we’d imagine the release and success of their iconic album, Abbey Road, might have soothed any lingering sadness at the time.
The Beatles Leave Abbey Road Studios for the Last Time
The Beatles began working on their final album together in late February 1969. (They recorded their “last” album, Let It Be, before the Abbey Road sessions.) They reconvened for a handful of dates in April, a few in May, and spent the majority of July in the studio. The band recorded throughout most of early August, with their final tracking session complete on August 19. The following day, the band began putting an order and preliminary master tape together. That day, August 20, 1969, the Beatles walked out of the building for the last time.
“Nobody knew for sure that it was going to be the last album,” producer George Martin recalled in Anthology. “But everybody felt it was. The Beatles had gone through so much and for such a long time. They’d been incarcerated with each other for nearly a decade, and I was surprised that they had lasted as long as they did. I wasn’t at all surprised that they’d split up because they all wanted to lead their own lives, and I did, too. It was a release for me as well.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
On This Day, Aug. 19, 1967 …
The Beatles landed another #1 single with ‘All You Need Is Love,” a non-album track that represented Britain in the TV program Our World, the first live global, multi-satellite TV show.
When they signed on for Our World, The Beatles were asked to contribute a song with a positive and universal message.
They performed the track on the show with a prerecorded backing track, and were joined by The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, The Who’s Keith Moon and others, who sat on the floor and sang along to the chorus.
“All You Need Is Love” also went to #1 in several other countries, including the U.K., Canada, Australia, Austria, New Zealand and Sweden.
Source: Everett Post
Though it may be hard to understand in hindsight, some hit songs aren’t apparent in the studio. Even songs that become instant classics can seem like they are built on shaky ground to an artist who hasn’t yet received their audience’s opinion. Paul McCartney experienced this with one of his biggest solo hits. We can’t imagine ever hearing this song and not thinking it was a masterpiece, but McCartney didn’t feel as confident when he first wrote it. Find out which solo hit McCartney thought he overdid below.
McCartney’s solo work has proven to be quite different from his Beatles material. Though there are glimmers of what he would produce when left to his own devices, the input from the rest of his bandmates somewhat watered down his songwriting voice.
McCartney’s earliest solo pursuits were markedly less produced than his work with the Beatles. He focused on sparse instrumentals and haphazard delivery. Unsurprisingly, this alienated some listeners, but it also set McCartney on a path to solo greatness.
“When The Beatles had broken up and I was on my own for the first time, I got that four-track Studa in my living room,” McCartney once said. “And just kind of started making up songs and stuff, and it was a very bare album.”
While his sense of production earned him an enduring career, it didn’t give him a perfect track record. There are songs from McCartney’s solo discography that didn’t play well with audiences. And then, there are some songs, McCartney thought wouldn’t be well received but ended up being smash hits. It just goes to show, not even a Beatle has an unflappable confidence.
There was one song in particular that McCartney recalled being “scared of” while writing. Unbeknownst to him, it would prove to be one of his calling cards.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
Considering The Beatles' success, which continues to mount more than five decades after their split, it's hard to imagine any of the Fab Four wishing for more. Or, maybe it's not when reflecting on how much a perfectionist John Lennon was concerning the band.
Lennon was often the most critical of The Beatles' endeavors, both in and out of the recording studio, and continuously voiced negative views even after the group called it quits. He wasn't ever shy to throw certain Beatles songs under the bus and brutally bash them.
In fact, Lennon wasn't happy with any of The Beatles' songs, it turns out, and once confided in one of the most important figures in the band's life, their producer, George Martin, who was often referred to as the fifth Beatle, about a wild wish he had about their tunes.
Lennon wrote some of the most famous songs in music history with and without his songwriting partner, Paul McCartney, but Martin said that he didn’t exactly look back at his songs fondly. Throughout The Beatles' lifetime, Lennon would call some of their songs like Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Hey Bulldog, Run For Your Life, and Dig a Pony garbage or even embarrassing. Despite what he thought about The Beatles' work, Lennon always commended Martin for helping them translate their ideas into music.
He once said (per Far Out), "He had great musical knowledge and background. He taught us, and I’m sure we taught him a lot through our primitive musical ability. Which I still have. I can’t always translate what I’m trying to say all the time."
Martin always praised the group and fondly reflected on their musical collaboration, but there was one memory of working with Lennon that always unsettled him. Lennon once told him that he wanted to redo every song The Beatles had ever recorded.
While speaking to Robert Sandall, Martin remembered him having plans for re-recording certain songs, too.
Source: themirror.com/Hannah Furnell
An early version of Norwegian Wood from The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul album has been hailed as “genius” by fans.
Preference for the early version comes as a demo version of the song was uploaded to YouTube. Racking up nearly two million views over the last nine years, fans are still cropping up in the comments to share their love for the Norwegian Wood alternate. It’s a version that has people still left surprised by the song, while others have suggested this Norwegian Wood is superior to the one featured on the album. The Beatles’ Rubber Soul is considered a turning point for the band, with Norwegian Wood featuring lyrics influenced by Bob Dylan. The legendary artist would not, however, influence the sitar featured on the song.
John Lennon had asked George Harrison to add a sitar layer to the song, with the track suggested as a veiled account of an extramarital affair. Harrison’s additions to the song have been hailed as a “genius” inclusion on the track. One user wrote: “I can’t get over how much of a genius George is.”
Another agreed, adding: “Paul McCartney’s harmonies on this song get me every time. Their two voices together were something else…” A third praised the sitar work on the song, writing: “I love how the sitar note in the verses fits perfectly with bass and drum. They were changing everything in the world of music.”
Others believed this early version of Norwegian Wood highlighted how Harrison’s genius was overshadowed by McCartney and Lennon. The fan wrote: “George was the greatest. Very underrated, being overshadowed by the genius of John and Paul. There will never be another like him. Not afraid to think outside the box.
“This is a great example of that. Wish I could have met him. He was just a lad from Liverpool. RIP George. Blessings and peace to Olivia and Dhani.” Another hailed this versio as “groovy,” writing: “It makes you fly, you transport yourself to another dimension. Groovy.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
Meet the Beatles! That’s what happened 60 years ago when the Fab Four played their only concert in the Twin Cities on Aug. 21, 1965.
The show was at Met Stadium, the old ballpark in Bloomington that was home to the Twins and Vikings, located where Mall of America now stands.
Tickets cost $3.50, $4.50 and $5.50 (about $56 in today’s money).
Sixty years later, the tax man would do a double take at the price to see Beatle Paul McCartney at U.S. Bank Stadium on Oct. 17 — from $135 and to $750-plus.
That’s now. Let’s look at some numbers from back then.
A ticket from The Beatles' only Minnesota performance, on Aug. 21, 1965 at the old Met Stadium. Provided by Jeff Syme. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
1 Ringo Starr and George Harrison each sang one tune at Met Stadium. John Lennon and/or Paul McCartney sang the rest.
2 There were only two Beatles souvenirs for sale at Met Stadium that night, a $1 program and a $1 megaphone, with all four musicians photos on it.
4 A quartet of limousines waited at Wold–Chamberlain Field airport to transport each Beatle to the stadium. Instead, all four rode in the same limo.
4 Opening acts were Brenda Holloway, King Curtis, Cannibal & the Headhunters and Soul Incorporated. Three local bands — the Underbeats, the Accents and Gregory Dee & the Avanties — also performed in the concourse of the stadium.
11 The Beatles breezed through 11 songs in 30 minutes, though they performed 12 tunes in some other cities on the tour. (These days, McCartney is doing about three dozen songs over nearly three hours.)
16 The Fab Four’s 1965 North American tour, their second visit to the States, featured 16 concerts in 10 different cities.
20 Two full decades is how long Met Stadium stood after the Beatles show. The facility was demolished in 1985, three years after the Twins and Vikings headed to the Metrodome. The Mall of America opened on the Bloomington site in 1992.
21 That was the age of the woman in McCartney’s Leamington Hotel room when Minneapolis Police Inspector Donald Dwyer threatened the noisy Beatles entourage for having “lured” underage girls into their fifth-floor chamber in downtown Minneapolis. Telling the Minneapolis Star that “those people are the worst I have ever seen visit this city,” Dwyer threatened to take McCartney to jail unless a young woman left the room within two minutes. She emerged, showing identification that she was 21 and from Cleveland.
25 The preshow press conference at Met Stadium lasted 25 minutes, almost as long as the concert itself. Best exchange: “Is your hair real?” Harrison: “Our hair’s real, lady. What about yours?”
40 With the stage set up near second base at Met Stadium, the closest fans were 40 yards away from the British rock stars.
150 The estimated number of “media” people (including their children) who attended the Beatles preconcert press conference. Another favorite exchange: “What do you do with all your money?” Starr: “We bury it.”
Bloomington police during the Beatles concert at Met Stadium Aug. 21, 1965. (KENT KOBERSTEEN/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Source: startribune.com/Jon Bream
George Harrison, the late, great, and often underrated member of The Beatles, was arguably the most fearless. He was the first to release a solo album (the 1968 effort Wonderwall Music) among the Fab Four. And he was also the first to release his own autobiography.
4 of the Best Opening Lines in Rock Music History
The autobiography in question was released on this day in 1980 and was titled I, Me, Mine. Published on August 15, 1980, this little memoir was clearly something very special to Harrison. In its original publication run, each book was hand-bound and considered a limited edition, with about 2,000 signed by Harrison himself.
But don’t expect to find any new Beatles lore in this book. Though, Harrison did talk about how much he loved Monty Python.
What George Harrison Revealed in ‘I, Me, Mine’
I, Me, Mine felt like a true published diary of Harrison’s, as well as a little piece of music history. The book, which you can still find today, is filled with copies of Harrison’s own handwritten song lyrics. It also features commentary from The Beatles’ press officer, Derek Taylor.
George Harrison revealed quite a bit in the book about himself. And while it is considered a vital piece of music history, the book didn’t reveal too much about The Beatles’ history. It wasn’t gossipy. Rather, Harrison talked about his life and creative processes from the perspective of a man, rather than a quarter of one of the biggest bands of the 20th century. Harrison was forthright about how his excitement to become famous quickly turned to fear following the boom of Beatlemania. But, outside of that, The Beatles isn’t a particularly hefty point of conversation in the book.
I, Me, Mine was also the subject of quite a bit of controversy. It was released several months before Harrison’s former bandmate, John Lennon, was murdered in December 1980. Lennon was pretty offended by what Harrison had written in his memoir, saying that he “was hurt by it” and that “my influence on his life is absolutely zilch and nil” because Lennon was not mentioned significantly in the book. Though, he was mentioned several times; just not as a major musical influence to Harrison.
Harrison would later comment on Lennon’s feelings toward the book several years after the latter Beatle had passed away. In a 1987 interview, Harrison said that Lennon was “annoyed” because Harrison “didn’t say that he’d written one line of this song ‘Taxman’.”
“But I also didn’t say how I wrote two lines of ‘Come Together’ or three lines of ‘Eleanor Rigby’, you know?” Harrison continued. “I wasn’t getting into any of that.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
Beatles Adult T-Shirt: Yellow Submarine in the Navy 