Beatles News
Paul McCartney said one of The Beatles’ songs was the predecessor of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Paul also compared the song to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” The tune in question was the B-side to one of the band’s biggest singles.
John Lennon‘s “Imagine” is one of the former Beatle’s most famous songs. Paul McCartney said one of The Beatles’ songs was the predecessor to “Imagine.” In addition, he compared the track to the work of a famous children’s author.The Beatles’ song “I’ll Get You” features the line “Imagine I’m in love with you.” In his 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul discussed the tune. “The word and idea of ‘imagine’ is something John would repurpose in his own song ‘Imagine,'” he said.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney has written many songs with personal meanings, often based on an emotional topic. However, the former Beatle claims he can perform most of his songs live without getting emotional. Still, there is one song that makes Paul McCartney tear up now and then. Many of McCartney’s songs are based on sensitive topics. Several of his songs express mourning for people he’s lost. “Let it Be” is about his mother, and “Maybe I’m Amazed” is about his wife, Linda. In an interview with Esquire, McCartney says he doesn’t typically get emotional while performing these songs because he knows it’s about something different for many audience members.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr moved from Liverpool to London once The Beatles made it big. The capital city was the heart of the English music scene. The Fab Four practically lived at Abbey Road Studios — except when Ringo and George Harrison collaborated on a long-lost song. He later upgraded to a house outside the city, but Ringo’s apartment in London was like a playground for several famous artists.
Before he entered one hall of fame without the other Beatles, Ringo grew up in a working-class section of Liverpool. Once he committed himself to playing drums, it didn’t take him long to find success.
His first professional band — Rory Storm & the Hurricanes — played in and around Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. (Their pink suits helped them get better rooms in Germany than The Beatles).
Ringo continued to live with his mother and stepfather in his childhood home even after The Beatles started to gain popularity. Still, he couldn’t remain at home forever.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison was marching confidently on his own personal comeback trail in 1987 when he entered the Billboard charts on October 24, after a five-year absence, with the infectious rocker that became his third and final solo No.1 in America. “Got My Mind Set On You” also proved to be the final US singles chart-topper to date by any former Beatle.
The new chart entry was his first since “Wake Up My Love” had edged up to the middle of the Billboard Hot 100 towards the end of 1982. George had not had a major hit in the US since his moving John Lennon tribute “All Those Years Ago,” a song that also featured Paul and Linda McCartney and Ringo Starr and spent two weeks at No.2 in 1981. “Got My Mind Set On You” is, despite sounding like a Harrison song, a much-loved obscurity from the early 1960s.
Source: Paul Sexton/yahoo.com
George Harrison and Eric Clapton first crossed paths when their bands, The Beatles and The Yardbirds, were on the same bill in the early 1960s. The guitarists crossed paths again at a Lovin’ Spoonful concert. George thought Clapton looked lonely, but that’s just how he was; a lone wolf.
Clapton had already become a blues missionary and was confident in his own guitar playing, so George didn’t intimidate him. The Beatle wasn’t scared of the lone wolf either. They recognized they were each others’ equals and started a life-long friendship.
Initially, Clapton was suspicious of The Beatles. It was like they were one person; it was a strange phenomenon he couldn’t figure out. However, he realized that each member had their own talents, especially George.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison said there was a misconception about who was the most successful Beatle. When the press and the fans saw one of the Fab Four releasing music and being present in the public eye, they thought they were the most successful Beatle. However, being present didn’t constitute success. George never pursued a solo career. However, after The Beatles split, he had a stockpile of songs he’d hoarded throughout his time in the band. He’d only got about two songs on each album. George had to release the songs, or else he couldn’t move forward with his life. So, he unleashed a triple album, All Things Must Pass, which had a track called “My Sweet Lord,” the first No. 1 single by an ex-Beatle.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Monkees put out psychedelic albums in 1967. Keith Richards said The Rolling Stones weren’t initially trying to be ambitious at the time. Two of the three albums reached No. 1 in the United States.
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison standing in a row
During the same year, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Monkees all embraced psychedelic rock music. Subsequently, Keith Richards discussed whether The Rolling Stones’ psychedelic album was inspired by The Beatles. Notably, one of the groups’ psychedelic albums was far more popular than the others.1967 saw the release of The Beatles’ psychedelic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Subsequently, The Monkees embraced the genre with Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd as did The Rolling Stones with Their Satanic Majesties Request, while the Fab Four made Magical Mystery Tour, another album in the same vein.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney and John Lennon were in a songwriting partnership for years and considered each other close friends, but their public images are markedly different. McCartney is often seen as an affable family man, while Lennon is thought of as angrier, with more politically-minded songs. According to McCartney, they were different personality-wise but had far more in common than people may realize.
A black and white picture of Paul McCartney and John Lennon sitting at a dinner table together.
Part of the reason people assume Lennon and McCartney are so different is the long-running public feud they engaged in when The Beatles broke up. After one interview by McCartney, Lennon wrote a furious letter to his former bandmate.
“It’s all very well playing ‘simple, honest ole’ human Paul’ in Melody Maker,” Lennon wrote, per the New York Post, “[but] if you’re not the aggressor (as you claim), who the hell took us to court and s*** all over us in public?”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
It might not be a coincidence that The Beatles found fame once Ringo Starr joined the band. He once said he knew he was no good as a drummer, but very few people shared that opinion. The Fab Four shot to the top of the charts soon after adding Ringo, and they stayed there until breaking up in 1970. Ringo once described how The Beatles handled their fame, which differed from the way Elvis Presley handled his and saved them from ending up like him.The Beatles maintained a hectic touring schedule in their early days. They crisscrossed England between playing long-term residencies in Hamburg, Germany. The Fab Four cultivated a dedicated fan base in Europe, but Ringo said it took a lucky break to get booked for their career-changing appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney said a “military-looking” woman influenced The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper. Paul didn’t like disparaging the woman’s looks in a book he wrote. Sgt. Pepper was more popular in the United States than in the United Kingdom.
Paul McCartney said one song from The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was inspired by a woman he did not find attractive. He felt bad discussing the woman’s looks in a book he wrote. Subsequently, he said the track displayed his ability to paint a picture.In his 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul discussed his view of parking attendants. “Nobody liked parking attendants, or meter maids, as they were known in that benighted era,” he wrote. “So, to write a song about being in love with a meter maid — someone nobody else liked — was amusing in itself.” The song in question was “Lovely Rita.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
