Beatles News
Paul McCartney is a genius when it comes to songwriting. The British-born former Beatle knows how to captivate, educate and even obfuscate when it comes to his message and lyrics. For evidence of this look no further than the hit song by the former Mop Tops, “Let It Be.”Why is this song such a work of genius craftsmanship? Even though Beatle John Lennon has said, “I don’t know what [Paul was] thinking when he writes ‘Let It Be’.” We think we do. Keep reading to find out.
The Beatles were a comet. The one that burned the brightest. Formed in 1960 by young teenagers in Liverpool, England, the band broke up in 1969 or 1970, depending on how you want to count it. Their final album was the 1970 release, Let It Be, which recently earned renewed attention thanks to the elaborate 2021 docu-series on Disney+, The Beatles: Get Back.
The docu-series shows the Fab Four in 1968 working on their final album under a time crunch, thanks to a movie that Ringo Starr was set to shoot. But there is more happening, guitarist George Harrison quits the band for a few days. Frontmen John Lennon and Paul McCartney are both clinging to their twin-flame artistic relationship and are constantly at odds. Both men are also shadowed by new love interests, Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney. In Get Back, we see a band on the edge. But through tension can come great art.
Source: Jacob Uitti/americansongwriter.com
Ringo Starr says The Beatles were very amused at the big “Paul is dead” conspiracy theory of the late ’60s, which suggested Paul McCartney had died and was replaced by a lookalike.
“We only ever had one that stuck. That was ‘Paul is dead.’ And there were some songs people pointed out as being ‘secret,'” Ringo, who turns 83 on July 7, tells Vulture when asked to pick his favorite Beatles conspiracy theory. He explains that the whole “secret song” thing was just them being “silly.”
“John (Lennon), by accident, learned how to play a tape backwards, and we put that to full use. So we’d just do something silly at the end of a track and it’d be all over the newspapers and on the radio,” he explains. “They’re actually singing, ‘Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ It just made us all laugh.”
He notes, “All of those interesting things we said were not that interesting. We had a great laugh about that. Look at what they’re saying now.”
Source: kslx.com
Ringo Starr has named what he believes to be his “career-defining” Beatles song in a new interview with Vulture, settling on the band’s debut single Love Me Do as his pick.
“Because it was the first song, my answer is Love Me Do." Starr says. "We were on vinyl. We made a record. Even though when I got to the studio, George Martin had a session guy for the drums, Andy White, but I played on it anyway.
“He played it, I played it — he’s on the album, I think, and I’m on the single, so go figure. We were just blessed that George Martin took a chance on us because many record labels sent us down.”
Ordinarily, a drummer naming his band’s first-ever single as a career-defining moment would be interesting, but not wholly surprising. Love Me Do features a stomping, swampy shuffle, complete with handclaps and percussion.
Source: Stuart Williams/musicradar.com
Here’s wishing Ringo Starr a very happy 82nd birthday filled, of course, with peace and love!
As previously reported, the former Beatles drummer is marking the occasion with the latest installment of his annual “Peace and Love” birthday celebration. This year’s event will feature Ringo gathering privately in Los Angeles with wife Barbara, some of his All Starr Band mates and several other celebrity friends to give a “Peace and Love” salute at noon local time.
Taking part in the celebration will be All Starr Band members Steve Lukather, Edgar Winter, Colin Hay, Warren Ham and Gregg Bissonette, as well as Benmont Tench, Richard Marx, Matt Sorum, Jim Keltner, Ed Begley Jr., Linda Perry, Diane Warren, and the late Roy Orbison‘s sons Roy Jr. and Alex.
Source: 977theriver.com
On November 7, 2023, a one-volume edition of THE LYRICS: 1956 to the Present will be published in paperback, featuring additional commentaries on iconic songs spanning Paul McCartney’s unparalleled musical career.
The No. 1 New York Times bestselling book to be released in paperback with seven new song commentaries from our greatest living songwriter, including:
Bluebird
Day Tripper
English Tea
Every Night
Hello Goodbye
Magical Mystery Tour
Step Inside Love
When THE LYRICS published in 2021 to worldwide acclaim, it was heralded as a one-of-a-kind self-portrait of McCartney, earning Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, and winning a British Book Award. Critics revelled in “how deeply he is steeped in literary history and how much his output as a songwriter has in common with the works of the likes of Dickens and Shakespeare” (New York Times Book Review).
Source: Goldmine Staff/goldminemag.com
Ringo Starr. What else remains to be said about him? He was in that band with his friends. He’s now in that other band with his friends. The extra r is for extra talent. Actually, here’s one new thing: The drummer turns 83 on July 7, even though when you remind him of the number he’ll disagree and say “it’s actually 27.” (He thanks broccoli and a “small gym” for his relentlessly youthful disposition.) To celebrate his Saturn’s return of a birthday, Starr encourages everyone to pass along peaceful and loving vibes into the universe, a tradition that dates back to his inaugural Peace & Love Celebration in 2008. So take take a deep breath, throw on some Revolver, and try to transmit them his way at noon. Starr promises he’ll feel them.
Source: Devon Ivie/vulture.com
Not known as a songwriter—instead, as one of the greatest drummers in music and for serenity and love—Ringo Starr was a major part of what’s considered likely the best band of all time: the Beatles.
He was the man behind the kit, more often than not providing an affable attitude amidst prideful turmoil with the other members. For evidence of this, check out the 2021 documentary: The Beatles: Get Back.
But while Starr (born Richard Starkey) wasn’t known as a songwriter on the level of his bandmates Paul McCartney or even guitarist George Harrison, he did write a couple of songs for the band and served as a co-writer on several others.
Surprised? These are six songs you didn’t know the now-82-year-old Ringo Starr wrote for the Beatles. (Spoiler alert: he didn’t write “Yellow Submarine,” that was John and Paul.)
Source: Jacob Uitti/americansongwriter.com
Ringo Starr got to know Yoko Ono well. She shared why she thinks his personality makes him a more influential Beatle than John Lennon.
Yoko Ono fell in love with John Lennon, but she once said that Ringo Starr was the most influential member of the Beatles. In the years since she met Lennon, Ono has gotten to know Starr well. She asserted her belief that his influence had little to do with the music he created in the Beatles or his solo career. Instead, she pointed to a quality Starr had that Lennon often preached about.
In 2015, Starr became the final member of The Beatles to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. Ono, who has known Starr since the 1960s, attended the ceremony. She expressed her delight that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was finally honoring Starr’s solo career, telling Rolling Stone it meant “so much to all of us in the Beatle family.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr is doubling down about the authenticity of the vocals on the highly anticipated new Beatles song recently teased by former bandmate Paul McCartney.
Starr spoke with Rolling Stone for an upcoming podcast, in which he ensured that they would “never” fake the late John Lennon’s vocals for the new track, which instead uses AI to clean up previously recorded snippets.
The song will also feature the voice of the late George Harrison, Starr confirmed.
Paul McCartney says a 'final' Beatles song is coming
“This was beautiful,” he said, noting, “it’s the final track you’ll ever hear with the four lads. And that’s a fact.”
McCartney attempted to clarify last month how artificial intelligence is being used on what he said will be the “final” Beatles song.
“We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it,” he wrote in a note posted on his verified Instagram story at the time. “Seems to be a lot of guess work out there.”
“Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it,” he added. “We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years.”
Source: Dan Heching/cnn.com
Ringo Starr is back touring and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee recently spoke to CNN about his current tour with his All Star Band.
“We all have a lot of fun. I mean, I love to play, you know, as a drummer it’s pretty awkward to go out just on your stage on your own. You need a few guitars and I call up friends … I had to stop calling people, otherwise we’d been like an orchestra.”
The band is considered a rock supergroup, with a rotating lineup of Starr’s musician buddies that has featured everyone from its current members like Colin Hay to former members Joe Walsh and Billy Preston.
Last year, Starr had to pause his North American tour after testing positive for Covid-19. The tour, which is primarily taking part on the West Coast with dates in states like California, Arizona and Nevada, will wrap up on June 17.
One of Starr’s longest standing friendships is with his fellow Beatles bandmate, Paul McCartney.
“Paul called me the other day … We’re close, close friends. We’re brothers and you know, for me it was great because I’m an only child and suddenly I had three brothers that I could love, I could rely on, I could help out. You know, it was a great moment for me.”
Source: Chloe Melas/cnn.com
