Beatles News
How The Beatles came to use a Riverside-built guitar on the ‘White Album’
The instrument found its way to George Harrison, who played it on the landmark 1968 release.
It seems that a prototype guitar — built in Riverside — was used by George Harrison ofon the 1968 “White Album.”First, how did Riverside get a guitar factory?This story actually starts in the 1920s with a man named Paul Barth. Barth was a quiet, unassuming person who was, in essence, the father of the electric guitar. Starting in the ’20s, he was creating and experimenting with many types of electric methods of amplifying the sound of a guitar, which at the time was being drowned out by other instruments in dance and jazz bands. Barth worked with George Beauchamp in the 1930s to further develop electric guitars and guitar pickups.
Source: L.A. Daily News/headtopics.com
Sir Paul McCartney has joined those offering tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, following her death at 96.
Stars have shared their fondest memories of Her Majesty on social media after Buckingham Palace confirmed that she had died, earlier today.
The Beatles legend was among those, taking to Twitter with a stunning portrait of the monarch.
‘God bless Queen Elizabeth II May she rest in peace Long live The King,’ he captioned the upload.
The 80-year-old wasn’t the only member of the fab four to pay his condolences, with Ringo Starr following suit.
‘God bless Queen Elizabeth peace and love to all the family peace and love Ringo,’ he penned, beside a string of emoji.
Source: Rishma Dosani/Rishma Dosani
George Harrison wrote many songs about the special things in his life, including his wife and son.
The former Beatle began dating Olivia Arias in the mid-1970s, following his separation from his first wife, Pattie Boyd. In 1977, the same year George officially divorced Boyd, Olivia became pregnant with the couple’s only son, Dhani. He was born in 1978, a month before his parents tied the knot.
George and Olivia took a vacation to the Virgin Islands two years before Dhani was born. He had a burst of creativity while away and began a significant songwriting session. Some of the songs he penned on that holiday later appeared on his 1976 album, Thirty Three & ⅓.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Even as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s best guitarists, George Harrison sometimes turned to the piano to write his songs. The Beatle relied on ivory keys to give him a fresh sound when writing “Old Brown Shoe” and “Something,” not tight strings.
In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George said he wrote “Old Brown Shoe” on the piano. Although, he wasn’t familiar with the instrument.
He wrote, “‘Old Brown Shoe.’ I started the chord sequences on the piano (which I don’t really play) and then began writing ideas for the words from various opposites: ‘I want a love that’s right/ But right is only half of what’s wrong.’ Again it’s the duality of things–yes-no, up-down, left-right, right-wrong, etc.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney said one of the lyrics from The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” had a risque meaning.
He compared it to a line from The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.”
“Day Tripper” was more popular in the United Kingdom than it was in the United States.
Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “Day Tripper” included a provocative lyric. Paul felt older listeners would not understand it. Despite this, he felt “kids” got it.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed The Beatles’ “Day Tripper.” “This was getting towards the psychedelic period when we were interested in winking to our friends and comrades in arms, putting in references that we knew our friends would get but that the Great British Public might not,” he said.
Paul commented on a provocative lyric from the song. “So ‘she’s a big teaser’ was ‘she’s a p**** teaser,'” he added. “The mums and dads didn’t get it but the kids did. ‘Day Tripper’ was to do with tripping.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison said he never consciously tried copying Bob Dylan’s singing voice. Although Dylan significantly influenced the former Beatle. The pair later combined their musical talents in The Traveling Wilburys.
During a 1989 interview with Mark Rowland (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George spoke about how Dylan influenced his Beatles song, “Long, Long, Long.”
“Yeah, that was just a sort of funny little tune I wrote one day, basically,” George explained. “The only thing I suppose that’s memorable about it is that I was very hung up on [Bob Dylan’s] ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ at the time. It’s got the same chords as ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.'”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison tried cashing in on the money Lorne Michaels promised for a Beatles reunion on his show, SNL. In 1976, the producer went on live television to give an impassioned speech about his love for The Beatles and offered a handsome sum of money to the band if they reunited and played a couple of songs on the comedy show.
George appeared as the musical guest months later and thought he was entitled to the money. However, it didn’t exactly work that way.
During the April 24, 1976 show of NBC’s Saturday Night (Later Saturday Night Live), producer Lorne Michaels cut in to speak directly to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. He had a special offer for them.
“Lately there have been a lot of rumors to the effect that the four of you might be getting back together,” Lorne said. “That would be great. In my book, the Beatles are the best thing that ever happened to music. It goes even deeper than that – you’re not just a musical group, you’re a part of us. We grew up with you.”
Source; Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
THE BEATLES were devastated in 1967 when their boss and mentor, Brian Epstein, was found dead in his home. His personal assistant has now spoken out about the day he died, noting that George Harrison began consoling those affected by the loss. She attributed the star's caring nature to his meditation sessions.
The Beatles were first discovered by Brian Epstein in 1961. On a lunch break, he walked down the stairs of Liverpool's Cavern Club and saw them playing. He arranged to sign a contract with them as soon as he could.
Epstein fixed the band's image by making them wear suits and get uniform haircuts. Instead of swearing and smoking on stage, he urged them to become polite young men. Before long, they had become the biggest band in the UK.
Disaster struck in 1967 when Epstein was found dead at his home in Belgravia, Central London.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.trem.media
John Lennon said The Beatles’ The White Album took a long time to complete. John didn’t really like to listen to The Beatles’ classic albums. He didn’t like listening to other artists’ albums, even if they were good.
John Lennon said The Beatles‘ The White Album took a long time to finish. For example, he said he spent eight hours to mix one of the songs on the album. In addition, John revealed why he didn’t listen to his albums for pleasure.
“Are you kidding?” he said. “For pleasure, I would never listen to them.”
John discussed what he thought when he listened to his old albums. “When I hear them, I just think of the session — the 48 hours Paul and I sat up putting The White Album in order until we were going crazy; the eight hours of mixing ‘Revolution 9‘ — whatever. Jesus, we were sitting hours doing the bloody guitars. I remember every detail of the work.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Imagine all the people living in John Lennon’s former family home.
The Liverpool property is up for grabs, headed to a virtual auction, the BBC reported. The three-bedroom house on Blomfield Road is being sold to the highest bidder by Omega Auctions.
Lennon’s mother, Julia, was the main inhabitant of the home, living there from 1950 until her accidental death in 1958. Other residents at the so-called “House of Sin” — dubbed by Lennon’s aunt — included Julia’s husband, John Dykins, and Lennon’s sisters, Julia Baird and Jacqueline Dykins.
Lennon visited the home often, but mostly lived at his aunt’s home on Menlove Avenue. Nevertheless, Lennon and future Beatles member Paul McCartney often rehearsed at the Lennon home with The Quarrymen, the group that spawned the Beatles.
Source: therealdeal.com
