Beatles News
Paul McCartney revealed one of The Beatles’ songs was inspired by tarot cards. In addition, he said the track in question had a message meant for his generation. The song appeared on the soundtrack for one of The Beatles’ movies.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the artist Marijke Koger. “I used to know Marijke, she was a quite striking-looking girl,” he recalled. “She used to read my fortune in Tarot cards, which was something I wasn’t too keen on because I didn’t want to draw the death card one day. I still don’t like that kind of stuff because I know my mind will dwell on it.”
Paul kept drawing the same card. “I always steered a bit clear of all that s***, but in fact it always used to come out as the Fool,” he remembered. “And I used to say, ‘Oh, dear!’ and she used to say, ‘No no no. The Fool’s a very good card. On the surface it looks stupid, the Fool, but in fact it’s one of the best cards, because it’s the innocent, it’s the child, it’s that reading of fool.'”
Source: cheatsheet.com
Fans dreamed of a Beatles reunion long after they broke up in 1970. They came close to getting one a few times over the years. The Fab Four almost attended Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd‘s wedding in 1979. However, one couldn’t make it.
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 offered The Beatles $3,000 to play three songs on SNL.
“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.”
He then made his offer. “It’s for this reason that I am inviting you to come on our show. Now, we’ve heard and read a lot about personality and legal conflicts that might prevent you guys from reuniting. That’s something which is none of my business.
Source: cheatsheet.com
There was one drummer besides Ringo Starr that George Harrison often depended on; Jim Keltner. Ringo and Keltner helped George make his 1987 album, Cloud Nine, sound authentic.During their time in The Beatles, George and Ringo worked well together. Ringo was the first drummer George connected with. They collaborated on each other’s songs. That didn’t change once The Beatles split.
George supplied guitar and songwriting help on many of Ringo’s albums. Meanwhile, Ringo added drums to several of George’s records. During a 1988 interview with Ray Martin (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George explained that he didn’t need to tell Ringo how to play his songs; he just understood and got to work. George knew what he was getting, asking Ringo to drum on a song.
“With Ringo, there’s certain songs with Ringo that, you know, I don’t have to tell him what to play, I just play him the song, and he just picks up his sticks, and he just does it, you know,” George said.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison didn’t enjoy listening to The Beatles‘ music on CD. He preferred to listen to his band’s music some other way.
During a 1987 interview with Charles Bermant (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George spoke about how he thought The Beatles’ music sounded on CD. He liked the older versions better.
“I did buy a CD player when they issued them, yeah,” George explained. “I listened to some of them. I still prefer the old versions, how I remember them on vinyl. There’s a lot of stuff that you can hear now that’s good.
“In some cases, there’s a lot of stuff that you shouldn’t hear so loudly, that’s somehow come out in the mix. On Sgt. Pepper I keep hearing this horrible-sounding tamborine that leaps out of the right speaker. It was obviously in the original mix, but it was never that loud.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison said no one knew how to operate sound at The Ed Sullivan Show. However, The Beatles were used to not sounding well during their shows.
Playing on The Ed Sullivan Show was a massive honor, especially for up-and-coming artists and acts from overseas. However, The Beatles, who already had a No. 1 hit in America, didn’t come cheap.
According to Mental Floss, The Beatles “would only agree to appear if the show covered their travel expenses and paid them a $10,000 fee (which would be just under $90,000 in 2022 dollars). Sullivan and his producers agreed, but only if The Beatles would commit to making three appearances. They had a deal.”
The performance turned out to be mutually beneficial. The Beatles got immense exposure that catapulted them into superstardom, and The Ed Sullivan Show got more viewers than ever before.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney disliked a lyric from The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” John Lennon convinced Paul to keep the line. “Hey Jude” became a hit single twice in the United Kingdom.
The Beatles‘ “Hey Jude” has some of the most famous lyrics in the Fab Four’s catalog. Paul McCartney felt he had to change one of the lyrics in the song. Subsequently, John Lennon convinced him to keep it.
In a 2021 Rolling Stone article, Paul said John discouraged him from changing a line in “Hey Jude.”
“I know exactly where I was,” Paul said. “I was in London, my music room at the top of the house, playing my little painted magic piano. John and Yoko were standing right behind me, on my shoulder, in fact.”
Paul was still experimenting with the song’s lyrics.
“They’re standing right behind me as I’m playing, ‘Hey Jude, da-da-da-da, da-da-da,’ and I get to, ‘The movement you need is on your shoulder,’ and I just looked by and I said, ‘I’ll fix that one,'” Paul recalled.
Source: cheatsheet.com
John Lennon said he had an easier time writing lyrics for The Beatles‘ songs than Paul McCartney did. In addition, he revealed he and Paul wrote two of The Beatles’ hits in the back of a van. Notably, one of those songs became a No. 1 single in the United States and the United Kingdom.
“I always had an easier time with lyrics, although Paul is quite a capable lyricist — who doesn’t think he is, therefore he doesn’t try,” John added. “He would avoid the problem rather than face it.”
John felt The Beatles’ early songs were vague. “In the early days lyrics didn’t really count as long as we had some vague theme: ‘She loves you, he loves her, and they love each other,'” he said. “It was the hook and the line and the sound we were going for. That’s still my attitude, but … I can’t leave lyrics alone; I have to make them make sense apart from the song.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison didn’t teach his son, Dhani, about his famous band, The Beatles. So George found it weird when Dhani came to him, asking about The Beatles’ song, “Hey Bulldog.” The former Beatle didn’t know where his son could have heard it.
Dhani grew up around a lot of great music. However, George didn’t sit him down and show him The Beatles. Dhani was nine years old when he saw his father perform for the first time at the Prince’s Trust Concert in 1987.
George told Rolling Stone that Dhani got into Chuck Berry first before George ever taught him about The Beatles. Dhani was upset that George didn’t play more of Berry during his performance at the Prince’s Trust Concert.
George explained, “He’s got to know a bit about the Beatles, but I’ve never pushed that on him, or tried to say, ‘Look who I used to be.’ I did my two cute songs: ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison accidentally formed The Traveling Wilburys in 1987. He needed to record an extra single for his album, Cloud Nine. He asked Jeff Lynne to help him write it, and Bob Dylan allowed them to use his recording studio. Roy Orbison and Tom Petty tagged along to watch them.
However, it seemed strange to George to have four of the best singers/songwriters in the studio with him and not work on the song. So, all five rock stars recorded “Handle With Care,” but the record company didn’t take the single because it was too good. George held on to it until he got the rest of the guys back together to record an entire album. Thus The Traveling Wilburys were born.
The supergroup recorded two albums, Vol. 1 and Vol.3. Shortly after they released Vol. 1, Orbison died. They never considered replacing him, but George often contemplated who would make good Wilburys.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The late George Harrison rose to fame as the Beatles’ lead guitarist. He wrote hit songs for the group, including “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Here’s what Harrison said about dying on his own terms.
During an old clip that appeared in the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Harrison spoke about the moment he knew what he wanted to do for a living. He said he and his bandmates didn’t have a good reason to believe they would become established entertainers. All they had was a “feeling” that it would come true. (Here’s how Dolly Parton knew she wanted to be a singer.)
“There was no justification for it,” said Harrison. “We kind of had a feeling that that’s what we were going to do, and that you know, it was felt that something good was going to happen.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
