Beatles News
John Lennon explained the meaning of one of the songs from The Beatles’ The White Album. He said he had a certain “defense” when he was in public. He said the album Imagine captured his authentic self.
The Beatles‘ The White Album includes songs about many topics. For example, John Lennon said one of the song was about hiding his true self. Notably, John said he tried to be authentic when he made music and films with Yoko Ono.
The book Lennon on Lennon: Interviews and Encounters includes an interview from 1980. In it. John discussed “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.” “As I put it in my last incarnation, ‘Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,'” he said. “It means really that one cannot be absolutely oneself in public, because the fact that you’re in public makes you … you have to have some kind of defense, or whatever it is.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr made one of the world’s biggest bands — the Beatles. They broke records with songs like “Twist and Shout” and added social commentary into “Get Back.”
After several years of performing together, Lennon felt his work with the Beatles felt like a “tape loop.” Here’s what we learned from Skywriting by Word of Mouth.
The Beatles earned international recognition for their music, recording music for years until the band started facing problems. Ringo Starr and Harrison both briefly exited the Beatles at different times.
Harrison’s departure, as seen in the Disney+ documentary series, The Beatles: Get Back, took place right before their iconic rooftop performance at the Apple Corps headquarters. Both artists returned, with the Beatles officially disbanding in 1970, with McCartney’s “self-interview” used to share the news.
When asked about the reason for the break, McCartney wrote, “personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don’t really know.”
Source: Julia Dzurillay/cheatsheet.com
The documentarian opens up about the "obligation to make things better" in the s4 premiere of "Everything Fab Four"
Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, who says, "I've always loved the Beatles," joined host Kenneth Womack to explain what the band means to him and his work on the season 4 premiere of "Everything Fab Four," a podcast co-produced by me and Womack (a music scholar who also writes about pop music for Salon) and distributed by Salon.
Burns, widely known for his documentary series such as "The Civil War," "Baseball," "Jazz" and "The Vietnam War," among others (including his latest, "The U.S. and the Holocaust," which premieres this week on PBS) tells Womack that he grew up with music, but wasn't "fully invested" until the Beatles came out with "I Want To Hold Your Hand." Later, as a teen, he worked in a record store in Ann Arbor, MI, and says by far the shop's biggest-selling title at that time was "Abbey Road."
Source: Nicole Michael/salon.com
One of John Lennon’s songs was supposed to sound like Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. John wanted audiences to accept the song.
He felt the song brought him back to his childhood.
One of John Lennon‘s songs from his post-Beatles career was supposed to sound like Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Notably, John said the song was both serious and “tongue-in-cheek.” Subsequently, the track became his final No. 1 single in the United States.John described the song. “It’s kinda tongue-in-cheek,” he revealed. “You know it’s ‘w-e-e-e-e-l-l-l-l-l, w-e-e- e-e-l-l-l-l-l.’ It’s sort of à la Elvis and that, and I hope people accept it like that. I think it’s a serious piece of work, but it’s also tongue-in-cheek, you know?”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan are hugely influential musicians who rose to fame at roughly the same time. They met in the 1960s and have both spoken about the other’s work with admiration. McCartney once said that he wished he was more like Dylan. He explained that not only did he look up to Dylan’s music, he wished he could emulate his personality as well.
McCartney and Dylan met in the early 1960s. At one of their early meetings, Dylan introduced McCartney and The Beatles to marijuana.
“It was at the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue and 59th in New York City in August 1964,” McCartney said, per Spin. “We were in a hotel room, all being good lads having our Scotch and Coke – it was an afterparty, I think. Dylan arrived and he went into the bedroom with his roadie. Ringo went along to see what was up. So he finds Dylan, rolling up, and he has a toke.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles inspired so much of the music that came after them that it’s hard not to think of them as innovators in every way. However, they followed Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra as they waltzed onto the silver screen. George Harrison had strong feelings about viewing Let It Be, and Ringo Starr once said re-watching Help! years later revealed something crazy he hadn’t noticed before.
All the Beatles continued making music after the band split, but George and Ringo’s second acts included working in the film industry.
George appeared onscreen in a few small roles in the 1970s and 1980s, but he racked up more than two dozen producer credits, including Monty Python’s Life of Brian. For Ringo, acting was another creative outlet aside from showcasing his impressive drumming skills.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
English musician George Harrison found fame as one-fourth of the legendary rock band the Beatles. With John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, the Fab Four’s lead guitarist led the British Invasion of America and shot to superstardom. Along the way, he penned hits such as “Here Comes the Sun,” “Something,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
After the Beatles broke up in 1970, Harrison embarked on a successful solo career. The performer/songwriter recorded popular tunes like “My Sweet Lord,” “All Things Must Pass,” and “Got My Mind Set on You.” He also collaborated with music industry greats, including Ravi Shankar on the Grammy-winning live album The Concert for Bangladesh and Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison in the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
Ringo Starr helped change The Beatles’ fortunes by bringing his impressive drumming skills to the Fab Four. Liverpool’s finest cut their teeth playing live in Hamburg, Germany, grew into sensations in England thanks to their non-stop touring, and became international stars after a lucky run-in with Ed Sullivan. Before any of that happened, though, Ringo’s first band scored better accommodations than the Beatles when they played in Hamburg because of their pink suits.
The Beatles famously played several residencies in Hamburg, Germany, but they weren’t the only band from Liverpool making money in Deutschland.
Before he joined the Fab Four, Ringo drummed for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a band that earned a positive reputation in Liverpool and Germany. The Beatles knew Ringo and his Hurricanes bandmates from England, but they rubbed elbows playing some of the same clubs in Germany in the early 1960s.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
The Friends theme song “I’ll Be There for You” is one of the most recognizable ones in television history. However, it didn’t necessarily come together overnight. The idea for the song came about in a stroke of genius thanks to the events of one fateful afternoon.
The Beatles had a part to play in inspiring the Friends theme song.American pop rock duo The Rembrandts released the song “I’ll Be There for You” as an original track for Warner Bros. Television to use as the opening on the show. The theme depicts each of the Friends cast members dancing in and around the now-iconic fountain. The song ultimately enjoyed commercial success, largely thanks to the show. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay for a total of eight weeks.
Source: Jeff Nelson/cheatsheet.com
Many music fans would give almost anything to hang out with any of The Beatles. Thanks to his impressive drumming skills and incredible longevity, Ringo Starr has had a chance to rub shoulders with fans and fellow musicians over the years. One three-time member of Ringo’s All Starr Band was lucky enough to meet all of the Fab Four, and he said Ringo was the most approachable of the Beatles because he lacked the pretense of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. After the Beatles broke up, Ringo created a slew of solo albums throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. By the time the 1990s approached, he had the itch to tour. Ringo assembled his first All Starr Band in 1989, and he’s collected several of his high-profile musician friends for All Starr Band tours over the years.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
