Beatles News
Nothing good lasts forever, and that includes The Beatles. They had a string of hit albums throughout the 1960s, but personal and artistic differences caused the band to splinter by the end of the decade before they broke up for good in 1970. No one member necessarily caused the band to break up, but Paul McCartney once revealed the public casting him as a villain of the Beatles’ break-up had him believing it was true until he saw one photo of him and John Lennon together.
With hindsight being 20-20, one could trace the threads of the Beatles’ break-up back to their early days. The band had conflict even when they were just four lads looking to build their fan base, such as Paul and George Harrison arguing about car keys for two hours.
By the end of the 1960s, however, each member had solo work in mind, and the Fab Four also had different opinions about how to run their shared business interests. The death of their strong-willed manager Brian Epstein also threw the band into disarray. There was no one cause for why the Beatles broke up; it was a collection of problems that caused their split.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
In 2016, musical sensations Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr took to social media with tributes to their late producer, who Sir Paul had previously described as a “second father” to him.
Following the highly publicised tributes, fans mistook the man credited with the Beatles’ success for fantasy author George RR Martin.
The internet buzzed with condolences and concern, eventually garnering the attention of the author himself who had to address his living status on his blog in a post titled: “Not Dead Yet”.
Martin shared his appreciation for seeing how many people cared “so deeply about my life and death,” but admitted the “rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated”.
The author shared his condolences for the actual Sir George, noting that although the two had not met he still appreciated the producer's great efforts in creating the Beatles.
Source: Samantha Leathers/express.co.uk
John Lennon co-wrote songs with his partner Yoko Ono. After feeling guilty about wanting to leave the Beatles, he even gave Paul McCartney credit for a song co-authored by Ono. Here’s what we learned from Skywriting by Word of Mouth.
After recording and releasing music for several years, the Beatles officially disbanded in 1970 after a self-interview from Paul McCartney. Later, Lennon commented on his decision to ask for a “divorce.”
Thanks to Skywriting by Word of Mouth, fans learned about Lennon’s experience in the Beatles. Even in 1965, this songwriter was thinking about leaving the group, saying that life “had become a trap. A tape loop.”
“When I finally had the guts to tell the other three that I, quote, wanted a divorce, unquote, they knew it was for real, unlike Ringo and George’s previous threats to leave,” Lennon wrote. “I must say I felt guilty for springing it on them at such short notice.”
Source: Julia Dzurillay/cheatsheet.com
In 1963, George Harrison became the first member of The Beatles to visit America. The band’s visit the following year sparked Beatlemania in the country, but Harrison’s first visit was much more lowkey. His sister had moved to Illinois, and Harrison took a quiet trip to see her. Nobody recognized him, but they did take note of his fashion. A local teacher mentioned that she thought Harrison looked “pitiful” on his trip.
“I’d been to America before, being the experienced Beatle that I was,” Harrison said, per Rolling Stone. “I went to New York and St. Louis in 1963, to look around, and to the countryside in Illinois, where my sister was living at the time.”
Louise’s husband was an engineer at a coal mine, so she moved to Benton, Illinois for his job. Though Beatlemania was already in full swing in Britain, people did not recognize him in the United States. He was able to enjoy a quiet visit without the chaos he had grown accustomed to at home.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
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
