Beatles News
George Harrison was just as good a gardener as he was a musician, but he’d rather fans remember him as the former rather than the latter. He was first and foremost a gardener, with a couple of hits under his belt.
George never concerned himself with his legacy. His wife Olivia told the LA Times she didn’t think her husband thought fans would remember him.
He knew his first album outside The Beatles, All Things Must Pass, “meant things to people. He knew it helped people in their lives — people wrote to him, they told him. And he said, ‘Even if it’s one person, even if it helps somebody, then that’s great.’ But he wasn’t concerned about how he would be remembered,” Olivia said.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Having spent the first half of their career being airbrushed for mass appeal, in 1966 The Beatles started to put noses out of joint on a grand scale. First there was Lennon’s ‘bigger than Jesus’ quote. A few months later came the notorious – and quickly aborted – cover of 1966’s odds-and-sods album for the US market, Yesterday And Today.
For the latter, Robert Whitaker can take both the credit and the criticism. As the Beatles’ favoured photographer since a chance meeting in Australia in 1964, he was trusted by the band, and sufficiently confident to make bolder suggestions than the standard ‘four-in-a-row’ photo shoot when they arrived at his Chelsea studio on March 25, 1966.
Source: Classic Rock Magazine/loudersound.com
When the Beatles arrived in Australia in 1964 for their first and only tour of the country, huge crowds greeted them everywhere they went. But one of the biggest turnouts was in Adelaide, where an estimated 350,000 people flocked to the city to catch a glimpse of them.
Adelaide wasn’t originally on the tour schedule, but local radio presenter Bob Francis petitioned to have it added, and 12,000 tickets were sold out in just over five hours for four shows, two each on 12 and 13 June.
The Beatles were the biggest band in the world and their songs were dominating the Australian charts with hits such as Can’t Buy Me Love (No 1 for six weeks in May and June 1964) and All My Loving, also previously a No 1.
Source: theguardian.com
George Harrison didn’t think The Beatles would last very long, certainly not until 1970. When it was time for the Fab Four to go their separate ways, George ensured he had a plan.
George Harrison and The Beatles performing on a TV set in 1963.
In 1963, at the start of Beatlemania, The Beatles had no idea how much longer they’d last. They expected the worst and hoped for the best.
In the book George Harrison on George Harrison, John Lennon said, “‘How long are you going to last?’ Well, you can’t say, you know. You can be big-headed and say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to last ten years.’ But as soon as you’ve said that you think, ‘We’re lucky if we last three months,’ you know.”
Paul agreed. He didn’t think they could go on making songs like “From Me To You” in their forties. George also agreed. Although, he didn’t think The Beatles would last past about 1965.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Many other artists were influenced by The Beatles’ songs from Revolver. Earth, Wind & Fire, for example, performed a cover of one of Revolver’s songs for a unique film. The film didn’t appeal to George Harrison.
A film based on Fab Four songs didn’t appeal to George Harrison.
The Beatles’ connection to Earth, Wind & Fire starts with a strange film. Roger Stigwood, a producer, produced a film called Sgt. The Fab Four’s music inspired Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Bee Gees were the stars of the film, which also featured Peter Frampton and other musicians.
George Harrison talked about his thoughts on the film in a 1979 interview with Rolling Stone. “I just feel bad for Robert Stigwood, the Bee Gees, and Pete Frampton for doing it,” he said, “because they had established themselves as decent artists in their own right and then… it’s like the classic thing of greed.”
Source: Micheal Kurt/technotrenz.com
John Lennon revealed why The Beatles‘ songs took so long to put together in the studio. In addition, he revealed Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” was a repeated source of inspiration for the Fab Four. John said there weren’t many arguments when The Beatles made songs together but there was a lot of tension.According to a 1969 interview in the book Lennon on Lennon: Interviews and Encounters, John was asked if The Beatles argued a lot while recording. “It’s not so much arguments, but there’s just tension,” John said. “It’s tense every time the red light goes on for a kickoff.
Source: cheatsheet.com
According to Rolling Stone, John Lennon’s Revolver tune, “She Said She Said,” began with “bad vibes.”
In late 1965, The Beatles stayed in Los Angeles’ Benedict Canyon during their tour of the West Coast. One night, actor Peter Fonda showed up with Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of The Byrds. An LSD party commenced, although Paul McCartney didn’t join.
George started feeling like he was dying, so Fonda tried to console him. It didn’t work. He told George he survived a near-fatal surgery as a boy.
According to Beatles Bible, Fonda said, “I told him there was nothing to be afraid of and that all he needed to do was relax. I said that I knew what it was like to be dead because when I was 10 years old I’d accidentally shot myself in the stomach and my heart stopped beating three times while I was on the operating table because I’d lost so much blood.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison's widow believes she gave the Beatles legend a "normal life".
Olivia Harrison - who married the late musician in September 1978 - admitted there were "bumps in the road" in their marriage but she insisted her spouse was not a "great womaniser" and he "shut a door" on infidelity when they got together in 1974.
She said: “I wouldn’t say great. No, no, really not. I wouldn’t say [he was] a great womaniser.
"George was pursued and also, you know, he was a very sensual person.”
Asked if she accepted an open relationship was the price she paid for what they had, she told the Sunday Times magazine:
Source: By Celebretainment/mycouriertribune.com
Mementoes from the most iconic rock band in history went up for sale in Auckland this morning.
Webb's auction firm's director of decorative arts, Ben Erren, said the vendor had served as secretary to the financial controller during her tenure at The Beatles' company, Apple Corps in the UK.
Among the items to be auctioned by Webb's were expense claims for each of the Fab Four, signed fan photos, and a signed copy of John Lennon's first book of songs and poems In His Own Write which sold for $7528.
Source: RNZ News
May Pang, who was John Lennon’s mistress during his notorious 18-month “long weekend” in the ‘70s, said the ex Beatle’s episode ended just before an almost certain reunion with Paul McCartney.
n 1973, as Lennon’s marriage to Yoko Ono was collapsing, she put her husband and Pang together in the hope that an affair would resolve the situation. Lennon and Pang later moved from New York to Los Angeles where he established a reputation for drunken and outlandish behavior, before suddenly returning to Ono in early 1975.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
