Beatles News
George Harrison had enough to deal with during the making of All Things Must Pass, and deciding whether or not to make “My Sweet Lord” into a single was just another dilemma.
George had just left one of the most famous bands in history, The Beatles, and although he often felt constipated in the band, he didn’t quite know what he wanted to do now that he was set free. He knew he had a stockpile of songs but didn’t know whether he wanted to release them.
There were other issues in his life as well. His mother died, his marriage was disintegrating, and he’d recently purchased a run-down mansion. Regardless of what was going on around him, though, George embarked on what was one of his most creative periods. It was a very dualistic time for him, but he had the album all mapped out before he even set foot in the recording studio.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The Beatles released a hit called “Don’t Let Me Down” near the end of their time together. Subsequently, a 2010s group created a song with the same title that was more successful. The group recruited a popular singer to perform vocals on the song.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the origin of “Don’t Let Me Down.” “I think it was a genuine cry for help,” said. “It was a good song. We recorded it in the basement of Apple for Let It Be and later did it up on the roof for the film. We went through it quite a lot for this one.”
Paul discussed his role in recording the track. “I sang harmony on it, which makes me wonder if I helped with a couple of words, but I don’t think so,” he said.” It was John’s song.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
The death of John Lennon is a tragic chapter in the story of The Beatles.
On December 8 1980, the 40-year-old was gunned down in the archway of his Manhattan home. Crazed fan Mark David Chapman shot Lennon four times from close range and despite being rushed to hospital, the former Beatle died.
The world was well and truly shaken, as 30,000 fans gathered in Liverpool for ten minutes silence to remember their hometown hero, as well as over over 225,000 in Central Park, New York.
Despite the mass mourning, there was no official funeral for John, with Yoko Ono releasing a statement the day after his death. She said: "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean."
His remains were cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York. His former bandmates reacted differently to the news.
Source: Aaron Curran/liverpoolecho.co.uk
Paul McCartney almost always appeared with the Beatles playing a bass: typically either a Höfner 500/1 or Rickenbacker 4001S.
But from the earliest days of his long musical career, McCartney was drawn to the guitar, reaching for a six-string in the studio with the Beatles and Wings, as well as on solo recordings.
In this gem from the GP archives, Macca discusses how he ended up playing bass in the Beatles, the tortoise and hare race of melody versus speed, and why he likes heavy metal.
The following interview extract originally appeared in the July 1990 issue of Guitar Player…
Source: Tom Mulhern, Rod Brakes/guitarplayer.com
After The Beatles split up, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr embarked on solo careers. As they worked together for years, reporters often asked what they thought about the others’ work. When Lennon spoke about Harrison’s solo career, he was slightly dismissive. He explained that he felt Harrison’s talents developed as a direct result of working with Lennon and McCartney.When Harrison joined The Beatles, he was still a teenager. Harrison greatly admired his older bandmates, including Lennon.
“He told me he really, really admired John,” Tom Petty told Rolling Stone. “He probably wanted John’s acceptance pretty bad, you know?”
“I’d put on ‘Paperback Writer’ and say, ‘I love the guitar on that,’ and he’d say,’ “Oh, that’s Paul.’ I put all these other Beatles tracks on: ‘Oh, that’s Paul,'” Peter Frampton told the Daily Mail. “It wasn’t until then I realized he had been stifled. It was very frustrating for George.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
After The Beatles split, George Harrison said people came in “grabbing and plundering as much as they could.” Everyone wanted a piece of one of the most successful bands of the 1960s. However, George said they wouldn’t get away with it.
However, when The Beatles broke up, they left room for everyone to come in and steal everything they’d done.
In a 1987 interview with Creem Magazine, George spoke about what happened to The Beatles’ catalog shortly before they split.
The Beatles’ music publisher, Dick James, who earned a high percentage of the band’s publishing company, Northern Songs, sold the company to ATV Music without letting John or Paul buy him out. Then in 1985, Michael Jackson bought ATV Music. George was thankful he didn’t write as many Beatles songs as John and Paul.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The Beatles‘ “I Am the Walrus” might appear meaningless at first glance. Despite this, John Lennon said it offered commentary on the Hare Krishna movement. Beyond that, John revealed how the song’s lyrics are similar to Bob Dylan’s songwriting.The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is an extended interview from 1980. In the interview, John was asked if “I Am the Walrus” criticized the Hare Krishnas. “I’d seen Allen Ginsberg and some other people who liked [Bob] Dylan and Jesus going on about Hare Krishna,” he said. “It was Ginsberg, in particular, I was referring to.” For context, Ginsberg was a writer and mystic most known for the controversial poem “Howl.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
It wasn’t easy for George Harrison to come forward with his songs during his time with The Beatles. However, maybe that was a good thing. Looking back, George was glad he’d only managed to squeeze out a few songs while in the band. Otherwise, his songs would’ve become “Dick Jaws” property.
Starting with the first song he ever wrote, “Don’t Bother Me,” George wrote 21 songs plus “Flying,” which was a group effort.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney allowed him to add about two to three songs per album. However, Geoge has four songs on The White Album.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison‘s wife Olivia says she’s never considered herself a “Beatle wife.” When Olivia met George in the early 1970s, he hadn’t been a Beatle for years. He was a completely different person.
However, since George died in 2001, Olivia has taken her husband’s place in The Beatles’ affairs.
Technically speaking, Olivia is right. She has never been a Beatle wife in the literal sense. That role went to George’s first wife, Pattie Boyd. George met Boyd on the set of The Beatles’ A Hard Days’ Night in 1964. They married in 1966, but they had some pretty big bumps. Boyd got sick of George’s infidelities and left him for his friend Eric Clapton.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison and Bob Dylan rose to prominence in the early 1960s, and each admired the other’s work. Harrison was particularly reverent of Dylan — those close to him said that the former Beatle adored him. He thought of Dylan as a musical genius but also conceded that he was a bit eccentric. Harrison explained why he thought of Dylan as one of the “looniest” people he knew.
Tom Petty worked with both Harrison and Dylan in the Traveling Wilburys. He explained that while all the band members were fans of Dylan’s work, Harrison was particularly reverent of him.
“George quoted Bob like people quote Scripture,” Petty told Rolling Stone, per the Petty Archives. “Bob really adored George, too. George used to hang over the balcony videoing Bob while Bob wasn’t aware of it. Bob would be sitting at the piano playing, and George would tape it and listen to it all night.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
