Beatles News
The Beatles took on a lot of collaborations through the years, both in the studio and on the road. Dozens of session musicians and roadies worked with them, some of which were quite famous. Let’s look at just a few examples! You might just be surprised to see a few of these names.
1. Billy Preston
This wouldn’t be a list of Beatles collaborations without mentioning the incomparable Billy Preston. He was one of several people to earn the label “The Fifth Beatle”, and for good reason.
He’s the only musician to earn a co-credit on a Beatles album, and he helped keep the band from deteriorating beyond control during the Let It Be sessions. A strong musician on his own, Preston deserves so much more love for his contributions to the Fab Four and music as a whole.
2. Donovan
Did you know that folk singer/songwriter Donovan once worked with the Fab Four? A bit of an unsung hero of Beatles collaborations, this British folk icon contributed vocals to the famed Beatles track “Yellow Submarine”.
3. Mal Evans
Mal Evans was The Beatles’ road manager for a time. Outside of being one of the most famous roadies ever, he also contributed quite a bit to The Beatles’ recorded works. He contributed a harmonica track to “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” and drum and vocals to “Yellow Submarine”. He also took on less conventional instruments and tools for sound effects, such as the alarm clock in “A Day In The Life” and a shovel digging gravel for “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)”.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
A new documentary, “Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade,” features intimate, unseen interviews with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Paul McCartney. Through old footage and personal conversations, this film follows the music legend’s journey after the Beatles broke up.
After 1970, the musician focused on fighting for social justice while making solo music. He jumped into activism by joining thousands at the Vietnam Moratorium March in Washington back in 1969.
His strong stance against war came through in both songs and protests. “Give Peace a Chance” became an anthem for those wanting peace. With his wife, he held protests from their bed and spent money on huge billboards declaring “War Is Over (If You Want It)” across 12 cities.
Moving on from the Beatles pushed his songwriting in new directions. His song “Imagine” connected with peace lovers worldwide, becoming a lasting symbol of hope.
Through interviews with his close friends, this film shows Lennon’s final chapter. Musicians who played with him and journalists who followed his career share stories about his artistic changes during the 70s.
While we don’t know the release date yet, this documentary aims to show his journey from band member to solo activist for change.
Source: wmmr.com/Erika Beasley
Paul McCartney is reminiscing about his busy time in New York.
The Beatles legend headlined three intimate club shows at the Bowery Ballroom, Feb. 11, Feb. 12 and Feb. 14, then closed SNL50: The Anniversary Special Sunday night. He just posted a carousel of photos from both on Instagram.
“We had a fabulous week in New York with three small gigs leading to the 50th anniversary show of @nbcsnl,” McCartney writes. “It is always exciting to play at small venues it reminds me of when we began in places like the Cavern and Hamburg. The three gigs we played at @boweryballroom were fabulous.”
He adds, “We really enjoyed playing to the young, enthusiastic audience and the atmosphere was intimate and electric!”
The three shows had McCartney playing a mixture of Beatles, Wings and solo material. At SNL:50 he ended the show with the Abbey Road side two medley that includes “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.”
Source: Classic Rock News
The Beatles fans have seemingly decided on their favourite George Harrison song, with a lesser-known track beating Here Comes the Sun.
Though the legendary songwriter has tracks like Here Comes the Sun, While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Taxman, a song from the band’s third album, A Hard Day’s Night, reigns supreme. A post to r/TheBeatles on Reddit has since seen fans share their favourite songs sung by Harrison, and his earlier works have become a fast favourite of fans. Hundreds of comments were left on a thread which asked: “What’s your favourite Beatles song sung by George Harrison?” While songs like I Me Mine and While My Guitar Gently Weeps did appear, they were not the highest rated on the thread.
Instead, the song I’m Happy Just to Dance With You took a spot above Here Comes the Sun. One user suggested the song and it led to a flurry of replies suggesting it was the best vocal work Harrison had provided the Fab Four. One user wrote: “My first thought was this. He sounds so good on that song.” Another added: “Definitely a classic… his voice hits you differently than the others.”
Other users did suggest the more obvious choices from The Beatles’ discography, including Something. The song suggestion was the most upvoted comment on the thread and a clear favourite of Fab Four fans. One user replied: “It’s the most cliched answer but I’ll be damned if that song isn’t perfect in every way.”
Another wrote: “I mean, it’s a cliché for a reason. Sometimes the obvious answer is the best answer.” A third has since suggested the Anthology version of the track. They wrote: “I think the demo on the anthology is as perfect even tho it’s technically flawed. The demo of all things must pass is amazing as well.”
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
-The former drummer for The Beatles, now turned solo artist, Ringo Starr, will make his Opry debut on February 21 at the Grand Ole Opry as part of the Opry’s ongoing celebration for their 100th anniversary.
Back in January, Grand Ole Opry member and Country Music Hall of Famer, Emmylou Harris, surprised Starr onstage during his concert at the Ryman.
Harris welcomed him to Nashville and asked if he would come back next month to play the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.
Starr’s accomplishments include winning 10 Grammys, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, an Academy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
There will also be performances by Opry members Lauren Alaina, Mandy Barnett, Don Schlitz and many more.
Source: (WSMV)
Like me, you probably think you know the story arc of The Beatles pretty well. As we’ve worked on this new publication, the latest edition in our Ultimate Record Collection series, out tomorrow, it’s been a delight to find that the Beatles narrative can still offer up some delightful surprises.
And the story here? This magazine presents insightful new writing on every Beatles record in order of its appearance, forming a definitive timeline of the first and most thrillingly intense part of the group’s career. What emerges as you listen to the music and read the following pages isn’t only a renewed pleasure in the songs, but also a respect for the Beatles’ composure as the storm of their new fame grew around them.
New fantastic self-penned music followed quickly on the heels of their initial hits. No group had done anything quite like this before, and neither had the record industry, which now had to meet the phenomenal demand for new music. Here you’ll be able to get an idea of how that worked in real time. Alongside the albums you likely know and love already, you’ll see the profusion of new singles, and also the less-familiar formats like the EPs, in their incentivising picture sleeves. Then there’s the overseas editions.
You could spend a happy lifetime immersing yourself into the worldwide Beatles, but here we’ve confined ourselves, with a few exceptions, to the UK and North American records. For sure, there’s a wry remark or two to be made at the expense of the way the United States handled the album releases – slicing and dicing “superfluous” tracks here, assembling new albums from the cuts, adding the singles (or taking them away). But observing their label’s initial lack of interest, and their haste to try and catch up, you feel not only the size of a less-connected world – and also just how manic Beatlemania must have felt to those involved with servicing its demands. You could even find yourself making the case that Meet The Beatles is a superior document of the era because it starts with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. We’ve aired our thoughts, and reviewed every record.
Source: John Robinson/uncut.co.uk
Between 1963 and ’64, as the Beatles toured the globe, Paul McCartney snapped hundreds of photos of his daily life. In between candid shots of his bandmates and images of foreign locales, they offer a rare peek into Beatlemania, as seen from the inside. “There’s a sort of innocence about them,” the bassist reflected in 2023.
A trove of these photos has made its way across museums from the U.K. to the U.S. for the past two years. But there’s more where that came from. A show in Beverly Hills will soon surface yet more previously unseen images from McCartney’s archives, which will be offered for sale.
In April, Gagosian will present 36 works by McCartney, some of them newly rediscovered, created between December 1963 and February 1964. They were shot in Liverpool and London in the U.K., Paris, France, as well as New York, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
At this time, the Beatles had embarked on their first tour of the U.K., hot on the heels of their number one album, With the Beatles, released in November 1963. The following year saw them descend on Paris, then New York, where they made their now-legendary debut appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February. By the end of the month, they had made the cover of Newsweek, in a front-page story that trumpeted “Bugs About Beatles.”
Source: news.artnet.com/Min Chen Art & Pop Culture
It's been more than 50 years since The Beatles broke up, not to mention decades since the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, but that hasn't stopped the group from winning awards. At the February 2, 2025 Grammys, The Beatles won their eighth trophy for Best Rock Performance. The long-forgotten song "Now and Then" was completed by surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, with an assist from AI, and its success is just one measure of the band's enduring appeal.
But The Beatles were even more than the sum of their parts. In the wake of the band's legendary 1960s run came a number of high-profile solo releases from each individual member. That includes Ringo, whose eponymous 1973 album peaked at #2 on the U.S. charts and yielded two #1 singles—with a little help from his friends, of course. Those tracks were just the beginning of Starr's successful solo ventures—the former Beatles guitarist kicks off a U.S. tour with his All-Starr Band in June 2025, playing fresh material from his brand-new country album, "Look Up," which came out Jan. 10, 2025.
Source: MSN
Legendary artist and musician Yoko Ono turned 92 on February 18, although will likely be celebrating her big day privately as she has for years.
The Japanese icon, best known for her marriage to and collaborations with her late husband John Lennon, has lived a life away from the public eye for several years.
In honor of her special day and legacy, here's what we know about Yoko's life out of the spotlight now, from her home to her family…
Where does Yoko live now? For five decades, the musician lived in her famous apartment in New York in the exclusive Dakota building, outside where Lennon was tragically shot and killed in 1980.
It was at this famous apartment that she hosted several of the world's elite and raised her son with Lennon, although as it turns out, she's now found a new abode.
Source: hellomagazine.com/Ahad Sanwari
The new exhibition at Selby Gardens is George Harrison: A Gardner’s Life as part of the Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series. It is on view from now until June 29th at the downtown Sarasota campus. For those who didn’t know, George loved music but he also loved gardening and spent much of his time after the Beatles disbanded toiling in the earth.
Selby’s artist in residence, musician & poet Patti Smith came to honor the opening of George’s exhibition with her music, stories and reading poetry from Olivia Harrison’s book dedicated to George and their life together entitled “Came the Lightening”. Patti was introduced by Selby CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. George’s wife also traveled to Sarasota to lecture on art & nature and share about George’s passion of gardening. She was in the audience for Patti’s performance.
It was a sold-out crowd for Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and who is named one of the greatest artists of all time, Patti Smith is a true renaissance woman. She opened with spoken word of “Grateful” and played a cover of the Beatles, “If I Needed Someone.” She was accompanied by her son Jackson Smith on guitar and longtime bandmate Tony Shanahan on guitar and keyboards. She is humble, humorous and brings wisdom to the sold out crowd in the evening balmy breeze and a bright full moon on beautiful Sarasota Bay. She jokes as she looks through her notes about being well prepared as the audience laughs along.
Patty Smith
She performed a cover of a solo George Harrison tune, “Isn’t It A Pity.”
Source: Vicky Sullivan/suncoastpost.com
