Beatles News
Former members of The Beatles, George Harrison and John Lennon had not seen one another for years by the time the 1970s came around. The band had split up in 1970 and each of the Fab Four went their separate ways. All four members started their own solo careers and spent some much-needed time apart.
Lennon and Harrison were particularly bitter with one another during their final years as a band.
During the recording of The Beatles' final album, Let It Be, Harrison famously announced: "I think I'll be leaving the band now."
The shocking moment came after The Quiet Beatle grew frustrated over Lennon and Paul McCartney controlling the musical direction of the band. This event was also revisited during the recently-released Disney Plus series Get Back by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
Bob Dylan and George Harrison were close friends, often performing with each other, including in the Traveling Wilburys. One of their musical collaborations left a bad taste in Harrison’s mouth, however. After Harrison performed in a concert celebrating Dylan’s 30 years in the music industry, he discovered something about the show that he did not like. Harrison lashed out at Dylan in response.
A black and white picture of George Harrison and Bob Dylan holding guitars.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney chose the best inspiration to create one of the songs in The Beatles' album, "Abbey Road."
Out of The Beatles members, McCartney is the most public about how he has written and composed songs throughout their career.
For instance, he said he made "Yesterday" when he was about to sleep and composed "Hey Jude" for John Lennon's son, Julian.
But among his inspirations, a heartfelt poem gave birth to their "Abbey Road" album's song, "Golden Slumbers."
In his 1997 book, "Many Years From Now," McCartney said that he based the hit track on "Cradle Song" - a poem from Thomas Dekker's play, "Patient Grissel."
He revealed that he liked the poem's words so much. However, he faced one problem while doing it.
"I thought it was very restful, a very beautiful lullaby - but I couldn't read the melody, not being able to read music. I just took the words and wrote my own music. I didn't know at the time it was four hundred years old," he explained.
Source: Angeline Sicily/musictimes.com
Tom Petty was on the receiving end of many a late-night ukulele jam session with George Harrison. He reserved those sessions for his closest friends. He fell in love with the instrument’s sound and started playing it in the 1980s.
When George started playing the ukulele, he sometimes couldn’t stop. Its sound was tied to his soul somehow. It tuned him into something, almost like chanting mantras tuned him into God. George played so much ukulele that he cleared rooms with his playing.
Source: cheatsheet.com
After George Harrison left The Beatles, he hoped they’d get back together because it would’ve been “selfish” if they didn’t make music together again. However, once George got a taste of life outside of one of the biggest bands in the world, he started to hate the idea of a Beatles reunion.
George could do anything he wanted outside the band, even if that meant not making music. Regardless of what he did with his life, though, it was always under the watchful eye of the media and fans. He didn’t like doing what music executives, the press, or fans wanted. A Beatles reunion was at the top of everyone’s list.
Source: cheatsheet.com
On November 29, 2002, one year after the passing of music legend George Harrison, a tribute concert was planned in his honor. Watch Concert for George on WITF TV Friday, June 3 at 9pm or Saturday, June 4 at 1pm.
Held at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the evening featured Harrison’s songs and music he loved, performed by an all-star lineup that included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Monty Python, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Dhani Harrison, and many more.
Watch Concert for George Friday, June 3 at 9pm or Saturday, June 4 at 1pm on WITF TV. Prefer to stream? Watch WITF TV live from the PBS Video app or online!
Source: witf.org
A collection of previously unseen memorabilia of the Beatles before they became famous has been sold at auction.
It includes photographs taken when the band played in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in 1963.
A huge fan of the Fab Four, 16-year-old Sandra Woodruff (nee Blaken) tracked the group down, after a tipoff, to room number 49 at the Royal Pier Hotel.
"It's so rare to find things signed by all four of them," said Andrew Stowe from East Bristol Auctions.
"There is no other collection on the planet as unique or as important," he added.
John, Paul, Ringo and George were about to take the international music scene by storm in 1963.
Source: BBC News
On May 26, 1967, The Beatles' eighth album, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, was given a "rush release" in the UK - this meant that it was delivered to record stores around the country almost an entire week before its official release date of June 1.
Since then, the album has become one of their best-known pieces and includes some incredible singles such as Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, With a Little Help from My Friends and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to name but a few. It also earned four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and has since sold more than 32 million copies worldwide.
But the record's inception was a tribute to a Canadian police officer who managed to keep the band out of jail.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
Ringo Starr is drumming up some digital dollars with his NFT collection.
Julien’s Auctions recently announced it is kicking off an exclusive auction offering one-of-a-kind digital works of art with its accompanying signed canvas prints created by the artist, making him the first member of the Fab Four to do so.
The auction, "Ringo Starr NFT Collection – The Creative Mind of a Beatle," will take place Monday, June 13. A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Lotus Foundation, which supports charitable projects "aimed at advancing social welfare in diverse areas," including cancer, homelessness and animals in need, among others.
Source: msn.com
George Harrison surrounded his son Dhani with loads of music when he was growing up. He never pushed his son to follow in his footsteps, but keeping him away from it all was hard. George had a recording studio in the family home, Friar Park, and many rock stars and musicians came and went. Bob Dylan or Jeff Lynne could pop through the door at any one time. Despite not pushing music on his son or showing him what his days as Beatle George were like, Dhani found his own way to music. However, sometimes, George had to school his son on certain artists.When Dhani was growing up, he formed his own music taste without the help of his father or any of his famous friends. It just so happens that he enjoyed the artists that inspired George. According to Rolling Stone, Dhani fell in love with The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” after hearing it in the 1985 Michael J. Fox film Teen Wolf.
Source: cheatsheet.com
