Beatles News
As the Beatles drifted apart towards the end of the 1960s, Let It Be would prove to be the band's final album.
The Fab Four's final number one, The Long and Winding Road, caused further conflict within the outfit as Paul McCartney had major reservations about alterations made to the track. The final album was largely mixed by Phil Spector, with McCartney- no longer on good terms with the rest of the band- remaining scarce.
Spector took issue with the recorded tapes for the track and so decided to mix it with string and choir overdubs. Before the record went to press, Paul received a copy and did not like what he heard.
Source: Aaron Curran/liverpoolecho.co.uk
There are many great guitar moments within the Beatles catalog. We all have our favorites. But as far as Paul McCartney is concerned, one of those highlights happens to be the song “Taxman.”
And for good reason.
In addition to laying down his unforgettable Motown-style bass hooks on the track McCartney contributed a wild electric guitar solo that would make anyone proud.
Source: Tom Mulhern, Rod Brakes/guitarplayer.com
The right combination of variables is needed to achieve a blazing success—one explanation for why there was never a “Kinksmania”Imagine there were no Beatles—or that there was no Beatlemania anyway and that the lads from Liverpool were just another band that never got a record deal or that split up before they hit it big. That is the premise Harvard University professor Cass R. Sunstein ponders in an entertaining and thought-provoking essay to be published in September in the first issue of the Journal of Beatles Studies. (A preliminary draft was posted online early this year.)
The fact that there could be an academic journal devoted just to John, Paul, George and Ringo is emblematic of how popular and influential the Beatles are. Many assume they were destined for greatness. “It was just a matter of time,” said John Lennon in a 1980 interview. But maybe not. Early on, record executives were unimpressed (“The boys won’t go,” they told manager Brian Epstein). And the group did almost split up. Its members were carried along their winding road by an unusually enthusiastic manager (Epstein), a risk-taking producer (George Martin), a big local fan base, and more. “
Source: Lydia Denworth/scientificamerican.com
George Harrison was constantly amazed by Bob Dylan. Everything he did and said, especially how he wrote and recorded music. So, George took to recording Dylan whenever they were together. The ex-Beatle had his own personal Dylan bootlegs.
In a 2002 special edition of Rolling Stone called “Remembering George,” Tom Petty talked about what it was like being in a band with George and Dylan. Along with Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison, the trio formed The Traveling Wilburys in the late 1980s.
Petty said that George was fascinated by everything Dylan did, so George tended to film him.
“George quoted Bob like people quote Scripture,” Petty said. “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
Paul McCartney felt The Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week” reflected the sexual revolution. John Lennon didn’t like the song and explained the song’s origin. On the other hand, a director associated with The Beatles said John’s memories were incorrect.
Paul McCartney holding a guitar during The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" era
“Eight Days a Week” includes lyrics like “Hold me, love me.” During a 2015 interview with Billboard, Paul discussed the song. “Our parents had been rather repressed, and we were breaking out of
that mold,” he said.
Paul said The Beatles weren’t the only ones feeling the cultural shift. “Everyone was let off the leash,” he recalled. “Coming down from Liverpool to London, there were all sorts of swinging chicks, and we were red-blooded young men. All that’s on your mind at that age is young women — or it was, in our case.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
Lennon’s lawyer tells the story of his near-forgotten rights battles with mobster Morris Levy
There have been scads of books about The Beatles in general and John Lennon specifically. Paul McCartney carries the Beatles legacy forward, playing stadia across America, dinging nostalgia bells in a live context, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, so does Ringo Starr, with his All-Starr Band tours, where I always think, “C’mon, Ringo, more Beatles, fewer long-ago hits by your B-level rock pals.”
But it’s Lennon–well, those who write about Lennon–who rules the bookshelves. This, obviously, owes to the fact that there was an endpoint to his career, a very bloody endpoint in December 1980 which needs no further exploration here. And the ever-lingering question of “What if?” which hovers around any artist taken away too soon.
Source: Jim Sullivan/bookandfilmglobe.com
Over the course of his long career in music, David Bowie collaborated with a host of prodigiously talented musicians ranging from Nile Rodgers to Trent Reznor. The man had a knack for finding interesting cohorts to work with, including the jazz quartet heard on Blackstar and Brian Eno, with whom he collaborated on a trio of beloved records. There’s another name that stands out in the annals of Bowie collaborators: John Lennon, who worked with Bowie on 1975’s “Fame.”
That wasn’t his only time working with Bowie, however. The two also worked on a cover of The Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” which — like “Fame” — appeared on the album Young Americans. According to Bowie’s account of the recording process, covering a Beatles song with a Beatle along for the ride had its own challenges.
Source: Tobias Carroll/insidehook.com
John Lennon said Paul McCartney had the inspiration for The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.” John said a rock star who wasn’t a member of The Beatles helped pen the song. Ringo Starr added a joke to “Yellow Submarine.”
"Yellow Submarine" era John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney near microphones. John Lennon felt The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” was Paul McCartney’s “baby.” Despite this, he said another 1960s rock star helped Paul write the lyrics. In a book, Paul discussed the rock star’s role in creating the song.John recalled another rock star helped Paul write the song. “Donovan helped with the lyrics,” he said. “I helped with the lyrics, too. We virtually made the track come alive in the studio, but based on Paul’s inspiration.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
In 1988, George Harrison accidentally formed The Traveling Wilburys. Somehow, he wrangled four of the best singer-songwriters, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne, into the recording studio. George and Lynne were there to record a new song. All five of them ended up recording “Handle With Care.”
It was a spontaneous thing. Soon after, George officially formed The Traveling Wilburys, and they went on to record two albums. The ex-Beatle claimed that the supergroup wouldn’t have happened if they’d planned it.
In 1988, shortly after he released his 1987 album Cloud Nine, George was in a bit of a pickle. He told Count Down in 1990 that the international sector of his record company wanted an extra song for a 12-inch single.
So, he had to record a new song quickly. That night, he told the story to Lynne and Orbison. George asked Lynne for help, but Lynne didn’t know where to get a studio and engineer so quickly. Orbison told the guys to call him when they found a recording studio. He wanted to watch them.
Source: cheatsheet.com
John Lennon said one of The Beatles’ songs was ahead of its time. He said it wouldn’t be the same without marijuana.
The song became a hit single.
John Lennon felt one of The Beatles’ songs was groundbreaking. In addition, he joked the “god of marijuana” helped him create the song. Interestingly, the song became a hit in the United States but not the United Kingdom.
“That’s me again — with the first backwards tape on any record anywhere,” John replied. “Before [Jimi] Hendrix, before The Who, before any f*****. Maybe there was that record about ‘They’re coming to take me away, ha-ha’ maybe that came out before “Rain,” but it’s not the same thing.” The singer was referring to the B side of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV, which is just “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” played backwards.
Source: cheatsheet.com
