Beatles News
On This Day, Jan. 16, 1988 …
George Harrison hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Got My Mind Set On You,” a cover of a 1962 track originally recorded by James Ray.
The recording was produced by ELO’s Jeff Lynne, who also played bass and keyboards on the song. It appeared on Harrison’s 11th studio album, Cloud Nine, which was the final solo album to be released during Harrison’s lifetime.
“Got My Mind Set On You” would be Harrison’s third and final #1 solo single. It also marked the last time a member of The Beatles hit #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K.
The song hit #1 just one week before The Beatles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Source: Everett Post
John Lennon and Phil Spector had a series of drunken recording sessions together. Lennon's friend said it was a wonder nobody was hurt.
In 1973, John Lennon threw fuel on his already-chaotic Lost Weekend when he started recording with producer Phil Spector. While some of their recording sessions were productive, many others devolved into drunken arguments and violence. Lennon’s friend, Elliot Mintz, expressed shock that no one wound up seriously hurt.
John Lennon’s friend said the recording sessions with Phil Spector were dangerous
Lennon and Spector began working on the album Rock ‘n’ Roll together. Their studio sessions often collapsed into utter chaos.
“The Spector Sessions, as they came to be known, were among the most notorious jams in rock ‘n’ roll history,” Mintz wrote in his book We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me. “I ended up spending about half a dozen all-nighters at these riotous, drug- and alcohol-fueled bacchanals, occasionally finding myself in the unenviable position of having to tidy up some of the messes afterward.”
Source: cheatsheet.com/Emma McKee
Paul McCartney wouldn’t describe himself as a risk taker. In fact, the musician feels his career has been pretty tame–despite the oodles of success he has amassed. However, there is one massive risk McCartney is glad he took. Find out what that is, below.
The Beatles were a tough act to follow. The fervor around the band was unprecedented. They became emblematic of a new age where musicians didn’t have passive listeners, but active, life-centering fans. When they decided to hang up their hats, there was a few million fans out there who’s dreams were dashed.
But, life must go on. A musician must play music. But, the question of how to go about that could’ve proved disastrous. Truthfully, it did for a moment in McCartney’s career. His follow up band to the Beatles, Wings, wasn’t popular upon their debut. Listeners still had the golden age of the Beatles to compare everything to. Wings didn’t seem to measure up.
Eventually, McCartney’s second leg proved profitable. Wings earned a fanbase in their own right, producing a host of beloved hits. According to McCartney, the decision to start Wings was his riskiest professional move–one that ultimately paid off.
“The main question I had was whether to keep going after The Beatles, because it was a hard act – some might say, an impossible act – to follow,” McCartney once said. “The ingredients in the Beatles were so unique. You had John right there, who could have made any group brilliant. Then you had George’s talent, and Ringo’s, and then me.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
On the heels of his new country album Look Up, the former Beatles drummer will play the Nashville institution in February.
Nashville is reaching peak Ringo. On the heels of his new country album, Look Up, Ringo Starr will make his Grand Ole Opry debut next month. The former Beatles drummer was invited to perform on the long-running country-music radio show by Emmylou Harris, herself an Opry member.
Harris popped the question to Starr onstage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the onetime home of the Opry, during the first of Starr’s two-night stand at the hallowed theater. “I’d love to,” Starr replied. “It’s an honor and a pleasure. Thank you.” Starr’s Opry appearance is slated for Feb. 21, part of the Opry’s 100th anniversary celebration.
Harris is one of many guests performing with Starr at the Ryman for the recording of a CBS special to air on a later date. Jack White, Rodney Crowell, Sheryl Crow, Mickey Guyton, Jamey Johnson, and the War and Treaty are among the other artists collaborating with Starr or singing their own versions of his songs. Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings, and Larkin Poe, who all perform on Look Up, are on the bill too. (The second concert is set for Wednesday night.)
Source: rollingstone.com/Joseph Hudak
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of George Harrison’s fourth solo album, 1973 album, Living in the Material World made available in two configurations, a 2-CD collection and a Super Deluxe Edition box set, each culling new mixes and previously unreleased material numbering outtakes and alternative versions.
Leading the charge on the sonic front is renowned Grammy-Award-winning engineer and long-time family friend Paul Hicks, who had previously worked on archival projects by The Beatles, Harrison and John Lennon. With Living In The Material World, Paul was responsible for remixing the original album and uncovering a flurry of revelatory outtakes. We spoke with Paul, who served as our guide behind this seminal release.
Rock Cellar: Paul, you worked on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, and then you moved onto this record, Living in the Material World. They’re two entirely different records. Sonically, Living in the Material World is a much more stripped-down and intimate record.
Paul Hicks: Yes, absolutely, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Obviously, every project is different and this album was a totally different beast to All Things Must Pass. The way we do it is I get the multi-tracks, listen and then I do a mix match as close as possible to the old mix and then I take a step back. I ask myself, “OK, what do we think we can improve here? What’s good about it?”
Obviously, with All Things Must Pass, from knowing George, Dhani and Olivia, George wanted less reverb on things. That was the mission with that album.
Source: rockcellarmagazine.com/Ken Sharp
One of the most interesting things about Beatrice McCartney, the youngest child of famous musician Sir Paul McCartney, is that she lives a very quiet and private life. Beatrice actually lives a very normal, everyday life and never seems to be in the public eye, even though she was born to arguably the most important musician in the history of popular music.
Beatrice comes from a family with an unmatched musical history. Her father loved music, and her mother Heather Mills was an advocate. We will learn more about Beatrice McCartney’s life in the next article, which will focus on her childhood, her ties to The Beatles’ legacy, and what the future may hold for her.
Beatrice Milly McCartney was born on October 28, 2003, in London, England. She is the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, famous as the bass player and songwriter for the rock band The Beatles, and Heather Mills, formerly a model and activist. She is the youngest of Sir Paul McCartney’s five children and his only daughter. She is from a creative and generous family with great feats attached to their names.
Source: explosion.com/explosion.com
Paul McCartney has returned to his home city through the years for numerous appearances and projects - but on one particularly visit to Liverpool, he had to keep a "closely guarded secret." In more recent years, the former Beatle has been spotted back in his hometown for a graduation ceremony at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), to perform at the Philharmonic pub and more.
But back in the 1980s, many will remember when Sir Paul made a rare television appearance on BBC sitcom Bread, alongside his late wife, Linda. Loved by millions since it first aired in 1986, Bread was a massive hit, reaching 21 million viewers at its peak.
Written by Carla Lane, the series followed the lives of the the close knit families from Dingle and filmed on the steep Victorian terraced Bread streets, which went on to become some of the most well known streets in Liverpool. Among them was Elswick Street, which the ECHO recently visited - and residents living on the street told us how the sitcom life isn’t too far from the truth.
Now nearly 40 years on from when Bread first aired, we've delved into the archives to uncover a number of behind the scenes photos from the set of the hit BBC series. Courtesy of our archive, Mirrorpix, we also found a number of photos, unseen for years, of Paul and Linda on set 36-years-ago.
At the time, the ECHO reported how the famous couple spent two days filming in the city on a "top secret" visit, to appear in an extra-special episode of the Scouse sitcom. The BBC was believed to have launched a £1,500 security operation to keep the McCartney's away from curious star-spotters and the scenes filmed followed Linda setting up an animal rescue centre in Liverpool and meeting the Boswell family.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Jess Molyneux
The Beatles never reunited before John Lennon's death. During his lifetime, though, he thought a band reunion was possible.
John Lennon said he lost interest in The Beatles when he met Yoko Ono. He remained in the band until 1969 when he told Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr that he wanted to move on. The band’s split was acrimonious, with the former Beatles insulting each other in interviews and songs. By the early 1970s, though, Lennon told a friend that he believed in the possibility of a reunion.
John Lennon was optimistic about a Beatles reunion by the early 1970s
In 1973, Lennon sat down with his friend, Elliot Mintz, for an interview. Mintz noted in his book, We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me, that he asked the question that was on everyone’s mind at the time.
“After carefully pulling out of the McDonald’s lot, I cautiously navigated to a surprisingly desolate stretch of beach near the Malibu pier, where the camera crew taped John and me talking about everything from his new album to his memories of Beatlemania to the ultimate question on everybody’s mind — and the one John had been asked at least a thousand times before: the possibility of a Beatles reunion.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
The musician often called the Quiet Beatle sat in the background during the initial years of the Lennon & McCartney partnership, slowly building a voice of his own as a songwriter. The band’s latter years witness George Harrison coming to the forefront, writing music that is easily the equal of his illustrious peers.
A new generation seem to be agreeing. The top Beatles track on Spotify is ‘Here Comes The Sun’ – penned by George Harrison for their ‘Abbey Road’ album, it receives over 687,000 plays on the platform every single day.
George has just broken a new record, too. ‘My Sweet Lord’ – the gospel-drenched yearning for meaning that appears on his classic solo album ‘All Things Must Pass’ – has become the most streamed song by a solo Beatle daily on Spotify.
The song edges out Paul McCartney’s ‘FourFiveSeconds’ and receives 449,000 plays on Spotify every single day.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
Sir Ringo Starr just realized the voice he always wanted.
The 84-year-old The Beatles legend, rose to fame after lending his drumming skills to the iconic band alongside the late John Lennon, George Harrison, and Sir Paul McCartney. While he certainly can "hold a tune", he reached the epiphany of how everything "worked out" for them because of the songwriting talent each member possessed.
In a conversation with The Sunday Times, he stated, "Well, I always wanted to be someone else. Like Jerry Lee [Lewis] or someone! I mean, I can hold a tune, as long as it’s in my key.” "And it just worked out with the Beatles because John and Paul were great writers,” Starr added.
The iconic musician continued, "That’s what made us. And I’d get one song. And a couple of them were really good, you know, With a Little Help from My Friends and Yellow Submarine. They’re still huge and I still do them on tour. They wrote me a lot of really nice songs."
With the release of his latest music album, Look Up and is touring with his band, Ringo Starr and Friends, he admitted that it is still "fun."
"The band sounds great. We have a fun time and we just do it,” Starr told the outlet of performing. Recalling his time in the past, he mentioned, "In the late Nineties, I would put in, like, two or three from the new album, and you could feel the room empty. It happens to everybody.”
"I was with (Sir Elton John's) mother at Wembley Stadium. He came on and said, ‘I’m only going to do the new album.’ Me and his mother left after three tracks because we didn’t know them,” Ringo Starr mentioned, recalling an incident that almost everyone can relate with.
Source: geo.tv
