Beatles News
Decades after The Beatles made their debut, they're still impacting the landscape of music as we know it today. A big part of their influence was the final album the group would make together: Abbey Road, which was released on September 26, 1969 — 56 years ago today.
In a post on Facebook, Classic Rock Magazine shared a look back at the iconic album in honor of its anniversary, pointing out that it was Paul McCartney who convinced John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr to join him in the studio one more time so they could record together "like the old days."
"Deep down, everyone involved knew that Abbey Road was the last stand, which explains the nothing-to-lose attitude that pervades the material," Classic Rock's Henry Yates wrote. "Side One of the original vinyl holds most of the big-hitting moments, from the swampy judder of 'Come Together' to Harrison’s untouchable 'Something.'"
Yates continued, "And while 'Here Comes The Sun' is a no-brainer, cherrypicking the medley from Side Two was just as rewarding, with 'Golden Slumbers' and 'Carry That Weight.' standing amongst their most lump-in-throat moments."
Not only was Abbey Road significant because it marked the end of the band as they (and the world) knew it, but it was also where so many songs we now know to be classic were born. It's impossible to really sum up the impact of an album like that — and what better way for The Beatles to go out?
How The Beatles Made Abbey Road Happen
According to Rolling Stone, The Beatles reunited with producer George Martin and recorded the album over a period of about six months. It wasn't always smooth sailing, though — things did get rocky at times, especially when the band would butt heads about the business side of the album.
“It was a very happy record,” Martin said. “I guess it was happy because everybody thought it was going to be the last.”
Of course, Abbey Road was just the final album that the band would record; Let It Be was the final one released a year later in 1970. But it's this one that so many fans think of when they think of the end of The Beatles, and even nearly 60 years later, that hasn't changed.
Source: Nicole Pomarico/yahoo.com
A firm favourite topic for Beatles obsessives to kick around during those long-into-the night deliberations is just which of their eleven (we don’t count Magical Mystery Tour or Yellow Submarine, okay!) studio LPs was their singular best.
Whether you’re a Revolver man, an Abbey Road girl or your softest spot is reserved for their 1963 debut Please Please Me (we know there’s a few of you out there), what really isn't a matter of opinion is that on the wider cultural stage, it remains 1967’s Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that is the most synonymous with the Beatles at the peak of their powers.
For many, it remains the greatest album in pop’s storied history. It’s certainly one of the most interesting from a technical and band narrative point of view, being the first of the Beatles' studio-based career.
In fact, it was this vivid cauldron of a record that solidified the very idea of ‘the album’ in popular culture, and underlined its status in devotees as the most crucial component of an artist's canon.
“The pop revolution was driven by 45s - an LP ‘the prize’ for success and even then comprising two hits and a lot of filling,” said writer David Hepworth in his album-centred book A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives.
“It was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that changed all that: not merely a collection of songs but an album - though one might call it a song cycle. After Pepper nothing was ever the same again and the acquisition of albums was an essential part of every student’s life.”
Expanding on Revolver’s initial forays into unknown sonic regions tenfold, Pepper found John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr firmly shunning the trappings of their prior identity as a mass market, entertainment spectacle.
Instead, inspired by the pioneering studio work of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, they decided to use their hard-won global platform to metamorphose into a creative force the likes of which the world had never seen.
Connecting the musical threads that spanned Britain’s past and present - and rippling with the philosophy of the counterculture - the Beatles recast themselves as the house band of the Summer of Love.
Source: musicradar.com/Andy Price
While the Fab Four were responsible for some of the best albums in history, the Empty Glass songwriter was left unmoved by one of The Beatles‘ biggest releases. A trick in the studio, where the vocals were coming out of one side of the stereo and the backing track from the other, would define The Beatles’ sound. It would feature on some of their biggest tracks, but it did little for Townshend, who called it “flippin’ lousy.” He and The Who bass guitarist John Entwistle had been listening to an album by The Beatles shortly before Townshend gave an interview. The interview was seemingly given around the time of Rubber Soul‘s release, an album which changed the future for The Beatles.
An interviewer asked The Who guitarist: “But wouldn’t you say The Beatles and people like that have a certain musical quality?” Townshend replied: “Ooh, that’s a tough question. Actually, this afternoon, John [Entwistle] and I were listening to a stereo LP of The Beatles — in which the voices come out of the one side and the backing track comes out of the other.
“When you actually hear the backing tracks of The Beatles without their voices, they’re flippin’ lousy.” The Beatles’ album has been praised by fans in the decades to follow this interview, with alternate takes and re-releases consistently hailed by listeners old and new.
An early version of Norwegian Wood from The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul album was hailed as “genius” by fans. The Beatles’ Rubber Soul is considered a turning point for the band, with Norwegian Wood featuring lyrics influenced by Bob Dylan. The legendary artist would not, however, influence the sitar featured on the song.
John Lennon had asked George Harrison to add a sitar layer to the song, with the track suggested as a veiled account of an extramarital affair. Harrison’s additions to the song have been hailed as a “genius” inclusion on the track. One user wrote: “I can’t get over how much of a genius George is.”
Source: Ewan Gleadow/cultfollowing.co.uk
As of now, it’s hard to theorize when the relevance of The Beatles will fade. It’s quite trivial to assume when that will be, as there is truly no way to know. Though, as of now, this will not happen anytime soon. However, in terms of a few of their songs, that has already seemingly begun to happen.
“Hey Jude”, “Let It Be”, “Twist And Shout”, and “Get Back” are just a few of The Beatles’ songs that will always stay popular so long as The Beatles stay popular. Although that is not the case for these three Beatles songs, because as time has passed, so has the popularity of these tracks.
“Rocky Raccoon”
Released in 1968 on The Beatles’ self-titled album, better known as The White Album, “Rocky Raccoon” is one of the few songs in which The Beatles dabble in country music. One might argue that sonically speaking, it is one of the more unique tracks released by the Fab Four.
Uniqueness doesn’t lead to longevity, and that is the case for this phenomenal Beatles track. While steadfast and staunch Beatles fans certainly know this song. It seems fans who merely dabble in The Beatles don’t, which is incredibly unfortunate, because this song is a gem.
“I’ve Just Seen A Face”
The Beatles’ 1965 track “I’ve Just Seen A Face” is certainly not one of their most well-known songs. Nevertheless, it is superb and certainly one of the finest tracks from their 1965 album, Help! If you aren’t a Beatlehead, then you have to listen to a lot of their music to come across this one. Consequently, it has become a bit more obscure.
Well, obscure for The Beatles that is, and frankly, it’s not a huge surprise, as this track was not released as a single. Thus, it had no activity on the Billboard Hot 100 or any other major American charts. Is that why it’s fallen down the ranks of popular Beatles songs? Who knows, but it is certainly not as popular as their most infamous tracks.
“You Won’t See Me”
Source: Peter Burditt/americansongwriter.com
Rubber Soul is the album where The Beatles combined their teeny bopper ways with the cutting edge sound of 60s rock ‘n’ roll. One underrated track that perfectly displays that combination is the album’s third track, “You Won’t See Me”.
Like the rest of the songs on this list, “You Won’t See Me” was also not released as a single. So, again, it had no chart history or activity. Nonetheless, this is a Beatles track that deserves to re-enter circulation amongst their fans. Because, like many of their songs, it is right on the verge of being perfect.
Even if the rest of the world was none the wiser in early fall of 1969, The Beatles were well aware that their band was on the outs—a disintegration that would come that much more swiftly and divisively, thanks to a controversial John Lennon single he released in October of that year.
The subject matter of Lennon’s single was certainly sensitive. But it was nothing that The Beatles hadn’t covered already in songs like “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. Interestingly, Lennon’s actions following the release of his Plastic Ono Band track drummed up more drama than anything else.
Lennon’s response? “They’re so stupid about drugs.”
Whispers of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s worsening h***** addiction had already made their way into The Beatles discography by the late 1960s. “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” and “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” from the band’s 1968 eponymous “White Album” both touched on Lennon’s substance abuse. But “Cold Turkey” did more than touch—it prodded, pushed, and screamed the entire experience out onto vinyl. It’s a brash, intense, from-the-bones kind of song and, unsurprisingly, not one The Beatles saw fit for the group.
In the midst of working on Abbey Road, Lennon wrote “Cold Turkey” and presented it to the rest of The Beatles. As Paul DuNoyer described in John Lennon: The Stories Behind Every Song 1970-1980, the song was “so harrowing and so personal that it could only be a Lennon solo project.” And so it was. Lennon released “Cold Turkey” in October 1969 under the Plastic Ono Band. The track was Lennon’s second solo single after “Give Peace a Chance”, which he released in July.
Even for The Beatles, a transparent association with h***** was a bit too intense. American radio stations began banning the track, a decision Lennon would later call “stupid” during one of his final interviews with David Sheff in 1980. “They were thinking I was promoting h*****,” Lennon said. “They’re so stupid about drugs. They’re not looking at the cause of the drug problem. Why is everybody taking drugs? To escape from what? I’m not preaching about ‘em. I’m just saying a drug is a drug. Why we take them is important, not who’s selling it to whom on the corner.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
When it was over, George Harrison rarely got too sentimental about his time with The Beatles. But he also didn’t shy away from commenting on it in his songs, even if he did so ever so subtly at times.
“The Light That Has Lighted The World” stands out as one of the most moving songs from Harrison’s 1973 album Living In The Material World. It reflects his feelings on how people viewed the changes that he underwent upon entering the world of fortune and fame.
Heading for the “Light”
Because All Things Must Pass was such a powerhouse of an album, the LPs that followed it in the George Harrison catalog sometimes didn’t get the respect they deserved. This is especially true about Living In The Material World. It’s a far more muted record than its predecessor. But it’s no less compelling.
Harrison included “The Light That Has Lighted The World” on that album. He had originally written it as part of a series of songs that he intended for Cilla Black. Black was a recording star in Great Britain who came from the same environs as The Beatles, which led to a long association between the acts.
Since he had earmarked the song “When The Song Is Sung” as a single for Black, he figured he’d write her a B-side as well. To do that, he imagined a topic that might be relevant to Black. And he considered the fact that she, like Harrison, had gone from humble beginnings to the height of fame. That transformation served as the focus for “The Light That Has Lighted The World”.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
A new documentary produced by Martin Scorsese will celebrate Beatlemania's diamond jubilee. Beatles '64, which will debut on Disney+ on Nov. 29, will feature new interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the Beatlemaniacs who followed them, paired with footage of the band's first U.S. concert and Ed Sullivan Show appearance. All of the archival footage has been restored in 4K, and the audio for the live footage was demixed by WingNut Films and remixed by Giles Martin, who was the music supervisor for Peter Jackson's Get Back docuseries.
Filmmaker David Tedeschi, who co-directed a doc on the New York Dolls' David Johansen and was nominated for Emmys recognizing docs he worked on about George Harrison and Bob Dylan, directed the picture. It includes footage by documentarians Albert and David Maysles and traces the group's heroes' welcome at New York's JFK airport on Feb. 7, 1964, and the crowds that followed them. On Feb. 9, they performed three songs on The Ed Sullivan Show to a television audience of 73 million viewers. Two days later, they performed their first-ever concert in the United States at Washington, D.C.'s Washington Coliseum. The filmmakers promise to include behind-the-scenes footage of how the quartet handled instant fame.
In addition to Scorsese, the list of the film's producers includes McCartney (who released a photo book of the Beatles in 1963 and 1964 last year), Starr, Olivia Harrison, and Sean Ono Lenon, among others.
In a 1979 Rolling Stone interview, George Harrison expressed ambivalence about Beatlemania. "We were just four relatively sane people in the middle of madness," he reflected. "People used us as an excuse to trip out, and we were the victims of that. … A lot of the time it was fantastic, but when it really got into the mania it was a question of either stop or end up dead. We almost got killed in a number of situations - planes catching on fire, people trying to shoot the plane down and riots everywhere we went. It was aging me. But we had a great time."
Source: MSN
On the morning of July 18 when Indio resident Linda Harger logged on to buy tickets for Paul McCartney's Sept. 29 concert at Acrisure Arena, the number of people ahead of her in the queue was crushing.
"I have to be in that building," the superfan recalled thinking. "He's coming to town and there's no way I'm going to miss it."
All the seats she wanted were gone when Harger got to the front of the digital line, so she purchased resale tickets. Skipping the concert was not an option. The event is a meaningful next step in a lifelong relationship with the music of The Beatles — and especially McCartney.
So when did that relationship begin? The 73-year-old got teary when she described watching the Fab Four make their U.S. debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on Feb. 9, 1964.
"I just watched them and life changed," Harger said. "They were just so amazing. So amazing. You know, there's a lot of articles that I see now that said ... one of the things that made The Beatles so popular at that time was it came so close after the (President John F.) Kennedy assassination. And so I think it changed a lot of the attitude. It was something to be happy about. Something that was pleasant and fun."
Harger recalled that during the band's TV debut, a caption flashed on the screen under John Lennon that said, "Sorry, girls, he's married." That was OK, because out of the four Beatles, she had a particular favorite: McCartney.
"It was all over, Ricky Nelson was out the window," Harger said. "(McCartney) is so handsome, and when you're a 12-year-old girl, that's basically it. He's also a very talented musician, great family man, aware of what's going on in the world, and he's kind and generous. John always had an edge to him, Paul didn't have an edge and seemed like a nice guy."
Building a community of fellow fans
From that moment on, Harger immersed herself in Beatles culture. She clipped every Beatles article she could find in her hometown newspaper — the Butler Eagle in Butler, Pennsylvania — and filled scrapbooks with them. She also began writing letters to other fans through teen magazines. A lot of them. By the mid-1960s, she had 50 Beatles pen pals with whom she swapped stories, opinions and sometimes even memorabilia.
"They were like letters to the editor. Back then, they would print your whole name and address. There was an article someone wrote that said, 'The Monkees are better than The Beatles.' That drove me nuts and I wrote in saying 'No! That's not true!' I got a lot of pen pals that way. Another pen pal would say, 'You should write to this person.' They had these things called slam books, and you'd mail them around, and people would write their names in them. If you liked what they said, you'd write them a letter," Harger said.
Source: yahoo.com/Brian Blueskye, Palm Springs Desert Sun
John Lennon and Yoko Ono temporarily separated in 1973. She told him that she had begun to feel suffocated by their constant togetherness, and asked him to move out. At first, Lennon appeared thrilled. He was single for the first time in his adult life.
John Lennon didn’t seem concerned when Yoko Ono asked him to move out
Amid growing tension in their marriage, Ono told Lennon that she wanted a break. She suggested that he move to Los Angeles to give them some much-needed space. Ono asked the couple’s friend, Elliot Mintz, to keep an eye on her estranged husband. At first, however, Lennon seemed perfectly fine to Mintz.
“For the first few months, John appeared entirely content in Los Angeles — one might even say gleeful,” Mintz wrote in his book We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me. “He seemed to consider his expulsion from the Dakota and banishment to the West Coast as something of a bachelor’s holiday.”
Mintz believed that Lennon was excited to experience what it was like to be single for the first time in his adult life.
“Remember, he was twenty-one when he married Cynthia; he was twenty-eight when he married Yoko. Now, at the cusp of thirty-three, for the first time in his adult life, he didn’t have a wife (or, for that matter, three other partners) who made up his extended family. He was a free man.”
Source: MSN
Actor Richard E Grant has praised Barry Keoghan, his Saltburn co-star, saying he will be a “fantastic Ringo Starr” in the new Beatles biopics.
Sony Pictures has announced a collection of four films about the band members, with Keoghan cast as drummer Sir Ringo Starr.
Speaking on The One Show, Grant praised the 32-year-old Irish actor who he worked with in the 2023 Emerald Fennell thriller.
Grant said: “He’s an extraordinary actor. He’s unlike anybody else I’ve ever, ever worked with before, so completely untrained, instinctive and brilliant.
Directed by Sir Sam Mendes, each of the movies will showcase one of the members of the Fab Four: John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Sir Ringo.
Keoghan is best known for his roles in The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The Banshees Of Inisherin, the latter winning his the Bafta for best supporting actor in 2023.
A scene from Saltburn showing his character – an Oxford University student who gets wrapped up in the charming and aristocratic world of his classmate – dancing naked around a country manor to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder On The Dancefloor went viral.
The cast for the Beatles films also includes Normal People’s Paul Mescal, who will play Sir Paul, while Lennon will be portrayed by Babygirl actor Harris Dickinson.
Source: MSN
