Beatles News
In terms of legacy-making months, February has always been good to The Beatles. The band’s triumphant 1964 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" will always resound in the history of popular music, to be sure. Then there’s the group’s first full-length concert at the Washington Coliseum a few days later. And these Fab Februarys have never truly ebbed, with Paul McCartney staging a series of intimate, pop-up concerts in Brooklyn this very week.
Which brings us to the latest Beatles book to hit the shelves. Robert Rodriguez and Jerry Hammack, the authors of "Ribbons of Rust: The Beatles’ Recording History in Context," are undertaking one of the most ambitious new projects in Beatles studies. In a painstaking effort to account for the band’s origins and influences, Rodriguez and Hammack contextualize the bandmates’ lives and work in terms of their historical and sociocultural moment. The book series draws its name, by the way, from the recording tape upon which the group imprinted their masterworks, those “ribbons of rust”—iron oxide bonded to polyethylene terephthalate.
The first volume in the series traces the fertile and transformative era from July 1954 through January 1963, when the Beatles were poised to conquer Great Britain with the chart-topping “Please Please Me” single. Rodriguez and Hammack are ideally situated to undertake this multivolume work. Rodriguez is the author behind one of Beatles criticism’s seminal books, "Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock ‘n’ Roll," and the host of the popular "Something about the Beatles" podcast. For his part, Hammack is the author of "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual" series.
Source: Kenneth Womack/Yahoo.com
Recording a song in less than a few days isn’t common, even by today’s standards. Sometimes, multiple takes of multiple vocal and instrumental tracks are just plain necessary in order to produce a good song. Sessions can last for days or even weeks. However, that was not the case for the following four songs, which were recorded in the span of only one single day. Let’s take a look! A few of these songs might shock you.
“Twist And Shout” by The Beatles
It’s crazy to think that a song this good only took a day to record. However, “Twist And Shout” by The Beatles was, indeed, recorded in just a single day. In fact, the whole of Please Please Me, the Fab Four’s debut, was recorded in one single day on February 11, 1963. A few overdubs here and there were added at a later date by George Martin, but otherwise, that whole record launched the biggest music career of the 20th century. And it’s crazy to think that they rushed it.
“Instant Karma” by John Lennon
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
Not everyone believes in ghosts. Many would chalk up a supernatural visit to a bunch of mumbo jumbo. John Lennon would likely include himself in that camp, but his first wife, Cynthia, would claim herself to be a true believer, at least after they moved into their first home together.
Shortly after taking ownership of a historic home in the early 1960s, Cynthia Lennon became aware of a strange presence lurking around the house. Though it wasn’t what ultimately got her out of that home–that can be blamed on Lennon’s infidelity–it proved to be a significant moment in her life. Learn more about the ghost that haunted the Lennons below.
Well, I’d rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or I won’t know where I am
Hot off the success of the Ed Sullivan Show, the Lennons bought their first home for £20,000. The home was over 50 years old and in need of a little TLC. Despite the rundown aspects of the home, there was something else that caused Cynthia Lennon to object to the purchase: an unsettling presence.
Yes, it seems the Lennons were victims of a haunted house trope. John Lennon was the unaware home buyer with stars in his eyes, while Cynthia Lennon was wary of an eerie vibe. It affected her so much that she wrote about it in her memoir.
“We searched out a vast villa with its own pool–we were told it had once been a convent,” Cynthia Lennon once wrote. “No sooner had we moved in than we discovered the place was haunted.”
She went on to describe ghostly moments around the house, including flickering lights and other unexplained circumstances.
“Lights would keep going off, objects would move mysteriously and we all felt a strange presence,” she added. “We planned a party to cheer the place up, but halfway through the evening the electricity was cut off and a huge storm blew up.”
Eventually, Cynthia Lennon moved out of that haunted house, due to John Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono. Though the circumstances were not ideal, Cynthia was likely somewhat happy to get out of there. We sure would be…
You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That’s the end, little girl
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
John Lennon and Paul McCartney stood as an unparalleled song-writing duo, crafting the bulk of The Beatles' hits with their work jointly credited under Lennon-McCartney, regardless of individual or collaborative efforts.
Reflecting on their writing dynamics, Wilfred Mellers penned in 1972: "Opposite poles generate electricity: between John and Paul the sparks flew. John's fiery iconoclasm was tempered by Paul's lyrical grace, while Paul's wide-eyed charm was toughened by John's resilience."
However, as the late 1960s rolled around, their relationship started to deteriorate. The band experienced growing tensions, impacting the recording sessions for iconic albums such as 'The White Album,' 'Let It Be,' and 'Abbey Road.'
Disputes over creative differences and Yoko Ono's presence in the studio exacerbated the rift, leading John and Paul to part ways. Following their final recording session for 'The End' from 'Abbey Road' in August 1969, John informed the group that he intended to leave, likening it to asking for a 'divorce' from The Beatles.
Subsequently, a distressed Paul withdrew to his home to create his initial solo work, 'McCartney'. With the release of this album in April 1970, Paul made his departure from The Beatles public via a press statement accompanying the album, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The Beatles' final album 'Let it Be' was released in May 1970, almost a month after the band officially split. The album, composed of recordings from February 1968 to April 1970, sparked further disputes among Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison.
Source: themirror.com/John O'Sullivan, Dan Haygarth
From fired to retired.
Drummer Zak Starkey posted a statement on Instagram Monday clearing up the circumstances surrounding his latest exit from The Who.
Starkey, 59, claimed that bandmate Roger Daltrey told him he wasn’t “fired” from the group for a second time, but rather “retired” and free to work on his own projects.
“NOISE&CONFUSION!!!! I had a great phone chat with Roger at the end of last week which truly confused both of us!!!” Starkey wrote.
“Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work on my own projects,” Starkey shared. “I explained to Rog that I have just spent nearly 8 weeks at my studio in Jamaica completing these projects, that my group Mantra Of The Cosmos was releasing one single at the beginning of June and after that had run its course ( usually 5/6 weeks ) I was completely available for the foreseeable future….Rog said ‘Oh!’ and we kind of left it there.”
Starkey insisted that he and Daltrey, 81, are “on good terms and great friends as we have always been.”
“Gotta love these guys,” the musician added. “As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!’ XXX.”
Starkey, who is the son of Beatles legend Ringo Starr, joined The Who in 1996.
He was fired from the band for the first time last month following his performance during the group’s two charity shows for Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall in late March.
Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend were allegedly “upset” with Starkey over the gigs.
Starkey spoke out about his blindsided departure, revealing that he “suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf” in January.
Source: nypost.com/Eric Todisco
Ringo Starr had one regret ftom The Beatles. Ringo Starr’s career as one of the members of The Beatles is impressive, but that doesn’t mean the music star doesn’t have regrets about his career.
The band, which broke up in 1974, consisted of Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. Over the years, much has been made of what the various band members thought about their time together, including much about Harrison, who walked out of the band and refused to perform with another member again, and even penned a track that was aimed towards McCartney and Lennon before his death.
However, despite some of the drama, Starr had a different view. This was something he revealed when he shared his biggest regret when it came to the group’s split. While the band did split up in 1974, and never had any official reunions, they did sometimes join forces.
This was until all hopes were dashed when Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in 1980. Any chance of a partial reunion was further dashed when Harrison died from lung cancer in 2001.
The fact that he couldn’t have a proper reunion with his bandmates before their deaths was reportedly something that Starr regretted.
“I think the stumbling block was just sitting around and saying, ‘OK, let’s do it,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “And we never got to that.”
“You know, we did in twos, we talked about it…We still had the songs, and we still could play,” he continued. “We could have put it together.”
Source: Lauren Martinez/themirror.com
Barry Keoghan has revealed he was so nervous meeting Ringo Starr that he couldn't look him in the eye as he prepares to play him in the upcoming Beatles biopic.
Gladiator II hunk Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Barry will star as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison in the films about The Fab Four.
And to prepare for the role they have all been attending a 'Beatles Bootcamp' for the past 16 weeks, with Barry, 32, learning drumming and even meeting Ringo himself.
Speaking at the Fastnet Film Festival in Ireland this week Barry said of the encounter with the icon, 84,: 'I sat opposite him and I could not look at him because I was nervous and his wife Barbara was there and she said, 'You can look at him.'
'Every time I looked at him I saw myself in his glasses. I said to him: 'I am not coming here to quiz you. I am coming to find out what made you and how the contrast was going back to Liverpool after Beatlemania.'
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Barry Keoghan has revealed he was so nervous meeting Ringo Starr that he couldn't look him in the eye as he prepares to play him in the upcoming Beatles biopic
To prepare for the role the actors have all been attending a 'Beatles Bootcamp' for the past 16 weeks, with Barry, 32, learning drumming and even meeting Ringo himself.
'We can all do imitation but I wanted to know where it came from. He was so on the money.'
He also described his current Beatles Bootcamp as an 'absolute joy' where he has been practising the 'walk and accent' of Ringo.
Source: Amelia Wynne/dailymail.co.uk
George Harrison's career-spanning compilation album, Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison, is getting its first-ever vinyl release on July 11th via Dark Horse Records.
The 19-track album includes a number of George's biggest singles as well as live solo recordings of three Beatles songs - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun" - from the Grammy-winning album The Concert for Bangladesh.
The album, originally released in 2009, includes four solo songs by the late former Beatles guitarist that topped the Billboard Hot 100: "My Sweet Lord," "Isn't It A Pity," "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" and "Got My Mind Set On You."
Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison Tracklist:
Side A
1. Got My Mind Set on You
2. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
3. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
4. My Sweet Lord
5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Live from Madison Square Garden, New York, U.S.A, 1971)
Side B
1. All Things Must Pass
2. Any Road
3. This Is Love
4. All Those Years Ago
5. Marwa Blues
Source: rttnews.com
As chronicled by Billboard, 40 years ago, Paul McCartney gave Michael Jackson the idea of buying music and how lucrative owning someone else's publishing would be. Out of that idea, Michael Jackson had the even brighter idea of buying the Beatles' catalog. The best part is that the King of Pop was always straightforward with the Beatles alumni about his intentions. McCartney just never took those claims seriously.
All McCartney did was laugh until it was too late. McCartney had his own chance to buy The Beatles catalog, but he waited too long, and MJ beat him to the punch.
The longer that their music collaborations progressed, the longer Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson had opportunities to have personal conversations that turned into business advice. During one such candid conversation, McCartney (who by 1982 already owned a grocery list's worth of catalogs, including that of Buddy Holly's) would express to Jackson the value of investing in someone else's music. Michael Jackson's response to Paul McCartney would end up haunting the former member of the Beatles for years, especially when he thought MJ was joking. One day, I'll own your songs.
The battle over The Beatles' music began long before Michael Jackson put his bid in, dating back to 1969 when John Lennon and Paul McCartney first attempted and failed to regain control of their publishing once their publishing company, Northern Songs, was sold to Sir Lew Grade of Associated Television. The bid intensified in 1984 when ATV put its songs (251 of which belonged to The Beatles) up for sale. Paul McCartney had an interest in buying it, which would've finally given him back the songs he helped create.
Source: screenrant.com/Joe Anthony Myrick
When Paul McCartney ventured into classical music in the early 1990s, it raised more than a few eyebrows.
A global pop icon and one of the most successful songwriters of all time, McCartney was synonymous with melodic brilliance—but not necessarily with symphonic form, operatic structure, or choral grandeur. Yet, rather than treat classical music as a vanity project, McCartney approached it with humility, curiosity, and a genuine desire to grow as a composer.
Unlike some of his rock peers, who dabbled in orchestral textures for dramatic flair, McCartney dove headfirst into the language of classical music. He studied scores, worked alongside seasoned composers and conductors, and embraced the rigours of writing extended works without the familiar support of verse-chorus structure or a rhythm section. The result has been a series of ambitious, heartfelt, and occasionally uneven works that offer a fascinating window into his evolving creative world.
These compositions, spanning oratorios, orchestral poems, and ballet scores, reflect McCartney’s lifelong love of melody, his openness to collaboration, and his instinct for emotional storytelling. They also reveal the challenges of crossing genres: critical reception has ranged from respectful admiration to polite dismissal. But whether deeply personal (Ecce Cor Meum), narrative-driven (Liverpool Oratorio), or abstract and meditative (Standing Stone), McCartney’s classical pieces show an artist unafraid to explore new terrain—even decades into an already legendary career.
Source: classical-music.com/Steve Wright
