Beatles News
As previously reported, two members of Cheap Trick, guitarist Rick Nielsen and drummer Bun E. Carlos were invited by producer Jack Douglas to play on the John Lennon album that ultimately turned out to be the last one issued during the former Beatle's lifetime: 1980's "Double Fantasy."
Ultimately, their contributions to the song "I'm Losing You" did not make the original album but were issued years later as part of the 1998 box set, "John Lennon Anthology."
But during an interview with Booked on Rock, the author of the Cheap Trick book, "American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond," Ross Warner, discussed that at least Nielsen was paid an extremely high compliment by Lennon during the sessions.
"John had said something to the effect of, 'I wish I'd had this guy on 'Cold Turkey,'" Warner said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). "'Cause Eric Clapton, A. was addicted to heroin, and B. didn't really deliver the solo."
Originally released as a single in 1969, "Cold Turkey" did in fact feature Clapton on lead guitar, in addition to Lennon on vocals and guitar, Klaus Voormann on bass, and none other than Ringo Starr on drums.
It also remains one of Lennon's most raw and rocking songs: from both a lyrical and performance standpoint. As a result, it was also a favorite of Cheap Trick's, according to Warner. "'Cold Turkey' is like one of Cheap Trick's earliest covers. They loved that. It's 100% like what their sound was kind of founded on: crunchy and subversive. Robin [Zander], before they started writing their own songs, could do a perfect imitation of almost anybody."
"It was funny because the story about why they didn't appear on the album was that John apparently had said something like, 'This sounds too much like 'Cold Turkey,'' Warner continued. "Had Cheap Trick known that or had Bun and Rick known that — that would have been the ultimate compliment, right? I mean, that's exactly everything they would have wanted to hear."
Source: Ultimate Guitar
One Paul McCartney song is a disjointed mess about water and food and freedom. Here is how the track in question compares to Paul's other post-Beatles hits.
One Paul McCartney song is a disjointed mess about water and food and freedom. It’s not surprising that the “Say Say Say” singer wrote an oddball song. What’s surprising is that the track reached No. 1 in the United States. Here is how the track in question compares to Paul’s other post-Beatles hits.
1 Paul McCartney song won’t make sense no matter how many times you hear it
If you look at the list of Paul’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, you’ll see an interesting mix of songs. Some are perfectly normal, easy-listening songs, like “My Love” and “Ebony and Ivory.” Other tunes on the list are a tad experimental, such as “Band on the Run” and “Coming Up.” However, only one of the tracks on the list is bizarre on every level: “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.”
Firstly, the song is lyrically incoherent. It starts as an apologetic ballad addressed to someone called Uncle Albert. Who is Uncle Albert — and what was the narrator supposed to do for him? We’re never told.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
George Harrison‘s comeback to the top of the music world was one of the great Beatles-related stories of the late 1980s. After years of seeming reluctance toward sustaining a music career, he rallied with the one-two punch of a hit solo record and the formation of the Traveling Wilburys.
“Cloud 9,” the opening title track (although the LP was spelled Cloud Nine) to his mega-successful 1987 album, could be interpreted as someone reaching out to a lover. But in reality, Harrison was addressing everyone in the audience who found inspiration in his music over the years.
If you didn’t know any better, you would have been forgiven for thinking his official name was “The Reclusive George Harrison” since that was how much of the world referred to him circa 1985 or so. At that time, the former Beatle didn’t seem to harbor all that much interest in trying to make his way back to pop stardom.
Ever since the first flush of activity in the early ’70s that came following The Beatles’ breakup, including a couple of very successful albums and even a tour, Harrison had largely shied away from the spotlight as much as possible. While he still sporadically made records, he didn’t do much at all to promote them. And then there was a five-year gap between Gone Troppo in 1982 and Cloud Nine in 1987.
Little did the outside world know, however, that Harrison was girding his loins for a return to the public eye, enlisting ELO’s Jeff Lynne to produce Cloud Nine. While his taste for promoting his music came and went, he never lost his love of making it. In fact, as quoted in the Timothy White book George Harrison: Reconsidered, the act of creating art for public consumption was at the heart of the lyric for “Cloud 9”:
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
“Blackbird” is one of the deepest songs by The Beatles when it comes to the meaning behind the tune. The track is all about the civil rights movement that was taking place in the United States during the end of the group’s time together. In the decades since its release, it’s become a classic, and now, finally, a smash.
The Beatles’ cut finally flies into the top 40 in the United Kingdom for the first time this week. The tune reaches that important region—which often declares when a song becomes a hit—on one list as it surges. It also manages to launch within that tier on another tally, as the group doubles up with the half-century-old composition.
“Blackbird” rises into the top 40 on the Official Singles Downloads chart, hitting a new high in its second frame on the list. This week, the cut pushes from No. 96 to No. 31, gaining quite a bit of ground in only a few days as British fans continue to buy the cut.
The beloved production also debuts on one other chart in the U.K. “Blackbird” simultaneously opens at No. 35 on the Official Singles Sales ranking, which includes all forms of purchases, not just downloads.
Despite being one of The Beatles’ most memorable tracks, “Blackbird” is new to the U.K. charts. The song only reached any list for the first time last week, when it hit the Official Singles Downloads ranking. Now, it’s doubled the total number of tallies it’s reached in the band’s home country.
“Blackbird” marks the seventh top 40 hit on both of those charts for The Beatles. That may seem like a small sum for a band as popular and commercially successful as the Fab Four, but they released almost all of their biggest tunes long before the Official Charts Company introduced either list.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
When reporting on projects that have not started filming, it's always best to wait for the official press release if you need confirmation on casting. While some trust IMDb, it's too easy for bad actors to edit the cast lists randomly; there are also last-minute circumstances when an actor needs to exit a project due to unforeseen conflicts, and the production has to scramble to recast. However, Sam Mendes' Beatles Quadrilogy of movies seems to have had most of its cast confirmed, not by the production, but by the people who were in the other productions they're going to give up to star in the four interconnected biopics.
We first reported on this in early December 2024, when Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) was confirmed to play Ringo Starr. Considering Starr himself revealed the casting, it seems safe enough, even though the project refused to confirm anything; as multiple outlets pointed out, the deal had yet to be signed, necessitating keeping officially mum.
However, since then, two more castings have been confirmed... by the writers and directors of the projects they'll be leaving behind. Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers) was first when his Gladiator II director, Ridley Scott, was asked about Gladiator III. Scott replied Mendes had already filled Mescal's dance card to play Paul McCartney.
Source: tellyvisions.org/Ani Bundel
It remains a fascinating exercise to wonder how John Lennon and Paul McCartney felt about each other’s songs.
Bands, and especially a band’s primary songwriters, are famously competitive. This explains why it’s so difficult to keep even the most successful groups together. Even the world’s greatest rock band couldn’t survive themselves.
George Harrison felt it as he began creeping out from behind the giant shadows of Lennon and McCartney. However, Lennon did praise McCartney’s songs in an interview conducted by writer David Sheff. Sheff had visited Lennon and Yoko Ono in August 1980 at their home in The Dakota on an assignment for Playboy.
Sheff’s interview appeared in Playboy on Dec. 6. Two days later, Lennon was shot and killed in front of his New York apartment. Sheff’s three-week conversations with Lennon and Ono were later compiled in his book All We Are Saying (2000). The book documents the last major interview with the couple.
If Lennon were alive today, these McCartney-penned classics might have made his playlist.
Source:americansongwriter.com/Thom Donovan
After The Beatles broke up in 1970, the world was in mourning. A few years later, the now-defunct group did something unusual: they released two albums on the same day. These compilations of their biggest hits have gone on to rank among the most successful singles collections of all time, and they regularly find their way back to the charts—including this week in the band’s home country.
The Beatles see both of their 1973 compilations return to a pair of charts at the same time. Both 1962-1966 (usually referred to as The Red Album) and 1967-1970 (AKA The Blue Album) find their way to the music charts in the United Kingdom at the same time—just like when they were brand new. The two sets appear on multiple lists, landing close to one another on a pair of rosters.
1967-1970 is the bigger hit between the two on both rankings. On the main list of the most-consumed albums in the U.K., the singles-packed offering is back at No. 42, almost returning to the top 40. 1962-1966, meanwhile, comes in at No. 59 on that same list, which operates with a consumption model.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Tensions were running high among the Fab Four as they recorded 'The White Album'
As their sound evolved in the second half of the 1960s, The Beatles' recording sessions saw creative differences come to the fore. 1966's 'Revolver' saw The Beatles move further away from their early rock and roll sound and they became increasingly experimental, with 1967's psychedelic 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' changing popular music forever.
But John Lennon famously disliked 'Sgt Pepper', taking aim at the album - which was primarily Paul McCartney's brainchild - after he left the band. But it was the sessions for 'The White Album', which was released in 1968, which really saw the fractures within the band begin to dominate.
Each member of The Beatles wanted to put their stamp on their work and express themselves creatively. About that period of recording, Paul said: "There was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself" and John later added: "The break-up of The Beatles can be heard on that album."
The recording of the double album's first track was famously tempestuous and saw one member of the band walk out. Paul began writing 'Back in the USSR' in early 1968, with it originally called 'I'm Backing the UK', as part of a national patriotic campaign.
However, inspired by Chuck Berry's 1959 hit 'Back in the USA', Paul changed the idea for the song to be about a Soviet spy returning home after a mission in America. In a 1984 interview with Playboy, he said he had written it as a Beach Boys parody.
Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk
John Lennon was tragically assassinated in December 1980 when his son Julian was just 17-years-old.
The two didn't have the best relationship, and Julian's relationship with his stepmom Yoko Ono was even worse, or at least became worse in the years following his death.
John was all about 'peace and love', but Julian didn't see him in that light and actually called his dad a 'hypocrite' in an interview with UK-based publication The Daily Telegraph, years after his father was murdered.
Although, Julian was reportedly inspiration for three of The Beatles' hit songs - 'Hey Jude', 'Good Night' and, of course, ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’.
But with John and Julian's mom Cynthia divorcing each other in 1968, Julian didn't see too much of him.
After John was murdered in December 1980, Julian expressed his confusion and resentment towards his father:
Speaking per the Tamba Bay Times, Julian talked about his resentment towards his dad.
“I’ve never really wanted to know the truth about how dad was with me. There was some very negative stuff talked about me … like when he said I’d come out of a whiskey bottle on a Saturday night. Stuff like that," he said.
Source: Joe Yates/unilad.com
Retro Roundup will continue its look at 1970s hits outside the Billboard top 10 next week, but this week I want to offer praise to a book I read voraciously during my vacation in Florida.
When it comes to chronicling the Beatles and their recording career, author Mark Lewisohn is the most acclaimed by fans — his books on the band's recording sessions, with lots of interesting information on how the songs were put together, and the atmosphere in the studio, were revelatory. Lewisohn has also put out the first in a series of massive books combining Beatle biography with recording details. The first of these books, Tune In, goes up to 1962, and the second volume, which will dig in to the Beatles' most famous recordings, is being anxiously awaited by Beatles fans, including myself. Sadly, the author has been hobbled by a rift with the Beatles' organization, Apple.
In the meantime, authors Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair got the jump, in a manner of speaking, on Lewisohn. They released, almost exactly two years apart, the first two volumes of The McCartney Legacy. Unlike Lewisohn's work, McCartney's early life and his work with the Beatles are not tackled. Biography and recording details are combined to wonderful effect, but the focus is only on McCartney's post-Beatles career, solo and with his group Wings.
Source: Joel Goldenberg/ The Suburban
