Beatles News
Born in Liverpool, Julian Lennon, 61, was raised almost solely by his mother Cynthia, but has spent his adult years labouring to get out from under the shadow of his famous father, John. Already a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, children’s author, documentary film-maker and philanthropist, he’s now moved into fine art photography with a glossy new book, Life’s Fragile Moments. Spanning more than 20 years of work, it includes reportage taken while travelling the world for his charity, the White Feather Foundation; a closeup of his half-brother, Sean Lennon, taken on tour; and candid glimpses of a royal wedding. He lives in Monaco.
How did you get interested in photography?
I think I was about 11 years old when I first went out to the US to see Dad, and he had a very simple brown leather Polaroid camera that he used a fair amount – I have it here. I was really fascinated. That immediacy was exciting. I tried becoming a photographer with film, but always had problems – although I have great patience on some levels I have little in other circumstances. Then digital came along.
Have you had any formal training?
Hell no, I’ve always done everything organically. I never learned to read and write music. I’m self-taught and I prefer it that way. Most photographers know exactly what they’re aiming for; I don’t know what I’ve got until I look later at the photos. If I knew what I was doing I think I’d lose that spark, that creativity.
Source: Hephzibah Anderson/theguardian.com
When John Lennon released his debut solo studio album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, on December 11, 1970, it was met with mixed reviews. Over time, it has come to be celebrated as his most powerful solo work—a raw, soul-baring album shaped by primal scream therapy and a reflection of Lennon’s turbulent life. But even the most devoted fans might not know these five fascinating facts about this iconic album.
The album’s emotionally charged lyrics were deeply influenced by John Lennon’s primal scream therapy sessions with Arthur Janov. This psychological process pushed Lennon to confront his childhood traumas, which led to songs like “Mother” and “God” that bristle with vulnerability and self-discovery.
While Lennon declared in the song “God” that he no longer believed in the Beatles, their legacy was palpable. Tracks like “Look at Me” reused fingerpicking techniques he learned during the band’s White Album sessions, and his former bandmate Ringo Starr played drums on the record.
When Lennon wanted Phil Spector to co-produce the album, he couldn’t reach him directly. Instead, his manager placed an ad in Billboard magazine that read, “Phil! John is ready this weekend.” Spector eventually joined the project, though he wasn’t present for much of the recording process.
On Lennon’s 30th birthday, during the recording of Plastic Ono Band, George Harrison brought a tape of a playful tune titled “It’s Johnny’s Birthday” to the studio. This moment of camaraderie showcased a rare moment of joy during the otherwise intense recording sessions.
Source: thatericalper.com
Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band will embark on new tour dates this year. The All Starr Band lineup features Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette, and Buck Johnson on keyboards.
The new tour begins June 12th, 2025 in Bridgeport CT, with stops at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, The Mann in Philadelphia, and Wolf Trap in Vienna VA, and as one show in Alabama, three shows in Florida and two in North Carolina. Starr shares: “I am happy to announce these new All Starr shows in June. I absolutely love playing live and I love this band. It’s been so great playing with these guys, I just want to keep this lineup going and that’s why I haven’t changed the All Starrs in a while. So here we go again, and we look forward to seeing you on the road this Spring.”
Before the launch of The All-Starr tour, Starr will make two solo appearances at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Jan. 14 and 15. Prior to these shows, Starr will be releasing his second country album, Look Up, on January 10th, produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett. The LP features 11 original songs, recorded this year in Nashville and Los Angeles, and marks the former Beatle’s first country album in more than 50 years – and his first full-length album since 2019.
Source: steamboatradio.com
There were times when The Beatles did not see eye to eye. As their sound evolved in the second half of the 1960s and they began to experiment with new techniques and styles, creative differences came to the fore.
The ECHO has recently looked at how John Lennon disliked certain songs and albums that Paul McCartney took the lead on - whether that was the 'Abbey Road' medley, 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' or the single 'Let it Be'. He called the songs which brought 'Abbey Road' to an end "junk" and he slated "Sgt Pepper" after leaving the band.
About 'Let it Be', John said: "That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with The Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes 'Let It Be'." However, there were also aspects of John's work that Paul disagreed with.
1996's 'Revolver' saw The Beatles' sound move on from their early pop stylings, with many critics seeing it as the beginning of their psychedelic approach. The album was recorded at EMI's studio in London between April and June 1966, with it hitting shelves that August.
The psychedelic sound was partly a result of John and George Harrison's interest in LSD (or acid), which began in 1965 - Ringo Starr tried it after his bandmates suggested it but Paul held out for some time, focussing his interests on the avant-garde arts scene developing in London instead.
Source: Dan Haygarth/uk.news.yahoo.com
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were an unrivalled song-writing partnership but their relationship soured in the late 1960s. Tensions within The Beatles simmered in the second half of the decade, affecting recording sessions for 'The White Album', 'Let it Be' and 'Abbey Road'.
Creative differences and the presence of Yoko Ono in the studio caused arguments, pushing John and Paul away from each other. The band's final recording sessions - for 'The End' which featured on 'Abbey Road' - took place in August 1969 and, a month later, John informed his fellow members that he was leaving the band, asking for a 'divorce' from The Beatles.
This led a saddened Paul to retreat to his home and record what would become his first solo album 'McCartney'. In April 1970, Paul issued a press release alongside that album, announcing he would no longer be working with The Beatles.
The final Beatles album 'Let it Be' then hit shelves in May 1970, nearly a month after the official break up. 'Let it Be' was made up of recordings dating between February 1968 and April 1970 and its release caused further disagreements between Paul, John, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.
An ongoing row about Allan Klein becoming the band's new manager had simmered throughout 1969 and caused the four stress about what would happen to their money and the future of their music. That row developed as the release of 'McCartney' was set to clash with the planned May release of 'Let It Be'.
Paul has said he told his bandmates in advance that he would release 'McCartney' alongside his press release announcing his departure from The Beatles in April 1970. But with record label Apple wanting to avoid a clash and Paul not wanting to speak to Apple due to his disapproval of Allan Klein, Ringo went to his home with a letter from himself, John and George asking him to move his release date.
Source: Dan Haygarth/uk.news.yahoo.com
In chronological rock history, the Beatles and America are from two consecutive but different musical eras. While the former members of the Beatles were certainly making music in the years following their split, the Fab Four had called it quits by 1970, and America wouldn’t achieve their breakthrough success with “A Horse with No Name” until 1972.
The Beatles mastered the jangly experimental sounds of the 1960s, while America established its sound in the sunny, balladeering soft rock of the 1970s. But without the former, the latter might not have existed.
Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek established America shortly after graduating high school in London in 1970. Their first two albums cemented their place in the decade’s soft rock canon with hits like “A Horse with No Name” and “Ventura Highway.” But by their third album, Hat Trick, the band had lost some of its steam. They struggled to find the same commercial success as their eponymous debut and sophomore Homecoming, leading them to search for a producer who could help build out their sound.
The trio wrote a list of dream producers, and the Beatles’ George Martin was at the top of the list. They decided to take their biggest swing first, and it paid off. Martin agreed, and the British-American rock band traveled from Los Angeles to London to record with Martin for two months. America would ultimately only need 13 days to record, overdub, and mix their fourth full-length album, Holiday, which they released in June 1974.
America’s decision to employ Martin as their producer was not a thoughtless one. Martin was known as the “fifth Beatle” for his extensive work with the Fab Four from their earliest singles. He helped arrange and establish the Beatles’ distinct sound, and that’s precisely the kind of creative energy he brought to America, too. In an interview with Dan Rather, Beckley recalled Martin’s ability to “bring [a song] into focus,” and the results speak for themselves. Recording an album meant to take two months in under two weeks is an impressive feat in its own right.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
It’s hard to believe, but the Beatles never brought home a Grammy for Record of the Year. That could change a month from now at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, slated to be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 3, where their song “Now and Then” is up for that category along with Best Rock Performance.
“Now and Then,” hyped as “the last Beatles song,” was released in November 2023. It took a home demo of John Lennon’s from the late-‘70s, paired it with some guitar work from George Harrison circa 1995, and was completed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. It was initially considered for part of the “Anthology” project by the band in the mid-‘90s, which produced “new” Beatles material in the singles “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”
The song is up against some stiff competition for Record of the Year, including hits from Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and more contemporary hitmakers. In terms of the Best Rock Performance, it’s contending with Green Day, Pearl Jam, and the Black Keys among others. However, even if the Fab Four are awarded the gold gramophone, only two of them will be recognized:
Source: Michael Christopher/delcotimes.com
Everyone’s a critic, so they say, and that included long-time Beatles producer George Martin. The “fifth Beatle” helped the Fab Four create their extensive and iconic discography since the early 1960s days of “P.S. I Love You” and “Love Me Do.” This means that Martin saw many sides to the Beatles, both personally and sonically. Every time the band switched gears and started a new creative project, Martin was there to oversee the transition.
That process wasn’t without its pitfalls. The producer-artist relationship can grow tense if egos bruise or artistic visions go unmet. Martin and the Beatles shared a close relationship, but sometimes, one would make the other bristle. One such instance occurred between Martin and John Lennon in the initial stages of what would become one of the Beatles’ most iconic songs.
The Beatles Song George Martin “Flat Out Didn’t Like”
In a fitting testament to what is arguably the most psychedelic albums in their catalog, the recording sessions for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour were rife with tension as the band struggled to handle manager Brian Epstein’s worsening substance abuse. Epstein was absent for most of the recording process, leaving the Beatles to work with producer Brian Martin. As always, Martin refused to sugarcoat his opinion on the band’s work.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
On January 2, 1969, more than 30,000 copies of John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins were seized by police at Newark Airport in New Jersey. The album was confiscated since the cover photograph featured full frontal nudity violated pornography laws. Their debut release was the first of three experimental albums the two worked on during an all-night recording session on May 19, 1968, at Lennon’s Kenwood home, which ended in his then-wife Cynthia came home from a vacation in Greece to find them both sitting wearing matching white robes.
“After Yoko and I met, I didn’t realize I was in love with her,” said Lennon. “I was still thinking it was an artistic collaboration, as it were—producer and artist, right? My ex-wife was away, and Yoko came to visit me. Instead of making love, we went upstairs and made tapes. I had this room full of different tapes where I would write and make strange loops and things like that for the Beatles’ stuff. So we made a tape all night.”
Lennon continued, “She was doing her funny voices and I was pushing all different buttons on my tape recorder and getting sound effects. And then as the sun rose we made love and that was ‘Two Virgins.’”
Released in November 1968, the album became known more for its cover than Lennon and Ono’s music.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Tina Benitez-Eves
Trying to forge a solo career after being in one of (if not the) biggest band in the world is a tough task. It becomes even more so when you’ve accidentally built anticipation for it by not touring during the final years of that band. Paul McCartney can speak to both of those statements.
The Beatles stopped touring long before they broke the hearts of many around the world by breaking up. They didn’t feel their live sound was up to snuff. Rather than continue to disappoint (at least by their standards) they decided to take an early retirement from the live circuit.
Because of that, McCartney’s stint with Wings saw the former Beatle step back on the stage for the first time in a while. According to Macca, he found that moment daunting. Find out why, below.
McCartney has proven himself to be an enduring live performer. He’s a must-see act, decades after his debut with the Beatles. But, as he faced the daunting task of stepping back on the stage for the first time post-Beatles, he had specific stipulations to ensure success.
“The main thing I didn’t want to face was the torment of five rows of press people with little pads all looking and saying, ‘Oh, well, he’s not as good as he was,’” McCartney once said.
The hits he made with Wings were enough to earn McCartney a second leg of his career. But, before time proved that to be true, he felt like he didn’t have enough material to fill out a set. Nevertheless, he opted not to round out the show with Beatles songs.
“We decided not to do any Beatle material, which was a killer, of course, because it meant we had to do an hour of other material, and we didn’t have it, then,” he added. “I didn’t have something like ‘My Love’ that was sort of mine. I felt like everyone wanted Beatles stuff, so I was pretty nervous on that.”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
