Beatles News
Paul McCartney said you can hear a vulgar message if you play one of the songs from The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band backward. However, he indicated this was not The Beatles’ intent. Here’s what happened when Paul played one of The Beatles’ most famous songs backward –and why he decided to do so in the first place.
During a 1974 interview with Rolling Stone, Paul discussed how fans found many hidden meanings in The Beatles’ work. For example, he mentioned some people believed the cover of Abbey Road contained clues revealing he died. He said it was easy to see hidden meanings in things if you were looking for hidden meanings.
Then he discussed backmasking. Backmasking is the phenomenon in which artists will put backward messages in their songs. While there are some examples of intentional backmasking, other times fans hear messages in songs played backward the artist did not intentionally put there. For example, Paul admitted that one of the songs from Sgt. Pepper sounded like it included a vulgar lyric when played backward even though he wasn’t aware of this until after the album’s completion.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Last summer, Beck was at loose ends in Los Angeles. “My whole year was canceled, with the shutdowns and everything,” says the singer. “My engineer’s wife was having a baby, so he wasn’t available. I really hadn’t been making much music. My studio had been dark for a year.”
Then came word that Paul McCartney had a new solo album in the works — and that he’d asked for Beck to remix one of its songs. “‘OK, McCartney’s calling, let’s get in there and figure out how everything works!’” Beck recalls thinking. “It gave me something to do.”
Similar top-secret communiques went out to a select group of artists last year in the run-up to McCartney III, the laid-back DIY delight that McCartney recorded during the peak quarantine months and released in December. The result, out this week, is McCartney III Imagined, a kaleidoscopic sampler plate of remixes and cover versions from a roster that also includes St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, Anderson .Paak, Damon Albarn, Khruangbin, and more.
Source: Simon Vozick-Levinson/Rolling Stone
When a music veteran like former Beatle Ringo Starr voices his opinion on which of the current music makers have caught his attention, well, he’s got our attention.
Here’s what the All-Starr Band leader had to say about the music superstar he says is doing things right, plus the songs he’s been keeping on his playlist.
During the current pandemic, although Starr had to cancel in 2020 two of his All-Starr Band’s tours, he’s kept busy making new music.
In March, the Photograph singer released an EP called Zoom In, featuring five tracks. Starr recruited Sam Hollander, who’s served as music producer for Katy Perry, to work his magic on the songs, from the reggae-infused “Waiting for the Tide to Turn,” to the playfully rocking “Teach Me to Tango.”
Starr told Variety last month that the track he enjoyed creating most “was ‘Waiting for the Tide to Turn,’ because it was reggae. So it was the atmosphere of: Let’s make a reggae record… and I played reggae drums. I don’t know how you do that! I just do what I think of as reggae drums.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney never forgot a song he should have remembered.
In the early days, he and John Lennon would work on songs for a few hours and write down some lyrics on a “bit of paper” then forget what the song was by the next morning. But nothing was ever truly lost.
“Me and John were very excited to work with each other,” said McCartney, during a recent chat with Annie Clark (St. Vincent) on Instagram Live. “I could fill in anything he needed, he could fill in anything I needed, so I don’t really think we had too many forgettable songs.”
On the eve of the release of his McCartney III Reimagined, McCartney took to Instagram for two impromptu chats with St. Vincent and Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, two artists handpicked to remix the original tracks off McCartney III, his 18th solo album, released in 2020, and ended up reminiscing on The Beatles, his deep connection to Lennon, and the power of a song.
Source: americansongwriter.com
The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of the most acclaimed albums ever, however, it inspired a review that made the Fab Four bitter. Paul McCartney revealed the review was upsetting because of what it said about their producer, George Martin, and how that reflected on the rest of the band. Here’s what Paul had to say about Sgt. Pepper — and what Martin had to say on the same topic.During an interview with Paul Gambaccinni of Rolling Stone, Paul discussed many topics, including the album Ram, Steve McQueen, Marvin Gaye, and “Long Tail Sally.” Gambaccinni asked Paul how much Martin contributed to “Yesterday” and other songs by the Fab Four. Paul revealed “George’s contribution was quite a big one, actually…. George was in there quite heavily from the beginning.” Paul then started discussing a review of Sgt. Pepper that gave Martin a tremendous amount of credit for creating the album.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Paul and Linda McCartney had one of the most famous celebrity realities ever, so it only makes sense that they fell in love with a song the night they met each other. Paul found the song very mysterious and thought it was inspired by the work of another famous composer. Here’s what he and Linda said about the song.According to the book Paul McCartney: Many years from now, Paul heard Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” for the first time the night he met Linda and was taken along with her songs. Paul said, “It was the first evening we had ever heard a record called ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ with words that felt the sea.” “The lyrics were all very weird and poetic and the subject was a famous Bach theme, but we didn’t know that. We just thought, ‘God, what an incredible record!’ It was like a marker record. It was a benchmark. “
Source: granthshala.com
Paul McCartney is one of a variety of music stars set to appear on Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson, a new Apple TV+ docuseries that will premiere on July 30.
The six-part show will follow famed DJ and producer Ronson as he “uncovers the untold stories behind music creation and the lengths producers and creators are willing to go to find the perfect sound.” To do that, he’ll interview artists including McCartney, Foo Fighters‘ Dave Grohl, and Beastie Boys members Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond.
Each episode will end with Ronson debuting a new piece of original music, similar to the 2014 Foo Fighters docuseries Sonic Highways.
Other artists who’ll appear on Watch the Sound include Questlove, Charli XCX and King Princess.
McCartney previously collaborated with Ronson when he co-produced Sir Paul’s 2015 studio album, NEW.
Source: kticradio.com
“Dear Prudence” is the instantly recognizable melody found on The Beatles‘ recording known as “The White Album.”
As the story goes, John Lennon wrote the tune for Prudence Farrow, sister of Mia Farrow.
Here’s the story behind Lennon’s inspiration, as well as what Prudence herself has said of the famous tribute to her.
In February 1968, The Beatles traveled to India to meet with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi “to cleanse their minds, bodies, and souls, contemplating the meaning of life at the feet of the Maharishi,” as Ringo Starr biographer Michael Seth Starr (no relation to the Beatle) wrote in Ringo: With a Little Help.
It was George Harrison’s commitment to the Maharishi’s teachings that had inspired in the band a desire for spiritual enlightenment. Thanks to The Beatles, perspectives in the West were changing towards Indian spirituality.
“The Maharishi, who was now billing himself as ‘The Beatles’ Guru,’ would enlighten them in the ways of Transcendental Meditation at his International Center for Meditation, a 14-acre compound surrounded by lush jungle and located in the mountains across the River Ganges near Rishikesh,” Starr wrote.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The John Lennon and Paul McCartney partnership produced some of The Beatles’ biggest and best songs throughout their career. The writing duo found fame with such hits as Let It Be, Help! and Hey Jude. Their writing styles blended together perfectly, but The Who guitarist Townshend previously revealed they were very different in social situations, treating people in vastly different ways.
Speaking in 1968, Townshend told Rolling Stone about hanging out with each member of the Fab Four individually.
He said: “I had an incredible conversation once with Paul McCartney. The difference between the way Lennon and McCartney behave with the people that are around them is incredible.”
The beginnings of Townshend’s theory could be spotted through various parts of the band members’ lives.
Lennon became an eccentric artist in the final years of the band as demonstrated in the works of art and music he created with his second wife, Yoko Ono.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
A half-eaten piece of a Beatle’s toast, touring their hotel room after their first Toronto show and the delicious taste of the bubble gum that came with the band’s collector cards
"Our parents laughed and figured they’d be gone in a year," says retired broadcaster Scott Turnbull about The Beatles.
Sudbury.com invited readers to share their memories of one of the most influential bands of the 20th century.
"The Beatles have had more influence than anything or anyone else. When you look back, you realize they changed everything. Our music. Our clothes. Our haircuts. Our attitudes. They weren’t just a band, they were a cultural phenomenon," says Turnbull, who grew up in Sudbury and worked at CKSO from 1976 to the early 1980s.
The band's beat turned him on to rock, a passion that led to a 43-year career in broadcasting.
Turnbull, who now lives in Sault Ste. Marie, wanted to be a drummer like Ringo Starr.
"Within a year or two, I knew I was never going to be much of a drummer. But I wanted to be part of the whole music thing, so I got into radio. It’s dragged me around a bit. It was lots of fun … met lots of great people."
Source: Vicki Gilhula/sudbury.com
