Beatles News
Hero Collector, known for their fandom-related collectibles, figurines, and exclusive merch has released a new Beatles-themed Advent Calendar so you can count down the days until Christmas.
While the holidays may be a few months away, if you can’t wait to cuddle up near the fire and listen to the White Album while the snow falls outside, the brand-new The Beatles Advent Calendar is a great gift that’ll let you take a trip down Penny Lane while you celebrate Christmas in July. The Beatles calendar is exclusive to Hero Collector’s site, and is now available to preorder.
You’ll be able to celebrate every day of the holiday season with the Fab Four with this box-set Advent calendar, featuring pop art-style designs made to evoke some of The Beatles‘ most iconic artwork. The eye-catching rainbow silhouettes of John, Paul, George, and Ringo will be a great decoration to set up next to your Christmas tree, or just for display any time of year on your shelf.
Source: Sage Anderson/rollingstone.com
Boston Beatles fans may want to break out their shovels: could 50,000 rare Beatles “butcher” covers really be buried in a Needham landfill?
On June 27, 1966, historical archives show Boston’s Capitol Records team finished burying thousands of the now-collectible “Yesterday and Today” record covers in the Needham town dump.
Ryan Walsh, a local author, indie musician, and musical historian of sorts, shared his discovery on Twitter on June 25. He posted photos of a June 28, 1966 memo describing the records’s destruction, and a June 25, 1966 Boston Globe article on why the covers were destroyed.
Source: Julia Taliesin /boston.com
John Lennon became famous during his years with The Beatles, but 10 years after the band broke up, he continued making music, and he was arguably even more well known than he had been before.
Sadly, the people who loved his music will never know where his remarkable talent might have taken him, because on December 8, 1980, Lennon was shot outside his apartment building. In the days following his death, fans all over the world demonstrated their love and grief by gathering together for vigils.
But how did his former bandmates remember him?
On that shocking night in December, Lennon was coming home with his wife, Yoko Ono, when he was fatally shot outside his home. According to The Guardian, Lennon’s killer was a man named Mark David Chapman, a 25-year-old man from Hawaii.
Source: cheatsheet.com
There are few lives in popular music as remarkable as Paul McCartney and photographer Harry Benson's book Paul captures key moments in the legendary musician's life with equally compelling intimacy.
Published by Taschen, many of the 150 images in the book have never been seen before. Paul follows McCartney at the height of his fame with the Beatles; in the recording studio with wife Linda and their band, Wings; with his family and on the couple’s farm in the UK in the early 1990s.
Each numbered collector's edition hardcover book (No. 101-700) is signed by Harry Benson and packaged in an acrylic box.
“I’m proud of the work that I’ve done with Paul over the years and grateful he’s allowed me to document some private and personal moments in his extraordinary life,” says Benson.
The Glasgow-born photographer has had an incredible career of his own; photographing every US president since Eisenhower and documenting the Civil Rights movement. He was next to Robert Kennedy when he was assassinated.
Source: Rob Laing/musicradar.com
Sir Ringo Starr turns 81-years-old on July 7 this year and has shared a special request with his fans in a new video. The Beatles drummer looked decades younger as he greeted viewers with his birthday wish. Dressed in a white jacket and standing in front of some greenery, Sir Ringo said: “Good morning, good afternoon, good evening!”
Sir Ringo continued: “I’m inviting everyone who wants to join the peace and love celebration for my birthday at noon your time wherever you are, 7-7-21.
“And you can post it, you can say it, you can even think it – but it would be cool if you go "Peace and Love" at noon on my birthday.
“So let’s spread peace and love on my birthday – c’mon everybody!”
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
The Beatles and Frank Sinatra were from disparate universes: The Beatles sang “A Day in a Life”; Sinatra sang “That’s Life.” The Fab Four floated down rivers with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Ol' Blue Eyes crooned about gritty cities like New York and Chicago.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr smoked dope, dropped acid, meditated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and reinvented pop music over and over again. At least early on, the Chairman of the Board described these type of songs as a “deplorable, a rancid-smelling aphrodisiac” that “fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people.”
Both sought to redefine music, however, while fighting for the hearts, minds and ears of millions – and they were actually right alongside each other. The best evidence was when the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” and Sinatra’s "Strangers in the Night" battled it out for song of the summer in 1966.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
The year was 1966, and the British invasion of The Beatles had enraptured music fans across the United States. It was 55 years ago this month, June 1966, that the group's album entitled "Yesterday and Today" was released in the U.S. and Canada. It was then that The Beatles hit a bump on the long and winding road to success."The actual album, which we keep in plastic, is known as the butcher cover," Charles Rosenay, who organizes festivals and tours -- and owns a rare original copy of the album cover says. "It was not very popular with parents.""Yesterday and Today" is remembered primarily for the controversy surrounding its original cover image. Known as the "butcher cover," it was taken by photographer Robert Whitaker and shows the band dressed in white coats and covered with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of raw meat. Although the photo was intended to be part of a larger work critiquing the adulation afforded the Beatles, the band members insisted it was a statement against the Vietnam War.
Source: wcvb.com
Fans of the Beatles may know the story of the iconic band’s breakup. In 1969, John Lennon told Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison in private that he wanted out of the band. Months later, McCartney announced his own decision to leave the group, and the news of the breakup went public.
According to Lennon’s former girlfriend, May Pang, the final nail in the Beatles’ coffin didn’t come until 1974. As Pang noted, Lennon signed the final documents to dissolve the band in the unlikeliest of places during their Christmas holiday. Here’s the story of Lennon’s final moments with the Beatles in Disney World.
Source: cheatsheet.com
“A Day in the Life” is often considered one of The Beatles’ greatest songs, however, John Lennon didn’t see it that way. John liked the song but he didn’t put it on a pedestal. Here’s a look at how The Beatles made “A Day in the Life” — and John’s opinion on the song.
During a 1968 interview with Rolling Stone’s Jonathan Cott, John discussed a whole host of The Beatles’ songs, including “A Day in the Life.” “I dug it,” he said. “It just sort of happened beautifully, and we arranged it and rehearsed it, which we don’t often do, the afternoon before. So we all knew what we were playing, we all got into it.”
Subsequently, John explained a little about the origin of the song. “Paul sang half of it and I sang half,” he said. “I needed a middle-eight for it, but that would have been forcing it, all the rest had come out smooth, flowing, no trouble, and to write a middle-eight would have been to write a middle-eight, but instead Paul already had one there. It’s a bit of a 2001, you know.” It’s unclear why John compared the song to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison anticipated something bad might happen when The Beatles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Specifically, he felt one of his fellow classic rock stars might say something bad about him during the ceremony. Here’s a look at what the rock star said about George.The Beatles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, making them one of the earlier acts to receive that honor. The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger inducted them into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with a brief speech. During the speech, he revealed that George asked him a question beforehand.
Source: cheatsheet.com
