Beatles News
George Harrison and comedian Mike Myers never met, but they were fans of each other from afar. Myers is a huge Beatles fan, being the son of two Liverpudlian immigrants. However, Myers didn’t find out that George was just as much a fan of his work until the day George died in 2001.
Even more special, Myers read about George’s admiration of him in one of George’s last letters.
As the son of two Liverpudlian immigrants, Myers shares a connection with The Beatles. The actor is a huge fan, but Myers never expected to receive George’s last letter. The Canadian comedian explained the situation during an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018.
“Coming from Liverpool parents, George and The Beatles represented like the best of our gene pool,” Myers joked. “All I ever wanted was to just have a sense that The Beatles knew I existed. There’s six faces in Liverpool and I have one of them. You know what I mean? It’s true.
Source: cheatsheet.com
It's one of the most iconic album covers of all time: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr strolling across a zebra-striped street called Abbey Road in St John's Wood, north London.
It is an image as memorable as the moon landing - and one copied by tourists on a daily basis. (Even a few bands have paid homage, most notably Booker T & The MGs.)
Ironically, the shot was a last-minute decision.
During the recording of what was to be their swan song, The Beatles toyed with several titles, and Everest, a reference to the brand of cigarettes their late chief engineer, Geoff Emerick, smoked, was the favourite.
"But the band decided they didn't want to trek to the top of Mount Everest to shoot the cover," Emerick told us, with a laugh whne we spoke to him in 2014. "So Ringo said, 'Why don't we just shoot the cover outside and call it Abbey Road?' Like many a Ringo suggestion, it won out."
Source: Joe Bosso/musicradar.com
In February 1963, Dick Biondi, a popular nighttime disc jockey (DJ) at WLS-AM in Chicago, dropped the needle on “Please Please Me,” becoming the first person to play the Beatles on American radio. Black with rainbow trim, the label on the record misspelled the band’s name as the “Beattles.” The record company’s name—“Vee Jay,” the initials of co-founders Vivian Carter and Jimmy Bracken, a married Black couple who’d set up shop on Chicago’s South Side in the 1950s—appeared up top.
At the time, the Beatles were enjoying a surge of popularity in Britain but remained virtually unknown in the United States. Vee Jay took a chance on the Liverpool quartet, signing them after Capitol Records, the American subsidiary of the Beatles’ British label, EMI Records, declined to do so. (British artists fared poorly in the U.S.—or so the company believed.) Though Capitol eventually stepped forward to claim the Beatles, just as Beatlemania was poised to sweep America in late 1963, Vee Jay deserves credit for introducing the band to the U.S.
Source: Bryan Greene/smithsonianmag.com
It's one of the most iconic album covers of all time: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr strolling across a zebra-striped street called Abbey Road in St John's Wood, north London.
It is an image as memorable as the moon landing - and one copied by tourists on a daily basis. (Even a few bands have paid homage, most notably Booker T & The MGs.)
Ironically, the shot was a last-minute decision.
During the recording of what was to be their swan song, The Beatles toyed with several titles, and Everest, a reference to the brand of cigarettes their late chief engineer, Geoff Emerick, smoked, was the favourite.
So Ringo said, 'Why don't we just shoot the cover outside and call it Abbey Road?'
Source: musicradar.com
The Empress pub in Toxteth is set to be transformed into Beatles themed hotel, complete with a mural of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr on the side of the building.
The pub, on High Park Street, is located close to the childhood home of Ringo Starr.
Liverpool artist John Culshaw, famous for the "For all Liverpool's Liver Birds" artwork in the Baltic Triangle, was commissioned to create the piece.
The pub is a destination for Beatles fans taking in the city, with tourists frequently visiting the L8 landmark.
This is due to The Empress appearing on the cover of Ringo's first solo album 'Sentimental Journey' which was released in March 1970.
Source: Chris Grundy/liverpoolecho.co.uk
John Lennon‘s son, Sean Ono Lennon, opened up about some of his father’s solo songs. During an interview, he said his father might not have enjoyed the song “#9 Dream.” Notably, Sean compared the song to one of The Beatles’ most famous tunes.
During a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, Sean discussed some of his favorite of John’s solo songs. He said “#9 Dream” was the best song on John’s album Walls and Bridges. Sean thought his father admitted he disliked the song. Sean wasn’t sure if he believed his father.
“‘#9 Dream’ is one of his best songs,” Sean opined. “I think he didn’t love it. Maybe because it wasn’t deep, heartfelt, raw emotion, and it wasn’t heavy-duty intellectual. It was a light song. But I think it’s gorgeous. As a composer, it’s a masterpiece.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
Legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar and The Beatles had a meaningful relationship. Without Shankar’s influence, The Beatles might not have experimented with new sounds.
However, Shankar didn’t enjoy The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” off one of their first experimental albums, Rubber Soul. He loved that it brought eastern music to a new audience, but George Harrison had a lot to learn about the sitar.
Still, as he started teaching George how to play the right way, Shankar couldn’t reveal his real thoughts on “Norwegian Wood.”
George first heard Indian music in utero. His mother used to play Radio India while she was pregnant with him. However, George didn’t hear the mystical melodies fully until The Beatles filmed a scene of Help! in an Indian restaurant in 1965.
He couldn’t get the sound of sitars out of his head. So, George took some lessons and added the instrument to The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
Hey Paul: Sir Paul McCartney, 79, will reportedly be the headline act for Glastonbury 2022 (pictured in 2004)
According to the Sun, Paul will follow Noel Gallagher and Haim on Saturday, June 25 and is 'determined to put on a hell of a show'.
'Paul’s set will be an absolutely must-see. He is really excited for it and is determined to put on a hell of a show packed with all of the hits,' a source said.
'There was some discussion about whether he should go ahead with shows this year because of the situation with Covid, but he decided he really wants to perform.
'Glastonbury is such an amazing event to headline and he knows it will be an incredible moment for him.'
Source: Jonathan Rose/dailymail.co.uk
One of the most famous classic rock love songs is Eric Clapton‘s “Wonderful Tonight.” During an interview, Clapton’s then-wife, Pattie Boyd, said she thought she upset Clapton and inspired the song instead. She also revealed why it was painful for her to hear the track sometimes.In a 2018 Harper’s Bazaar article, Boyd discussed “Wonderful Tonight” with Taylor Swift. Swift said she wanted to know what inspired the song. She learned the song was about a time Boyd took her time to pick out an outfit before going to a party.Boyd expected Clapton to be upset with her. “I came downstairs with trepidation thinking [Clapton] was going to be so angry that I’d taken far too long, and instead he said, ‘Listen, I’ve just written this song,'” she recalled.
Source: cheatsheet.com
One of The Isley Brothers met The Beatles after a show. Paul McCartney said The Isley Brothers changed The Beatles’ lives. Subsequently, Paul got on stage and talked about The Isley Brothers’ impact on the Fab Four.
“Twist and Shout” was originally performed by a duo called The Top Notes. The Isley Brothers covered the song. Subsequently, The Beatles recorded both “Twist and Shout” and an original Isley Brothers song called “Shout.”
During an interview with UK Music Reviews, The Isley Brothers’ Ernie Isley discussed meeting the Fab Four. “We had finished playing a show recently and after I had come off the stage, my wife said, ‘Paul McCartney’s sitting over there,'” he recalled. “Well, he was sitting three or four tables away and let me tell you, I didn’t need telling twice. So, I walked over to where he was sitting and tapped him on the shoulder.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
