Beatles News
Pulitzer prize-winning Northern Irish poet Paul Muldoon, who has edited Sir Paul McCartney's lyrical memoirs, has likened the book's creative process to The Beatles' legendary afternoon song-writing sessions.
he Co Armagh man and contemporary of the late Seamus Heaney, was enlisted by McCartney to work on his 900-page volume The Lyrics, a 'self-portrait in 154 songs', charting the 78-year-old's career from boyhood to The Beatles.
The book will cover the 'circumstances in which the songs were written, the people and places that inspired them and what (McCartney) thinks of them now'.
Muldoon, a former professor of poetry at Oxford and fan of Sixties pop, met up with the former Beatle many times to discuss the book's content and the writing process.
“Sir Paul and I met regularly over a period of five years for two or three hour sessions in which we talked in a very intensive way about the background to a half dozen songs,” said Muldoon.
Source: Maureen Coleman/ belfasttelegraph.co.uk
The Beatles' Sir Paul McCartney usually steered clear of getting involved in political goings-on. In 1972 he was working hard with his wife, Linda McCartney, on his second band, Paul McCartney and Wings. The group had just released their first album, Wild Life, but when a peaceful demonstration in Ireland ended with 26 people being shot by British soldiers, he felt he had to step up. In a tragic event now called Bloody Sunday the death of 14 people left a lasting effect on The Beatle, who himself has roots in Ireland on his mother’s side.
In an instantaneous and furious response, McCartney wrote a song to speak his mind for him.
At the time the singer was in New York with John Lennon when he saw the news and decided to write Give Ireland Back to the Irish.
McCartney was keen to make his voice heard on this matter and attempted to get his record company, EMI, to release it, but it didn’t go according to plan.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
The life and work of Ringo Starr will be celebrated in a new virtual exhibit at the Grammy Museum this month. The museum, which is currently closed due to the ongoing pandemic, will host archive and new interviews via their streaming service, as well as featuring a digital version of the hugely popular 2013 exhibit, Peace & Love. Peace & Love was the first exhibit to cover the entirety of Ringo's life in music: from the early days of his childhood, through to his rise to fame with the Beatles and his time with the All Starr Band.
Source: genesis-publications.com
And, that John Lennon wrote “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (often thought of as being about the drug LSD, due to the song’s initials) was actually written about the death of a little girl named Lucy who was his son Julian’s friend.
Or, did you know that it was Ed Sullivan himself who noticed the throngs of teenagers waiting for the band at London’s airport when they were returning from playing in Hamburg, Germany in 1963? He then booked the band for their (now) historic appearance in February 1964.
The interesting facts in this book just keep coming.
When Paul introduced “the one and only Billy Shears” in his song “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” he was actually referring to drummer Ringo Starr, whom Paul and John wanted to help promote.
These stories are but a few of those in perhaps the most exhaustive book ever written about history’s greatest band. The book is called All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release.
It’s a fascinating look at the genesis of every Beatles song, ranging from the number of takes it took to record each song to the inspiration behind each lyric. Beyond that, it’s full of behind-the-scenes drama that made the Beatles far more than just history’s greatest selling band.
Source: David R. Altman/mainstreetnews.com
Fond Memories of George Harrison
Legendary photographer Harry Benson, 91, tells SurvivorNet about traveling the world with The Beatles, and how he was the closest with George Harrison, who died from throat and lung cancer and would have turned 78 years old today. “We spent a lot of time in Copenhagen. And in Paris … we’d sit in a cafe and talk about nothing,” he muses. “With George it was always easy, we would basically talk about nothing. George would often say ‘this isn’t going to last more than a year.’ John Lennon would say that as well.”
Benson was with the band in Paris at the George V hotel when they first learned they hit number one in the U.S. with “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” The iconic “pillow fight” pic captured that moment.
A leading expert tells SurvivorNet that past and present smokers should get screened early for lung cancer.
At first, world-famous photographer Harry Benson wasn’t particularly fond of his travel assignments in the early ’60s with The Beatles, who went on to be one of the biggest bands—if not thee biggest—of all time.
Source: Marisa Sullivan/survivornet.com
When you dig into the unmatched success of The Beatles, you can’t help noticing how the group (and its producer) shied away from releasing George Harrison songs as singles. If you’re looking for a Harrison song on the A-side of a Beatles single, you have to wait until Abbey Road (1969).
That’s when “Something” went out as a double A-side release with John Lennon’s “Come Together.” Abbey Road was, of course, the last album the Fab Four recorded. Given the dearth of quality Harrison material on Let It Be (1970), “Something” (or “Here Comes the Sun”) represented Harrison’s last shot at an A-side.
Harrison had landed his first B-side of a single just the year before. That happened when The Beatles released “Lady Madonna,” a Paul McCartney composition, in March ’68. Harrison’s B-side on the single never went out on a Fab Four studio album, and it was unique for several other reasons.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Imagine a humpback whale emerging from the ocean in slow-motion, taking a big gulp of the water near the North Island. That’s the type of action Rolf usually captures with his camera. That's why he was surprised when he received a phone call from the U.S. Humane Society.
“[They asked], ‘Are you willing to photograph a celebrity in the Arctic?’ And I said, ‘What?!’” Rolf smiles, recalling his disbelief. “‘[Then they said], ‘We can’t give you any more information right now.’”
It was a secret assignment for an anything-but paparazzo. While the nature photos on Rolf’s Instagram page certainly feature subjects with screen presence, like otters looking through his lens, his subjects don’t usually walk red carpets – picture bears stepping across green seaweed. They certainly don't earn splashing headlines, except perhaps for his photos of dolphins parting in the sea.
“But whatever. If they pick me they got a reason,” Rolf smiles. “So of course [I accepted the assignment and asked] what’s involved.”
Source: Adam Sawatsky/vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca
Paul McCartney is giving fans a glimpse into his incredible decades-long career in his upcoming book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present.
On Wednesday, the famed singer, 78, announced the two-volume, 960-page collection which will see McCartney "recount his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career," according to a press release.
The book, which editor Paul Muldoon said is as "close to an autobiography as we may ever come," is due out November 2nd and is available for preorder now.
"More often than I can count, I've been asked if I would write an autobiography, but the time has never been right. The one thing I've always managed to do, whether at home or on the road, is to write new songs," McCartney said in a statement.
"I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks," he continued. "What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I've learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life."
According to the release, The Lyrics will span McCartney's career "from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present."
Source: Georgia Slater/people.com
The Grammy Museum has announced a virtual Ringo Starr program in March featuring a virtual exhibit and interviews with the former Beatle.
On March 4th, the museum will release a 2010 interview with Starr from their Live From the Vault series, followed by a new interview with the museum’s founding executive director Bob Santelli on March 18th. Starr will discuss his upcoming EP Zoom In and his new book Ringo Rocks: 30 Years of the All Starrs 1989-2019.
The museum will also feature the 2013 exhibit Peace & Love virtually; it covers his early life in Liverpool, his launch to superstardom with the Beatles, and his years with the All Starr Band. The museum’s streaming service Collection: Live can be accessed here.
Source: Angie Martoccio/Rolling Stone
George Harrison sadly died almost 20 years ago and would have turned 78-years-old this week if still alive. Nevertheless, his incredible legacy with The Beatles lives on to this day. And now Sir Paul McCartney and the John Lennon estate have celebrated what would have been George Harrison’s 78th birthday on February 25, 2021.
Sir Paul shared a picture of himself with George in what looks like the late 1960s.
The 78-year-old wrote on his Instagram: “Have a great day on what would have been my mate George’s birthday - Paul.”
While the John Lennon estate shared a picture of John and George during the same period and some earlier ones too.
They wished the Quiet Beatle a happy birthday, before recommending the John and George playlist.
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
