Beatles News
Ringo Starr was not the first drummer to join The Beatles, but was instead a later addition to the line-up. His arrival came in the nick of time, however, and Sir Ringo was in the group when their biggest successes took place. So when did Sir Ringo join The Beatles, and who was in the band before him?
Sir Ringo Starr joined The Beatles on August 18, 1962, after being hired by Brian Epstein, the band’s manager.
He was not the band’s first drummer, and was in fact a replacement for a drummer who did not impress their producer, George Martin.
This drummer was Pete Best, a man who had been with the group for some time, but failed to remain a part of the band when their success came.
Pete was only fired from the group days before Sir Ringo was hired, which would have made his dismissal even more bitter when the band’s first album, which featured neither his work or Ringo’s, was hugely successful.
Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk
George Harrison was a prolific songwriter in his own right, but he spent The Beatles years very much in the shadow of Lennon/McCartney. He was granted one or maybe two songs per album, which ultimately left him with quite a back catalogue of unreleased material.
nd so, when the split finally came, George was first out of the blocks with a triple album called All Things Must Pass. The song selected to be a single from this album was My Sweet Lord, which George had composed a couple of years earlier having heard a song called Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers.
"It really just knocked me out, the idea of that song and I just felt a great feeling of the Lord," Harrison, who was already immersed in the Hare Krishna religion, said in an interview. "So, I thought, 'I'll write another Oh Happy Day, which became My Sweet Lord."
When he penned it he was still a member of The Beatles and it wasn't making it onto any Beatles album, so he gave it to his pal and Beatles collaborator Billy Preston, who was actually the first to release it in September 1970. But when his own version was released it became a worldwide hit, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and becoming the biggest-selling single of 1971.
Source: Jim Hayes/independent.ie
George Harrison claimed the first time he saw the Quarrymen was at the Wilson Hall, opposite the bus depot in Garston, Liverpool. According to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, the date was most likely the first week in February 1958.
However, accounts vary. Author Barry Miles noted the date as being the group’s booking at the hall on December 7, 1957. Conversely, Quarrymen drummer Colin Hanton recalled being introduced to the young guitarist on March 13 at the Morgue Skiffle Cellar. Harrison’s mother Louise, meanwhile, claimed they met in a local chip shop.
To add to the confusion, former Quarryman Pete Shotton maintained that Paul McCartney led the group to Harrison’s house at 25 Upton Green in Speke.
Regardless of the confusion over the dates, George himself said of the meeting:
Source: Joe/beatlesbible.com
50 years after the breakup of The Beatles, arguably the most influential music act of the 20th century, Paul McCartney is back with another self-titled album. “McCartney III” is, well, the third in McCartney’s series of completely self-made albums, where he plays every single instrument, sings all the vocals and, of course, writes all the songs. The first two “McCartney” albums came at times of great tumult in the titular musician’s life, with the first coming out in 1970 right after The Beatles broke up, and the second in 1980 after the breakup of the Wings, McCartney’s touring band post-Beatles.
While none of McCartney’s solo work has ever demonstrated the same level of quality as what he did with the Beatles, “McCartney” and “McCartney II” were particularly reviled by critics at the time of their release.
Source: Shreyas Banerjee/observer.case.edu
Pamela Adlon’s semi-autobiographical FX series Better Things follows the story of Sam Fox, a Los Angeles single mom struggling thanklessly to raise three daughters. But Better Things is not your average family sitcom. Episodes of Sam’s life appear through unconventional, often dreamy, interludes that unflinchingly examine off-beat topics, like menopause or the truly torturous attitudes of teenage girls. The Fox family relationships are both cruel and beautiful, a balance that’s reflected acutely in Better Things’ special theme song: “Mother” by John Lennon.
Most fans of the Beatles know that John Lennon’s free-spirited mother, Julia Lennon, deeply influenced her son’s songwriting. Julia’s premature death in 1958 (she was hit by a car) traumatized the teenage John, who was just beginning to know Paul McCartney and explore the rock ‘n’ roll scene of Liverpool.
Source: Emily Mack/rare.us
An unassuming artist's studio where Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club taught the band to play is for sale.
Originally built in 1902, London's Chelsea Manor Studio 4 was owned in the 1960s by celebrity photographer Michael Cooper, who assembled the Beatles together for one night and ended up producing one of the most iconic photo sessions in pop music history: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr dressed as Edwardian-era musicians standing before a constructed background collage of 66 cardboard and wax figures.
Source: Peter Mikelbank/finance.yahoo.com
In the twilight of the most harrowing year in recent memory, Paul McCartney chose to release the third and likely final installment in his self-titled album series. The former Beatle requires no introduction, but perhaps the “McCartney” albums do.
After John Lennon informed his bandmates that he wanted a divorce in September of 1969, McCartney withdrew from the public eye to his farm in Scotland, devastated. After a difficult two months, his wife Linda urged him to begin work on his first solo project.
Returning to London, McCartney recorded the album almost entirely in his home in St. John’s Wood on a fourtrack tape recorder without a mixing desk. He performed all the instrumentals and vocals on the record. A week after the official breakup of the Fab Four in April of 1970, Paul began his stellar solo career with the release of “McCartney.”
The album spent three weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard before losing its spot to “Let It Be” – ironically the Beatles’ 12th and final studio album – and offered one of the finest hits by an ex-Beatle in “Maybe I’m Amazed.”
Source: Cody Mello-Klein/alextimes.com
The impending release of the expanded John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band has been delayed again but we finally have a date for the announcement of a release date. Lennon fans will now find out all the details of the new 159 track box on 4 March 2021.The Plastic Ono Band site has confirmed that there will be 159 new mixes on the album. That may include repeat tracks such as both audio and Blu-Ray versions of the same tracks. It is also expected to include Yoko’s companion ‘Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band’ album, released the same day as John’s album on 11 December 1970.
Source: Paul Cashmere/noise11.com
Maybe the Beatles' all-consuming fame was such that they began to crave a certain anonymity. Maybe they were trying to avoid hassles relating to label affiliations. Or maybe they were just being silly.
Regardless of the circumstance, as the below list of Top 10 Secret Beatles Collaborations shows, history eventually revealed a series of initially anonymous credits while producing, writing and playing sessions under made-up names.
Their choices could be quite inventive, as when Paul McCartney transformed into Apollo C. Vermouth in order to produce the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. But on other occasions, the Beatles made little pretense about hiding their true identities: George Harrison called himself "Harry Georgeson," "Son of Harry" and, while sitting in on Billy Preston's 1971 album I Wrote a Simple Song, simply "George H."
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
THE BEATLES' final album Let It Be, included a collection of wondrous songs that have gone down in history as some of the band's best work - but one of the songs was originally supposed to be given to Tom Jones, until his record label rejected it, in favour of another song.
Sir Paul McCartney worked hard to fill out The Beatles’ last album, and even used songs that he was originally supposed to give away. One of these tracks was the legendary The Long and Winding Road. The star, who claimed he wrote the song in the same style as Ray Charles, first wanted to gift the song to Sir Tom Jones - on one big condition.
McCartney was, at the time, on very good terms with Jones, and were both extremely famous around the world.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
