Beatles News
Paul McCartney has spoken in a new interview of his joy at reuniting with The Beatles bandmate and songwriting partner John Lennon.
Talking with Lennon's son Sean, he says that it would have been a ″heartache″ if they hadn't been able to meet up again after the band had been torn apart due to what McCartney calls ″arguing ... business differences.″
Lennon died after being shot outside his apartment on Dec.8, 1980, at the age of 40 — and the landmark of what would have been his 80th birthday is being celebrated in the interview that airs on BBC Radio 2 this weekend.
″I always say to people, one of the great things for me was that after all The Beatles rubbish and all the arguing and the business, you know, business differences really .. that even after all of that, I'm so happy that I got it back together with your dad,″ McCartney, 78, says. ″It really, really would have been a heartache to me if we hadn't have reunited. It was so lovely to me that we did and it really gives me strength to know that."
Source: Simon Perry/yahoo.com
Peter Jackson's The Beatles documentary has been given a new release date for Australian cinemas.
Originally scheduled to hit US cinemas on 4 September, The Beatles: Get Back's Australian release will now move forward a week to 26 August, 2021.
The Beatles: Get Back, to be released by Walt Disney Studios, looks at the making of the iconic band's final album Let It Be and features their last ever concert on London's Savile Row rooftop.
“Working on this project has been a joyous discovery. I’ve been privileged to be a fly on the wall while the greatest band of all time works, plays and creates masterpieces," Jackson said.
"I’m thrilled that Disney have stepped up as our distributor. There’s no one better to have our movie seen by the greatest number of people.”
Source: themusic.com.au
Paul McCartney appears as one of the interviewees in a new BBC radio documentary marking what would have been John Lennon‘s 80th birthday.
The documentary, John Lennon at 80, is broadcast from 9-10pm on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, and is presented by Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon.
McCartney was asked whether he and Lennon wrote “any throwaway songs that were sort of bad? Or was this kind of like, you just struck gold from the beginning?”
“There were a few songs that weren’t very good,” McCartney said. “There were a few that were clearly [by] young songwriters who don’t quite know how to do it. There was one called ‘Just Fun’.”
Elsewhere, McCartney revealed that even after The Beatles’ split, he continued to be influenced by Lennon.
Source: topi.radio
Sir Paul McCartney has admitted how grateful his is that he had the chance to reconnect with Beatles bandmate John Lennon before his death.
The relationship became strained between the pair after Lennon quit the band, leading to its dissolution after the release of their final album Let It Be in 1970.
Lennon was murdered by obsessed fan Mark Chapman outside his New York apartment on 8 December 1980, aged 40.
McCartney, 78, has now revealed in conversation with Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon, 44, for new BBC Radio 2 documentary John Lennon At 80: “I always say to people, one of the great things for me was that after all The Beatles rubbish and all the arguing and the business, you know, business differences really… that even after all of that, I'm so happy that I got it back together with your dad.
Source: yahoo.com
Abbey Road (1969) has always enjoyed a shining reputation. Right after its release, the final studio album by The Beatles received one breathless review after another and spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. It’s hard to have more critical and commercial success.
But as the decades passed, you saw Beatles fans and cultural critics treating Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) with even greater reverence. In 2003, when Rolling Stone compiled its “500 Greatest Albums” list, Sgt. Pepper claimed the top spot.
That hardly came as a surprise. After all, the record has long represented the turning point in pop music, even though many (including John Lennon) preferred other Beatles albums. However, the tide may have finally turned in Abbey Road’s favor.
While every other Beatles record exited the top 10 in the 2020 Rolling Stone “Greatest Albums” poll, Abbey Road moved up among the elite of music history. In the last few years, the record’s reputation has actually grown.
Source: cheatsheet.com
A totally unauthorised and 100 % unofficial tribute to John Lennon celebrating (believe it or not) his 80th birthday is to take place at London’s Stash Gallery. Curator Harry Pye has selected 80 artists (some very well known) and asked them to make a work to mark the life and career of this great artist and cultural legend.
I still turn to John Lennon when I need cheering up or feel in need of inspiration – Harry Pye Curator
“COVID 19 won’t stop our show. We’ve accepted we can’t have one big opening party but we can have 4 small-ish ones on each of the first 4 Fridays in October. The venue we’ve picked is located near Aldgate East tube and is part of the club Vout-O-Reene’s. John Lennon’s Not Dead will feature; drawings, paintings, photography, and collage. There will also be some specially made music and animation and some surprise performances.
Source: artlyst.com
It has been revealed that Paul McCartney was close to being cast in hit US sitcom Friends.
The former Beatle, who played two shows at London’s O2 Arena over the weekend, was headhunted for the role of Ross Geller’s father-in-law back in 1998. Speaking to Huffington Post recently, the show’s casting director Leslie Litt confirmed that the creators wanted McCartney for Season Four’s two-part finale, which saw Geller marrying British love interest Emily Waltham (played by Helen Baxendale) in London. Emily’s father was eventually portrayed by Scottish-born actor Tom Conti.
“I went through his manager and gave him all the details,” Litt said. “One day, someone in the office brought me a faxed letter written to me by Paul himself!” Litt continued to tell Huffington Post: “He thanked me for my interest and said how flattered he was, but it was a very busy time for him.”
Source: Luke Morgan Britton/nme.com
The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is often seen as a peak for the Fab Four, if not for rock music in general. John Lennon certainly had some warm feelings toward the album. However, he also felt it was inferior to one of his solo albums.
The album John Lennon called ‘Sergeant Lennon’
In Jann S. Wenner’s book Lennon Remembers, Wenner remarked how John had warm feelings about Sgt Pepper’s. For decades, Sgt. Pepper’s was widely considered The Beatles’ best work and John described the album as a “peak.” John noted how, when crafting that album, he and Paul McCartney were truly collaborating. Though he liked the songs he wrote for the White Album better, John felt Sgt. Pepper’s was ultimately superior. Then, Yoko Ono chimed in to give her opinion on Sgt. Pepper’s.
Source: cheatsheet.com
All four members of the Beatles signed this promotional copy of “Meet the Beatles” for George Harrison’s sister, while traveling by train to the band’s first U.S. concert, on Feb. 11, 1964. (Courtesy RR Auction)
While the most casual music fan knows The Beatles first live appearance in the United States was Feb. 9, 1964, on the Ed Sullivan show, some aren’t aware their first U.S. concert was two days later at the Washington Coliseum.
Now, a piece of Beatles memorabilia, being hailed as the “holy grail” of collectibles is up for auction: A “Meet the Beatles” promotional album, signed by all four band members for guitarist George Harrison’s older sister, Louise, as they traveled by train from New York City to D.C. on Feb. 11, for that evening’s show in Northeast D.C.
“They couldn’t fly because there was so much snow in Washington — eight inches — so they had to take a train,” said Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction, which is conducting an online auction of the album.
Source: wtop.com
The Beatles had two main songwriting brains behind it: John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney. George Harrison and Sir Ringo Starr also contributed music to the group, but the Lennon-McCartney partnership was behind some of the biggest hits from the band. It is said the band’s songwriters often wrote full songs before presenting it to the band - so which songs did John Lennon write?
John Lennon was a fantastic songwriter, as was his Beatles companion Sir Paul McCartney.
Lennon and Sir Paul met at a local church fete in 1957, where Lennon was performing with a skiffle group called the Quarrymen.
After Macca impressed Lennon with his guitar stylings, he was invited to join the Quarrymen, and soon they brought along their friends to listen to their new song performances, inviting mates such as Nigel Walley and future Beatle George Harrison.
Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk
