Beatles News
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
If you’re shut out by the paywall, know that things are happening behind the digital façade of Rolling Stone. For starters, the outlet released its new “500 Greatest Albums” list on Sept. 22, 2020. While it still includes a Bob Marley greatest-hits album, fans of The Beatles and other classic acts might notice the biggest changes.
That’s one way to look at the latest version of the mammoth undertaking Rolling Stone first attempted in 2003. The headline could also be something like “Rolling Stone Discovers Rap.” After only one hip-hop artist laid claim to a top-50 record in ’03, nine albums made the inner circle in ’20.
Undoubtedly, the choices of the 300 musicians, critics, producers, and industry folks who voted in the poll will ruffle the feathers of many Rolling Stone readers. (That Kanye album is better than Led Zeppelin IV? Station to Station comes in ahead of Paid in Full? OK!)
Source: cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney will revisit the first song he wrote with John Lennon on a radio show to mark the late Beatle’s 80th birthday. Titled John Lennon at 80, the special will air in two parts on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds on Oct. 3 and 4. The anniversary itself is on Oct. 9.
Sean Ono Lennon interviewed McCartney, Elton John and half-brother Julian Lennon for the broadcast. During his interview, McCartney took a guitar and began playing “Just Fun,” which was created soon after he and Lennon met in 1957. The song includes the lyrics “They say that our love is just fun, the day that our friendship begun.”
“There were a few songs that weren’t very good,” he said (via Music-News.com). “You know, clearly young songwriters who don’t know how to do it. Eventually we started to write slightly better songs and then enjoyed the process of learning together so much that it really took off.”
McCartney also recalled his first impressions of Lennon. “I look back on it now like a fan, how lucky was I to meet this strange Teddy boy off the bus, who played music like I did," he said. "We get together and, boy, we complemented each other!"
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
A pair of John Lennon‘s glasses and a detention sheet from when the late Beatle was in school have gone up for auction.
The auction marks 50 years since the legendary band broke up. The items trace the rise of The Beatles from mischievous lads from Liverpool to international superstars.
Lennon’s famous round Windsor glasses, a gift to his housekeeper, which are thought to predate his first public outing of the eyewear, are expected to fetch anywhere between £30,000 – £40,000.
His detention sheet, from Quarry Bank Grammar School in the 1950s, lists Lennon’s 22 detentions in under eight weeks.
Comments from teachers in the book criticise Lennon’s “complete idleness and “continuous silly behaviour in class.”
The report card is estimated to be worth between £3,000 – £5,000.
Source: Will Lavin/nme.com
Sean Lennon is helping celebrate what would have been his father John Lennon's 80th birthday. The younger Lennon will interview his brother Julian Lennon, Paul McCartney and Elton John in a two-part documentary, BBC Radio 2 has announced.
"John Lennon would have turned 80 years old on Friday 9 October," a press release about the event reads. "Hosted by his youngest son Sean in his first-ever radio show about his father, this is a celebratory, musical, family portrait of the legendary musician. It sheds fresh light on John's remarkable life in music -- one which created some of the most important musical milestones of the 20th Century -- and also delves deep into his incredible back catalogue."
The documentary is scheduled to be broadcast over two days in October.
Source: CNN Entertainment
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to inspire a legendary song? Or what would it be like to be in a relationship with one of the biggest celebrities? Pattie Boyd probably pondered these questions as a young girl. She had no idea that she would also grow up to live these dreams. Pattie was married to two of the biggest names in the music industry: George Harrison of The Beatles and the mad Eric Clapton. She was also the inspiration behind the hit “Something” by The Beatles and “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton.
After enjoying Pattie’s memoir “ Wonderful Tonight, ” pop sensation Taylor Swift sat down with her to discuss some of her life’s milestones in a Harper’s Bazaar feature film.
Taylor Swift opened the conversation by asking the one question we probably want to know the answer to: what it feels like to be the inspiration for the songs the world has sung. Pattie said, “I find the concept of being a muse understandable when you think of all the great painters, poets and photographers who have usually had one or two.
Source: oltnews.com
When George Harrison recorded “Something” with The Beatles for release on Abbey Road (1969), its success was almost a sure thing. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney admired George’s work on the track, and for the first time ever a Harrison-penned song went out as the A-side of a Beatles single.
The record-buying public agreed with that decision, and made “Something” a Billboard No. 1 hit following its October ’69 release. But it had been a bit of a winding road leading up to the recording and inclusion of “Something” on the final Beatles studio album.
During the Get Back/Let It Be sessions in early ’69, George struggled to finish his masterpiece. In a recording from the rehearsals, you hear him tell John and Paul he’d gone six months without being able to write lyrics for his music.
When he nailed down the song for a demo in Feb. ’69, he still didn’t know if it would go out on a Beatles record. And so George offered his prize song to at least one more recording artist, who recorded his version around the same time The Beatles completed theirs.
Source: cheatsheet.com
