Beatles News
Plenty of artists have toxic fans but few call them out in their own music. John Lennon was one of the few. In a single song, he attacked Christianity, the Hare Krishna movement, and the delusional fans who came to his door.
John Lennon | Harry Benson/Express/Getty ImagesWhen John Lennon equated the Beatlemania with religion
During his solo career, John dealt with a lot of his frustrations through song. Sometimes he discussed his dissatisfaction with the world in an accessible way, like in “Imagine.” Other times he went for the jugular.
In “I Found Out,” John attacks religion, telling people they shouldn’t look to Jesus Christ or Hare Krishna gurus to solve their problems for them. In addition, he says he’s “seen religion from Jesus to Paul.” The line itself is ambiguous, as the Paul in question could be Paul the Apostle or Paul McCartney. However, the Beatles Bible reports the lyric is about the latter, so John appears to be equating the Beatles fandom to a religion in that line. Fans often interpret “I Found Out” as a condemnation of people looking to religious figures or celebrities for salvation rather than themselves.
Source:entertainment--news.com
Whenever we read into the histories and motivations behind the songs by the Beatles, we’re opened up to a labyrinth of their memoirs of life. Before them, it was uncommon for musicians to make songs out of their own life experiences. But, there were no better trendsetters than the fab four themselves. And their one album that influenced the music industry the most for all times to come was ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’. It’s a serious contender for being the greatest album of all time.
But, did you know that Paul McCartney wrote a song from this album because he was just tired of being a part of the Beatles? It’s true!Many people don’t know this, but there was a time before the breakup when the Beatles were just tired of being themselves. After the craziness that was the Beatlemania, they were done touring. And if that wasn’t enough, there were some serious controversies too, like the comment John Lennon made that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. And after Brian Epstein’s death, the fab four were simply done being the center of attention for the world as “the British boy band”. They wanted to disassociate themselves from this identity. And so, Paul McCartney thought, why not try leaving the burden of the Beatles as a concept in a song?
Source: Ali Arslan Ahmed/dankanator.com
Despite passing away relatively early, the legendary keyboardist had the privilege of playing with some of the biggest names of different genres, from Little Richard to The Beatles.
Late American musician Billy Preston passed away 14 years ago at the age of 59, and his talent was so impressive that he caught the attention of several high profile soloists and bands that recruited him as a session keyboard player.
But apart from recording and touring with at least four generations of musicians (he even played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Preston cemented his reputation as a solo artist with several albums and No.1 hits.
Source: Pedro Marrero/news.amomama.com
Elvis Presley became both famous and infamous — and John Lennon wasn’t always a fan. He and the other Beatles went out of their way not to mimic Presley in a very specific way. In addition, John felt Mick Jagger replicated one of Presley’s mannerisms that he couldn’t stand.
John opened up about so much in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, where he discussed everyone from Judy Collins to Bob Dylan to Chairman Mao Zedong. He made some surprising comments about Presley and how he moved. Presley was known for swiveling his hips — an act which many people felt was too sexual back in the 1950s.
Initially, the Beatles had some interesting stage antics of their own. “When we were younger, we used to move, we used to jump around and do all the things they’re doing now, like going on stage with toilet seats and sh*tting and p*ssing.” However, the Beatles deliberately wouldn’t movie like Presley.
Source: cheatsheet.com
In 1960, John Lennon's art school friend Stu Sutcliffe coined the Beatles' name (originally, as Beatals) in tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. By 1961, Lennon had grown tired of explaining the roots of the group's name, with its manifold permutations. In a humorous story for Mersey Beat, he famously claimed that the word had come to him "in a vision—a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, 'from this day on you are Beatles with an A.'"
For his tenth solo album, Paul McCartney drew his title from Lennon's whimsical story, honoring his fallen mate and christening his most sentimental post-Beatles release in the same breath. This month, "Flaming Pie" enjoys deluxe treatment as the latest installment in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, complete with a host of unreleased demos, bonus tracks, and outtakes.
Source: Kenneth Womack/salon.com
Of his relationship with Yoko Ono, John Lennon once said: "If you love somebody, you can't be with them enough. There's no such thing. You don't want to be apart."
From the outside the two artists certainly seemed inseparable. For many, their love story is synonymous with images entwined around one another, most famously on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Behind the photos, Lennon and Ono's bond was not one without incident or controversy.
The relationship began when they were both married with children, and Ono was widely perceived to have been a factor in The Beatles breaking up. They also separated during their marriage, with Lennon starting an affair that Ono admitted to having encouraged.
Here, 9Honey looks at some of the key moments of Lennon and Ono's relationship before it was cut cruelly short with the former Beatle's murder in 1980.
Source: Kahla Preston/msn.com
Twin Cities songwriter and Music in Minnesota editor Erik Ritland releases a new article every Friday. Ranging from fun lists to serious music commentary, they are a companion to his podcast, Erik Ritland isn’t so Bad.
The Beatles are perhaps the most revered band in pop/rock history. Since their later material is so revered, it’s hard to imagine just how impactful their earliest songs and albums were.
There was plenty of other great music released in the early ‘60s, but singles like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” were explosive. There was nothing like their music. Some would say that there still isn’t, although their early material is now obscured by everything that was influenced by it.
Below are 10 essential Beatles songs from the first half of their career, showing their arc from Hamburg-hardened pop/rock band into a more sophisticated sound. Find a playlist featuring each of these songs here.
Source: Erik Ritland/musicinminnesota.com
One summer day in 1968, Paul McCartney recorded “Blackbird” while John Lennon looped tape for “Revolution 9” in another studio. Though these tracks sound about as similar as Sting and Stravinsky, they ended up on the same album—the Beatles’ self-titled double album (aka the “White Album”).
McCartney’s unusual fingerpick-and-strum technique gives “Blackbird” its distinctive sound. Try strumming across the strings with just your index finger and you’ll get a sense of McCartney’s feel. Unlike a strum that uses your whole arm, these mini-strums are all done with your hand in the same place: your index finger moves from the base knuckle joining your finger to your hand.
Look at the first measure of “Blackbird” and see that McCartney grabs each note of the tenth intervals on the beat with his thumb and middle finger, filling in the upbeats with index-finger plucks. In measure 2, he slides all the way up to the tenth and 12th frets, grabs two strings again with his thumb and index finger, and does a quick index-finger strum—down and up—on the second half of beat 1.
Source: acousticguitar.com
Earlier this month, Sir Ringo Starr celebrated his 80th birthday with his fans. The Beatles drummer streamed a Big Birthday Show on his official YouTube channel, which included footage of him and his friends performing in recent years. And included was the latest Beatles reunion, when Sir Ringo performed with Sir Paul McCartney at one of the latter’s solo concerts in Los Angeles last year.
The footage of the two surviving Beatles performing Helter Skelter together at Dodger Stadium last summer featured at the end of Sir Ringo’s charity birthday show.
But now it’s no longer available on his YouTube channel.
However, for fans who missed The Beatles reunion and the rest of the show, Sir Ringo has made it available again for one week only on an exclusive platform.
The 80-year-old wrote on his Instagram: “I want to thank @CEEKVR for supporting my charity & birthday broadcast – RINGO’S BIG BIRTHDAY SHOW.”
Source: thewashingtontime.com
I know it’s hard to believe, but according to Nielson, the Beatles were the biggest-selling rock band during the first half of 2020. No one, other than perhaps the Beatles themselves, would have predicted their monumental success in 1962 when a catastrophic mistake nearly broke up the band.
Fortunately, “Quitting” Wasn’t In The Beatles’ Songbook
“Listening to the tapes, I can understand why we failed the Decca audition. We weren't that good…” Paul McCartney
The words “failure” and “The Beatles” seldom appear in the same sentence. However, much like a nascent startup, the Beatles’ early career was comprised of a series of failures, culminating in their unsuccessful audition with the leading record company of their era, Decca Records - a misstep that nearly caused the band to call it quits.
Entrepreneurs can draw several startup lessons from the way the Beatles dealt with Decca’s devastating rejection.
Source: John Greathouse/forbes.com
