Beatles News
Linda McCartney was Paul McCartney's first wife and her tragic death left the legend in shambles. Here are some facts not many know about the female artist.
Paul and Linda McCartney's love was one that involved creativity and adventure. The two wed in 1969 and remained married until Linda's untimely death in 1998.
During her lifetime, Linda was heavily involved not only in her husband's music but in her own projects with photography and writing. 11 interesting facts about her are found below.
HER PHOTOS WERE WELL-RENOWNED
Linda wasn't just a backup singer for her husband. A year before the pair got married, she took a picture of Neil Young which would become the cover for his 2008 album, "Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House."
Source: Jaimie-lee Prince/news.amomama.com
Ringo Starr, the drummer for the British rock band The Beatles, is celebrating his 80th birthday today.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to BBC, Starr will forgo his annual birthday gathering and instead perform a concert on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET today.
“... He will put on a virtual charity concert on YouTube called Ringo’s Big Birthday Show. He’ll be joined by Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark Jr. and Sheila E to benefit Black Lives Matter, The David Lynch Foundation, MusiCares and WaterAid,” reported the BBC.
Starr was the last to join The Beatles. The group was formed in 1960 in Liverpool with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and drummer Pete Best. Starr joined as the drummer in 1962.
Source: Deb Kiner/pennlive.com
The Beatles had a fifth unofficial member in the form of their producer, Sir George Martin. He was more than a producer as he served as a friend and a father figure to the four members.
We often celebrate and note the musical contributions made by The Beatles, but Martin was the oil that kept their machine going. To honor him we look at 11 facts about the producer whom George Harrison described as “always there for us to interpret our strangeness.”
1. On September 4, 1962, John Lennon and Paul McCartney first played "Please Please Me" for Martin during their second EMI recording session. The song was originally a slow tempo until the producer suggested they speed it up and it became a hit.
MARTIN’S CONTRIBUTIONS IN 1965
2. In 1965, McCartney finished writing “Yesterday” but the band couldn’t decide on the instruments that should go with the song. Martin came to the rescue when he suggested McCartney plays an acoustic guitar and sing the track by himself.
Source: Junie Sihlangu/news.amomama.com
As the pandemic continues across the world, politicians and celebrities are encouraging the public to wear face masks. Now The Beatles drummer Sir Ringo Starr has joined in by sharing the Abbey Road album cover, but with a few changes. The 79-year-old wrote: “Peace and love everybody stay safe be cool. Be kind and loving peace -and love love.”
While the Abbey Road meme saw John Lennon turning around on the Abbey Road zebra crossing and walking back to the studio.
George Harrison asks him: “What happened?”
To which John Lennon replies: “I forgot my mask…”
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
The New York City neighborhood in which John Lennon called home for years has many iconic locations that serve to remind us of his legacy there. His wife, Yoko Ono, continues to live at The Dakota apartment building at the corner of Central Park West and W. 72 St. that the couple shared for years.
Directly across the street in Central Park are both Strawberry Fields and the lovely Imagine mosaic.
Add another to the list, albeit temporarily. Carmen Paulino, who calls herself a community artist, has wrapped a tree on 79th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave., with a crocheted artwork she calls the John Lennon Tree. The elaborate installation went up in June and is the handiwork of Paulino, herself a local from Spanish Harlem, with the assistance of several others. It’s conveniently located in front of a yarn store named Knitty City, which provided Paulino with the materials.
Source: bestclassicbands.com
In early 1970, with The Beatles on the verge of breaking up, Ringo Starr paid a visit to Paul McCartney’s house with a request from his three bandmates at Apple headquarters. Would Paul delay the release of his debut solo record until after the arrival of the Let It Be album and film?
In brief, Paul’s reply to Ringo was, “No.” But it didn’t stop there. In addition to his flat rejection of Ringo’s request, Paul threw Ringo off of his property and threatened to “finish” him. Needless to say, Ringo and Paul wouldn’t be having tea and cutting records together anytime soon.
However, Ringo did maintain solid relationships with John Lennon and George Harrison. On John’s heavyweight 1970 solo debut, you’ll find Ringo in the drummer’s seat. That same year, you found Ringo playing on tracks for George’s triple-disc blockbuster, All Things Must Pass.
Source: cheatsheet.com
A few years after their breakup, The Beatles were offered a ridiculous sum of money for a one-time reunion concert, but turned it town because the opening act would have featured a shark.
That’s what Ringo Starr is revealing in a new interview with the Sunday Mirror, discussing a “crazy offer” he and the other members of the Fab Four received in 1976.
According to a report from People at the time, the four were offered $50 million by impresario Bill Sargent, a pioneer in pay-per-view events, to reunite for a concert.
RELATED: ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ Documentary Restores Iconic Rooftop Concert
“We did talk one time. There was a crazy offer out there,” Starr explained.
According to Starr, the group ultimately decided against it because of the opening act that Sargent had in mind: a man fighting a great white shark.
Source: Brent Furdyk/etcanada.com
Three years ago, when the National Music Publishers’ Association presented Yoko Ono with their Centennial Song Award, Sean Lennon pushed his mother onto the stage at Cipriani 42nd Street in a wheelchair — shocking some who didn’t realize the formidable avant-garde artist was incapacitated.
But in her signature shades, black leather jacket and white Panama hat, the widow of John Lennon didn’t seem to miss a beat when she began a short acceptance speech by addressing the elephant in the room.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, clutching the award in one hand and a microphone in the other as Sean whispered to her about what was going on. “I’ve learned so much from having this illness. I’m thankful I went through that.”
While it’s not clear what “illness” she was referring to, Ono, now 87, is still ailing, requires round-the-clock care and rarely leaves her sprawling apartment in The Dakota, a source close to her staff told The Post. In photos taken at rare public appearances — including a women’s march in Columbus Circle last year and at a commemoration of John in Liverpool in May 2018 — Ono is confined to a wheelchair, or walks with great difficulty using a cane, often leaning on a caregiver or Sean for support.
Source: Isabel Vincent/nypost.com
Cher is one of the biggest icons to come out of the 1960s. Thanks to his time with the Beatles and his solo work, Ringo Starr is an icon of a similar caliber. Both are known for taking on more film roles than most famous singers and for having great senses of humor.
Despite this, people don’t associate Cher with Ringo. Perhaps they should. One of Cher’s first songs was about Ringo — and it became very controversial.
Cher first became a superstar as a member of the duo Sonny & Cher. She also has an incredibly successful and long-lasting career as a solo artist. Rolling Stone reports her solo career began when she released a song called “Ringo, I Love You” under the stage name Bonnie Jo Mason. Cher would later use the pseudonym Bonnie Jo Mason when she recorded vocals for the Wu-Tang Clan’s album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
Cher released “Ringo, I Love You” in 1964. According to AllMusic, Sonny & Cher released their debut album in 1965, which means that Cher was trying to be a solo artist before she found success as part of a duo. This is interesting, as some fans believe she began her solo career only after Sonny & Cher disbanded.
Source: cheatsheet.com
When Paul McCartney had George Harrison play guitar for John Lennon in 1958, George was 14 and looked even younger. Thinking back on those days before The Beatles existed, George noted how he small he was — and how he probably seemed to the 17-year-old John and his art school friends.
“I think he did feel a bit embarrassed about that because I was so tiny,” George told Crawdaddy Magazine in 1977. “I only looked about 10 years old.” But George could play guitar parts from the great Sun Records releases of the day. That was enough to get him into John and Paul’s band.
Two decades later, after the Beatles’ unparalleled success — both as a group and solo artists — John still thought of George as someone he’d helped make. “I think George still bears resentment toward me for being a daddy who left home,” John said in the 1980 Playboy interviews collected in All We Are Saying.
Source: cheatsheet.com
