Beatles News
The family of legendary sound engineer Geoff Emerick is going to court with Universal Music Group over ownership of a recording of one of The Beatles' first-ever studio sessions.
The early "Love Me Do" session from June 6, 1962, predates drummer Ringo Starr's inclusion in the band. The recording, however, was deemed by record company EMI to not be good enough.
Emerick — a teenager at the time he engineered the session — was ordered to destroy the tape. Instead, he kept it up until his death in 2018.
The tape is believed to be worth over $6 million.
UMG, which took over EMI in 2012, want the tape returned to their possession. Arguments are set to begin on Tuesday, reports The Sun.
Source: hauraki.co.nz
Eric Clapton was married to Pattie Boyd for some time, though their marriage was filled with Clapton’s infidelities and abuse, both of which he has admitted. Before their time together, however, Boyd was with another famous guitarist – George Harrison of the Beatles.
George Harrison met young model Pattie Boyd in 1964 when Boyd was cast as a schoolgirl, aged 19, in the movie A Hard Day’s Night, one of the Beatles films.
The pair married on January 21, 1966, with Sir Paul McCartney serving as best man.
Boyd accompanied Harrison on his early trips to India, as the guests of Ravi Shankar, and soon the couple made regular returns to India as Harrison became interested in Transcendental Meditation.
Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk
If you tried to rank every album by The Beatles, you’d find the most agreement at the top of the list. When fans, critics, musicians, and Paul McCartney himself weighed in on the Fab Four’s best work in the past, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) has often claimed the top spot.
That choice makes sense for a number of reasons. For starters, it’s the album with “A Day in the Life,” a consensus pick for greatest Beatles song. Meanwhile, Sgt. Pepper’s topped the list of “500 Greatest Albums” when Rolling Stone polled musicians, experts, and industry types on the subject.
But in 2011 Rolling Stone tried it a different way: They simply asked readers to name their favorite Beatles album. And in that poll Sgt. Pepper’s didn’t make the same splash. (It landed in fourth place.) Both Abbey Road (1969) and The White Album (1968) came in ahead of Pepper.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Sometimes artists write songs that are inspired by other songs. More rarely, artists write songs with the intent of replacing other songs. John Lennon was one of the most famous musicians to fall in the latter category and “Give Peace a Chance” was designed as a replacement for another song.
“Give Peace a Chance” remains one of John’s most stirring anthems. Though it’s often associated with the Vietnam War, it’s message continues to resonate with people today. We wouldn’t have “Give Peace a Chance” unless John got bored with a different song.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Each week, I'll present a new album for your consideration—a means for passing these uncertain times in musical bliss. For some readers, hearing about the latest selection might offer a chance reacquaintance with an old friend. For others, the series might provide an unexpected avenue for making a new one.
When it comes to rock's greatest comeback stories, Paul McCartney and Wings' "Band on the Run" looms large. In his post-Beatles years, McCartney had enjoyed accolades for his first two solo albums. But when it came to his formation of Wings, with wife Linda sitting in on keyboards, the critics were merciless. While "Wild Life" (1971) and "Red Rose Speedway" (1973) had enjoyed respectable sales, the Cute Beatle had been ragged and tagged as a purveyor of mindless bubblegum music.
Source: salon.com
Back in June 1962, The Beatles performed at Abbey Road Studios for the first time. A demo of their performance was recorded by EMI, but the label told their employee – sound engineer Geoff Emerick – to destroy it since it was of poor quality. The footage includes the song Love Me Do and was shot before Ringo Starr joined The Beatles as drummer.
However, Emerick secretly kept a hold of the demo in its original box in his safe at home in Los Angeles.
The sound engineer died aged 72 in 2018 and the piece of Beatles history was unearthed by his estate.
Now a court battle worth millions is set to take place in California on Tuesday between Universal Music Group – who acquired EMI in 2012 – and Emerick’s estate.
A source told The Sun: “It’s an amazing find.”
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
Paul McCartney has a simple wish for his 78th birthday. Stop eating meat.
“All I’ve ever wanted for my birthday is peace on Earth — including for animals,” McCartney wrote in a blog post for PETA. “That’s why this year, I’m urging fans to watch a video I hosted for PETA, titled ‘Glass Walls.’ We called it that because if slaughterhouses had glass walls, who would want to eat meat?”
The video McCartney is referencing just had its 10-year anniversary and took the opportunity to provide commentary on his thoughts on what has happened since the release.
“Since then, the public has finally gotten a peek at what happens inside the meat trade, and the demand for vegan food is sky high. Whether you’re worried about diseases that spring from slaughterhouses, the animals who suffer terribly and needlessly, or the catastrophic impact of the meat industry on our environment, please watch this short video and share it with your friends. Thank you,” he wrote.
Source: Marty Rosenbaum, RADIO.COM
Peter Jackson's upcoming documentary about the Beatles' troubled Get Back sessions has been postponed until next year.
The Beatles: Get Back, which chronicles the group's rehearsals and performances from January 1969 as it began work on a new album, won't premiere until August 2021. The movie was originally scheduled to open in September but has now been delayed for almost a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to The Wrap, The Beatles: Get Back is just one of several projects that Disney has postponed until next year. The film expands on the Beatles' original 1970 movie Let It Be, which was envisioned as a TV special before the group changed direction during the making of the album.
The Beatles had intended to "get back" to their roots with a new stripped-down record following the studio experiments of albums like 1966's Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from the next year, as well as the tumultuous and often fractured sessions of the White Album in 1968.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
Here’s your chance to celebrate Ringo Starr's 80th birthday with him virtually.
omaze.com is giving you the opportunity to win this amazing experience, and all you have to do is donate to charity. The more you donate, the more chances you have to win.
Every year, Ringo Starr asks for one simple birthday wish: peace and love. But this year, celebrations will be extra special because it’s his 80th birthday, plus you and a friend will join him on a private video call! You can chat about anything from music to meditation and how both can help us — especially now — while staying at home. Not only will you talk about meditation, you’ll also help provide healthcare workers on the front lines with Transcendental Meditation resources through the Heal the Healers Now initiative. And even though it’s Ringo’s birthday, he’s getting you an extra gift: a one-of-a-kind piece of art that he made himself! Don’t forget to wish him peace and love.
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The Beatles’ classic ballad “Yesterday” has a dreamy and gentle melody, with lyrics that feel plucked out of a man’s deepest subconscious. So it’s only fitting that rock legend Paul McCartney came up with the earliest stages of the song in his sleep, then let them pour out of his soul on the piano next to his bed. Even better, that initial inspiration happened in the attic of the apartment where he lived with his then-girlfriend, who shaped so much of his music throughout the Beatles years.
“I woke up with a lovely tune in my head,” he told author Barry Miles for the biography Many Years From Now, which was published in 1998. “I thought, ‘That’s great, I wonder what that is?’ There was an upright piano next to me, to the right of the bed by the window. I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th – and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically. I liked the melody a lot but because I’d dreamed it I couldn’t believe I’d written it.”
Source: biography.com
