Beatles News
In 1968, music buyers were still purchasing plenty of singles, with rock bands like The Doors, the Rolling Stones and The Beatles sharing the Top 40 airwaves with popular vocalists like Bobby Goldsboro and Judy Collins and soul hits from Otis Redding and O.C. Smith.
Here’s a recap of 1968’s #1 albums in the U.S., including many classic rock favorites, as determined each week by Record World. Thirteen different albums claimed the top spot this year; each had a story to tell. Two artists in particular, The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, dominated the charts.
Listings are in reverse order, saving the longest-running titles for the end. [Fellow chart nerds might note that several of the albums failed to reach #1 on rival trade magazine, Billboard.]
Source: Greg Brodsky/bestclassicbands.com
Ringo Starr has claimed that he ‘didn’t have the talent’ to finish recording a song, so he would go to friend, and fellow Beatles member, George Harrison for help.
The iconic musician, 79, reflected on his struggle to complete tracks in an interview with Rolling Stone radio on Thursday, when he made the surprising admission.
Looking back on his debut album Sentimental Journey for its 50th anniversary, the Beatles drummer revealed: ‘I used to always go to George to help me end the song.
Candid: Ringo Starr said on Thursday that he often asked fellow Beatles star George Harrison for advice when making music (pictured in 1967 with John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
‘I didn’t have the talent to end a song. With Back Off Boogaloo, I went to George and he helped me finish it.’
Source: Roxy Simons For Mailonline/readsector.com
The Beatles made a huge amount of music, with Paul McCartney and John Lennon working together to write fantastic songs. The Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership also created tension between the pair, which never seemed to entirely heal. However, it turns out another thing the musicians could not agree over is which is the best Beatles album.
Which is the best Beatles album?
Generally speaking, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is considered one of the greatest albums of all time.
In fact, McCartney has spoken out about how this is his favourite album, telling Bob Costas in a 1991 interview: “It wasn’t entirely my idea but to get us away from being ‘The Beatles’ I had this idea that we should pretend we’re this other group.”
Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk
John Lennon was married to Cynthia, a young woman he met as the Beatles became big, with whom he had one child named Julian. After their marriage broke down, he married artist Yoko Ono and they had Sean. These two claim to have been treated very differently by their father.
Do Julian and Sean Lennon get on?
Brothers Julian and Sean Lennon are said to be pretty close.
When he was still alive, John opened up about his relationship with his sons but revealed it was very different.
Speaking about Julian, John told Playboy in 1980: “90 percent of the people on this planet, especially in the West, were born out of a bottle of whiskey on a Saturday night, and there was no intent to have children.”
Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk
An unheard track by Beatles stars Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr is set to raise £20k at at Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside on Tuesday (pictured in 2014)
The cassette is now being sold by former Radio Luxembourg DJ Tony Prince.
It's expected to fetch up to £20,000 at Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside.
A quarter of the profits will be donated to the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Urgent Appeal, while the rest will go to Prince's United DJs radio station project.
Source: Rebecca Davison/dailymail.co.uk
Paul McCartney took to Twitter to pay tribute to Astrid Kirchherr. See his messages below.
Astrid Kirchherr, the German photographer who shot some of the earliest and most striking images of The Beatles and helped shape their trend-setting visual style, has died at age 81.
She died Tuesday (May 12) in her native Hamburg, days before her 82nd birthday, her friend Kai-Uwe Franz told The Associated Press. Her death was first announced by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who tweeted Friday that Kirchherr made an “immeasurable” contribution to the group and was “intelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting.” According to the German publication Die Zeit, she died of a “short, serious illness.”
Source: billboard.com
The Beatles' '90s-era Anthology sessions weren't the first time they recorded without John Lennon. More like the 20th. In fact, over the years, Lennon increasingly drifted in and out of songs being created by the others.
For instance, he regularly vanished whenever George Harrison dabbled in Indian music, with the notable exception of "The Inner Light," the B-side to 1968's "Lady Madonna." He skipped sessions where Ringo Starr took the lead, including "Don't Pass Me By" and "Good Night," both from 1968's The Beatles. The same guy who openly complained about Paul McCartney's "granny-music shit" was also predictably absent for "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
An unheard track by Beatles stars Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr called Angel In Disguise is set to raise £20k at auction
The song called Angel In Disguise is one of only two tracks co-written exclusively by the remaining members of the Fab Four almost 30 years ago
The pair recorded the demo for Sir Ringo's 1992 solo album Time Takes Time, but it did not make the final cut for the LP
A quarter of the money raised will be donated to the NHS amid the coronavirus pandemic
Sadly, Paul and Ringo are the only two surviving members of The Beatles
John Lennon died in 1980 after he was shot by a mentally-disturbed fan and George Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001
Source: Rebecca Davison/dailymail.co.uk
Lennon asked for Daimler's premium luxury motorcar, one of stature, and grace. The Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman was the reply.
There are few names in world history that spark emotions of love, peace, and anger all at the same time, you could say John F. Kennedy or even Elvis Presley fits the description of that statement, but none had so much personal impact as the man they call John Lennon.
For those who just landed on planet Earth, he was a part of the most famous and impactful band in human history, The Beatles. But he was more than that, he was a symbol of peace, love, and progressivism which has only grown stronger in past years. John Lennon and Paul McCartney (his fellow Beatle) are regarded as the sole pinnacle of impactful and transcendent songwriting and have provided level after level of meaningful lyric and sound.
Source: Max Larsen/hotcars.com
John Lennon wrote some incredible songs during his time in The Beatles and in his partnership with Paul McCartney. But do you know the one track he only came up with once he gave up trying to think of a song to write? It turns out that was Nowhere Man from 1965 album Rubber Soul.
Lennon told Playboy in 1980 how he had been trying to pen a new song for the album for hours.
He said: “I’d spent five hours that morning trying to write a song that was meaningful and good, and I finally gave up and lay down.
“Then Nowhere Man came, words and music, the whole damn thing as I lay down.”
While 1960s Beatles biographer Hunter Davies quoted Lennon on his breakthrough.
Source: usadailyexpress -
