Beatles News
The Beatles basically began as an air-tight autonomous unit. Besides a rare pre-fame credit for Tony Sheridan, their early records were presented as band efforts.
Toward the end of their time together, however, they began to welcome key outsiders into the sessions – and by the time the Beatles launched individual solo careers, the studio doors were flung wide open.
Some of those later projects don't make clear designations as to who – besides the Beatles themselves, of course – did what as sidemen. Still, their albums were dotted with key collaborators, some of them very famous.
Our list of the Top 10 Guest Performances on Beatles songs takes in both discographies, together and apart, while making some notable exceptions. We didn't include "Rockestra Theme" from Wings' 1979 album Back to the Egg, simply because it's overstuffed with guest stars – including everybody from David Gilmour and John Bonham to Ronnie Lane and Pete Townshend. There wouldn't be room for anybody else.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
Actor Danny Trejo, best known for playing movie hardass Machete, recalled the moment when the Beatles’ classic “Hey Jude” kicked off a prison riot in 1968.
He was serving 18 months in solitary confinement at the time, having built a criminal record of drug and armed-robbery offenses. Even though those days are far behind him, he can’t forget the moment one of his favorite songs caused an episode of emotion-driven violence.
“It’s always real noisy and chaotic in the hole, and this song comes on and you can barely hear it from the officer’s radio,” Trejo told NME in a new interview.. “And the hole got quiet and quiet and quiet. It’s not good when the hole is quiet. And then, ‘Judy Judy Judy Judy Judyyyyyy!’ Sinks were broken! Toilets were flooded! We went just totally insane! ... That song was so beautiful it was worth a riot.”
In 2016, he recounted a similar version of the story, telling Metal Hammer that Abbey Road was the record from his collection he wished he’d helped make. “It’s awesome,” Trejo said. “When I went to England, I walked down Abbey Road. I had to do it!”
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
"Our original bass player Stuart would have been 80 today! So many great memories of our time together," McCartney wrote. "Happy birthday Stu! Love Paul."
The message was accompanied by a vintage photo of The Beatles featuring Sutcliffe, McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and drummer Pete Best.
Sutcliffe joined The Beatles in early 1960. He left the group the following year to focus on pursuing artistic studies in Hamburg, Germany. Sadly, he died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962 at the age of 21.
In other news, McCartney and his daughters Mary and Stella have teamed up to support a new initiative launched by animal-rights organization PETA, calling for the U.K. to get rid of a rule that requires schools to serve meat to students on most days.
Source: 933thedrive.com
The 1960s were just starting to heat up by the time June 1967 rolled around, and The Beatles, like many artists of that generation, were heavily influenced by the drastic social changes taking over the Western world throughout the decade up to that point. It was on June 25th, 1967 when The Beatles—who will forever be remembered for their prominent role within pop culture as one of the key inspirations during a decade that spawned the counterculture, the civil right’s movement, and the anti-Vietnam War movement—premiered their timeless peace anthem, “All You Need Is Love” during an appearance on the Our World television special before a reported worldwide audience of 400 million people.
As the story goes, the quartet, already household names by 1967, was asked to provide a song with a universal message, as the TV special was being broadcast around the world via satellite. The band had already been working on new music to appear on the soundtrack to 1968’s Yellow Submarine, and what better time than during global broadcast to debut some new music?
Source: Tom Shackleford/liveforlivemusic.com
When The Beatles kicked off the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, they had decided they would become a studio band from there on out. The ill-fated Fab Four tour of 1966 convinced them that the “circus” routine their concerts had become wasn’t worth it anymore.
With live shows behind them, the band could focus solely on recording the best music they could make. And they’d never have to recreate any of the songs on stage. That was a good thing, considering a masterpiece like “A Day in the Life” would have been next-to-impossible to play live.
But that trend didn’t actually start with 1967’s Sgt. Pepper. The year before, prior to embarking on that final tour, the band had recorded its most complex work to date on Revolver (1966). And though they completed that album before the tour they never played any Revolver songs live.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Sir Paul McCartney and his daughters Stella and Mary have joined a call to change guidance that makes it mandatory to serve fish, meat and dairy in England’s school meals.
The McCartneys, founders of Meat-Free Monday, want to see schoolchildren given more opportunities to choose climate-friendly vegan meals.
They have signed a letter to the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, which has been written as part of the consultation process for the National Food Strategy, a landmark review of Britain’s food system.
That strategy is an opportunity to revise School Food Standards, which make it mandatory to serve fish, meat and dairy, and replace them with nutritional guidelines “that allow schools to be more flexible”.
In a statement, the McCartneys said: “No one needs to eat meat, so it shouldn’t be mandatory to serve it in schools. It’s time to revise the School Food Standards to help the planet, spare animals, and promote healthy eating.”
Source: Mark Brown/theguardian.com
George Harrison had not played much (or any) slide with the Beatles, but on 1970’s All Things Must Pass his slide playing appeared, fully formed, on many tracks, including one of his biggest hits, My Sweet Lord.
This melodic slide approach would go on to become part of his signature sound and would be refined throughout his career. Using standard tuning enabled Harrison to switch back to rhythm during verses, and playing extended passages on one or two strings gave him a unique, instantly recognizable and often-imitated slide voice.
Harrison seemed to avoid the typical blues slide cliches, but his slide playing was nonetheless soulful; instead he’d create unique melodies, usually on his psychedelic “Rocky” Strat - or any Strat, for that matter - with a variety of pickup selections, through a Fender amp.
Source: Jack Ellis/guitarworld.com
The break-up of the biggest band the world had ever seen came as a shock to their millions of fans.
When Paul McCartney gave an interview in 1970 essentially saying The Beatles were over, he blindsighted George Harrison and Ringo Starr - and incensed his songwriting partner, John Lennon.
The announcement came after years of in-fighting, jealousies and behind-the-scenes tensions between the Fab Four since their rise to superstardom in 1962 and would commence the beginning of the end for the world famous band.
Unpublished letters by Linda McCartney about Paul McCartney discovered from the 1960s
The turning point for The Beatles came in 1966, when after years of touring the world with their music, an exhausted George, John and Ringo persuaded "workaholic" Paul that they should no longer perform live.
Source: By Giorgina Ramazzotti/smoothradio.com
Early followers of counterculture in the U.K. enjoyed a notable day on Oct. 5, 1962. That’s when the Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do,” was released; it's also the day the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, opened in theaters.
Both would have an impact on global culture in the years that followed, with the Beatles representing a new form of musical expression while Sean Connery’s 007 pioneered the attitudes of the sexual revolution.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing – especially when the suave spy dissed the Fab Four two years after their arrival.
In a scene from Goldfinger in 1964, Bond is entertaining a woman in a bedroom when he realizes their champagne has become too warm. As he fetches a replacement, he explains, “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.”
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
Ringo Starr turns 80 on July 7, and in conjunction with the milestone birthday, he's offering the opportunity to win a 15-minute Zoom chat with him that day for one person and a friend while raising money for charity.
The contest, hosted by the Omaze fundraising website, will benefit Heal the Healers Now, an initiative launched by the David Lynch Foundation that offers to teach stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation to medical providers caring for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sweepstakes winner also will receive a unique piece of artwork created by the former Beatles drummer.
The enter the contest, visit Omaze.com/RingoStarr. Entries will be accepted until June 28 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and one grand-prize winner will be chosen randomly on or around July 6.
Starr is a longtime friend of director David Lynch, whose foundation launched the Heal the Healers Now campaign.
Source: ABC Audio/willmarradio.com
