Beatles News
Because John Lennon and George Harrison have each been dead for more than five years, they cannot meet the Grammy test for "new recordings."
The Recording Academy made Beatlemaniacs happy on Nov. 8, when The Fab Four’s “Now and Then” was nominated for two awards – record of the year and best rock performance. But only the two living Beatles — Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr — are nominated for those awards. John Lennon, who died in 1980, and George Harrison, who died in 2001, are not.
Because Lennon and Harrison have each been dead for more than five years, they cannot meet the Grammy test for “new recordings” – “material that has been recorded within five years of the release date.” There is precedent for this. Nat “King” Cole was not nominated when daughter Natalie Cole won record of the year and best traditional pop performance in 1992 for their studio-created duet “Unforgettable.” He had died in 1965.
Lennon’s last Grammy nomination was at the 1985 ceremony – best spoken word or non-musical recording for Heart Play (Unfinished Dialogue), a collab with Yoko Ono. The album, which reached No. 94 on the Billboard 200, consisted of excerpts from a Playboy magazine interview done shortly before Lennon’s death.
Thus, Lennon was not included the last time the Beatles were nominated, 28 years ago, when the band won three awards – best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal and best music video, short-form, both for “Free as a Bird,” and best music video, long-form for The Beatles Anthology. (The other three Beatles were included because they were all alive to contribute to the work.)
Source: Paul Grein/billboard.com
In the second half of the 1960s, tensions within The Beatles began to rise. Having enjoyed unparalleled success throughout the decade, the band's recording sessions for their later albums became marked by creative differences and disagreements.
The sessions for 'The White Album', which was released in 1968, saw the fractures emerge as each member of the band wanted to put their stamp on their work. About that period of recording, Paul McCartney said: "There was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself" and John Lennon later added: "The break-up of The Beatles can be heard on that album."
Creative differences and Yoko Ono's presence in the studio have been cited as the primary reasons for the tension. 1969's recording sessions for the 'Let it Be' were also famously tempestuous, but the seeds for the disharmony were sewn the year before.
One song recorded during that period seemed to capture the mood within the band, though its origins were about something different. 'Hey Jude' was recorded in July and August 1968 before its release on August 26 as a non-album single. It was the band's first release on their new Apple label, hitting shelves three months before 'The White Album'.
Credited to Lennon-McCartney, 'Hey Jude' was written by Paul during a time of turbulence in The Beatles' professional and personal lives. It was originally called 'Hey Jules', addressed to John's son Julian to comfort him after the separation of his dad and mum Cynthia Lennon.
Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk
I was pleasantly surprised to see John Lennon in Lincroft on Sunday.
The Beatle's portrait adorns a mural on the side of the Exxon Mobil garage at the intersection of Newman Springs Road and Swimming River Road. The words "Imagine Peace" frame Lennon and the art features the guitar and dove icon from the historic Woodstock posters.
Don't get me wrong -- I love the message of peace as much as I love John Lennon. (And I spent countless hours in middle and high school biking down Swimming River Road while listening to Beatles CDs.) The location of the mural and the choice of subject left me scratching my head, though.
READ MORE: History of the Evil Clown of Middletown
What do John Lennon and gas stations and New Jersey have in common?
Why Is There a John Lennon Mural at the Lincroft Exxon?
I'm pretty late to the party when it comes to the John Lennon mural. I grew up in Middletown but moved to the Hudson Valley 10 years ago, so I tend to only come back home for holidays and family events. In the midst of that, I managed to never see cross paths with the mural, which has been on the site for over four years.
When I broached the topic on Threads, I got a big response and information about the mural's origin. (Nice job, algorithm.)
Source: Jackie Corley/943thepoint.com
While Paul McCartney has a busy schedule, he said he still has some time to watch his favorite TV shows. McCartney watches television while he works out and to rid himself of any pre-show jitters. He said that one show in particular ranks highly on his list of guilty pleasures.
Paul McCartney said one of his guilty pleasures is a game show. McCartney said that he typically watches television while he works out in the morning. His taste is wide-ranging.
“Well, I like David Attenborough’s shows, and in-depth historical documentary stuff,” he said in a Q&a on his website. “But I also like Strictly.”
“I have lots of guilty pleasures,” he said. “Maybe TV shows more than music. I love Bargain Hunt.”
Bargain Hunt is a British show in which contestants...
Source: Emma McKee/Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Many classic rock stars contributed to the canon of Christmas music. On the other hand, George Harrison decided to give us a New Year's song.
Many classic rock stars contributed to the canon of Christmas music. On the other hand, George Harrison decided to give us a New Year’s song. His decision to buck a trend worked out artistically. However, the tune isn’t as popular now as it could be for an undeniable reason.
Why George Harrison’s New Year’s song is great and underrated
Christmas music is such a big deal that The Beatles got in on it. They released an original song called “Christmas Time (Is Here Again).”After the band broke up, John Lennon put out “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” Paul McCartney put out “Wonderful Christmastime,” and Ringo Starr released the album I Wanna Be Santa Claus. George never released a solo Christmas song, instead giving us the New Year’s anthem “Ding Dong, Ding Dong.”
While the track celebrates the New Year rather than Christmas, it takes some cues from Christmas music. Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound became a popular Christmas music trope since the producer put out his masterpiece A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” has its own Wall of Sound. It also uses some bells in its production.
However, it still embodies the spirit of New Year’s. For some, the holiday is about cleansing oneself from negative habits and trying to get off on the right foot. “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” is all about trying to become a better version of yourself. It’s downright inspiring and it makes “Wonderful Christmastime” look embarrassing by comparison (although that song never seemed too good in the first place).
However, “Wonderful Christmastime” will always be more popular than “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” because our culture values Christmas more than New Year’s.
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles’ catalog is packed to the brim with songs that have stood the test of time and are still beloved to this day. Many of their most popular tracks became hits when they were new, especially in the United Kingdom, the band’s home base. A few of their famous compositions never reached the weekly rankings, for one reason or another, but that doesn’t make them unsuccessful.
One of The Beatles’ most familiar and most-covered songs somehow escaped the U.K. charts for decades. That losing streak—if it can even be called that—is over, as the track debuts on one list across the pond.
“Blackbird” finally becomes a chart hit in the U.K., as of this week. The tune debuts at No. 96 on the Official Singles Downloads ranking, which tracks the bestselling legal downloads in the nation.
The Official Singles Downloads chart is the first list that “Blackbird” has appeared on in the U.K. That may be difficult to believe for many fans of the Fab Four—and the song itself—but it’s true. Despite its legacy and popularity, the title has never sold or streamed well enough in one tracking period to land on any list until now.
The Beatles released “Blackbird” in 1968. It was featured on their self-titled project, which is also known as The White Album, due to its largely blank cover. The song was never selected as a single, but it’s become a classic nonetheless.
The White Album never produced any singles, so “Blackbird” isn’t alone in its album cut status. The full-length also features fellow Beatles favorites like "Back in the U.S.S.R.," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," among other fan favorites, and no one can call those tracks unsuccessful.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Despite being an American-dominated genre, there has been a fair share of foreign musicians to toil in country music. Ringo Starr, The Rolling Stones, Tommy Emmanuel, and numerous others hail from other countries yet still play the American-founded genre. However, there is one more monstrous name and figure to add to that list, the one and only, John Lennon.
For a vast amount of reasons, this might come as an enormous surprise. But, at the end of the day, Lennon’s fleeting stint in country music proves that above all, he was a pure musician. When one listens to Lennon’s 1974 country single, they might believe there is nothing country about. Though, given its use of steel guitar, American roots lyrics, and the story behind it, it is, without a doubt, John Lennon’s most country-inspired solo song.
The song came as a result of a wild weekend John Lennon and Harry Nilsson spent together in Los Angeles in 1974. In the book All We Are Saying, John Lennon told author David Sheff, “[It was done] just to write a song.” “You know, ‘Seein’ as we’re stuck in this bottle of vodka together, we might as well try and do something,” Lennon added.
Nilsson is known for his Great American Songbook and singer/songwriter folk style. Hence, it is no surprise that Lennon and Nilsson mustered up something awfully American and somewhat country. Besides the presence of the steel guitar in the song, the most country aspect of the tune is its lyrics. According to Nilsson, Lennon’s goal was to create an entirely American song.
Nilsson attested to the fact stating, “When [Lennon] was writing ‘Old Dirt Road’… he said, ‘Harry, what’s a good Americanism,” per the BBC. In addition to the title, other lines encompassing Lennon’s “Americanism” include Trying to shovel smoke with a pitchfork in the wind and It’s better than a mudslide, mama, when the dry spell come.
Source: Peter Burditt/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney‘s long, storied recording career has included forays into just about every style of music you could possibly imagine. On the 1972 single “C Moon,” recorded with the earliest incarnation of his band Wings, he lovingly tackled reggae.
McCartney played it light in a lyrical sense with the song, even creating his own lingo with the title phrase. “C Moon” hit the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, despite having to overcome obstacles caused by “Hi Hi Hi,” the track with which it was paired as a double A-sided single. In the Key of “C”
When Paul McCartney emerged to make music again following the breakup of The Beatles in 1970, he seemed determined to do so in a relaxed, off-the-cuff fashion, perhaps to temper the expectations of fans and critics. Both his first solo album (McCartney) and his first album with Wings (Wild Life) were somewhat ramshackle affairs, free of excessive fussing when it came to the writing and recording.
McCartney also seemed determined to broaden his horizons in the types of music he was going to make. While he had dabbled lightly in reggae with The Beatles (“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” features hints of it), he went all-in on “C Moon.” It was a trip to Jamaica with wife Linda that helped light his fuse, as he explained in the book Wingspan: Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run:
“We both loved the music and going to Jamaica became our big ambition. When we did, we really fell in love with it: the country, the people, the music, the lifestyle, the weather. We spent weeks there, soaking up a lot of reggae—it was the start of rap but they used to call it toasting. There was a radio station called RJR that played reggae all day long, and a little shop in Montego Bay called Tony’s Record Store where we used to sift through all the 45s.”
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Richard Starkey, born in Liverpool and known throughout the world as Ringo Starr, is the constant reminder that The Beatles loved each other, respected each other, and worked like dogs to make good music. “Every generation listens to the Beatles. It’s fantastic. The remastering, for me, was great because you can hear the drums, really hear what was played, not so boom, boom, boom… I still love the tracks. There was a lot of energy. We realized ‘we’re working here,’ you know, we’re not partying down while doing the tracks. We did that occasionally, and the track was always shit. But we went in and we did our best,” says Starr, 84, in the room of a luxury London hotel, where he has locked himself away to launch the promotion of his new album, Look Up, which will go on sale on January 10.
Starr’s latest record consists of 11 country songs written mostly by T. Bone Burnett, Bob Dylan’s guitarist during the 1970s, and a composer and producer with several Grammys under his belt. This is not the first album of the genre released by the former Beatles drummer: over 50 years ago he composed and produced the album Beaucoups of Blues.
And anyone who has heard the few Beatles songs Ringo sang, such as What Goes On, Act Naturally (“We’re going to make a film about a sad, lonely man. All I have to do is act naturally”), or even Octopus’s Garden, can sense a cowboy soul in the rhythm and in his voice.
Source: Rafa de Miguel/english.elpais.com
The Beatles’ Abbey Road is one of the bestselling albums that is still present on the Billboard charts. The classic has already sold more than 6.2 million copies in the U.S. alone since its release decades ago, but that doesn’t mean Americans are done with the set.
Abbey Road is on the rise on every ranking it appears on in the U.S. at the moment. The blockbuster climbs on five different tallies, thanks largely to a sizable uptick in purchases—one that is especially notable given not just how long the title has been available, but also how well it’s already sold.
In the past tracking period, Abbey Road was purchased by 7,750 Americans. That sum is up by more than 42% from last frame, according to Luminate. That’s a huge surge for a half-century-old release, regardless of the title or the band behind it.
Total consumption of the album also increased, but not by nearly as much. Including streams and sales of individual tunes featured on its tracklist, Abbey Road moved nearly 11,900 equivalent units last week. That’s a growth of almost 22% from the frame before, when it didn’t quite manage 10,000 units.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
