Beatles News
Most Beatles fans have heard stories about the band’s problems by the time they were recording The White Album (1968). By then, John Lennon and Paul McCartney had gotten in each other’s faces; Yoko Ono had become a fixture in the studio; and George Harrison had become disenchanted.
As for Ringo Starr, the Beatles’ drummer was the first to walk out on the band, so it’s clear the vibe wasn’t working for him, either. After they finished The White Album, the Fab Four decided they would try to get back to basics with a live feel in their music and plans to perform again.
But that plan didn’t work, either. George described those early Let It Be sessions (January ’69) as more miserable than the White Album days. Though the mood improved when George invited Billy Preston to play on the record, nothing could keep The Beatles going at that point.
All was not lost, however. Right after the band announced its break up (in April ’70), George spoke as if he saw the group making music together in the future. However, he said he couldn’t keep dealing with the big problems he had while being a Beatle.
Source: cheatsheet.com
How versatile was Paul McCartney as a songwriter? Just check his late Beatles songs. After shooting for his “nastiest, sweatiest” work with 1968’s “Helter Skelter,” Paul was tinkling the ivories playing “The Long and Winding Road” while filming Let It Be in January ’69.
But that wouldn’t surprise anyone who knew what Paul listened to in the ’60s. When he wrote “Good Day Sunshine” (’66), he wanted to match the energy The Lovin’ Spoonful brought to “Daydream.” On Sgt. Pepper’s (’67), he wanted to top what The Beach Boys had achieved with Pet Sounds.
By “Helter Skelter,” he was looking to outdo The Who, one of the heaviest early rock acts. With “The Long and Winding Road,” which became the Fab Four’s last No. 1 hit in America, Paul had one of the greatest soul singers in mind.
Source: cheatsheet.com
It's easy to imagine that Ringo Starr's closet is full of shoe boxes containing old mementos, like the photographs that populate Another Day In The Life, his newest book. The reality is a bit different though.
"If I'm in them, I just lift them off the internet," he says. "Others are what I do on tour when I'm hanging out."
In addition to playing drums, Ringo likes taking photos and making art. He puts out these books — a mix of coffee table decor and memoir — for charity, and they all have a scrapbook feeling, with funny notes in the margins. Another Day In The Life holds over 500 photographs, a combination of images shot by Ringo and bits pulled from The Beatles' archives.
Ringo spoke to NPR's Rachel Martin about his new book, including returning to The Plaza Hotel 50 years after The Beatles' first visit, smoking cigars with George Harrison at the film premiere of A Hard Day's Night and the story behind the Abbey Road album cover. Hear their conversation at the audio link.
Source: Rachel Martin
In 1969 when Abbey Road by The Beatles was released I was dating Ann Burgess. She was my first serious girlfriend in London. It had taken me two years to get over the girl I’d been seeing back home in Ireland.
I mean the reality was, if I’m being absolutely truthful, the girl in Ireland was a girl who was a friend, rather than a girlfriend. She might even have been one of the reasons I left my home in Ireland when I’d just turned 17 in 1967. The other main reason would definitely have been my love for The Beatles, but that’s another story altogether. At the same time it brings us back nicely to the Abbey Road album. Abbey Road was released on Friday, September 26th, 1969 and I (quite literally) rushed out on release day to buy it. I was living in Wimbledon in south London at the time and bought it in Goodness Records up on Wimbledon Bridge and it would have cost me £1, 12 shillings and 6 pence. This would have been about a sixth of my weekly wage.
Source: irishtimes.com
The Beatles are often cited as the greatest band of all time. As such, the members of the group took lots of inspiration from other artists ranging from Victorian novelist Lewis Carroll to Nigerian congo player Jimmy Scott. Among the band’s many influences were the films of Walt Disney. Here’s how Disney classics inspired the Beatles.
Walt Disney inspired a Beatles hit
Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs gave the world many iconic songs including “Heigh-Ho” and “Sunday My Prince Will Come.” It was one of the lesser-known songs on the soundtrack, however, that inspired a Beatles hit. The Beatles’ debut studio album Please Please Me includes a smooth ballad called “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” that was inspired by the first song in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: “I’m Wishing.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
With Ringo Starr’s announcement of a 2020 All Starr Band tour — which includes three Florida dates — the former Beatle is almost as busy as he was in the early 1970s.
Starr, 79, has tour dates on June 26 at St. Augustine Amphitheatre, June 27 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood and June 28 at Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.
The tour opens May 29 in Ontario, Canada, and includes dates in New York, New Hampshire, Boston and Atlanta.
Presale tickets for the Florida dates and several others go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Ticketmaster.
Why should you consider seeing Starr in 2020? He’s turning 80 on July 7. Even with a little help from his friends, the road can’t go on forever. He’s not Tony Bennett, after all.
Source: miamiherald.com
Kenneth Womack, an established historian, author and professor of English at Monmouth University, gave a presentation displaying his specialized knowledge in literature, creative writing and the fab four.
Within his hour-long presentation on Oct. 29, the author delved into the band’s creation of the album.
On Oct. 15, Womack saw the release of his latest book, “Solid State: The Story of ‘Abbey Road’ and the End of the Beatles,” which comes during the 50th anniversary of the album’s release. Throughout his presentation, Womack focused on the “Abbey Road” medley, the eight-song collection found on side B of the record.
“The medley is essentially a selection of songs in a suite that concludes their career, so it has a very powerful place in their story,” Womack said.
Source: tcnjsignal.net
When Eric Clapton headed into Abbey Road studios to play guitar on a Beatles song in 1968, he didn’t take it lightly. In fact, he tried to convince George Harrison it was a bad idea. “What will they say?” Clapton wondered.
Prior to Clapton’s solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” no rocker had gone into a Beatles session and played lead on a record. So you can see why even a pro like Clapton would be nervous about it. Nonetheless, he recorded the solo and it turned out great.
Later that year, Clapton played with John Lennon again when the two (along with Keith Richards, Yoko Ono, and Mitch Mitchell) played a few tracks for the Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus. At that point, Lennon knew how Clapton played and liked his guitar style.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The Beatles have never been particularly shy about their influences. In fact, during their early years, they never even had to say it. The band’s first album featured two tracks made famous by The Shirelles. And their second US release had covers of Chuck Berry and Little Richard songs.
Later, when the band only recorded original songs, you’d have to listen more closely to hear the influences. George Harrison said the band had Otis Redding in mind when he and Paul McCartney worked out the guitar part for “Drive My Car.”
And Paul said he was thinking of the Lovin’ Spoonful hit “Daydream” when he wrote “Good Day Sunshine.” While the Fab Four was the biggest band on earth by the time they made the White Album (1968), they were still looking to one-up major bands on the scene.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Every now and then it’s worth taking a detour away from the politics that divide us to the eternal truth that binds us — today’s music pretty much sucks.
Back in high school we had extended debates on the key existential question of our time — who’s better, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Oh, we made time for other burning life-or-death questions: Ginger or Mary Ann, Star Trek or Star Wars (Trek), Roger Moore or Sean Connery (the first is still the best)? But those issues were not about the core issue of multi-generational importance, rock music.
We arrogantly knew in our bones, in our very fiber that the battling bands of Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Who, etc. made the greatest music not just of our time, but of all time. “Our” music wouldn’t die. Time has proven we were right. Take that bobby-soxers.
In case you’re not feeling old enough, let me remind you that The Beatles’ last, and in my opinion finest, studio album, Abbey Road, was released 50 years ago. A remixed boxset was released this year to commemorate the occasion and to keep squeezing the golden goose, and it has reached No. 1 in the U.K. charts and No. 3 in the U.S.
Source: denverpost.com
