Beatles News
George Harrison’s post-Beatles career as a film producer, composer and occasional actor will be celebrated over the course of a 10-day film festival next month in Beverly Hills.
Focusing on the output from the HandMade Films studio Harrison set up with business partner Denis O’Brien, the (Other) HandMade’s Tale festival, organized by English producer, humorist and Beatles authority Martin Lewis, will run Oct. 10-20 at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre.
It will showcase several group and solo films from the Monty Python team that Harrison’s involvement helped realize, as well as other titles that launched the careers of British actors Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren and director Neil Jordan.
The festival kicks off Oct. 10 with the premiere of “An Accidental Studio,” a new documentary about the creation of HandMade by Bill Jones (son of Python member Terry Jones) and Ben Timlett, who will take part in a postscreening Q&A session. The evening also will include “Two Live Pythons,” a taped Q&A shot in London with Python alums Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam plus musician-actor-producer and HandMade executive Ray Cooper, who appeared in several films from HandMade.
Source: Randy Lewis/latimes.com
Abbey Road brought The Beatles together one last time for the creation of “Abbey Road”, their eleventh album which was released 50 years ago this month. This album featured two songs written by George Harrison: ”Here Comes the Sun” and ”Something”, a song that was revered by all of the band members and has been covered by countless artists. Sir Paul McCartney and Sir George Martin created a 16-minute medley on side two, comprised of bits and pieces of songs that were never completed.
“I Want You/She’s So Heavy”, an 8-minute John Lennon song with only 14 words, is one of the most unusual songs on the album. It was one of the last songs to be completed for “Abbey Road”. The album closes with a 23-second hidden track that reveals itself after 17-seconds of silence.
Aside from the songs, the album cover itself had its own story. Shot by Iain McMillan, it fueled the flames of the “Paul is Dead” conspiracy that began with supposed “clues” from other album covers. Conspiracy theorists pointed out that for the “Abbey Road” album cover, Paul is out of step with the other band members, leading with his right leg instead of his left. The label’s official policy regarding inquiries about whether Paul was dead or alive was to neither confirm nor deny.
Source: Ann Delisi/wdet.org
Had it not been for a very tight deadline, the now-iconic cover design for the Beatles' classic album Abbey Road might have appeared quite differently today, according to John Kosh, the former creative director for the band's label Apple Records. Back in 1969, he was conceiving the look for the next Beatles album titled Get Back when he later found out that it was being replaced on the release schedule by a new record called Abbey Road. Now Kosh had to quickly come up with a brand-new design before the record hit the shops. “I suddenly found myself, 'By God, I've got to do this and get it out on Wednesday?’” he recalls today. “That's how it all happened.”
Featuring Kosh's understated yet groundbreaking design and the famous photograph by the late Iain Macmillan, Abbey Road is one of the most recognizable album covers of all time alongside the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles (a.k.a., The White Album). On its 50th anniversary this year, Abbey Road is being reissued this Friday in a number of configurations—including a super deluxe edition set containing a newly-remastered version of the album on CD and Blu-ray along with previously unreleased music from the sessions.
Source: David Chiu/forbes.com
John Lennon was a legendary singer, songwriter and peace activist. December 8th of this year will be the 39th anniversary of iconic musician and co-founder of The Beatles John Lennon’s assassination and death. Here, MusicSnake Magazine put together a list of top 15 facts you probably didn’t know about John Lennon.
Number One: John Lennon Didn’t Like the Sound of His Own Voice. Apparently, he was never happy with the way his voice sounded, and this is why the musician liked to double-track his records. He’s reported as once having asked producer George Martin, “Can’t you smother my voice with tomato ketchup or something?”
Number Two: Paul Goresh Was the Last Person to Take His Picture. John Lennon was signing an album for Mark David Chapman who would assassinate him when he was photographed by Paul Goresh.
Source: MusicSnake Magazine
Late in the Beatles’ time together as a band, John Lennon grew dead-tired of Paul McCartney’s whimsical, bouncy pop songs. In fact, John began openly mocking songs like “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” for all studio personnel to hear. (He called these tunes Paul’s “granny music s**t.”)
While laying down tracks for Abbey Road the following year, Paul ran into a lot of resistance from the other Beatles during the lengthy sessions for “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” John, who was still recovering from a car accident, opted out of the recording altogether.
Though they later spoke of how much they hated the track, Ringo and George Harrison soldiered on and finished “Maxwell” with Paul. However, the irritating nature of the song hung over the band after they completed Abbey Road.
In a recently discovered audio recording of John speaking with George and Paul, John is heard saying what a drag it was for them to do “Maxwell.” And he said everyone would be better off if Paul found other artists to sing such songs in the future.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The 25-year veteran of the music industry-turned cabbie and tour guide (and now shutterbug) stood in the middle of the street, lining four of us up. “Wait, which leg are we starting with?” I quickly asked. This photo, after all, takes some coordination.
On the count of three and with cars waiting we took off on the right foot, swinging our arms in time like countless tourists have done before us, recreating the "Abbey Road" album cover, nearly as infamous as the Beatles themselves.
Fifty years later, that iconic album — the last the Beatles made as a group and released in the UK on Sept. 26, 1969 — still resonates. And tracing the city’s music history remains a favorite pastime for many visitors.
“I kept getting asked, especially by American tourists, about Abbey Road and on the way to Abbey Road I would say ‘do you know Paul McCartney lives around the corner? Do you know where Jimmy Page lives? Do you know where Freddie Mercury’s house is?’” Channell, who runs Rock Cab Tours, told Travel + Leisure. “And of course I had this wonderful light bulb moment, I said, ‘You know what, there’s a bit of a business in this.’”
Source: travelandleisure.com
The iconic drummer of The Beatles, Ringo Starr involved in the astonishing project alongside 10 different musicians from 10 different countries.
Here is what’s written on the project’s official YouTube account, Playing for Change:
“We’re excited to share our newest Song Around The World, “The Weight,” featuring musicians performing together across 5 continents.
Great songs can travel everywhere bridging what divides us and inspiring us to see how easily we all get along when the music plays.
Special thanks to our partner Cambria® for helping to make this possible and to Robbie Robertson, Ringo Starr and all the musicians for joining us in celebrating 50 years of this classic song.”
They also indicated that they are dedicated the project to legendary “The Band.”
Source: Enes K/metalheadzone.com
An uncovered Beatles recording of a conversation between John, George and Paul in 1969 sheds new light on their breakup and challenges previously accepted notions, especially concerning Yoko Ono. The Beatles are still one of the most famous bands in the world. But the way it ended for the Fab Four is viewed as far from harmonious.
It’s believed personal and creative tensions ran high, with the arrival of Yoko Ono in John Lennon’s life playing a key role in the split. However a newly-discovered recording seems to tell a different story.
Mark Lewisohn – author of The Beatles: All These Years (2013) – played the ear-opening evidence to The Guardian. Events took place in 1969, following completion of their last album Abbey Road… 50 years ago this month.
Source: Vintage News
He had not voted in the referendum, he said, as he "didn't see anybody saying anything sensible enough".
Sir Paul said the current situation was "a mess" but added: "I think we'll come through it, we always do."
The former Beatle was speaking to BBC News as he - with daughters, Stella and Mary - released a book of personal photos, taken by his late wife, Linda.
Reflecting on the 2016 Brexit vote, Sir Paul said the arguments made during the campaign had been "all crazy promises".
"What put me off was that I was meeting a lot of older people, kind of pretty much my generation.
"And they were going, 'All right Paul - it's going to be like it was in the old days, we're going to go back.' And it was like, 'Yeah? Oh, I'm not sure about that.' And that attitude was very prevalent.
"I vote for someone I believe in and so often there's nobody I believe in. I have to get a bit inspired. At the moment I'm not really inspired."
Source: BBC News
Every Beatles fan can hum a classic George Harrison guitar part. Whether it’s the jangling solo from “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) or the gorgeous closing moments of “The End” (1969), George had so many standout moments with the Fab Four.
However, it didn’t always come easy. During the sessions for Revolver (1966), Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick described how George drove everyone in the studio nuts trying to record a backwards guitar solo for “I’m Only Sleeping.”
“At the best of times, George had trouble playing solos all the way through forwards,” Emerick quipped in Here, There and Everywhere. With Paul McCartney ready, willing, and able to take a solo off George’s hands at any moment, George had some rough days in the studio over the years.
George’s fascination with Indian music didn’t help matters. From the time he played sitar on “Norwegian Wood” (1965) all the way up to The White Album (1968), George admittedly let his guitar technique slip.
Source: cheatsheet.com
