Beatles News
When you look at the tracklist for the Beatles’ White Album (1968), you can see why the band’s producer thought it should have been trimmed down. In fact, George Martin believed it ought to go out as one “really super album” rather than a two-record set.
Between a solo improvisation by Paul McCartney (“Wild Honey Pie”), a song about chocolates (“Savoy Truffle“), and a seven-minute sound experiment (“Revolution 9”), we’d have a hard time arguing it was all essential Beatles material.
The crazy thing is, The Beatles actually did scrap two songs during the White Album sessions. If you’ve ever heard John Lennon’s wild “What’s the New Mary Jane,” you probably understand why that one got cut.
However, regarding the second — George’s “Not Guilty” — you can’t make the same case. And it gets even harder when you learn the Fab Four took over 100 stabs at the song.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Part of John Lennon’s tooth is going on show in Bristol to raise awareness of oral cancer.
People will have the opportunity to wear the tooth round their neck and have their photo taken with it.
The tooth necklace is on a UK tour in a bid to raise awareness of oral cancer. Over the next few weeks, it is visiting 16 dental practices to highlight National Mouth Cancer Month. It will be accompanied by free mouth screenings, promotions and fundraising events at every dental practice.
Mouth cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world. NHS guidance says that early detection can boost chances of survival from 50% to 90%.
Lennon gave the tooth to his former housekeeper, Dot Jarlett, between 1964 and 1968 thinking she would dispose of it. Instead, she gave it to her daughter - a massive fan of the Beatles - who guessed it would be worth something one day. She sold the tooth recently in order to pay for a family member's operation.
Source: itv.com
By October 1968, The Beatles probably considered it a miracle that they were almost finished The White Album. Since they began work on the double record at the end of May, they’d experienced just about every problem a band could have.
Geoff Emerick, the Beatles’ Grammy-winning engineer, also gave up on the band during these contentious sessions. And George Harrison thought about doing the same. (An assist by Eric Clapton might have kept him in the band.)
When Paul McCartney led the band through one of his self-described “fruity” songs late in the White Album sessions, the mood seemed to be, “Let’s get this done.” And the lineup on “Honey Pie” reflected that.
Rock and roll band “The Beatles” pose for a portrait circa 1967. | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
It might have been the change of scenery that had the Fab Four in the mood early that October. For the week in question, the band worked at Trident Studios rather than at Abbey Road. “I like this hot kind of music!” Paul said, getting ready at the start of the session.
Source: cheatsheet.com
After the Beatles tragically broke up in the early 1970s, each member of the band went on to have a solo career. George Harrison proved he could be a great solo artist with his masterpiece “My Sweet Lord.” Let’s look at the history and controversy behind one of the most iconic Beatles solo songs.
George was raised Catholic but converted to Hinduism later in life. His Hindu beliefs inform much of his work as a Beatle and as a solo artist. After he began to take an interest in Indian spirituality, three Hindu gurus – Sri Yukteswar Giri, Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, and Sri Mahavatar Babaji – were depicted on the cover of the Fab Four’s seminal album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. After the Beatles broke up, George recorded a version of the Hari Krishna Mantra and used images of the Hindu god Krishna in his album art.
Source: cheatsheet.com
When The Beatles released “Something” as a single backed with “Come Together” in 1969, it was significant for a number of reasons. For George Harrison, it was the first time the band released a song he wrote as a single (i.e., the A side).
When it hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts that November, it became the first time someone besides John Lennon or Paul McCartney had got the Fab Four there. (It was also the last time.) And the praise for “Something” began rolling in right away.
Before Frank Sinatra began singing it at his shows, he’d call it one of the best love songs ever written. But even Sinatra was confused about the composer. (At first, he attributed it to Lennon and McCartney.)
Fifty years later, it remains one of the most popular and most covered Beatles tracks. However, it’s still not entirely clear who George was thinking about when he wrote his greatest love song.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The Beatles produced an iconic mix of cheery pop songs and psychedelic experiments. Although they never wrote as many macabre tunes as Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, or Marilyn Manson, the Fab Four did give us a handful of eerie tracks. Here are the spookiest songs that the Beatles ever wrote.
“A Day in the Life” remains one of Beatles‘ most popular and critically acclaimed songs. The song’s popularity is a touch surprising given its horrifying undertones. The song sees John Lennon and Paul MCartney narrating four seemingly disconnected vignettes. One is about a man who died in a car accident, another is about a World War II movie, the third is about a man’s daily routine, and the fourth is about “four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire.”
None of these lyrics are scary unto themselves, however, they are each followed by a cacophonous instrumental break which sounds like the gates of hell being opened.
Source: cheatsheet.com
By the time The Beatles split, in 1970, Paul McCartney had already accomplished more than any musician could have hoped for. Having helped change the face of music on several occasions, he could have spent his post-Beatles life in semi-retirement, emerging solely to remind us of his past accomplishments. As a solo artist, however, McCartney continued to shape pop and rock music, whether with new collaborators (Wings, his wife Linda, Elvis Costello, producer Nigel Godrich) or simply following wherever his creative muse led. The best Paul McCartney songs, then, pay tribute to that relentless drive to keep finding new modes of expression.One of the interesting aspects of Paul’s 2013 album, NEW, is that the production credits feature Giles Martin and Ethan Johns, successful young producers, but – more significantly – the respective sons of George Martin and Glyn Johns, both of whom had produced The Beatles. From the sessions with Ethan Johns came ‘Early Days’, a song about Macca’s carefree teenage years back in Liverpool. “On the day I wrote the track ‘Early Days’ I was thinking about the past, particularly me and John in Liverpool in the early days, so I just ran with that,” Paul explained. “I started to get images of us in the record shop listening to early rock’n’roll and looking at the posters, and the joy that that gave me remembering all those moments.
Source: Paul McGuinness/udiscovermusic.com
When you watch the Let It Be documentary, a few things stand out. One is the famous ending, in which The Beatles give their last live performance on the roof of the Apple building. Also noteworthy is the energy Billy Preston brings after several uninspired rehearsals early in the film.
Clearly, the Fab Four (plus Yoko Ono) did not enjoy making the movie, especially in the beginning. The caught-on-camera argument between Paul McCartney and George Harrison led to George walking out on the band for a stretch in January 1969.
After George agreed to return, the band moved the recording dates (originally call the Get Back sessions) to Abbey Road. In the transition, they seemed to lose interest in a few of the songs they’d started.
One of those tracks was “The Long and Winding Road,” a ballad you can see Paul playing on piano at one point in Let It Be. While it ended up being the Beatles’ last No. 1 hit in America, Paul didn’t like what the song had become prior to its release.
Source: cheatsheet.com
The last album recorded by The Beatles featured several of their most loved – and most covered – songs. ‘Something’, ‘Come Together’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’, for example, have been recorded by hundreds of artists, while fresh takes on songs from Abbey Road continue to emerge some 50 years on. Our our favourite Abbey Road cover versions take in recordings by soul, jazz and classical music icons.The swamp funk that The Beatles had been looking for on their own version of ‘Come Together’ came naturally to Ike And Tina Turner. Indeed, the rock’n’roll music that had first made the fledgling Beatles want to be stars owes a great debt to Ike Turner, whose 1951 recording ‘Rocket 88’ (credited to Jackie Brenston And The Delta Cats) is often cited as an candidate for being the first rock’n’roll recording. After touring in support of The Rolling Stones in late 1969, the husband-and-wife duo covered ‘Come Together’ as the title track of their first album of the 70s, released in May that year.
Source: udiscovermusic.com
Today we’re taking a look back at an iconic moment in pop music history, the time that Ravi Shankar, iconic Indian musician, taught The Beatles’ George Harrison how to play the traditional Indian instrument, the sitar.
What transpired was a rich and fruitful partnership between the pair which would not only see Harrison promote both Shankar and Indian music through his various channels with The Beatles. But it would also see Shankar become a deeply respected musician in the Western world on his own merit.
Shankar, the father of folk singer Norah Jones, became widely known for his collaborations with The Beatles, among other western musicians, and brought the intricacy and beauty of classical Indian music to the masses.
Source: faroutmagazine.co.uk
