Beatles News
In the wintry early months of 1971, John Lennon embarked on a recording project that would prove to be momentous in its influence on rock music and the world at large. The album’s title track is still sung today at protest marches, sporting events, pop concerts, prayer vigils and anywhere else people gather in unity. It will most likely still be sung and treasured for many years to come.
The Imagine album ranks high among Lennon’s towering musical achievements, both as a solo artist and with the Beatles. At turns brutally honest and achingly intimate, the record opened up new vistas of expressiveness for songwriters and creative artists in every medium.
But Imagine isn’t usually regarded as much of a guitar album. Because the disc’s piano-driven title track has become a timeless international peace anthem, it tends to loom larger in the public consciousness than the rest of the disc. Which is a bit of a shame, as “Imagine” is only one of several album tracks that find Lennon at the top of his game as a songwriter. From “Jealous Guy” to “How Do You Sleep?,” the disc reflects Lennon at his most vulnerable and his most vicious.
Source: Jon Wiederhorn/guitarworld.com
The week of April 11 – 17, 1971 was a busy one for the Beatles — even though the band had split up.
During that week, each former Beatle had a solo single on the UK Top 40 chart, indicative of the public’s insatiable need for all things Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon, even after the messy and dramatic dissolution of the world’s most famous band by 1970.
Highest on the UK Top 40 chart that week was “Power to the People,” a single from John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band, a song which later turned up on the 1975 release Shaved Fish. The song sat at No. 10, sandwiched between No. 9, “Walkin” by CCS and No. 11, which we’ll get to next.
Paul McCartney’s “Another Day,” his first official solo single, was right on Lennon’s heels at No. 11 on the chart that week. Written originally during the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions, the song would later turn up on Sir Paul’s many Greatest Hits compilations and re-issued versions of RAM.
Source: Rock Cellar Magazine Staff/rockcellarmagazine.com
For many fans of The Beatles, the band’s 1970 breakup couldn’t really be the end. After each member released a solo album — several of which took shots at Paul McCartney — a reassuring calm reigned by the mid-’70s.
During that period, you’d hear John Lennon giving interviews in which he said nice things about Paul. For those familiar with the days of John and Ringo savaging their old bandmate on record, that seemed like major progress.
Meanwhile, no one ever seemed to have a feud with George Harrison. That meant the four elements that needed to be combined for a reunion had no serious problem with one another. That was more than anyone could say during the band’s final years.
In fact, once John and Paul jammed together at a 1974 recording session, the groundswell necessary for a Beatles reunion had begun. Things actually got close during this period.
Source: cheatsheet.com
No one’s ever been able to rack up No. 1 hits in America like The Beatles did. While their recording career only lasted seven years, their early contracts kept them producing multiple albums (and plenty of singles) every year.
As you can tell by glancing at the band’s run on the Billboard charts, every Beatles studio album made was a major hit. Besides, there were years when they saw five different singles — and three different albums — reach No. 1 in the same year.
However, though 20 Beatles songs topped the charts, nearly all were written and sung by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It wasn’t until late in the band’s run that George Harrison and Ringo Starr got near the top of the charts with tunes they wrote and/or sang.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Police log books for officers who protected The Beatles from screaming fans on their first trip to America have been unveiled.
The records, which have been donated to Liverpool’s Magical Beatles Museum, list the names of the officers who guarded the band in New York as they prepared to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 and their show at Carnegie Hall.
At the latter, the logs state that there was an incident where an officer was “knocked off balance” and injured outside the Plaza Hotel while “attempting to restrain the surging crowd”.
NYPD officer Patrick Cassidy, who discovered the logs while searching in police records, told BBC: “The Ed Sullivan Theatre is in the confines of my precinct, so one day in 2013, I went into the storage area that holds these books.
Source: Damian Jones/nme.com
The Beatles recorded their song "Something" 50 years ago on Tuesday.
It's considered the song that established George Harrison as a formidable songwriter within the group, and it's been covered by more than 150 artists — including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey and Ray Charles. In fact, "Yesterday" is the only other Beatles song that has been covered more times.
Source: MPR NEWS
Fifty years on from the Abbey Road album - the 11th studio album by the Beatles released on September 26, 1969, and the last recording sessions in which all four Beatles participated - audiences are invited to celebrate the legacy of John Lennon.
From the producers behind shows That’ll Be The Day and Walk Right Back comes a new production for 2019, Imagine – The John Lennon Songbook, which tells the legendary story through his songbook.
Starring Jimmy Coburn, Imagine showcases all of Lennon’s greatest hits, from the early days in Liverpool's The Cavern Club with The Beatles, through to The Plastic Ono Band and his solo career.
Source: Dawn Hinsley/lincolnshirelive.co.uk
Being the world’s most famous band can as stressful as it is exhilarating. Then there’s the unprecedented level of fame and success The Beatles had. George Harrison once described the experience as “being boxed up for 10 years.”
By the end, the band members’ tempers flared on a regular basis. After The Beatles split up in 1970, the animosity carried over into their solo recordings. You can hear a little bit on George’s All Things Must Pass, but Paul McCartney took it a step further on his second solo album.
That’s when Paul took aim at John Lennon, who responded in savage fashion with 1971’s “How Do You Sleep?” In other words, the ex-Beatles were officially at war in song, and the Lennon-McCartney partnership had flamed out in spectacular fashion.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Author Ray Connolly, a friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, has written a personal and honest account of his complicated and talented friend.
In his author’s note, Connolly recalls Yoko Ono’s phone call on the afternoon of Monday, Dec. 8, 1980, asking him to come to New York right away. “The BBC has been here this weekend,” she told him, contradicting her earlier message.
Connolly booked an early flight for the next day, but never made the trip. On Dec. 9, Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
So much has been written about Lennon and The Beatles. Is there anything more to tell? Connolly has given us insights into Lennon’s often sharp-tongued and caustic comments, a legacy of his Liverpool upbringing.
Source: Frances Monaco/postandcourier.com
The Beatles officially parted ways in April 1970, but the writing had been on the wall for a while. In fact, John Lennon told the other members of the band he was leaving late in ’69.
By then, the band was feuding over money and who would be the next manager. Meanwhile, John had already recorded albums with Yoko Ono and jammed with Eric Clapton. He was ready to go out on his own. In 1971, he chalked up his first No. 1 solo album with Imagine.
But Paul McCartney, who by then had become something of an adversary, had already topped the charts with his first solo effort. Paul’s record landed right around the same time as the final Fab Four studio album, Let It Be. (Yes, the other Beatles resented the timing of the release.)
Source: cheatsheet.com
