Beatles News
‘Grow Old With Me’: A Look Back at the Song That Brought John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Back Together Again
During the making of Ringo Starr’s 2019 album What’s My Name, his producer Jack Douglas brought up the Bermuda Tapes: had he heard the message John Lennon had left for him on them?
These tapes were demos recorded in the summer of 1980 that went unreleased by John, who died in December of that year. In them, he enthusiastically states that one of the songs would be “great!” for Ringo.
The message seemed to have come out of nowhere but would act as a major inspiration almost forty years later.
“That’s why I love life,” Ringo says. “Things just arrive!”
He says the song he heard following the message was beautiful. Why it was left unfinished, they will never know — but Ringo was up for the task.
In the studio, he recorded vocals and piano. And when his friend and fellow Beatle Paul McCartney came into town, he asked him to come and work on it with him. Over the years, the two had continued to collaborate, and asking Paul to join in on this track just made sense.
“He can only enhance the track,” Ringo says of Paul, “that’s all he does when he plays, every time.”
That makes three Beatles back together again on this record — but Ringo suggests it’s almost like the whole band is present.
Source: q107.com/epatel617
Cultivating just the right environment for the studio is not always an easy task, considering all the external distractions, sicknesses, and general mindlessness that can cause a recording session to turn sour. Fortunately for Tom Petty, George Harrison was on hand while the Florida rocker was tracking what would become one of his most iconic and inspiring hits, “I Won’t Back Down.”
The context in which Petty wrote the song already added a significant layer of emotional distraction. The Full Moon Fever single was Petty’s direct response to a harrowing attack he and his family endured at their California home, which made revisiting the song as cathartic as it was uncomfortable. Moreover, Petty was incredibly sick the day that they were going to lay down the vocal track. Enter George with the ginger.
Save any obvious exceptions, like major trauma and injury, one of the worst things that can happen to a singer on the day of a recording session is to get a head cold. Singers’ instruments are their bodies: the lungs, diaphragm, larynx, sinuses. If mucus or inflammation affects any of these elements of the vocal passageway too strongly, it won’t just ruin a take. It can make it to where the singer can’t phonate anything at all besides a whispery rasp. When you’re at the level Tom Petty was at when he was recording Full Moon Fever, suddenly, all those head colds become expensive wastes of studio time.
Luckily for Petty, George Harrison was in the studio hanging out that day. “I had a terrible cold,” Petty recalled in a 2010 interview with Mojo. “George sent to the store and bought a ginger root, boiled it, and had me stick my head in the pot to get the ginger steam to open my sinuses, and then I ran in and did the take. I put my heart and soul into those records. I remember things about making them pretty vividly. It’s a great job to have. The best thing to do with your life, I always tell young people, is to try and figure out what you like and make it your work. I’m incredibly fortunate in that respect.”
Harrison’s quick thinking helped reduce the inflammation in Petty’s airways, helping him phonate enough to get through his vocal takes. But that wasn’t the only way the former Beatle helped Petty create the final version of “I Won’t Back Down.”
The Former Beatle Pointed Out A Particularly Cringey Lyric
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
What more can be said about The Beatles? In many ways, the Liverpool, England-born group symbolized the 1960s. They came around in a big way around the time when the decade began, and they departed as a group when the decade concluded. They evolved over that short time from a bubblegum pop band to a psychedelic, cerebral group.
But perhaps what distinguishes The Beatles most of all is that they wrote so many songs that people like to sing along to. Below, that’s exactly what we wanted to dive into. We wanted to highlight three of those catchy songs. Indeed, these are three Beatles songs we just can’t stop singing along to in our spare time.
“Yesterday” (Single, 1965)
The song that came to Paul McCartney in a dream, “Yesterday” has since become one of the Fab Four’s fan favorite tracks. On it, McCartney sings over a strummed acoustic, remembering and lamenting the loss of love. In the past, things seemed so much easier and clearer. But today—it’s just so difficult. That’s the message he croons in this straightforward but sublimely catchy song that the band released right there in the middle of the 1960s. Today, we all know the words.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Single, 1963)
One of the songs that helped introduce the former Mop Tops to the American audience, the group played this tune live on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. With that, The Beatles had landed, and they were instant stars, as young music fans screamed their heads off while the band played their early proto-rock and bubblegum tunes. Years later, they would grow out their hair and sing songs inspired by meditation and psychedelics. But in the beginning? It was all about hand-holding. Still, we can’t help but sing along.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jacob Uitti
Why Did The Beatles Leave Out "If You’ve Got Trouble"?
As many know, Starr was the band’s drummer and was not much of a singer. But for every project and album they released, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison wanted Starr to shine on at least one song for experimental reasons. But when it was time to record “If You’ve Got Trouble,” many issues arose. Why “If You’ve Got Trouble” was scrapped from Help! was pretty simple. The song did not make much sense, and the lyrics were all over the place. Compared to the songs on the album, such as “Help!” and “Yesterday,” “If You’ve Got Trouble” fell short. It was of poor quality, and it left the band with no choice but to reject it from the album.
"Act Naturally" Replaced "If You’ve Got Trouble" on The Beatles' Help! AlbumThe-Beatles-Eight-Days-a-Week-The-Touring-Years
Instead of releasing “If You’ve Got Trouble,” they released a cover of “Act Naturally” for the UK version of Help!, which was first performed by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in 1963. It was recorded months after they scrapped “If You’ve Got Trouble”, and it was recorded in 13 takes. This would be the last cover that the Fab Four recorded until the Get Back and Let It Be sessions in 1969.
“Act Naturally” was released as a B-side to “Yesterday” as a non-LP single, and was not a part of the Help! movie that the album was from. Starr’s cover of the 1963 track peaked at number 47 in the charts in October 1965, while “Yesterday” went on to become a cultural classic. “Act Naturally” and “Yesterday” then appeared on the 1966 album Yesterday and Today, which was released in the United States and Canada. "If You’ve Got Trouble" Was Released Years Later
“If You’ve Got Trouble” was forgotten for a long while, until producer George Martin rediscovered it in the vaults of EMI studios, as Starr revealed in Anthology. When it was rediscovered, Harrison admitted to having no recollection of making the song, but he called it “the most weird song.” “It’s got stupid words and is the naffest song. No wonder it didn’t make it onto anything,” he said.
Source: collider.com/Teguan Harris
On a sultry summer night in 1965, 55,600 people took part in a historic musical and cultural event. It was Aug. 15, the day The Beatles played the very first major stadium concert at Shea Stadium in Queens. This week marks its 60th anniversary.
The Beatles had already become popular at home in England, although “popular” is perhaps an understatement. Young people were screaming, crying and fainting in the band’s presence, and it seemed that mass hysteria followed everywhere they went. One British tabloid, the Daily Mail, coined a name for the phenomenon: Beatlemania.
Beatlemania first hit U.S. shores when the four lads from Liverpool arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Feb. 7, 1964, just two months after the assassination of the 35th president prompted a name change for the facility. The band would be exposed to a wider audience through their performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” two nights later.
The sold-out performance at Shea Stadium the following year, which set world records both for attendance and for revenue, was the peak of Beatlemania. According to concert promoter Sid Bernstein’s 2002 memoir “It’s Sid Bernstein Calling,” John Lennon, speaking in 1971, said he “saw the top of the mountain on that unforgettable night” as he reflected on the concert.
But that night wasn’t about hearing The Beatles play — the tens of thousands of screaming fans drowned out the primitive public-address system of the newly opened stadium.
Source: David Paone/timesunion.com
Paul McCartney has always been generous in giving credit where it’s due. Throughout his legendary career, he has openly acknowledged the artists who inspired him, but one musician stands out above the rest — Brian Wilson. Wilson’s masterpiece, “God Only Knows,” is a song McCartney once described as “brilliantly done.”
In a 2007 interview with BBC Radio 1, McCartney opened up about why this Beach Boys classic holds such a special place in his heart.
“It’s one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it,” McCartney confessed. “It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian.”
Coming from the man who penned “Yesterday,” “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road,” this wasn’t just casual praise — it was the greatest tribute.
McCartney’s admiration for Wilson’s composition went far beyond words. The track directly inspired some of the Beatles’ most beloved songs. “God Only Knows” served as the blueprint for McCartney’s own “Silly Love Songs,” which incorporated the same build-up of vocal counterpoints that made Wilson’s track so alluring.
Wilson himself was humble about the praise. When McCartney first called “God Only Knows” the “greatest song ever written” in the 1970s, Wilson responded, “If that’s true, then what was there left for me to do?”
Originally released in 1966, “God Only Knows” peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 but achieved top 10 status in several other countries, cementing its place in the Beach Boys’ legendary catalog. However, the song’s impact didn’t stop in the ’60s.
Following Wilson’s recent passing on June 11, 2025, “God Only Knows” has experienced a massive resurgence on social media. TikTok users have been rediscovering the track, with many hearing Wilson’s harmonies for the first time.
The song’s renaissance reached a high when Spin posted a video isolating Wilson’s raw vocals from the track. The viral clip garnered over a million views and left fans stunned by the producer’s talent.
“Now I see why Paul McCartney felt threatened by the harmonization,” one user joked in the comments. Another added, “Brian Wilson really said ‘I’m glad you guys liked the decade of silly surf rock songs I made, now here’s the greatest pop album of all time.'”
Source: parade.com/Isabella Torregiani
1969 was a bit of a heavy time for Paul McCartney. He was desperately trying to keep The Beatles together via a project that would force them to play together once again. Maybe it was only natural that his mind would wander off to more innocent days.
It was around that time that McCartney started writing the teenage-themed “The Back Seat Of My Car”. Although he’d never record it with The Beatles, he and his wife Linda would eventually make it the closing track of their 1971 album Ram.
Taking a “Back Seat”
On The Beatles’ 1968 double LP The White Album, individual members often went their separate ways in the studio to record songs without input from the others. With the Get Back/Let It Be project that began in early 1969, Paul McCartney sought to bring everyone back together into a tight musical unit.
He did this via an album that they planned to build from scratch in rehearsals, all while being filmed. As we know, the project ended up exposing more rifts than repairing them. After the rooftop concert at the end of January, the album/documentary was put on ice for over a year, by which time the band had broken up.
Band members were encouraged to bring whatever musical idea they had to the proceedings for possible inclusion on the album. Paul McCartney began working on the bare bones of “The Back Seat Of My Car” at one of those sessions. But he abandoned it before the rest of the band could give their input.
He brought the song out of mothballs to make it the stirring closer of Ram, the 1971 album credited to both Paul and his wife, Linda. In an interview with Mojo in 2001 (as reported by The Beatles Bible), McCartney explained where his head was at when he was writing “The Back Seat Of My Car”:
“Back Seat Of My Car’ is very romantic: ‘We can make it to Mexico City.’ That’s a really teenage song, with the stereotypical parent who doesn’t agree, and the two lovers are going to take on the world: ‘We believe that we can’t be wrong.’ I always like the underdog.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
The Beatles released their fifth studio album Help!, which was the soundtrack to their film of the same name.
The album produced three #1 singles, including the title track, “Yesterday” and “Ticket to Ride.”
Help! was a critical success, and hit #1 on the Billboard Albums chart, spending nine weeks in the top spot. It was also nominated for album of the year at the Grammys, marking The Beatles’ first Grammy nomination in that category.
Help! was the second film to star The Beatles, following 1964’s A Hard Days Night. It had the band trying to protect drummer Ringo Starr, who’s the target of a sinister cult and mad scientists trying to obtain a sacrificial ring he received as a gift from a fan.
Source: everettpost.com
John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s friend and confidant Elliot Mintz was the guest on the latest episode of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan’s interview podcast The Magnificent Others. Mintz, who was Lennon and Ono’s publicist during their years living at the Dakota building in Manhattan, recently published a memoir about his experiences with the legendary couple titled We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me.
During his conversation with Corgan, Mintz discussed being a witness to what he believes was the final time Lennon and fellow Beatles legend Paul McCartney ever spent time together.
According to Mintz, the get-together happened around Christmas time in 1978. He told Corgan that John and Yoko had invited him over to the Dakota, and while he was sitting in their living room, some other guests arrived at the building.
As Mintz recalled, “[T]here’s a knock on the door … and [John] opens it, and Paul and Linda McCartney walk in, and they greet each other.”
Elliot noted that this was the first time he’d ever met McCartney. Continuing his story, Mintz said. “And [Paul and Linda] come in, and John just said, ‘This is our friend Elliot.’ And I said, ‘Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Linda.’ And we sat and we talked for a while. … How should I say it? It wasn’t overly jubilant. It wasn’t icy. It was just correct.”
The Couples and Mintz Then Went Out for Dinner
Mintz recalled that it was then decided that the group would get dinner at the Manhattan restaurant Elaine’s. As Elliot noted, Elaine’s was a popular dining spot for celebrities, although its food was notoriously mediocre.
He remembered that no one was particularly thrilled at the menu choices, so Linda suggested that they order a pizza from a nearby pizza place she liked and have it delivered to Elaine’s. Mintz was tasked with getting the pizza to the restaurant.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Matt Friedlander
Even During Their Feud, Paul McCartney and John Lennon Still Defended Each Other
When the other three Beatles signed with Klein, Paul McCartney was forced to take drastic measures that would affect their relationship forever. In an effort to dissolve the band's partnership so he wouldn't be tied to Klein, the bassist took his former bandmates to court. McCartney, to this day, acknowledges that his decision was a big part of what led to the feud, but at the same time, it was inevitable.
After Lennon left England, he and McCartney stopped seeing each other for a while, but they were certainly still thinking and talking about each other. More importantly, even though their songwriting partnership had effectively ended with The Beatles (except for "Give Peace a Chance," but that's a different story), they were still influencing each other's writing. They were both writing songs about each other, mostly to attack each other, and that, apparently, made people think that they could get on their good side by badmouthing the other to them. But according to Alice Cooper, who was friendly with Lennon in the '70s, they quickly learned that wasn't the way to go.
"When they were after each other’s throats, when it came to the breakup and all that stuff, if anybody in the Vampires back in those days – that was our drinking club – if anybody said anything bad about Paul, John would take a swing at you, because that was his best friend," Cooper explained.
"You are not allowed to talk about their best friends. They were best friends no matter what was going on in the whole thing."
The same thing, it seems, happened with George Harrison. The Quiet Beatle wasn't as angry with McCartney as Lennon was, but they still had a strained relationship at the time. In fact, Harrison played guitar on Lennon's diss track, "How Do You Sleep?" But he wouldn't stand for anyone insulting his childhood friend, even when he was actively bashing him. Jim Keltner, a session drummer who worked with both Lennon and Harrison in the early '70s, explained that, while they worked together, the two of them would make "really brutal" comments about their former bandmate.
Source: collider.com/Val Barone
