Beatles News
Here's a sampling of popular music across the decades. It's a list of the albums (remember those) that topped the Billboard 200 chart in 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999.
A testament to their long careers, a few artists show up in this list more than once -- a couple in different decades. Also, interesting to note that while 10 albums hit No. 1 in 1969, a whopping 22 albums topped the chart in 1999.
1969 -- "Abbey Road," The Beatles
Source: Don Ryan/richmond.com
A set of Paul McCartney’s handwritten lyrics to the classic Beatles song Hey Jude will be offered at auction in the U.S this month.
McCartney used the lyrics during the recording of the song at Trident Studios in London in July 1968, and later gifted them to a studio engineer.
The musical manuscript is now expected to fetch $200,000 – $300,000 when it hits the block at Gotta Have Rock and Roll Auctions on July 26.
Paul McCartney famously wrote Hey Jude for John Lennon’s son Julian, after Lennon left his wife Cynthia for Yoko Ono.
“I started with the idea “Hey Jules,” which was Julian, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better,” McCartney later recalled.
“Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces.”
Source: news.justcollecting.com
A bronze statue of John Lennon is heading to Liverpool this summer all in the name of peace.
St George’s Hall will welcome the John Lennon Peace Statue on August 1 until the end of September following its time at Glastonbury Festival.
The artwork, which is 180cm high, was created by artist Laura Lian and cast by the Castle Foundry.
Laura said: "I made the statue to help inspire a new generation to reinforce John and Yoko’s message of Peace.
"We are really excited to have the statue at this beautiful historical Hall in Liverpool."
Alan Smith, general manager of St George’s Hall, said: "We’re delighted to host this statue showcasing one of Liverpool’s most-loved sons.
"In the month of August and September the city celebrates International Beatle Week and it’s fitting that we welcome this new addition.
"It’s sure to be a hit and will become a must-visit selfie and Instagram spot".
Source: Elle May Rice/liverpoolecho.co.uk
While looking back on his career in 1980, John Lennon saw a lot he didn’t like about his time with The Beatles. In fact, he had no problem dismissing songs like “Cry, Baby, Cry” and “Glass Onion” as “rubbish” and “throwaway” material. He was even harsher about songs he didn’t write.
Regarding Paul’s “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” John wouldn’t even take part in the track’s recording during the Abbey Road sessions. Instead of contributing backing vocals or suggesting how to improve it, he hated the song so much he just left the studio for the day.
As for the famous medley on the second side of Abbey Road, John described “that sort of pop opera” as “junk” not worthy of a rock ‘n’ roll record. However, there was one bright spot for him, and it came on the album’s opening track.
The song was “Come Together,” which hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts in November 1969. Though John criticized a lot of Beatles tunes, he came as close as he could to raving about this one.
Source: cheatsheet.com
When The Beatles showed up at EMI studios in 1962 for their first major recording session, they were unknown in London. Only the hippest guys at the company’s labels had heard of them, and the old-guard producers and engineers couldn’t care less.
However, one young engineer in the studio that day went on to work with the band on their greatest albums (including Sgt. Pepper’s and Abbey Road). His name was Geoff Emerick, and he became one of the top names in the recording industry.
Yet in ’62, when The Beatles arrived to record “Love Me Do,” Emerick was as unknown as the band he heard play. But his recollections from that day are priceless. He mentions the “quite fidgety and quite funny” John Lennon calling an EMI employee named Norman “Normal.”
He also notes the affable bass player (Paul McCartney), a “dejected” and short drummer (Ringo), and a lead guitar player who was very young and “almost emaciated” (George Harrison). The other thing that struck Emerick about George that day in ’62 was the black eye he sported.
Source: cheatsheet.com
He really does get by with a little help from his friends.
As the years passed, you didn’t hear any Beatles blaming Yoko Ono for splitting up the band. After all, they were there and knew firsthand that George Harrison could hardly stand Paul McCartney by 1969. Meanwhile, Paul had his own widely discussed issues with John Lennon.
That’s not counting the fistfight George and John had while the band was being filmed for Let It Be. And we won’t get into the time Ringo walked out on the group during the White Album sessions. Or the time a few months later when George quit the band for a while.
Indeed, the period from early ’68 through late ’69 had “Beatles breakup” written all over it. As it turned out, that happened to be the same time the love between John and Yoko blossomed and the two got married.
But before The Beatles went their separate ways, they had one more masterpiece to record: Abbey Road. Just as the sessions were getting underway, John and Yoko made an entrance that freaked everyone out. Decades later, the chief engineer called it the craziest thing he’d seen.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Because of their crazy schedule and recording-contract demands, John Lennon and Paul McCartney always needed fresh songs to fill out the next album. As even Beatles fans will admit, they didn’t always come up with winners, but they had to finish them and move on to the next project.
By the time they got to Rubber Soul, John and Paul’s songs had become much more complex, but they still weren’t above recycling simpler, older material. That’s how Paul ended up pulling out and rehashing one of his earliest songs.
As Paul noted in his biography Many Years From Now, that’s how “Michelle” ended up on Rubber Soul. Back in the late ’50s, he’d play the song as an instrumental at parties where he’d wear a turtleneck and “pretend I could speak French” to impress girls. (Bear in mind he was hardly 17 at the time.)
At the suggestion of John, Paul decided to bring it out and add lyrics — including some French ones — for the band’s latest album. But he definitely didn’t speak the language, so he needed help from someone who did.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Only John Lennon appeared in the final movie
The new film Yesterday, which imagines a world in which only one person remembers The Beatles, was originally meant to feature cameos from all of the Fab Four.
In the movie, singer-songwriter Jack (played by Himesh Patel) wakes up to discover The Beatles never existed and he is the only person with any knowledge of their music. After attempting to remind the world of the group, he begins to play their songs as his own and achieves huge success.
Yesterday features only one of the legendary group, changing John Lennon’s story so he lives a long life instead of being murdered by Mark Chapman. During an appearance on the Empire podcast, writer Richard Curtis and director Danny Boyle revealed they had originally intended to feature all four members of the band.
“When [Jack] first goes to Liverpool, I’d written a long scene where he just goes to a pub and he bumps into George [Harrison] and Ringo [Starr],” Curtis said. “It was, I hope, a sweet scene, and they were just two delightful, oldish men who’d once been in a band together […] music enthusiasts who had never got any further.”
Source: Rhian Daly /nme.com
Most people can agree that Paul McCartney is one of the greatest performers of our time. He released countless songs that he wrote himself and, according to Smooth Radio, has done duets with some of the biggest names in the music industry. Born in Liverpool, England, McCartney’s contributions to music have been so significant that he was knighted in 1997 and now entitled to call himself “sir.” That is quite an accomplishment for anyone, and we can only imagine that the former Beatle is nothing less than honored.
As a member of The Beatles, which were one of the biggest musical sensations ever, there aren’t too many people who are not familiar with McCartney. The Beatles released countless songs, so many, in fact, that a lot of fans may have trouble choosing a favorite. What we don’t often think of is that the members of the group themselves have certain songs that they prefer over others. So, what was McCartney’s favorite Beatles song?
Source: cheatsheet.com
