Beatles News
Led Zeppelin’s music engineer, Glyn Johns spoke in an interview with SiriusXM and remembered the time when The Beatles guitarist George Harrison reacted to Led Zeppelin.
Here’s the story:
“I was working with The Stones around the same time this record [‘Led Zeppelin’] was made. We were putting together [1968’s] ‘The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus,’ which was a TV show which had a lot of different artists on it.
Just after I’d finished this record [‘Led Zeppelin’], I was going to a production meeting for that [‘The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus’].
We were all kicking around ideas of who should be on it and I took this record and played it at the production meeting to Mick [Jagger]. ‘Jimmy [Page] put this band together with John Paul Jones. It’s gonna be absolutely huge!’ But Mick didn’t get one side of it. Probably still doesn’t.
Source: Feyyaz Ustaer/metalheadzone.com
For all of their obvious populism—the ootsy-cutesy singalongs, the exhortations to love everyone and everything—the Beatles, in their most beat-loving, insectoid hearts, were purveyors of oddities. Not to the degree of a Frank Zappa or a Syd Barrett, but they loved getting their weird on, going back to John Lennon’s youthful days as a Goon Show nut who liked nothing more than drawing figures copulating in the margins of his school books, then making his classmates giggle.
Sometimes Beatles oddness took the form of early covers, especially in the early days—a show tune like “Till There Was You,” a girl-group number like “Boys,” pronouns and gender notions be damned. This put them far ahead of their time, and it also set them up for sonic experimentation that no one was yet dabbling in—Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, obviously. Paul McCartney has cited 1970 B-side “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)”—the official cut a Beatles nut is most unlikely to know—as his all-time fave by the band, precisely because of the spirit it invokes, a mad hatter’s call of We Will Not Be Hemmed In.
Source: Colin Fleming/thedailybeast.com
A run-down venue where the Beatles played their 'worst ever gig' to just three people has sold for just £1.
The historic Subscription Rooms in Stroud, Gloucester, hosted the Beatles in March 1962, a year before their big break.
The 183-year-old arts and entertainment centre has fallen on tough times and has been sold for a single pound by Stroud District Council to the Town Council, having been on the market for £600,000 nearly two years ago.
It was the group's first gig outside of either London or Hamburg and Sir Paul famously told the BBC it was their 'worst ever' performance.
Source: Daily Mail
So you've decided to start again. Good for you. Maybe you've finally found the courage to step toward a career you've always dreamed of pursuing. Maybe you're learning to respect yourself and your own boundaries, or maybe you've learned to hold yourself accountable and become the best version of yourself possible. Maybe you just feel like pressing "restart" and getting back on track - or maybe you said "screw it" to any tracks at all.
Whatever the case, it's a new day and a new you, and you deserve a killer soundtrack to keep you motivated and remind yourself why these changes are a good thing. In that case, we've put together 10 of our favorite songs about starting fresh and embracing the new. From dance music gems to classic favorites, these songs about change and new beginnings will keep you from slipping back into old habits.
Source: Kat Bein/billboard.com
Havana, (Prensa Latina) The Cinematheque of Cuba is organizing a The Beatles Week as of January 16 with a varied program in homage to the legendary English band.
According to a statement from that entity, the inauguration will be on January 16 at Cine 23 y 12, in downtown Havana, where the institution has its headquarters, and will be extended to the Charlie Chaplin hall until the 20th.
The Week will make available to the public records, images and books related to the life and career of the successful group formed in the city of Liverpool and recognized as the most praised by critics in the history of rock music.
Its influence on popular culture remains remarkable despite its disintegration and the passage of time.
Source: plenglish.com
A new video uses Google Maps to take Beatles fans on a world tour, covering more than 25,000 miles, using the group's lyrics as a guide.
Produced by Vanity Fair, the nearly 13-minute clip begins in their hometown of Liverpool. In addition to obvious places like Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, Beatles songs that reference their parents (like "Julia" and "Let It Be") are matched with John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's childhood homes.
After three-and-a-half minutes, the video turns from Liverpool to Blackburn ("A Day in the Life") and the Scottish town of Kircaldy ("Cry Baby Cry") before flying to London, where Buckingham Palace ("Her Majesty"), the Royal Albert Hall and the House of Lords and Bishopsgate ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!") are acknowledged.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
The critic Bill Wyman has ranked all 213 Beatles tracks from worst to best. You might be slightly surprised by his choice of the best.
And even more surprised that the worst is not by Ringo. At Beatles anniversary time, the stories write themselves. “It was 25/30/40 years ago today!” “The act you’ve known for all these years!” “A splendid time was guaranteed for all!” Last week’s 50th anniversary of the U.S. release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the most acclaimed rock album ever and the apogee of the Beatles’ cultural influence in the 1960s, is a time for all those chestnuts and more. But Pepper’s doesn’t make sense if it’s not put in context. And the only way to do that, given the weight of the Beatles’ presence, is to take a look at everything the band put on record over its eight-year recording career.
It turns out that ranking the songs recorded by the Beatles in the 1960s is easy; you put the worst one at the top, and the best one at the bottom.
Source: Slipped Disc
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1972. The former Beatle once told music writer Ray Connolly that his childhood ambition was “to write ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and be Elvis Presley.” Connolly was set to interview Lennon on Dec. 9, 1980, but the rock star was killed Dec. 8. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano)
Why another biography of John Lennon? Surely, almost 40 years after his death, there can be nothing left to say about this endlessly famous man? Veteran British music journalist Ray Connolly thinks there is, and so it is that “Being John Lennon: A Restless Life” takes its place on an already very crowded shelf. After reading this likable and workmanlike but hardly revelatory book, whether he is right remains an open question.
Source: Michael Lindgren/washingtonpost.com
Picking the best song from every Paul McCartney album doesn't always mean checking the Billboard charts.
True, the former Beatles star went on to notch nine No. 1 songs as a solo star and leader of Wings. In all, he's claimed 23 Top 10 smashes, most recently with "FourFiveSeconds," a 2015 collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West that rose to No. 4. But, a scant four of those big hits made our list.
Elsewhere, we delve into treasured deep cuts, forgotten gems and also-ran singles. That so many praise-worthy tracks can be found that far off the beaten path speaks to McCartney's astonishing depth as a songwriter, and his astonishing longevity in an industry often governed by flashes in the pan.
Our focus was on McCartney's post-Beatles rock records, so some notable releases did not make the cut. We skipped his five classical albums, including 1991's Liverpool Oratorio; oddities like 1977's Thrillington and 2000's Liverpool Sound Collage; the first two ambient-instrumental Fireman collaborations; and Kisses on the Bottom, his 2012 collection of mid-century standards.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
Paul McCartney’s never-before-seen film, The Bruce McMouse Show, will play in select theaters around the world January 21st. The fabled project is a concert film crossed with an animated feature that centers around McCartney and Wings meeting Bruce McMouse, an animated mouse impresario. A teaser for the film is available to watch, and screenings will be held in 11 theaters across the U.S. A complete list of participating theaters, as well as ticket information, is available on the Bruce McMouse website.
The Bruce McMouse Show boasts footage from Wings’ 1972 European tour filmed during four shows in the Netherlands and Germany. After watching the footage, McCartney decided to blend it with a previous idea he had about a family of mice, and he worked with animator Eric Wylam to bring the McMouse family to life. Production on the film, however, took several years, and by the time The Bruce McMouse Show was finished in 1977, Wings’ line-up and musical direction had changed to such an extent that the decision was made to shelve the film.
Source: Jon Blistein/rollingstone.com
