Beatles News
Forty years ago, two of music's biggest stars walked into BBC Radio 1 and sat down to review the week's new releases.
Michael Jackson and George Harrison spent the next 90 minutes discussing singles by Foreigner, Nicolette Larson and The Blues Brothers, as well as the stories behind their own songs.
The BBC discarded the show, keeping only a short clip. But now a rare recording has been found and restored.
Excerpts will be broadcast in a special documentary this weekend.
Listeners will hear Jackson, just months before releasing Off The Wall, discuss how Motown refused to let him write his own music; while Harrison explains what it was like to work in the songwriting shadow of Lennon and McCartney.
At one point, Jackson turns to the former Beatle and says: "Let me ask you a question, did you guys always write your own stuff from the beginning?"
Source: Mark Savage /bbc.com
Chilling.
A fan of The Beatles has created a mash-up that sees their seminal movie A Hard Day’s Night combining with Korean horror The Train To Busan for an unexpectedly terrifying result.
The cult Korean movie was released in 2016 and follows the terrifying string of events that occur after a zombie apocalypse breaks out on a train to the city of Busan.
But in the newly created version, it seems that the zombies aren’t the threat at all. Instead, it appears that four recognisable lads from Liverpool are causing everyday Koreans to mount a desperate battle for survival.
As the scenario plays out, we see terrifying footage from The Train To Busan being cleverly combined with a famous scene from the 1964 film where the Fab Four cause chaos on a train from Liverpool to London.
The result is pretty chilling – and it’s unlikely that we’ll ever watch A Hard Day’s Night in the same way ever again.
Although the latest clip is just a parody, it was announced last week that The Beatles will head back to the big screen in a new documentary directed by Sir Peter Jackson.
Source: Nick Reilly /nme.com
Jennifer Leptien was the kindergartener singing the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album word for word. After watching John Lennon’s “Live in New York City” performance, she was the seventh-grader walking the hallways in her army jacket.
Today, Leptien, director of Iowa State University’s learning communities program and a Ph.D. in human development and family studies, has translated her love of the Beatles into a one-credit seminar course within the Honors Program. The idea became a reality in 2013, after Susan Yager — Morrill Professor of English and previous faculty director of honors — heard the Beatles cover band Rain was coming to Iowa State. She asked Leptien if she had ever considered turning her lifelong passion into a learning opportunity for students.
“The Beatles were the soundtrack to my childhood,” Leptien said.
The story is similar for her counterpart teaching the seminar, Jason Chrystal, academic adviser in political science with a Ph.D. in history. His mother’s Beatles fandom turned into his own — unless they were in his father’s car, where the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley dominated the stereo.
Source: news.iastate.edu
Paul the Beatle lit up the stage at Armstrong Auditorium, performing songs spanning across the great history of the Beatles.
Paul opened up with “All My Lovin” from the Beatles’ second album With the Beatles.
Following performances of “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Yesterday” and “We Can Work it Out”, a medley of some of the Beatles’ most famous songs, including “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Help”, “In My Life”, “Come Together” and “Imagine”, was sung.
For this medley, a costume change was performed, and John Lennon came out to declare his creative dominance over the rest of the group.
Paul returned, then jumped to 1966, performing “Here, There & Everywhere”, “Got to Get You into My Life”, from the album Revolver.
A move to 1967 and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band produced performances of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “With a Little Help From My Friends”, “She’s Leaving Home” and “When I’m Sixty-Four”.
Source: Sean EllertsonEditor/stjamesnews.com
One of the best parts about searching The Times-Picayune archives is unexpectedly tripping over a little piece of treasure, like this photo of Paul and Linda McCartney accepting a golden Zulu coconut in 1975. I was researching photos for a retrospective on the Krewe of Zulu when this gem popped up.
I had questions. Who was the dapper gentleman in the middle presenting the coconut? In the original photo, he was only identified as "Zulu official.'' Where was this photo taken? Who is the little girl?
The best person to answer these sorts of questions is Clarence Becknell, longtime historian for Zulu. After looking at the photo, Becknell correctly identified the man in the middle as Harold Doley Jr., who was son of that year’s King Zulu, Harold Doley. Doley Jr. now lives in New York City, and at age 71, is still working in investment banking. I emailed him the picture, and he said, "That photo brought back so many memories.''
Source: nola.com
He is one of the most legendary musicians of all time, founder member of iconic band The Beatles, has sold more than 800m records and won 18 Grammy awards and an Oscar.
And after nearly six decades in the music industry, Sir Paul McCartney said he'd finally 'made it' as he was honoured with a Gold Blue Peter Badge.
The Hey Jude hitmaker, 76, received the glittering accessory before his performance at London's The O2 in December, with the presentation to be aired on Thursday's episode of the children's show.
Iconic: After nearly six decades in the music industry, Sir Paul McCartney said he'd finally 'made it' as he was honoured with a Gold Blue Peter BadgeFab Four: Paul is the founder member of iconic band The Beatles, has sold more than 800m records and won 18 Grammy awards and an Oscar (pictured with bandmates Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison in 1965)
Source: dailymail.co.uk
A pair of legal letters that foretold the eventual dissolution of the Beatles are now for sale.
Both letters, from January 1969 and April 1969, were sent to John Eastman and Lee Eastman, the father and brother of Linda Eastman, who would marry Paul McCartney in March 1969.
Moments in Time is selling both letters: The January 1969 letter is available for $225,000, while the April 1969 letter has an asking price of $325,000.
The January 1969 letter, signed by all four Beatles as well as Apple Corps head Neil Aspinall, is addressed to John Eastman informing him that “we retain you and authorise you to act on our behalf in negotiations in respect of all contracts proposed.”
However, three months later, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sent a signed letter to Lee Eastman severing the professional relationship; the other three Beatles aligned with the Rolling Stones’ manager Allan Klein while McCartney remained with his father- and brother-in-law.
Source: Daniel Kreps/rollingstone.com
The news, earlier this week, that Peter Jackson was to direct a new documentary from Let It Be footage brings full circle one of the weirder footnotes in The Beatles’ career. In 1968, while The Beatles visited Rishikesh in northern India, Denis O’Dell – the head of Apple Films – was in the process of renegotiate The Beatles’ film contracts. Among the ideas discussed for a new Fabs’ film was… Tolkein’s epic. Here’s O’Dell, from an interview I conducted with him a couple of years ago to tell all…
"They were out in India. I declined to go. I got a telegram one day. Paul again. ‘Denis, come out right away.’ So I went out there. Before, while they were there, I’d had meetings in New York with David Picker, who was head of UA at the time. I was going there to renegotiate The Beatles contracts in the event they did a film. That was great but the weakness was, they didn’t have a film. Everything you suggested, you couldn’t get agreement. I was going up in the elevator to David’s office and I thought, ‘Christ. The Tolkein. Four little people, with Donovan as well.’ I said to David Picker, ‘Can I get ten minutes to make a few phone calls.’ I rang a good friend of mine, a lawyer, Jack Schwartzman, in Los Angeles. I said, ‘Jack, can you buy the rights to the Tolkein for Apple?’ Silence. I said, ‘What’s up?’
Source: uncut.co.uk
When The Beatles officially called it quits in 1970, there were several signs along the way the boys weren't getting along ... including a harsh letter to Paul's lawyer signed by John, George and Ringo.
Now that document can be yours ... if you have a big stack of cash to spare.
The letter, dated April 18, 1969, informs Lee Eastman that he's "not authorized to act or to hold yourself out as the attourney or legal representative of 'The Beatles.'" It goes on to acknowledge Eastman reps Paul McCartney personally ... but that's it.
This document's signed by John Lennon, Richard Starkey (aka Ringo) and George Harrison ... and it's currently on sale for $325k.
There's another letter up for grabs too -- signed by the entire Fab Four -- that's a little more friendly. It's from January 1969 and confirms that attorney John Eastman is authorized to handle the band's contract negotiations "in accordance with our instructions." This one's for sale for $225k.
Source: tmz.com
For years Andy Warhol’s preferred method of artistic documentation was the use of a Polaroid camera.
Whether shooting his subjects at his iconic factory studios or, in some instances, creating developing and depicting his ‘Warhol’s Queens’ a collection, the American artist quite regularly had a Polaroid within reach.
Now, a new exhibition is heading to London and collects Warhol’s most memorable photographs. The new show will open at London’s Bastian Gallery in Mayfair from February 2nd until April 13th. Armed with more than 60 portrait and self-portrait Polaroid pictures taken by Warhol himself, the exhibition will also boast some previously unseen shots.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the hotbed of activity his New York factory studio was during the height of his fame, numerous images include some extremely well known faces. “My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous. It’s being in the right place at the wrong time,” Warhol famously once said.
Source: Lee Thomas-Mason/faroutmagazine.co.uk
