Beatles News
Regrets that stem from inaction can be some of the most painful to reconcile, and that seemed to be the case for the one thing John Lennon always regretted about his time with the Beatles. Although he would admit in the same breath, he didn’t regret it enough to act on it.
So it often goes in life, after all. Hindsight is always 20/20, and when it comes to matters of creativity and ego, that type of clarity can reveal far more than we’re often comfortable seeing face-to-face.
John Lennon Regretted This About The Beatles
David Sheff’s All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is as revealing as a conversation with that kind of pomp would suggest. In the massive interview spanning three weeks in August 1980, four months before Lennon’s death, the ex-Beatle talked about his life with his second wife, individual Beatles songs, and memories (and regrets) of his time in the Fab Four.
The last included one notable tinge of remorse Lennon always felt about George Harrison and Ringo Starr’s place in the Beatles’ songwriting compensation. As Lennon was discussing hurtful comments Harrison had made about him in his memoir, the “Imagine” singer said it was particularly painful because he had tried to ensure Harrison and Starr would get decent compensation from Beatles songs.
“It was because of me that Ringo and George got a piece of John and Paul’s songwriting,” Lennon argued to Sheff. “Under [manager] Allen Klein’s auspices, John and Paul own completely anything that [publishing company] Maclen published. I always felt bad that George and Ringo didn’t get a piece of the publishing. Not bad enough to do anything about it, but slightly guilty about it.”
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
As someone who has been a major part of the music industry since the 1960s, Paul McCartney has undoubtedly run into countless troubled musicians around the world, but one singer he never helped has always nagged him in hindsight. Of course, such is the way of regret. There would be no need for it if we had the ability to go back in time and change our actions.
But because that’s impossible and time keeps marching on, McCartney has held on to his remorse, especially after the troubled singer he wished he could have saved died in the summer of 2011.
From the initial waves of Beatlemania to the tragic killing of his bandmate, John Lennon, and everything before, after, and in between, Paul McCartney has certainly witnessed a lot in his lifetime. McCartney has been around to see every member of the infamous 27 Club die, but one of its unlucky members always stuck with him a bit more than the rest.
McCartney recalled meeting Amy Winehouse for the first time in passing in 2008. Winehouse was at the height of her fame and corresponding scandals around her relationships, mental health, and substance abuse. The two British icons passed each other at the European MTV Awards in Liverpool.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
With a Scorsese-produced doc on the Fab Four just around the corner, cue up 10 other essential works which shine a light on the most important band in the history of pop.
Having professed his love for the Rolling Stones with numerous documentaries and concert films, Martin Scorsese switches his attention to their one-time fiercest rivals as the producer of Beatles '64.
Out. Nov. 29, the Disney+ original centers on the year when the Beatles replicated their UK success on the other side of the Atlantic, with their iconic performance in front of 73 million "The Ed Sullivan Show" viewers the undisputed catalyst.
Of course, Beatles '64 is far from the first doc on the Fab Four to boast such an Oscar-winning pedigree. Both Peter Jackson and Ron Howard have essentially bowed down and declared “We're not worthy” with screen displays of fandom in recent years. In fact, since the group dramatically went their separate ways in 1970, countless documentarians — some who lived through it, others who had to learn it — have tried to place the success of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star in a wider context while finding new and interesting ways to tell their remarkable story.
So which are the documentary equivalents of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road (or whichever entry in the Liverpudlian' unrivaled back catalog is your ultimate)? From behind-the-scenes snapshots and musical deep dives, to intimate character portraits and star-studded retrospectives, here's a look at 10 documentaries any Beatles obsessive should have on their must-watch list.
'Let It Be' (1970)
Eschewing the usual pop documentary conventions, the Oscar and GRAMMY-winnning Let It Be simply points the camera at the Beatles during the recording of their same-named final studio effort and lets the action naturally unfold. There are occasional glimpses of the tensions you'd expect from a band about to distintegrate; a fraught discussion about the guitar line on "Two of Us," for example, in which Harrison has to reassure McCartney that he's not being annoying (the guitarist's brief mid-sessions departure, however, is entirely omitted), and the moment which director Michael Lindsay-Hogg pithily described as Lennon dying of boredom.
Source: grammy.com
Love them, they did.
When The Beatles launched their US invasion in 1964 — complete with their historic debut appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” — the mop-topped Brits were under siege by the screaming masses upon their arrival in New York.
“It was like being in the eye of a hurricane,” says John Lennon in “Beatles ’64,” the Martin Scorsese-produced documentary that premieres on Disney+ Nov. 29.
But as the Fab Four were taking refuge from the hysteria at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel, the Ronettes came to their rescue.
“We were already friends with them from England. George [Harrison] was dating Estelle, my sister, so it was very simple,” says head Ronnie Spector — front woman of the “Be My Baby” girl group — in the doc.
“John called me at my house, and he said, ‘Ronnie, we’re prisoners. We can’t get out. The whole place is surrounded by girls around the whole Plaza building.’ ”
But Spector, along with the other two Ronettes, came to the hotel and orchestrated The Beatles’ great escape uptown to the home of the Apollo.
Source: Chuck Arnold/nypost.com
Beatles engineer, Geoff Emerick, recounted the experience of watching the Beatles record “I Am the Walrus.” He explained the situation in great detail, keying fans into the aftermath of a not-so-great moment for the Fab Four: the death of their longtime manager, Brian Epstein.
“I Am the Walrus” certainly doesn’t seem like the best song to grieve to. Nevertheless, there was a job to do–no matter the extenuating circumstances.
“There was a pallor across the session that day – we were all distracted, thinking about Brian – but there was a song to be recorded, too,” Emerick once said. “Everyone seemed bewildered. The melody [to ‘I Am the Walrus’] consisted largely of just two notes, and the lyrics were pretty much just nonsense – for some reason John appeared to be singing about a walrus and an eggman. There was a moment of silence when he finished, then Lennon looked up at George Martin expectantly.”
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long
Unsurprisingly, Martin had issues with this off-kilter track the first time he heard it.
“That one was called ‘I Am The Walrus,’ John said,” Emerick continued. “‘So…what do you think?’ George looked flummoxed; for once he was at a loss for words. ‘Well, John, to be honest, I have only one question: What the hell do you expect me to do with that?’”
Source:Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
He famously sang alongside his fellow Beatles in protest at the imposition of a ‘supertax’ under Harold Wilson’s Labour government.
Now, Sir Paul McCartney and his family face a fresh tax wrangle after Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’ Labour budget put his Scottish farm at risk of an inheritance tax blow.
Sir Paul ‘begrudgingly’ purchased High Park Farm in Kintyre in June 1966 for around £35,000 after financial advisors suggested he invest in property amid rising tax charges for Britain’s wealthiest.
That same year – and at the peak of Beatlemania - the band’s hit Taxman was released - in a thinly veiled swipe at the government of the time. The song is said to have been written by George Harrison in response to the astonishing 95 per cent tax which The Beatles would have been subject to.
In the years since Macca bought High Park it’s value will have grown - helped in no small part by his purchase of five neighbouring farms.
However, Labour’s tax hike, which will come into force in April 2026, will see farmers slapped with a 20 per cent tax on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million.
The move has had farmers up in arms with concerns it will force families that have been farming for generations to sell up.
Thousands of protestors swarmed outside Whitehall last week - including TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson - as many claimed the new move signalled ‘the end’ for farming.
Source: Ciaran Foreman/dailymail.co.uk
Ringo Starr always knew the Beatles were destined for success.
The 84-year-old musician was part of the world's best-selling band in the 1960s alongside John Lennon - who was shot dead in 1980 at the age of 40 - as well as the late George Harrison and Sir Paul McCartney and recalled that they were all like "four brothers" at the time who "worked very hard" with full intent of reaching superstardom.
He told 'Entertainment Tonight': "I miss them both, George and John. We were friends, we were like four brothers and we looked out for each other. When we made music, we went through moments where getting a little happy was good. So, we really worked very hard, we had a lot of cups of tea and we could just feel where it was going. For me, it was like psychic, we knew where it was going. No one had to look at you or stamp their foot or whatever.
"We did it together, that's what was great. We had two great songwriters. It was great.
"The Beatles are still doing like five billion streams a year, it's far out!"
The 'It Don't Come Easy' singer then spoke out on the notion that 'Anti-Hero' songstress Taylor Swift has reached a level of fame that is equivalent to that of Beatlemania and recalled meeting the pop star a lot earlier in her career prior to her global success.
He said: "I said she's really big and it's great because Paul and I did several Grammy shows. We met her there all the time, she was with her mum and look at her now. She's done very well."
Source: Bang Showbiz/uk.news.yahoo.com
The impact of The Beatles on the world in general and the United States in particular in 1964 really can’t be measured. “Beatlemania” is a nice way to sum it all up in a single word, yet it simply can’t capture everything that went on in those 12 months, ranging from the insanity of their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show through the making and release of their film, A Hard Day’s Night, and their first tour of America and Canada.
While Disney+ will be debuting the Martin Scorsese-produced documentary Beatles ’64 on November 29, we look at that year in two distinct ways: a behind-the-scenes “tour diary” that chronicles all of the major events during their time on the road in 1964, followed by a breakdown of everything else that went on in between concert performances.
February 11: The Beatles travel from New York via train to perform at the Washington Coliseum. The original plan was for them to fly, but a snowstorm changed the mode of transport. WINS reporter Murray The K, who broadcast his radio show from The Beatles’ hotel suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York, is the one who alerted the group and manager Brian Epstein to the potential weather problems.
Source: Ed Gross/womansworld.com
Listening to it now, Please Please Me, The Beatles‘ initial album release in the United Kingdom, sounds like one of the first times a rock and roll act properly took advantage of the long-playing format. That the group achieved that feat almost unconsciously testifies to their unmatched brilliance.
The Beatles recorded the bulk of Please Please Me in a single session at EMI’s Abbey Road studios in London. In the process, they inadvertently boosted the album as a format within the rock genre.
We now think of rock and roll as being an album-driven medium, as countless artists have attempted to make complete statements over the course of two sides (sometime more) of vinyl. In the early days of the genre, however, the rock album was an afterthought. Please Please Me helped to change that, even if the four lads that created it didn’t necessarily intend that to happen.
Circa 1963, which is when The Beatles recorded and released Please Please Me, rock albums were only granted to artists who’d already banked successful singles. Adding a few more songs of filler allowed them to milk more sales out of a popular song. Since the Fab Four had already delivered one modest hit (“Love Me Do”) and one massive hit (“Please Please Me”), EMI gave them this opportunity.
But they weren’t going to go overboard about it. The Beatles would get a single session to record this album. If it were any other artist, the album would have been filled with the two killer singles and a bunch of forgettable fluff. But these guys were too good for that.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
A new sneak peek at the upcoming documentary Beatles ’64 has been posted on the Fab Four’s YouTube channel. As previously reported, the movie, which premieres on Disney+ on Friday, November 29, focuses on The Beatles’ historic first visit to the U.S. in February 1964.
The clip features new interview footage of Paul McCartney sharing a humorous story about an interaction he and John Lennon had with his father, James, back in 1963. It appears that Paul’s dad had some reservations about the lyrics to one of the band’s most famous early songs.
“We’d written the song ‘She Loves You’ in the next room, and my dad was in the other room,” McCartney recalled. “So we came in to play it to him [for the] first time.” Paul said he and Lennon proceeded to sing the tune, including its famous chorus, “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.” As they sang, his dad listened and nodded along.
McCartney remembered with amusement that when they finished the song, his father said, “Boys … it’s very nice, but couldn’t you sing, ‘She loves you, yes, yes, yes’? … There’s enough of these Americanisms around.”
The Beatles released “She Loves You” in August 1963 in the U.K. and the following month in the U.S. In the British band’s home country, the song was an immediate smash, spending six non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 between September and early December 1963.
In the States, “She Loves You” didn’t catch on until after The Beatles’ historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. It spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in March of ’64. “She Loves You” also was included on the Fab Four’s third U.S. studio album, titled The Beatles’ Second Album. That record was released in April 1964. It followed Introducing … The Beatles and Meet The Beatles!, which both were issued in January 1964.
Source: Matt Friedlander/americansongwriter.com
