Beatles News
SCARILY, nearly half a century has passed since The Long and Winding Road became The Beatles’ last hit single.
Composed by Paul McCartney, it has gone on to make millions – but how many knew that a musical arranger and producer from the North-East was behind the transformation of the song – and was paid the princely sum of £40 for his efforts?
Richard Hewson, born in Norton, near Stockton, was the man who added the sweeping orchestral arrangements to the ballad without McCartney even being told about the interference.
And Richard confesses to not even knowing much about The Beatles when he made his mark on the history of arguably the most influential band the world has ever seen.
“I really didn’t know how big these people were,” he says. “I’d heard of The Beatles, obviously, but I didn’t realise when that record came out how huge it would be. I was just doing another gig.”
The Beatles were on the point of breaking up in 1970 when Richard was called in by EMI to work on a song on the Let it Be album. The Beatles’ new manager, Allen Klein, wasn’t happy with the album and hired Phil Spector to “clean it up”, with Richard tasked with adding “a massive orchestra” to The Long and Winding Road.
Source: Peter Barron/thenorthernecho.co.uk
Help! I need somebody… like John Lennon and George Harrison perhaps?
In a stunning breakthrough of holographic miracle work, The Beatles will be brought back together for the first time in almost 50 years.
Two state-of-the-art holograms of deceased Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison will pave the way for a nine month world tour, giving a proper goodbye to the fan base, and add closure for Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr.
Thanks to the scientists and developers from Space X, Google, and a private laser corporation, Beatle legends Lennon and Harrison will be recreated into holograms called L.I.F.E forms, or Laser Intelligent Force Energy.
Not only will these holograms be realistic, but they have been programed to be completely conscious and responsive to the world around them whilst only on stage, as well as imitate the exact characteristics of the individual.
McCartney and Starr, the living members of the Beatles, each donated $10 million to the “Hello, Goodbye, Hello Fund,” aimed to raise money to further the production of these Lennon/Harrison models.
Source: Eric Ransom/thebannercsi.com
A promo copy of “Double Fantasy” signed for KCPX on Dec. 8, 1980, is on the block, with a starting price of $50,000.In the hours before John Lennon was murdered on Dec. 8, 1980, he and wife Yoko Ono posed for a Rolling Stone photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, sat for a radio interview with RKO’s Dave Sholin, went off to a recording session at the Hit Factory studio, and autographed a couple of copies of their joint album “Double Fantasy,” which featured Lennon’s first new music in five years.
One of those autographs was famously for Mark David Chapman, the man who, a few hours later, would shoot and kill Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building at 72nd Street and Central Park West in New York City.
Another was inscribed to Salt Lake City radio station KCPX.
Source: By Eric Walden /sltrib.com
A puppy named after The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was forced to Twist and Shout when he got stuck in a television cabinet.
Owner Verity O'Neill, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, woke to the cries of the miniature Yorkshire terrier and, when she went downstairs, found him with his head stuck in a hole in the wooden unit.
She and a friend tried to rescue the eight-week-old terrier but he was stuck fast, and Ringo was only freed with a little help from his friends at the RSPCA.Ringo was taken to the vets to be checked out after his ordeal on Tuesday and had a bath to wash off the vegetable oil before being reunited with his owner.
"Ringo Starr was found in the morning but it's possible he could have become stuck for some time before, it could well have been A Hard Day's Night for him, until he started crying for help. "Poor Ringo Starr was very uncomfortable and panicked, but the hole was fairly tight and I wasn't able to free him at first, so with his owner's permission we quickly grabbed some vegetable oil from the kitchen to gently rub around his neck to help loosen him, and with some very careful manoeuvring, Ringo's head slid out of the cabinet and he was free."
Source: – RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes/itv.com
If you think love is the equivalent of a grueling week at work, you may be eligible to compete on Jeopardy.
The long-running game show puzzled some viewers and The Beatles fans Tuesday night with a Final Jeopardy round that may have misinterpreted the band’s 1964 hit “Eight Days a Week.”
Before wagering thousands of dollars to determine the game’s winner, contestants were given the prompt under the category of 1960s No. 1 songs: “Complaints about heavy workloads inspired the titles of 2 songs by this group, No. 1 hits 7 months apart.” Two of the contestants — Katy, who was in the lead heading into Final Jeopardy, and Robert, who was several thousand dollars behind — guessed correctly with The Beatles. But Robert took the win with game-winning wager of $11,000, giving him $23,601 in the end.
Alex Trebek explained the two back-to-back Beatles hits suggested from the clue were “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Eight Days a Week.” Now, The Beatles are perhaps a shoo-in for a category asking about a popular band from the 1960s, but some fans noted that “Eight Days a Week” isn’t about a “heavy workload.” Exhibit A: “Ain’t got nothin’ but love baby, / Eight days a week,” the song goes.
Source: Money Magazine
Pete Best was 18 in 1960 and contemplating his future when Paul McCartney asked if he wanted to audition to join The Beatles. Best, then a rising young rock drummer in Liverpool, didn’t miss a beat in accepting.
“I got an offer from Paul to go to Germany, which I thought would be for a month or two,” he recalled.
“I went down and auditioned and did one show with them at the Jacaranda club. A couple of days after that, we were on our way to Hamburg. It was the first time there for all of us. That was the road that opened up, and I decided: ‘Yes, I’ll stay with it.’ I had been considering going to teachers training college.”
Best spent two years playing with The Beatles in Hamburg, Liverpool and points in between. This weekend, he makes his debut at the annual San Diego Beatles Fair, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Queen Bee’s in North Park.
Source: George Varga/sandiegouniontribune.com
One of the most vital political risk commandments to master is knowing the overall nature of the system you are evaluating in terms of its power distribution. Only by knowing the nature of the world you live in — and its stability — can any policy or any analysis actually hope to be successful.
The best (and most entertaining) way to look at the change of power dynamics in a world order is to chronicle the startlingly quick unraveling of the greatest pop group in history. The Beatles went in lightning fashion from a period of artistic and commercial dominance in the mid-1960s (with “Rubber Soul,” “Revolver,” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”) to their demise in 1970 (following “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road”) in a blink of a historical eye.
Source: John C. Hulsman/marketwatch.com
Two of Paul McCartney's most recent records, along with one of his most obscure efforts and a Wings compilation, will be included in his next batch of albums to be reissued. New, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Thrillington and Wings Greatest will be re-released on CD and vinyl on May 18.
Thrillington is the one that will likely have the most appeal to collectors. In 1971, McCartney produced a lounge-jazz instrumental version of his newly released Ram LP. But he formed Wings shortly after completing the record and decided to shelve it until 1977. He used the pseudonym Percy "Thrills" Thrillington and created a backstory in the liner notes (written by McCartney under the name "Clint Harrigan") about a U.K. socialite who was friends with McCartney. The former Beatle even took out newspaper ads that chronicled Thrills' adventures. It was believed at the time that McCartney was behind Thrillington, but he didn't admit his role until 1989.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
A brand new stage comedy telling the fascinating story of John Lennon’s missing childhood banjo is coming 24 April.
It makes its world stage premiere at the city’s Epstein Theatre on Tuesday 24 April, continuing through until Saturday 5 May. Tickets are already selling fast. An intriguing mix of fact and fiction, Lennon’s Banjo is set in present day Liverpool and features an all-star cast.
It makes its world stage premiere at the city’s Epstein Theatre on Tuesday 24 April, continuing through until Saturday 5 May. Tickets are already selling fast!
The Beatles original drummer Pete Best, will play himself in three special performances of the show’s two-week run.
So where do the facts end and the fiction begin? Everything will be revealed in this fast paced, comic caper of a play.
“The intrigue and mystery surrounding Lennon’s missing banjo, and the logic that it could be sitting in somebody’s attic right now, has the potential to make headlines around the world. The story crosses over beautifully from fiction to fact and back again to tease and tantalise the reader that every word is true.”
Source: videomuzic.eu
Steven Tyler turned 70 years old Monday and got a happy birthday wish from a very famous friend.
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr raised a glass to his fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who formed Aerosmith in Boston back in 1970.
“Peace and love, Steven Tyler, love you man – happy birthday.” Starr said. “Want you to know we’re thinking of you and I want to raise my cup and drink on your behalf.”
Peace and love, Steven Tyler, love you man – happy birthday.” Starr said. “Want you to know we’re thinking of you and I want to raise my cup and drink on your behalf.”
“THIS WILL BE THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVAH,” Tyler replied.
Tyler had to cut his South American tour short last year due to “unexpected medical issues.” But that hasn’t slowed him down in 2018. Last week Tyler announced he would be doing a summer tour with Nashville’s Loving Mary Band in North American and Europe.
Source: CBS News
