Beatles News
They may not have had quite as bountiful of a vault as for the All Things Must Pass anniversary edition, but the George Harrison estate and Dark Horse Records had no shortage of, well, material in putting together the new 50th anniversary edition of George Harrison’s fourth solo (and second post-Beatles) album, Living in a Material World.
The expanded two-disc set, which was curated by Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, is part of an expanded deal with BMG that Dark Horse signed last year. Out Friday (Nov. 15) with a new mix by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks; in addition to the 11 original tracks that came out on May 30, 1973, a second disc (on LP and CD) includes an outtake of each song as well as two rarities, “Miss O’Dell” and, on CD only, the unreleased “Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)” (which Harrison contributed to Ringo Starr’s 1973 album, Ringo, and recorded with Starr and members of The Band). The package also includes a 60-page hardcover book featuring previously unseen images and memorabilia from the period.
“We’re going in chronological order,” Dhani Harrison, Dark Horse’s CEO, tells Billboard about the estate and label’s approach to reissuing his father’s catalog. “There was obviously (The Concert For) Bangladesh in-between but that’s a full concert movie, so that doesn’t affect the order as we release his solo studio albums.”
Harrison adds that his father “really loved this album because of what it stood for. It was designed to help people living in the material world — it had a purpose. It always meant a lot to him. He named his charity after it, so it was also the beginning of the foundation, which still goes on today.” Royalties from the 50th anniversary edition will go to the Material World Foundation.
Source: Gary Graffyahoo.com
Disney+ has struggled to craft hits outside of its already established brands of Marvel and Star Wars, and more recently, the additions of Bluey and Doctor Who. However, one subject does seem to bring in eyeballs, even though it's a bit random for the House of Mouse: The Beatles, The Original British Boy Band from the 1960s are now considered rock deities. Disney+ scored its first non-Star Wars/Marvel hit in 2020 with Peter Jackson's Get Back and then drew in audiences again with the remastered Let It Be (which Get Back drew from). Disney is a company that doesn't mess with success, so it's not surprising that the streaming service scooped up Martin Scorsese's new Beatles documentary, Beatles '64, which, like Get Back, will arrive in time for the American Thanksgiving holiday.
The new film focuses on The Beatles’ first visit to America and boasts of having "never-before-seen footage of the band and the legions of young fans who helped fuel their ascendance." It also includes rare footage from documentarians Albert and David Maysles and live performances from The Ed Sullivan Show and The Beatles' first American concert at the Washington, DC Coliseum. Plus, the last two living Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, sat down for all new interviews, contextualizing the experience with the band's history, alongside interviews from the Beatles superfans whose lives were transformed by their obsession.
The documentary premiere will coincide with the re-release of the seven American Beatles albums released between January 1964 and March 1965: Meet The Beatles!, The Beatles’ Second Album, A Hard Day’s Night, Something New, The Beatles’ Story, Beatles ’65, and The Early Beatles. These albums have been newly analog cut for 180-gram audiophile vinyl from their original mono master tapes.
Here's the documentary's synopsis:
On 7 February 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York City to unprecedented excitement and hysteria. From the instant they landed at Kennedy Airport, met by thousands of fans, Beatlemania swept New York and the entire country. Their thrilling debut performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” captivated more than 73 million viewers, the most watched television event of its time. Beatles ‘64 presents the spectacle, but also reflects a more intimate behind the scenes story, capturing the camaraderie of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they experienced unimaginable fame.
Source: Ani Bundel/tellyvisions.org
Meat Free Monday, the vegetarian campaign Paul McCartney helped launch, is offering fans of the Beatles legend the chance to win tickets to two of his forthcoming concerts in the U.K.
Winners of the prize draw will be able to choose a pair of tickets to one of McCartney’s two shows at either Co-op Live in Manchester (December 14 or 15) or The O2 in London (December 18 or 19). For a chance to win, fill out the form at MeatFreeMonday.com.
The contest closes at midnight Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday, November 17 (7 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 16). Travel and accommodations are not included.
McCartney, a longtime vegetarian, teamed up with his daughters Mary and Stella to launch Meat Free Monday in 2009. The initiative encourages people to abstain from eating meat at least once during the week.
Meat Free Monday has a stand set up at all stops of McCartney’s Got Back World Tour to raise awareness about the campaign.
McCartney’s Was Interviewed About His Eating Habits on Tour. Meanwhile, Meat Free Monday recently posted an interview with McCartney in which he revealed details about his eating habits while he’s on the road.
The 82-year-old rock legend explained that on a show day, he usually doesn’t eat dinner until after a concert.
Regarding his post-show routine, Paul noted, “I get on the tour bus, and before we change back into our ‘day clothes’ I have a margarita to drink, which is always very welcome! And I have a cheese and pickle sandwich with the English type of pickle: Branston’s pickle. … Those are the two things that are always there, and that I look forward to. It means we’ve done the show and we’re off!”
Source: Matt Friedlander/americansongwriter.com
Ringo Starr has addressed The Beatles' enduring popularity as he issued his verdict on Paul McCartney's world tour. Ringo, 84, and Paul, 82, remain good friends more than 50 years after The Beatles went their separate ways.
Paul is currently taking his 'Got Back' tour around the world and is in the middle of a run of three gigs in Mexico City, having played a number of concerts in many cities across Central and South America over the past few months. The tour will arrive in Europe next month, including two nights at Manchester's Co-op Live and two at The O2 in London.
In an interview with Vice published earlier this week, Ringo spoke about the band's everlasting appeal and how that is exemplified by Paul's sell-out tour. Asked about the generations of Beatles fans who were born after the band split up, the legendary drummer said: “I think it’s great. I mean, since we had the first new-coming musicians and bands and that in the ‘70s, the kids all like to listen to The Beatles, it seems.
"Every generation we get another crowd - they’re still playing us on radios and kids and musicians are still interested in what we did. That is so great. "Now, whatever it means streaming, but The Beatles are still streaming in the billions. You think ‘wow’, you know. Someone mentioned that we’ve got another documentary coming out and on the internet someone was saying ‘not another documentary’. (It's by) Marty Scorsese, it just goes on."
The documentary he mentioned is 'Beatles '64', which will be released on Disney+ on November 29. Produced by Martin Scorsese, the film will concentrate on the band's first visit to America and the spread of Beatlemania following their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
It follows a number of high-profile documentaries released about The Beatles in recent years, including Peter Jackson's 'Get Back', Ron Howard's 'Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years' and Martin Scorsese's 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World', which have all hit screens since 2010.
Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk
John Lennon’s eldest son, Julian, admitted that his relationship with his father was not ideal. Julian grew up during Beatlemania, watched his parents’ marriage crumble, and then went years without speaking to his dad. When Julian was just 8 years old, Lennon moved to the United States and effectively broke contact with his son. Julian shared how this felt.
John Lennon’s son said he didn’t have a good relationship with his father
In 1971, Lennon’s ex-wife, Cynthia, learned through the news that Lennon moved to the United States. He decided that Cynthia should discuss Julian with Yoko Ono and went for three years without seeing or speaking to his young son. Julian said this was hard to handle as a child.
“I know that Dad was an idol to millions who grew up loving his music and his ideals. But to me he wasn’t a musician or a peace icon,...
Source: Showbiz Cheatsheet
The Beatles have said they are "thrilled" after receiving two Grammy nominations. The nominations for the 2025 awards were revealed last week and the band is in the running to win record of the year and best rock performance for their track 'Now and Then'.
Released last November, 'Now and Then', featured cleaned-up John Lennon vocals from the 1970s and 1995 guitar recordings from George Harrison alongside new work from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John's vocals are taken from a demo recorded at his home in New York’s Dakota Building, which Yoko Ono passed to the rest of the band in 1994.
At that point, technological limitations prevented John’s vocals and piano playing from being separated to achieve the clear, unclouded mix needed to finish the song. However, the release of Peter Jackson's Disney+ documentary 'Get Back' led to the idea of the track's release being brought back to the table.
Advances in technology enabled the isolation of John's vocals and playing. The song also includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by George, a new drum performance from Ringo’s, and bass, guitar and piano from Paul, which matches John’s original playing. Paul and Ringo also recorded vocals for the track.
The song hit number one in the UK official charts and meant The Beatles set a record for the longest gap between an act's first and last number one in those charts. There were 60 years and six months between the April 1963 release of 'From Me to You' (the band's first number one in the official charts) and the November 2023 release of 'Now and Then'.
Source: Dan Haygarth/uk.news.yahoo.com
Towards the end of the Beatles’ career, it would’ve been hard to imagine George Harrison had much good to say about his time with the band. He, like his other bandmates, was burnt out to the point that calling one of the biggest bands of all time quits seemed like a good option. Nevertheless, he eventually looked back on his time being “fab” with softer eyes. Uncover the meaning behind “When We Was Fab,” below.
Back then long time ago when grass was green
Woke up in a daze
Arrived like strangers in the night
Harrison released this track in the late ’80s, delighting many Beatles fans for the mention–even if it was slightly covert. Harrison recalls his time with the band and likens it to the idealist view of grass being greener on the other side. Though Harrison’s music career was still up and running, it didn’t evoke the exact same mystique that the Fab Four did.
And while you’re in this world
The fuzz gonna come and claim you
But you mo’ better wise
When the buzz gonna come and take you away
Take you away, take you away
Overall, this song has a positive tone to it. Though it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, Harrison has a much better view on his stint with the foursome than he would’ve in the wake of their breakup.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles could swell their pretty small collection of Grammy trophies.
The Beatles definitely have no need for gongs and baubles, with their back catalogue and cultural impact more than speaking for itself.
It's always nice to be recognised though, and after it stormed the charts around the world on its release last year it's no surprise that the Fab Four's 'Final Song' 'Now and Then' has been nominated for the 2025 Grammy Awards. Bigger than Jesus? What actually happened with The Beatles' most controversial moment
The song was 45 years in the making. An original John Lennon recording was given to the then-surviving Beatles by Yoko Ono in the early 1990s as they assembled their Anthology project.
While the "Threetles" of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr completed recording on the Lennon songs 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love', they abandoned work on 'Now and Then', in part because of the technical limitations of the time.
After several hints over the years, the advances in de-mixing technology used during the Get Back documentary series meant that McCartney and Starr could finally finish off the song, which was finally heard on November 2, 2023.
Source: Mayer Nissim/goldradio.com
At times, fame can get in the way of a creative pursuit. The audience’s expectations are proportionate to the amount of fame an artist can amass, potentially leaving that artist in fear of disappointing their listeners. If the Beatles’ fame was unprecedented, then the expectations put on them were equally so. Towards the middle of their career as a group, the band felt stagnant, unable to flex their creativity. All that changed when they made Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Find out why the creation of that album was so freeing for the Fab Four, below.
The Beatles assumed characters while making Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The concept record saw them create under a new banner. In return, their music benefitted from the freedom of “not being the Beatles.” According to Paul McCartney, they found a new stride while writing this record that revamped their love for making music.
“Over our meal we were talking about salt and pepper which was misheard as Sgt. Pepper,” McCartney once wrote. “I then had the idea for the song ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and thought it would be interesting for us to pretend, during the making of the album, that we were members of this band rather than The Beatles, in order to give us a fresh slant.”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Music has an interesting way of making opposites attract. Whether it be a mutual fondness for the same song or a respect for another person’s talent or taste, music has the power to bring people together in a way no other means does. That being so, it unexpectedly brought together two iconic musicians and created a relationship worth mentioning. The relationship in question is between Waylon Jennings and John Lennon.
On the surface, Lennon and Jennings couldn’t be farther apart on the musical and general life spectrum. One dude is an outlaw country singer from Texas and the other dude is a pop rocker from England. In a way, you might have a better chance of making a dog and a cat get along. However, throw all of these face-value judgments aside, as when Lennon and Jennings met they took quite a liking to each other.
Even though the two resided in different genres, they were of similar age. Thus, they surely shared some of the same musical influences such as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard. Although, their first interaction and newfound relationship had nothing to do with music. Rather, they just liked each other as good-humored dudes with a similar edge.
Source: Peter Burditt/americansongwriter.com
