Beatles News
No band is more emblematic of British music than The Beatles, and no car is quite as quintessentially British as a Mini Cooper — except, perhaps, an Aston Martin.
Now’s your chance to own what are arguably the two most British pieces of musical and automobile history: an 1964 AstonMartin DB5 formerly owned by Sir Paul McCartney and a 1966 Mini Cooper that used to belong to Ringo Starr. Both vehicles are up for bids via Bonhams, a celebrated auction house in England.
The Aston Martin was purchased by McCartney in 1964 and enjoyed by the Beatle for six years. “Though [McCartney] later owned an Aston Martin DB6, which has been the subject of extensive media coverage, this lesser known DB5 is believed to be the first Aston owned by the musician. He ordered it at a particularly important career juncture: just weeks after the Beatles’ famous appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and the completion of filming A Hard Day’s Night, their first film,” Bonhams elaborates.
Source: Nicole Raney
Beatles fans far and wide have taken to Twitter to express their frustration with the new John Lewis Christmas advert.
But it isn’t Moz the cuddly 7ft monster they have a problem with, nor is it the advert’s sweet tale of a friendship between monster and young boy.
It’s not even that this year’s infamous soundtrack is a cover of The Beatles’ classic Golden Slumbers reimagined by Elbow.
Instead, fans of the Fab Four have been left dissatisfied with how the advert, or more specifically the song, ends.
Originally being part of the medley that makes up the B side of the legendary Abbey Road album, The Beatles’ Golden Slumbers moves into Carry That Weight.
Source: Meaghan Spencer
When the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus pulled up at Hialeah Gardens High School, many students didn’t know much about the famous late Beatle.
Some wondered if he was on the bus himself. One insisted to her friend his last name was “Legend.”
But when the educators who drive the bus-turned-recording-studio-on-wheels played the 1971 song “Imagine” and other Beatles tunes, the kids understood the messages. They know what it’s like to yearn for a world without violence.
“My cousin got shot,” said sophomore Yvette Smith. “It [had] a big impact on me. … We need to have peace in this country, because, all this shooting needs to stop, needs to come to a stop.”
On a hot morning last week, Smith and three thousand of her classmates arranged themselves on the school’s football field in the shape of a peace sign. A photographer shot the scene from perch high above them, sitting in the bucket of a cherry picker. Drones circled, too, capturing images of one of the biggest human peace signs the national music education program has ever staged.
Source: Jessica Bakeman
Ringo Starr is known for constantly sharing his message of "peace and love" with the world, and he's hoping fans will now help him "Give More Love."
The former Beatles drummer has launched a contest asking fans to submit a short video clip or a still photo depicting peace, love and kindness, for possible use in an official video for the title track to his latest album, Give More Love .
You can submit your photo or video via Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #GiveMoreLoveContest. In a video posted on his Facebook page , Ringo explains, "I'm asking you to listen to Give More Love , my new CD, and if you can make a 15, 20-second little video or a still…we're gonna put them all together and make an incredible three-and-a-half-minute movie."
Starr will choose his favorite photos and clips for use in the video. Fans have until 11:59 p.m. ET on December 1 to submit their entries. Visit GiveMoreLove.com for more details and to check out the pics and videos that already have been posted.
Source: Midwest Communications Inc
Unseen footage of the Beatles filmed more than 50 years ago is to go on sale.
The Fab Four were caught on camera by actor Leo McKern while on location in the Austrian Alps for the 1965 movie Help!
McKern was cast as Clang, the leader of a mystical cult determined to recover a ring from Ringo Starr’s finger which would enable a sacrifice to proceed.
The late actor was a keen amateur photographer who took images on the major locations of the film – Obertauern in Austria, the Bahamas and Salisbury Plain.
He also put together a reel of 8mm film, running time 14 minutes 55 seconds and with no sound, which captured the Beatles and fellow cast and crew members in March 1965.
The footage is bookended by shots of McKern’s then 10-year-old daughter, who grew up to become the actress Abigail McKern, sledging down a variety of inclines, taking a ride on a cable car and playing with her baby sister.
Source: Daily Mail
This year's hotly anticipated John Lewis Christmas advert has been released fit with British band Elbow's rendition of an album track by The Beatles.
The Guy Garvey-fronted band follows in the footsteps of Ellie Goudling, Tom Odell and London-based act Vaults to be handed the honour of featuring on what has become an annual festive treat for British television viewers.
This year's advert, directed by the Oscar-winning writer-director Michel Gondry, is accompanied by Elbow's version of Beatles track “Golden Slumbers.”
The song featured on the band's eleventh studio album Abbey Road, released in 1969, serving as the sixth part of a medley which caps the records. It's preceded by “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” and is immediately followed by “Carry That Weight.”
Source: The Independent
We love classic cars, but sometimes it is not necessarily the car that makes it a classic. Today we get a look at Ringo Starr’s 1966 Mini Cooper S. Mini was quite popular in the 60’s, which also coincided with the peak of The Beatles. Not really an iconic ride in the world of classic cars, Ringo Starr’s 1966 Mini Cooper S is notorious just for being Ringo Starr’s 1966 Mini Cooper S.
Source: By Jesse James
The man who made the The Beatles’ first suits has died aged 83.
Walter Smith crafted thousands of bespoke suits at his shop, Craft Tailoring, in the city centre .
But the tailor, who also served on Wirral Council , secured his place in music history after he suited and booted Liverpool’s fabulous four back in 1962.
One of his regular customers was Brian Epstein and one day that summer he walked into the shop looking for clothes for the four lads in his new up and coming band.
Speaking to the ECHO four years ago about the experience he said: “It’s funny. I had no idea on that Wednesday 50 years ago that those four lads would go on to do so much. Even with that silly name.”
Source: Liverpool Echo
It's been 50 years since the first issue of Rolling Stone was published in California. The legendary magazine captured the spirit of the time with its unique brand of music journalism, says founding editor Michael Lydon.
When the first issue of Rolling Stone hit the news stands on November 9, 1967 — complete with a photograph of John Lennon on its front cover — nobody could've known that it would still be going strong five decades later.
"Rolling Stone found this audience instantly," remembers the publication's founding managing editor, Michael Lydon. "Immediately we were getting calls. Eric Clapton called up, the Warner Brothers from LA called up."
Source: Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com)
Ringo Starr calls from his hotel room amid the neon bling and bustle of Las Vegas, a Liverpudlian accent still peppering that unmistakable voice. Fresh off of rehearsal, the spry and ageless 77-year-old rocker readies for something he doesn’t have to do: tour.
“Every time I put a band together and we talk to the press, they say, ‘You want to tour? You’re still playing?’” Starr said. “And I say, ‘Yep, because that’s what I do. I’m not an electrician.’”
He’s a drummer, arguably the most significant on the planet. Thanks to his Beatles tenure and solo career, the Rock Hall of Famer continues causing countless others to pick up sticks eons after the British Invasion.
“Ringo is the archetype of a great pop-rock drummer,” said Atlanta musician and producer Robert Schneider of psychedelic rockers the Apples in Stereo. “To me, he represents drumming perfection: heavy, groovy and solid, yet a little wild and not overly technical.”
Source: Jon Waterhouse
