Beatles News
Driving down Vauxhall Street in Waterford at dawn, Sirius radio’s Classic Vinyl played the Beatles tune “I Feel Fine” from 1964.
My mind wandered to those young lives on the verge of unimaginable mega-stardom.
Never mind Yoko Ono, I thought, what about Cynthia Lennon, the quiet Beatle wife who stood by her husband for 10 years as their world was transformed by wealth, fame and LSD?
I picked up Cynthia Lennon’s 2005 autobiography titled “John” to hear her tale of Beatlemania and finally, bullets.
Cynthia Powell Lennon was a reserved English girl who married a complicated man whom she describes as “a creative genius who sang movingly about love while often wounding those closest to him.”
They fell in love while attending the Liverpool College of Art in 1958 and, with Cynthia pregnant, they married in 1962, just before the release of “Love Me Do” started the meteoric rise to fame that changed their world.
Source: theday.com
New Ringo Starr photography exhibit featuring previously unseen pics opening next month in the UK
Rob ShanahanA new exhibition featuring the photography of the recently knighted Ringo Starr, including archival images appearing in the ex-Beatles drummer's 2013 book Photograph, will open next month at Genesis House, headquarters of Genesis Publications, in Surrey, U.K.
The display also will mark the unveiling of a portfolio of previously unseen photo prints by Starr, as well as additional series of pics first made available in 2013 and 2015.
The Photograph Portfolio 2018 includes candid pics of Starr's Beatles bandmates -- John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison -- as well as a famous shot Ringo took of some excited Fab Four fans in a car during the group's first visit to New York City.
Source: wjbdradio.com
A new, digitally-remastered version of The Beatles’ classic animated movie Yellow Submarine is returning to cinemas for the first time since 1999. The new film is set to play in UK and Ireland cinemas via an event-style release on 8 July, 2018 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its original release. Tickets are due to go on sale on Tuesday, 17 April.
Directed by George Dunning, and written by Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn and Erich Segal, Yellow Submarine began its voyage to the screen when Brodax, who had previously produced nearly 40 episodes of ABC’s animated Beatles TV series, approached The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein with a unique vision for a full-length animated feature.
Yellow Submarine, based upon a song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, is a fantastic tale brimming with peace, love, and hope, propelled by Beatles songs, including "Eleanor Rigby," "When I’m Sixty-Four," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "All You Need Is Love," and "It’s All Too Much." When the film debuted in 1968, it was instantly recognised as a landmark achievement, revolutionising a genre by integrating the freestyle approach of the era with innovative animation techniques.
Source: By Tim Peacock/udiscovermusic.com
The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has made its mark on the music world in many ways, and now the influential 1967 album will be heading into the Guinness World Records book thanks to a recent chart achievement. The album is being recognized for the longest gap between stints at #1 on the U.K. chart, uDiscoverMusic.com reports.
Bolstered by a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue that came out in late May, Sgt. Pepper returned to the top spot of the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart on June 8, 2017, 49 years and 125 days since the last time it held the #1 position — — on February 3, 1968. The album with the next longest gap between stints at #1 in the U.K. is The Rolling Stones‘ 1972 record Exile on Main St., which returned to the top spot after the release of a deluxe reissue on May 29, 2010, 37 years and 353 days since it had previously been at #1.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band first hit the top of the chart on June 10, 1967, and spent 23 straight weeks there. It then reached #1 four more times between November 1967 and February 1968.
The album has sold 5.1 million copies in the U.K., making it the bestselling studio effort and third most successful album overall in the country, following Queen‘s Greatest Hits and ABBA‘s Gold compilation.
As recently reported by Billboard, Sgt. Pepper also was the top-selling vinyl LP in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: Columbusnewsteam
The 50th anniversary of the world-famous Beatles travelling to Rishikesh in India is to be marked with a new exhibition in their home city of Liverpool.
The exhibition, Beatles in India, at the award-winning Beatles Story museum will open on Feb. 16 and run for two years. It will look at what was a key and relatively secretive part of the lives of the four-strong band, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
It will feature never-before-seen memorabilia, imagery and personal accounts from the people who were there with the band in 1968.
A sitar used by Ravi Shankar will go onto display within the new immersive area, loaned to The Beatles Story by the Ravi Shankar Foundation. As George Harrison's mentor, Shankar's influence on the him ultimately helped to popularise the use of Indian instruments in 1960s pop music.
Source: xinhuanet.com
Music promoter Tony Calder, who helped The Beatles score their first hit single, has died at the age of 74.
He started his career at Decca Records in the 1960s and went on to work with the Beach Boys, Marianne Faithfull, Black Sabbath and Eddy Grant.
The executive also co-founded his own independent record label, signing acts like Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac.
Andrew Loog Oldham, his former business partner, tweeted: "A member of the family has left us."
Born in Surbiton, Surrey, to Scottish parents in 1943, Calder was one of the busiest agents on the music scene of the 1960s, working at Decca Records by day and as a DJ for Mecca dancehalls by night.
In 1962, he was tasked with promoting the Beatles' first single, Love Me Do.
Source: BBC
Ringo Starr will bring the latest edition of his All Starr Band to the Event Center at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, June 2. Tickets, priced from $89 to $129, go on sale Jan. 12 at 10 a.m.; visit theborgata.com.
The group’s lineup will include Steve Lukather (of Toto) and Colin Hay (of Men at work) on guitars and vocals; Gregg Rolie (of Santana and Journey) on keyboards and vocals; Graham Gouldman (of 10cc) on bass and vocals; Gregg Bissonette on drums; and Warren Ham on sax, harmonica and other instruments.
Starr, 77, released his 19th studio album, Give More Love, in September, and was honored with knighthood at the end of 2017, “for services to music.” Click here for a review, with setlist, videos and a photo gallery, from his Nov. 16 concert at NJPAC in Newark.
Starr has not released the full itinerary of his 2018 United States tour, so it is possible that more New Jersey shows will be added.
Source: JAY LUSTIG
You wait all year — or the year’s 10 days so far, which is long enough for British pop addicts — and then two rockumentaries come at once. Lili Fini Zanuck’s Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars is not exactly a bus. It’s more a cart without a horse. It tells us everything we need to know about this rock guitarist except why we need to know it. Surely Zanuck could have spared five minutes — out of 135 — to appraise or analyse the man’s music? What’s unique about Clapton? How did he achieve that uniqueness? What separates the prodigy from the twangling herd? . . .
Source: Nigel Andrews
TO celebrate 50 years since The Beatles visited the Ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India a special exhibition will be launched.
Opening on February 16 at The Beatles Story - the new 'Beatles in India' exhibition will discover the secretive part of the story with never seen before memorabilia, imagery and personal accounts from people who were there in 1968.
It will mark 50 years to the day that John Lennon, George Harrison and their wives Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd arrived in India.
A sitar used by the legendary Ravi Shankar will go onto display within the new immersive area, loaned to The Beatles Story by the Ravi Shankar Foundation.
As George Harrison’s mentor, Ravi’s influence on the Beatle ultimately helped to popularise the use of Indian instruments in 1960s pop music.
The exhibit will also include photography from Paul Saltzman, a sound engineer for the National Film Board of Canada at the time, who photographed The Beatles during their stay.
He is responsible for some of the most iconic and intimate images of the Fab Four in India.
Pattie Boyd, former wife to George Harrison, and her sister Jenny Boyd, who were amongst the star-studded list of attendees in India, will be providing their personal insight into the time.
2018 will also recognise what would have been George Harrison’s 75th birthday.
Source: wirralglobe.co
Sir Paul McCartney and a host of rock and pop legends are backing a move in Parliament to protect music venues from closure.
Senior Labour MP John Spellar, a Government minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is introducing a bill in the Commons to change planning laws.
The proposed new law is backed by stars including Sir Paul, Chrissie Hynde, Craig David, Sandie Shaw, Ray Davies, Billy Bragg, Feargal Sharkey and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
UK Music, a campaign group representing both the recorded and live music industries, said that over the past decade 35% of music venues across the country have closed.
Among venues that have had to fight closure threats are London's iconic dance club Ministry of Sound and the 100 Club, where The Who, Sex Pistols and Oasis have performed.
Pledging his support for Mr Spellar's bill, Sir Paul said: "Without the grassroots clubs, pubs and music venues my career could have been very different.
Source: Sky News
