Beatles News

Merseyside is packed with fantastic tourist attractions and some of the biggest Hollywood stars have been drawn here for a spot of sight-seeing. A-listers including Tom Hardy , Kim Cattrall and Bob Dylan have been seen snapping selfies and exploring our cultural hot spots. Here are 10 times a celebrity was spotted on the tourist trail in Liverpool . When the Sex and the City star was in town filming Agatha Christie thriller Witness for the Prosecution, she squeezed in a quick trip to Crosby beach to see the Iron Men. Kim regularly comes back to Merseyside - she was born in Liverpool, before her family migrated to Canada - and was enthralled by Gormley’s “spectacular sculptures”, tweeting a picture of herself at the Another Place installation.

I watched a couple of documentaries (thank you Open Culture) this week featuring rock stars from the classic era, one about a living musician, the other about one who has, alas, shuffled off this mortal coil. What I found most interesting about each of these films is the reminder that it is very difficult for any successful artist, especially for a David Bowie or Paul McCartney, who have enjoyed success at the highest level of their art, to move forward. In a popular art form such as rock music has been, part of the problem is commerce; one who is successful and whose art is embraced by a wide public sells much “plastic ware,” as Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman wrote. They feel constant commercial pressure to repeat their sales success – a pressure that can make any artist choose a safe route.

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl is the only official live Beatles album ever released. Recorded in 1964 and 1965 but not put out until 1977, the album is a fairly disappointing listen. Though recorded at the peak of Beatlemania, when the Fab Four were still riding a euphoric wave of success driven by their touring years, the concerts tapes were rendered near unlistenable by the insane racket produced by the 10,000 strong crowds. The Beatles were on point on those nights, and George Martin can seldom be associated with any technical shortcoming within the band’s career. Rather, the limitations of mastering technology in the 70s are to blame for the dismal quality of the original recordings.

Imagine there's no tree. It's easy if you try... Sean Lennon has removed the tree that Marisa Tomei's parents claimed tore through the foundation of their Greenwich Village townhouse, they said Tuesday. Gary and Addie Tomei alleged in a lawsuit that the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono had let the 60-foot ailanthus in front of his W. 13th St. townhouse bore under their property. The Tomeis demanded $10 million in their Manhattan Supreme Court suit, which was filed in February 2015.

Stella McCartney continues to prove it’s possible to design luxury collections with cruelty-free fashion. Showcasing her A/W17 collection during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday 7 March, the longtime advocate of animal welfare debuted a leather alternative material, calling it “skin-free skin”. Stella McCartney continues to prove it’s possible to design luxury collections with cruelty-free fashion. Showcasing her A/W17 collection during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday 7 March, the longtime advocate of animal welfare debuted a leather alternative material, calling it “skin-free skin”.

A vintage Liverpool police recruitment film dating from 1958 may very likely have a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and his brother Michael, the McCartney brother told the Liverpool Echo March 7. If it is indeed The Beatles in the footage, it would be the earliest known film appearance of any of the group members. Contacted by the Echo, Michael McCartney said he believed it was himself, Paul McCartney and very likely John Lennon. “Wow! That could definitely be us,” he told the paper. “It was a really big occasion in Liverpool and that’s what we used to do every summer –- take deck chairs and climb onto the concrete shed and watch a free show. And I think there is every chance John would have been there that year – absolutely. His friend, Pete Shotton, was a police cadet. And George could easily have been there, too. It’s bloody mad – absolutely fascinating and unbelievable!”

Liverpool’s Beatles -themed Hard Days Night hotel has been named the best hotel in the UK in the 2017 Travel Republic Awards. The awards are based on customer scores posted on the travel booking firm’s website. Hard Days Night is said to have prevailed because of its customer service. The hotel’s general manager Stephen Fernley said: “It’s great to see our hotel being applauded on both a local and global scale, and it makes me feel so proud of our dedicated team members, who go above and beyond to make each guest’s stay enjoyable and highly memorable.” The hotel, situated on North John Street, offers Beatles fans from outside Liverpool great access to the Cavern Club and other Beatles-themed bars and attractions on Mathew Street.

Musician Sean Lennon has released a song he co-wrote with late Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher. The track, titled Bird Song, was penned "years ago" by Fisher, Lennon – the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono – explained in a note on Soundcloud. He said he felt the need to record the unreleased song following Fisher's death from a heart attack in December, aged 60. "Carrie and I used to stay up 'til dawn chatting and pontificating about life. They were my best moments," Lennon, 41, wrote.

“Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” were an early clue to a new direction. The first songs that opened The Beatles' contribution to the summer of love bridged the gap between the experiments of Rubber Soul and Revolver and the massively ambitious George Martin production that became Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Both songs were originally the twin pillars of that album but the Beatles had a policy of leaving off pre-released singles because they were “filler” material. But there’s nothing to get hung about, there is an unsubstantiated rumor going round that an upcoming re-release of the Beatles’ classic album will remedy that. No worries, though, the rumors give us reason to explore the childhood memory song couplet by songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

In the mid-Nineties, while Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were working on the Beatles' massive Anthology project, they got together with George Martin, their old producer, at Abbey Road Studios to discuss and dissect a few classic Beatles tracks. In the incredible clip below, you can watch as they go through the various parts of John Lennon's Revolver masterpiece, "Tomorrow Never Knows," a song that signaled the band's new direction for 1966.