Beatles News
Revolver marked a pivotal moment in The Beatles’ career, blending experimental sounds with groundbreaking studio techniques. Tracks like “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “I’m Only Sleeping” showcased the first use of backward guitar recording and automatic double tracking (ADT), pushing the boundaries of music – popular and otherwsise. From psychedelic rock to children’s tunes like “Yellow Submarine,” there really is something for everyone.
First Use of Backward Guitar Recording: Revolver features the first use of reversed guitar recordings in popular music, particularly on the song “I’m Only Sleeping.” George Harrison’s guitar solo was recorded, reversed, and then layered onto the track, giving it a dreamy, otherworldly sound.
First Use of Automatic Double Tracking (ADT): Engineer Ken Townsend at Abbey Road Studios developed ADT specifically for The Beatles during the Revolver sessions. This technique automatically doubled a vocal or instrumental track, creating a fuller sound without the need for manually recording multiple takes.
Source: thatericalper.com
This playlist with annotations that I have put together is not intended to be a “best-of” George Harrison (although all the songs here would easily be on such a playlist). Nor is it meant to be exclusive—one could easily devise a playlist with ten different “quintessential” George Harrison songs: one that would include “My Sweet Lord,” “It’s All Too Much,” “I Me Mine,” “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” “Blue Jay Way,” and, of course, “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
Rather, these are ten songs that represent various aspects of George Harrison’s brilliance as a songwriter and recording artist. They tie together themes, concepts, and musical and lyrical approaches in a manner that represents some essential aspects of George’s genius and creativity.
1. Don’t Bother Me
Written while he was lying ill in a hotel bed in August 1963, “Don’t Bother Me” could well stand as a credo for George Harrison, an early manifesto capturing his personality and entire mindset about fame. Especially in the context of the Beatles’ 1963 album, With the Beatles—replete with typically sunny original numbers by Lennon and McCartney including “All My Loving,” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” and “Hold Me Tight,”—“Don’t Bother Me” introduced the world to a new invention: the ambivalent pop star. For George, the very first message he chose to impart as a Beatles songwriter was that of a back turned to the crowd, foreshadowing his conflicted feelings about Beatlemania and particularly about the highly excitable crowds that flocked to their concerts.
2. If I Needed Someone
George explored the ambiguities of love and the difficulties of relationships in songs including “You Like Me Too Much,” “If I Needed Someone,” “I Want to Tell You,” “Long, Long, Long,” and even “Something.” Harrison wrote about love with a more sophisticated, mature understanding of its complexities than what was typically found in pop music of the time. Written in the conditional tense (note the first word of the title), “If I Needed Someone” (included on Rubber Soul) finds George singing behind the beat; the disparity between the melody line and the song’s rhythm echoes and implies the ambivalence of the lyrics. Plus, the song was propelled by Harrison’s patented jangle-rock style created by using the then-new Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar.
Source: Amrit Shergill/blog.oup.com
English singer-songwriter, guitarist and former Beatle, George Harrison (1943 - 2001), Cannes, ... [+] France, 30th January 1976. Harrison is in Cannes for the Midem music industry trade fair. George Harrison's debut solo single “My Sweet Lord” is back on multiple charts in the U.K. this week, and it's bigger than ever on one of them.
George Harrison has been gone from this world for more than two decades, but the music he made during his lifetime remains popular to this day. That includes both his work with The Beatles and his solo output. One of his own tracks, in particular, stands out as both his most commercially successful and his most memorable, and that’s the one that is in the middle of a minor comeback.
“My Sweet Lord” is back on the charts in the U.K. this week. The tune reappears on two lists at the same time, and in almost the same position, as fans of the former Beatle began buying the single once again. Harrison’s solo smash lands highest between the two tallies it appears on this frame on the Official Singles Downloads chart. On the list of the bestselling downloads in the U.K. this time around, “My Sweet Lord” lands at No. 67.
It’s impressive that “My Sweet Lord” (the 2001 remastered version, that is) is back on that tally, but what’s even more notable is the fact that the song reaches a new peak this week. The track debuted on the online-only roster in 2007 at No. 89, and then disappeared—until now. “My Sweet Lord” settles in almost the same position on another, similar ranking. Harrison’s solo cut re-enters the Official Singles Sales chart at No. 69. That’s not a new high point, as the track has previously risen to No. 51.
Harrison released “My Sweet Lord” as his debut solo single in 1971. The tune became an immediate smash, and it topped the songs charts in a number of countries, including both the U.K. and the U.S. In the decades since, it has continued to sell, and from time to time, it manages to debut on, or return to, a list or two when a large enough population revisits the meaningful single.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
The Beatles haven’t been together as a quartet for decades, but they still manage to remain among the most popular and successful musical acts in the world. The smash singles and albums they released during their years together—and even afterward—are still being consumed in huge numbers worldwide. The boundary-breaking outfit doubles up on one chart in their home country this week as a short collection makes its return.
On this week’s Official Physical Singles tally, the U.K.’s ranking of the bestselling songs on physical formats (usually CD or vinyl), The Beatles make a notable appearance. The band increases their total number of current hits, with one effort reappearing while another, which was already performing well, rises even higher.
“From Us to You - 2 March 1964” is back on the Official Physical Singles chart this week. The set—which is technically a short EP, but which is counted as a single—reappears at No. 58 on the list.
The EP has now spent two months on the physical sales tally. “From Us to You - 2 March 1964” is The Beatles’ most recent arrival on the chart, as it only debuted in August. So far, it has risen as high as No. 12, nearly becoming another top 10 smash for the group.
As that several-song “single” mounts a comeback, another recent release from the Grammy winners is soaring. “Now and Then” shoots from No. 33 to No. 21 on the Official Physical Singles chart this week.
That track marked the first truly new single from The Beatles in decades when it dropped in late 2023. The song, completed with the help of artificial intelligence—much to the confusion and anger of some longtime fans—easily hit No. 1 and is nearing a full year on the tally.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
"I asked George to turn it down a little. He looked at me and said: You don't talk to a Beatle like that": How The Beatles made Abbey Road, told by those who were there
In what was unquestionably one of the lowest of the low points in their downward trajectory, The Beatles had recorded their warts’n’all Let It Be documentary and its musical soundtrack during January 1969. The cuddly mop-tops had been disintegrating since the White Album sessions in 1968, and the experience of making Let It Be had been agonising for all concerned.
Tony Bramwell, their roadie from the Liverpool days and later an Apple director, recalls: “Things started going wrong at the time of the White Album. Everything changed then. It became that Paul was doing lots and the others weren’t doing much more than being session men.”
By the time of the Let It Be sessions, John Lennon’s heroin addiction was at its worst, and the others simply could not cope with it. “We were disappointed that he was getting into heroin because we didn’t really know how we could help him,” Paul McCartney explained to Barry Miles in his book Many Years From Now. “We just hoped it wouldn’t go too far.”
Source: Johnny Black/loudersound.com
Ringo Starr has come down with a cold, and he and his his All Starr Band have been forced to cancel the last two remaining shows of their tour.
The group was scheduled to perform at Philadelphia’s TD Pavilion at The Mann on Tuesday (Sept. 24) and at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday (Sept. 25), however, “after consulting a doctor [Starr] was advised to cancel these two remaining shows and get rest,” per a press release.
Fans are encouraged to contact their ticket point of purchase for refunds. “As always, Ringo and the All Starrs send peace and love to their fans and hope to see them soon,” the statement concludes.
“We love it. I know the audience loves me. And I love them,” the 84-year-old Beatles star previously told Billboard of touring. “And the band has only one rule: We’re not there to be miserable. And I’ll support you to the best of my ability and I expect the same from you. We do it for each other.”
Starr dropped his latest four-track EP, Rewind Forward, back in October 2023. “It’s all about going forward. It’s just the fact that sometimes we all get stuck and have to fight your way out,” he said of the project. “Oh, I’ve been stuck many times!”
Source: billboard.com
After facing 25,000 people in Toronto, a newly emboldened Lennon returned to London determined to finally bury the Beatles once and for all. In August of 1966, the Beatles had just arrived in Toronto for a pair of appearances at Maple Leaf Gardens that, unbeknownst to the world, would be among their last. Prior to the shows, in a press conference at the arena’s Hot Stove Lounge, a reporter asked John Lennon if the band — who had failed to sell out the 16,00-seat venue — would ever split up.
“We obviously are not going to go around holding hands forever,” he replied, eliciting laughter from the assembled press.
Lennon added, more seriously, “we’ve got to split up or progress … it might happen. It’s quite possible.”
The Toronto reporters could not have known, but by the end of the decade, their budding metropolis would soon become the catalyst for the destruction of the greatest band of all time.
In September, 1969, a very different John Lennon stepped into the arrivals lounge at Toronto International Airport. The 28-year-old had traded his moptop for long hair and a bushy beard, he had married a Japanese artist seven years his senior and the Beatles were now barely on speaking terms.
Lennon himself had grown particularly disillusioned with the Fab Four. He had been showing up to recording sessions blasted on drugs, he had lambasted Paul McCartney’s contributions to the album Abbey Road as “granny music” and he had begun to openly resent the Beatles’ entire rise to fame as a colossal sellout.
Source: kingstonthisweek.com
If the earliest days of Beatlemania were the puppy love, head-over-heels phase of the Fab Four’s relationship with one another, then John Lennon considers this later Beatles album as “the mature part” of the band’s bond. Ironically, the album is also one of the Beatles’ most whimsical and impersonal.
Lennon’s opinion on this iconic album fluctuated in the years following its release. Depending on his mood, the day, or otherwise, the late musician would lament the record’s pitfalls or boast its many strengths and lasting influence.
This multifaceted perspective, we suppose, is not all that different from how someone might treat someone with whom they’ve been in a relationship for a long time.
In All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, David Sheff spoke to the late ex-Beatle and his wife about nearly every aspect of Lennon’s time in the Fab Four. From individual songs to overarching themes of their career, Lennon revealed his true thoughts about his band’s legacy, even likening its many phases to a romantic relationship.
As the Beatles’ career continued to evolve from their early Beatlemania days, Lennon recalled, “We were different; we were older; we knew each other on all kinds of levels that we didn’t when we were teenagers. The early stuff—the “Hard Day’s Night” period, I call it—was the sexual equivalent of the beginning hysteria of a relationship. And the “Sgt. Pepper-Abbey Road” period was the mature part of the relationship.”
With its heavy use of theatrics and experimentation, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band certainly marked a distinct change in the Beatles’ trajectory. In a different interview, Lennon said this transition was non-negotiable for the band’s success.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
Paul McCartney is ready to get back, again, with Saturday’s one-night-only screenings of the rarely-seen 1974 documentary “Paul McCartney & Wings: One Hand Clapping.” It will screen internationally at movie theaters, including five in San Diego County, one in in Tijuana and one in Murrieta. (The list of theaters appears later in this article.)
The now 50-year-old film has never been shown in theaters or televised. Some of the songs recorded for the film were included as part of McCartney’s archival “Band on the Run” box set release in 2010, while a few other songs appeared in subsequent deluxe reissues of other McCartney albums in 2011 and 2014.
Not coincidentally, “One Hand Clapping” was made as something of a victory lap following the 1973 release of the chart-topping “Band on the Run.” That was the third album McCartney and Wings made together in the 1970s, following the implosion of his previous band, The Beatles.
The film was shot on videotape in August 1974 at Abbey Road, the same London studio where The Beatles recorded the majority of their albums. Its belated unveiling now, in upgraded form, follows the June release of the “One Hand Clapping” live double-album. Sixteen of the selections on this 32-song, live-in-the-studio album were never previously released, at least not officially (bootlegs are another matter).
The film and album feature live-in-the-studio versions of such McCartney and Wings’ favorites as “Jet,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Junior’s Farm” and “Hi Hi Hi.” The sound has been remastered by an audio team that includes Giles Martin, the son of longtime Beatles’ producer George Martin.
Source: George Varga/sandiegouniontribune.com
Following this summer’s ‘Mind Games Ultimate Collection’ boxset, the book features handwritten lyrics, letters, previously unseen photography, and artworks by Lennon and Yoko Ono from the period.
A definitive book exploring the writing, recording, and release of John Lennon’s groundbreaking solo record Mind Games is on its way. Out September 24, the book features handwritten lyrics, letters, artworks by Lennon and Yoko Ono, and previously unseen photography alongside their firsthand commentary about the album. Also included are contributions from the musicians, friends, engineers, and key figures involved in the making of Lennon’s landmark 1973 album.
The book’s publication follows this summer’s Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection. The collection’s six unique listening experiences include the sonically upgraded Ultimate Mixes to the Elements Mixes, which highlight instrumentation buried in the original mix, to the Raw Studio Mixes, the recording laid to tape without vocal effects, tape delays, or reverb. In October, Sean Ono Lennon will release Mind Games – The Meditation Mixes, nine relaxing reworkings of the title track that were originally shared via the app Lumenate.
Mind Games captures a transformative moment for the Lennons. After moving to New York City in 1971, Lennon’s anti-Vietnam War activism drew the ire of the Nixon administration, who enlisted the FBI to place the young musician under surveillance. The overtly political messaging on 1972’s Sometime in New York City didn’t help matters. Meanwhile, Lennon and Ono were experiencing marital problems, undoubtedly compounded by an ongoing deportation order.
All of this was in the background as a 33-year-old Lennon embarked on recording Mind Games, his first self-produced album. The sessions took place at the Record Plant in New York City over July and August 1973 and featured the jokingly named Plastic U.F.Ono Band, which included drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist David Spinozza, pianist Ken Ascher, pedal-steel player ‘Sneaky’ Pete Kleinow, saxophonist Michael Brecker, drummer Rick Marotta, bassist Gordon Edwards, and backing vocalists Something Different.
Source: Sam Armstrong/udiscovermusic.com
