Beatles News
Though he might not have had quite as many cuts as Paul McCartney or John Lennon, George Harrison did deliver his fair share of hits for the Beatles. Among his cuts are “I, Me, Mine,” “Something,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Each of those songs are indelible in the Beatles catalog, proving Harrison’s songwriting prowess. However, there is one song in particular that stood out for McCartney. Find out what Macca’s favorite Harrison-penned Beatles song is, below.
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright
It’s impossible to not like “Here Comes the Sun.” It’s the sonic equivalent to feeling the first warm rays after a long, cold, lonely winter. McCartney once credited this track as one of his favorite songs Harrison contributed to the band.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, McCartney was asked what song of Harrison’s he liked best. “‘Here Comes The Sun,’” he said at the time. “It is a brilliant song and the kind of song that’s really good in times like these.”
Little darlin’, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darlin’, it feels like years since it’s been here
Though this song seems to have pretty self explanatory origins, it was a sort of rebirth for Harrison. While the song’s themes seem to capture the changing of the seasons, it was written at a time when Harrison needed a bit of change himself.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
I was there for the band's only appearance in this city, hired as an usher for the occasion. I can remember the scene — and the screams.
The Beatles performed two shows at the Forum on Sept. 8, 1964. Tickets were $4.50 and $5.50. Only the night performance was sold out.
The Beatles pose at the Forum for their one and only appearance in Montreal, on Sept. 8, 1964. They performed two shows, at 4 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $4.50 and $5.50.
In early September 1964, I noticed an ad in The Gazette seeking ushers to work a rock concert I wanted to see at the Montreal Forum. The ticket price was outrageous ($5.50!), so the opportunity to work the afternoon and evening shows and get paid sounded great. Applicants were asked to go downtown to the Forum four days before the show. On the appointed day, I took the Sherbrooke 105 bus from Montreal West to the arena. I was 20 years old.
More than 100 of us were crammed into a huge room. An official-looking man announced enough ushers had already been hired and thanked everyone for showing up. My heart sank. But as the crowd shuffled toward the door, the guy suddenly yelled: “Wait! We need the six tallest. If you are over six-foot-two, stick around!” I stood six- foot-three. I was hired on the spot and told to show up at noon the day of the concerts wearing grey flannels, black shoes and a white shirt. This is how I came to be an usher at the only shows the Beatles ever performed in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 1964.
On the day of the concerts, I had to wear a ridiculous usher’s cap. Of course, this cap was available only in sizes too small for me, so I picked the largest and balanced it on the back of my head. We six were taken to our workstations in front of a curtain that blocked a corridor, where we were to stand, arms folded, to deny passage to anyone trying to enter. Behind the curtain was a door to a dressing room. The Beatles would be in this dressing room just before going on stage.
A poster announcing the Beatles' only Montreal show, at the Forum, Sept. 8, 1964. Among the opening acts were the Righteous Brothers and the Exciters.
Source: montrealgazette.com
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were political activists who used their celebrity to spread the message of peace and love, even if the FBI considered them to have limited efficacy as revolutionaries, as they were “constantly under the influence of narcotics.” In March 1969, Lennon and Ono honeymooned in Amsterdam. They turned it into an event, inviting the press to their “bed-in for peace.” Several months later, they repeated the event in Montreal. This time, they recorded “Give Peace a Chance,” which was quickly adopted by protesters of the Vietnam War. In December, they financed billboards in 10 cities worldwide, declaring (in the native language) “War Is Over! If You Want It.”
In August 1971, Lennon and Ono moved to New York City and embraced radical left ideologies. Richard Nixon’s administration began a four-year attempt to deport Lennon, causing a sticky legal battle with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that wouldn’t be resolved until 1976. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Gimme Some Truth” by John Lennon.
I’m sick and tired of hearing things from
Uptight, short-sided, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth
I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pigheaded politicians
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
The new documentary One to One: John & Yoko reportedly features an eerie declaration from John Lennon regarding whether he felt his political activism put his safety at risk.
The film covers Lennon’s planned Free The People Tour in the early ’70s, which aimed to raise money for people who were jailed but unable to afford bail. It wound up being called off.
But People reports that one scene in the film includes archival footage of the Beatles legend talking on the phone with drummer Jim Keltner about the risks of the tour. Keltner asks whether Lennon has “any paranoia” about people ahead of the tour launch.
“What people? … You mean people trying to kill us or something like that? I’m not about to get myself shot,” Lennon replies. “It’ll cause excitement in its own way. But, er, you know, I’m still an artist, but a revolutionary artist, right?”
In another clip Lennon talks to a journalist about concerns he and wife Yoko Ono have for their safety, noting, “We started noticing people hanging outside the apartment. And I have a driver, he’s an ex-cop. But we’re getting followed by this car, all the time. So we’re all very nervous.”
Both of those comments from Lennon were made almost eight years before his death. Lennon was shot and killed in 1980 outside his New York apartment, The Dakota. He was only 40.
One to One: John & Yoko focuses on the couple’s move to New York City in the ’70s and culminates with their 1972 One to One concerts, which were Lennon’s only post-Beatles full-length performances.
The film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival and so far does not have an official release date.
Source: kslx.com
After suffering through a devastating personal tragedy, Paul McCartney hunkered down and got back to his music in 1999. Specifically, he turned to the music of his youth for comfort and inspiration. The resulting album, Run Devil Run, was a triumph.
While many cover songs of rock standards can lack the zest of the originals and come off as routine retreads, McCartney and the backing band he used for the album absolutely sizzled. Let’s look back at how Run Devil Run, Paul’s off-the-cuff project, delivered such lasting impact.
On April 17, 1998, Linda McCartney passed away after battling cancer. The McCartney’s marriage had been idyllic, especially by the standards of rock and roll unions where volatility is a given. The pair rarely spent any time apart, even with all the demands of the former Beatle’s career.
Thus, it was understandable when McCartney stepped out of the limelight and spent time to grieve, in the end taking about a year off. Many wondered if his next release would address the feelings of loss he likely was experiencing in the wake of Linda’s passing. But McCartney instead chose something invigorating and mostly joyful.
Long a fan of the early days of rock and roll and R&B, McCartney decided to put out an album that would consist mostly of cover versions of those songs. With a few exceptions, he also tended toward more obscure choices. Because of that, the album sounded a bit fresher for not treading over well-worn paths.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
Sixty years to the day of the last time Beatlemania put a stranglehold on Indianapolis, thousands of Beatles fans returned to the Indiana Farmers Coliseum to listen to their favorite band.
The Fab Four performed at the Indiana State Fair on Sept. 3, 1964, to a sold-out crowd of 10,000 screaming fans. On Sept. 3, 2024, some of those same fans, along with droves of other Beatles faithful, returned to the coliseum to listen to a recording of that show and see a performance by a Beatles tribute band.
Of all the stories from the Beatles’ short stint in Indianapolis, the best might be in the hours after the concert when State Police Officer Jack Marks, assigned to the Beatles’ security detail, spotted a sleepless Ringo Starr by the pool at the Speedway motel the band was staying at.
“My dad and two other state policemen saw him and went over and were talking to him,” said Karen Balach, “And said, ‘Since you can’t sleep, would you like to drive around and see part of the city?'”
At the time, Karen’s last name was Marks and she was just 11 years old — too young for her parents to even let her go to the concert. Her dad had the coolest job around, trailing the Beatles everywhere and making sure the most famous band in the world was safe during their Indy stay.
Source: Eric Graves/fox59.com
Though he might not have had quite as many cuts as Paul McCartney or John Lennon, George Harrison did deliver his fair share of hits for the Beatles. Among his cuts are “I, Me, Mine,” “Something,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Each of those songs are indelible in the Beatles catalog, proving Harrison’s songwriting prowess. However, there is one song in particular that stood out for McCartney. Find out what Macca’s favorite Harrison-penned Beatles song is, below.
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright
It’s impossible to not like “Here Comes the Sun.” It’s the sonic equivalent to feeling the first warm rays after a long, cold, lonely winter. McCartney once credited this track as one of his favorite songs Harrison contributed to the band.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, McCartney was asked what song of Harrison’s he liked best. “‘Here Comes The Sun,’” he said at the time. “It is a brilliant song and the kind of song that’s really good in times like these.”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
Elton John has never been shy about his struggles with addiction. Now that the rock icon has been clean since the early ’90s, he has been more than up for talking about his experiences. One tidbit he has shared involves George Harrison. Reportedly, the Beatle helped John curb his drug addiction.
The Beatles weren’t strangers to drugs. They had their fair share of bouts with weed and other substances. Nevertheless, Harrison took it upon himself to help out his fellow musician when he noticed he was struggling. John has opened up about how bad his drug addiction got in his heyday.
“I thought, ‘This is the drug that has opened me up,” John once said. “I can converse, I can be verbose. I would have an epileptic seizure and turn blue, and people would find me on the floor and put me to bed, and then 40 minutes later, I’d be snorting another line.”
“I’m not being flippant when I say that, when I look back I shudder at the behavior and what I was doing to myself,” he added elsewhere.
It was caustic enough to prompt John to do a 180 and attempt to get sober. Part of that journey involved Harrison’s keen advice. The Beatle came to him one day to try and give the singer a wake up call.
“It’s very hard to put into words,” he once said. “He was very forthright, and he actually administered quite a few tellings-off to me about my drug problem.”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
The Fab Four brought British Pop to Milwaukee 60 years ago this week, on Sept 4th, 1964.
Radio super DJ Bob Barry was working for WOKY when he was asked emcee the concert.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Barry told WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News. “My program director told me I had to because it was the Beatles.”
Adoring fans screamed for the band as they were announced.
“I couldn’t hear what they were singing, it was that intense,” Barry said.
Source: Erik Bilstad/wtmj.com
The late George Harrison was responsible for composing many memorable songs for both The Beatles and his own solo career. Harrison usually wrote tunes by himself, but there were quite a few instances where he collaborated with other artists, sometimes for those musicians’ projects and sometimes for his own.
Spotify recently debuted a “George Harrison Co-Writes” playlist featuring more than 50 songs Harrison wrote in collaboration with other artists.
Here are four noteworthy tunes that appear on the playlist:
“Badge” – Cream (1968)
Harrison helped Eric Clapton write “Badge” while Clapton was working on a tune to contribute to Cream’s 1969 farewell album, Goodbye. The song never mentions the word “badge,” and the title came about because of a humorous misunderstanding.
The tune initially didn’t have a title, but Harrison had written the lyrics on a sheet of paper, and included the word “bridge” to denote where the bridge of the track was to be played. In a 1977 interview with Crawdaddy magazine, Harrison recalled that Clapton looked at the sheet upside down and, misreading his handwriting, asked him, “What’s ‘badge’?”
Harrison also contributed rhythm guitar to the track under the pseudonym L’Angelo Misterioso. “Badge” became a hit in the U.K., peaking at No. 18 on the singles chart. It didn’t fare as well in the U.S., only reaching No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Having said that, “Badge” went on to become a classic-rock radio staple.
“Photograph” – Ringo Starr (1973)
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr enjoyed his biggest solo success with his third studio album, Ringo, which was released in 1973. The star-studded project included songwriting and musical contributions from all three of Starr’s former Beatles bandmates.
Source: Matt Friedlander/americansongwriter.com
