Beatles News

The Liverpool ECHO is given a guided tour of Mendips on Menlove Avenue, where John Lennon was raised, and 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, the teenage home of Paul McCartney

Over 50 years after they first took the charts by storm, The Beatles are still as strong a draw as ever.

Millions of tourists flock to Liverpool each year, eager to take in the birthplace of the Fab Four and see where it all began, and there is no better way to immerse yourself in the history of pop's greatest band than with a tour of the childhood homes of John Lennon (Mendips on Menlove Avenue) and Paul McCartney (20 Forthlin Road in Allerton), operated by the National Trust.

Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow, bought Mendips in 2002 when the previous owner died. She then donated the property to the National Trust, and asked them to "restore the house to what it once was, and tell John's story". 20 Forthlin Road has been within the ownership of the National Trust for 16 years.

Each home has been meticulously restored to the homes that Lennon and McCartney would recognise from their younger years, using photographs and eyewitness accounts to restore original fixtures and fittings, and source identical items of furniture.

There are only so many times you can interrupt traffic to walk over a busy London road to have your picture taken before you become a public nuisance – even if you are the Beatles.

Six, in fact, as shown by these rare photographs, one of which became one of the most famous album covers of all time.

In what is believed to be an auction first, the full set of six photographs of John, Paul, Ringo and George striding over Abbey Road is to be sold along with the picture of the street sign that was used on the back cover.

“They are incredibly rare,” said Sarah Wheeler, head of photography at Bloomsbury Auctions. “I’ve spoken to other music dealers and no one has been able to find a complete set on the market for at least 10 years.”

The shots were taken by the photographer Iain Macmillan, a friend of Lennon and Yoko Ono, on 8 August 1969. He had his Hasselblad, a stepladder and 10 minutes.

It was the fifth of the six shots that was chosen by McCartney for the album and it’s easy to see why as all four men are in step and nicely spaced.

It’s been 50 years since screaming fans watched The Beatles perform on Liverpool’s Town Hall balcony.

When the Fab Four returned home for the northern premier of A Hard Day’s Night, thousands lined the streets on July 10, 1964 to watch John Lennon, Paul McCartney , Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

Half a century on, their music is still played around the world, but how well do you know their lyrics?

Take the Quiz Here

TRIBUTES have been paid to The Undertakers’ guitarist Geoff Nugent who has died. He passed away yesterday at the age of 71.

The Merseycats rock ‘n’ roll charity posted Mr Nugent’s photograph on their website with the words “too old to rock, too young to die”, describing him as “a great loss to the music scene on Merseyside”.

Meanwhile among the many tributes paid online was one from Ian McNabb who wrote “saddened to hear of the loss of the great Geoff Nugent. Thoughts with his family and friends. we have lots another great. Sleep well brother”, while the Merseyside branch of performers’ union Equity said: “So sad to hear of the death of a great Merseybeat legend and Equity member Geoff Nugent. An amazing musician and great guy.”

Mr Nugent was born in Liverpool in February 1943 within a couple of days of future Beatle George Harrison, and the two were childhood friends growing up in Speke, where they learned to play the guitar together.

Monday 10th November: Estádio Kléber Andrade – Vitória
Sunday 23rd November: Estádio Nacional – Brasilia
Tuesday 25th November: Allianz Parque – São Paulo

Fans can purchase pre-sale tickets through PaulMcCartney.com. Pre-sale tickets for Vitória will go on sale at 10am (local / 2pm BST) on Tuesday 14th October. Fans are advised to come to the website shortly before the pre-sale begins to obtain the link and password.

Keep checking PaulMcCartney.com for further announcements including pre-sale details for Paul's concerts in Brasilia and São Paulo...

The world is full of geeks and snobs ready to talk too much about their personal passion for wine, for scuba diving, for vampire literature. You know the type.

This is nothing like that.

This is an exploration of the Beatles, and why the recent rerelease of their albums in the mono format on vinyl, the way many fans heard the records in the 1960s, is worth celebrating.

OK, so maybe there is some obsessiveness to this tale, but there is broader cultural significance too.

The music of the Beatles is timeless. Not only were they master songwriters, they were visionary artists who pushed the era’s recording technology and hidebound engineers to create new sounds.

The result is music that is still vital and interesting more than 40 years later. Consider the elegiac beauty of “Eleanor Rigby,” or the psychedelic drone of “Tomorrow Never Knows” with its tape loops that sound like sea gulls. Play a Beatles CD, especially one from their mid- or later-period, starting with 1965’s “Rubber Soul,” and when compared to today’s artists you’ll find their music is still relevant, still influential.

Today, the 1983 Motown 25 concert, broadcast in prime time on NBC, is best remembered for Michael Jackson's moonwalk. The show, however, involved much more: Host Richard Pryor introduced label legends like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinsonand the Four Tops at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, and the Jackson 5 and the Supremes both reunited.

Of course, there was even more going on behind the scenes, and the new Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever DVD set (available with one, three or six discs) is looking to excavate some of that history, adding rehearsals, roundtables and documentaries to the original footage. Follow the link below to watch a clip from one of the docs, in which Robinson, the Temptations' Otis Williams and author Nelson George discuss the symbiotic relationship between Motown and the Beatles.

A CAMPAIGN to keep St Luke's church in use as a cultural venue for the Liverpool community has received Beatle backing. Sir Paul McCartney today joined John Lennnon's widow, Yoko Ono, in calling for the bombed out church, on Leece Street, to remain open "for the use of the people and run by the people" and praised the work carried out there. A huge question mark has hung over the future of the church since March this year when Mayor Joe Anderson announced his intention tosell it for £1 and invited expressions of interest from bidders. Developer Lawrence Kenwright, who owns the Signature Living apartments and the newly-opened 30 James Street hotel in the former White Star builidng, quickly stepped in with a plans to turn the church, which was bombed by the Luftwaffe in World War II, into a wedding hotel and venue.

Bluewater Productions has created a biographical comic book profiling legendary musician and songwriter, John Lennon. Writer Marc Shapiro had this statement in the press release: “I approached writing Tribute: John Lennon as an exploration of a life full of potential and promise that was, sadly, cut short. We all know the importance of John Lennon as part of The Beatles. But I felt it was more important to concentrate on his post Beatles’ life and career, both good and bad, so that readers would get the clearest possible idea about who he was as a creative entity, husband and father.”

 A Beatles fan said John Lennon’s lyrics were more important now than ever before, as he celebrated what would have been the star’s 74th birthday. John James Chambers, from the Liverpool Beatles Appreciation Society, laid flowers at the Beatles statue in Cavern Walks Shopping Centre to mark Lennon’s birthday. The statue was also decorated with tinsel, balloons and banners. And Mr Chambers said the date was a double celebration as it marked 30 years since the statue had been erected. Revd David Baverstock, from Our Lady and St Nicholas Church held a short service to mark the occasion, which was also attended by Cavern Walks manager Mark Taylor. Mr Chambers said: “He gave a beautiful sermon and the theme was Imagine,