Beatles News
Individual Beatles members got together on several occasions after the band broke up. Though they were never all in the studio as a foursome again, different duos and trios broke off from the pack, creating pseudo reunions for fans to get excited about. The one pairing that never could work things out, at least musically, was Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The two took jabs at each other in their solo discographies, making it known that at least part of their breakup as a band was to do with this fracturing relationship. Lennon tapped George Harrison for one of his most cutting songs about McCartney. Harrison found it intensely “nerve-wracking” to work on this Lennon project. Find out why below.
The title track to Lennon’s 1971 album, Imagine, is his most famous work from his post-Beatles career. The rest of the album was similarly popular upon its release, but it may not be as widespread as Lennon’s magnum opus ballad.
Other than “Imagine,” the most interesting part of this album is “How Do You Sleep?” Lennon penned this song as a reaction to his broken partnership with McCartney. He certainly didn’t set out to spare McCartney’s feelings with this song, basically undermining all of his hits up to that point.
What made this song all the more hurtful was the fact that Lennon enlisted Harrison to help out on guitar duties. It’s bad enough that your former bandmate wrote a sonic slap in the face for you; it’s another to have a second bandmate jump in on the disrespect.
Harrison’s “Nerve-Wracking” Post-Beatles Team-Up
George Harrison once spoke about the recording of this track, calling it “nerve-wracking as usual.” The quiet Beatle found working with Lennon a tenuous task. Because of the band’s fallout before their breakup, it was up in the air whether or not things would go smoothly.
Source: American Songwriter
In 1966, the Beatles famously stopped touring, despite being arguably the biggest musical act in the entire world with millions of fans who wanted nothing more than to see the Fab Four perform live.
The decision to quit touring was made for a multitude of reasons, as the members of the Beatles explained in subsequent years, but one thing was abundantly clear: the band felt far more comfortable in a studio setting than anywhere else. That was where the magic happened.
"We feel that only through recordings do people listen to us, so that is the most important form of communication," Paul McCartney said to Hit Parader in May of 1967. "Now we take time because we haven't any pressing engagements like tours to limit us. All we want is to make one track better than the last. We make all 'A' sides and never go into the studio thinking 'This will be our next single.' We just make tracks, then listen to them and decide from what we have what will be a single, what will go on to an LP."
This attitude worked out in the Beatles favor, to put it mildly, both in their native U.K. and across the big pond in the U.S. At the time of this writing, the Beatles have the most No. 1 hits on the American Billboard chart, with 20 songs having reached the coveted position.
We've decided to rank them, taking into consideration their craftsmanship and impact as a hit single, particularly as it pertained to American audiences.
20. "The Long and Winding Road / "For You Blue"
If anything, the announcement of the Beatles' breakup in April of 1970 only further propelled the success of their final album, Let It Be, which was released in the U.S. on May 18 of that year. A week prior to that, "The Long and Winding Road" was released as a single with the B-side "For You Blue." Both songs performed well enough on the radio that Billboard charted them together, resulting in the Beatles 20th and final No. 1 hit in the U.S.
19. "Hello, Goodbye"
"Hello, Goodbye" is notable for being the Beatles' first release following the death of manager Brian Epstein. It was, admittedly, not John Lennon's favorite, to put it kindly. "That's another McCartney. Smells a mile away, doesn’t it?" he later recalled. "An attempt to write a single. It wasn't a great piece; the best bit was the end, which we all ad-libbed in the studio, where I played the piano." The attempt worked anyway, spending three weeks at the No. 1 spot.
Source: Allison Rapp/ultimateclassicrock.com
The influence that The Beatles' 1967 album 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' had on music cannot be overstated. The psychedelic masterpiece became the soundtrack to that year's 'summer of love' and reimagined what could be done with an album.
It was the brainchild of Paul McCartney, who came up with the idea of a song by a fictional Edwardian military band. This developed into an album concept, allowing the band to move away from their mop-top image and try something a bit more creative.
Having retired from touring in 1966, The Beatles wanted to focus on experimenting in the studio and advancing their sound. They also wanted to reinvent themselves, tired with the clean-cut and fresh faced image they had during the first half of the 1960s.
About that, Paul said: "We were fed up with being The Beatles. We really hated that f***ing four little mop-top approach. We were not boys, we were men ... and thought of ourselves as artists rather than just performers". The band's sound had evolved over the previous two studio albums. 1965's 'Rubber Soul' is widely viewed as starting that process, before the 1966 album 'Revolver' saw The Beatles really experiment and embrace new techniques. Paul took the lead on the 'Sgt Pepper' album, having developed its concept but John Lennon was never a fan of the finished product.
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Writing in 1978 about wanting to spend less time with music and more time with his family, he said: "The lesson for me is clear. I've already 'lost' one family to produce what? Sgt Pepper? I am blessed with a second chance". He added: "If I never 'produce' anything more for public consumption than 'silence', so be it. Amen."
Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk
In 1974, David Bowie was fresh off his reign as the glam-rock’s biggest act. After his breakthrough success that began with Ziggy Stardust and continued through Diamond Dogs, he was about to make a turn toward soul and funk with his next album, Young Americans.
Despite his success, he could still be in awe of his idols. When the opportunity to meet John Lennon arose that year, Bowie was beside himself. Like millions of teens in the 1960s, he had been a Beatles fan. His own career began to take off in the mid 1960s, during which time he flirted with influences ranging from the Rolling Stones to the Who to Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd. But while Bowie never dabbled in the Beatles’ style of pop, but he was enamored of the group, and John Lennon in particular.
“Oh hell, he was one of the major influences on my musical life,” Bowie said in an interview recorded in the 1980s. “I mean, I just thought he was the very best of what could be done with rock and roll, and also ideas. “I felt such kin to him in as much as that he would rifle the avant-garde and look for ideas that were so on the outside, on the periphery of what was the mainstream — and then apply them in a functional manner to something that was considered populist and make it work. He would take the most odd idea and make it work for the masses.
“And I thought that was just so admirable. I mean, that was like making artwork for the people and not sort of having it as an elitist thing. There was just so much about him that I admired. He was tremendous, you know?”
By 1974, Bowie had moved to New York, the same city to which Lennon had emigrated in 1971. It was perhaps inevitable the two would meet. It happened soon after at a party given by actress Elizabeth Taylor. All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
“I think we were polite with each other, in that kind of older-younger way,” Bowie recalled of their meeting. As his longtime producer and friend Tony Visconti revealed in a 2021 interview with BBC Radio 4, Bowie was intimidated by the former Beatle.
“He was terrified of meeting John Lennon,” he recalled. When shortly after the party Lennon scheduled a visit to Bowie, the singer insisted Visconti come along “to buffer the situation.”
Source: guitarplayer.com/Elizabeth Swann
Paul McCartney and John Lennon's songwriting skills didn't just benefit The Beatles. The dynamic duo penned numerous tracks that became hits for other artists during the 1960s.
In the early part of the decade, The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein leveraged John and Paul's talent to boost other artists he managed. He would commission them to write songs or distribute songs they'd already written to other artists in his roster, such as Cilla Black and Bootle-born Billy J. Kramer and his band The Dakotas.
But it wasn't just Epstein's artists who benefited. John and Paul also wrote 'I Wanna Be Your Man', The Rolling Stones' first hit, and gifted songs to bands like Badfinger ('Come and Get It') and Peter and Gordon ('A World Without Love'), which turned into massive successes. Meanwhile, McCartney confirmed he was in floods of tears as he tried to write an 'emotional' song.
Peter and Gordon, in particular, reaped significant benefits from John and Paul's work. Paul had written 'A World Without Love' when he was just 16, reports the Liverpool Echo.
When he moved in with then-girlfriend Jane Asher in 1963, her brother Peter Asher (of Peter and Gordon) heard the song and asked if he could have it. Paul didn't think the song was up to par for The Beatles to record, so he was happy to give it away, having already offered it to Billy J. Kramer. Peter then recorded it with Gordon, and it was released in February 1964 on an album of the same name. It soared to number one in both the UK and the USA.
It marked the inaugural song credited to John and Paul that wasn't performed by The Beatles to climb the charts. Paul subsequently penned the track 'Nobody I Know' for Peter and Gordon as a follow-up to their chart-topper, before the duo recorded another Lennon-McCartney composition 'I Don't Want to See You Again'. Paul then chose to launch an experiment. With the next track he crafted for Peter and Gordon, he opted to use a pseudonym.
Source: John O'sullivan, Dan Haygarth/irishstar.com
Paul McCartney has been accused, on several occasions, of being corny. He might be guilty, but is it a bad thing? As he famously said, Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs / And what’s wrong with that? In our opinion, nothing. Sometimes a song needs a little extra sentiment to be good. If you can let go of your corny-meter and enjoy what they have to offer, the three McCartney songs below are stunners.
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is one of McCartney’s cheesiest Beatles offerings. The instrumentation is silly to say the least, but the earnestness with which McCartney delivers his story makes it work. The former Beatle delightfully tells a macabre tale, reveling in the dark humor of it all. Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer / Came down upon her head, McCartney sings with a marked grin.
The juxtaposition between the lyrics and the melody of this song is mounting. It’s part of what could make listeners consider this song corny, and his bandmates reject this idea at first listen. In the end, McCartney believed enough in this song to get it a spot on Abbey Road. Not just any artist could’ve pulled off something so outlandish and gotten away with it. It speaks to McCartney’s confidence as an artist.
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
All of the Beatles highlighted their affinity for nonsensical lyrics at one time or another. The band was so popular and beloved that they could release a song with no point and make it a hit. McCartney gave that approach a spin with “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
This is one of the songs that coined John Lennon’s phrase, “Paul’s granny sh**.” His bandmates chalked this song up to sentimental dribble. While some listeners might share that opinion, others appreciate the upper this song is.
Source: American Songwriter/Alex Hopper
Beatles fans were floored after discovering the staggering $400+ million budget that's been allocated to Sam Mendes' forthcoming four-installment biopic.
This year it was announced that a four-part movie franchise is in production with each film focusing on a different band member, including the lives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. This ambitious project is the first authorized biopic of the band, with feedback given directly from The Beatles' families.
And now, fans are in disbelief as it has been confirmed that each movie will be given a budget of roughly $100 million apiece, with the total project costing an estimated $400+ million. In addition to this jaw-dropping budget, the movie has also released their star-studded lineup of actors leading the project including Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn, and Barry Keoghan.
According to reports by Screen Rant, this over $400+ million budget will make The Beatles biopics the fifth most expensive movies of all time. The budget follows Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($416 million), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($447 million), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($465 million), and Jurassic World Dominion ($465 million).
The cast of Sam Mendes' Beatles biopics have left fans furious. The casting of the movies have been met with mixed reactions from fans
After discovering this enormous budget, fans took to a newly posted Reddit thread sharing their thoughts on the project. One critic asked, "That's more than the budget for the two Resurrection of the Christ films. Are you saying that the Beatles are bigger than Jesus?"
Source: Caroline Gaspich/themirror.com
Celebrating his 85th birthday in July, Ringo Starr has likely uttered his signature phrase "Peace and Love" millions of times. Sept. 12 from the Miller High Life Theatre stage in Milwaukee with his supergroup the All Starr Band, he added three more to the tally.
That sentiment - and Starr's uplifting spirit - is something we all could really use right now. Milwaukee was especially lucky to get it. Starr and the band - including Steve Lukather from Toto, Colin Hay from Men at Work and Hamish Stuart from Average White Band - is performing in just six cities this month before heading off the road, the Miller High Life Theatre being the second stop. Naturally it was at capacity.
Source: jsonline.com/Piet Levy
A photo signed by all four Beatles for a Birmingham teenager is set to go under the hammer. The world-famous group from Liverpool signed the incredible piece of history roughly 62 years ago after they were told to stop playing by the teen's dad because they were being too noisy.
The picture of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr was signed by the group before a gig at the Coventry Theatre at the start of Beatlemania.
Chris Barrows, selling the photo, said his late brother Phil was at the gig with their father Ron who was Steinway’s chief piano tuner for the Midlands area at the time. "My dad came home one day and said he was going to tune the piano ahead of The Beatles’ show and other performances,” said Chris, 74, who now lives in Atherstone, Warwickshire.
“I didn’t go as at that time I was more interested in football...but my brother had been playing guitar for six months and went along.”
Rob French, ephemera valuer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, with the signed Beatles photograph(Image: Richard Winterton Auctioneers)
The Beatles were already there when the pair arrived - and the boys’ dad was said to have asked Ringo to stop playing the drums so he could focus on his work.
That gave Phil a chance to visit the band in their dressing room, with the budding guitarist even enjoying a quick jam with the stars.
"He played guitar with John Lennon and Paul McCartney and even had a go on Paul’s left-handed bass," Chris said.
Phil also returned with a photo signed by the group with the personal message 'to Philip best wishes from the Beatles' written in blue ink at the top of the picture.
John Lennon's signature is in the top left-hand corner of the picture, with Ringo Starr's autograph cloaked by the group's dark suits yet still visible due to the impression of the pen.
George Harrison’s and Paul McCartney’s signatures are on the reverse side of the photograph.
It's estimated that it could fetch between £1,500 and £2,000 at auction.
“This is a super set of all four autographs from the biggest band in the world signed right on the cusp of Beatlemania,” said Rob French, ephemera valuer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, which will auction the photo at the The Lichfield Auction Centre on September 29.
He added: "The precise date of the meeting is not remembered by the vendor but it was possibly November 1963 as The Beatles played the Coventry Theatre on November 17 1963.
“What a thrill it must have been for this young music fan to not only meet The Fab Four but to get all their autographs with a personal dedication.”
Source: Harry Leach/birminghammail.co.uk
Sixty years ago today, on September 13, 1965, The Beatles released “Yesterday” in the United States. It went straight to No. 1 and has since become the most recorded song in history, with over 2,200 cover versions.
But what fascinates me more than the stats is how the song came into the world.
Paul McCartney told Terry Gross in a 2001 Fresh Air interview that the melody came to him in a dream. He woke up with the tune running through his head, hurried to the piano by his bed, and played it before it slipped away.
At first, the words to the song running through McCartney’s head as he played the song were nonsense: “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs.”
For months, he carried that melody around, convinced he must have stolen it.
Only later, while driving through France with Jane Asher, his long-time girlfriend, did the real words arrive: “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.”
That gap between melody and meaning has always stayed with me. Sometimes the music of what we feel is crystal clear, but the words fail us.
I know that from experience.
I once told a woman I loved for forty years that “truth is overrated.” In my mind, it was simple: nobody likes being told they’re fat, or old, or anything else cruel in the name of honesty.
What I meant was that kindness matters more than bluntness.
But what she heard was different. She thought I meant I wouldn’t hesitate to lie to her.
One sentence, and the meaning I intended was lost in the words that came out.
That’s what “Yesterday” captures so perfectly. McCartney never tells us what was said, only that something was spoken, something wrong, and now it can’t be unsaid. “Why she had to go, I don’t know, she wouldn’t say.”
The vagueness is the point. Each of us fills in the blank with our own story, our own regret.
Sixty years later, the song is still haunting because it isn’t about one breakup. It’s about the universal ache of wishing you could go back, not to rewrite history, but simply to catch the right words before they slip away.
That’s the enduring power of “Yesterday.” It reminds us that words matter, that they can bend meaning in ways we never intend, and that sometimes the distance between what we mean and what is heard is the real story.
The same holds true in our careers. Misunderstandings don’t just strain personal relationships; they can derail projects, weaken trust, and stall opportunities.
I’m still learning this myself, but here are five ways I’ve found to make sure my words at work are received with the meaning I intend:
Prepare, don’t wing it. Whether it’s a meeting or a one-on-one, taking a moment to choose words carefully helps prevent misspoken words and sentences.
Know your audience. What feels clear to you might sound vague, or even threatening, to a colleague, client, or boss. Tailor your message to the person or audience you’re speaking with.
Be concise. Long explanations leave room for confusion. Short, clear statements land more accurately.
Confirm understanding. Don’t just assume your message stuck. Ask questions or invite feedback to ensure you’ve been heard as intended.
Balance honesty with tact. In professional settings, truth matters, but delivery matters just as much. Frame feedback in a way that builds trust instead of eroding it.
Sixty years after McCartney’s dream, “Yesterday” still echoes because it reminds us of the power and fragility of language. At work and in life, our words are remembered long after we speak them.
Choosing them with care makes all the difference.
Source: Ken Knickerbocker/philadelphia.today
