John Lennon gave one of the most renowned Playboy interviews of all time. The interview is partly famous because the “Imagine” singer died shortly after giving it and partly because it’s incredible. Of course, John often dismissed his great projects. Here’s a look at what he thought of the interview and why the interview continues to have relevance for Beatles fans and fans of rock ‘n’ roll in general.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono had the same reaction to John’s final Playboy interview
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980 conducted by David Sheff. In the book’s epilogue, Sheff discusses talking with John after the interview. “I spoke to him once on the telephone after that,” he said. “I called a number within The Dakota when the main telephones were out. John never answered the telephone,...
Source: imdb.com
detailsJohn Lennon said George Harrison and Paul McCartney resented his creativity. He bounced back after a period of a inactivity.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison wrote the majority of The Beatles’ songs. While Lennon and McCartney were the primary writers in The Beatles’ early years, Harrison made more contributions later on. They were all competitive with one another, which typically pushed their creative output. Still, Lennon claimed the competition between them led McCartney and Lennon to resent him.
In the mid-1960s, Lennon said he dealt with a creative slump. He pulled back his songwriting contributions, but he continued writing more in the later years of the decade. One of the songs he was excited about in 1968 was “Revolution.” Harrison and McCartney didn’t seem to share the sentiment.
“When George and Paul and all of them were on holiday, I made ‘Revolution’ which is on the LP,” Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology. “I wanted to put it out as a single, but they said it wasn’t good enough. We put out ‘Hey Jude’, which was worthy — but we could have had both.”
Lennon said he believed details
What makes a classic James Bond song? A sense of the epic, surely. Flaring brass, rippling strings. A melody-driven framework, an irresistible hook. Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die”, written for the eighth instalment of the film franchise, certainly ticks the right boxes. And yet when it was released ahead of the 1973 premiere, it must have puzzled. In the first 90 seconds alone we hear three disparate sound-worlds, each in a different tempo, juxtaposed with all the subtlety of a Walther PPK.
This mirrors, in part, the contributions of its three creators: McCartney, his wife Linda and former Beatles producer George Martin. In his book The Lyrics, McCartney recalls how it came together. He’d read Ian Fleming’s novel — the basis for the screenplay — in one afternoon and written the song the following day. The opening passage is pure McCartney: a searching tune over piano, wistfully sweet, reminiscent of his great ballad “Let It Be”.
Source: Timmy Fisher/ig.ft.com
While discussing his marriage, John Lennon once compared himself and Yoko Ono to Sonny & Cher. He also tried to distance himself from Sonny & Cher. Perhaps his mixed attitude about the “I Got You Babe” singers was justified! John and Yoko arguably put out more music as a pair than Sonny & Cher. John Lennon said he and Yoko Ono were as attached to each other as Sonny & Cher
During an interview recorded in PBS’ Blank on Blank, John discussed how he spent lots and lots of time with Yoko. “I lived alone,” he recalled. “I always tripped out on my own or in books or something like that, you know. But she had sisters and brothers, but she was in a different age group from them, so she was pretty lonely.”
“So we don’t have to be apart to get away from each other,” he said. “And we really like being together all the time. And what about Sonny & Cher and Liz [Taylor] and Richard [Burton]? I don’t think they’re ever apart, you know.”
The ‘Power to the People’ contrasted himself with 2 other groups.
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an i details
While discussing his marriage, John Lennon once compared himself and Yoko Ono to Sonny & Cher. He also tried to distance himself from Sonny & Cher. Perhaps his mixed attitude about the “I Got You Babe” singers was justified! John and Yoko arguably put out more music as a pair than Sonny & Cher. John Lennon said he and Yoko Ono were as attached to each other as Sonny & Cher
During an interview recorded in PBS’ Blank on Blank, John discussed how he spent lots and lots of time with Yoko. “I lived alone,” he recalled. “I always tripped out on my own or in books or something like that, you know. But she had sisters and brothers, but she was in a different age group from them, so she was pretty lonely.”
“So we don’t have to be apart to get away from each other,” he said. “And we really like being together all the time. And what about Sonny & Cher and Liz [Taylor] and Richard [Burton]? I don’t think they’re ever apart, you know.”
The ‘Power to the People’ contrasted himself with 2 other groups.
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an i details
A famous comedian targeted The Beatles at his show. George Harrison said the band could have turned on him if they wanted.
During The Beatles’ 1964 trip to America, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr went to a comedy show. Don Rickles was doing standup in Miami and the band stopped in to see him. They weren’t familiar with his comedy but quickly discovered that he liked poking fun at his audience. Harrison said that if they had been in their own element, they could have hit back at Rickles.
George Harrison said The Beatles could have ripped Don Rickles to shreds
The Beatles were some of the most famous people in the world in 1964, so, naturally, Rickles poked fun at them during his show.
“He went on, ‘It’s great. They just lie up there on the ninth floor, between satin sheets and every time they hear the girls screaming they “Oooohh”‘ McCartney recalled in The Beatles Anthology. “Very funny, we thought. We were not amused, as I recall. Very cutting. I like him now but at first he was a bit of a shock.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
We all have that one person that brings a sense of comfort to us. That feeling is so universal that one of James Taylor‘s signature songs was written about that idea. Check out the meaning behind “Something in the Way She Moves,” below.
There’s something in the way she moves
Or looks my way, or calls my name
That seems to leave this troubled world behind
If I’m feeling down and blue
Or troubled by some foolish game
She always seems to make me change my mind
“The song is about an early girlfriend and the calm you feel in the presence of someone who knows you really well,” Taylor once said of this track.
Knowing that, the lyrics become fairly self-explanatory. Taylor has many songs that capture specific feelings using simple language. This is one such song.
And I feel fine anytime she’s around me now
She’s around me now
Almost all the time
And if I’m well you can tell she’s been with me now
She’s been with me now quite a long, long time
And I feel fine
In the chorus, Taylor sings about finding solace in that one special person and needing her presence around as much as p details
Philip Norman’s aptly titled biography called him ‘the reluctant Beatles’. Those who have watched Peter Jackson’s Netflix documentary Get Back would not have failed to see what years of living in the shadows of John Lennon and Paul McCartney had done to George Harrison’s ego. Despite his immense contribution to the group, he was always considered a minor Beatle, one whose talents were rarely acknowledged. Yet, Harrison composed masterpieces like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun’, and his solo debut album All Things Must Pass was the best-selling solo album by an ex-Beatle and appears on many lists of the 100 best rock albums ever.
But more than all this, what’s important to note is that without George Harrison, the Beatles might never have happened. As Ty Burr notes in his review of Norman’s book, ‘The band’s earliest iteration, the Quarrymen, had broken up until George reformed them for a key club date. Their initial 1962 meeting with EMI producer George Martin was going south until Harrison broke the ice by insulting Martin’s necktie.’
George Harrison was the one who goaded the Beatles to abandon liv details
When the Beatles first began, Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote songs in close collaboration, often sitting face-to-face as they worked out ideas. They worked together so closely, in fact, that they each learned how to play guitar upside down.
It's common for left-handed guitarists to play right-handed instruments — but most people, like Jimi Hendrix, re-string the guitar so that it's properly configured for lefties.
Not the left-handed McCartney and the right-handed Lennon, however. On the latest episode of McCartney: A Life in Lyrics on iHeartPodcasts, the artist recalled how he and his collaborator would trade instruments during writing sessions: "I was used to turning [guitars] upside down because I worked with John a lot, so I had to grab his guitar. I could play upside down and so could he."
This came in handy during the writing of "Yesterday" (which is the subject of the podcast episode). When he wrote the lyrics (having already thought of the melody in a dream), he was travelling across Portugal en route to the apartment of his friend Bruce Welch (of the instrumental rock band the Shadows). When he arrived, he borrowed Welch's right-handed guitar and played him "Yesterday" — the fi details
Ringo Starr came to work on the set of 'A Hard Day's Night' feeling terrible. He shared how this actually helped him.
In 1964, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr acted for the first time in A Hard Day’s Night. While filming a new movie was an entirely new experience for The Beatles, they all jumped into their roles with excitement. Starr loved movies as kid and loved the experience of filming one. Still, some days on set were a challenge for him. He revealed how feeling terrible while shooting actually helped his performance. Ringo Starr had a rough day on the set of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’
While The Beatles were happy to make a movie, they found it difficult to wake up for the early call times.
“It was a very early start,” George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology. “We’d have to arrive and get dressed and have our hair and faces done. While all this was going on they would set up with stand-ins. They wouldn’t call us until they were ready to rehearse us for a scene.”
Starr said that one of the early starts was a particular challenge for him. He’d come straight to work from the nightclub.
“ details
The British film director Sam Mendes is creating four scripted Beatles films. The biopics will tell the Fab Four’s story from each band member’s point of view, planned for release in 2027.
In a press release, the Oscar-winning filmmaker said he’s honored “to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time.” He teased a unique rollout for the films, and following Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary series, the appetite for more Beatles footage remains insatiable.
With The Beatles, once again, in the headlines, let’s look at the time Dolly Parton had to prove she could sign-of-the-horns rock and, in doing so, reunited the Fab Four’s two living members.
On her 49th studio album, Rockstar, Parton collaborated with rock’s biggest legends to make a star-studded karaoke-like collection. Her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination in 2022 prompted the country star to make a rock album self-justifying the nomination—to mortals, she had nothing to prove.
Though honored, Parton initially declined and said she hadn’t earned the right. However, she reversed the decision—acknowledging her fans had voted—and appeared at th details
In November 1976, David Cahn, in charge of Midwest promotions for Warner Bros. Records, was summoned to a Chicago hotel, where he learned the new client he and other regional managers would be working with was George Harrison.
It was six years after the Beatles broke up, and Dark Horse Records, the record label Harrison founded, was now to be distributed and marketed by Warner Bros. Records. The regional managers would be promoting Harrison’s seventh studio album, “Thirty Three & 1/3,” with the team’s goal of making the album a No. 1 seller.
“It was such a thrill to be able to meet George,” said Cahn, who grew up in Rochester and lives in the Buffalo area. “I think the Beatles were the best group ever, and he was my favorite Beatle growing up.”
Cahn, had been in the music industry at that point for six years, the first four as a disc jockey at FM rock radio station WPHD in Buffalo during the golden era of underground, free-form radio. After the station was sold, he went to work for Warner Bros.
Source: buffalonews.com
A national blue plaque to commemorate the life and work of Beatles icon George Harrison is to be unveiled later this year
The life and legacy of Beatles icon George Harrison is to be commemorated with one of the first blue plaques outside London.
Harrison's childhood home in Liverpool is now understood to be a possible location for a commemoration.
The Beatle, who was born on 25 February 1943, lived at 12 Arnold Grove in the Wavertree area of Liverpool until he was seven.
The Historic England scheme had been limited to the capital for 150 years.
Unveiling the first of the national blue plaques, arts and heritage minister Lord Parkinson said he looked forward to "recognising more people who have made their mark on national life".
A national blue plaque to commemorate the life and work of Beatles icon George Harrison is to be unveiled later this year
Source: BBC News
detailsWith the announcement of four interconnected Beatles biopics coming in 2027, one for each member, the lives of the men behind history’s biggest-ever band have come into new focus. Nicknamed “the quiet Beatle”, George Harrison‘s contribution to global music and spirituality – thanks to his famous conversion to Hinduism in the 1960s – proves that Harrison’s tranquillity and peace-promoting attitude were mighty in their own way, and should not be understated.
In his final years, Harrison’s religious beliefs as a source of strength and inspiration in the face of a highly-publicized health battle have helped shape his permanent legacy. In many ways, Harrison died as he had lived – encouraging others to keep their hearts and minds open to the beauty of the spiritual world. While his bandmate John Lennon’s death is the more known of the two, due to his 1980 assassination at the hands of a fan and his widow Yoko Ono’s ongoing campaign against gun violence, George Harrison’s death is a reminder that a life’s ending can still be beautiful and meaningful.
Source: wegotthiscovered.com
Never-before-seen candid photos of The Beatles on their first flight to the US, the official beginning of what the world would soon know as 'Beatlemania,' have emerged for sale for £16,000.
John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had no idea that their lives would change forever once they stepped off that very plane in New York and went on to crack America.
Alongside the 10 black and white snaps is a Pan Am flight menu, signed by the band.
The images were taken at a monumental time in their career, just before Beatlemania exploded in the US following their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Flying first class from London to New York on February 7, 1964, they were set to perform on the hugely popular US show two days later - a pivotal moment that catapulted them into international stardom.
These previously hidden images were taken by American businessman Robert Kinderman, who was also in first class, and whose teenager daughter Carol was a huge Beatles fan.
Source: Madison Burgess/dailymail.co.uk