Beatles News

The world loves The Beatles, and it loves the statue of the Fab Four at the Pier Head – yeah, yeah, yeah! Since being unveiled last December, the giant bronze tribute to John, Paul, George and Ringo has become one of the must-see landmarks for tourists visiting the city. To find out just how popular they are, and what visitors think of them, the ECHO spent an hour in the company of the Four Lads Who Shook The World. And it soon became clear that they are a much-loved addition to our world-famous waterfront – and have the ability to put smiles on the faces of people from all over the world as soon as they see them.

Cristina and Ramon Pardo, and their children Alejandro, 13, and Jacobo, nine, from Madrid, were among a large group of tourists from Spain who had arrived in Liverpool during an eight-day tour of the UK. And they made a beeline for the Fab Four as their bus arrived at the Pier Head, with Cristina saying: “All the family like The Beatles and we have really enjoyed being able to see the statue. We had to see it while we were here!”

London-based tour guide Jason Dennis, who is accompanying the tourists, adds: “This was a must-see on the tour of Liverpool. Everyone loves the s details

A 60-YEAR-old Austin Princess hearse with aircraft seats fitted by its previous owner JOHN LENNON is expected to fetch £250,000 at auction.

The Beatles legend used the British car as his personal limousine after buying it secondhand in August 1971. Records show the car was registered in the name of John Ono Lennon to 3 Savile Row, which was the Mayfair address of The Beatles. The logbook also says it was "kept in Berks", which refers to Lennon and wife Yoko Ono's country estate of Tittenhurst, which was in Sunningdale, Berkshire.

Lennon owned the 1956 hearse at around the time he was writing and recording the famous song 'Imagine', and the car appears prominently in the feature film which was released the following year. The Austin Princess was a popular model among celebrities in the 1950s and 1960s with The Beatles regularly travelling around in one. This famously owned hearse had five aeroplane seats fitted into the back by the musical legend which remain in the car today.

Lennon held onto the Austin Princess until 1972 when it was sold to a Californian. The car has remained in the USA ever since but it returning to Britain in September when it will be sold by RM Sotheby's at its high-profile Lo details

Opening with a sharp swipe at Harold Wilson’s supertax rate for big earners, it ends half an hour later in a revolutionary mystical soundscape sculpted from LSD and dope, and drenched in technical wizardry the like of which had never been heard before. In between, a dozen of the finest pop songs ever written – including Eleanor Rigby, Good Day Sunshine and Here, There and Everywhere – all wrapped up in a piece of artwork as unexpected and intricate as the music it was created to contain.

Half a century after the release of Revolver, the Beatles album hailed not only as the group’s creative summit but arguably pop’s greatest achievement, the artist who designed the record’s monochrome sleeve – itself acclaimed as one of the finest pop artworks – has revealed how he did it: on a kitchen table in an attic flat, for £50.

Klaus Voormann – veteran Beatles confidant, inventor of the mop-top haircut, and member of the group’s inner circle of friends since their formative years playing Hamburg bars and strip joints – has decided to tell the story of his relationship with the Fab Four not in words, but in pictures. Voormann’s graphic novel, Birt details

George’s first full solo tour following the breakup of The Beatles began in November 1974, prior to the release of his fifth studio album. This was also the first tour of North America by any of the four Beatles and, like his Concert For Bangladesh, this 1974 tour, which began in Canada on 2 November 1974, included Ravi Shankar the Indian master-musician.

Other musicians from the Bangladesh concert that also appeared on the 1974 tour included Billy Preston who had a couple of solo numbers and was prominently featured on keyboards, drummers Jim Keltner and Andy Newmark, and trumpeter Chuck Findlay. The rest of the band for the ’74 tour was made up of saxophonists, Tom Scott and Jim Horn, guitarist, Robben Ford, who all played with Scott in the LA Express, and who all featured on George’s Dark Horse album.

The tour became known as the ‘Dark Horse’ tour. George had signed Ravi to his new label of the same name and he played several songs from the album that was released towards the end of the 26-date run of gigs. However, it was not an easy time for George. He struggled throughout the tour with laryngitis and gargled nightly with a mixture of honey, vinegar and warm water to try and re details

On this day 60 years ago, the first ever Albums Chart was published in the UK - and we're marking the occasion by honouring a true chart diamond.

The Official Albums Chart represents the most trusted and longest established measure of album popularity in Britain, and to celebrate today’s landmark birthday, the Official Charts Company is honoured to announce Paul McCartney as the UK’s most successful albums artist of all time.

Paul becomes the latest recipient of the new Official Chart Record Breaker Award - a prestigious new accolade presented to a selected elite of artists achieving the greatest feats on the Official Chart.

The music icon’s impact on the Official Albums Chart across the past six decades is something most artists can only dream of; racking up an astonishing 22 Number 1 albums across his illustrious career. Paul has scored 15 Number 1s as a member of The Beatles, two with Wings, four via his solo projects and one with Linda McCartney to become the most prolific chart topper in history.

Reacting to the news, Paul told OfficialCharts.com: “Okay, you know how it really feels? It feels unbelievable, because when you write your songs you don't count how well the details

Surviving Beatles members Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney have performed together only sporadically since their famous group broke up in 1970, but Starr says he now would love to hit the road with his former band mate. At a recent event in Los Angeles celebrating his 76th birthday, the drummer told Closer Weekly, “I would tour with Paul McCartney tomorrow!”

Having said that Ringo noted, “I’m doing my own tours right now so we’d have to work it out.”

As for how he felt about reaching the ripe old age of 76, Starr quipped, “It would be nice to be 70 again! But you get up in the morning and you try to have the best day you can. And be in the best spirit that you can be!”

Speaking about good spirits, the rock legend is known for encouraging people to spread the message of peace and love around the world, as he did at his public birthday celebration in L.A.

At the event, he told Closer Weekly, “I think it is important with all the violence that there is peace and love! And maybe we can have more as the years go on!”

Source: ABC News Radio

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George Harrison's estate gently weeps over Donald Trump's use of his music. A representative from the late Beatles' estate quickly slammed the use of "Here Comes the Sun" during the final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday. The beloved classic song played as Ivanka Trump emerged on stage to deliver her highly anticipated speech. "The unauthorized use of #HereComestheSun at the #RNCunCLE is offensive & against the wishes of the George Harrison estate," they wrote.

Many seemed to agree with the sentiment as the post was retweeted more than 7,000 times. They even suggested an alternative. "If it had been Beware of Darkness, then we may have approved it! #TrumpYourself," they continued.

The unauthorized use of the 1969 Harrison-penned track isn't the only liberty the Trump campaign has taken during the convention. Earlier in the day, The O'Jays decried their music being played at the Cleveland, Ohio convention. Their 1973 hit "Love Train" was used and even changed to "Trump Train."

By: Melanie Dostis

Source: NY Daily News

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He was gunned down outside his luxury New York apartment having left Britain after the break-up of The Beatles. But before he became a global star John Lennon vowed he would never live in the US, it has been revealed. Lennon made the comments in a previously lost interview with The Beatles from 1964 which has been discovered in a house in Doncaster, Yorkshire. 

The original reel-to-reel tape recording could now sell for £10,000. During the audio recording, interviewer Alistair McDougall asks the band if they would ever ‘consider taking up residence in America or even record over there’. Lennon replies: ‘You’re joking! Wouldn’t live there, wouldn’t mind recording there.’

The interview for the British Forces Broadcasting Network was recorded in Paris in January 1964 while The Beatles were on tour in France. Although they were a huge success in Britain at the time, Beatlemania had yet to take over the world. 

The audio tape was discovered in the home of Mr McDougall, who died in 2007, by friends during a clear-out of his home. Lennon moved permanently to New York from London with wife Yoko Ono in 1971 to escape the intense media spotlight on the coup details

Late July and early August 1968, one of the most iconic songs ever was recorded at Apple Studios London. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, The Beatles “Hey Jude” is still as popular today as it was then. It all started during the break-up of John’s marriage to Cynthia, and Paul thought young Julian was taking it all pretty badly.

On his way to visit Cynthia at their home in Weybridge a line kept singing in his mind “Hey Jules, don’t make it bad, take I sad song and make it better” it was, he hoped an optimistic and hopeful message to Julian. Cynthia recalled “Paul turned up at the door wearing a red nose saying ‘sorry Cyn this isn’t right I don’t know what’s come over him’, he was the only member of the Beatles family who had the courage to stand up to John, in fact musically and personally they were both beginning to go in separate directions”. Paul finished the song at his home in Cavendish Avenue, London, and he changed Jules to Jude and John actually thought the song was about him. Paul wanted to change the line “The movement you need is on your shoulder” but John insisted he kept it in stating “That’s the details

A new, remastered live album containing the Beatles' performances at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964 and 1965 will be released this fall. The album, Live at the Hollywood Bowl, coincides with a new documentary by Ron Howard about the band's early career, dubbed Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years.

The album contains recordings from three different concerts, which took place on August 23rd, 1964 and August 29th and 30th, 1965, and the repertoire covers many of their early hits, including "Twist and Shout," "Ticket to Ride" and "A Hard Days Night," among others.

Although the group put out the platinum-selling The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl in 1977, the new record contains a different track list with four previously unreleased songs. The recordings were sourced directly from the three-track tapes of the concerts and were remixed and mastered at Abbey Road by George Martin's son, Giles, and engineer Sam Okell.

"Technology has moved on since my father worked on the material all those years ago," Giles said in a statement. "Now there's improved clarity, and so the immediacy and visceral excitement can be heard like never before. ... What we hear now is the raw energy of four lads playing together to a cr details