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Beatles News
On this day 49 years ago, Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best as the drummer of The Beatles.
The English rock band went on to sell hundreds of millions of records over the following decade and soon established itself as one of the most influential groups of all time.
Yet Starr’s contribution to the band was usually overshadowed by the massive celebrity and formidable talents of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
The drummer was known as “the fourth Beatle” and was often portrayed as the least musically talented of the group, with some critics describing his joining the band as a stroke of pure chance.
It is a narrative that has stuck over the years – regardless of whether it is true.
Source: newsnationusa.com
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Of all the Beatles’ classic albums, Let It Be is the one with the most daunting reputation. We’re all used to hearing it as their break-up album. The one where the Fabs fall apart. The one they began as a back-to-basics rebirth, until it became their tombstone. The messy film soundtrack that arrived in May 1970, just as the band was breaking up. The one Phil Spector took over. Their darkest, most divisive music. But that’s never been the whole story. This is also the album with classics like “Let It Be,” “Across the Universe,” “Get Back,” and “Two of Us.” Let It Be always raises the question: How did John, Paul, George, and Ringo make such uplifting music in their hour of darkness?
That’s the fascinating mystery behind Let It Be — and it’s about to get more fascinating. Rolling Stone took a one-on-one exclusive tour of the new Special Edition of Let It Be, which drops on October 15th. It’s a crucial box set that finally places this wildly misunderstood music in the Beatles’ story.
Source: Rob Sheffield/rollingstone.com
Paul McCartney has been making the most of lockdown. First he recorded the third in his trilogy of “McCartney” albums. Then he arranged for famous friends such as St Vincent and Beck to remix the LP. And now, here he is on McCartney 3,2,1 (Disney +, Wednesday), mucking about with super-producer Rick Rubin and talking, with undisguised enthusiasm, about the glory years of The Beatles.
At 79, McCartney’s effervescence is remarkable. He is surely fed up with questions about his humble upbringing in Liverpool. His early days playing with John Lennon. His relationship with unofficial younger brother, George Harrison. These are anecdotes that must haunt his dreams.
But no – he can’t get enough of it. It helps that on McCartney 3, 2, 1 he has an opportunity to nerd out. He is “in conversation” with producer and hit-maker Rubin in six 30 minute episodes – though in reality they’re just larking about together in a studio. And this proves the best possible environment in which to get the most out of Macca.
Source: Ed Power/irishtimes.com
In February of 1964, halfway through my sixth-grade year, the Beatles came to America. By coincidence, Aunt Shirley was returning from a trip to England on the same day the Beatles were landing at the recently renamed John F. Kennedy Airport. When we went to pick Shirley up, the airport was still crawling with dazed teenage girls; the Beatles had landed a mere couple of hours earlier. On the drive back into town, Shirley revealed that she had originally been booked on the same Pan Am jet that the Beatles were on, but at the last minute had changed her flight to TWA because, she explained, they had this great new feature: a projector was set up at the back of the aisle and a screen up front, and they showed a movie. I was aghast: For this, Shirley had missed being on the same plane as the Beatles?
Source: Jamie Bernstein/forward.com
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Details of a box set of unreleased recordings from The Beatles “Let It Be” sessions have been posted on Amazon’s Spanish website prior an official announcement.
The five-CD, single Blu-ray audio set will feature the “Let It Be” album newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell.
The box set also feature 27 previously unreleased session recordings, a four-track “Let It Be” EP, and the never before released 14-track “Get Back”’ stereo LP mix compiled by engineer Glyn Johns in May 1969.
Fans will hear early versions of songs that later ended up on “Abbey Road,” as well as songs the individual Beatles would record as solo artists: “Gimme Some Truth,” “The Walk” and “All Things Must Pass.”
The collection comes with a 100-page hard-back book with an introduction by Paul McCartney, extensive notes and track-by-track recording information and many previously unseen photos, personal notes, tape box images and more.
Source: George Lenker/masslive.com
Noel Gallagher has revealed that he’s set to release his cover of John Lennon‘s ‘Mind Games’, which he recorded to mark the late Beatles musician’s 80th birthday.
During the latest edition of his new Radio X residency, the former Oasis man spoke to Matt Morgan about taking on the 1973 single while he was working in the studio last year.
He’d been approached to contribute to a new covers album in tribute to Lennon, which was being assembled by his son Sean Ono Lennon.
“I couldn’t get involved because I was doing something at the time,” Gallagher explained. “And on the eve of his birthday, Sean said, ‘Oh you know how it’s dad’s birthday tomorrow, and can you do something on your socials?’
“I happened to be in the studio and I said, ‘Well, let’s record’. We just did a version of ‘Mind Games’ and did a little film.” (You can see that Instagram video below).
Source: Tom Skinner/nme.com
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The music world lost one of its greatest drummers today when The Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts died at age 80. A flood of touching tributes and heartfelt remembrances from musicians and others celebrities have come flooding in on social media since the news was announced. The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Grateful Dead/Dead & Company drummer Bill Kreutzmann and Stewart Copeland of The Police and Oysterhead are just a few of those who have shared messages of love and respect for Charlie Watts.
“So sad to hear about Charlie Watts, the Stones drummer, dying. He was a lovely guy,” Paul McCartney said in a video. “I knew he was ill, but I didn’t know it was this [bad]. Lots of love to his family, wife and kids and extended family, and condolences to the Stones. A huge blow to them, because Charlie was a rock and a fantastic drummer. Steady as a rock. Love you Charlie, always loved you. Beautiful man.”
Source: jambase.com
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Though they were friends for decades, Ringo Starr was blindsided by the announcement of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts’s death, just like millions of fans world-wide.
“I knew he wasn’t doing well, but it was a shock to me,” Mr. Starr said in a Zoom interview two hours after Mr. Watts’s death was announced.
Mr. Starr said drummer Jim Keltner called Monday to tell him that Mr. Watts, who had pulled out of the Stones’ fall tour because of an unspecified medical procedure, had taken a downturn. On Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, Mr. Starr’s phone blew up as he prepared to do some interviews in support of his four-song extended-play recording, “Change The World,” set to be released Sept. 24.
Source: Alan Paul/wsj.com
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One in three meat-eaters who follow Meat Free Monday (MFM) for five years and beyond turn vegetarian, a new study claims.
Research by the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) and MFM has found that more than 30 per cent of those who engaged with the programme for five years or more stopped eating meat, with 20 per cent of those who engaged for three to five-years.
The MFM campaign, which was founded by Paul McCartney and his daughters Mary and Stella in 2009, encourages people to eat a plant-based diet once a week. The idea is to help reduce their meat consumption in order to slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources and improve their health.
The study is published in the journal Appetite, which can be accessed here. It questioned 655 people who were registered on the MFM website as meat eaters, followed up by 18 in-depth interviews.
Source: Charlotte Krol/nme.com
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Paul McCartney will include the previously unseen lyrics to an unrecorded Beatles song in his forthcoming book The Lyrics.
On Monday, the former Beatle revealed the 154 songs to feature in the book, which will be based on conversations McCartney had with the poet Paul Muldoon. Described as a “self-portrait in 154 songs”, The Lyrics will feature songs from throughout McCartney’s career, including Blackbird, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude, Band on the Run and Yesterday.
Publisher Allen Lane said the book would also feature the lyrics to the unrecorded song Tell Me Who He Is. The handwritten and never-before-seen lyrics were found in one of McCartney’s notebooks – believed to date back to the early 1960s – while preparing the book.
Source: Alison Flood/theguardian.com
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Ringo Starr and Nancy Sinatra have paid tribute to Don Everly, one half of the rock duo the Everly Brothers, following his death over the weekend.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the musician passed away at his home in Nashville on Saturday at the age of 84. A cause of death has not been given.
A representative from the Everly family issued a statement on his passing to the newspaper, writing, "Don lived by what he felt in his heart. Don expressed his appreciation for the ability to live his dreams... with his soulmate and wife, Adela, and sharing the music that made him an Everly Brother."
The news of his passing comes seven years after his brother and other half of the act, Phil Everly, passed away at 74 due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Musicians from across genres came out to mourn the All I Have to Do Is Dream hitmaker on social media.
"God bless Don and Phil the Everly brothers we loved them peace and love," wrote Starr on Twitter.
Source: Newsdesk/music-news.com
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Much to my embarrassment — but also secret delight — it was thanks to my mother that I dated a Beatle at 17.
The occasion was a big charity night for the Red Cross and I had been invited — with my parents, of course — to go down to the house of actor Richard Todd (of The Dam Busters fame) in Henley, Oxfordshire, where he was hosting a reception party.
It was one of those old-fashioned charity events where film stars and celebrities turn up to attend a premiere or a first night and raise money for a good cause.
On this occasion my mother decided that her daughter needed an escort — and that my escort should be George Harrison.
I nearly choked on my tea when she said she'd fix it. 'What?! Are you serious?' I gasped. 'You can't just call George Harrison up out of the blue and say: "Hey, George, do you wanna take my daughter out!"'
Source: Hayley Mills/dailymail.co.uk
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This week, as Billie Eilish rules the Billboard 200 once again with her sophomore set Happier Than Ever and Nas scores another top 10 title with his just-released effort King’s Disease II, one legendary musician finds himself back inside the highest tier on the tally long after his passing. Former Beatles member George Harrison returns to the top 10 on the all-genre ranking with his solo release All Things Must Pass, which reappears at No. 7. The set was re-released to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, and fans rushed to buy it on any of the many formats that were made available. The collector’s item has become a special win for the late superstar, and its success after so many years shows just how popular the musician remains to this day.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
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This could be the chance of a lifetime for a Liverpool actor to play one of the Fab Four on screen.
Casting company, Dan Hubbard Casting, is on the lookout for an actor aged 19 to 25 to play Ringo Starr in the new film Midas Man.
Midas Man is the first feature film to tell the story of the life and career of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the film will explore Epstein's role in the 1960s cultural revolution as well as his influence on pop music across the globe.
Anyone hoping to apply to the role of Ringo Starr will need to be from Liverpool or "able to do the accent very well."
If you're able to play the drums this could give you an advantage over other applicants, with actors being asked to specify if they have any drumming experience.
Source: Charlotte Hadfield/liverpoolecho.co.uk
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Every rock band has its die-hard fans, but few fans could match the fervor, excitement and utter devotion that Chicago’s Beatles worshippers showed when the band arrived for a Comiskey Park concert in 1965.
Just one year earlier, Beatlemania arrived in the U.S. in February 1964 when the Fab Four — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison — performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” More than 73 million people across more than 23 million households tuned into the show, according to Mark Lewisohn, author of “The Complete Beatles Chronicle: The Definitive Day-By-Day Guide To the Beatles’ Entire Career.”
Whatever it was about the band — the music, that long hair, the accents — teenagers, especially girls, became obsessed with the lads from Liverpool.
Source: Alison Martin/chicago.suntimes.com
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