Beatles News

Listening to it now, Please Please Me, The Beatles‘ initial album release in the United Kingdom, sounds like one of the first times a rock and roll act properly took advantage of the long-playing format. That the group achieved that feat almost unconsciously testifies to their unmatched brilliance.

The Beatles recorded the bulk of Please Please Me in a single session at EMI’s Abbey Road studios in London. In the process, they inadvertently boosted the album as a format within the rock genre.

We now think of rock and roll as being an album-driven medium, as countless artists have attempted to make complete statements over the course of two sides (sometime more) of vinyl. In the early days of the genre, however, the rock album was an afterthought. Please Please Me helped to change that, even if the four lads that created it didn’t necessarily intend that to happen.

Circa 1963, which is when The Beatles recorded and released Please Please Me, rock albums were only granted to artists who’d already banked successful singles. Adding a few more songs of filler allowed them to milk more sales out of a popular song. Since the Fab Four had already delivered one modest hit (“Love Me D details

A new sneak peek at the upcoming documentary Beatles ’64 has been posted on the Fab Four’s YouTube channel. As previously reported, the movie, which premieres on Disney+ on Friday, November 29, focuses on The Beatles’ historic first visit to the U.S. in February 1964.

The clip features new interview footage of Paul McCartney sharing a humorous story about an interaction he and John Lennon had with his father, James, back in 1963. It appears that Paul’s dad had some reservations about the lyrics to one of the band’s most famous early songs.

“We’d written the song ‘She Loves You’ in the next room, and my dad was in the other room,” McCartney recalled. “So we came in to play it to him [for the] first time.” Paul said he and Lennon proceeded to sing the tune, including its famous chorus, “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.” As they sang, his dad listened and nodded along.

McCartney remembered with amusement that when they finished the song, his father said, “Boys … it’s very nice, but couldn’t you sing, ‘She loves you, yes, yes, yes’? … There’s enough of these Americanisms aroun details

When John Lennon released his song about heroin withdrawal, “Cold Turkey,” in 1969, radio stations refused to play it because of the lyrics and Lennon’s distorted guitar and screams. Years later, the Beatles also faced a new stream of bans. After 9/11, Clear Channel (later iHeartMedia) sent a memo to more than 1,100+ radio stations under its umbrella with a list of more than 160 songs they suggested pulling from the rotation for being “lyrically questionable” or insensitive to the events. On the list were four Beatles songs.

The Beatles’ songs that were temporarily banned in the U.S., or not played as much, followed the September 11 attacks, and included their 1968 White Album track “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”

Decades earlier, the band also faced some radio freezes around some of their other songs in the UK.

John Lennon passes his driving test in Weybridge Paul McCartney Ringo Starr and George Harrison are there to congratulate him 15 February 1965 (Photo by Eyles/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

Shortly after its release, UK radio refused to play “I Am the Walrus” for its sexually suggestive lyrics—Boy, you’ve been a naughty details

Let’s say you’re an American Beatles fan in the Sixties, Seventies, or Eighties. You chat with a British fan about your favorite albums. But you have no idea what they’re talking about — what is Beatles for Sale? Or With The Beatles? Meanwhile, they’ve never heard of U.S. classics like Meet the Beatles or Something New or Yesterday and Today. You both agree how great Rubber Soul is — but you’re discussing two different Rubber Souls. How can this be?

That’s because the Beatles albums were totally different in the States. The vinyl box set 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono collects the first 7 Capitol LPs rushed out in the first wave of the Beatlemania invasion. (That’s counting A Hard Day’s Night, officially a United Artists soundtrack.) Capitol did not regard the moptops as true artists expressing themselves on wax — the label just wanted to crank out product as fast as possible, before fickle fans fell out of love with these long-haired limey loverboys. So they chopped up the 14-song U.K. albums into 11 or 12-song quickies. The Beatles couldn’t get any of their original albums released intact in America until Sgt. Pepper in 1967. The U.S. version of Revolve details

Comedian, actor and author Paul Reiser joined host Kenneth Womack to talk about sharing the Beatles with younger generations, his new comedy special “Life, Death & Rice Pudding” and much more on a special bonus episode of “Everything Fab Four,” a podcast co-produced by me and Womack (a music scholar who also writes about pop music for Salon) and distributed by Salon.

Reiser, the 11-time Emmy Award nominee known for such TV shows and movies as “Diner,” “Aliens,” “My Two Dads” and “Stranger Things,” told Womack he “always wanted to perform. I wanted to get the laughs.” And through co-creating, producing and starring in the hit show “Mad About You,” he got to do just that. Though comedy was always his professional focus, he said he is ultimately moved the most by music – and that all began with seeing the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February of 1964.

“My older sister was already into them,” said Reiser, “and I have a vivid recollection of being drawn to the TV. There was just this imprint of importance. You didn't know it was going to be the cultural touchstone that it is, details

Sean Ono Lennon has offered a rare insight into what first inspired him to become a musician.

The US singer – the son of the late Beatles star John Lennon and his wife, artist Yoko Ono – has released a number of well-received solo records and collaborated with fellow musicians including the alt-rock band Cibo Matto. He has also composed several film scores.

In a new interview, Lennon reflected on how his father’s death in 1980 led to him pursuing music to fill a “void”.

“I never played music because I was good at it,” he told People. “I lost my father and I didn’t know how to fill that void. Learning how to play his songs on guitar was a way to process the loss with an activity that made me feel connected to him.

“When you’ve lost a parent, things like that motivate you – because you’re trying to find them. Making music always made me feel like I was getting to know him better.”

Lennon was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Boxed of Special Limited Edition Package, thanks to a major reissue of his father’s 1973 album, Mind Games. The limited edition collection includes remixes produced by details

Watching Sir Paul McCartney perform or speak in interviews, it's easy to momentarily forget that the legendary Beatles musician is now 82 years old. Despite his age, McCartney remains a dynamic force on stage, receiving high praise for his headlining performance at Glastonbury in 2022.

The prolific singer-songwriter has been captivating audiences for nearly seven decades, and his recent 'Got Back' tour saw him performing across various countries in 2022 and 2023. Remarkably, each show lasted almost three hours, showcasing his extraordinary stamina.

As a father-of-five, many wonder about the secret behind his enduring energy. Over time, McCartney has shared several of his methods for maintaining youthfulness, as reported by Express.co.uk.

One notable aspect of his lifestyle is his diet. McCartney became a vegetarian in the 1970s alongside his late wife Linda. In 1991, Linda launched her own range of vegetarian food products, which remain popular to this day.

Discussing his dietary choices, McCartney said in the 2021 cookbook "Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen": "Now of course, it’s really not difficult at all. You just go down the shops and most places will have great veggie options. " details

Ringo Starr will be releasing a new project on Jan. 10, 2025, and he’s got an all-star team of collaborators to make it the best it can possibly be. Here’s everything we know so far.

 The Beatles star and former drummer is well on his way to gifting fans with a new country album featuring Alison Krauss. Titled ‘Thankful,’ the album is said to be a second preview of ‘Look Up,’ a collaborative project with T Bone Burnett.

Like its “thankful” name, Starr hopes to inspire and spread positivity with the songs on the album. Apart from producing and co-writing nine of the 11 tracks on the album, the 84-year-old also sings on it alongside Burnett and Kraus.

He previewed the album with the debut track “Time On My Hands,” saying of the song, “I love this track. I wrote it with my producer and engineer,...

Source: imdb.com

Read More>>>

The Beatles had a great deal of magic to them, and that magic arose from the peculiar chemistry between four people. Remove even one of them, and it just couldn’t persist. Ringo Starr knew that, and that’s perhaps what made his decision to leave the band in 1968 all the more striking.

The group had lost manager Brian Epstein the year before, his death from an overdose accelerating a feeling of being adrift. Numerous projects – the Magical Mystery Tour film, a trip to India – would help to plug that gap, but a sense of inertia had set in.

During the sessions for what would become The White Album, Ringo Starr decided that he had simply had enough. Walking out of the band, he informed John Lennon he was leaving before going on holiday to Sardinia.

“I went to see John [Lennon], who had been living in my apartment in Montagu Square with Yoko [Ono] since he moved out of Kenwood,” Starr recalled, “I said, ‘I’m leaving the group because I’m not playing well and I feel unloved and out of it, and you three are really close.’”

He would tell the Anthology film makers: “I had definitely left. I couldn’t take it anymore. There details

As perhaps the most famous band of all time, the Beatles have been the subject of their fair share of conspiracy theories. However, among speculation about coded messages in “Helter Skelter” and urban legends about John Lennon meeting aliens, the idea that Paul McCartney died long ago and was replaced by somebody else has endured more than any other. This wild claim was said to have taken place at the height of the Beatles's fame, and it proposes that John, George, and Ringo somehow managed to find the perfect Paul replacement at the drop of a hat.

Not only does the notorious ‘Paul is Dead’ theory boggle the mind with its sheer ridiculousness, but McCartney has had an almost equally impressive career with his post-Beatles band, Wings, and as a solo artist, meaning that the new Paul was arguably even more talented than the original. Those who swear by this outlandish theory are not without their evidence, as some have pointed to clues in Beatles music and album artwork that hint the original McCartney may no longer be of this world.

The Paul Is Dead Theory Explained. Some claim McCartney died during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The urban legend that details

A guitar bought by George Harrison for about £58 has sold at auction for more than £1 million.

The Futurama electric guitar was bought by The Beatles star when he was a 16-year-old apprentice electrician in 1959 and was paid for in 44 instalments after his mother signed a hire purchase agreement at Frank Hessy’s music shop in Liverpool.

It went under the hammer in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday at Julien’s Auctions’ Played, Worn & Torn sale, fetching 1.27 million dollars (£1.03 million) – twice its initial estimate.  Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions, said the figure set a world record for the highest sale of a George Harrison guitar.

The Futurama electric guitar was bought by George Harrison for about £58. “George Harrison’s iconic Futurama guitar, one of the most important guitars in rock and roll history and formative to The Beatles’ sound, has made history at today’s auction,” Mr Nolan said.

“We’re beyond thrilled to add this Harrison guitar to the Julien’s Auctions’ million-dollar club, which already includes guitars from John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and K details

Austin Butler as Elvis truly changed Hollywood, because now, not only are we getting Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan and Selena Gomez as Linda Rondstat, but Paul Mescal is also reportedly in talks to lead one of four upcoming biopics about The Beatles. Each movie, set to come from director Sam Mendes, will focus on a different member of the band — and their unique points of view — but will intersect to “tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history,” per Variety.
Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming Beatles movies.

Is there a new Beatles movie coming out?

Yes, director Sam Mendes is developing four movies about The Beatles — one for each member of the band. Each individual movie will tell a story from the perspective of one member (including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison).

“I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,” Sam Mendes told Variety.

Where can I watch the new Beatles biopics?

Each of the four movies will be released in theaters, thanks to Sony Pict details

A one-on-one fight between friends is always hard to watch, but add another person to one side, and it turns even more vindictive—something perfectly encapsulated by the Paul McCartney diss track John Lennon recruited George Harrison to play on. To be fair to Lennon and Harrison, McCartney had technically thrown the first musical punch.

Nevertheless, watching the former Beatles (sans Ringo) blow off steam was a somewhat saddening development in their artistic legacies.
The Paul McCartney Diss Track John Lennon and George Harrison Recorded

John Lennon put “How Do You Sleep” on his 1971 record, Imagine, one year after the first unofficial breakup rumors and messages began popping up around the Beatles. The song features George Harrison on slide guitar and seems to directly refer to their former bandmate, Paul McCartney, which Lennon would later say was a direct response to McCartney’s track “Too Many People,” released the same year.

“Too Many People,” from the 1971 album Ram, doesn’t name anyone specifically. However, it’s hard not to pick up on the subtext in McCartney’s lyrics post-Beatles breakup. Too many people going underground, t details

The Beatles posing together. From left to right: musicians George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul ... [+] McCartney and Ringo Starr, circa 1965. The Beatles debut their new "single" “From Us To You” inside the top 10 on a chart in their home country, earning yet another smash on one more tally.

The Beatles don’t release “new” music very often. The band was all but done with doing so for decades before they returned with “Now and Then” in late 2023, which the remaining two members promised would be the last thing they’ll release…probably. While they’re not writing and recording like they did so many decades ago, those companies that own the rights to everything they made continue to share archival projects and previously unreleased tunes and recordings—and fans snap them up without hesitation.

The Fab Four collect new hits on two charts in their home country of the United Kingdom this week. The band even manages to return to the top 10 on a tally with a debut, which is surprising given how long it’s been since they first split.

The Beatles’ latest offering, “From Us To You,” debuts at No. 9 on this week’s Officia details

The Beatles 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono Reviewed: Track selection not withstanding, Beatlemania’s stateside iteration still sounds thrilling
New vinyl boxset collects The Beatles' first six American studio LPs in mono.

America and Britain are two nations separated by salt water, a common language (per George Bernard Shaw) and different Beatlemanias. The U.K. phenomenon in 1963 remains the gold standard for pop hysteria, a massive rush of love at the speed of light detonated by a handful of singles and an album, Please Please Me, almost half of which was covers from the club sets.

The former colonies were late to the party – EMI's Yankee arm, Capitol Records, spent that year exercising its right of first refusal – but we caught up fast. And this deluxe, vinyl set of the Beatles' first six American studio LPs from mono-master tapes in period sleeves (also available separately) – is hardly the full chaos. Add the cash-ins by ’63 licensee Vee-Jay plus the sudden worth of the 1961 Hamburg sessions and nearly two dozen U.S. albums and 45s were issued over 1964. Capitol's trade pitch for The Beatles Story, a two-LP audio documentary released that November and a bonus in the box, put it b details