Beatles News

John Lennon’s legacy remains impeccable, even decades after his death. His music is still reaching new people and impacting the charts, which is an incredible accomplishment after so much time has passed. The former Beatle launches one of his most famous tracks on a pair of tallies this week, earning not just Lennon, but also his wife, another hit—one that’s already become a smash in many other regards.

“Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” reaches two charts in the United Kingdom for the first time this week. At first glance, it looks like the single has already landed on the two tallies it appears on at the moment, but further research seems to suggest that it’s actually new to these lists.

Lennon and Yoko Ono see “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” appear on both the Official Singles Downloads and Official Singles Sales charts this week. The tune settles at Nos. 78 and 86, respectively. Those individual tallies report the song as a return, but the single’s own page via the Official Charts Company—the U.K.’s Billboard equivalent—states that this frame is its first on those two rosters.

Different versions of “Instant Karma” ha details

The Beatles are never completely absent from the music charts in their home country. People all across the United Kingdom—and most other nations, honestly—are constantly streaming and buying the music the band created during their 10 years together (as well as here and there after then), and they keep the rockers on the weekly rankings.

Their presence on the U.K. charts usually consists of one or two songs, and often just a single album. Frequently, just one of the band’s most successful compilations manages to find space on the competitive albums rankings, and it’s not odd to see the group swap one title for another in subsequent frames.

This week is different for The Beatles, though. Two of their compilations are present—and on more than one chart apiece, as well. The titles both manage to return, which means there’s a whole lot of listening to the biggest hits from the band in the U.K. at the moment.

Between their two wins, 1967-1970 is the bigger hit for The Beatles. That gathering of singles from the years in the release’s title—though it’s also commonly referred to as The Blue Album—reappears on the main consumption chart at No. 55. It&rsq details

Few artists have left as indelible a mark on music and culture as John Lennon. From his revolutionary work with The Beatles to his bold solo career, Lennon’s songwriting transcended boundaries, touching hearts and challenging minds across the globe. His lyrics, often infused with raw emotion, wit, and a deep yearning for peace and unity, continue to resonate with listeners of all generations. In this article, we’ll take a journey through Lennon’s most iconic songs, from his introspective ballads to his powerful anthems of change. These tracks not only showcase his musical genius but also offer a window into the mind of an artist unafraid to confront the complexities of life, love, and the human condition. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or a newcomer to his timeless catalog, these top 10 John Lennon songs will remind you why his music remains as powerful and relevant today as ever. So, sit back, turn up the volume, and get ready to experience the very best of an artist whose voice still echoes across generations. Let’s dive in and celebrate the legacy of a true music legend!

Source: Edward Tomlin/singersroom.com

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With tensions growing between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, one song on the famous White Album sent things to boiling point.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney are two of the most beloved figures to ever emerge from this city. From the early days of The Beatles, the duo formed a songwriting force that some regard as the greatest ever in popular music.

But as we all know, the harmony between these two creative geniuses didn't last. In a new article for Far Out Magazine, journalist Jack Whatley has looked into the recording of one particular McCartney track that made him so furious that he left the studio in disgust.

As Whatley describes, as the split grew between Lennon and McCartney, they moved from writing songs together to working separately on their numbers before coming together in the recording studio with George and Ringo to record them. The rule of thumb was generally that whoever wrote the song got to sing it.

The article explains how this process had initially seen McCartney take the lead on the creative process, most notably with the creation of the masterpiece that was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. While the album is one of the most beloved amongst Beatles fans to this day, John Lenn details

There was a time when a pop song wasn’t supposed to run much longer than the two-minute mark. Anything over three minutes and you’d run the risk radio wouldn’t play it. As they did with so many other aspects of music, The Beatles helped to change all that.

By the second half of their recording career, The Beatles occasionally released songs that soared past the four-minute mark. A few of those songs are now regarded as being among the finest they ever released, and they’re included in this list of five longer-than-usual Fab Four tracks.
“A Day in the Life” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

So much of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band flew in the face of rock and pop orthodoxy that it felt just right when the group clocked in at 5:38 with closing track “A Day in the Life,” by far and away their longest recording to that point. The song needed that extra length to include all of its wonderful, disparate elements: John Lennon’s meditative main section, Paul McCartney’s chugging middle part, and the chaotic dual orchestra crescendos. Don’t forget that last piano chord, which thanks to The Beatles’ cleverness details

Few songs from The Beatles are objectively bad. They’re known as one of the greatest rock bands of all time for a reason, after all. That being said, the Fab Four put out quite a few B-sides back in the day that were so good that they should have been front and center as A-sides instead. Let’s look at four Beatles B-sides that were good enough to be A-sides!

Keep in mind that this list is simply a matter of opinion. The beauty of being a Beatles fan is that you can find a piece of yourself in one song while having no taste whatsoever for another song. The Fab Four really knew how to make music for everyone!
1. “I Am The Walrus”

Some people love it, some people don’t. But one can’t deny that “I Am The Walrus” is one of The Beatles’ most memorable songs. This song was the B-side to “Hello, Goodbye”, and it’s tough to pit these two iconic tracks together. “I Am The Walrus” is, at the very least, a much more experimental and creative effort than “Hello, Goodbye”.
2. “P.S. I Love You”

This track was the B-side to the 1963 single “Love Me Do”. This one’s tough; both songs are details

Singer-songwriter-keyboardist Billy Preston rubbed shoulders with musical royalty during his many decades as a working musician, including the Beatles on their final two albums as a group, 1969's Abbey Road and 1970's Let It Be.

It was love at first note when Preston started playing the electric piano during the 1969 Let It Be sessions, which led John Lennon to deem him "like a fifth Beatle." But Preston had an especially close bond with the quiet Beatle that continued long after the group disbanded in 1970.

Preston's relationship with George Harrison is discussed by one of the people who knew Harrison best — his widow Olivia Harrison — in the new documentary Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It, premiering Nov. 17 at the DOC NYC festival. The film is directed by Paris Barclay, whose credits include Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and produced by Stephanie Allain, Jeanne Elfant Festa, Nigel Sinclair and Cheo Hodari Coker.

Olivia Harrison, along with former Beatle Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Sam and Dave's Sam Moore are all featured in the documentary, sharing memories of the man they called a colleague and friend.
George Harrison and Olivia Harrison in 1981. AP Phot details

Ringo Starr recently took part in a video interview with music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor for American Songwriter and the Drummerworld website. During the conversation, the 84-year-old ex-Beatles legend was asked if he there was one Fab Four song on which he’d played drums differently.

“I don’t wish I’d played differently on any of them,” Starr explained. He then pointed out a rare Beatles on which he purposely approached playing drums in a different way.

“‘Rain’ I played differently,” Ringo noted. “I was trying to be the rain.” He then demonstrated how he plays a series of drum rolls that he intended to represent rain.

Starr added, “I don’t do that sort of drumming, but I did for ‘Rain.’ But I think, you know, you got what I could give you then.”

“Rain” was a psychedelic pop-rock tune first released in May 1966 as the B-side of The Beatles’ single “Paperback Writer.” “Paperback Writer” topped the Billboard Hot 100, while “Rain” reached No. 23 on the chart.

The song later was included on The Beatles’ 1970 compilation Hey Jude, a details

The Fab Four released countless hits throughout the 1960s, but each individual member’s solo works are nothing to sneeze at. A few of those solo tracks would have been perfect under The Beatles’ name, had another album came to be. Let’s take a gander at four solo songs from Beatles members that could have easily been on a Fab Four record!

5 of the Beatles’ Least Popular Songs

1. “Isn’t It A Pity” by George Harrison

George Harrison emerged from The Beatles’ breakup a little wet behind the ears as a songwriter, though he did have some experience. However, without the shadow of the two main songwriters of the Fab Four hiding him, he was really able to flourish as a solo musician. “Isn’t It A Pity” would have made an excellent Beatles single; Harrison’s vocals are on another level here.

2. “Gimme Some Truth” by John Lennon

This wouldn’t be a proper list without at least one solo John Lennon track. There are plenty to choose from that would have done well on a Beatles record. However, we’re particularly fond of “Gimme Some Truth”.

This is one of Lennon’s catchiest sol details

When you think of Rubber Soul, the iconic sixth studio album (in just two years!) from The Beatles, you likely envision its groundbreaking blend of folk, soul, and pop. But beneath its polished veneer are hidden gems of trivia and fascinating tidbits that shaped this masterpiece. Here are five little-known facts about the album that changed the game for rock and roll forever.
1. The Title Was Inspired By a Compliment (and a Slight Jab)

Paul McCartney was inspired to name the album Rubber Soul after overhearing an American musician describe Mick Jagger’s singing style as “plastic soul.” McCartney turned the phrase into a cheeky nod to The Beatles’ own attempts at soul music, adding a dose of self-deprecating humor to their groundbreaking LP.
2. “Norwegian Wood” Introduced the Sitar to Rock Music

George Harrison’s use of the sitar on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” marked the first time the instrument was featured prominently in a rock song. Inspired by Ravi Shankar and introduced to the instrument during the filming of Help!, Harrison’s sitar work sparked a fascination with Indian music that would deeply influence the band’s later details

A watch that Yoko Ono gifted to John Lennon, later stolen after his death, rightfully belongs to his widow and not a collector who bought it from an auction house decades later, Switzerland’s highest court has ruled.

Ono bought the Patek Phillippe watch from Tiffany for around $25,000 and gave it to her rockstar husband as a 40th birthday present on October 9, 1980. On the back, she had engraved the text “(Just Like) Starting Over Love Yoko 10-9-1980 N.Y.C.”

The timepiece, which was described as the “El Dorado of lost watches” in a profile by The New Yorker documenting its storied history, appears to be the only wristwatch the Beatle owned and is estimated to now be worth some $4.5 million. Lennon, famously, was photographed by Bob Gruen wearing the watch at the Hit Factory recording studio—an image that would spark discussions about its whereabouts in the early 2000s among online horological circles.

After his murder that December, the watch was kept in a locked room of the couple’s apartment in the Dakota building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It was allegedly stolen in 2005 by Ono’s chauffeur, and later discovered to have changed hands several tim details

While nothing is confirmed, rumors of Gladiator II star Paul Mescal playing Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopics from Sam Mendes have surfaced.

During an interview with Mescal about Gladiator II, I asked him what he would ask McCartney if he met him in preparation for playing him in the biopics.  “Oh god,” Mescal said, stammering. “How long is a piece of string?”

The somewhat sarcastic answer was followed up with, “I don't know specifically off the top of my head what I'd ask him — [it] depends on how much time you'd have.” As for his status in the Beatles biopics, Mescal kept it close to the vest. “I mean, I would love to be involved wholeheartedly,” he said. “You could pick any moment from any of those characters' lives, and you would have a very, very interesting film.”

However, he did seem to slip up, saying he is “so curious to see who's going to be involved and what those scripts are going to look like” before adding “fundamentally” to the end of his sentence.

Maybe Mescal is not waiting on scripts, but it sure sounded like it. We will have to wait and see if the Aftersun star gets annou details

The way that the three remaining Beatles got a handle on the strange vibe of being in a studio together again without John Lennon in 1994 was to pretend he was actually part of the session and had just nipped out. “We just pretended that he’d gone home on holiday,” Paul McCartney said in a press conference at the time, “as if he said, ‘Just finish it up, I trust you’.”

This was how McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – dubbed The Threetles – approached the making of Free As A Bird, which came out in early December, 1995. They weren’t strictly a trio making their first music as The Beatles since Lennon’s death, though. Working on a creaking old demo recorded onto a cassette by John Lennon – one of four that the remaining members were given by Yoko One – the band realised that they needed to bring in an outside influence to help them get the song to the finish line when they entered the studio in early 1994. That man was ELO’s Jeff Lynne.

“It was George who said we need a producer, it could be dangerous just to all go in the studio, it could get nasty cos you’ve got egos flying around, surprisingly,” recall details

The Beatles have just revealed some new collectibles that fans are going to want to get their hands on.

The first is a new limited-edition solid silver submarine to celebrating the band’s iconic 1968 film Yellow Submarine. Only 4,000 will be available, made of almost 1 ounce of pure silver. More Yellow Submarine collectibles are expected in 2025, including a set celebrating the members of the band.

The silver Yellow Submarine collectible will be available for preorder starting in mid-December.

But that’s not all: As part of the continuing celebration of the 60th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America, a new collection of commemorative concert tickets is being released.

The set is made up of 25 tickets, one for each venue they played during their first tour of the U.S. and Canada in 1964. Each ticket is made from an ounce of pure silver and contains the date, venue and price of each show. The tickets also feature some unique details for each gig.

Only 1,964 copies of each ticket will be made available, with the first dropping on Feb. 7, which happens to be the day The Beatles landed in America.

Source: ruralradio.com

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They may not have had quite as bountiful of a vault as for the All Things Must Pass anniversary edition, but the George Harrison estate and Dark Horse Records had no shortage of, well, material in putting together the new 50th anniversary edition of George Harrison’s fourth solo (and second post-Beatles) album, Living in a Material World.

The expanded two-disc set, which was curated by Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, is part of an expanded deal with BMG that Dark Horse signed last year. Out Friday (Nov. 15) with a new mix by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks; in addition to the 11 original tracks that came out on May 30, 1973, a second disc (on LP and CD) includes an outtake of each song as well as two rarities, “Miss O’Dell” and, on CD only, the unreleased “Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)” (which Harrison contributed to Ringo Starr’s 1973 album, Ringo, and recorded with Starr and members of The Band). The package also includes a 60-page hardcover book featuring previously unseen images and memorabilia from the period.

“We’re going in chronological order,” Dhani Harrison, Dark Horse’s CEO, tells Billboard about the est details