Beatles Music

John Lennon released his second solo album, Imagine, on Sept. 9, 1971. It became his first solo album to reach No. 1.

By late October, the album had pulled off a rare transatlantic feat. It topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K. at the same time.

Billboard called Lennon "the real British Dylan" in its review, per uDiscover Music.  The title track became one of Lennon's most enduring songs. He later called it his best work.

"Imagine is the best song I've ever written," Lennon told writer David Sheff in 1980, per MusicRadar. "It's almost like a prayer."

The song's origins, though, involved more collaboration than Lennon first let on. The song's title traces back to a poem in Lennon's wife Yoko Ono's 1964 book, Grapefruit. The poem "Cloud Piece" included the line "imagine the clouds dripping."

Lennon borrowed that imagery directly for his own lyrics. For years, though, he never publicly credited Ono for the connection.

That changed in a 1980 interview with BBC Radio 1's Andy Peebles, per MusicRadar. Lennon admitted the song should carry both their names.

"A lot of it, the lyric and the concept, came from Yoko," he admitted.  "But in those days I was a details

Tensions between the four members of The Beatles were clear when it came time to record Abbey Road. George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon were pulling in different directions, and the Peter Jackson documentary, Get Back, shows it. But the final time the four were in the studio together proved fruitful despite the animosity in the studio.

Reflecting on the late 1960s and those career-best recordings, Harrison would single out McCartney as the problem in the studio. Contributions made by McCartney were seen by the other band members as far from his best, with Maxwell’s Silver Hammer singled out for scrutiny by Harrison.

He said in 1977: “And it was a good date. Paul would always help along when you’d done his ten songs – then when he got ’round to doing one of my songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually. Sometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs.

“I mean, my God, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer was so fruity. After a while, we did a good job on it, but when Paul got an idea or an arrangement in his head… But Paul’s really writing for a 14-year-old audience now anyhow. I missed his last tour, unfo details

George Harrison spent the last three decades of his life falling in love with a garden. The former Beatle purchased an old Victorian mansion known as Friar Park in January 1970. According to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, which built an entire exhibition around Harrison’s love for gardening, he was only 27 years of age when he acquired this neglected property. This simple purchase grew into a restoration project that continues to thrive under the care of Harrison’s family.

A grand house that had fallen into disrepair

Friar Park was not built by Harrison. Records held by Historic England, the government body that protects the country's important sites, show the mansion was constructed in the late 1800s and was commissioned by Sir Frank Crisp, a lawyer, who designed the gardens that surround the property. By the time Harrison came looking for a new home, much of that splendor had long faded. Historic England's records, along with Selby Gardens' account, describe the magnificent Victorian mansion with its gardens as having run down, with yews having taken over the topiary.

A young Beatle finds his forever home

Harrison purchased Friar Park shortly after the Beatles disbanded, ending one details

We know that The Beatles had many admirers among other musicians. They were also huge music fans themselves. Once they secured their clout in the industry, some of those folks whom the Fab Four held up as idols started recording their songs.

We found four examples where artists that The Beatles greatly adored took on their material. And they did so with fascinating results.
“Something” by Ray Charles

In terms of the number of times that a Beatles song has been covered, “Something” ranks way up there. (“Yesterday”, of course, stands as the all-time leader in that department.) The famous story here is that when Frank Sinatra covered “Something” in concert, he would often credit it as a Lennon/McCartney song. In actuality, George Harrison wrote the track. He initially envisioned it as something that Ray Charles might sing. Two years after The Beatles’ own version appeared, Charles got around to recording the track on his 1971 album Volcanic Actions Of My Soul. The R&B legend used his clever phrasing to wring every last bit of emotional potency from the song.
“Lady Madonna” by Fats Domino

Fats Domino managed to stay true to the r details

In 1979, Paul McCartney and his wife Linda bought a secluded 151-acre ranch near Tucson, Arizona, creating a private family retreat away from the global spotlight surrounding one of music’s most recognisable figures.

Located near the foothills of the Rincon Mountains, the property offered the McCartney family something that was increasingly difficult to find — privacy. Rather than serving as a celebrity showpiece, the ranch provided a modest home, open desert surroundings and isolation where Paul, Linda and their children could spend time together away from cameras and crowds.

Over the years, the Arizona property became an important part of the family’s life, from everyday trips around Tucson to gatherings with friends and neighbours. It also remained deeply significant after Linda’s death in 1998. Decades later, the ranch continues to offer a glimpse into the quieter, more personal side of McCartney’s extraordinary life.

According to Architectural Digest, the main residence was a two-storey home with a tin roof and stucco exterior. Its secluded setting gave the family the peace and privacy they were looking for. The ranch was located on Tucson’s far north-eastern side details

A long-lost interview with George Harrison recorded at the height of Beatlemania has been heard publicly again for the first time in more than six decades.

The previously unavailable telephone interview with George Harrison was recorded in February 1964 and originally broadcast by WJPS radio in Evansville, Indiana, on 17 February, just one day after The Beatles made their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The recording captures George, then just 20 years old, at one of the most significant moments in The Beatles’ history as their phenomenal rise to fame in America was gathering pace.

The band’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964 attracted an estimated 73 million viewers and became one of the defining moments in popular culture.

Their second appearance, broadcast live from Miami Beach on 16 February, confirmed the scale of Beatlemania sweeping across America.

The following day, George spoke by telephone from Florida to a teenage schoolgirl who had reportedly won a competition to interview one of The Beatles.

Source: theguideliverpool.com/Rachael Rhodes

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The debate over whether it’s appropriate for musicians to voice political opinions as entertainers often calls back to mainstream bands of yesteryear as if to say, “See? They didn’t have to do it! It was all about the music back then.” The Beatles inevitably fall into this argument time and time again, thanks to a plethora of songs that seem more generically neutral than blatantly political, like “All You Need Is Love”, “Come Together”, and “With A Little Help From My Friends”.

Even Beatles songs that sound political, like “Revolution”, have ambiguous lines like, “When you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out.” However, to say that The Beatles avoided political songs would be to ignore these five tracks, some of which are more overtly socioeconomically inspired than others.
“Blackbird”

One of The Beatles’ most beautiful, tender guitar ballads was actually a civil rights anthem hiding in plain sight. Paul McCartney wrote “Blackbird” based on the plight of Black men and women in the United States, which shines a whole new light on this heartfelt song.

Sour details

A life-size statue of John Lennon displayed on Liverpool's Penny Lane could fetch up to £100,000 at auction.

The bronze sculpture, created by the late artist Laura Lian, has stood outside St Barnabas Church since August 2022. After it is sold it will be replaced by a replica.

Penny Lane was made famous by the Beatles' 1967 song of the same name.

Omega Auctions will offer the statue on 29 September, with an estimate of between £70,000 and £100,000.

Standing almost 6ft (1.8m) tall, the John Lennon Peace Statue depicts the musician leaning against a peace symbol bearing the word "Imagine".

It is cast in bronze with a green patina and mounted on a bronze and steel base.

Artwork on a building which depicts a young Paul McCartney standing on the left holding an acoustic guitar, alongside a young John Lennon seated on the right playing an electric guitar. Words at the bottom read 'PENNY LANE LIVERPOOL'.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney would often meet at the bus terminus near Penny Lane

Dan Muscatelli-Hampson, a director at Omega Auctions, said few modern landmarks associated with the Beatles in Liverpool had become "so instantly recognisable in such a short details

The Beatles’ business empire is about to get a new chapter.

Universal Music Group and Apple Corps have unveiled a new exclusive, long-term global partnership that will expand how The Beatles’ brand is managed and presented to fans around the world. The agreement will bring together Apple Corps’ stewardship of the Beatles’ legacy with UMG’s global expertise in music, merchandising, retail and fan experiences.

It’s a far cry from the way the Beatles’ licensing business began.

In early 1964, as Beatlemania landed in America, Beatles manager Brian Epstein was facing a problem almost no music manager had ever encountered before. U.S. companies wanted to put the Beatles’ name and image on everything they could sell.

The Beatles answer questions for newsmen and journalists in New York after their arrival for their first tour of America. Left to right: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon. 7th February 1964.

There were offers for electric and acoustic guitars, dolls, wigs, T-shirts, clocks, games, jewelry and countless other products. Overwhelmed, Epstein told his lawyer David Jacobs to find someone who could take over the Be details

Paul McCartney returns with a major new studio album in 2026. According to a label announcement and subsequent coverage, his solo record The Boys of Dungeon Lane was released on May 29, 2026 through Capitol Records after several years of work between touring legs.
New album The Boys of Dungeon Lane

On March 26, 2026 McCartney’s official site confirmed that The Boys of Dungeon Lane would arrive on May 29, describing it as his first new solo album in more than five years and highlighting its focus on rarely shared memories and newly written love songs. The label statement on his website notes that the sessions took place in short, efficient bursts between global tour dates, alternating between Los Angeles and his home studio in East Sussex.

Coverage in the British press underscores the introspective character of the record. One detailed report explains that the 14-track album has been presented as a collection of rare and candid insights into McCartney’s past, alongside new love songs, and situates it as a late-period work where detailed sonic memories and reflective storytelling take center stage. The Guardian’s album announcement linked this tone to the way McCartney revisits personal epis details

Sean Ono Lennon, the child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, welcomed his first child into the world.

Ono Lennon, 50, and his longtime partner Charlotte Kemp Muhl, 39, announced the birth of their baby boy Tuesday evening, sharing photos of their new family on social media.

“Okay so…Charlotte and I would like to announce that we have indeed created a Human Bean!” Sean wrote on Instagram Tuesday evening. “His name is, Aurelius! Thank you!”

Sean also shared a photo of himself holding Aurelius, who was wrapped in a white blanket, as well as a photo of Kemp Muhl with their son in a hospital bed.  “Baby Momma!” he captioned the latter.

Kemp Muhl, a musician and model, also shared photos from the early days of parenthood, including images of herself carrying Aurelius in a baby harness while walking in the water, holding a small crab and looking after their sleeping newborn.

“We made a human! Am convinced DNA is agentic alien quaternary code,” she wrote.

“The sleep deprivation only adds to the surrealism…Burping technique tips welcome. Been playing him Aphex Twin and Stravinsky. Meconium is crazy,” she added.< details

Cameras rolled on Sunday, Aug. 30, for BBC's six-part drama Hamburg Days in Liverpool's city center, according to a report from The Daily Mail. The cast plays The Beatles during their formative stint in Germany. Production kicked off while Sam Mendes' competing four-film Beatles venture kept shooting in London.

Rhys Mannion, Harvey Brett, Ellis Murphy, Louis Landau, and Patrick Gilmore portray John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best. On Friday, Aug. 28, crews filmed at Lord Nelson Street near Lime Street Station. Mannion appeared in character hailing a taxi outside the station.

The series depicts the band's time in Hamburg's St. Pauli district during the early 1960s, when they honed the sound and stage presence that catapulted them to worldwide fame. The group began playing together in Liverpool and Hamburg in 1960. Pete Best served as the main drummer.

Jamie Carragher, one of the writers behind Succession, penned the series. Christian Schwochow, who directed episodes of The Crown, serves as showrunner and co-director alongside Laura Lackmann.

Source: 963kklz.com/Anne Erickson

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A remarkable reconstruction of The Beatles’ June 11, 1968 “Blackbird” rehearsal session brings together surviving film and audio from across decades of archival releases, offering an unusually intimate look at Paul McCartney working through one of the most enduring songs from ‘The Beatles,’ better known as the White Album.

The footage captures McCartney inside EMI Studios during the period when the band were deep into sessions for the sprawling double album. “Blackbird” itself was recorded on June 11, 1968 and later appeared on the White Album when it was released that November. The official Beatles site lists the song as a McCartney composition credited to Lennon-McCartney, with George Martin producing.

What makes this reconstruction particularly compelling is the amount of material that has gradually surfaced. The version shared online incorporates clips from the original Apple promotional film and its outtakes alongside footage used in ‘Get Back,’ ‘Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song,’ ‘The White Album’ mini-documentary, ‘McCartney 3, 2, 1,’ ‘If These Walls Could Sing’ and later editions of ‘The details

That blurry-sounding guitar line that leads the Beatles' "Think for Yourself" from 1965's Rubber Soul? That's actually no guitar at all.

It's a bass part, played by Paul McCartney and fed through a device called a fuzz box, which creates a kind of grainy, distorted effect. (There's a regular bass part, too.)

And as with many Beatles tracks, it broke new ground — "Think for Yourself," written by George Harrison, marked the first time this device was used on purpose with a bass.
'Don't Worry' and 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah'

Four years prior in 1961, a similar sound was created in Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry," a huge No. 1 hit on the country chart. But in that case, the fuzzy bass sound was essentially made on accident, the result of some kind of technical malfunction that Robbins' ultimately decided to keep on the track.

A year after that, producer Phil Spector helped Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans achieve something similar on their cover of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." According to Harrison, who worked with Spector on a number of occasions after the Beatles split up, it was a makeshift thing.

"When Phil Spector was making 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,' the engineer who's set up the track overloaded the details

Casual Beatles fans might completely overlook Beatles For Sale, the Fab Four’s fourth LP. Released in 1964, it found the band going back to cover songs to fill out the running order. This was after they’d included nothing but originals on A Hard Day’s Night, their other 1964 album.

The originals that they did manage to release on that record often get pushed aside by those discussing the group’s work. But we’re here to tell you that these four somewhat overlooked songs from Beatles For Sale deserve your attention.
“Baby’s In Black”

Any song that gave John Lennon and Paul McCartney an excuse to do some close harmony singing has a great head start. On “Baby’s In Black”, which the two men wrote together, they do their finest Everly Brothers impersonation on the microphone. Both men are pushed to the edges of their respective ranges, making for a thrilling listening experience. At any moment, you half-expect one of them to falter, but they never do. The lyrics for the song are fascinating as well. The idea of the girl that the narrator wants dressing in mourning colors adds a bit of unexpected darkness to the proceedings. No matter what he tries, details

Samira Ahmed, US: Your brilliant A Hard Days Night that examines the impact of the Beatles’ effervescent first film. Can you talk a little about what compelled you to write this book with this specific focus?

Samira Ahmed, UK: My head has been full of the Beatles since I was 11 and discovered them through their films, which my big brother taped off BBC TV in 1979 onto our Betamax video. In 2023 I discovered the earliest complete concert recording of the band made by a student at a private boys’ boarding school—Stowe—in 1963. And the way I told the story on my Radio 4 show Front Row of that concert—its mix of class politics, social change, and the role of TV and audio technology—really connected with listeners, who weren’t necessarily Beatles fans. Who isn’t fascinated by the 60s?

So I thought this film deserves that kind of all-round viewing. Once you start looking you see there are black and Asian teenagers in the audience, the adult women around the Beatles capture how fast women’s careers and freedoms are developing. How the film makes Britain look like the most exciting place to be in the world. Plus how delightful to realize that the film was created by details

In 2006, the BBC’s Radio 2 Music Club asked more than 220,000 people to choose the “Best No. 1 Album of All Time.” Their pick was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles’ groundbreaking 1967 album that had already become one of the most celebrated records of its era.

The poll was a testament to how well The Beatles’ music had endured. Four of the band’s albums made the top 10, while Sgt. Pepper landed at No. 1 nearly 40 years after its release.

That kind of lasting adoration traces back to how ambitious the album was from the start. By the time Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band arrived in 1967, The Beatles were already among the biggest bands in the world. Albums such as Revolver and A Hard Day’s Night had established them as musical innovators, but their eighth studio album gave them a chance to take that experimentation even further.

The Beatles had stopped touring the previous year, giving them the freedom to make music that didn’t have to be easily reproduced onstage. That gave them room to explore reversed recordings, tape manipulation and distortion in the studio.

With Sgt. Pepper, the band moved beyond their rock-an details

When they emerged on the scene, The Beatles quickly gained a reputation as the rare rock band that wrote their own material. But they also proved that they could interpret the songs of others. And they usually made those cover songs their own.

One of the earliest examples of this came with their legendary cover of “Twist And Shout”. They used it as the closing song of their debut album, Please Please Me, in 1963. John Lennon delivered an incredible lead vocal performance, one made all the more amazing by the fact that his voice was running on fumes when he laid it down.
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Save the “Twist” for Last

Bert Berns and Phil Medley wrote “Twist And Shout”. The Top Notes did the first recording of the song in 1961. A year later, The Isley Brothers put their distinctive stamp on it. Their version hit the US Top 20 in 1962.

The Beatles had been performing the song in their live performances for a while when they headed into EMI Studios in February 1963 to record the bulk of their first album. By that time, the group had scored the hit singles “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me”. That success earned them the opportun details

Paul McCartney paid tribute to Dolly Parton and her “unrivaled” songwriting, singing, and philanthropic efforts in a tribute to the late country legend on Instagram.

The post featured some photos from the time McCartney and his family met Parton and her old performing partner Porter Wagoner during a trip to the Grand Ole Opry in the mid-Seventies. At the time, Parton was already a budding star with Wagoner, about to launch her solo career, and, as McCartney remembered her, “so bubbly and full of life.”

“The magnificent star Dolly Parton has died and it is so sad,” McCartney wrote, adding, “Her songwriting, her singing, and her philanthropy were unrivaled in the world of country music and it is hard to imagine living in a world without Dolly. She was a very clever business woman who understood the value of music and, most importantly, the effect that she had on the people of the world.”

Along with their mid-Seventies meeting, McCartney and Parton crossed paths again when the she recorded the Beatles’ “Let It Be” for her 2023 album, Rockstar.

Both McCartney and Ringo Starr featured on the track, too, as did Peter Frampton and Mick Fl details

RECORDING CAPTURES JOHN LENNON AND PAUL McCARTNEY DEVELOPING ‘DAY TRIPPER’ TOGETHER BEFORE THE SONG’S ICONIC RIFF HAD BEEN WRITTEN

Today, UMG and Apple Corps Ltd. release ‘Day Tripper (Songwriting Work Tape)’ from the forthcoming expanded Special Edition of The Beatles’ landmark 1965 album Rubber Soul. Recorded during the Rubber Soul sessions, ‘Day Tripper’ and ‘We Can Work It Out’ were intended for release as a standalone double A-side single and were kept separate from the album.

The ‘Day Tripper (Songwriting Work Tape)’ offers a rare glimpse into the earliest stages of the song, capturing John Lennon and Paul McCartney working together at John’s home, Kenwood, in Weybridge, Surrey. At this stage, the iconic riff that would come to define ‘Day Tripper’ had yet to be written.

Initially based on an old folk song John had written the previous month, the recording captures the pair developing the song together, highlighting the fun they had when writing as a duo. John and Paul can be heard laughing as they work through the song, with John later making reference to the high level of sound being captured on tape.

In the mid '60s, the Beatles were still very much together, but not necessarily on the exact same page.

Ringo Starr was a brand new father, happily soaking in the many blisses of domestic family life, while George Harrison was falling deeper into his studies of Eastern music and philosophy. Paul McCartney was investing his time into London's cultural scene — art galleries, operas, etc.

John Lennon's experience, however, was less stimulating, at least emotionally. He lived in Weybridge then, just far enough outside London for there not to be very much day-to-day excitement. He was regularly taking LSD and his relationship with wife Cynthia and son Julian was, in a word, deteriorating.

"I can get up and start doing nothing straight away," he told the journalist Hunter Davies in 1967 (via American Songwriter). "I just sit on the step, look into space, and think until it's time to go to bed. … If I am on my own for three days, doing nothing, I almost leave myself completely. I'm just not here. … I'm up there watching myself, or I'm at the back of my head. I can see my hands and realize they're moving, but it's a robot who's doing it."

Source: ultimateclassicrock.com/Allison R details

Sixty years ago, San Francisco native Gus Tham was living the dream. The 15-year-old was one of the bat boys for his hometown Giants.

"It was a fantastic job," Tham recalled.

At the time, the Giants played at the iconic Candlestick Park, and the team was packed with legends.

"Well, you start with the 3 M's: Mays, McCovey, and Marichal," Tham said.

Tham's tenure at Candlestick included not only the 3 "M's", but the Fab Four: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. On August 29, 1966, the Beatles came to San Francisco as part of their North American Tour.

"This was a big quick tour playing very large venues," music critic Joel Selvin said.

It was the Beatles' third performance in the Bay Area, and as it turns out, their final ticketed concert. The legendary rock band wanted to stop touring and go into the studio to record albums.

The group sent word that they would stop the tour early in Los Angeles. The tour's promoter Tom Donahue then traveled to Los Angeles, to serve them papers that if they did not show up, they would be breaking a legal contract. The Beatles then relented.

"The Beatles were so tired and done," said photo archivist Amelia D details

More than most artists, Paul McCartney has projected a sunny disposition and a positive outlook within his music. Not unfailingly, of course. But a solid percentage of McCartney’s songs will leave you feeling good when you’re finished listening to them.

He’s maintained that upbeat stance in his songs even when turmoil raged behind the scenes. “With A Little Luck”, for example, kept looking for the bright side, even as Wings, McCartney’s band at the time, was crumbling.
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Paul McCartney has always been looking for ways to spice up the recording process. In some cases, that meant finding a different location, somewhere that could liven up the somewhat dreary process of going into the studio and playing songs endlessly until they’re perfected.

Perhaps his wildest idea ever was to record a chunk of the 1978 album London Town on a boat. Well, technically, it was a fancy yacht called the Fair Carol that was moored in the Virgin Islands. McCartney chartered two more boats, one for other members of the band and one for him and his family, including wife Linda, who was pregnant at the time.

During those sessions on the boat, which details

The Beatles are arguably the greatest rock band – or even band – of all time, but they didn’t always get along.

The height of fame and their evolving lives eventually led them to separate, but not before one of the greatest guitarists of all time laid down an uncredited appearance in one of the band’s most legendary songs.

Eric Clapton was a surprise appearance in the studio, which forced the band to behave.

While John Lennon and Paul McCartney were viewed as the lyrical geniuses of the band, George Harrison emerged in his own right. Among his biggest hits was “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” which he wrote while at his mother’s house while thinking about the Chinese I Ching, the Book of Changes.

“The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there’s no such thing as coincidence – every little item that’s going down has a purpose,” Harrison revealed. “‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ was a simple study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book – as it would be a relative to that moment, at that time. I picked up a book a details

Sixty years ago, on Aug. 29, 1966, the Beatles played their final live show, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It was a turning point for the Fabs — the night that John, Paul, George, and Ringo quit the road. They signed off with one last bash at “Long Tall Sally,” four boys in the freezing fog and wind, proving to themselves one last time that they’re still the greatest rock & roll group, the toppermost of the poppermost. But then they took their goodnight bows, and that was it: the final twist. The final shout. The last stand of the Beatles as a live band.

They didn’t announce anything at Candlestick Park — none of the crowd had any clue this was the end. But all four Beatles knew it. They were sick of racing from town to town, for quickie 25-minute gigs where they couldn’t hear themselves play. They were sick of stadiums, with no room to explore their complex new sounds onstage. They were sick of saying “We’d like to carry on now” every night.

Candlestick turned out to be a new beginning — finally, they were free to experiment full-time in the studio, far away from the airports and hotels and dressing rooms. They were about to take off details