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Beatles News
On a warm day in September 2022, alongside 40 or so press colleagues, I was treated to an advance demonstration of the Dolby Atmos mix of The Beatles' Revolver, at Republic Studios on Broadway In New York City's midtown. Producer/mixer Giles Martin—son of original Beatles producer Sir George Martin—was our host. Giles Martin's demeanor was self-deprecating, and he seemed to know all there is to know about the Beatles and their productions. As Martin played songs from Revolver in surround sound, the assembled group seemed amazed by what they heard.
Played through a JBL-based 7.1.4 system in a conference room (footnote 1), "Tomorrow Never Knows," Revolver's final track (which, however, was the first to be recorded), was transformed. Based on texts from The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead and employing radical elements including musique concrète, avant-garde composition, and tape loops, the effect of this new, spacious soundfield—on an album known for its claustrophobic production—was shocking. At the front of the mix, Lennon's vocal was large; it came across with more texture and nuance than I'd ever heard.
Source: Ken Micallef/stereophile.com details
The earliest known full recording of The Beatles playing a live show in the UK has been found almost exactly 60 years after it was made.
As BBC News reports, the hour-long quarter-inch tape recording was created by John Bloomfield at Stowe boarding school in Buckinghamshire on April 4, 1963 when the Fab Four performed there.
Bloomfield, who is now 75 years old, was only 15 at the time. He revealed the existence of the tape when journalist Samira Ahmed visited Stowe to make a special programme for Radio 4’s Front Row to mark the gig’s 60th anniversary.
“It was a unique Beatles gig, performed in front of an almost entirely male audience,” Ahmed wrote of the discovery. “And crucially, despite loud cheers and some screaming, the tape is not drowned out by the audience reaction.”
Source: Tom Skinner/nme.com
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After The Beatles broke up, John Lennon wrote many songs that were not subtle with their politics. Some went too far in certain people’s eyes and were banned from playing on the radio. Not every political Lennon song received a ban, but here are three songs that were. “Cold Turkey” was released in 1969 and is one of the earliest songs from John Lennon’s solo career. Lennon wrote the track after he and his wife, Yoko Ono, went cold turkey after a brief heroin addiction. Many believed the song was promoting drugs, and it was subsequently banned on many American radios. In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon said “Cold Turkey” never had the chance to become popular after it was banned.
“‘Cold Turkey’ is self-explanatory,” he said. “It was banned again all over the American radio, so it never got off the ground. They were thinking I was promoting heroin, but instead … They’re so stupid about drugs!”
Even with the ban, “Cold Turkey” was still a minor hit in the U.S., reaching No. 30 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also reached No. 14 on the U.K. Official Charts.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
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In his prime, Phil Spector produced timeless tracks and numerous chart-topping pieces… so even if his later years wouldn’t be as bright, since he would spend his last days in prison convicted for murder, Spector was the ‘it guy’ if you were looking for a brilliant producer to help you dominate the charts in the late 60s.
So, it wasn’t long before none other than the Beatles contacted him for a collaboration, and Phil, we might guess, readily accepted the offer. Well, when it comes to British rockers’ history with producers, perhaps, there’s no need to say how lucky they had while working with producer George Martin, whose brilliance led people often call him ‘the fifth Beatle.’
There were even times when the band left Martin to his own devices, giving him their blessings to produce some of their beloved tracks the way he thought would be the best. So, it might be only fair to say that the Fab Four never had any significant problems or trust issues while working with their producers.
The productions of ‘Let It Be,’ however, differed from the rest of their celebrated discography since it had been quite challenging for the band to focus on t details
Some might say the Beatles. Some might say Chuck Berry, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, or Prince. The question of who is the most influential artist of all time is definitely no easy call, as there are many greats, and influence is admittedly an abstract word. However, all of them had their own qualities to contribute to their specific genres and influenced those that came after them. All served to overlap and feed into the music scene and one another.
For me, there’s truth in saying that a band of boys from Liverpool directly influenced most musical and artistic styles. The Beatles’ songwriting, composition, and sound influenced many after them. So it’s settled! The Beatles are the best, and we can move on… Only I must confess. Generally, yes, they seem to have the most significant influence, but they are hardly flawless. The Beatles were very influential in their bubble of time, and their sound still holds up thanks to the handy production work of George Martin and his son, as well as Phil Spector. But this is also a testament to their musical acumen. They are influential while being heavily influenced themselves.
Source: Taylor Green/theboar.org
George Harrison became known as the “dark horse” of The Beatles after surprising many listeners with his solo career. However, this was no surprise to long-time Beatles producer George Martin who had a theory on why Harrison had an easier time transitioning into a solo career than Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
George Harrison contributed plenty to The Beatles with his stellar guitar skills, but he had limited opportunities to write songs that proved his knack for songwriting. Mainly because Paul McCartney and John Lennon took on most of the songwriting duties for the band. They also didn’t collaborate with Harrison, who wrote most of his songs by himself.
In a 1971 interview with Melody Maker, Martin said he had an easier time transitioning to being solo because he learned so much about music production while working alone.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
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John Lennon reconnected with one of his closest childhood friends while he was in The Beatles. Though they hadn’t seen each other in years, he made his friend a promise. Not long after, Lennon followed through on his promise, completely changing the course of his friend’s life. Here’s what he did to support his friend, who admitted he was going down the wrong path.
In 1983, Pete Shotton wrote a book about his friendship with Lennon in which he admitted that he couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t know the musician. They met as children and quickly grew close.
“My memories of the two of us go back so far that I barely remember a time when there was no John Lennon in my life,” he wrote, per Billboard.
They went to school together, and Shotton admitted that he likely would have been a much better-behaved student without Lennon’s influence.
“With two of you, it’s a lot easier to stick to what you believe in,” he said in The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “When you’ve had a bad time, there’s someone to laugh with. It was laughs all the time. We never stopped, all the way through school. It was g details
Paul McCartney said his song “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” is a love song about the future. Everyone wants a loving relationship to last forever, even to a time we can’t even comprehend.
In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he was just a kid when he read George Orwell’s 1984. The future described in the book seemed too far that Paul thought he mightn’t live to see it. He felt the same about 2001: A Space Odyssey. “Now they’re well behind us,” Paul wrote.
In the 1950s, a small Paul more than likely balked at the future Orwell or anyone else described. Barely anyone had enough money to buy a television. Rock ‘n’ roll hadn’t even been invented yet. Futuristic literature and film blew everyone’s mind, not just the curious Paul McCartney.
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com
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Ringo Starr and his friends used to frequent the Playboy Club, but their long nights at the club came to an end in 1974. Starr and Keith Moon had thrown a party there that caused damage. The club ultimately rescinded their memberships for their behavior. In 1974, Starr and his friend Harry Nilsson decided to make a documentary called Harry and Ringo’s Night Out about their nights in Los Angeles clubs. The two friends spent a good deal of time out with musicians like Moon and John Lennon, and they wanted to capture it on film.Starr turned to Pride Records president Michael Viner to co-finance the film, which they budgeted at $1.5 million. They wanted to intersperse footage from nights out with animated scenes. Ultimately, though, they never completed the project or the accompanying album. Viner screened the early footage with hopes of raising enough money to finish the project, but they never were able to do this
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison discussed Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed. The original version of the track was not a hit.
A live version of the track was an international success.
George Harrison discussed his opinion of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” and the song’s parent album. Subsequently, he discussed his attitude towards music in general. Notably, Paul McCartney explained why he always performs the tune during his live performances.
The book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters features an interview from 1970. He was asked what he thought about Paul’s debut solo album, McCartney. “I thought ‘That Would be Something’ and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ are great and everything else I think is fair,” he revealed.
George discussed his opinion of the album as a whole. “It’s quite good but a little disappointing,” he added. “But I don’t know — maybe I shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s best not to expect anything and then everything is bonus.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com
A new mosaic dedicated to the late Beatle John Lennon will soon be open to the public.
The Salvation Army’s Strawberry Field, based in Woolton, has released pictures of the monument which is inspired by the ‘Imagine’ mosaic in Central Park’s Strawberry Fields in New York.
The city’s replica measures 6.4 metres in diameter - larger than its American cousin - and covers the entire floor of the Strawberry Field bandstand. It is made up of 390,000 tiles.
The mosaic was made from selected marble and pieced together by four expert artists, taking over 15 weeks to make with each piece being laid onto the resin backing by hand.
Liverpool-based father and son tiling company, Eye of the Tiler Ltd, pieced together and installed the mosaic on the floor of the bandstand.
Influenced by ancient Greco-Roman designs, the ‘Imagine’ mosaic in New York is made out of black and white marble by Italian craftsmen and was donated to the city by the Mayor of Naples, Italy in 1984.
The US-based company, Mozaico Art, which specialises in Italian-style mosaics, were commissioned by Orange Amplification on behalf of Strawberry Field to create the Liverpool installatio details
Paul McCartney’s photographs will be displayed at London’s National Portrait Gallery in an exhibition Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm from June 28 to October 1. McCartney’s 35mm images document the Beatles’ travels from that era. The exhibition coincides with the June release of a photo book featuring the same work.
“Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there’s a sort of innocence about them,” Paul McCartney said in a statement. “Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn’t take them any differently today. They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the many reasons I love them all, and know that they will always fire my imagination. The fact that these photographs have been taken by the National Portrait Gallery for their reopening after a lengthy renovation is humbling yet also astonishing—I’m looking forward to seeing them on the walls, 60 years on.”
Source: Evan Minsker/ca.finance.yahoo.com
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Whether he meant to or not, Ringo Starr often came across as the most easy-going of The Beatles. That might be why he played on many of the best solo Fab Four songs that featured former bandmates. Yet much of that work came in his 20s and 30s. Ringo found easygoing peace in a spiritual situation once he reached his 50s, and it makes sense it took that long.
He grew up in soccer-obsessed England, spent time living in temperate Monaco, and now resides in Los Angeles’ mild climate. Still, Ringo has a passion for skiing.
The drummer joined his Beatles bandmates and meditated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India in early 1968. In his book Postcards From the Boys, Ringo said he found a spiritual situation on the slopes decades later:
Ringo found peace on the mountains in middle age, and it all makes sense when you look at his life.Ringo said skiing proved to be a peaceful spiritual situation when he was 50. When you view his life as a whole, it makes sense it took that long.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
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In 2001, George Harrison died of cancer, prompting an outpouring of tributes from his fellow musicians. In his prolific career, Harrison came into contact with hundreds of different artists. Here are seven who spoke about Harrison after his death.Harrison and Yoko Ono had a complicated relationship during his lifetime, but she offered a statement in tribute to her late husband’s bandmate.“George has given so much to us in his lifetime and he continues to do so even after his passing with his music, his wit and his wisdom,” she said, per ABC. “His life was magical and we felt we had shared a little bit of it by knowing him. Thank you George. It was grand knowing you.”
Harrison and Michael Jackson were on the radio show Roundtable together in 1979 to review new music. After Harrison’s death, Jackson issued a statement calling the former Beatle an inspiration.
“The world has lost a great spirit in George Harrison, a great musician, songwriter, and friend,” he said, per Billboard. “He was an inspiration to me, and I will miss him a great deal.”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles didn't want to spend time on George Harrison's song so they locked it away and forgot about it for almost 30 years. The Quiet Beatle himself admitted he really enjoyed the track. When The Beatles were composing their albums through the decades, George Harrison always fell short when the track listing was finalised. Because John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the primary songwriters for the Fab Four, Harrison and Ringo Starr only had a handful of their tracks included on their records. When The Beatles ventured to India in 1968, Harrison penned one long-forgotten track that the band simply did not want to work with.
Harrison wrote Not Guilty in 1968 while on a trip with the rest of his band.
He wrote both the music and lyrics, and painstakingly perfected the song to the best of his ability - but he couldn't get it exactly right.
Not Guilty was reportedly recorded and re-recorded just over 100 times, but the Fab Four simply "couldn't find a place for it".
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
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