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Beatles News
George Harrison had a successful solo career but didn’t see it as a career. To him, he just did what he loved, which was making music. He couldn’t call it a job.
Once he was free of the constraints of being a Beatle, George did what he wanted. If he wanted to make music, he did. However, he never actively pursued a solo career. George went on tour and released albums here and there, but only as it pleased him. Nothing tied him down.
It might’ve looked like George had a successful solo career, but he only saw it as doing something he loved. It wasn’t a profession.
“You invented your own job with a freshness and a heartfelt originality that made it so much more rich than a mere career,” White said.
George replied, “See, I never really did much [as] far as a career. There’s a lot of people out there who really plan what they’re doing. They got their publicists and their managers and they plan their tours like a Desert Storm campaign. But mostly it’s just me…. It’s all just been haphazard.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
It’s been more than 58 years since the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and Beatlemania hit American shores. At the time, critics believed the Lads from Liverpool — John, Paul, George and Ringo — would be a flash in the pan. But we’re still talking about them and their music.
Here’s a curious fact: The Beatles toured the United States from 1964 to 1966 but only appeared once in Minnesota — Aug. 21, 1965 — and their management swore they’d never come back.
Lori Lundstrom’s father David Lundstrom owned a Minneapolis ambulance company and provided limos to the Beatles during their stay. Lundstrom joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her father’s connection to the legendary performers.
Source: Cathy Wurzer and Britt Aamodt/mprnews.org
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Paul McCartney wrote of one of The Beatles’ songs while he was in the woods with Linda McCartney. Paul said the song was “poetic” and “lyrical.” The track appeared on The Beatles’ Let It Be.
Paul McCartney intentionally got lost with Linda McCartney. During the excursion, he wrote one of the songs from The Beatles’ songs from Let It Be. Paul said the song was “lyrical” and “poetic.”
During a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Paul discussed going on a road trip with Linda. “I’ve got a very vivid memory of driving out of London in my Aston Martin with Linda, just the two of us,” he recalled. “She was always keen on getting lost. Whereas most of us guys driving, particularly driving a loved one, a new girlfriend in my case, you’re nervous about getting lost.”
Paul contrasted London with New York City. “Oh God, in London you can really get lost,” he opined. “It’s not like New York where there’s a grid. This is London. You can be in Streatham or it might be Haringey, there’s no telling. But she would always just say, ‘Yeah, so let’s get lost,’ and we went details
Paul McCartney revealed one of The Beatles’ songs was inspired by tarot cards. In addition, he said the track in question had a message meant for his generation. The song appeared on the soundtrack for one of The Beatles’ movies.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the artist Marijke Koger. “I used to know Marijke, she was a quite striking-looking girl,” he recalled. “She used to read my fortune in Tarot cards, which was something I wasn’t too keen on because I didn’t want to draw the death card one day. I still don’t like that kind of stuff because I know my mind will dwell on it.”
Paul kept drawing the same card. “I always steered a bit clear of all that s***, but in fact it always used to come out as the Fool,” he remembered. “And I used to say, ‘Oh, dear!’ and she used to say, ‘No no no. The Fool’s a very good card. On the surface it looks stupid, the Fool, but in fact it’s one of the best cards, because it’s the innocent, it’s the child, it’s that reading of fool.'”
Source: cheatsheet.com
Fans dreamed of a Beatles reunion long after they broke up in 1970. They came close to getting one a few times over the years. The Fab Four almost attended Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd‘s wedding in 1979. However, one couldn’t make it.
During the April 24, 1976 show of NBC’s Saturday Night (Later Saturday Night Live), producer Lorne Michaels cut in to speak directly to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. He offered The Beatles $3,000 to play three songs on SNL.
“Lately there have been a lot of rumors to the effect that the four of you might be getting back together,” Lorne said. “That would be great. In my book, the Beatles are the best thing that ever happened to music. It goes even deeper than that – you’re not just a musical group, you’re a part of us. We grew up with you.”
He then made his offer. “It’s for this reason that I am inviting you to come on our show. Now, we’ve heard and read a lot about personality and legal conflicts that might prevent you guys from reuniting. That’s something which is none of my business.
Source: cheatsheet.com
There was one drummer besides Ringo Starr that George Harrison often depended on; Jim Keltner. Ringo and Keltner helped George make his 1987 album, Cloud Nine, sound authentic.During their time in The Beatles, George and Ringo worked well together. Ringo was the first drummer George connected with. They collaborated on each other’s songs. That didn’t change once The Beatles split.
George supplied guitar and songwriting help on many of Ringo’s albums. Meanwhile, Ringo added drums to several of George’s records. During a 1988 interview with Ray Martin (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George explained that he didn’t need to tell Ringo how to play his songs; he just understood and got to work. George knew what he was getting, asking Ringo to drum on a song.
“With Ringo, there’s certain songs with Ringo that, you know, I don’t have to tell him what to play, I just play him the song, and he just picks up his sticks, and he just does it, you know,” George said.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison didn’t enjoy listening to The Beatles‘ music on CD. He preferred to listen to his band’s music some other way.
During a 1987 interview with Charles Bermant (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George spoke about how he thought The Beatles’ music sounded on CD. He liked the older versions better.
“I did buy a CD player when they issued them, yeah,” George explained. “I listened to some of them. I still prefer the old versions, how I remember them on vinyl. There’s a lot of stuff that you can hear now that’s good.
“In some cases, there’s a lot of stuff that you shouldn’t hear so loudly, that’s somehow come out in the mix. On Sgt. Pepper I keep hearing this horrible-sounding tamborine that leaps out of the right speaker. It was obviously in the original mix, but it was never that loud.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison said no one knew how to operate sound at The Ed Sullivan Show. However, The Beatles were used to not sounding well during their shows.
Playing on The Ed Sullivan Show was a massive honor, especially for up-and-coming artists and acts from overseas. However, The Beatles, who already had a No. 1 hit in America, didn’t come cheap.
According to Mental Floss, The Beatles “would only agree to appear if the show covered their travel expenses and paid them a $10,000 fee (which would be just under $90,000 in 2022 dollars). Sullivan and his producers agreed, but only if The Beatles would commit to making three appearances. They had a deal.”
The performance turned out to be mutually beneficial. The Beatles got immense exposure that catapulted them into superstardom, and The Ed Sullivan Show got more viewers than ever before.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Paul McCartney disliked a lyric from The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” John Lennon convinced Paul to keep the line. “Hey Jude” became a hit single twice in the United Kingdom.
The Beatles‘ “Hey Jude” has some of the most famous lyrics in the Fab Four’s catalog. Paul McCartney felt he had to change one of the lyrics in the song. Subsequently, John Lennon convinced him to keep it.
In a 2021 Rolling Stone article, Paul said John discouraged him from changing a line in “Hey Jude.”
“I know exactly where I was,” Paul said. “I was in London, my music room at the top of the house, playing my little painted magic piano. John and Yoko were standing right behind me, on my shoulder, in fact.”
Paul was still experimenting with the song’s lyrics.
“They’re standing right behind me as I’m playing, ‘Hey Jude, da-da-da-da, da-da-da,’ and I get to, ‘The movement you need is on your shoulder,’ and I just looked by and I said, ‘I’ll fix that one,'” Paul recalled.
Source: cheatsheet.com
John Lennon said he had an easier time writing lyrics for The Beatles‘ songs than Paul McCartney did. In addition, he revealed he and Paul wrote two of The Beatles’ hits in the back of a van. Notably, one of those songs became a No. 1 single in the United States and the United Kingdom.
“I always had an easier time with lyrics, although Paul is quite a capable lyricist — who doesn’t think he is, therefore he doesn’t try,” John added. “He would avoid the problem rather than face it.”
John felt The Beatles’ early songs were vague. “In the early days lyrics didn’t really count as long as we had some vague theme: ‘She loves you, he loves her, and they love each other,'” he said. “It was the hook and the line and the sound we were going for. That’s still my attitude, but … I can’t leave lyrics alone; I have to make them make sense apart from the song.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison didn’t teach his son, Dhani, about his famous band, The Beatles. So George found it weird when Dhani came to him, asking about The Beatles’ song, “Hey Bulldog.” The former Beatle didn’t know where his son could have heard it.
Dhani grew up around a lot of great music. However, George didn’t sit him down and show him The Beatles. Dhani was nine years old when he saw his father perform for the first time at the Prince’s Trust Concert in 1987.
George told Rolling Stone that Dhani got into Chuck Berry first before George ever taught him about The Beatles. Dhani was upset that George didn’t play more of Berry during his performance at the Prince’s Trust Concert.
George explained, “He’s got to know a bit about the Beatles, but I’ve never pushed that on him, or tried to say, ‘Look who I used to be.’ I did my two cute songs: ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’
Source: cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison accidentally formed The Traveling Wilburys in 1987. He needed to record an extra single for his album, Cloud Nine. He asked Jeff Lynne to help him write it, and Bob Dylan allowed them to use his recording studio. Roy Orbison and Tom Petty tagged along to watch them.
However, it seemed strange to George to have four of the best singers/songwriters in the studio with him and not work on the song. So, all five rock stars recorded “Handle With Care,” but the record company didn’t take the single because it was too good. George held on to it until he got the rest of the guys back together to record an entire album. Thus The Traveling Wilburys were born.
The supergroup recorded two albums, Vol. 1 and Vol.3. Shortly after they released Vol. 1, Orbison died. They never considered replacing him, but George often contemplated who would make good Wilburys.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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The late George Harrison rose to fame as the Beatles’ lead guitarist. He wrote hit songs for the group, including “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Here’s what Harrison said about dying on his own terms.
During an old clip that appeared in the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Harrison spoke about the moment he knew what he wanted to do for a living. He said he and his bandmates didn’t have a good reason to believe they would become established entertainers. All they had was a “feeling” that it would come true. (Here’s how Dolly Parton knew she wanted to be a singer.)
“There was no justification for it,” said Harrison. “We kind of had a feeling that that’s what we were going to do, and that you know, it was felt that something good was going to happen.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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It was 1967 when Paul McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman at a concert at The Bag O'Nails bar in Soho, London.
He and Linda had attended the concert with different groups of friends, but when Linda left her table to get a drink, she passed the famous Beatles singer.
"I stood up just as she was passing, blocking her exit. And so I said, 'Oh, sorry. Hi. How are you? How're you doing?'" he says in Barry Miles' biography Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now.
Watch footage of the couple's wedding day and an exclusive with Paul in the video above. The interview was captured just a year before Linda's death.
Source:Kate Rafferty/honey.nine.com.au
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By the 1990s, George Harrison was used to authors writing books about him. Some were more truthful than others. However authors chose to portray him in their books, George couldn’t complain about it.
Since The Beatles became famous, the press and other writers have written about George. Fan magazine made false accusations, and the press held uninspiring interviews and stereotyped the band.
In the early 1960s, Larry Kane spoke with George about Beatles fan magazines (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters). The radio DJ asked if the rumors bugged him. They did.
“It drives you up a wall sometimes,” George replied. “Since we’ve been over here they’ve been asking us, ‘Is John leaving?’ Well, the new one today is it’s me leaving. You know, that’s just because some idiot in Hollywood has written in the papers that I’m leaving, so now I will have for weeks people coming up time after time and asking, ‘Is it true you are leaving?'”
Source: cheatsheet.com