A half-century ago, The Beatles reigned supreme in the heyday of AM radio and rec room hi-fi turntables. Like many youngsters who were another decade or so away from scoring a driver’s license, I lived and breathed in anticipation of hearing the newest release from the 20th century’s greatest musical group.
As a preteen listening to the album “Let It Be” — played ad nauseam in my bedroom in a cookie-cutter American suburb of Seattle, to be a fly on the wall of the studio where the original supergroup fashioned its iconic songs was my unattainable dream. The Beatles were superhuman and as mythical as Superman and Santa Claus.
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detailsDick James, the Beatles’ original music publisher, gets an icy reception in a scene in Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary. In that scene (Part 1, around 27:00), you sense a scent of resentment, chilling the humor, killing the vibe. It’s the “suit” in the room, the one who, with Brian Epstein in 1963, had easily convinced Lennon and McCartney to sign over their copyrights to all of their Beatles songs, including ones not yet written.
How the Beatles signed away their publishing – a year before they blasted off globally – was unusual then as now. Neither a straight copyright purchase nor a co-publishing deal, James creatively set up Northern Songs as a copyright holding company that he would own with “the boys.” James and his accountant reportedly ended up with 50%, John and Paul received 20% each, and Epstein took 10%.
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detailsGeorge Harrison and Elton John weren’t the closest of friends. They’d collaborated a couple of times, but that’s as far as they went. However, George still felt he needed to warn the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” singer about his excessive drug use. He even gave Elton John a couple of tellings-off.
In the special edition of Rolling Stone, “Remembering George,” Elton John talked about his experiences with George over the years. He also explained that George gave him a couple of talks about his drug habits.
“It’s very hard to put into words,” Elton John said. “He was very forthright, and he actually administered quite a few tellings-off to me about my drug problem.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsThe Disney+ docu-series The Beatles: Get Back has given fans an intimate look at the Beatles’ creative process. Hours of footage show Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr building the pieces of what would become classic songs. Hearing all of their conversations wasn’t easy, director Peter Jackson said. Jackson spoke at a Zoom press conference for The Beatles: Get Back on Nov. 16. He explained how he used new digital tools to uncover dialogue between band members that was previously buried under music and other noise.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsPaul McCartney says family gives his life meaning: “I may be 80, but I feel 25!”
Sir Paul McCartney, who will turn 80 in June, says he still feels like a 25-year-old.
And the former Beatle is in such good spirits that he has no intention of stopping recording, performing live, or writing new songs, which he does with the help of a few drinks.
“Hey, I can’t believe I’m a grandparent!” Macca exclaimed, adding, “I mean, I’m 25 years old actually, I just look older, and I think my birth certificate was falsified.”
I have eight grandchildren, a wonderful wife, and wonderful children, and I believe that is where I should be concentrating my efforts.”
He stated that he composes music “when [he]is in the mood or has some free time.”
“I don’t try to write a song every day,” he explained.
You get an idea, or it’s late at night, and you’ve had a few drinks, and you make terrible demos [sounding like]this old drunken uncle.”
Source: Brinkwire
detailsThe Monkees received many comparisons to The Beatles over the years. While The Monkees covered songs by numerous artists, they only recorded a cover of one Paul McCartney song. During an interview, Mike Nesmith discussed what he thought of the cover’s parent album.The final album The Monkees made during the lifetimes of Nesmith and Peter Tork was a Christmas album called Christmas Party. It was The Monkees’ lone Christmas album. During an interview with The Monkees’ YouTube channel, Nesmith revealed his thoughts on Christmas Party. “Dare I say it, I think this Monkees Christmas album is really, really good,” Nesmith opined. “This is a nice piece of work. It’s very odd in The Monkees’ lexicon, but it was a lot of fun to work on.”
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detailsIn 1976, Lorne Michaels offered The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on his show, Saturday Night Live. Seven months later, George Harrison signed on as the musical guest while Paul Simon had hosting duties. That show had two great moments.
In one skit, George confronted Michaels about the pay. Then, George and Simon performed together in one of the most famous performances on SNL. Simon enjoyed performing with the ex-Beatle. He said it was an “effortless” collaboration.
Simon spoke very highly about his performance with George on SNL in a special edition of Rolling Stone, “Remembering George.”
“The roots of my friendship with George Harrison go back to 1976, when we performed together on Saturday Night Live,” Simon said. “Sitting on stools side by side with acoustic guitars, we sang ‘Here Comes the Sun,’ and ‘Homeward Bound.’
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsThe Beatles‘ movie A Hard Day’s Night inspired the creators of The Monkees‘ sitcom. Davy Jones once dismissed the idea that The Monkees was similar to A Hard Day’s Night. On the other hand, Jones once said a scene from The Monkees was directly lifted from A Hard Day’s Night.At one point in his book They Made a Monkee Out of Me, Jones dismissed the idea that The Monkees’ sitcom was similar to The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. “[Monkees writers Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker] were true to their word and came up with this idea for a show,” he said. “It was based on The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night — four rock ‘n’ roll musicians trying to make it — living together in a house on Malibu beach — sea, sand, surfboards.
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detailsOn the release of Get Back, Peter Jackson’s new documentary on the Beatles, Dominic Sandbrook reveals what eight landmark moments in the Fab Four’s career can tell us about the changing face of Britain in the sixties It was a sunny afternoon in the summer of 1957, and all seemed right with the world. Twelve years after the end of the Second World War, Harold Macmillan’s Britain was booming, the economy buoyant, the “affluent society” in full swing. And in the comfortable Liverpool suburb of Woolton, everybody was looking forward to the St Peter’s parish church fete, a highlight of the summer calendar.
Source: historyextra.com
detailsThe Beatles stopped touring before they reached their early studio pinnacle with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band, leaving a string of un-played era-defining late-'60s hits. Then John Lennon and George Harrison died without ever mounting the never-ending tour cycles later favored by former bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
Still, Lennon and Harrison returned to several of their best-known Beatles songs during rare solo shows, and both McCartney and Starr have made highlights from the Fab Four's catalog a staple on their respective tours. McCartney has even covered songs by Harrison and Lennon, including "Something" and "Day Tripper." Harrison did Lennon's "In My Life" on his 1974 U.S. tour, too.
As a result, most of the expected songs from their time together have been performed onstage – either by the Beatles as a unit or by members of the group. But not all of them, as shown by the following list of 10 Surprising Songs Never Performed Live by the Beatles.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
detailsLong before Peter Jackson's "Get Back," the Beatles were not only a phenomenon like none other in the world of music, but in the world at large as well. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr's innovations and contributions have influenced musicians ever since, and continue to gain them new adoring fans as one generation passes to the next. Their impact can be seen, heard, and felt well beyond music — in humor, fashion, politics, religion and film.
The Fab Four have inspired so many, and their catalogue of over 200 songs has inspired filmmakers to use their music here, there and everywhere. There are plenty of movies about the Beatles, but let's take a look at the best ones that were inspired by them. In most cases, these movies reiterate that all you need is love — and in others, some money and/or murder. In a few more instances, the Beatles' music even inspired their own films.
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detailsPaul McCartney and John Lennon were key collaborators in The Beatles. There were four Beatles, including Ringo Starr and George Harrison, and each of them wrote songs. The Lennon-McCartney collaboration was responsible for such classics as “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Get Back,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and many more. In a recent interview, McCartney explained why writing with Lennon was so easy. McCartney appeared on the Fresh Air podcast with Terry Gross on Nov. 24. He’s just released a book, Paul McCartney: The Lyrics which includes songs he wrote with the Beatles and later in his career. So, there were many Lennon-McCartney songs to discuss.
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detailsOld people have wisdom — and now, behind-the-scenes knowledge about the making of The Beatles’ 1970 album “Let It Be.”
According to Nielsen, the Thanksgiving Week 2021 debut of Peter Jackson’s Disney+ docuseries “The Beatles: Get Back” was viewed by people primarily (54%) over the age of 55. Those golden oldies racked up an impressive 503 million minutes streamed between three episodes over their first four days. (“The Beatles: Get Back” premiered Episode 1 on Thanksgiving Night, Nov. 25. Episode 2 on the following evening and the third and final episode on Saturday, Nov. 27. The Nielsen week also included Sunday, Nov. 28.)
Those 500-million-plus minutes streamed placed “Get Back” seventh among original streaming programs that week. It did not make the Top 10 overall when counting acquired programs.
Source: Tony Maglio/yahoo.com
detailsThe very last song The Beatles recorded before they broke up was ‘I Me Mine’ but it wasn’t all of The Beatles.
As many people learned watching Peter Jackson’s ‘Get Back’, the album that became ‘Let It Be’ was recorded before ‘Abbey Road’ but released after ‘Abbey Road’.
The ‘Let It Be’ album was delayed a: because the planned ‘Get Back’ album was scrapped (it is now part of the new ‘Let It Be’ box set) and b: The ‘Let It Be’ album was awaiting the release of the ‘Let It Be’ movie (the original footage that Jackson used to create the ‘Get Back’ series.
The Beatles finished the ‘Get Back’ sessions in January 1969. In February 1969 they started work on the ‘Abbey Road’ album. ‘Abbey Road’ was released on 26 September 1969 and the ‘Let It Be’ album was released on 8 May 1970.
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detailsGeorge Harrison and Jimi Hendrix never officially met, but they had similar views on fame. They were two of the most famous musicians in the 1960s, George with The Beatles and Hendrix with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. However, neither of them could be bothered with fame. All they cared about was their music.
George Harrison in denim in 1967 and Jimi Hendrix in velvet in 1966.
During an interview on The Dick Cavett Show, Hendrix revealed what he thought of fame. Cavett asked him what kind of compliments he liked to hear. Hendrix said he didn’t like compliments.
“I don’t know, I don’t really live on compliments,” Hendrix said. “Matter of fact, it has a way of distracting me. A whole lot of other musicians and artists out there today, you know they hear these compliments, they say, ‘Wow, I must have been really great.’
Source: cheatsheet.com
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