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Beatles News
Multiple legendary rock bands have undergone lineup changes over the past 60 years since the genre hit the mainstream. Van Halen has had more than one lead singer since the 1970s and Fleetwood Mac once existed without Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, to name a couple of examples. Previous lineups of The Beatles might not be so widely known, as the changes occurred before Beatlemania took the world by storm.Paul McCartney and John Lennon began performing together in 1957 as teenagers. George Harrison was a friend of McCartney's from school who later joined the group. Stuart Sutcliffe joined, but only for a few months. Pete Best rounded out the group as the drummer. The quintet spent time performing in Liverpool and in Hamburg, Germany in the early 1960s. Future manager Brian Epstein discovered them as a four-piece without Sutcliffe in Liverpool and led them toward a record deal with Parlophone, an EMI company led by George Martin. Martin suggested a better drummer. The band chose Richard Starkey, also known as Ringo Starr (per Britannica).
Source: Anna Robinson/grunge.com
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When George Harrison and The Beatles first came to America, the press gave them “tags” based on their apparent personalities. John Lennon was the witty Beatle, Paul McCartney was the cute one, George the quiet one, and Ringo Starr was, well, Ringo Starr.
No labels could’ve been farther from the truth.
In 1965, George spoke with Larry Kane about the “tags” the press gave him and The Beatles when they first came to the U.S. George thought they were silly.
“On your first U.S. visit, George, you were known as the quiet Beatle, the somber, thoughtful, and pensive one, and suddenly here in 1965 you’ve kind of, according to most people’s way of thinking, opened up,” Kane said. “You’re talking a lot at the press conferences, a lot of questions are directed at you. What’s the reason for all of that?”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison said the rumors in Beatles fan magazines drove him up a wall. However, the rumors the press and some authors concocted were even worse.
George had a hard enough time being a Beatle and struggled with fame. So those tall tales only aggravated him even more.
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
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George Harrison and Paul McCartney were bandmates for over 10 years, but George never understood where Paul got his melodies. He couldn’t replicate them.
In a 1969 radio interview, George spoke with David Wigg about The Beatles’ newest album, Abbey Road. He talked about his favorite songs on the new album, including “Because” and two of Paul’s songs, “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Golden Slumbers.”
Despite what was going on in The Beatles at the time and George and Paul’s tense relationship, George still had compliments about his soon-to-be ex-bandmate.
“You know, Paul always writes nice melodies,” George said. “In fact, I don’t know where he finds them half the time. He’s amazing for doing that.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison‘s “Here Comes The Sun” is about sitting in an English garden, specifically Eric Clapton’s. However, the famous Beatles song is a little more complicated than that. George might not have written it if he didn’t play hooky. Thankfully, he did.
By the time The Beatles started work on Abbey Road, they were barely speaking to one another, let alone working together. Crack by crack, they were slowly breaking up. Plus, there were endless meetings about the band’s legal problems.
One day, George, sick of it all, decided not to show up and drove to his friend Eric Clapton’s house instead. If he hadn’t, he might not have written “Here Comes The Sun.”
In an interview for BBC Radio’s Scene and Heard (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), David Wigg asked George, “You must have been inspired by the sun, but where were you?”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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George Harrison loved his mother dearly, but they disagreed on some things, including her answering fan mail. From the day that George came home and asked for his first guitar, Louise Harrison supported her son. She encouraged him musically and let him leave school to travel to Hamburg, Germany, with The Beatles.
When the band played at The Cavern Club, she always cheered them on in the front row. After The Beatles became famous and Beatlemania exploded, the only way she could support her son was to support his fans. So, she answered fan mail. All fans deserved a personal answer for loving him so much.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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An important piece of Beatles history is up for grabs -- John Lennon's nasty response to a Paul McCartney interview, and it provides tons of insight into the writing duo's complicated relationship.
John fired off a letter to Paul days after an interview critical of him and The Beatles appeared in a November 1971 issue of British music magazine Melody Maker, and John's reply is mostly scathing ... but also thoughtful and pleading.
From the jump, John's frustration with Paul is clear ... telling Paul he's ungrateful for all the money he's getting from The Beatles. As the 3-page letter rambles on, John takes issue with Paul dismissing his song "Imagine" and berates Paul for being indecisive over the band's breakup.
The Beatles had been broken up for more than a year at that point, and were haggling over money. In the letter, John pleads with Paul to meet him without any lawyers ... then turns around and accuses Paul of buying up shares of another record company behind his back.
Source: tmz.com
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If you want to learn how much someone doesn't know about music, engage them in a conversation that weighs in on the importance of Ringo Starr to the Beatles. If the person casts Ringo as the bit player in the Beatles, you know he is missing the big picture and only assessing the vocal and songwriting prowess of the other three against "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden."
And there's always that business about how Ringo couldn't play drums (we'll address that later).
People love to ape tired argument gambits like "He's the luckiest guy in show business," "He was the guy who was along for the ride," or "Ringo wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles," that nasty quote attributed to John Lennon that everyone from Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn to Snopes has proved was uttered by a forgotten British comedian in 1983, three years after John ceased to exist.
Source: Serene Dominic/phoenixnewtimes.com
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Before George Harrison started any part of his 11th studio album, Cloud Nine, he needed a producer, and the first person that came to mind was Jeff Lynne, ironically. George once called Lynne a Beatles copycat. However, he realized how wrong he was and contacted Lynne.
After meeting, the former Beatle wanted to get to know the ELO frontman and producer before they started work. George had to make sure they’d be good songwriting partners. Lynne passed the test, and the pair began Cloud Nine. Once they started, George realized why he and Lynne worked well together.
Initially, George knew it was ironic that he wanted Lynne to produce Cloud Nine. However, that was the reason why George wanted the producer. If Lynne was a Beatles copycat, that was OK with George. He wanted someone who made music like him.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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It would truly be a pity if you didn’t give this George Harrison song a listen.
“Isn’t It A Pity” is a song everyone should know, and here’s why: It’s a song about how we tend to take our loved ones for granted, but it’s also a reminder that we have the ability to change that behavior. We have the ability to give back.
Tensions were running high amongst The Beatles in their final days together. Harrison, in particular, felt smothered by the band in the late 1960s. He had been sitting on a mountain of songs that he wrote but didn’t make the cut for a Beatles record. So, once The Beatles officially broke up in 1970, Harrison unleashed an avalanche of music onto listeners. His 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass had 23 new songs on it, two of which were “Isn’t It A Pity (Version 1)” and “Isn’t It A Pity (Version 2).”
Source: americansongwriter.com
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In all the nooks and crannies of Beatles Scholarship, the Fabs’ relationship to and time spent in India is one of the most interesting. In fact, it could be argued that no group did more to open Western ears, eyes, and minds to Indian music, culture, and spirituality than the Beatles did in the mid/late 1960s.
The connection is told in the fascinating 2021 documentary The Beatles and India (available on DVD & Blu-Ray June 21 from MVD Entertainment). It’s co-directed by Ajoy Bose (based on his book, Across the Universe—The Beatles in India) and Pete Compton.
Source: Bob Ruggiero/houstonpress.com
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The Beatles‘ 1966 album Revolver is what ultimately cemented the band’s reputation as creative studio geniuses atop the pyramid of commercial music at the time. It may not have the epic range of material as heard on The White Album, or the cohesiveness of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released the following year, but Revolver marks the first time where the Beatles truly stepped outside of their comfort zone in the studio and expanded the idea of what rock and roll could be.
Coming off 1965’s Rubber Soul, the Beatles were at the peak of their fame. Yet, each member was growing increasingly disillusioned with all that was involved with “The Beatles” and their growing legion of fans. John Lennon was perhaps the most affected, causing a huge uproar in the United States when he proclaimed that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus Christ.” The demands of the road, the size of the shows, and the non-stop schedule had pushed the band to their limits, so they cleared a few months from their calendar to give themselves time to prepare for their next album. The band used this time to delve deep into their new-found love of LSD–in particular Lennon and George Harrison&md details
George Harrison and Pattie Boyd’s relationship was marred by extramarital affairs.
A former assistant to The Beatles said Pattie Boyd made the right decision when she left George Harrison.
George Harrison and Pattie Boyd had a friendly relationship later in life.
After her divorce from George Harrison, Pattie Boyd was left feeling incredibly guilty. Both were involved in extramarital affairs, and Boyd said that Harrison barely spoke to her toward the end of their relationship. Still, she wondered if she’d made a mistake. After running into The Beatles’ former assistant, though, she felt more assured that the separation was a good idea.
Boyd and Harrison married in 1966. While Boyd said they were very much in love, the connection between them began to wilt as time passed. Harrison conducted multiple affairs, and after dedicated pursuit by Eric Clapton, Boyd began an affair with him.
Harrison grew increasingly distant and cold, but Boyd said the final straw came when he started an affair with Maureen Starkey, Ringo Starr’s wife. To add insult to injury, they conducted the relationship at the home Boyd and Harrison shared, sometimes even while she was home.
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When George Harrison and Pattie Boyd were married, they decided to switch to a vegetarian diet together. Boyd threw herself into finding new recipes for them and found joy in cooking. After their divorce, though, she began reincorporating meat into her diet. Harrison remained a vegetarian for the rest of his life. When he surprised her on Christmas and saw her eating meat, he scolded her.
When Boyd and Harrison began their relationship, she took a great deal of enjoyment in cooking for them.
“When George and I first got together I wasn’t a good cook but quite enthusiastic — I knew there was something better than school food and even Lilie’s fare,” she wrote in the book Wonderful Tonight. “I tried to make the sorts of things I imagined boys from the north would like — shepherd’s pie, roast beef, and Yorkshire pudding — and then George and I became vegetarian, which gave me a whole new interest.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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John Lennon explained a famous lyric from The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
He said he was “awake” for his entire life.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” appeared on the soundtrack of one of The Beatles’ movies.
John Lennon was asked if The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” represented a “new awakening” for him. Subsequently, John said the song was about being “awake” his whole life. He said his claim wasn’t “egomania.”
“It still goes now, doesn’t it?” John replied. “Aren’t I saying exactly the same thing now?”
John was asked if the lyric was a “new awakening” for him. “No, it wasn’t a new awakening,” he responded. “It was the fact that I was putting it on paper. I was awake all my life. You understand? I’ve always been, all my life.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
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