Rock and roll reunions happen often now, such as for special occasions like an award or induction into a hall of fame. Other bands do it for sentimental reasons, anniversaries of hit albums, or — let’s be honest — money.
In 1974, the Beatles almost reunited in Syracuse, N.Y., and it all began with a much simpler reason: John Lennon’s birthday on Oct. 9, 1971.
The Fab Four broke up in 1970 after less than a decade together crafting some of the greatest songs in music history, from “Let It Be,” “In My Life” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “Come Together,” “Help!” and “All You Need is Love.” Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr drew screaming fans everywhere, influenced multiple generations of musicians, and still remain popular today through music streaming services, artists covering their tunes, documentaries (like Peter Jackson’s upcoming Disney+ series “Get Back”) and multiple Beatles-inspired stories (including the 2007 movie “Across the Universe,” Netflix’s animated kids’ show “The Beat Bugs,” Cirque du Soleil’s “Love,” and details
Sir Paul McCartney, 79, has revealed how he “couldn’t deal” with the fall out of The Beatles' split in the early 1970s due to the intense scrutiny. Therefore he and his wife Linda McCartney decided to “escape” to a remote sheep farm in Scotland, where they both decided to embrace sustainability and vegetarianism.
During their 29-year marriage, the McCartneys had four children: Mary, Stella and James, as well as Heather, who Linda shared with her first husband and who the musician later formally adopted.
They would regularly visit a farmhouse retreat in western Scotland, which Paul purchased before they met, a hidden place he used initially to "escape Beatlemania” and later to deal with the fall out of the musical split between him, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon.
Source: Holly Fleet/express.co.uk
detailsIf you were lucky enough to ever see The Beatles play, and the band performed “If I Fell,” you might have noticed George Harrison switching between two guitars. During an interview with journalist Larry Kane (who toured with the band when they did their American tours in 1964 and 1965), Harrison explained the reason why he was “always swapping ’round.” He also spoke about staying true to The Beatles’ sound when performing live and his songwriting aspirations.
Kane traveled around with the band during their first two American tours. He rode in the same planes as them, stayed in the same hotels, and tried to get in questions whenever he could. During one of those interviews, he asked Harrison if The Beatles ever had any trouble replicating their sound onstage.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsA little more than one week after releasing their highly-anticipated collaboration “My Universe,” Coldplay and BTS debut the tune atop the Hot 100. The track is the second leader on Billboard’s all-encompassing ranking of the most popular songs in the U.S. for Coldplay and the sixth for BTS. With one more ruler to their credit, the South Korean boy band now ranks as one of the most successful groups of all time, and they’re in rarified company.
Half a dozen No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 means BTS are now tied for the fifth-most rulers in the chart’s history, when looking solely at groups, duos and bands. The K-pop favorites are now on the same level as Hall & Oates, according to Billboard.
Leading the way among all acts (not just groups) are The Beatles. During their time together, the Fab Four managed an incredible 20 No. 1s on the Hot 100, and they remain the only name in U.S. history to reach that make, though Mariah Carey is just one champion behind.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Sometimes, things just fall apart. Flawed marriages, beloved cars, once-indomitable empires. We are shaken by unthinkable demises. These are serious matters. Nobody, by contrast, cares very much when a pop group falls apart, because they were never built to last. Even the greatest pop group of them all was always sharply aware of its own ephemerality. “Obviously we can’t keep playing the same sort of music until we are about 40,” said Paul McCartney in a 1963 television documentary when asked about the longevity of The Beatles. “I’ve always fancied having a ladies’ hairdressing salon,” added Ringo Starr, the funny one, as he looked deep into his own future. “Trotting around in me stripes and tails.”
Source: ft.com
detailsGeorge Harrison had a wicked sense of humor. He was buddies with the guys from Monty Python, after all. George knew how to have a good time, even during periods of his life that were especially grueling. His life was dark sometimes, but he always knew how to laugh, especially if it was at someone else’s expense. So it’s not surprising to hear that George pulled an elaborate prank on his fellow rocker, Phil Collins.
Collins was a huge The Beatles fan. So he signed up to be a session musician for George Harrison when he was recording his first solo album outside The Beatles, All Things Must Pass, in 1970. At only 19, Collins got to work with one of his heroes.
“Our manager got a call from Ringo Starr’s chauffeur, who said they needed a percussionist, and he suggested me,” Collins told Louder Sound. “So I went down to Abbey Road, and Harrison was there and Ringo and Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann and Phil Spector, and we started routing the song.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsRingo Starr is one of the best drummers in the world. However, when The Beatles disbanded in 1970, Ringo found himself in a bit of a pickle. He’d been The Beatles backbeat for years and rarely wrote the band’s songs. After The Beatles ended, Ringo didn’t have Lennon-McCartney to help him. Suddenly he had to do it all by himself or else face the prospect of becoming the least successful Beatle.
To make matters worse, he started his solo career off on a bad note. Ringo had a falling out with Paul McCartney, and his first solo album was a commercial flop. But Ringo was persistent. He was going to get by with a little help from his friends.
During an interview with Rolling Stone radio (per the Daily Mail) in 2020, Ringo admitted that he thought he “didn’t have the talent” to finish the songs on his debut solo album Sentimental Journey. So, he often turned to fellow Beatle George Harrison to help him.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsRingo Starr, Max Weinberg, Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, and over 100 other musicians have united for a massive cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” as part of a new campaign to help end world hunger.
The “Drum Together” clip was organized by WhyHunger, and along with Starr, Weinberg, and Cameron, it features drummers like Jim Keltner, Steve Gadd, Cindy Blackman Santana, and 11-year-old prodigy Nandi Bushell. While a massive coalition of percussionists (including an orchestra timpanist) create the base for this epic rendition of “Come Together,” the meticulously stitched-together performance also features an array of other musicians from guitarists and pianists to trombonists and trumpeters.
Source: Jon Blistein/rollingstone.com
detailsDoting father Paul McCartney made sure to support his designer daughter Stella at her eponymous label's Spring/Summer 2022 fashion show in Paris on Monday.
Sitting in the front row alongside French actress Isabelle Huppert, The Beatles frontman Paul, 79, cut a dapper figure in a tailored black blazer worn over a high-neck navy shirt.
Paul covered his nose and mouth with a black face mask and wore his greying hair neatly styled.
Once the show had come to an end, Stella, 50, made sure to walk the runway as the audience clapped and Paul was no doubt filled with pride.
Source: Aisha Nozari/dailymail.co.uk
detailsSociologists were stumped by the effect The Beatles had on their fans
The Beatles felt ‘a vibration’ from their audiences
Ringo Starr says the band couldn’t hear themselves play at live shows
The Beatles perform on stage at the Washington Coliseum, Washington DC, Feb. 11, 1964. The performance was their first US concert. Pictured are, from left, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon | Rowland Scherman/Getty Images
As soon as fans saw The Beatles, whether they were playing a show or simply walking down the street, they broke into seemingly uncontrollable, intense screams. This couldn’t help but have an effect on John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Here’s how the band felt about the reaction they elicited from their fans.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsDave Grohl will read a tale based on The Beatles’ ‘Octopus’s Garden’ to children this week for a new episode of CBeebies’ Bedtime Stories.
The Foo Fighters frontman will read the story, which is written by Ringo Starr and features pictures by Ben Cort, at 6.50pm BST this Friday (October 8) on the CBeebies channel.
Grohl is the latest high profile star to contribute to the series, which has seen Dolly Parton, Sir Elton John, Robbie Williams and Mark Ronson read stories aloud. Actors including Tom Hardy, Felicity Jones, Tom Hiddleston and Orlando Bloom have also narrated in the past.
Per press material, the story that Grohl will read “follows five children on a magical journey through the Octopus’s garden. The playful Octopus takes them on a wondrous underwater adventure, riding on the backs of turtles, playing pirates in a sunken city and sheltering from a storm in the octopus’s cave”.
Source: Charlotte Krol/nme.com
detailsThe Beatles almost sacked George Harrison and were reportedly thinking about replacing him with Eric Clapton, according to a newly unearthed interview with John Lennon.
The tape hears Lennon threaten to replace Harrison with Clapton after the guitarist temporarily quit the band in January 1969, during the recording sessions for the band’s final album, ‘Let It Be’, reports The Daily Mail.
The sudden departure of Harrison – who felt that his songs weren’t getting as much attention as those of Lennon and Paul McCartney – worried McCartney and Ringo Starr. Lennon, however, while sympathetic, was also practical about the situation.
Lennon said that Harrison’s attitude had been “a festering wound and we allowed it to go deeper and we didn’t even give him any bandages.”
The ‘Imagine’ hitmaker then suggested that his place in The Beatles be taken by fellow guitarist Clapton. “I think if George doesn’t come back by (next week) we ask Eric Clapton to play,” Lennon said.
Source: Will Lavin/nme.com
The Beatles thought the parents of their American fans were rude
They aggressively, thanklessly asked them for autographs
The band relaxed in the Florida sun (away from their fans’ rude parents)
In 1964, The Beatles got on a plane and flew to America for the first time as a band to make their debut. There, they made an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and played venues all around the country (they were excited most of all for Carnegie Hall). To John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr‘s delight, the U.S. welcomed them with open arms. And the feeling was mutual. The Beatles loved their American fans. But they did not, however, love their parents.
In his 1964 column for the Daily Express (with the help of Daily Express writer Derek Taylor), Harrison wrote about interacting with The Beatles’ American fans’ parents.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsThe farm in Peasmarsh, near Rye has been ranked the sixth most searched A list home on the web, according to interior designers UNCLE.
Searches for the homes of Jeremy Clarkson, Eric Clapton, Emma Watson, Harry Styles and Chris Evans were also popular.
The former Beatle’s stunning 160-acre plot - dubbed Blossom Wood Farm - was purchased in 1973.
Last year, Sir Paul revealed that he was isolating at his farm along with his daughter Mary and her family.
The 79-year-old was due to embark on a series of European concerts in 2020 including a Saturday night performance on the Glastonbury festival.
Source: Olivia Marshall/theargus.co.uk
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Having placed mysterious ads in regional papers, including The Liverpool Echo, to tease publication of his new picture book, Grandude’s Green Submarine, Paul McCartney is now sending a giant green submarine to his beloved hometown for families to enjoy!
On Saturday 2nd October, Paul McCartney’s Green Submarine will dock outside Waterstones Liverpool One to entertain families and mark publication of his new book Grandude’s Green Submarine (illustrated by Kathryn Durst). Young children will be able to meet Grandude and Nandude and have their photo taken in the submarine and the first 55 families to engage with the submarine will be in with a chance of winning one of 5 exclusive signed copies in a nod to it being 55 years since the release of Yellow Submarine.
The green submarine will stay docked in Waterstones, Liverpool One on the Sunday and Monday as well and will find final harbour with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Charity who are delighted that Paul has decided to donate the submarine to them.
Source: theguideliverpool.com