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Beatles News
The Beatles nearly SACKED George Harrison and lined up Eric Clapton to replace him, unearthed recordings from January 1969 reveal.
The title of The Beatles’ final album Let It Be suggested serenity and acceptance. But newly unearthed recordings from January 1969 prove that the Fab Four’s swansong followed more of a Long and Winding Road.
In fact the incendiary clips tell how John Lennon threatened to replace George Harrison with Eric Clapton when he temporarily quit the band.
The sudden departure of Harrison –who felt that his songs didn’t get as much attention as those of Lennon and Paul McCartney – worried McCartney and Ringo Starr. But Lennon, while sympathetic, was practical.
Source: David Wilkes/dailymail.co.uk
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In January 1969, the Beatles were huddled together in the basement of the Apple Corps offices in West London, working on their follow-up to the previous year’s White Album.
In addition to the new album, “Let It Be,” they were planning a concert, their first live performance in front of an audience since 1966, when they vowed to retire from the stage after a disastrous tour of the United States that included too many shrieking girls and protests from the Ku Klux Klan.
Their ideas for a live show ranged from impractical to borderline deranged. Paul McCartney, 26, suggested playing in the rain or a snowstorm, admitting that the water might cause a “few deaths on the set due to electric shocks.”
Yoko Ono, 35, recommended a stadium full of 20,000 empty chairs, arguing that it would be “much more dramatic.”
Source: Eric Spitznagel/nypost.com
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Paul McCartney is one of the greatest artists in the world. Millions of people pay good money to see him play live in concert and would probably spend even more money to have him personally serenade them. But Paul’s grandchildren get it all for free, and they don’t exactly appreciate it. When he plays around them, they’d rather watch a TV program instead. They’ll realize they should have soaked in all their moments with the ex-Beatle when he isn’t around anymore. At 79 years old, Paul’s family has truly grown. Paul has three children, Mary, Stella, and James, with his first wife, Linda McCartney. Paul also adopted Linda’s daughter Heather, whom she had in a previous marriage. Linda died in 1998, and Paul married his second wife, Heather Mills, in 2002. They had one daughter, Paul’s youngest child, Beatrice, in 2003. After Paul divorced Mills in 2008, he married Nancy Shevell in 2011.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Michael Jackson’s Thriller includes many famous songs, including the title track, “Billie Jean,” and the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl Is Mine.” In his autobiography, Jackson explained why he felt he had no choice but to make “The Girl Is Mine” the lead single from the album. In addition, he explained why he wrote the song in the first place.
Jackson and Paul are two of the most famous musicians of the 20th century. Despite this, their musical styles are very different. They might not seem like obvious musical bedfellows. In his autobiography, Moonwalk, Jackson discussed how he came to work with Paul.
“When we were about to start work on Thriller, I called Paul McCartney in London and this time I did say, ‘Let’s get together and write some hits,'” Jackson wrote. “Our collaboration produced ‘Say Say Say‘ and ‘The Girl Is Mine.'” While “The Girl Is Mine” appeared on Thriller, Paul released “Say Say Say” on his album Pipes of Peace.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Sir Paul shared a swimming pool photograph of himself as a child with his mother Mary.
The 79-year-old captioned it: “Today is the anniversary of my lovely mum’s birth. Lets celebrate together. - Paul.”
Mary Patricia Mohin was born on September 29, 1909 and married Paul’s father James McCartney on April 5, 1941.
Sadly, the star’s mid-wife mother died some 65 years ago on October 31, 1956 of an embolism due to a complication from surgery for breast cancer.
On Mother’s Day this year Paul paid tribute to his mum with a picture of himself as a kid with his parents and younger brother Michael sitting in a doorway.
He captioned this snap: “Happy #MothersDay to all you mothers around the world with love.. you deserve it. - Paul x.”
John Lennon also lost his mother Julia as a teenager when just 17-years-old.
She was knocked down and killed by a car driven by an off-duty police officer in 1958.
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
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Many women helped George Harrison throughout his career. His mother Louise supported him when he was a boy with a dream of becoming the next Carl Perkins. Then, his first wife, Pattie Boyd, inspired him to write The Beatles’ “Something,” one of the best love songs ever. But only one woman helped him the most and continues to help him years after his death, his wife, Olivia. It’s only fitting that Olivia gets to look over her husband’s legacy when she helped write some of his songs.
Olivia wasn’t just an inspiration and a muse for George. She helped him in the song process whenever she could, and she’s still helping by spending hours remastering George’s albums and finding lost lyrics in the seat cushions of their couches years later.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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On Wednesday morning, as a new semester began, students eagerly headed into the University of Liverpool’s lecture theaters to begin courses in archaeology, languages and international relations.
But in lecture room No. 5 of the university’s concrete Rendall Building, a less traditional program was getting underway: a master’s degree devoted entirely to the Beatles.
“How does one start a Beatles M.A.?” asked Holly Tessler, the American academic who founded the course, looking out at 11 eager students. One wore a Yoko Ono T-shirt; another had a yellow submarine tattooed on his arm.
“I thought the only way to do it, really, is with some music,” she said.
Source: Alex Marshall/nytimes.com
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During an appearance on BBC Radio, The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr looked back on the Fab Four, his bandmates, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, and more.
Asked if he saw Rick Rubin's recent Paul McCartney's special with titled "McCartney 3,2,1," Ringo replied (transcribed by UG):
"No. I haven't seen it but I've just done Rick myself, which I've known for a long time, he's from L.A., or he's been around L.A.
"And I actually played for Tom Petty when Rick was producing the album and so I've sort of known him. A lot of people are talking to me about Paul's interview with Rick, and anyway, I did mine.
"But I still haven't got around to listening to Paul's. So now, I think you've given me the impetus, I will."
What is it like to be one of the most famous people to have ever lived on the face of the Earth?
"Great. You have to look back, it's how it is. I was in a couple of good bands and then I ended up with the greatest band in the world. Who knew it would get this crazy as it did?
Source: ultimate-guitar.com
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Wright revealed how Starr was always thinking of those less fortunate than him, even after he'd just performed to hundreds of fans at a sell-out gig.
Wright said: "Ringo, of course, was a sweetheart. I've seen it here at the Globe. Between the shows, you would get all the toys and everything thrown to the gods [the band]. They used to sweep them up and put them in a plastic bin."
At the time, Beatlemania was in full force, with thousands of young women looking to get a piece of the Fab Four in one way or another.
Wright - whose photography work has been placed on permanent exhibition at the newly renovated Globe - said the venue's employees "would take the [toys] all upstairs into the band's dressing rooms".
"The autograph books," he explained. "The lads would dive in and sign them - no b****y problem."
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
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George Harrison might have had a reputation as the “quiet Beatle,” but he was always the life of the party. People would gravitate to him, and it wasn’t just because he was a Beatle, although that played a big part. There was a reason why George had so many friends. As Paul McCartney would say, he was just a lovely guy. So, of course, when comedian Martin Short was given the opportunity to meet George, he wasn’t going to pass it up. The result turned out to be more than Short could have ever hoped. In a 2019 appearance on Conan, Conan O’Brien asked Short which celebrity he was most excited to meet. He explained that it’s no one in his peer group because “you’re competitive with them and want their failure.” It’s the stars that were big when you’re growing up that are the most precious to meet when you’re older.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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A set of previously unheard interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, in which they discuss his favourite Beatles songs and their famous bed-ins, have been sold at auction.
Canadian journalist Ken Zeilig recorded 91 minutes with the couple on three separate occasions in 1969 and 1970.
It is believed only five minutes of the tapes were ever aired, in the 1980s.
The tapes beat expectations to sell for £38,000 on Tuesday to a Dutch buyer who remains unknown.
The interviews, which were conducted around the time of the couple's two bed-in protests for peace, covered a broad range of subjects, from the upcoming release of The Beatles' Abbey Road album and the future of the band and their Apple record label to the "War is Over" movement and their efforts to clear the name of James Hanratty, who was hanged for murder in 1962.
Source: BBC News
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Photographer Ian Wright was just 18 when he captured The Beatles on stage on 22 November 1963. But the photos never made it into his newspaper because of an event half-way around the world.
The Beatles had just played their first set at the Stockton Globe to 2,400 screaming girls, and another 2,400 were making their way in for the night's second performance when the frontman of the support band heard a newsflash on his transistor radio.
"He had a clapped-out trannie that was held together with chewing gum and elastic bands, and he used to tie the little aerial around one of his cymbal stands," recalls Wright, who was hanging around backstage.
Source: Ian Youngs/bbc.com
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Sir Paul McCartney’s grandchildren aren’t the biggest fans of him and his guitar (Picture: WireImage)
Sir Paul McCartney may be considered a music legend amongst many, but that doesn’t stop his grandchildren from urging him to put his guitar down.
While in the presence of Beatles royalty, an intimate acoustic performance in the living room sounds like a dream, right? Right. Unless you’re a child trying to watch TV.
Sir Paul hilariously revealed that his grandkids are always on hand to keep him grounded as they beg him to put his guitar away when he starts playing at home.
He claims they’d much rather binge on their favourite TV shows instead, telling the Daily Mirror: ‘I occasionally play around the house… it depends on what they’re doing.
Source: Katie Storey/metro.co.uk
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Paul McCartney and Jane Asher dated from 1963 to 1968. Asher was Paul’s first love and his muse. He wrote many iconic love songs about her and heartbreaking songs when they fought. Paul didn’t always treat her the best and wrote songs about their troubles, but Asher made their relationship even more public by breaking things off with the Beatle on live TV.In 1963, The Beatles’ fame was slowly rising. They’d already released a couple of successful singles and were set to play London’s Royal Albert Hall in April for a BBC Radio special. According to Steve Turner’s The Beatles A Hard Day’s Write, the BBC’s listings magazine, Radio Times, sent Jane Asher, Britain’s “best-known teenaged girl,” down to attend the concert. She was only 17 years old at the time and already an established actor. She was also a panelist on the BBC’s popular new music show Juke Box Jury.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Today Ringo Starr released his new video “Let’s Change The World,” the lead single off his current EP Change The World. The song and video deliver a welcome dose of hope and Starr’s trademark optimism. The song was written by Joseph Williams and Steve Lukather, both of whom also played on the track, with backing vocals by Amy Keys, Zelma Davis, Billy Valentine and Darryl Phinnessee.
Lukather also appears in the video, which was created in collaboration with Kids In The Spotlight, a nonprofit that provides a platform for foster care youth to tell their stories through film. These underserved youth write, cast, and star in their own short films, and the experiences help them to heal and grow, as well as to prepare and lay the groundwork for future employment opportunities.
Source: ringostarr.com
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