The Beatles‘ “Don’t Let Me Down” is one of the Fab Four’s most famous later songs. Paul McCartney said the song was John Lennon’s “genuine cry for help” to someone he loved. Notably, the song performed differently in the United States and the United Kingdom.In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the origin of “Don’t Let Me Down.” “It was a very tense period: John was with Yoko and had escalated to heroin and all the accompanying paranoias and he was putting himself out on a limb,” Paul recalled. “I think that as much as it excited and amused him, at the same time it secretly terrified him.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsMany Ringo Starr songs were written by other musicians. For example, one of Ringo’s biggest hits was written by a pair of writers behind many Disney songs. The songwriters wanted the track in question to give listeners something they hadn’t heard before.
Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, also known as The Sherman Brothers, were a pair of professional songwriters. They wrote the songs for some of Walt Disney’s later films such as Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book. They also penned songs used in Disneyland such as “It’s a Small World (After All).” The Sherman Brothers also wrote pop singles.
During an interview in the 2016 book More Songwriters on Songwriting, Richard discussed the origin of The Sherman Brothers’ song “You’re Sixteen.” “We wanted to give the listeners something they hadn’t heard,” he recalled. “They heard so many hard rock beats. But nobody had heard shuffle rhythms.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsGeorge Harrison had some surprising thoughts after The Beatles split in 1970. Out of the group, George was the least suited for fame. By 1969, George was getting frustrated with John Lennon and Paul McCartney for putting him on the back burner. He was sick of being a glorified session man and briefly quit during the Let It Be Sessions.
So, when The Beatles split, George should’ve been the most relieved. However, he wasn’t, not entirely. George hoped for a day when The Beatles made music together again. He assumed that he and his bandmates only needed some time apart to get recording solo out of their systems.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsPaul McCartney had his own vision for The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road.” Subsequently, a major producer came in and changed the song without Paul’s knowledge. Paul revealed what he tried to do to restore “The Long and Winding Road” to its original version.“Paul again,” John opined.
“He had a little spurt just before we split. I think the shock of Yoko [Ono] and what was happening gave him a creative spurt including ‘Let It Be‘ and ‘Long and Winding Road,’ ’cause that was the last gasp from him.” On the other hand, Paul felt the song did not reflect his ideas.According to the book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the album during a 1970 interview with the Evening Standard. “The album was finished a year ago, but a few months ago, American record producer Phil Spector was called in by John Lennon to tidy up some of the tracks.”
Source: details
One of Paul McCartney’s songs drew inspiration from someone he disliked. He compared the song to a track from The Beatles’ Abbey Road. The more recent tune appeared on a hit album.
Many Paul McCartney songs are about fictional characters. For example, one of his more recent tracks is about a woman who looks like a “harlot.” Paul revealed he drew inspiration from real life while writing the song but he’s never going to name who inspired it.
Paul’s 1970 debut solo album is called McCartney. In 1980, he released a sequel called McCartney II. It wasn’t until 2020 that he completed the trilogy with the album McCartney III.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsThe Beatles are one of the most popular bands of all time. Made up of members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, the band’s music is still heralded today. In a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, McCartney sat down for a conversation with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, and the two discussed their careers. During the interview, McCartney talked about his songwriting process with Lennon.
In 2020, Swift and McCartney were interviewed by Rolling Stone about their new releases from that year. Swift released her acclaimed album folklore, and McCartney released an album called McCartney III.
During their conversation about the albums for Rolling Stone, McCartney and Swift also talked about their respective careers and songwriting process.
“I remember what I wanted to know about, which is lyrics. Like, when you’re in this kind of strange, unparalleled time, and you’re making this record, are lyrics first? Or is it when you get a little melodic idea?” Swift asked McCartney.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Most people probably don’t have a certain song or playlist planned for their funeral, but Ringo Starr sure does. The topic came up when he ended up being one of the many famous faces interviewed by NME and they had asked that question.
In response to the interesting question, he gave an even more intriguing answer, saying, “I don’t know what we’d have playing, so I’ll say this one because it’d be nice to have everyone singing along” in regards to the song “Octopus’s Garden.” Yes, one of his own band’s songs, which is actually pretty fitting.
Source: doyouremember.com
detailsGeorge Harrison was Bob Dylan’s close friend and bandmate, so he could provide insight into the relatively reclusive singer. Though Dylan is dedicated to his work as a songwriter and performer — his many albums and Nobel Prize are evidence of this — he also got tired of life on the road. Harrison explained that Dylan often tried to think of different career paths to get him out of touring.Dylan has been working as a musician since 1961, meaning that his career has stretched over 60 years. After moving to New York City and performing in Greenwich Village clubs, Dylan released his first album in 1962. He didn’t find major success until the release of his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, in 1963. With its release, he established himself as a prominent singer-songwriter.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsPaul McCartney didn’t used to be cool. Even back in the Nineties, when the Beatles-indebted Britpop scene was in its pomp, “Macca” always seemed like a cheesy elder statesman. He was a bit dad jeans. A bit Alan Partridge. Both thumbs seemingly fixed permanently aloft. It was John Lennon, the band’s truculent rebel, who the Gallagher brothers deified and all the hip young bands wanted to imitate. Back then, Lennon’s “Imagine” seemed like a secular hymn, a sincere manifesto for a better world. These days it’s that song out-of-touch celebrities sing to show how out-of-touch they are.
Source: Kevin E G Perry/independent.co.uk
detailsPaul McCartney felt some of The Beatles‘ songs were deeper than others. Despite this, he felt writing The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” was essentially the same as writing “The Long and Winding Road.” Notably, the American public had significantly different reactions to the two songs.
During a 2020 interview with The New York Times Magazine, Paul was asked if his more recent songs represented his artistic growth. He said he liked the idea that he would mature as he aged. Despite this, he felt songs he wrote in his 20s like “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby” had a certain “wisdom” to them.
Paul discussed aging. “You would naturally think, ‘OK, as I get older I’m going to get deeper,’ but I’m not sure that’s true,” Paul said. “I think it’s a fact of life that personalities don’t change much. Throughout your life, there you are.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsThe Beatles‘ Ringo Starr worked on the songs from one of Harry Nilsson’s albums. Subsequently, he decided to work with all of the former Beatles on one of his own albums. Notably, George Harrison ended up co-writing Ringo’s first song to reach No. 1 in the United States.
Over the course of his career, Ringo worked with several other rock stars. According to the 2015 book Ringo: With a Little Help, the “You’re Sixteen” singer discussed working with Harry Nilsson. “I worked with Harry Nilsson in London on his album [Son of Schmilsson] with producer Richard Perry.
“So Harry and I were invited to do the Grammy awards, and Richard was saying, Remember you were talking to me in the club one night, you know … you’d like to do something?
Source: usanewssite.com
detailsImagine discovering the Beatles for the first time.
You walk into a dark room and see the four of them, blown up on a giant screen. They’re playing a blistering live set. It is a gig, in rock circles, that has been acknowledged as one of the most famous musical performances on film. But you never knew it existed. In that space, in that moment, you luxuriate in an experience that’s completely new.
Which is exactly why Anabel Martinez, 37, was smiling as she sat in a dark, circular-shaped gallery at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on a recent Sunday morning.
She came to Cleveland for a business trip and paid $35 for a general admission ticket to the museum not knowing about the special Beatles exhibit, “Get Back to Let It Be.” Launched in March, it’s a show meant to complement the acclaimed, 468-minute documentary series directed by Peter Jackson and aired by Disney Plus last November.
Source: Geoff Edgers/washingtonpost.com
detailsGeorge Harrison always looked at the brighter side of things, including The Beatles‘ split. While the world mourned the end of one of the most famous rock band’s in history, and his bandmates went their separate ways, George considered the positives of shedding his Beatle George façade.
First of all, George didn’t have to push and fight to get his songs on an album. He didn’t have to compromise on anything either. He was free to make music the way he wanted and turn his plethora of songs into a seven-times platinum album.
In 1970, shortly after The Beatles broke up, George spoke to WABC-FM New York’s Howard Smith (per Beatles Interviews). Smith said he didn’t know George was a great songwriter because there were few of his songs on Beatles albums.
Source: cheatsheet.com
detailsThe docuseries, which premiered in November 2021 on the Disney+ streaming service, received a nod for the Best Music Documentary honor. Other nominees in that category include Oasis‘ Knebworth 1996 concert film, and documentaries about Janet Jackson, Kanye West and Olivia Rodrigo. The award will be given out as part of the MTV Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED ceremony, a reality-focused spinoff of the original show.
Both the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards and the MTV Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED will air live from Los Angeles on June 5. You can vote for your favorites now via Vote.MTV.com.
Source: Josh Johnson and Matt Friedlander/1430wcmy.com
details
Fans are already planning their journey to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on May 13 as Paul McCartney takes his Got Back tour to the home of the Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams.
Nearly 60 years after The Beatles first album, Please Please Me, was released, McCartney, who turns 80 on June 18, is still going strong and filling packed stadiums and arenas. More than 70,000 people will crowd SoFi for the sold out concert on Friday. McCartney has been spotted twice recently in L.A., once on a double date with Ringo Starr and their wives and once hiking in the Hollywood Hills.
As McCartney performs in Los Angeles for the first time since his Dodger Stadium concert on July 13, 2019, Los Angeles magazine speaks with the authors of The Beatles in Los Angeles: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Jeremy Louwerse, and Tom Weitzel, about some of the most important local moments in Beatles history and some little known Beatles facts.
Source: lamag.com
details