Beatles News

John Lennon said The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" was similar to Bob Dylan's music. He even accused the "Lay Lady Lay" singer of getting "away with murder" among intellectuals.

Bob Dylan’s influence is so great that it even extends to a song about an “elementary penguin.” John Lennon said The Beatles‘ “I Am the Walrus” was similar to Dylan’s music. He even accused the “Lay Lady Lay” singer of getting “away with murder” among intellectuals. While John’s comments were spot-on in some ways, he also ignored a major aspect of Dylan’s work.

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John cited Dylan as an inspiration and also discussed “I Am the Walrus.” “In those days I was writing obscurely, à la Dylan, never saying what you mean, but giving the impression of something,” he explained. “Where more or less can be read into it. It’s a good game. I thought, ‘They get away with this artsy-fartsy crap; there has been more said about Dylan’s wonderful lyrics than was ever in the lyrics at all. Mine, too.&rsquo details

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a song for The Rolling Stones together. John explained why he was willing to give the track away in the first place.

In an incredible moment that the world somehow forgot, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a song for The Rolling Stones together. John felt the song encouraged The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to write songs of their own. The “Imagine” singer explained why he was willing to give the track away in the first place.
The Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership wrote “I Wanna Be Your Man.” The Rolling Stones were the first group to release “I Wanna Be Your Man.” It was The Rolling Stones’ second single, following a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.” The Beatles later recorded the tune for their album With the Beatles featuring lead vocals from Ringo Starr.

Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.com

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“OK! This is the All-Starr Band!” declared Ringo Starr last month in New Buffalo, Michigan, dashing onto the stage to begin the evening as emcee before moving to the drum set later. “Every one of you will know at least two songs!” joked the Beatle, setting the stage for the extravaganza to come.

Touring behind his latest EP Rewind Forward, Starr has toured in an array of All-Starr Band iterations since 1989, ceding center stage to his famous band mates throughout a show that functions not just as a trip down Beatle memory lane but recent rock history.

Joined on this run by guitarists Steve Lukather (Toto) and Colin Hay (Men At Work), bassist Hamist Stuart (Average White Band), keyboard player Edgar Winter, drummer Gregg Bissonette and saxophonist Warren Ham, the seven piece group put their spin upon a few tracks from the projects of each member.

Source: Jim Ryan/forbes.com

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Drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, denied any chances of a supergroup forming with other children of The Beatles, including John Lennon’s son Sean Lennon and George Harrison’s son Dhani Harrison. Starkey’s responses came after he posted an image of himself hanging out with Sean Lennon and fans began proposing the supergroup idea.

“What a guy (although he looks completely insane here and he is and so are we),” wrote Starkey in his caption. “It was so great that Sean invited us to hang at the Dakota and actually get to know each other a bit. We had a gas, and I have to say being in the apartment … I experienced such an overwhelming feeling of love that we didn’t wanna leave.”

Starkey’s responses to fans pushing for the Beatles kids supergroup have been mostly light-hearted. “Would I love to see you, Dhani, and Sean do something together,” wrote one fan, to Starkey’s response “[You] mean a three-way right?”
The same fan quickly elaborated “[I] was thinking more musical! You are all so talented and wonderful artists. I think your fathers knew each other, too.” The drummer quipped “If we had spent t details

During his recent tour of Australia – which finished on the Gold Coast last Saturday (November 4) – Paul McCartney swung by Studio 10 for a rare TV appearance on The Project.

For panellist Georgie Tunny, this was a dream come true (let’s be real though, it’s every music journalist’s dream come true), being able to personally pose a question to the iconic Beatle... On national television, no less.

But as wild as it was, the opportunity was also equally daunting; see, Tunny only had the time to ask McCartney a single question – and as any fan of his or The Beatles’ at large would agree, there’s a nigh-on endless list of topics one could want to him to expound on.

In this exclusive essay for TheMusic.com.au, Tunny explains how she decided on the one question she wound up posing to Sir McCartney…

Source: Ellie Robinson/themusic.com.au

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If Paul McCartney isn’t the greatest songwriter who has ever lived, he’s right up near the top of the list. Continuing his prolific output right into his eighties, McCartney has been writing enduring melodies since the late 1950s (though audiences outside of Liverpool and Hamburg wouldn’t hear any of them until 1962). To date McCartney has written or co-written 32 songs that reached No. 1 on Billboard’s singles charts, with sales in excess of 25 million units.

Most listeners know a Paul McCartney tune when they hear one. But along the way, McCartney has embarked upon a number of unusual projects, producing results that don’t always sound like what one might expect. One of those, Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest, made in a pseudonymous collaboration with Youth (Martin Glover) as The Fireman, was released 30 years ago.

Here are five notable (but unlikely-sounding) Paul McCartney releases.

Source: Bill Kopp/goldminemag.com

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When John Lennon decided to come out of his five-year musical career hiatus at the dawn of the 1980s, one of the first people he enlisted to produce what would become the fifth studio album credited to the former Beatle and his wife, Yoko Ono – "Double Fantasy" – was Jack Douglas.

Looking back however, Lennon's decision was a bit of a head-scratcher – Douglas was known primarily for his work with hard rock and heavy metal bands (Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Montrose, etc.), whereas it was supposedly new wave (The B-52's, in particular) that had rekindled his desire to return to music.

But there was one band that Douglas had previously worked with that was much more in line with Lennon's work with the Beatles (and his early solo work) – Cheap Trick. So, when it was time to begin work on what was envisioned as one of the harder rocking tunes on the album ("I'm Losing You") and a tune that Ono had penned ("I'm Moving On"), Douglas immediately thought of two Trickers to lend a hand – guitarist Rick Nielsen and drummer Bun E. Carlos.

On Tuesday, August 12, 1980, both Nielsen and Carlos found themselves at the Hit Factory in New York City, about to begin work on the tunes – and details

Ringo Starr's latest project is for fans of music and of fashion.

Published Friday, “Beats & Threads” is an illustrated journey through the former Beatles drummer's decades in show business, featuring images of everything from his drum kits to his trend-setting wardrobe. The 312-page book is being sold through the publishing division of Julien's Auctions.

"Featuring nearly 300 shimmering images capturing iconic and many never-before-seen intimate moments of Ringo’s illustrious life and career, along with the drum icon’s warm memories told in his own words, this immense tribute to the enduring influence and time transcending impact of the Fab Four member is a ticket to ride through fashion and Beatles history," the publisher announced.

“Beats and Threads” has a list price of $80, along with signed limited editions for as much as $750. All proceeds will be donated to the Lotus Foundation, which offers support for various charitable projects, from substance abuse to homelessness.

Starr, 83, has had a busy 2023, releasing the EP “Rewind Forward,” touring with his All-Starr Band and working with Paul McCartney on the “final” Beatles song, details

Through the years, Paul McCartney has built a Beatles legend regarding the band’s introduction to America. He’s said on numerous occasions that he and John put a stake in the ground with manager Brian Epstein in advance of their famous appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, stating:

“We’re not going to America till we’ve got a number one record.”

Although there’s a very good chance that this sentiment was a desire of the band, the truth was that the Beatles were committed to that appearance way before. The Beatles would eventually reach #1 in the USA (“I Want To Hold Your Hand”) in February of 1964, (BEFORE their Sullivan appearance). However, in the late fall of 1963, the Beatles executed a determined crusade to crack America.

This story begins with George Harrison. Just as “She Loves You” was climbing the UK charts, destined to be the catalyst for Beatlemania in their home country, he fulfilled his state-side dream and jumped on a plane in September 1963 to visit America. Bunking down in Benton Illinois with his sister Louise (who had immigrated there with her husband and children) it was just 5 months before George would be introdu details

While they were a going concern, the Beatles gave their fans a special gift every Christmas.

This year, fans of the Fab Four have been blessed with the gift of 'Now and Then', the last ever Beatles single, as well as a pretty snazzy Abbey Road-style Christmas jumper.

Back during the band's 1960s heyday though, their biggest supporters – dubbed "Beatle people" by the band – got an annual gift via their membership of The Beatles fan club, which was ably managed by Fifth Beatle Freda Kelly.

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Even to this day, these records are incredibly difficult to come by, and they're not available on streaming, to download, or general sale in the shops.

For those who weren't on board at the beginning, an LP compilation was sent out to fan club members in 1970 – called From Then To You in the UK and The Beatles Christmas Album in the US – but they're not any easier to find today.

Source: Mayer Nissim/goldradiouk.com