Beatles News

The Beatles unprecendented success in the 1960 made them the most popular act in the world. But with the world’s eyes on them, they could not escape some bizarre rumours hitting the newspapers - with the most tantalising being that Paul McCartney died in 1966.

The rumour goes that on this day, November 9, in 1966, McCartney died in a car crash on the M1 motorway in the UK.

It continues to say that, to spare the public the sheer grief of losing one of the band’s founding members, The Beatles secretly replaced him.

Even more bizarre is the suggestion that the surviving members of The Beatles held a McCartney “lookalike contest”, awarding the winning person the slot in the band.

The “new” McCartney was then, sometimes, referred to as William Campbell or Billy Sheers.

Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk

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The Beatles and Prince are both iconic but they made very different music — or did they? Some believe Prince based his album Around the World in a Day on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band after listening to the Fab Four for the first time as an adult. Is this rumor true? Here’s a look at what a member of the Revolution and Prince himself had to say.
The first Beatles song Prince ever heard was very strange

In an interview with Diffuser.fm, Bobby Z. of the Revolution discussed the time he played Sgt. Pepper on Prince’s tour bus and the Purple one heard the Fab Four for the first time. Prince heard the song “Good Morning, Good Morning.” The avant-garde song features animal sounds and snorts.

Source: americansongwriter.com

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The Beatles and many other bands headed to the USA in the 1960s and penetrated the music industry. This was a major thing, and it was duly named the British Invasion. While their music was inspired by American artists such as Elvis, it turns out there was more to it than just this, and skiffle also played its part.

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Paul Endacott of Music Heritage London spoke about how skiffle affected the band in their early days.

Skiffle is a genre with influences from blues, jazz, and American folk music, which originated as a form in USA in the early part of the 20th century.

It became extremely popular in the UK in the 1950s, with artists known as Lonnie Donegan among the big names.

It is unknown where the name skiffle came from, but it has been suggested it was a slang term for the parties where skiffle bands would perform.

Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk

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What made the 1968 White Album sessions so unpleasant for The Beatles? The list is long, but you can’t answer the question without mentioning the arrival of Yoko Ono on the scene and the growing creative frustrations of George Harrison.

These were the sessions at which Harrison couldn’t interest his bandmates in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” after all. And Ringo Starr actually left the group for a spell that summer. When Paul McCartney later described it as “the tension album,” he wasn’t exaggerating.

But McCartney had an idea for getting the band playing together in a looser setting for the next album. It involved a more stripped-down approach — the four Beatles and their instruments — and at the end of filmed rehearsals they would play their first concert in three years.

Source: cheatsheet.com

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n angry letter John Lennon wrote to a Lexington man about his religious beliefs is going up for auction.

“Listen, Brother, Why don’t you Jesus Freaks get off peoples backs?” Lennon said in the handwritten letter dated Oct. 1, 1971.

He continued, “its been the same for two thousand years — wont you ever learn? those who know do not speak, those who speak do not know, your peace of mind doesn’t show in your neurotic letter, son. One mans meat — brother! Peace off!”

The missive, written on the letterhead of Apple, the Beatles’ record label, is signed “John & Yoko, ’71.”

The framed note and envelope addressed by Lennon himself, along with a matchbook and statement of provenance, are up for bidding online through RR Auction.

The recipient of the note was Tom Bonfield, who at the time lived in an apartment at 628 Lawrence Street, which is in the South Hill neighborhood near the University of Kentucky campus.

Lennon was writing in response to a letter Bonfield had sent him about his Christian faith.

Source: usnews.com

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At last night’s (November 7) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, late T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan was among the new inductees, and he was welcomed into the Hall by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Alongside Bolan, Nine Inch Nails were also inducted, with Iggy Pop giving a speech to welcome Trent Reznor and co, while Depeche Mode also joined the revered list.

“People knew him as a great musician, a songwriter, a guitarist, but he was also a poet,” Starr said of his friend, who died in a car crash in 1977. “And he was really proud of that.

“He was always telling me that he was the Number One selling poet in Britain. In fact, his poetry was as important to him as his music. He had great style and was really unlike anyone else I have ever met.
Ringo added: “He was a great performer, just incredible. And that’s why I called the film we did together Born to Boogie, because he really was. I told Marc, I’ll bring the camera and everything else, you just bring yourself. We had a lot of fun together. I remember lots of laughter.

Source: Will Richards/nme.com

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The Beatles’ company, Apple Corps took in over 50 million pounds last year.

Surviving members of the Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison’s widow, Olivia received 6.1 million pounds each.

This was made up of £1,417,000 in dividends and £4,719,500 in “connection with the provision of promotional services and name and likeness rights”.

Apple Corps Limited’s annual accounts showed a turnover of £50,244,899 for the 12 months ending in January, the equivalent of £137,657 a day, despite the group breaking up more than 50 years ago.

The company’s figures also revealed a pre-tax profit of £8,606,191. It was also revealed that a large proportion of that came from the Las Vegas stage show ‘Love’ which was a joint venture with Cirque de Soleil.

The figures show substantial growth on the previous year, when turnover was £36.5 million with a pre-tax profit of £5.5 million, and shares to McCartney, Starr, Ono and Olivia were £3,685,000.

Source: Paul Cooney/nova.ie

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It was midsummer 1970 in Florida. Eric Clapton looked out over the blue water knowing his life was at yet another crucial crossroad.

"I was standing there wondering which way to go and was paralysed with fear about making a decision," he would later recount.

"It seemed there were all these choices, musically and emotionally."

Fed up with stardom, he'd dismantled his supergroup Blind Faith and fled Britain with a drug habit, a broken heart and a crazy plan to make an album that would win back a lost love.

A man with black hair poses close to a women with blonde hair in a black and white photograph
Pattie Boyd and George Harrison photographed in 1966, shortly before their wedding.(By Robert Freeman)

The woman in question was Pattie Boyd. She was the wife of one of Clapton's closest friends: former Beatle George Harrison.

Neglected and betrayed by her own husband, Pattie had grown close to Clapton, but in the end she could not bring herself to run away with him.

Source: abc.net.au

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The Beatles started out with a bluesy, skiffle edge before they became famous. Their music evolved as their fandom grew, and by the end, their songs were far more experimental and full of intrigue. There are classic songs in every era of The Beatles - but which was John Lennon’s favourite one?
What was John Lennon's favourite song by The Beatles?

This is a tricky thing to work out as John spoke openly about various songs.

Naturally, as a songwriter it would make sense for him to lean closer to his own style, however in a number of interviews John spoke about which tracks meant the most to him, and some have mainly been written by his songwriting partner Sir Paul McCartney.

While it is hard to pin down his exact favourite song, there are some which he lauded in his lifetime which can give us a clear glimpse at his taste.

Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk

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Phil Rudd has recently joined AC/DC with Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams to release an album amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The album titled ‘PWR/UP‘ and will be released on November 13th.

Whatever, recently, during the interview, the successful drummer was asked, “Who were your guys, the drummers that you were rocking to when you started out?”, Phil Rudd replied and said:

“Well, we got Ringo, Charlie Watts, Ian Paice, just those ’60s guys, British rock guys, and Ringo’s sort of always a special kind of a dude. He was great – he was great, he had really great attitude.”

Following that conversation, the interviewer said that it’s funny to think of Ringo Starr and that if he thinks whether he is so underrated. Phil replied:

“I saw him play with Carl Perkins and Eric Clapton on that Carl Perkins birthday show they did – he’s just hot, he’s on it.

Source: Talha Cetinbas/metalcastle.net

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While we await the release of Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back, we already know where the living members of the Fab Four stand on the documentary’s release. Both Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney expressed their approval of this alternate look at the Let It Be sessions.

As for George Harrison and John Lennon, we only have their takes on 1970’s Let It Be — and both recalled the period as extremely unpleasant. ““It was just a dreadful, dreadful feeling and, being filmed all the time, I just wanted them to go away,” Lennon said in Beatles Anthology.

Harrison said more or less the same thing. “For me, to come back into the winter of discontent with The Beatles [during the Let It Be shoot] was very unhealthy and unhappy,” he recalled in Anthology (in the ’90s). At another point, Harrison described it as “painful.”

Originally, Harrison saw Let It Be in a far more positive light. In a March ’70 interview with the BBC, he described the film and record as “a good change” from previous Beatles releases. He liked the imperfections the project revealed.

Source: cheatsheet.com

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The Beatles spent almost all of their time writing and recording songs. During the recording sessions for the band’s fourth album, Beatles for Sale, inspiration struck John Lennon. Although the album was about to be finished, he couldn’t help but write the music and lyrics for yet another show-stopping hit.

The song in question was the 1964 hit I Feel Fine.

Although all the songs had been recorded for Beatles for Sale, Lennon worked with his peers to perfect the somewhat country-and-western hit.

The single was released just one month before the release of Beatles for Sale in November of 1964, and was an instant success.

As soon as I Feel Fine was released it topped charts in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden.

Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk

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Apple Corps Limited's annual accounts showed a turnover of £50,244,899 for the 12 months ending in January, the equivalent of £137,657 a day, despite the group having gone their separate ways more than 50 years ago.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, of the figure, surviving members Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr, along with John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow Olivia, received £6.1 million each.

This was made up of £1,417,000 in dividends and £4,719,500 in “connection with the provision of promotional services and name and likeness rights”.

Apple Corps' figures also showed they made a pre-tax profit of £8,606,191.

A large chunk of the money comes from Las Vegas stage show 'Love', a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil.

Source: pressofatlanticcity.com

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Paul McCartney wrote this song about his wife Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. McCartney never wavered in his love for Linda, and even made her part of his band so she could tour with him.

"Maybe I'm Amazed" was written in 1969 just after The Beatles broke up. McCartney credits Linda with helping him get through this difficult time.

The studio version of this song was never released as a single (no tracks on the album were), but it is one of the most enduring songs on McCartney's first solo album. A concert version was released as a single in 1977 to promote the Wings Over America live album. Credited to Paul McCartney & Wings, it went to #10 in the US in April 1977.

McCartney, an animal rights activist, appeared on The Simpsons episode 3F03, "Lisa The Vegetarian." McCartney helps Lisa become a vegetarian and tells her that if you play this song backwards, you hear a recipe for lentil soup. Over the closing credits of that episode, if you listen carefully, you can hear the backwards message. As an extra feature on The Simpsons DVD, you can hear McCartney read the recipe and say, "There you have it Simpsons lovers, oh and by the way, I'm alive."

Source: songfacts.com

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In many ways, 1960s It girl Jenny Boyd's life has been overshadowed by that of her more famous elder sister. Pattie met George Harrison of The Beatles while playing a school girl in A Hard Day's Night, later marrying him and inspiring several of his songs, before leaving him for his friend Eric Clapton, who wooed her with Lola, written about her. Yet now Jenny, aged 72, is stepping into the spotlight, with the publication of her own memoir, Jennifer Juniper: a Journey Beyond the Muse.

Born on 8 November 1947, she met her future (two time) husband Mick Fleetwood aged 16, and was with him when he formed Fleetwood Mac, one of the most famous and successful bands of the 20th century. She headed to California to experience the hippy revolution of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury aged just 19 in 1966, before joining her sister Pattie and brother-in-law George on The Beatles' famous trip to India in 1968, spending time with the band as they learned from guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Source: Rebecca Cope/tatler.com

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