Beatles News

For this reader, when Brown tells one of the Beatle stories I’ve heard many times and now adds information I didn’t know — or the telling detail that was missing for 50 years — the book is an utter delight. I knew the Beatles were introduced to LSD by their dentist, but now I know exactly who that guy was and how that night unfolded (if you can trust a 55-year-old account from people who were tripping for the first time). The Dylan-turns-them-on-to-pot-for-the-first-time scene, which all Beatlephiles know, also comes to life now in a way it never had before. As does George’s visit to Haight-Ashbury in ’67, which I’d always seen rendered as disillusioning, but according to Brown was life-threatening. I knew the Beatles had their sexual awakening in seamy postwar Hamburg, but I didn’t know that John and Paul actually watched George lose his virginity. This band was tight!

According to Brown, John hit on both Jane Asher before she was with Paul, and on Pattie Boyd while she was with George. Wow. And how fascinating to find out that the famous picture of the Beatles in Miami with the not-yet-champ Muhammad Ali is kind of a lie: It’s not a photo-preserve details

The Beatles came to an end in 1970. After just over ten years of working together, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison split somewhat acrimoniously, kickstarting the beginning of their own separate solo albums. A decade later, on December 8, 1980, John was murdered in New York by Mark David Chapman.

This weekend saw various celebrations on radio and TV marking the anniversary of the Beatle star’s anniversary.

To commemorate the life and legacy of the exceptional talent, John’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, sat down to listen to some of his best music, and discuss some of the behind-the-scenes stories of the star.

During his chat with Apple Music’s George Stroumboulopoulos – Strombo – Sean explained how one album in particular was difficult for him to listen to even today.

Double Fantasy was the fifth and final album released by John and Yoko Ono.

Source: True Hollywood Talk/truehollywoodtalk.com

Some of John Lennon's most memorable songs are being made available to creators on the app TikTok.

The Lennon estate partnered with TikTok to bring Lennon's music to the platform in celebration of what would've been his 80th birthday. Lennon was born on October 9, 1940.

TikTok put together a dedicated playlist of some of his best solo songs: "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)," "Imagine," "Mind Games," "Beautiful Boy," "Woman," "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," "Give Peace a Chance," "Stand By Me," "Nobody Told Me," "Remember" and "Gimme Some Truth."

The company also launched a global challenge with the hashtag #GimmeSomeTruth, which was a protest song released in 1971 featuring former Beatles bandmate George Harrison on guitar.

"We're super excited to launch my dad's official TikTok account and cannot wait to see what his fans all over the world create using his music and his message of peace and love," Sean Ono Lennon said of his father's music launching on TikTok in a statement.

Source: cbs58.com

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Mustaches have gone in and out of style for centuries. Some consider them powerful and masculine, while others consider them downright silly. Today we even have a fake mustache trend where people joke about the look by holding up paper cutouts of a mustache or draw a mustache shape on their inner finger to hold up to their face.

We love to laugh about a character twisting his mustache “handlebars,” but this isn’t a new phenomenon.

At one time the Beatles wore mustaches and even made it into a joke by providing mustache cutouts to their fans. However, the 60s trend almost didn’t happen. Here’s the story of the accidental reason the Beatles decided to grow a mustache.

Source: cheatsheet.com

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The Beatles set in motion a major change in the music world when fans became utterly obsessed with the group. Beatlemania really did take over the world, making it seem shocking the group was not signed straight away. In fact, they were rejected more than once, as was revealed in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk.

According to Paul Endacott, the head of Music Heritage London, George Harrison helped The Rolling Stones get signed by Decca, despite them having their own difficult time with the record label.

In fact, in what Paul called a “little known story,” he revealed The Beatles had tried a number of times to get signed, even to the extent they were turned down by EMI, the label which eventually signed them.

Paul revealed The Beatles manager Brian Epstein tried with EMI and Decca Records to sign his band, but they were turned down until he tried once more with EMI.

Source: Jenny Desborough/express.co.uk

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John Lennon pulled no punches when he talked about other members of The Beatles. John revealed his favorite song by George Harrison. In addition, John had some harsh words for George’s talents. Here’s a look at whether the public agreed with his assessment of George’s best work.

Perhaps the most comprehensive look into John’s mind is Jann S. Wenner’s 1971 book Lennon Remembers. The lengthy interview sees John talking about his life, his worldview, and his contemporaries — include the other former Beatles. John had quite a bit to say after Wenner asked him to evaluate George as an artist.

“I don’t want to assess him,” John admitted. “George has not done his best work yet. His talents have developed over the years and he was working with two f*cking brilliant songwriters, and he learned a lot from us.

Source: cheatsheet.com

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Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, are sending birthday wishes to their late band mate John Lennon, who would've turned 80 today.

McCartney tweeted a photo of him and John in the late 1960s smiling together as they collaborated in the studio, along with a note that reads, "I love this picture, it reminds me of the bond between us. Happy 80th John. Love Paul."

As for Starr, he posted an image of a photo and him and his wife, Barbara, propped up on a shelf with some Lennon memorabilia. The accompanying message to John and his family members reads: "Let's celebrate John's 80th birthday with come together Friday, 9 October I still miss you man peace and love to Yoko Sean and Julian."

A variety of other tributes are being shared throughout the day at JohnLennon.com, including messages from Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Yes drummer Alan White, Klaus Voormann and more.

Source: ABC Audio/933thedrive.com

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During his all-too-short lifetime, Lennon reinvented popular music with the Beatles and later as a solo artist. His genius was behind such songs as "Come Together", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Imagine". At times, he was a controversial figure: Off-handedly saying his band was "More popular than Jesus" in 1966 and protesting war by staging a pair of weeklong Bed-Ins for Peace in 1969 with wife Yoko Ono. He's remembered as one of the most influential figures of pop culture.

In honor of what would have been Lennon's 80th birthday, we've compiled 80 quotes and lyrics attributed to the late rock icon.

Enjoy, and remember.
On the Beatles

"We're not Beatles to each other, you know. It's a joke to us. If we're going out the door of the hotel, we say, 'Right! Beatle John! Beatle George now! Come on, let's go!' We don't put on a false front or anything." — Look, 1966

"Paul (McCartney) and I made a deal when we were 15. There was never a legal deal between us, just a deal we made when we decided to write together that we put both our names on it, no matter what." —​ Playboy, published in 1981

"I said we were more popular than Jesus, which is a fact." —​ Look, 1966

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ven if you loved Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), you had to admit The Beatles went heavy on the studio polish. On side 1, “She’s Leaving Home” told the story of its runaway rich girl with the help of a 10-piece string section that included a harp player. It was a long way from Hamburg.

There was more of the same on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” the John Lennon track that featured tape loops, harmonium, organ parts, and other sounds not made by a Beatle. In brief, producer George Martin’s touch was easily detectable in the making of Sgt. Pepper.

When the sprawling White Album (1968) arrived late the following year, fans got a very different look from the and. On “Blackbird,” basically all you heard was Paul McCartney and an acoustic guitar. And you got the same man-and-a-guitar approach (with Lennon this time) on “Julia.”

More acoustic guitar came on “Rocky Raccoon,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” “Dear Prudence,” and “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,” among other tracks. It was a defining feature of The White Album, and it was no accident.

Source: cheatsheet. details

Paul McCartney has shared a heartfelt message on what would've been his late bandmate and friend John Lennon's 80th birthday.

On Friday 9 October, the Wings musician posted a black and white throwback photo of the pair smiling while working on a collaboration as McCartney puts pen to paper in the snap.

"I love this picture, it reminds me of the bond between us," the Beatle wrote on Instagram. "Happy 80th John. Love Paul."

Source: Amy Johnson/msn.com

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The Beatles released an incredible amount of music in the 10 years they were together, but there were songs written by John, Paul, and George during that time that never got recorded by the band. Producer Frankie Siragusa, who owns TheLAB STUDIO in Los Angeles and plays in The Posies, has taken these songs and recorded them, imagining them as if The Beatles had recorded them back then, for an album called Goodbye My Love - Lost Songs of The Beatles Covered and Rediscovered which will be out November 20 via Reimagine Music.

Helping Siragusa realize his vision for this album were Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, R.E.M., Big Star), Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (Jellyfish, Beck), and Keith Slettedahl (The 88, Ray Davies Band). Arrangements were kept to how they would've been in the era that the songs were written and, with Executive Producer Jim Sampas, Frankie recorded the songs using similar equipment that The Beatles would have used at the time. "Great art is malleable, and these new interpretations are reaffirming and multi-faceted," says Sampas. "They allow us to experience the genius of The Beatles’ seminal work from a fresh perspective, and this youthful approach. These are Beatles songs that most people have never h details

The estate of the late George Michael have loaned John Lennon‘s ‘Imagine’ piano to the Strawberry Field exhibition in Liverpool so it can go on public display.

The Steinway piano, which the late Beatle wrote and recorded his 1971 song ‘Imagine’ on, was bought by Michael at auction for £1.45 million back in October 2000. He later toured the piano around the world “as a symbol of peace” and used it during the recording of his song ‘Patience’.

Speaking to reporters at the time of the auction purchase, the late singer said that “it’s not the type of thing that should be in storage somewhere or being protected, it should be seen by people”.

Source: Sam Moore/nme.com

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Patti Smith, Jackson Browne, Natalie Merchant, Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal and many more artists will be featured in the 40th annual John Lennon Tribute Charity concert presented by Theatre Within, the non-profit organization that has presented the concert since 1981. The concert will be streamed for free at LennonTribute.org and will premiere on what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. and thru Oct. 12 at midnight.The program will feature unreleased performances from past tributes and new performances of John Lennon and Beatles classics by the above artists as well as Jorma Kaukonen, Martin Sexton, Joan Osborne, Bettye LaVette, Shelby Lynne, Marc Cohn, Willie Nile, Nicki Richards, The Kennedys, Ron Pope, and Music Director Rich Pagano.

Source: mcall.com

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The late singer-songwriter visited Carlisle on two occasions during 1963, the year before Beatlemania went into full swing across Britain with his famous bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

The band played the Carlisle ABC cinema stage, which was a venue more suited perhaps to showing films such as that year’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ starring Peter O’Toole.

The Fab Four, in fact, were second on the bill behind Helen Shapiro for their first performance on Cumbrian soil in February 1963 with their first single ‘Love Me Do’ having reached only number 17 on the charts the previous year. In the next year, the Beatles would achieve the first of 17 number one singles in the UK, making sales and cultural history in the process. Lennon’s group were so low-profile they were reportedly asked to leave a dance at Carlisle hotel on account of being inappropriately dressed later during their visit!

Source: Tom Beattie/newsandstar.co.uk

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THIRTEEN pays tribute to singer-songwriter and Beatles member John Lennon with two films airing the week that he would have turned 80. Both films center on his post-Beatles career and life. American Masters: LENNONYC takes an intimate look at the time John Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono and their son, Sean, spent living in New York City during the 1970s. Classic Albums: John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band, airing Thursday, October 8 at 9 p.m., captures and reflects on the making of Lennon’s first post-Beatles album in 1970, widely regarded as one of his finest.

American Masters: LENNONYC is, essentially, a classic immigrant tale: Lennon and Ono left London in 1971 in search of freedom, both artistic and personal. Maintaining his residence in the U.S. was not easy, despite his fame. With unprecedented and exclusive cooperation from Yoko Ono, access to never-before-seen material from the Lennon archives and conversations with those closest to him – Ono, Elton John, the photographer Bob Gruen, fellow Beatles member Ringo Starr – American Masters tells John Lennon’s story as it has never been told before.

Source: thirteen.org

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