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Beatles News
Twin Cities songwriter and Music in Minnesota editor Erik Ritland releases a new article every Friday. Ranging from fun lists to serious music commentary, they are a companion to his podcast, Erik Ritland isn’t so Bad.
The Beatles are perhaps the most revered band in pop/rock history. Since their later material is so revered, it’s hard to imagine just how impactful their earliest songs and albums were.
There was plenty of other great music released in the early ‘60s, but singles like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” were explosive. There was nothing like their music. Some would say that there still isn’t, although their early material is now obscured by everything that was influenced by it.
Below are 10 essential Beatles songs from the first half of their career, showing their arc from Hamburg-hardened pop/rock band into a more sophisticated sound. Find a playlist featuring each of these songs here.
Source: Erik Ritland/musicinminnesota.com
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One summer day in 1968, Paul McCartney recorded “Blackbird” while John Lennon looped tape for “Revolution 9” in another studio. Though these tracks sound about as similar as Sting and Stravinsky, they ended up on the same album—the Beatles’ self-titled double album (aka the “White Album”).
McCartney’s unusual fingerpick-and-strum technique gives “Blackbird” its distinctive sound. Try strumming across the strings with just your index finger and you’ll get a sense of McCartney’s feel. Unlike a strum that uses your whole arm, these mini-strums are all done with your hand in the same place: your index finger moves from the base knuckle joining your finger to your hand.
Look at the first measure of “Blackbird” and see that McCartney grabs each note of the tenth intervals on the beat with his thumb and middle finger, filling in the upbeats with index-finger plucks. In measure 2, he slides all the way up to the tenth and 12th frets, grabs two strings again with his thumb and index finger, and does a quick index-finger strum—down and up—on the second half of beat 1.
Source: acousticguitar.com
Earlier this month, Sir Ringo Starr celebrated his 80th birthday with his fans. The Beatles drummer streamed a Big Birthday Show on his official YouTube channel, which included footage of him and his friends performing in recent years. And included was the latest Beatles reunion, when Sir Ringo performed with Sir Paul McCartney at one of the latter’s solo concerts in Los Angeles last year.
The footage of the two surviving Beatles performing Helter Skelter together at Dodger Stadium last summer featured at the end of Sir Ringo’s charity birthday show.
But now it’s no longer available on his YouTube channel.
However, for fans who missed The Beatles reunion and the rest of the show, Sir Ringo has made it available again for one week only on an exclusive platform.
The 80-year-old wrote on his Instagram: “I want to thank @CEEKVR for supporting my charity & birthday broadcast – RINGO’S BIG BIRTHDAY SHOW.”
Source: thewashingtontime.com
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I know it’s hard to believe, but according to Nielson, the Beatles were the biggest-selling rock band during the first half of 2020. No one, other than perhaps the Beatles themselves, would have predicted their monumental success in 1962 when a catastrophic mistake nearly broke up the band.
Fortunately, “Quitting” Wasn’t In The Beatles’ Songbook
“Listening to the tapes, I can understand why we failed the Decca audition. We weren't that good…” Paul McCartney
The words “failure” and “The Beatles” seldom appear in the same sentence. However, much like a nascent startup, the Beatles’ early career was comprised of a series of failures, culminating in their unsuccessful audition with the leading record company of their era, Decca Records - a misstep that nearly caused the band to call it quits.
Entrepreneurs can draw several startup lessons from the way the Beatles dealt with Decca’s devastating rejection.
Source: John Greathouse/forbes.com
Paul McCartney is one of pop's fountainheads, one of the defining figures in the development of the artform.
A songwriter with no shortage of magic in the vaults, he recently decided to turn his sights to 1997 album 'Flaming Pie'.
Paul McCartney's tenth solo album, it was an international success, a record that ranks amongst the highest echelons of his storied discography.
Later this month a lavish re-issue hits the shelves, featuring rarities and unheard gems galore.
We've obtained this early, raw version of album cut 'Somedays' and it's a gorgeous listen, little more than guitar and that instantly recognisable voice.
A beautifully affecting piece of music, this is the original recording, before George Martin developing the finished song's distinctive arrangement.
You can download it on Paul McCartney's official website HERE and check it out below.
Source: Robin Murray/clashmusic.com
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John Lennon sometimes made provocative comments that got the Beatles in trouble, however, he once made an innocent comment about food that made things very difficult for the Fab Four. At first, fans started sending the Beatles bags of candy. Things got progressively worse from there — and may have contributed to the band retiring from touring.According to the book Ringo: With a Little Help, John and George Harrison once told a magazine they liked Jelly Babies – a soft British candy. These remarks appeared harmless enough. According to The Guardian, some fans responded to them by sending boxes of Jelly Babies to the band.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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The Beatles are heralded as the greatest band of all time, and since the 1960s the band has influenced generations of music. While there is no doubting The Beatles’ impact, discourse still surrounds the band when it comes to defining the group.
Some consider The Beatles to be the first true boy band, and other fans fight hard against that label due to the stigma that boy band members are not as talented as other music artists.
The Beatles
The problem with defining a boy band and categorizing The Beatles is that there is no clear definition of a boy band. At best, the term is loosely defined as a group of young male singers whose fan base is primarily made up of young women. So why the negative stigma surrounding the term? Over the years, the term has become associated with music acts that do not write their own music or play instruments.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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How many times did The Beatles sing the ‘Na na na’ chorus in Hey Jude? This pie chart explains
To call The Beatles the greatest band of all time would not be an exaggeration. That is just a fact. ‘We’re talking about a revolution’ when it comes to their unique sounds and creativity. If the music industry is currently using any technology or sound, chances are The Beatles invented it. From blues, metal, psychedelic, love ballads, and pop, they wrote something in every genre. And they did it so well that it is impossible to talk about music and not talk about The Beatles.
Their songs are so iconic that even after half a century, they remain some of the most recognisable ones in the world. It’s hard to believe that they only played together for a span of 8 years. And even after all this time, The Beatles mania is very much alive. With Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr still dominating the stage, nobody is going to forget about them anytime soon.
Source: hindustantimes.com
The Monkees were inspired by the Beatles and they barely tried to hide it. How else do you explain that the Monkees had a song where they used the phrase “I want to hold your hand?” Given the Monkees took so much inspiration from the Fab Four, the latter had reason to feel ripped-off. This raises an interesting question: What did the Beatles think of the Monkees?
The Beatles sitting at a table
John Lennon on whether the Monkees were just an imitation of the Beatles
“[The Monkees have] their own scene, and I won’t send them down for it, John Lennon said, according to Mental Floss. “You try a weekly television show and see if you can manage one half as good!” John was an extremely cultured and talented man, so his endorsement of the Monkees’ sitcom meant a lot. into addition, Mickey Dolenz told Westword that John correctly said the Monkees were more like the Marx Brothers than the Fab Four. Certainly, the humor into the Monkees’ sitcom was more similar to the Marx Brothers’ humor than it was to the Beatles’ dry wit.
Source: Amanda Carano/celebsyou.com
Fifty-six years ago the then mop-top quartet came out with their first movie, “A Hard Day’s Night.” The film has a homemade feel to it. They made it when the phenomenon called “Beatlemania” had reached a crescendo, “A Hard Day’s Night” covers a manic day in the musicians’ busy lives. Even now it blows us away with the energy and freshness of the Lads from Liverpool. In 1964, the release date, the Beatles had a long string of catchy pop tunes. Hits in the movie include “All My Loving,” “Tell Me Why,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “She Loves You.” The songs still arrest our attention and lift our hearts. One hour and 27 minutes.
“Help” came out in 1966 and has a plot involving human sacrifice (Ringo has run afoul of a Hindu cult.) The sketchy plot provides a frame for showing off the boys’ weed fueled antics. It has silly moments and lots of funny moments, but best of all, it allows us to see the Beatles as young men and to again hear the tunes. Notable songs include “Help!,” “Ticket to Ride,” “You’re going to Lose That Girl,” and “You’ve Got to Hide details
When Paul McCartney looked back at his work in The Beatles, “And I Love Her” stood out to him as a milestone. At that point (early 1964), Paul hadn’t yet earned his reputation as a brilliant balladeer. That started to change after he wrote “And I Love Her.”
“It was the first ballad I impressed myself with,” Paul said in his biography Many Years From Now (1997). And John Lennon agreed with him. Thinking back on their rise as songwriters, John described Paul’s Hard Day’s Night gem as a warmup for “Yesterday.”
While John and Paul collaborated on many songs in those days, John had only minimal involvement in the writing of “And I Love Her.” (He probably helped with the middle section.) But Paul definitely hadn’t completed the track when he brought it into the studio.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Paul McCartney was among the many artists to remember Rep. John Lewis following the death of the civil rights icon Friday at the age of 80.
“Sad to hear the news that civil rights legend John Lewis died yesterday,” McCartney tweeted Saturday. “He was such a great leader who fought with honesty and bravery for civil rights in America. Long may his memory remain in our hearts.”
McCartney added, “How about renaming the famous Pettus Bridge that he and Martin Luther King Jr. and others walked across in the 60s for the civil rights movement and rename it the John Lewis Bridge?!!!”
Source: Daniel Kreps/rollingstone.com
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When The Smithereens make music, they do it right. And it shines on their newest release, a special one-off two-song covers record of The Beatles’ 1962 single “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You,” featuring session drummer Andy White, who originally performed on the two songs. Best of all for fanatics and collectors, the songs are available on 45 RPM vinyl, pressed on the Tollie label with picture sleeve, which pays tribute to original American release by the Fab Four.
The British Invasion sound permeates the Smithereens’ music, and it was a thrill for the band members to find out that White, one of the few who could actually claim to be the Fifth Beatle, had married an American woman and was living in New Jersey. The band became friendly with the legendary British drummer (Tom Jones, Herman’s Hermits, Petula Clark) and even had him guest on several special live shows before he passed away in 2015.
Source: Robert Dye/americansongwriter.com
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Ken McNab's in-depth look at The Beatles' acrimonious final year is a detailed account of the breakup featuring the perspectives of all four band members and their roles. A must add to the collection of Beatles fans, AND IN THE END is full of fascinating information available for the first time.
McNab, in a compelling month-by-month chronology, reconstructs the seismic events of 1969, when The Beatles reached new highs of creativity and new lows of the internal strife that would ultimately destroy them. Between the pressure of being filmed during rehearsals and writing sessions for the documentary Get Back, their company Apple Corps facing bankruptcy, Lennon's heroin use and musical disagreements, the group was arguing more than ever before and their formerly close friendship began to disintegrate.
In the midst of this rancor, however, emerged the glorious disharmony of Let It Be and the ragged genius of Abbey Road, their incredible farewell love letter to the world.
Source: gratefulweb.com
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Sir Ringo Starr nearly missed out on being one of The Beatles because he'd planned to move to America.
The music legend was working in a factory when, at the age of 19, he and a friend decided to take the plunge and emigrate, but they were put off when they saw how many forms they had to fill in, and the 80-year-old drummer often reflects on how different his life could have been.
He said: "I love the blues and wanted to go and live in Houston because I wanted to be where Lightnin' Hopkings was - my all-time favorite blues player.
"John and I went down to the embassy and we filled in all these forms - we were just teenagers filling in all these damned forms.
"So we filled them in and took them back to the embassy and they gave us more paperwork, with even more questions - sheets and sheets of it.
Source: Celebretainment/pressofatlanticcity.com
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