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Beatles News
A music scholar has discovered which baseball film inspired John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me,” solving the decades-old mystery about the origin of one of the singer’s final songs prior to his 1980 murder.
The opening lyric in “Grow Old With Me” quotes Robert Browning’s 1864 poem “Rabbi ben Ezra“: “Grow old along with me / The best is yet to be.” Lennon had admitted that he was inspired to write the song after watching a baseball movie on television during a trip to Bermuda, but the actual film Lennon was watching remained unknown for 40 years.
However, in the upcoming book John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life, author Kenneth Womack writes that the 1978 made-for-TV movie A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story — about the New York Yankees legend who died at the age of 37 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — was the baseball movie that Lennon viewed.
Source: Daniel Kreps/rollingstone.com
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This week, it’s 80 years since John Lennon was born; in December, it will be 40 years since his murder.
His influence has never faded. From beyond the grave he supplied the Gallagher brothers with their entire career.
His widow, Yoko Ono, and their son Sean are marking the 80th with ‘a suite of beautifully presented collections’ of his solo work. John might have scoffed at that wording, while being secretly delighted at the loving care on display.
Source: Tim De Lisle/dailymail.co.uk
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Sir Paul McCartney, 78, who is best known for being one-fourth of the most influential band of all time, The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, has opened up about how their break up was like a "divorce". However, the crooner has now said it wasn't all as "gloomy" as it may have appeared, after discovering a picture his late wife Linda McCartney took of himself and John, who died in 1980.
It comes after Paul spoke to John Lennon's son, Sean Ono Lennon, in a new interview set to air tonight.
Sean brought up the "glimpses" of studio banter he has previously seen from the time The Beatles were breaking up.
He told Paul how from the footage he had seen, it looked as though they were enjoying themselves despite it nearing the end.
Paul explained that at the time, he was expecting director Peter Jackson to tell him they were looking "gloomy" in the footage, when in fact he told them they looked "jolly".
Source:Ellie Kirwin/express.co.uk
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In October 1969, Paul McCartney was grappling with what would be his next chapter in life. After the completion of Abbey Road, it became clear The Beatles would not go on. And though some reporters were circulating the rumor that “Paul was dead,” they found him alive at his farm in Scotland.
McCartney wasn’t dead, but he definitely sounded depressed. “Perhaps the rumor started because I haven’t been much in the press lately,” he told Life Magazine that day in ’69. “[…] I don’t have anything to say these days.” He also spoke of wanting to be “a little less famous.”
If McCartney had been in London, he might have been intrigued by an offer to record with two of the biggest names in music. On Oct. 21, 1969, Jimi Hendrix sent a telegram to Apple headquarters requesting McCartney’s presence at an upcoming recording session in New York.
Hendrix, of course, would be working his magic on guitar. Meanwhile, jazz legend Miles Davis (1926-91) would be playing trumpet, and Davis’ former drummer Tony Williams would play drums.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Back in 1966, The Beatles star John Lennon appeared with Bob Dylan in the latter’s documentary film Eat the Document. Directed by Dylan, the movie followed the singer on his 1966 tour of the UK and Ireland. Lennon featured in a scene with the American musician in a limousine, when they were both high.
According to Cheat Sheet, the pair discussed World War II and The Beatles among a whole host of subjects.
And in Jann S Wenner’s Lennon Remembers, the Beatle is recorded as saying how he was reluctant to be in a movie with Dylan.
Lennon said in 1971: “I never did see it.
“[I] was so frightened, you know. I was always so paranoid and Bob said ‘I want you to be in this film’…. [And] I thought why? What? He’s going to put me down; I went all through this terrible thing.”
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
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Yoko Ono is saying “Oh no” to a former personal assistant of her late husband John Lennon.
The 87-year-old classic rock icon has filed a new lawsuit against Frederic Seaman, this time for violating a 2002 court order that prohibited him from trying to profit off Lennon’s legacy when he took part in a 23-minute interview that was “flanked with Lennon memorabilia” and discussed topics that were legally off-limits — such as his 1991 book “The Last Days of John Lennon,” his employment with the couple, and Lennon’s murder.
Ono and Seaman have been in and out of the courts dating back to the 1980s.
In 1983, the “Walking On Thin Ice” singer claimed the former aide pleaded guilty to stealing The Beatles' legend journals.
“At the time, Mrs. Lennon believed that to be the end of her ordeal with Seaman,” Ono’s attorney, Dorothy Webber, wrote in the lawsuit, which seeks up to $150,000 in damage. “Those representations turned out to be lies and the start of yet another scheme.”
Source: Karu F. Daniels/nydailynews.com
“This was different. It shifted the lay of the land. Four guys, playing and singing, writing their own material…Rock ‘n” roll came to my house where there seemed to be no way out and opened up a whole world of possibilities.” — Bruce Springsteen
How do you begin to quantify the importance of the music of the Beatles? Those four lads from Liverpool changed the landscape of modern music forever. Award winning composer Howard Goodall credits John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as “almost single-handedly rescuing the entire Western musical system.”
The appearance of the group on CBS’ The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964 before a television audience of more than 70 million people is a watershed moment in our nation’s history. Artists like John Fogerty, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Chrissie Hynde, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen all cite this moment as career inspiration.
Source: Julie Jason/indexjournal.com
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John Lennon was so popular he got to meet heads of state. At one point, he even met the Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, the father of Justin Trudeau. Here’s what John thought about this experience.
In the 1971 book Lennon Remembers, Jann S. Wenner interviewed John about the times he crossed paths with a number of world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Golda Mier and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He had the most to say about his interaction with the elder Trudeau. According to the CBC, John and Yoko Ono met with Trudeau to promote peace in 1969. John and Yoko requested the meeting.
According to The New Yorker, John and Yoko were quite taken with Trudeau. Yoko commented he was “more beautiful than we expected.” In addition, John said “If all politicians were like Mr. Trudeau, there would be world peace.” That’s a major compliment from an artist who made peace a major theme in his music and his activism.
Source: cheatsheet.com
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Paul McCartney will reissue his 1984 children’s song “We All Stand Together,” a.k.a. “The Frog Song,” as a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl picture disc on November 6 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the popular British comic strip Rupert Bear.
The song was the centerpiece of the 1984 short film Rupert and the Frog Song that was written and produced by McCartney and featured the former Beatles legend as the voice of Rupert Bear. The movie was animated and directed by Geoff Dunbar. The track was produced by George Martin, and featured McCartney accompanied by The King’s Singers and the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Like the original 1984 version of “We Stand Together,” the new picture disc is specially shaped and includes the instrumental B-side “We All Stand Together (Humming Version).” The reissue, which you can pre-order now, also comes packaged with a poster. The track has been remastered at London’s Abbey Road Studios.
Source: Music News Group/seacoastoldies.com
John Lennon was said to be “physically sick” from nerves before performing with Elton John at a 1974 show in New York’s Madison Square Garden after the Beatle lost a bet with Elton.
Elton worked extensively with Lennon on his 1974 ‘Walls and Bridges’ album, providing backing vocals and piano on the lead single ‘Whatever Gets You Through The Night’.
Despite not being a firm favourite of Lennon’s, Elton convinced him to release the track – and wagered that they would have to perform the number together if it topped the Billboard Hot 100.
When the song went on to bag the top spot and became a massive hit, Elton revealed that Lennon was then faced with battling his nerves before the pair performed it in November 1974.
Source: Nick Reilly/nme.com
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The Beatles - both throughout their careers, and long after they ended - have had countless books written about them, but thankfully, none like this. The Beatles 101 tells the story of the fab four using a unique method of cutting down their stories into 101 defined chapters. The stunning hardback delves into such cultural enigmas as "Paul McCartney is dead", and some intriguing factoids on how and where some iconic songs were written and recorded.
Fans of The Beatles will always be looking for more information about John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison - and The Beatles 101 brings all of the most interesting facts to the front an centre.
Few people today question why the band are still so implicitly successful, something The Beatles 101 author Vikki Reilly was more than happy to discuss.
Source: Callum Crumlish/express.co.uk
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The Beatles on stage at the ABC in Blackpool
It’s blast from the past time again, linking some famous showbiz names; the Beatles, Freddie Starr, Mike Berry and Lennie Bennett.
It’s sparked off by a couple of Gazette items in the past week.
News that the Mersey Beatles are coming to the Opera House in November reminded me that I could be coining it right now - if only I’d got the autographs of the original Beatles at the old ABC Theatre in 1965.
I was chatting with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the stalls during the afternoon sound checks for ITV’s live Sunday night Blackpool Show.
Just think - four signatures on my Press invitation would be worth a cruise for two now. Maybe not a cruise - but something exotic next year!
The Beatles twice did Sunday night telecasts from the ABC, on July 19, 1964, and on August 1, 1965.
Source: blackpoolgazette.co.uk
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For all those people who want to live in a ‘Yellow Submarine’ on Penny Lane, this Beatles newsletter is for all you Fab Four fanatics out there.
Look, we all know that The Beatles are arguably the greatest band to have ever walked this green(ish) earth.
And it’s a testament to their greatness that the band and its four members – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – are still relevant today in an age of
Since the Beatles can’t seem to stop doing stuff and everyone can’t seem to quit them (us definitely included), we’ve started a newsletter dedicated to anything and everything about the Fab Four.
To guarantee you keep in the loop about all things Beatles ‘Eight Days A Week’, just fill out the form below and we’ll do the rest.
This newsletter doesn’t just cover news stories related to the Beatles, like Mark Chapman’s apology to Yoko Ono or whenever some big-name artist decides to cover their favourite song by the quartet.
Source: Alexander Pan/tonedeaf.thebrag.com
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A Liverpool Beatles author claims John Lennon hid the true meaning of the song Strawberry Fields Forever because he didn’t want it to reveal too much about his troubled childhood.
Francis Kenny has revised his critically-acclaimed 2014 book The Making of John Lennon to include around an extra 6,000 words, much of which focuses on the origins of the world famous song.
In Understanding John Lennon, he reveals research which points to the lyrics being written not about the Woolton orphanage but about a reform school for boys.
Lennon, says Francis, could see Gladstone Hall from his bedroom window in Mendips, and would have walked past it hundreds of times on his way to and from Quarry Bank school.
Source: theguideliverpool.com
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Paul McCartney has spoken in a new interview of his joy at reuniting with The Beatles bandmate and songwriting partner John Lennon.
Talking with Lennon's son Sean, he says that it would have been a ″heartache″ if they hadn't been able to meet up again after the band had been torn apart due to what McCartney calls ″arguing ... business differences.″
Lennon died after being shot outside his apartment on Dec.8, 1980, at the age of 40 — and the landmark of what would have been his 80th birthday is being celebrated in the interview that airs on BBC Radio 2 this weekend.
″I always say to people, one of the great things for me was that after all The Beatles rubbish and all the arguing and the business, you know, business differences really .. that even after all of that, I'm so happy that I got it back together with your dad,″ McCartney, 78, says. ″It really, really would have been a heartache to me if we hadn't have reunited. It was so lovely to me that we did and it really gives me strength to know that."
Source: Simon Perry/yahoo.com