Beatles News

Even The Beatles wore smog masks when they visited Manchester in the era of the thick pea-soupers.

The Fab Four tried the latest mask on for size when they played the Ardwick Theatre in December 1965 – but it probably wasn’t designed to cope with George Harrison’s cigarette!

Smogs were common in Manchester in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Clean Air Act was passed in 1956 to reduce air pollution, but it took some years to reach its full effect.

Smoke continued to belch from factory chimneys and home coal fires, combining with fog and poor weather to turn day into night – quite literally. You could be forgiven for thinking that the photograph taken in Oxford Street in November 1953 was shot in the late evening – it was midday.

The same is true of the picture of the Hyde-bound double-decker bus ploughing through the fog in the same month. The time, believe it or not, is 1.30pm.

New kinds of masks were not the only way to beat the smog. Bus companies introduced motorcycle combinations kitted out with batteries of bright lights to blaze a trail through the fog. Local residents would sometimes walk in front of buses to guide them as they knew the neighbourhood wel details

Airbnb is offering four lucky guests a free overnight stay in the most famous townhouse in North London — the iconic Abbey Road Studios.

The split-level Studio 3 in St. John's Wood — where many of music’s greatest artists have been discovered — will be converted into a temporary bedroom for one night only on October 15.

After being greeted with Champagne by London-based musician and producer Mark Ronson, who will act as a host, guests will be given a tour and full access to all areas of the studio.

This will include a chance to play on The Beatles’ piano (with cigarette burns that date back to the recordings of "The White Album"), to mix a track on the world’s largest mixing board, and to even record a song with the help of Ronson.

They will also be treated to dinner, snacks, beverages, and two nights in a nearby Airbnb listing nearby before and/or after the stay.

The "house rules" simply state things like "leave your mark" and “turn it up to 11 – we’ve got sound-proofing."

"I was born and grew up 'round the corner from Abbey Road Studios, one of the greatest studios ever," Ronson said. "Over the years working at Abbey Road, I& details

The Beatles’ career as a live band came to a — literally — screeching halt in August 1966, when on their final American tour, the howling of frenzied female fans became so deafening they could no longer hear themselves play. Author Tom Wolfe, describing a San Francisco stadium gig, wrote of “great sheets of scream like sheets of rain in a squall … and that sound he thinks cannot get higher, it doubles, his eardrums ring like stamped metal with it until suddenly Ghhhhwoooooowwww, it is like the whole thing has snapped … a writhing, seething mass of little girls.”

Wolfe was one of the few writers to pick up on the sometimes terrifying mass-hysteria aspect of Beatlemania, but it was clear enough to John, Paul, George and Ringo, whose reaction to this extreme adulation went from amazement to burnout in a few short years — so much so that they stopped playing live.

Those screams are all over director Ron Howard’s “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years,” a rockumentary that follows the whirlwind first half of the Fab Four’s career, from 1962-1966, when the Beatles were fresh-faced mop-tops playing amped-up rock ‘n’ details

Most days we quarrel about her screen time. Dripping with condescension, she claims that her contractual two hours (de facto four hours) are way less than everyone else’s – and, just to be clear, that’s everyone else in the world.

Yet, in spite of these daily dustups, the mad disorder of her bedroom and her vertiginous descents into self-loathing that choke my heart and poison my sleep, my 15-year-old daughter is the most wonderful person in my life. Like any self-respecting neurotic mother, I spend most of my days thinking about her – her happiness and the smoking threat of her unhappiness. The female tinder of body image/complexion/friends can erupt into a conflagration at any time, consuming her fledgling self-esteem as I stand by helplessly.

I chant to myself: She just has to survive the slings and arrows of the teenage present; get through this and the future will reveal itself. I physically cringe when thinking about my own lonely passage through those years. I know there are no words, no advice to save her – I know that she has to save herself.

And yet, I think a familiar but unexpected rescue might be on its way.

Like many of us did at her age, she is living details

The Beatles’ Apple Music was created in 1967 to bring the band’s enterprises together for tax purposes, so that instead of paying nineteen and sixpence in the pound the Beatles paid only sixteen shillings (there were twenty shillings in the pound). The label’s original directors were Clive Epstein, Alistair Taylor, Geoffrey Ellis, a solicitor and an accountant, and the idea was that they would quietly announce to the tax authorities that they would be opening a string of shops.

Alistair Taylor told American author Geoffrey Giuliano: “That was the original idea and when the boys heard about this they decided this could be boring, they didn’t really want their name above a string of shops. The original idea was greeting cards. Imagine Beatles greeting cards shops! They didn’t like that at all. Gradually they started drifting in on meetings and Apple Corps really evolved from there. Later it turned into this silly philosophy.”

John Lennon was suitably scathing:

"Clive Epstein or some other such business freak came up to us and said you’ve got to spend so much money, or the tax will take you. We were thinking of opening a chain of retail clothes shops or some b details

Photography is like magic to me. I was six or seven when my mum [photographer Linda McCartney] first took me to her dark room in Soho. I remember her placing a piece of white paper into the water bath and a black and white image appearing. I don’t remember what the picture was of: probably my dad, as they’d been on tour.

People would say I only got work because of my surname when I first started out. I’ve been in photography for over 20 years now, and I don’t think people commission me because of my name. At some point, the commissions would have dried up if I didn’t do what I do well.

Meeting the Queen was nerve wracking. I was asked to take her pictures at Buckingham Palace to mark her becoming the longest-reigning British monarch last September. It was definitely a moment for me, standing there in a room waiting for her to come in. She’s very switched on, very focused and in control. Which is what you want your queen to be, isn’t it?

Most people feel uncomfortable in front of a camera. They find it very hard to be themselves. Getting a natural expression, rather than someone’s “camera face”, is always my aim.

I can whistle really loud details

Back in June, an NYU researcher programmed his A.I. bot to write a science fiction screenplay. The resulting short film, called Sunspring, was suitably bizarre. The computer picked up on numerous genre tropes, but, unsurprisingly, struggled to maintain coherent dialogue and dramatic pacing. From this, we learned A.I. algorithms, while fast advancing, are still a while from self-creating a motion picture. But a catchy, three-minute pop song…

That’s the latest project from Sony’s CSL Research Laboratory. The team fed its in-house A.I. music software, Flow Machines, over 13,000 leadsheets (read: melody and harmony notes) from varying genres, from jazz and pop to Broadway tunes. The system analyzed them, and, employing “unique combinations of style transfer, optimization and interaction techniques,” learned to create music in various styles. In tandem with two other systems, FlowComposer and Rechord, the user simply selects a style of music and, boom, the A.I. spits out a leadsheet. The machine’s first pop song? It’s a track called “Daddy’s Car,” generated in the computer-learned style of The Beatles.

It sounds, well, like something The Beatles would write details

In October 1973, John Lennon enlisted the help of infamous producer Phil Spector to record an album. However, it didn’t all go exactly to plan for Lennon as he had recently split from Yoko Ono, became a regular at clubs all around Los Angeles, and fashioned a reputation for drunken antics as he slipped into his self-proclaimed “lost weekend.”

Meanwhile, a rapidly deteriorating Spector wasn’t holding up much better. He took the tapes from the sessions that they had actually managed to record and left Lennon with nothing. Ordinarily, this would have been bad enough, but the threat of legal action already hung over the former Beatles member’s head. “It started in ’73 with Phil and fell apart. I ended up as part of a mad, drunken scene in Los Angeles and I finally finished it off on my own,” Lennon later told Rolling Stone. “And there were still problems with it up to the minute it came out. I can’t begin to say, it’s just barmy. There’s a jinx on that album.”

The record, which would finally go on to be released in 1975, was entitled Rock and Roll and featured 13 covers from the ’50s and ’60s which Lennon had a particular fondn details

The Beatles’ 11th album, ‘Abbey Road’, was released 47 years ago today, and as the last thing the Beatles recorded together (‘Let It Be’ being mostly recorded before, but released after) it remains a perfect parting gift. To celebrate its anniversary, we set ourselves the piss-easy task of finding the best moments on the album. Of the dozens we came up with, here’s 10.

1. The handclaps on ‘Come Together’ Along with John Lennon’s spittle-flecked whisper of “shoot me” and McCartney’s unmistakably bendy bassline, it’s the sound the handclaps that usher you into ‘Abbey Road’. What a freaky welcome.

2. The guitar line on ‘Something’ Like the bassline on ‘Come Together’, this melody’s also iconic, but in this case it’s one that appears very few times and still manages to be utterly stand-out. It’s even better when it comes back in again right at the end of the guitar solo. 

3. The vocal high-point on ‘Oh! Darling’ It’s actually hard to pick out the best part of McCartney’s vocal on this track, but it’s probably the moment his voice jumps up an oc details

When Paul Rivard stood at a podium five months ago announcing the first London Beatles Festival, he had a very specific theme in mind, one the Fab Four themselves would no doubt enjoy.

“I think for the first year we coined it correctly when we called it Come Together,” said Rivard, the festival’s director. “Everybody keeps saying to me it will come together. That’s what the first year is all about, bringing everybody together, coming together. It’s honestly been overwhelming. Never in the world could I have imagined the support we’d get.”

The London Beatles Festival will run downtown Sept. 23-25.

Top Beatles tribute bands will be presented on the festival’s two main stages — Clarence Street outdoor stage and the Wolf Performance Hall — as well as local artists paying tribute in their individual styles at many satellite venues throughout the downtown core, including at a third big stage at the licensed Octopus Garden downtown.

Rivard said his plan all along was to keep this inaugural festival small in size and scope, but it became apparent the wider public had other ideas.

It seemed everyone had ideas about what the event sh details

Seems like just yesterday my radio program director walked into the studios with a new song on a “cart.” Actually, the date was 1985 and the song was Much Too Late for Goodbyes from Julian Lennon, the first single from his album, Valotte. I was immediately captivated by it as were our listeners. The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart.

That was then and in Julian’s now, photography is a big hit. His exhibition, Cycle, is on tap at Leica Gallery in Los Angeles through October 17. I had the honor of sitting with Julian recently at his opening to talk about art and life. Bono, The Edge and Randy Jackson stopped by, as did a host of others who appreciate yet another facet of Julian’s wide range of talents and interests.

“I have always felt that I have observed life in a different way to others,” Julian, 53, has said. “Music has always been one creative outlet for me, but now I’m happy to add another one too, that being photography.”

By the way, for you camera buffs, Julian used the Leica V-LUX (Typ 114) to shoot the photographs in Cycle.

He is truly warm and wonderful. I hope you’ll get t details

There’s a London festival this weekend that loves you — yeah, yeah, yeah.

The first edition of the London Beatles Festival goes Friday through Sunday at venues around London. Devoted to the Fab Four’s music, lore, films and more, the fest mixes top Beatles tribute bands with local heroes playing the 1960s’ pop band’s hits.

Vendors offer collectibles. Iconic Canadian photographer John Rowlands is among those who will show and tell. London collector Jeff Blake has images on offer. Komoka’s Fred Young brings his museum and vinyl.

Children will settle in at the Yellow Submarine fun zone, while older fans kick back at the Octopus’s Gardens, a licensed locale with bands and DJs. “We want to make it a fun event for everybody,” fest director and London rocker Paul Rivard said this week.

The fest starts Friday at 6 p.m. when tribute act BeatleMania Revisited plays an all-ages show at the Clarence Street stage. Performers will celebrate the Fab Four’s sounds in their own “diverse styles,” Rivard said. That would certainly be true of beloved London rockers, The Mongrels.

Oft saluted in The Free Press for having the best setlist details

I teared up immediately. The moment I heard John Lennon’s voice in the latest documentary about The Beatles, the Ron Howard directed “Eight Days A Week — The Touring Years,” my vision became blurry, my thoughts scattered, as I pondered a modern world with Lennon still alive — the ambassador of hope, love, and the promise of a better tomorrow.

Entering the Fine Arts Theatre in downtown Asheville this past Sunday afternoon, it became quickly apparent I would be one of the few in attendance under the age of, perhaps, 60. The Beatles are beloved by all, by any age or demographic, but, they will — always — be owned by my parents and their peers.

I’ve never known an existence without The Beatles. My parents do, and yet, I never will. And that’s not a bad thing. Far from it. The point of The Beatles is to practice and perpetuate love, understanding, and what it means to not see color — only friendship and companionship.

Thus, taking a seat at the Fine Arts Theatre, I found myself amid, as my mother would say, her “vintage.” And I was happy to be amongst company that knew the “real deal,” that were once teenage girls and boys in details

When the Beatles visited New Orleans for their now-legendary City Park concert in September 1964, they had two primary requests. Following the show, they wanted a day off from their grueling 25-concert, 30-day tour, in order to bask in the music of one of America's most soulful cities; and they wanted to meet local musician Fats Domino, one of their major influences.

As far as that day off goes, it was scheduled – and then un-scheduled when the band was offered a reported $150,000, which is said to be about six times their normal fee, to add a last-minute concert in Kansas City to the jam-packed tour schedule. (After leaving New Orleans and arriving in Kansas City, the band was asked if there was any place in America they'd love to see. Beatle John Lennon's wistful reply: "New Orleans is one of them.")

And as for meeting the notoriously shy Fats? Well, in that case, they scored – and there's photographic evidence to prove it.

Two photos from that meeting make it into Ron Howard's new Beatles documentary "Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years." And while they are, somewhat disappointingly, the only images from the lads' New Orleans stop to make it into the film, they are still priceless images details

In 2001, painter Eric Waugh broke the world record for the largest painting by a single artist. His stunning 41,400-square-foot painting, entitled Hero, was revealed on World AIDS Day. Now, in honor of the 45th anniversary of John Lennon’s song “Imagine,” Waugh has created a 2500-square-foot painting of the musician that will be displayed today in New York City to commemorate the U.N.’s International Day of Peace.

“It is my hope that people surround the painting and pay tribute to John and his dream for a world without strife, war, and conflict,” Waugh wrote on his website. “Recent events, at home and abroad, show that John’s vision remains as important as ever.” The painting was created at his warehouse in Austin, Texas, is five stories high, and took more than a month to complete.

Waugh will unveil and display the painting today in the heart of New York City’s Central Park, directly in front of the Naumburg Bandshell amphitheater. The bandshell is located near Strawberry Fields, a memorial to Lennon, and across the street from the Dakota, the apartment complex where Lennon was assassinated in 1980. According to Waugh, it’s the perfect location t details