Beatles News

Singer-songwriter-keyboardist Billy Preston rubbed shoulders with musical royalty during his many decades as a working musician, including the Beatles on their final two albums as a group, 1969's Abbey Road and 1970's Let It Be.

It was love at first note when Preston started playing the electric piano during the 1969 Let It Be sessions, which led John Lennon to deem him "like a fifth Beatle." But Preston had an especially close bond with the quiet Beatle that continued long after the group disbanded in 1970.

Preston's relationship with George Harrison is discussed by one of the people who knew Harrison best — his widow Olivia Harrison — in the new documentary Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It, premiering Nov. 17 at the DOC NYC festival. The film is directed by Paris Barclay, whose credits include Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and produced by Stephanie Allain, Jeanne Elfant Festa, Nigel Sinclair and Cheo Hodari Coker.

Olivia Harrison, along with former Beatle Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Sam and Dave's Sam Moore are all featured in the documentary, sharing memories of the man they called a colleague and friend.
George Harrison and Olivia Harrison in 1981. AP Phot details

Ringo Starr recently took part in a video interview with music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor for American Songwriter and the Drummerworld website. During the conversation, the 84-year-old ex-Beatles legend was asked if he there was one Fab Four song on which he’d played drums differently.

“I don’t wish I’d played differently on any of them,” Starr explained. He then pointed out a rare Beatles on which he purposely approached playing drums in a different way.

“‘Rain’ I played differently,” Ringo noted. “I was trying to be the rain.” He then demonstrated how he plays a series of drum rolls that he intended to represent rain.

Starr added, “I don’t do that sort of drumming, but I did for ‘Rain.’ But I think, you know, you got what I could give you then.”

“Rain” was a psychedelic pop-rock tune first released in May 1966 as the B-side of The Beatles’ single “Paperback Writer.” “Paperback Writer” topped the Billboard Hot 100, while “Rain” reached No. 23 on the chart.

The song later was included on The Beatles’ 1970 compilation Hey Jude, a details

The Fab Four released countless hits throughout the 1960s, but each individual member’s solo works are nothing to sneeze at. A few of those solo tracks would have been perfect under The Beatles’ name, had another album came to be. Let’s take a gander at four solo songs from Beatles members that could have easily been on a Fab Four record!

5 of the Beatles’ Least Popular Songs

1. “Isn’t It A Pity” by George Harrison

George Harrison emerged from The Beatles’ breakup a little wet behind the ears as a songwriter, though he did have some experience. However, without the shadow of the two main songwriters of the Fab Four hiding him, he was really able to flourish as a solo musician. “Isn’t It A Pity” would have made an excellent Beatles single; Harrison’s vocals are on another level here.

2. “Gimme Some Truth” by John Lennon

This wouldn’t be a proper list without at least one solo John Lennon track. There are plenty to choose from that would have done well on a Beatles record. However, we’re particularly fond of “Gimme Some Truth”.

This is one of Lennon’s catchiest sol details

When you think of Rubber Soul, the iconic sixth studio album (in just two years!) from The Beatles, you likely envision its groundbreaking blend of folk, soul, and pop. But beneath its polished veneer are hidden gems of trivia and fascinating tidbits that shaped this masterpiece. Here are five little-known facts about the album that changed the game for rock and roll forever.
1. The Title Was Inspired By a Compliment (and a Slight Jab)

Paul McCartney was inspired to name the album Rubber Soul after overhearing an American musician describe Mick Jagger’s singing style as “plastic soul.” McCartney turned the phrase into a cheeky nod to The Beatles’ own attempts at soul music, adding a dose of self-deprecating humor to their groundbreaking LP.
2. “Norwegian Wood” Introduced the Sitar to Rock Music

George Harrison’s use of the sitar on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” marked the first time the instrument was featured prominently in a rock song. Inspired by Ravi Shankar and introduced to the instrument during the filming of Help!, Harrison’s sitar work sparked a fascination with Indian music that would deeply influence the band’s later details

A watch that Yoko Ono gifted to John Lennon, later stolen after his death, rightfully belongs to his widow and not a collector who bought it from an auction house decades later, Switzerland’s highest court has ruled.

Ono bought the Patek Phillippe watch from Tiffany for around $25,000 and gave it to her rockstar husband as a 40th birthday present on October 9, 1980. On the back, she had engraved the text “(Just Like) Starting Over Love Yoko 10-9-1980 N.Y.C.”

The timepiece, which was described as the “El Dorado of lost watches” in a profile by The New Yorker documenting its storied history, appears to be the only wristwatch the Beatle owned and is estimated to now be worth some $4.5 million. Lennon, famously, was photographed by Bob Gruen wearing the watch at the Hit Factory recording studio—an image that would spark discussions about its whereabouts in the early 2000s among online horological circles.

After his murder that December, the watch was kept in a locked room of the couple’s apartment in the Dakota building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It was allegedly stolen in 2005 by Ono’s chauffeur, and later discovered to have changed hands several tim details

While nothing is confirmed, rumors of Gladiator II star Paul Mescal playing Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopics from Sam Mendes have surfaced.

During an interview with Mescal about Gladiator II, I asked him what he would ask McCartney if he met him in preparation for playing him in the biopics.  “Oh god,” Mescal said, stammering. “How long is a piece of string?”

The somewhat sarcastic answer was followed up with, “I don't know specifically off the top of my head what I'd ask him — [it] depends on how much time you'd have.” As for his status in the Beatles biopics, Mescal kept it close to the vest. “I mean, I would love to be involved wholeheartedly,” he said. “You could pick any moment from any of those characters' lives, and you would have a very, very interesting film.”

However, he did seem to slip up, saying he is “so curious to see who's going to be involved and what those scripts are going to look like” before adding “fundamentally” to the end of his sentence.

Maybe Mescal is not waiting on scripts, but it sure sounded like it. We will have to wait and see if the Aftersun star gets annou details

The way that the three remaining Beatles got a handle on the strange vibe of being in a studio together again without John Lennon in 1994 was to pretend he was actually part of the session and had just nipped out. “We just pretended that he’d gone home on holiday,” Paul McCartney said in a press conference at the time, “as if he said, ‘Just finish it up, I trust you’.”

This was how McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – dubbed The Threetles – approached the making of Free As A Bird, which came out in early December, 1995. They weren’t strictly a trio making their first music as The Beatles since Lennon’s death, though. Working on a creaking old demo recorded onto a cassette by John Lennon – one of four that the remaining members were given by Yoko One – the band realised that they needed to bring in an outside influence to help them get the song to the finish line when they entered the studio in early 1994. That man was ELO’s Jeff Lynne.

“It was George who said we need a producer, it could be dangerous just to all go in the studio, it could get nasty cos you’ve got egos flying around, surprisingly,” recall details

The Beatles have just revealed some new collectibles that fans are going to want to get their hands on.

The first is a new limited-edition solid silver submarine to celebrating the band’s iconic 1968 film Yellow Submarine. Only 4,000 will be available, made of almost 1 ounce of pure silver. More Yellow Submarine collectibles are expected in 2025, including a set celebrating the members of the band.

The silver Yellow Submarine collectible will be available for preorder starting in mid-December.

But that’s not all: As part of the continuing celebration of the 60th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America, a new collection of commemorative concert tickets is being released.

The set is made up of 25 tickets, one for each venue they played during their first tour of the U.S. and Canada in 1964. Each ticket is made from an ounce of pure silver and contains the date, venue and price of each show. The tickets also feature some unique details for each gig.

Only 1,964 copies of each ticket will be made available, with the first dropping on Feb. 7, which happens to be the day The Beatles landed in America.

Source: ruralradio.com

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They may not have had quite as bountiful of a vault as for the All Things Must Pass anniversary edition, but the George Harrison estate and Dark Horse Records had no shortage of, well, material in putting together the new 50th anniversary edition of George Harrison’s fourth solo (and second post-Beatles) album, Living in a Material World.

The expanded two-disc set, which was curated by Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, is part of an expanded deal with BMG that Dark Horse signed last year. Out Friday (Nov. 15) with a new mix by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks; in addition to the 11 original tracks that came out on May 30, 1973, a second disc (on LP and CD) includes an outtake of each song as well as two rarities, “Miss O’Dell” and, on CD only, the unreleased “Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)” (which Harrison contributed to Ringo Starr’s 1973 album, Ringo, and recorded with Starr and members of The Band). The package also includes a 60-page hardcover book featuring previously unseen images and memorabilia from the period.

“We’re going in chronological order,” Dhani Harrison, Dark Horse’s CEO, tells Billboard about the est details

Disney+ has struggled to craft hits outside of its already established brands of Marvel and Star Wars, and more recently, the additions of Bluey and Doctor Who. However, one subject does seem to bring in eyeballs, even though it's a bit random for the House of Mouse: The Beatles, The Original British Boy Band from the 1960s are now considered rock deities. Disney+ scored its first non-Star Wars/Marvel hit in 2020 with Peter Jackson's Get Back and then drew in audiences again with the remastered Let It Be (which Get Back drew from). Disney is a company that doesn't mess with success, so it's not surprising that the streaming service scooped up Martin Scorsese's new Beatles documentary, Beatles '64, which, like Get Back, will arrive in time for the American Thanksgiving holiday.

The new film focuses on The Beatles’ first visit to America and boasts of having "never-before-seen footage of the band and the legions of young fans who helped fuel their ascendance." It also includes rare footage from documentarians Albert and David Maysles and live performances from The Ed Sullivan Show and The Beatles' first American concert at the Washington, DC Coliseum. Plus, the last two living Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr details

Meat Free Monday, the vegetarian campaign Paul McCartney helped launch, is offering fans of the Beatles legend the chance to win tickets to two of his forthcoming concerts in the U.K.

Winners of the prize draw will be able to choose a pair of tickets to one of McCartney’s two shows at either Co-op Live in Manchester (December 14 or 15) or The O2 in London (December 18 or 19). For a chance to win, fill out the form at MeatFreeMonday.com.

The contest closes at midnight Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday, November 17 (7 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 16). Travel and accommodations are not included.

McCartney, a longtime vegetarian, teamed up with his daughters Mary and Stella to launch Meat Free Monday in 2009. The initiative encourages people to abstain from eating meat at least once during the week.

Meat Free Monday has a stand set up at all stops of McCartney’s Got Back World Tour to raise awareness about the campaign.
McCartney’s Was Interviewed About His Eating Habits on Tour. Meanwhile, Meat Free Monday recently posted an interview with McCartney in which he revealed details about his eating habits while he’s on the road.

The 82-year-old rock legend explained tha details

Ringo Starr has addressed The Beatles' enduring popularity as he issued his verdict on Paul McCartney's world tour. Ringo, 84, and Paul, 82, remain good friends more than 50 years after The Beatles went their separate ways.

Paul is currently taking his 'Got Back' tour around the world and is in the middle of a run of three gigs in Mexico City, having played a number of concerts in many cities across Central and South America over the past few months. The tour will arrive in Europe next month, including two nights at Manchester's Co-op Live and two at The O2 in London.

In an interview with Vice published earlier this week, Ringo spoke about the band's everlasting appeal and how that is exemplified by Paul's sell-out tour. Asked about the generations of Beatles fans who were born after the band split up, the legendary drummer said: “I think it’s great. I mean, since we had the first new-coming musicians and bands and that in the ‘70s, the kids all like to listen to The Beatles, it seems.
"Every generation we get another crowd - they’re still playing us on radios and kids and musicians are still interested in what we did. That is so great. "Now, whatever it means streaming, but The Beat details

John Lennon’s eldest son, Julian, admitted that his relationship with his father was not ideal. Julian grew up during Beatlemania, watched his parents’ marriage crumble, and then went years without speaking to his dad. When Julian was just 8 years old, Lennon moved to the United States and effectively broke contact with his son. Julian shared how this felt.

John Lennon’s son said he didn’t have a good relationship with his father

In 1971, Lennon’s ex-wife, Cynthia, learned through the news that Lennon moved to the United States. He decided that Cynthia should discuss Julian with Yoko Ono and went for three years without seeing or speaking to his young son. Julian said this was hard to handle as a child.

“I know that Dad was an idol to millions who grew up loving his music and his ideals. But to me he wasn’t a musician or a peace icon,...

Source: Showbiz Cheatsheet

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The Beatles have said they are "thrilled" after receiving two Grammy nominations. The nominations for the 2025 awards were revealed last week and the band is in the running to win record of the year and best rock performance for their track 'Now and Then'.

Released last November, 'Now and Then', featured cleaned-up John Lennon vocals from the 1970s and 1995 guitar recordings from George Harrison alongside new work from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John's vocals are taken from a demo recorded at his home in New York’s Dakota Building, which Yoko Ono passed to the rest of the band in 1994.

At that point, technological limitations prevented John’s vocals and piano playing from being separated to achieve the clear, unclouded mix needed to finish the song. However, the release of Peter Jackson's Disney+ documentary 'Get Back' led to the idea of the track's release being brought back to the table.

Advances in technology enabled the isolation of John's vocals and playing. The song also includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by George, a new drum performance from Ringo’s, and bass, guitar and piano from Paul, which matches John’s original playing. Paul and Ringo also re details

Towards the end of the Beatles’ career, it would’ve been hard to imagine George Harrison had much good to say about his time with the band. He, like his other bandmates, was burnt out to the point that calling one of the biggest bands of all time quits seemed like a good option. Nevertheless, he eventually looked back on his time being “fab” with softer eyes. Uncover the meaning behind “When We Was Fab,” below.

Back then long time ago when grass was green
Woke up in a daze
Arrived like strangers in the night

Harrison released this track in the late ’80s, delighting many Beatles fans for the mention–even if it was slightly covert. Harrison recalls his time with the band and likens it to the idealist view of grass being greener on the other side. Though Harrison’s music career was still up and running, it didn’t evoke the exact same mystique that the Fab Four did.

And while you’re in this world
The fuzz gonna come and claim you
But you mo’ better wise
When the buzz gonna come and take you away
Take you away, take you away

Overall, this song has a positive tone to it. Though it’s a bit tongue- details