Beatles News

There's nothing quite like a princess bride!

Five years ago on July 1, 2011, South African beauty Charlene Wittstock wed Monaco's Prince Albert. For the grand royal wedding – a four-day, $70 million extravaganza – Charlene asked her friend, musician-photographer Julian Lennon, to join her in her final moments before she faced the world stage.

An estimated 150,000 spectators flooded the principality's streets eager to see the bride in her jaw-dropping Giorgio Armani gown with its 66-ft. silk tulle veil and train, with millions more watching on TV and online around the globe.

Just minutes before, Lennon photographed Charlene at Monaco's Hermitage Hotel as she made her last preparations to walk down the aisle.

"She appeared so serene," he says of the shot he took of her in hair rollers. "I think for a second she was able to block the world out of her head, eyes and ears, and just observe herself in that moment. The future Princess of Monaco. A natural beauty."

But that's not to say there were no wedding-day jitters. Lennon recalls being "entitled to no more than 10 minutes" – with Charlene, who was practically due to leave the hotel as he entered the suite. As he first sat details

Last week’s ‘Sticking Out Of My Back Pocket’ featured ‘Dear Boy’ from RAM and one of Paul’s most elegant and precise counterpoint arrangements. This week we’re stripping it right back with the song ‘Warm And Beautiful’ taken from the 1976 Wings album At The Speed Of Sound.

We rediscovered this ‘deep cut’ ourselves back in 2014 when At The Speed Of Sound was reissued as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, and it’s been a favourite ever since. As we were putting together that release, we also discovered that it’s one of Paul’s favourites too who commented in the liner notes for the reissue: "I like 'Warm and Beautiful' very much, I think it’s one of my very good songs.”

The ‘Warm And Beautiful’ arrangement is so different from ‘Dear Boy’ that apart from Paul’s singing and piano, the listener gets halfway through the song before any other instrument is heard. Here’s Paul again,

"I find it a very emotional melody, and in the middle there’s a sort of slide guitar in the instrumental thing where it suddenly goes into harmonies. And it’s funny I always think details

After the break-up of The Beatles in 1970, Paul forged ahead of the frontman of Wings, and apparently wanted to emulate his old group's on-screen success with films like A Hard Day's Night and Help!

An avid fan of the Star Trek TV series, the musician decided to hire its creator to write a science-fiction epic that would feature Wings as part of an intergalactic battle of the bands competition.

In a new book about the history of Star Trek, The Fifty Year Mission, serialised in The Hollywood Reporter, Gene's assistant Susan Sackett reveals, "Paul contacted him and was a Star Trek fan. He invited us to a concert, which was great, and we met backstage.

"Paul hired Gene to write a story about the band and it was a crazy story. Paul gave him an outline and Gene was supposed to do something with it. It was bands from outer space and they were having a competition."

At a loose end after the cancellation of the Star Trek TV series in 1969, Gene accepted the opportunity to turn the rocker's bizarre movie idea into a script. However, the possibility of returning to Star Trek scuppered the collaboration as Susan explains, "Gene was open to things at this point; Star Trek wasn't happening and he wasn't getti details

George Harrison's elegant Beatles ballad "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" comes to life in a new video created by Apple Corps Ltd. and Cirque du Soleil. The hypnotic clip is based on a 10th anniversary re-staging of "Gently Weeps" for LOVE, Cirque du Soleil's theatrical production at Las Vegas' Mirage Hotel & Casino. 

The video – directed by Dandypunk, André Kasten and Leah Moyer – highlights elements from the LOVE performance. Dandypunk's hand-drawn illustrations depict Harrison's lyrics falling off the page into the air, transporting LOVE performer Eira Glover into a series of fantastical locations. Projection mapping – and no CGI – was used to create the clip.

This orchestral version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," arranged by legendary Beatles producer George Martin, was recorded at Air Studios in 2006. The track appears on the corresponding LOVE LP, which mashed up and remixed the Beatles' music. Those sessions marked Martin's final studio work prior to his death in March at age 90. 

By: Ryan Reed

Source: Rolling Stone 

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Beautiful shots of the Fabs on their bittersweet final world tour star in new Genesis Publications tome.

MARKING 50 YEARS since The Beatles’ history-making 1966 Tokyo concerts, Genesis Publications are releasing a book of rare photos of the trip. Hello Goodbye: The Beatles in Tokyo, 1966 features pictures, taken by Japanese photographer Shimpei Asai, that have never before been published outside Japan.

On the June 29 1966, The Beatles arrived in Tokyo, to face controversy over the five shows they’d booked at the legendary Nippon Budokan. The venue had been previously reserved for traditional Japanese entertainment, and had been built to commemorate the lives of Japan’s lost soldiers.

Meanwhile, the group were struggling to cope with the demands heaped upon them as a touring combo and they were only two months away from their retirement from the circuit after their San Francisco show at Candlestick Park.

However, through Shimpei Asai’s intimate lens, The Beatles seem relaxed in the eye of the storm. His beautifully presented Genesis collection captures the quartet on stage, chilling out, in Noh theatre masks, playing kotos in kimonos. Ever wanted to see John in his pants, o details

So where did Paul McCartney land on Brexit? The legendary former Beatle told The Washington Post that, in the end, he couldn’t decide whether the United Kingdom should stay or go. Sounding more torn about his decision than outspoken, McCartney said he couldn’t get to the polls to vote on whether to remain or leave the European Union because of his ongoing tour.

But he said that even if he had been in town, he likely wouldn’t have voted anyway.

“I think like a lot of people, I was very confused,” McCartney said Monday from a tour stop in Denmark.

“I was actually doing concerts and I physically couldn’t get to it,” he said from his current European tour, which moves to the states next month. (McCartney plays a pair of shows at Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center in August.) “But even if I had have been able to, I was so confused. You were hearing what seemed to be good arguments on both sides.”

The turmoil in England and elsewhere has been well-documented since Britain voted to leave the E.U. by 52-to-48 percent last week. There appears to be a similar split among celebrities: Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger and actor Michael Caine s details

At the height of Beatlemania in the 1960s, fans were desperate to get their hands on anything related to the Fab Four.

Today, of course, pop stars’ most devoted tribes of followers—Beliebers and Directioners, Swifties and Sheerios—can access thousands of candid photos and news updates about their idols with the swipe of a smartphone screen.

But in the pre-internet era, celebrities—even megastars like the Beatles—had much more control over the images and information they released to the public, which made every candid photo and gossipy tidbit that much more precious.

Music publisher Sean O’Mahony understood this from the earliest days of Beatlemania. In August 1963, he launched The Beatles Book, the only fanzine ever authorized by the Fab Four. The magazine, chock full of the latest Beatles news and photos, served as an exclusive portal into the private lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

The magazine’s photographer, Leslie Bryce, traveled with the group throughout the 1960s, giving him unparalleled access to the band. He took plenty of concert photos, but he also snapped hundreds of intimate shots of the Fab Four killing time in their dressing rooms, r details

Paul Minett got three of the Fab Four to sign the inside cover of the famous album after spending hours waiting outside their Abbey Road recording studio in 1967. Unfortunately drummer Ringo was not there and so his name remained absent from the LP. But patient Paul finally completed the set when he was able to get Ringo to sign it in 1997.

It is thought there are just 10 Sgt. Pepper albums signed by all four Beatles that exist in the world. Paul's album has been valued by auctioneers at a whopping £40,000. It is believed that without the crucial fourth signature it would fetch just £15,000.

Had Ringo been in attendance that night in 1967 and signed alongside his band mates, the record would now be worth up to £80,000. Paul, a 68-year-old semi-retired scriptwriter from Aylsham, Norfolk, has had the LP gathering dust in a draw for a number of years and has now decided that now is the time to sell up. He said: "I had always thought it was a shame that I didn't get Ringo's autograph all those years ago and knew that it would be of great value with him in addition.

"They were great to interact with, as long as you were polite they were very easy going." The album remained more or less untou details

In his introduction to the George Harrison The Apple Years box set, Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers says, “The record…hangs on the wall of my studio, just next to my own Moog modular, beaming inspiration straight to my brain.” Rowlands had bought a second hand copy of the LP from a Japanese record shop in the mid 1990s and was amazed by what he heard.

Recorded in November 1968 and February 1969 George’s Electronic Sound was released in May 1969, it was the second, and final, record released on The Beatles’ Apple Records subsidiary label, Zapple Records. It was yet more proof that George was ahead of his time and in many respects the most musically enquiring of the four Beatles.

Electronic Sound is made up of two long pieces of music, originally one on each side of the LP, that are performed on the Moog synthesizer; the Moog IIIc modular system was purchased by George from its inventor, Robert Moog. The record was made against a background of musical exploration that characterised London and Los Angeles in 1968 …Avant-garde was everywhere.

Side 2 of the album ‘No Time or Space’ was the first to be recorded and was done in Los Angeles in November 1968 details

A shirt stained with John Lennon's blood from the night he was murdered has emerged for sale 36 years later.

Concierge Jay Hastings was wearing the white shirt as part of his uniform at the Dakota building in New York when Lennon was shot by deranged fan Mark Chapman. As the former Beatle stumbled through the door and collapsed Mr Hastings rushed to help him.

While he tried to give him aid some of Lennon's blood soaked into his shirt which is still visible today on the chest and sleeves. Mr Hastings covered Lennon's chest with his uniform jacket, took off the star's glasses and called the police. The macabre piece of memorabilia is still owned by the former porter and is now being sold at auction for an estimated £7,000. Mr Hastings had a good working relationship with the Lennon and Yoko Ono and also included in the sale is a copy of the album Double Fantasy signed 'To Jay, Love John Lennon Yoko Ono'.

There is also a Thanksgiving card from the family dated 1978 with a printed message, doodle and signatures from John, Yoko and Sean, and a typed letter from Yoko Ono two weeks after her husband's death thanking the staff for their support, in its original envelope with 'Jay Hastings' written on details

The Ludwig drum kit used for the recording of the Beatles’ first American single “Love Me Do,” will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions on June 30. Interested bidders may participate in the auction online, Art Daily said.

Andy White, known as the “Fifth Beatle,” replaced Ringo Starr on drums during the recording of the Beatles’ first single “Love Me Do” for their first album, “Please Please Me.” The album was released on March 22, 1963. Ron Richards, an assistant to British record producer George Martin, who continued to work with the Beatles for decades, asked White to re-record the song with Ringo Starr shifting over to the tambourine.

“Love Me Do,” with White on the drums being auctioned, was the #1 song in the United States when it was released and prompted the Beatles into superstardom. The album “Please Please Me” gave the Beatles a national audience in the United Kingdom that launched Beatlemania.

Three renditions of “Love Me Do” were recorded at EMI in London in 1962. Each rendition featured a different drummer. The first rendition on June 6, 1962 featured Pete Best on drums; it is featured on the details

More than 180 members of the music industry are voicing support for the Democrats' efforts in Congress to pass gun control measures, courtesy of Billboard magazine. The editors of the publication reached out to the people they covered asking them to sign an open letter to Congress asking for two measures – expanded background checks and banning people on the no fly list from buying guns – to be passed.

Joan Jett was the first to sign the letter, quickly followed by Lady Gaga. Soon, the remaining members of the Beatles – Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr – had signed on, along with Hillary Clinton supporters Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and Demi Lovato and pop princesses Shakira and Britney Spears. 

The group Everytown for Gun Safety aided the effort. 'As leading artists and executives in the music industry, we are adding our voices to the chorus of Americans demanding change,' the letter began. 'Music always has been celebrated communally, on dancefloors and at concert halls. But this life-affirming ritual, like so many other daily experiences – going to school or church or work – now is threatened, because of gun violence in this country,' it continued. 'The details

THE promising artist and so-called fifth Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe would have been 76 today and to mark the occasion, a damning school report card has gone on show in Liverpool, denouncing his future abilities.

The Prescot School, where Sutcliffe was a pupil from 1951-1956, has loaned the recently discovered archive document to The Beatles Story. In it, teachers doubt Sutcliffe's academic abilities describing him as an average boy possessing "some imagination but little evidence of future distinction".

Sutcliffe, who died of a brain haemorhage at the age of 21, spent the last months of his life studying under renowned sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi at Hamburg Art College. In a somewhat contrasting "school report" Paolozzi wrote: "Sutcliffe is very gifted and very intelligent. In the meantime he has become one of my best students"

Sutcliffe was born in Edinburgh on 23rd June 1940 before the family relocated to Liverpool when he was three. He attended Park View Primary School before moving on to Prescot Grammar School, which is now The Prescot School academy.

At the age of 16, Sutcliffe was accepted into Liverpool College of Art, where he met John Lennon. Lennon encouraged him to purchase a Hofner bass gu details

It was 50 years ago today -- more or less. In late June 1966, the Beatles landed in Tokyo to play five concerts at the Budokan, the home of Japanese martial arts. Two months later, they stopped touring entirely. That November, they recorded the groundbreaking "Strawberry Fields Forever."

If the Beatles were moving fast, so was Japan. Like China today, it was at the tail end of a turbocharged period of economic growth that had generated massive urbanization and a vibrant consumer culture. The population was young and thirsty for the latest overseas trends, while the student movement was becoming increasingly militant.

Into this maelstrom came the Beatles, a symbol of youthful hedonism and the crumbling of traditional values. Prime Minister Eisaku Sato objected to their presence on the hallowed ground of the Budokan. On TV talk shows, the kimono-clad Ryugen Hosokawa, a former Asahi Shimbun journalist, dismissed the Fab Four as "beggarly entertainers."

At the time, terrorist threats from the extreme right were still a reality. Six years earlier, the head of the Japan Socialist Party had been murdered by a fanatical rightist. In 1970, famed novelist Yukio Mishima was to commit seppuku during a theatrical att details

Beatles autographs come to the market quite frequently; but not often are they accompanied by three handwritten letters to one of their fans from George Harrison's mother and sister. 

The pair would often reply to Beatles fans letters and when the vendor of a set of autographs brought them in to be sold at Cottees Auctions in Poole, she also included three handwritten letters which show an interesting insight into the Beatles lives at the beginning of their careers. 

One letter, written by Louise Harrison, George's sister, described how "the boys are very busy with the film" and that she had "Just returned from 3 weeks in Jamaica and boy it was lovely (George's idea and birthday present to me). Returned to 4000 letters. Ugh!"

Another from George's mother, also called Louise, is addressed from Mackets Lane in Liverpool: "The usual system of the boy's when they are going to play anywhere is to practice in the afternoon prior to the show", she writes.

"Dear Sal", says Louise in another letter. "George is a very happy and kind person, I think he is kind of interested in Patti (Boyd, George's wife between 1966-1977) as she is also quite a jolly person."

By: Tracey R

Source: B details