Beatles News

It may have been snowing on Monday morning here, but at Stella McCartney’s show in the Palais Garnier, the stars were shining brightly.

Amber Valletta and Doutzen Kroes were there; ditto the Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton; François-Henri Pinault, the chief executive of Kering, which owns the McCartney brand; and the art dealer Dasha Zhukova. In pride of place was the designer’s beaming father, Paul McCartney, alongside his wife, Nancy Shevell.

“Wasn’t it a stormer? Wasn’t it just great?” Mr. McCartney asked after the finale as he made his way down the sweeping grand staircase. “Of course I love every show because Stella is my baby. But I feel like this collection was particularly witty and sexy.’’

“And the closing song was pretty great, too, don’t you think?” he added with a wink.

The track in question was his own 1974 hit with the band Wings, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” which had many in the crowd whooping with delight — Jess Glynne, the flame-haired British pop singer, among them. She had arrived in Paris that morning after completing the United States and British legs of her tour details

The earliest known letter written by John Lennon is expected to fetch more than £30,000 at auction next month.

The fold-out note, penned by Lennon when he was 11 years old, thanks his Aunt Harriet for presents she gave him, including a book about ships. He sent the thank you message shortly after Christmas in 1951 to his mother Julia's younger sister.

During his Beatles career, Lennon often wrote to friends and family but this is understood to be his first letter. In the letter, which has a few grammatical errors, the young Lennon says how much he is enjoying reading a book about famous ships.

He wrote: "Dear Harrie Thankyou for the book that you sent to me for Christmas and for the towel with my name on it, And I think it is the best towl (sic) I've ever seen. "The book that you sent to me is a very interesting one. I am at the bottom of page 18 at the moment. The story is famous Ships its all about a man called Captain kidd the pirate. "I am on the second chapter, the first chapter is called the Victory and the second is called the Mary Celeste. "Thankyou for the red jumper that you sent to me. "I hope you have a happy new year. Love from John x"

Source: BBC News

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The Fifth Beatle, previously developed as a feature by Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, recounts the untold true story of the legendary Beatles manager and his effort to drive the unknown band from playing in a Liverpool cellar to international superstardom. Epstein overcame great obstacles, both personally and professionally, being a gay man in a time and place where homosexual acts were a felony. The project includes Tiwary’s access to the John Lennon-Paul McCartney song catalog, the first Beatles-related biopic to secure such rights.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Vivek to expand his vision to another medium and expose a whole new audience to his riveting and audacious work,” said Tom Patricia, EVP Event Series at Sonar Entertainment. “This story of the man behind the rise of the Beatles will captivate fans around the world and make for a compelling series that is both intimate and epic.”

Added Tiwary: “Brian Epstein’s story is rich in inspiration and is set amidst a backdrop of great cultural change and the legendary history of the Beatles, so an event series truly feels like the only way to do Brian justice. We’re going to do wonderful things w details

The stars of the ultimate Fab Four tribute show head for the resort which helped make the lads famous.

There may be four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, but there are eight ‘Beatles’ in Blackpool. 

Well, that’s if you don’t count the ‘other’ tribute acts. Four of them can be found on permanent display at Tussauds, Blackpool, just opposite Morecambe and Wise, and with Ab Fab to the right. It’s one of the most popular displays there because it’s interactive, encouraging visitors to stop and pose on the Abbey Road zebra crossing. Only this time visitors were being halted in their tracks by the sight of not four but eight Beatles on the road.

The waxworks had been joined by a band hailed as the next best thing by Let It Be critics across the world - and about to prove it in Blackpool at the Grand Theatre (March 28 to April 2). And the lads fronting the show which has become an international sensation certainly caused more than a few double takes from visitors at the seafront attraction - and again on the Comedy Carpet as the four posed in their Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band outfits.. not far, incidentally, from where Sir Peter Blake, details

“CHRISTIANITY will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that. I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” 

So said John Lennon of The Beatles in an article that appeared in the London Evening Standard 50 years ago tomorrow. The comments, which were published as part of a series by journalist Margaret Cleave titled How Does a Beatle Live? generated little response in Britain.

But when the quotes were reprinted in US teen magazine Datebook they provoked a ferocious response, particularly in the southern states of America. Apologies from Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Lennon himself did little to quell the anger and one radio station organised a “Beatle Boycott”, urging people to take their Beatles records and memorabilia to designated places to torch them.

Lennon’s comments were ill-considered in as much as he clearly hadn’t realised what a reaction he would get from the hundreds of thousands of fans in details

It was 47 years ago today (March 2nd, 1969) that John Lennon and Yoko Ono made their first live public concert performance. Although the couple had first performed together the previous December for the Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus TV special, Lennon's appearance at Ono's concert at Cambridge University's Lady Mitchell Hall marked the first time the couple performed to the open public.

Lennon and Ono, along with a saxophonist and percussionist, performed the cacophonous experimental piece "Cambridge 1969," which featured a bearded, denim-clad Lennon creating a wall of feedback guitar under Ono's avant-garde singing.

The song was eventually released later that year, and made up the entire second side of the couple's second album, Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With The Lions.

Yoko Ono says that she has mixed emotions about her and Lennon's performance that day: "It was an iconic moment, because when I did that in Cambridge with John, I was, like, thinking, 'This is it!' I really sent a message to the world, saying 'This is the thing!' But then, when that was on lacquer, people attacked it so much. And John was the only one who was in love with it. John would say -- in the car when we were going some details

Imagine all the people, living for today. And ditching their Soviet past.

The 6,000 residents of Kalyny, in western Ukraine, hope to do just that. They have renamed Vladimir Lenin Street after the late Beatle John Lennon.

Hennadiy Moskal, head of the Zakarpattia state administration, signed a decree renaming a total of 10 streets in the oblast, citing the so-called decommunization laws that have been enacted amid an effort to further spurn an era and imagery that Kyiv fears Moscow is using to promote self-serving myths while seizing territory and orchestrating unrest in neighboring Ukraine.

Moskal announced the move on March 2, saying local authorities and residents had failed to comply in time with legal obligations to rename streets and landmarks bearing Soviet names. Local communities proposed some of the new titles, Moskal said, while he chose others himself -- Lennon Street, for instance.

Other renamed streets announced by Moskal include one named after a fallen Ukrainian serviceman (Artem Markus), another dedicated to 20th-century Ukrainian political activist Edmund Bachynskyy, and one named after founding Czechoslovak President Tomas Garrigue Masaryk. His announcement called the decree "th details

Beatles fans and philatelists alike will be able to view John Lennon's childhood stamp collection during the World Stamp Show in New York City, May 28th through June 4th. 

According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum — which first housed Lennon's stamps in 2005 — the budding musician began collecting stamps after his older cousin, Stanley Parkes, gifted him a partially filled in album. Over the years, Lennon filled the book with stamps taken from letters sent from the United States and New Zealand.

When the National Postal Museum first purchased Lennon's "lost album," late curator Wilson Hulme did note to Smithsonian Magazine that the collection did not boast any notable stamps. "Typically, young boys aren't interested in rarity," he said. "They tend to concentrate on geography and colors. If they come back to collecting when they have more time and money, that's when collections become exceptional." 

Still, the album does offer a unique insight into Lennon's childhood, and perhaps his budding wanderlust and creativity: The book's title page features a reprinted stamp emblazoned with Queen Victoria and King George VI — on their likenesses, Lennon doodled a mustache and details

The Japanese star, 83, was taken to Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital by an ambulance at around 9pm local time. She was found unconscious in her luxury apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City Fire Department.

But publicist Elliot Mintz denied claims she had suffered a stroke. He told US media: "It was never ever a stroke. She was suffering extreme flu like symptoms." He added: "Her doctor thought it would be a good idea to go to a local hospital to be checked out. She went to hospital. She is being checked out."

The star's only son, musician Sean Lennon, also dismissed the stroke rumours on social media. He told his 190,000 Twitter followers: "Hey guys it was only rumours from press: was not a stroke, just dehydration/tired." He added: "She is fine. Thank you everyone for your concern."

Ono has lived in the luxury apartment building at 72nd Street and Central Park West since 1973.

Lennon was shot and killed in front of the building by crazed fan Mark David Chapman in December 1980.

The Imagine hitmaker was pronounced dead at the same hospital Ono has been taken to, then known as Roosevelt Hospital.

By: Tom Parfitt

Source: Daily Express

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Beatles fans flooded social media on Thursday with tributes to George Harrison on what would have been his 73rd birthday.

One of the Facebook tributes gave details about the George Harrison Birthday Celebration in Hollywood Thursday night with the event theme of "Love One Another" and 73 red velvet cupcakes arranged in the shape of a heart at George's Hollywood Walk of Fame star in front of the Capitol Records Tower.

Another kind of tribute came Friday with the release of "George Fest" in a variety of audio and video formats. George Fest is the name of a 2014 concert of Harrison songs covered by such artists as Brian Wilson, Ann Wilson, Ben Harper and Norah Jones. Dhani Harrison, George's son, also performed at the benefit in Los Angeles and is one of the producers. You can listen to "George Fest" for free if you have Amazon Prime and you can watch it Saturday night on MTV Live and VH1 Classic.

The youngest Beatle was born on Feb. 25, 1943 and he was 58 when he died on Nov. 29, 2001. The tributes to the guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer have me thinking about my favorite George songs with and without the Beatles. One of my favorite George songs is the first one I ever heard: "Don't Bother Me," t details

The original suit worn by George Harrison on the cover of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album is to go on public display for the first time.

The peach outfit will form part of the V&A's You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-70 exhibition. Opening in September, it aims to explore the impact of the late 1960s counterculture upon the present day.

Other items in the show include a piece of moon rock, a rare Apple 1 computer and shards from Jimi Hendrix's guitar. The exhibition has been put together by Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, who also co-curated the V&A's blockbuster David Bowie exhibition in 2013.

It will focus on the places and events - such as London's Carnaby Street and UFO Club, the Paris protests of May 1968 and the Woodstock Festival of 1969 - that helped define the period. Harrison's suit is being loaned by his widow, Olivia, along with the musician's sitar, letters and a diary about the recording of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club album, which was released in 1967.

Ms Broackes recalled the moment she was shown the suit for the first time. "It was put on a table and looked beautiful - it had a hat with a feather and special cuffs. To see the whole thing lai details

In December 1961, Sam Leach landed his musician friends from Liverpool a series of gigs at the Palais Ballroom in Aldershot, Hampshire. This would be the first gig in the south of England for Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Pete Best, who called themselves the Beatles.

The hope was that the gig would attract the attention of London record executives — unfortunately, Leach did not realize that Aldershot was a military town 37 miles outside of London.

Additionally, the advertisement that Leach had paid to have appear in the local papers never materialized, because Leach paid with a check instead of cash and did not provide contact information.

The gig was billed as a battle of the bands between Liverpool’s Beatles and London’s Ivor Jay and the Jaywalkers. The opponents never showed.

When the Beatles arrived after being driven nine hours drive from Liverpool by Leach’s friend Terry McCann, their posters were nowhere to be found, and they had to wait to be let into the venue.

That night, the Beatles played their usual covers of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis to about 18 very bored people.

By: Alex Q. Arbuckle

Source: Mashable

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An extremely rare and valuable Beatles record that was found languishing in a loft is to be auctioned next month.

Described as "a Holy Grail item", the 10-inch pressing of Till There Was You and Hello Little Girl lay forgotten in the home of Les Maguire for decades.

Maguire, the keyboardist in fellow Liverpool act Gerry and the Pacemakers, said it could be seen as the record "that sparked The Beatles' success". The acetate bears the handwriting of the Fab Four's manager Brian Epstein.

A conservative estimate is that the 78 RPM record - the first Beatles disc to be pressed - will fetch upwards of £10,000 when it is auctioned, although it is such a rare item it is difficult to predict what the sale price will be.

The record - labelled as being the work of "Paul McCartney & The Beatles" - was pressed at the HMV store in Oxford Street, London, and presented to future Beatles producer George Martin at the EMI record label in a bid to secure the band a recording contract. Maguire, 74, of Formby, Merseyside, was given the disc by Epstein in 1963 after it had been returned to him by Martin.

Maguire described the record as "a special piece" and "a one-off". "I've never been a big fan of details

Back in December 1984, George Harrison jammed with Deep Purple in Sydney, Australia.

And although this seems an unusal and incredibly random occurrence, remember that Harrison was a friend—and neighbor—of Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice and keyboardist Jon Lord. In fact, Lord even appeared on Harrison's 1982 album, Gone Troppo.

“We were very close, I adored him,” Lord once said of Harrison to Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. “He was one of the most delightful of men.”

As the clip opens, Harrison is being introduced to the audience, announcing that he is “Arnold, from Liverpool.” (Note: Harrison was raised on a street called Arnold Grove in Liverpool, England.) From there, the group launches into a very loose jam of “Lucille,” which the Beatles performed regularly in their early stage shows and on the BBC.

This version of Deep Purple—which happens to be the band's recently reunited classic early Seventies lineup—were enjoying commerical and critical success with their 1984 comeback album, Perfect Strangers. The band is Lord, Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover.

We're not exacrly sure why Harrison was in Au details

A great deal of our childhood memories tend to disappear as the storage capacity in our brains being to fill up with new and more prevalent information. After all, forgetting is what makes us human. However, what we do remember from our toddler days, usually stick around either because the particular event had a significant impact in our lives, or because our brain has made new connections to previous information that had already been stored in the brain. Regardless the reason, every individual has held onto a handful of memories from their youth—revisiting the memory during boring work hours, or long market lines.

For me, that recollection comes in the form of music, namely The Beatles. I distinctly remember what seemed like long car rides to and from elementary school, jamming out in my OJ stained car seat to one (of many) of my mother’s classic rock CD collections, Abbey Road.

Although I don’t play an instrument, I love The Beatles. Growing up with The Beatles, I have learned that my knowledge about love, peace, and simplicity can be a bit different from that of the average teenager, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Through my love for The Beatles, I have become more drawn details