Beatles News

This week back in 1962, The Beatles were waiting to hear back on their first major record audition. Just a few days before, they played an audition to the label on New Year’s Day, an opportunity set up by their newly hired manager, Brian Epstein. Despite tearing through 15 songs in just under an hour, including three originals, their audition for Decca Records would be rejected. Epstein, a man known for his persistence, kept pushing back trying to sway the label’s decision. Instead, the label responded to Epstein’s follow-up request by telling him that “guitar groups are on their way out.”

“Like Dreamers Do”

As far back as early 1960, The Beatles were a popular blue-collar bar band that played fast and loose rock and roll in towns across England, Scotland and Germany. The band featured a mostly familiar lineup, with dueling frontmen John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and George Harrison on lead guitar, but this being the pre-Ringo days meant that Pete Best was behind the drum kit.

After cutting their teeth on rock and roll standards from the likes of Chuck Berry and Phil Spector, they’d been signed to Polydor Records as the backing band for crooner Tony Sherid details

Meet the Beatles—And Their Studio And then there’s the role of the studios themselves. Massey’s 357-page lavishly-illustrated book progresses in more or less order of their historical importance, beginning with, not surprisingly, the British studio, EMI’s Abbey Road, the home of the Beatles throughout their run, to the point where they named their last album as a group after its address. (As Geoff Emerick, their engineer at EMI once noted regarding the iconic photo of the Beatles atop their last album, “For people who don't know the geography, they're actually walking away from the EMI Studios -- or Abbey Road [studios], as everybody knows it now…When I saw that photo, I did think to myself, ‘They're sending a message.’”)

During the many hours they inhabited the studio during the 1960s though, the Beatles found a facility with beautiful acoustics, and well-stocked with those aforementioned expensive high-quality tube-based German condenser microphones, but with some limitations: Because EMI management dictated that the eight track recorder they had purchased in 1968 be thoroughly vetted by their maintenance department before its use, Abbey Road was slow to update fr details

In the words of the immortal Spinal Tap: Hello, Cleveland!

Also: Goodbye, Cleveland!

I wasn’t there for long, just the night of Dec. 27 and the following day. My Lovely Wife and I stopped on our way back from visiting her sister in Evanston, Ill.

I love Washington, but it’s a good idea to get out of it every now and then. And no offense to my family living in North Carolina, but boy is it nice to drive on an interstate that isn’t called “I-95.” Breezewood, Pa., may be a strange carbuncle, I-80 may cross the featureless landscape of Ohio, and Gary, Ind., may resemble Mordor, but at least traffic was moving. We weren’t inching past Quantico at a snail’s pace, like you do on 95.

All we had to contend with was rain in all its myriad guises, from fine mist to apocalyptic downpour. There were some scary moments in Indiana when it seemed as if we’d been plunged into a carwash. Even the truckers — those jaded cowboys of the asphalt — were slowing down and putting on their hazards.

Those sorts of conditions always remind me of riding in the back seat when we lived in Texas. Thunderstorms would explode across the landscape, my father would details

Sorry to get to this so late.

George Martin, the Fifth Beatle and the group’s producer of all their amazing records, turned 90 today. Since it’s 1am in London he is no doubt asleep. But we owe Sir George a huge debt of gratitude for making those records, producing and arranging them, suggesting things to Lennon and McCartney and helping them realize their ambitions.

I think his last real act was apprenticing his son Giles, who helped him create the soundtrack for the Cirque du Soleil “Love” show. That was an incredible project in which Sir George pulled apart the whole Beatles catalog and re-assembled it like a cubist painting. In Martin’s memoir, “All You Need Is Ears,” available at amazon (and should be an ebook– Giles, please call Jane Friedman at Open Road Books) he tells a funny story about the making of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.”

You see, George continued into the 70s producing McCartney records. (He also produced a lot of hits for America, including “Sister Golden Hair” and “Tin Man.”) Turns out the Bond producers– Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzmann– wanted George to score the film. They details

The date was Friday June 21 1963 and The Beatles were preparing to play to a horde of screaming girls at the Odeon in Guildford . Rosemary Rolls, 66, was one of the lucky audience members in the crowd and for her and best friend Stella it was their first concert, aged 14. “Stella's mum worked as a cleaner every day at the Odeon picture house, so she bought the tickets for us because she knew how much we loved them, and we had front row seats,” said Rosemary, who moved to Guildford when she was five-years-old.

“We enjoyed every moment and got autographs, but I don't have mine anymore unfortunately. “This was our first concert and of course it was in our home town, we lived in the centre and so we just walked up the High Street.” Rosemary explained she had a different favourite member in the band to her best friend Stella.

“John Lennon was my favourite because I thought he was very handsome, I liked the way he moved while playing the guitar, his mouth when he sang and his smile - my friend's favourite was Paul [McCartney].

“On the night in Guildford the fans were well behaved. I guess we were all frightened if we made too much noise we would have been thrown out. W details

The ability to talk is not something most of us give a second thought — it had certainly never occurred to me how bereft I’d feel without my voice. Then one day I woke up in a hospital bed robbed of the power to utter a single word. I’d had a stroke. It came without warning and wreaked havoc on my well-being and ability to communicate.

It happened as I was preparing for a picnic in June last year. I was with my youngest daughter, Isabella, 12, putting up the garden umbrella when I suddenly felt strange, dizzy and light-headed. At the same time I felt something ‘click’ inside my head. I didn’t lose consciousness, my face didn’t droop — some of the characteristic signs of a stroke — but it felt like the worst migraine ever, with flashing lights and double vision. I tried to speak but all the words were jumbled. My partner, Barbara, realised I was having a stroke and drove me to hospital.

For the first time in my life I felt depressed and retreated into my own world. The one thing that gave me any pleasure was music. Then suddenly I found hope. Four days after my stroke I was lying in bed listening to a Beatles track and found that I could sing along. To the amu details

1AN AUTHOR looking for fans who witnessed a performance by The Beatles at the Sub Rooms has been overwhelmed by the response from SNJ readers.

Richard Houghton appealed for people who had seen the band’s only performance in Stroud to get in touch to help him make a people’s history of the group.

Roger Brown, who contacted Richard, said: “They were billed as Liverpool’s number one group which did not mean as much to us in Gloucestershire.

“John Lennon said he was going to play this new record.

“Knowing the quality of the normal Saturday night groups I waited for them to spoil the song.

“Wow – was I surprised. John Lennon on the harmonica was really great and their version was better than the original.

“I was a fan from that day.”

Jen Fabb also got in touch with Richard as her mum used to work at the Sub Rooms providing refreshments when the band visited.

“I looked forward to Saturdays when I heard new bands and singers,” she said.

“I remember I was given plastic caps to wear on my stiletto heels to protect the floor at The Subs.

“Mum part details

In 1996, Florida Studio Theatre produced its first musical revue in the Goldstein Cabaret, featuring the melodies of Cole Porter. A string of familiar songs, delivered by gifted vocalists and tied together by a loose narrative of dialogue, it was a formula that would prove reliably popular. Over the past two decades – and year-round since the addition of a summer series in 2014 – the cabaret musical revues have become a mainstay for the organization.

They’ve covered a wide gamut of genres, from swing, country and blues, to Motown and Broadway. For the 20th anniversary season, Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins, Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins and Resident Pianist Jim Prosser have turned to that seminal period in American musical history catalyzed by the Beatles’ first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964. “Yesterday,” which opens this week, focuses on the music of “the British Invasion” from 1965 to 1972 – including not just the Beatles (whose music makes up a third of the playlist) but the Kinks, the Hollys and the Rolling Stones.

“So much happened in that period,” says Richard Hopkins, who was in high school at the details

Jessie J performed in New York City's Times Square on New Year's Eve, playing several of her own songs, along with the classic John Lennon cut "Imagine." The event, hosted by Allison Hagendoff, also featured Demi Lovato and Daya as well as the famous ball drop.

"2015 has been such an amazing year and I'm going to be ending it with a bang in @TimesSquareNYC, performing live for the #NewYearsEve #Balldrop," J wrote on Instagram ahead of her performance.

"I can't wait to ring in the New Year with the @TimesSquareBall, an incredible crowd of revelers & everyone watching from around the world."

It is estimated that one million people flocked to NYC's Times Square to celebrate New Year's Eve.

They've not been shy about packing on the PDA during their visit to the island of St Barts. And on Monday Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell continued to embrace the opportunity for romance when they went for a drip in the waters surrounding the island. Heading into the surf hand-in-hand with his 56-year-old wife, the former Beatles bassist, 73, cut a gallantly-drenched figure in his swimming shorts.

Clearly feeling the heat on the Caribbean island's shores, the couple - who tied the knot in 2011 - waded into the sea to cool off. 

Holding hands as they marched into the surf, against the waves, the FourFiveSeconds hit-maker and his wife looked in high spirits as they frolicked in the water. Paddling about and cosying up to one another in the shallows, the couple appeared to be the very definition of loved-up. 

Opting for a more practical look for her dip in the sea, businesswoman Nancy took the plunge in a surfer-inspired ensemble. Donning a long-sleeved, floral-print zip-up top, the pretty brunette ensured that her pale skin wouldn't get burnt. However Nancy was sure to showcase her lean and lithe legs, thanks to her small, high-cut yellow bikini bottoms. 

By: J.J Nattre details

George Harrison was very angry. I could tell from the look on his face, the way he was glowering at me. His lips were tight, he looked very, very pissed off.

We were standing in the elevator area of the 7th floor of an old apartment building in Calcutta, India. The year was 1976. Behind him was the closed door of the residence where he was staying. In front of us was the trellis door of the old mechanical elevator. We could hear it cranking up slowly from the ground floor, stopping at every floor.

It would take at least five minutes for it to reach us.

I had George Harrison all to myself for five minutes. And I knew there was only one question I wanted to ask him.

It had started as another uneventful morning in the offices of Junior Statesman, the youth magazine where I was a reporter. Around 11 am, I was suddenly summoned to the editor's room. Desmond Doig, an Irishman in his fifties, was probably the youngest soul in this office where no one was over 30. And he was looking very serious this morning, which meant that he could barely contain his excitement.

"Rumor has it," he said melodramatically, "that a certain George Harrison is currently somewhere within this very city. Rumor adds th details

Beatles fans were certainly in the mood to "Come Together" this holiday season.

Two days after Spotify released the Fab Four's entire catalog, the popular music service told Rolling Stone that "Come Together" was the band's most-streamed song in the United States, the United Kingdom and worldwide on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

"Hey Jude," meanwhile, was the consensus number two in both America and the UK, though the seminal Paul McCartney hit ranked third on the global list, behind "Let It Be."

Perhaps most surprisingly, "Love Me Do" was the fourth-most streamed Beatles song globally in the band's first two days on the site — despite the fact that it didn't crack America's Top 10.

"Here Comes the Sun" placed third in America, with "Twist and Shout" and "Let It Be" rounding out the domestic Top 5. The American and United Kingdom lists were extremely similar, with eight songs appearing on both. "Blackbird" and "In My Life" made the U.S. Top 10 but not the United Kingdom's list, which instead included "I Feel Fine" and "Love Me Do."

By: Peter Sblendorio

Source: NY Daily News

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It was 45 years ago today (December 26th, 1970) that George Harrison scored the first Number One hit by an ex-Beatle with his single "My Sweet Lord," which went on to top the charts for four weeks. The tune, which he had first produced as a gospel song for good friend Billy Preston, was the first single from Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass -- which itself went on to top the album charts on January 2nd, 1971 for a whopping seven weeks.

Harrison recalled recording "My Sweet Lord" in his 1980 "song biography" titled I Me Mine, admitting, "I thought a lot about whether to do 'My Sweet Lord' or not, because I would be committing myself publicly (to my beliefs) and I anticipated that a lot of people might get weird about it. Many people fear the words 'Lord' and 'God.' (It) makes them angry for some reason."

It's recently been revealed that "My Sweet Lord" turned out to be a mini-Beatles reunion of sorts. Ringo Starr and future Derek & the Dominoes member Jim Gordon drum on the track, along with Apple band Badfinger on acoustic guitars and none other than John Lennon strumming along himself. In a recent Beatlefan magazine interview, Harrison's longtime friend and bassist Klaus Voormann stated that Len details

It wasn't a surprise album drop — hell, none of the music is new — but there is something really nice about having the Beatles available on the streaming sites. You're like, "I really want to listen to 'Oh! Darling' right now" and type type type you are! So to celebrate this early Christmas gift, we want to know what your favorite Beatles song is. Are you a kid who just started getting into weed who loves "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"; a person who's never heard a classic-rock radio station before and is somehow not even a little bit tired of "Hey Jude"; a person whose hand is always cold, so you love "I Want to Hold Your Hand"? Is your favorite song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," because you love shredding so much you ignore how dumb of a title that is? Maybe it's "Octopus's Garden," but if so, how are you reading this, as you're definitely a baby?

 Dee Lockett:

"Something" Well, for most of my life it's been "Something." I think I started out adoring "Here Comes the Sun" above all, mostly because it soundtracked one of the best scenes from a childhood movie fave (Parent Trap, hello!). But then it became my gateway drug to the George Harrison songbook, from which I discovered "Something." Tu details

Accused of exploiting other artists' songs in the Beatles, John Lennon defended himself by saying, "It wasn't a rip-off; it was a love-in." Paul McCartney's take: "We pinch as much from other people as they pinch from us." 

"In the early years, I'd often carry around someone else's song in my head," Lennon said. "And only when I'd put it down on tape — because I can't write music — would I consciously change it to my own melody, because I knew that otherwise somebody would sue me." Perhaps the best example of the Beatles transforming a piece of music is in "Because": It was drawn from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, but Lennon reversed the chord progression and then mutated it into something else.

While the Beatles drew inspiration from artists both famous and obscure, they almost always made whatever they were borrowing into something new, because they were a creative group of lads and because they were careful to cover their tracks. That's almost always. Here's five examples where their pinches got more blatant. 

1. "Revolution": Pee Wee Crayton, "Do Unto Others" 

By: Gavin Edwards

Source: Rolling Stone

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