Beatles News

From Let it Be to She Loves You, The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One will look at just how all 27 of the fab four's number one hits on both sides of the Atlantic came to be.

The two-hour film will feature interviews from other musicians, friends and celebrity fans of The Beatles, who will recount their memories of Britain's most successful band.

The documentary will chart the rise of The Beatles and feature never-before-seen archive footage of the group from their company Apple Corps. The Nation's Favourite programme has previously celebrated the music of Elvis, Queen, ABBA and Motown and will now be doing to the same for one of the most influential bands in the world.

"The Beatles have had more number one singles in the UK than any other band. It’s a tough call to even start predicting what might be voted the nation’s favourite," said executive producer Mark Robinson.

He added: "It’s extraordinary to think that The Beatles’ output changed so dramatically within seven years – these are 27 songs that chart that extraordinary revolution in popular music." The music from the programme will be available on a new DVD featuring restored videos for each song and aroun details

Back when Manic Street Preachers supported Sir Paul McCartney at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in 2010, James Dean Bradfield went up to the Beatle and “made a complete arse” of himself. He told McCartney he had bought a copy of his solo album ‘Pipes of Peace’ from the Record Club mail-order service the year it came out, in 1983, and that he wished he had brought it with him to be autographed. McCartney responded with raised eyebrows, and a fairly to the point “you taking the piss, lad?”

Now, five years on from that fateful first exchange, Paul McCartney is re-issuing James Dean Bradfield’s favourite album as part of his on-going archive series, and naturally the Manics frontman was first in line to chat to McCartney about his experiences working on the now-iconic solo record. Arriving in the aftermath of Beatlemania, and shortly after McCartney disbanded his band Wings to focus on his own material, it’s also fair to say that ‘Pipes of Peace’ didn’t originally blow critics away in quite the same way as ‘Tug of War’; the troubled, violent, and openly political McCartney solo record that came before it. Answering all of that previous anger i details

THEIR NAMES APPEARED together on the credits to all their Beatles songs – including the many Number 1 singles celebrated in the new issue of MOJO – but according to one of half of the partnership it was a case of “Lennon Vs. McCartney” – and that’s what made them both so good.

MOJO’s new issue, examines the Fab Four’s chart-topping hits year-by-year, and includes a free CD uncovering the 15 original versions of Songs The Beatles Taught Us. It also includes an exclusive extract from Paul Du Noyer’s new book, Conversation With McCartney. Boasting extensive, candid interviews with Paul McCartney over a series of years, the former MOJO Editor paints a detailed picture of the two Beatles’ relationship. Along the way, McCartney admits the pair needed their friendship and their rivalry to thrive, when in a band together and beyond.

In one instance, McCartney alludes to the role his 1980 hit Coming Up played in inspiring his former bandmate to record what would prove to be his last album, Double Fantasy.

“Apparently John heard it when he was in New York. I saw a John documentary and somebody was saying, ‘I brought this record of Paul&rs details

One of the most popular bands in the history of all modern music will once again enter the world of animation.

The Tracking Board recently reported that Warner Bros. (and Warner Animation Group) will be stepping into the realm of the animated musical with Meet the Beatles.

Paul King, fresh off a critical and commercial hit with Paddington, will direct the film from a screenplay by Jared Stern (Dr. Popper’s Penguins, ABC’s Dr. Ken), a member of WAG. Paul will also be joined by his Paddington producer David Heyman, who will produce though his Heyday Film production banner with Jeffery Clifford. Courtenay Valenti and Racheline Benveniste will oversee the project for Warner Bros.

Plot details are thin for the moment, but sources familiar with the project tell The Tracking Board that the film will focus on the story of an original member of The Beatles (“the one that got away”). The film will also utilize actual songs from the Beatles discography.

This wouldn’t be the only time that The Beatles were the subjects of an animated project. No doubt everyone of a certain generation remembers the classic 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine, which also featured songs composed an details

Rick Rubin is not pleased. The famed and famously hirsute record producer and cofounder of Def Jam Records is sitting in his Malibu home with Giles Martin, a fellow producer best known for carrying the torch passed on by his father, George, the man who produced every album recorded by the Beatles. Rubin leans forward on his leather sofa, listening intently.

"It doesn’t sound very soulful," Rubin complains.

"It’s interesting that you’re saying that," says Martin. "Do you mean around about the vocal range?"

The two men go back and forth about various frequency ranges and the sonic details they’re hearing, throwing around adjectives like "warm" and "crunchy." Their dialogue sounds very much like what it is: Two top-shelf sound experts picking apart music in their native jargon. But contrary to how this conversation might sound, Martin and Rubin are not mixing and mastering songs. Today, they’re focused on how music sounds, not as it emanates from recording studio monitors, but at the opposite end of its creative life cycle: The way it sounds when we press the play button at home.

Instead of listening back on an $80,000 professional audio setup, as the Rubins and Martins details

Back when his old band was still together, Ringo Starr didn't just play a reliable backbeat or sing the occasional number penned especially for him, like "Yellow Submarine" or "With a Little Help From My Friends."

The Beatles' percussionist, when he wasn't keeping time behind his drum kit, was also an indefatigable shutterbug. That much is clear from the scores of images he dug out of his personal archives to put on display earlier this month at the National Portrait Gallery in London, images that also form part of a collection he released last week as a coffee-table book titled Photograph.

"I'd opened a case that came out of an old storage of mine," Starr tells The Week. "I'm like — what's in this trunk? It was full of photo books and negatives. Hundreds and hundreds of negatives. I was like — wow! I've got some great photos."

The resulting large-sized volume he assembled is a veritable treasure trove for Beatles fans, packed with the kind of candid shots of the group in its happy days that only one of four people in the world could have taken. Shots like the one of Beatle guitarist George Harrison leaning against a studio window to smash his nose against it, trying to make Starr laugh.

When John Lennon returned in 1980 with some of the most melodic, contented sounds of his solo career, that gave greater weight to an earlier tune like “Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out).” Arriving on Sept. 26, 1974 as part of Walls and Bridges, it stands as one of the more memorable indictments on rock music’s curious tendency toward necrophilia.

And, of course, an eerie prophesy of his own fate.

Then exiled on the other side of the country from Yoko Ono and New York City, John Lennon finally and completely opened himself to an elemental fear of isolation that he once angrily confronted on his initial solo release. A moment of brutal honesty, there is none of the closed-fist bravado that marked Lennon’s recordings of five years before. Instead, John Lennon submits to the roiling emotions sparked by endings.

I’m still struck by Lennon’s willingness to strip himself bare. These days, most overlook Walls and Bridges because of its period-piece studio tricks. Yet John Lennon remains in complete control of a lyric — and, by 1974, he was being just as hard on himself as he is on everybody else.

Finally, in a harrowing moment that defines “ details

WHEN people are famous enough to be written about in the media, they develop two selves. One is the self they possess, the other is the hologram that they read about. For more than half a century, Paul McCartney has read about himself as if there were a separate, fictional character with the same name.

Out in the world at large, it’s different again. He was chatting to my wife one day and described going into TJ Hughes, the Liverpool department store, to buy some decorations for a relative’s wedding car. "How do you manage in a crowded shop like that?" she asked. "You just keep moving," he replied. "Smile, and just keep moving."

How, then, does Paul McCartney see Paul McCartney?

‘It’s funny,’ he says. ‘I’ve come out with the safe image. People don’t look beyond the smile. They look at the thumbs-up and they think it’s a safe image. It isn’t. Beyond the thumbs-up, there’s more to it than all that. Which I know about, obviously, because I lived the fucking shit.’

The term ordinary people crops up in a few of your songs…

‘Yeah. What are ordinary people?’

It does beg that question.

By: T details

Abbey Road found the Beatles ostensibly coming together — even though, once side one is done, there is very little overt John Lennon sprinkled throughout the rest.

Try as he might, Abbey Road (released on Sept. 26, 1969) is no Paul McCartney record. Sure, this is among McCartney’s brightest, most artistically satisfying, moments. But it’s Lennon’s punctuations (and, to a quickly emerging degree, George Harrison’s), undoubtably, that make it so.

It’s easy to unfairly narrow the critical scope, since McCartney’s most cohesive medley can be found as part of the second half of Abbey Road. Yet, the enduring magic here only grows more impressive after hearing similarly constructed John Lennon-less also-ran attempts from solo projects like Ram and Red Rose Speedway. There is a missing balance achieved here. Moreover, Abbey Road was the album where George Harrison’s latent potential finally was realized — to the tune of an A-side No. 1 hit in “Something” and the lilting, uplifting “Here Comes the Sun.”

Moments away from imploding, they arrived for these sessions as distinct individuals, rather than stylized mop tops. Yet, for a moment details

In time for Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, British designer Stella McCartney unveiled a bra dubbed the Louise Listening bra.

Except it's not your typical piece of lingerie. McCartney crafted a bra specifically for women who have undergone double mastectomy surgery. McCartney noticed that the options for post-surgery bras mostly had a dull utilitarian look. The light rose, lace-detailed bra is a change from your typical utilitarian post-double mastectomy bra that McCartney noticed.

So McCartney set out to design a bra that women could feel both comfortable and confident in.

McCartney said the Louise Listening bra was created in honor of her mother, Linda, who she lost to breast cancer in 1998.

“We wanted to bring something feminine and beautiful into a bra that is taboo,” McCartney said in a statement. “There are so many different emotions attached to the tragic realities of having had a double mastectomy, many cultures are unaccepting and terrible things happen to women both physically and emotionally. And we just wanted to make something that allows women undergoing this to have something to be proud of, something with no shame attached.”

By: Clarissa - details

Music legend Ringo Starr should be awarded a knighthood, says Labour’s culture spokesman. All the Beatles were appointed MBEs in 1965 and Paul McCartney was made a Sir in 1997 – but not drummer Ringo.

Shadow Culture Secretary Michael Dugher said the Beatles’ drummer had waited far too long and should finally get a top honour. Sir Paul McCartney was tapped on the shoulder by the Queen for his honour in 1997. But Ringo, who is the only other surviving Beatle, just has the MBE he received in 1965 to show for his hugely successful career.

Mr Dugher said: “ The Beatles changed the course of popular music forever and they continue to bring massive benefits to the UK in terms of trade and tourism. “Ringo’s unique drumming was intrinsic to the music of the Beatles - just listen to A Day in the Life or Strawberry Fields Forever - and his charisma and personal charm was an intrinsic part of their act as entertainers.

“Ringo is a legend and has made a massive contribution to our country. It’s been over 50 years since he got his MBE. “At the age of 75, it’s time for Ringo to get a knighthood for services to music. No other country in the world would take so details

In this latest edition of the Underrated Beatles Songs series, the tunes featured appear in both, some of their earliest works as well as their latest.

5. The Inner Light

"The Inner Light" is arguably, one of George Harrison's greatest contributions to The Beatles' discography. It was recorded in early 1968 and released on March 15, 1968 as the B-side to the "Lady Madonna" single.

Harrison declared that a letter he received from a Sanskrit scholar at Cambridge, who had participated in a conversation along with Harrison and John Lennon about the benefits of transcendental meditation, inspired the song. The lyrics, though, are in a way a musical restoration of the 47th chapter of the Tao Te Ching.

In regards to the music and the melody, one does not have to guess too much to figure out its inspiration. It is well known that Harrison was very interested in and involved with Indian music, culture, and way of life. It is because of him that the Beatles were first introduced to and inspired to experiment with Indian music in their work, which was a constant in their latter years. The instrumental piece for this song was recorded in Mumbai, India in January 1968 while Harrison was working on his first s details

On October 9, 1968, Paul McCartney asked engineer Ken Townshend to join him in Studio One at Abbey Road. The singer had an idea for a simple, bluesy track, and wanted to get the vocals and basic backing track (minus the drums) laid down. Thus “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road,” one of the White Album’s raunchiest and shortest tracks, was born, along with some subsequent controversy.

During the late stages of the Beatles White Album sessions, McCartney improvised the rocker, and elected to enter the studio by himself to record the track. He laid down five takes, which began with acoustic guitar and McCartney’s vocals. Originally he sang in a subdued style, gradually escalating to the screaming technique present on the final version. By take five, he decided to stick with the raucous vocalization throughout the track. This early version, which features McCartney thumping his guitar to create a beat, later surfaced on the Anthology 3 compilation. Once take five was completed, Paul McCartney overdubbed the piano section.

The next day, McCartney and Townshend resumed work on the track while John Lennon and George Harrison were overseeing the string overdubs for “Glass Onion” an details

The contract between The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein is set to fetch up to £500,000 at a London auction this month. The document, signed by all four members of the band, is the only managerial contract signed by both the final line-up of the Beatles - and their manager. Signed in October 1962, the contract was finalised just days before the release of the band's first single, Love Me Do.

The contract is between Brian Epstein and The Beatles, signed by John Winston Lennon, George Harrison, James Paul McCartney, and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr). As Paul and George were under 21, their fathers, Harold Hargreaves Harrison and James McCartney, were also summoned to co-sign the contract. 

The contract states that The Beatles agree to 'appoint the Manager to act as such Manager throughout the world ... for a period of 5 years from the 1st day of October 1962', signed by Brian Epstein as company Director and Clive Epstein as company Secretary, then signed by all other parties including all four Beatles. 'Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that The Beatles could have achieved all that they did,' Sotheby's writes on its website. 'It took more than insp details

They were two young working-class kids growing up together in Liverpool, Richie Starkey and Priscilla White. Then he was a drummer in bands and she was the cloakroom girl who got up to sing at the Cavern Club. Then suddenly he was Ringo Starr of the world-conquering Beatles and she was Cilla Black, chart-topping singer and TV personality.

Now Ringo, 75, who knew Cilla long before his bandmates John, Paul or George had ever met her, has spoken for the first time about the death of his old childhood friend. “I was in LA when I found out she died, and actually found out via a news outlet rather than someone ringing me up to tell me,” he says.

She was three years younger than Ringo and he was shocked that she went so suddenly following a fall at her home in Spain on August 1. They had always kept in touch and over the years went on lots of holidays together, particularly when they both had young children.

“Cilla started at the same time we did,” Ringo recalls. “She was important in Liverpool and so were we – and then we had to fight the rest of the world together!

“I remember her before she ever made it – she lived in a tenement. Her mother was a friend details