Beatles News

But Berwyn Mountains flying saucer investigator Russ Kellett insists the drawing of an encounter Lennon had with a flying saucer in New York is genuine.

The former girlfriend of John Lennon is reported to have claimed a rare drawing of a UFO by the Beatles legend, acquired by an expert on one of North Wales’ greatest mysteries, is a fake.

Russ Kellett, is known for investigating the 1974 UFO Berwyn Mountains incident involving theories of an extraterrestrial craft crashing in the area.

Mr Kellett said a few months ago he bought Lennon’s sketch of an encounter he had with a flying saucer in New York - the same year as the North Wales incident.

However May Pang, who was with Lennon at the time of their alleged UFO sighting in New York, has reportedly told the online magazine examiner.com it is a fake. She is reported to have said: “Seriously???!!!! This is not anything close to his drawing style. He never drew another one of the UFO sketch when he was with me. I have that one. He definitely would not draw one when he was living with Yoko and me in the pic.”

By: Steve Bagnall

Source: Daily Post

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Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a Scottish-born artist and musician best known as the original bassist for the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as an artist, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name, "Beetles", as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. The band used this name for a while until Lennon decided to change the name to "the Beatles", from the word Beat. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".

When the Beatles played in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist, Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.

While studying in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light. In the first days of April 1962, he collapsed in th details

An Omaha teenager had a part-time job and money to spend. He had his own bedroom, with four blank walls. And he had a major man-crush on the Beatles.

The logical thing to do? Buy some costly acrylic paint and create a “Yellow Submarine” mural. It took more than a year and some trial and error, but when it was done, it made him proud. He signed his name and the date at the bottom: Jay Dandy, 1977.

It turns out that Dandy’s love for pop art and iconic artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein — and his affinity for the colorful decade that put them in the spotlight — have influenced a fair piece of his life since he moved away from Omaha.

He got an art history degree, became a pop art collector, met some influential people in the art world and now is a research assistant in the modern and contemporary art department at the Art Institute of Chicago.

To Dandy’s gratification, visitors to a late-spring estate sale at his childhood home still were able to see his pop-art masterpiece more than 35 years after he painted it.

By: Betsie Freeman

Source: World Herald

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He entranced The Stones and beguiled three-fourths of The Beatles.

Allen Klein managed the careers of them all for a good spell, making him one of the most important money men in the history of the music business. Until Fred Goodman's witty, gossipy and wonderfully well-researched new book, however, no one had the full skinny on the guy.

"Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out The Beatles, Made The Stones and Transformed Rock n Roll" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $27) tells the amazing tale of how its subject managed to woo the top stars of the day, with a formula that enriched them while enriching himself far more.

Tellingly, Klein didn't develop artists from scratch. His m.o. involved stalking established stars who were being underpaid by their record companies. Since nearly every musician was in that unfortunate position during Klein's peak years (the '60s and '70s), his predatory methods had plenty of takers.

During his reign, Klein managed Sam Cooke, Bobby Vinton, Donovan and The Kinks, along with Jagger and company and all the Beatles save Sir Paul. (McCartney opted to go with his father in law, John Eastman.)

Goodman, who previously penned "The Mansion on the Hill," which examined the ri details

A new show at the Royal Albert Hall offers a faithful glimpse of the sessions that led to Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The creator of a new stage musical based on the Beatles’ Abbey Road sessions wants to introduce the Fab Four to the MP3 generation.

The Sessions at Abbey Road — at the Royal Albert Hall next year — will recreate the process by which albums such as Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band were made in front of a live audience inside an exact replica of the legendary Studio Two.

The two-hour performance, described as a “musical documentary”, will span the Beatles’ career using period equipment, 39 musicians and eight singers.

The studio will be replicated, based on the recollections of studio chief engineer Geoff Emerick, but executive producer Stig Edgren told the Standard the actors would not be lookalikes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

He said: “It’s the most daunting challenge of my career. The most honourable musical event I think I will ever be involved in. I really want to bring this to a new generation. I have 29-year-old twin daughters who hav details

TORONTO - Whether hanging out on a roof with John Lennon, on a runway with Led Zeppelin, or on a subway car with the Ramones, rock photographer Bob Gruen has always had a knack for capturing the moment. He once played bugle for the Clash, he served as personal photographer to Lennon and Yoko Ono, and his 69th birthday party last year attracted the likes of Alice Cooper, Billie Joe Armstrong and Debbie Harry. Toronto's Liss Gallery is hosting an exhibition and sale of the New Yorker's most-famous work beginning Tuesday and running to July 11. Ahead of his trip, Gruen shared the stories behind some of his most famous photographs.

JOHN LENNON Gruen took many photos of Lennon during his post-Beatles American phase, but none more famous than his shots of Lennon peering into the camera behind circular shades, lanky arms exposed under a sleeveless shirt reading "New York City." The shirt was a garment unique to the sidewalks of Times Square that Gruen used to buy in bunches. He cut the sleeves off one to lend it a "New York look" and gifted it to Lennon. A year later, Gruen was shooting Lennon on the roof of his apartment and, noticing the distinctive skyline, Gruen suggested Lennon wear the shirt, if he still had it (to Gruen details

The rocker annually celebrates his birthday by asking fans to stop at noon wherever they are and offer up a 'peace and love' salute, while sending out positive vibes to the world - and this year, he's planning to stage his own special moment at the Hollywood landmark, which holds a special place in Beatles lore.

Next month's (07Jul15) peace and love moment will mark the 10th anniversary of Ringo's birthday initiative.

By: Wenn

Source: contactmusic.com >>

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For a living legend whose entire career has consistently been redefined, it's a given that Sir Paul McCartney's headlining set at Firefly 2015 on Friday (June 19) would be career-defining, yet again. And on the second night of the four-day fest, the Beatles icon showed that not only does he consistently up himself, but he outshone the bounty of young talent that rocked the stages at the Delaware festival earlier in the day.

As a consummate performer, the 73-year-old kept the energy cranked for the duration of his near two-and-a-half hour show, running through a string of classics spanning his work with the Beatles, Wings and as a solo artist. Affable and jovial, he demonstrated musical versatility with ease -- strumming a ukulele, pounding a piano, plucking an acoustic guitar -- as well as endurance, for his first ever show in the first state.

McCartney began promptly at 10 p.m. following a riotous set from Run the Jewels on the adjacent stage. The crowd swelled to a remarkable volume--vastly larger than that of Morrissey, who played to a shockingly minute attendance hours prior--as Macca kicked off with "Birthday" and new cut "Save Us," setting the tone for the ebullient evening.

"We're gonna have a bit details

Ever since he’d been singled out as a “natural” in A Hard Day’s Night, Ringo Starr had decided he was an actor. Of course, what he was good at was playing Ringo the Beatle, but after Help! there were to be no more Beatles movies (the kind that actually required them to “act,” anyway). So our boy decided to cast about for outside projects.

Ringo Starr’s first film was the 1968 sex romp Candy, which turned out to be one of those British “comedies” that starred an especially attractive young woman getting into all sorts of naughty mischief (see Wonderwall) and a load of artsy-fartsy filmmaking gibberish. This was, of course, the time of heavy drug use among those with money and high profiles (see Head), and so Candy, based on a satirical Terry Southern novel, with a Buck Henry screenplay, probably looked like a laugh riot to those who put it together.

Inexplicably, Ringo was cast as a Mexican gardener who has sex with the titular character (Ewa Aulin) on a pool table. The role required him to do little more than babble in a bad Spanish accent.

Next was The Magic Christian, also by Terry Southern. Everybody knows about this one, because it had a hit song details

Before I get started with the third part of these series of articles that look at several songs by The Beatles that may have slipped through the cracks and minds of casual fans I would like to clarify something: every single song that I have listed in these articles is one that I have listened to many times and I obviously know its value and importance. I also understand that most people reading this post are in the same position. Last but not least, I would like to wish Paul McCartney a Happy 73rd birthday.

5. Two of Us

"Two of Us" is a song written by James Paul McCartney that appears in Let it Be, The Beatles' penultimate album where recording is involved, but the last one to be released. The song was recorded live during The Beatles' famous rooftop concert at London's Apple Studios on January 30, 1969. Paul McCartney claims that he wrote this song for his first wife Linda, but several critics have expressed their belief that part of the lyrics at least are aimed at John Lennon. Their friendship was in shambles at that point in time.

The story behind the song's lyrics is filled with nostalgia. The first verse talks about two people going on a drive on their way back home. The second one is about writi details

"We didn't want to appear as a gang of idiots" -- a very young Paul McCartney.

To celebrate McCartney's birthday on June 18, The Huffington Post has pulled together 11 obscure pieces of trivia about The Beatles from their earliest interviews.

1. The Beatles essentially wore head to toe leather on stage for awhile, which McCartney said got them laughed at "more often than not."

For a BBC interview the band did in August 1963 -- George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney all talked about the early fashion ideas they picked up from Hamburg, Germany. Lennon couldn't remember which of them was the first to don a leather jacket, but eventually they all got their own. When they acquired a bit more money soon after, they all bought leather pants for their stage performances, as well. "It was a bit, sort of, old hat anyway -- all wearing leather gear -- and we decided we didn't want to look ridiculous going home," McCartney explained of why the leather didn't stick with the group. "Because more often than not too many people would laugh. It was just stupid. We didn't want to appear as a gang of idiots." According to the interview, their manager Brian Epstein convinced them that they looked ridiculous and sug details

This concert will undoubtedly prove one of the high spots of the entire 2015 Festival of Chichester. In fact, one of the high spots of our three Festivals of Chichester so far.

Tribute is a much-debased word and one the musicians would probably resist, but a tribute in the truest, finest sense was precisely what they delivered: a celebration of George Harrison’s music, delivered with huge affection and immense skill.

Harrison’s nature was to be the “quiet one”, the one all too easily overlooked. But quietly he amassed an astonishing body of work which, post-Beatles, tumbled out on the astonishing triple album, All Things Must Pass – the starting point, the end point and indeed the name for Alex Eberhard’s hugely-impressive ten-piece homage. On a wonderful night for the festival, for the band and for everyone in the audience, All Things Must Pass ranged widely through Harrison’s work from his Beatles days through to his posthumously-released final album.

They did so with brilliance, daring to do their own thing at times but always capturing the spirit of the music and the man, quite probably the most fascinating of all the Fab Four. Alex’s vocals were close, details

The former Beatle gets personal.

This January marks the tenth anniversary of the Beatles' appearance on the American charts. Last month Rolling Stone conducted its first full-scale interview with Paul McCartney, in six sessions starting in a London recording studio and ending on a New York street. The New York sessions took place the day after McCartney had entered the US for the first time in two years, visa problems stemming from two marijuana violations now finally resolved.

McCartney was cautious in his responses during the first two sessions. He and Linda remembered being on vacation in Scotland when they were first shown John Lennon's lengthy interview (Rolling Stone Number 74 and Number 75, January 21st and February 4th, 1971), and having been deeply hurt by it. At first he seemed to want to avoid the kind of controversy Lennon's interview had generated but in later conversations he became freer with his answers.

Because the various sessions were necessarily disconnected, our text does not follow in all cases the actual sequence of questions. For example, McCartney's discussion of his legal difficulties is compiled from three separate conversations. One of those discussions was prompted by an inci details

Today Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney celebrates his 73rd birthday. The rocker was born on June 18, 1942 at Walton Hospital, to parents Mary and James “Jim” McCartney. To celebrate Macca's birthday, we look back at his life in pictures and reveal seven things you might not know about the star:

1. He was on a plane in New York when 9/11 happened Paul was waiting to take off on the tarmac at the city’s JFK airport when he spotted smoke coming from the Twin Towers. When speaking about the day, Macca has said he initially thought it was an optical illusion and “some sort of little fire”, until a steward said something serious had happened and ushered him off the plane.

2. Despite becoming a multi-millionaire singer, he failed an audition to be a choir boy In the 1950s Paul auditioned for the choir at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, but was rejected.

3. He also messed up his first gig with John Lennon When Macca made his debut with The Quarrymen - who later evolved into the Beatles - in October 1957, he missed his cue, despite practising for days.

4. The name for his band Wings came to him while praying The image of ‘wings’ is said to have sprung into hi details

The famous recording sessions will be recreated in a special concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Between 1962 and 1969, The Beatles recorded some of their best-known albums at London's Abbey Road Studios, including Revolver, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album.

Now, these recording sessions are being recreated for a new stage show, The Sessions at Abbey Road, which will be performed at the Royal Albert Hall on April 1 2016.

Period equipment, and a team of 39 musicians and eight singers will be used during the show, which will span the band's entire recording career at the studios, and will feature a full-sized reconstruction of Abbey Road's Studio Two.

Executive producer Stig Edgren told AFP that the performance will be "an honest, respectful and accurate recreation of how musical history was made".

In an interview with The Times, Edgren also empthasised the fact the show will focus on recreating the music, rather than the appearance of The Beatles, and that that performers will wear "no Sgt Pepper Outfits, no wigs". "I didn't want it to be another lookalike show," he said.

By: Rebecca Hawkes and AFP

Source: The Telegraph

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