Beatles News

We’re talking about life’s ‘if onlys’ when Mike McCartney drops his astonishing bombshell. He hates the word ‘if’. ‘It’s the most stupid, little two-letter word in the world,’ he says. ‘Why have the word? If that bird [he points to a crane flying past his home in the Wirral] came crashing through the window and put its beak into your neck, you’d be dead.’

Which is true, but not very likely, so I don’t think it’s on account of random birds smashing into windows Mike has such an antipathy for the word. Mike, now 70, is the lesser-known brother of that very famous McCartney, Sir Paul. He also had a crack at showbusiness, and has a gold disc to show for his efforts on the wall of his home. The framed disc is for Lily The Pink, a silly party song he released with his group, The Scaffold, in 1968, which went to number one for four weeks, earning him enough cash to buy this house. Paul, of course, has platinum discs and awards linin details

In days of yore – or at any rate, from the dawn of cinema into the 1960s or so – going to the movies was more than just settling into a plush seat with nearly a gallon of soda and a truckload of popcorn, and then getting blasted against the wall with insanely overamplified sound.

You’d get a cartoon or a short feature, and a few decades back you’d also get a newsreel. Sometimes it was actual news, although the growth of television rendered such films beside the point. Often it was a soft feature – footage of a celebrity wedding, a daredevil stunt, an exotic sports event or perhaps an interview with a music or film star. In Britain, the newsreel persisted into the mid-1970s, and the champion producer of these films, British Pathé, has been uploading its newsreels to its own YouTube channel for several years. Now the company has announced that its uploading is complete: it has posted about 85,000 film clips, from the 1890s through 1976, that cover events of all sorts from all details

Sir Paul McCartney is encouraging people to try a vegetarian meal rather than the traditional fish option this Good Friday. The former Beatle, who is wearing an "Eat No Fish" t-shirt for the campaign by charity PETA, said:

"Many years ago, I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realised, I am killing him – all for the passing pleasure it brings me. And something inside me clicked. “I realised as I watched him fight for breath that his life was as important to him as mine is to me.” And just for fun here's a few fish-themed

Carp Buy Me Love

Eel-eanor Rigby

Hake Days a Week

Carry That Skate

Fixing a Sole

I've Just Seen a Plaice

Maxwell's Silver Hammer(head Shark)

Twist and Trout

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Source: Liverpool Echo

It was about six months ago when the former horse stable Yoko Ono bought for son Sean Lennon, who only briefly occupied the joint, appeared on the market for $6.5 million. After entering contract in November, the sale to an anonymous buyer has hit public record, listing the final price as $8.3 million.

Ono purchased the co-op apartment that occupies a former horse-stable and has a private entrance and garage in 1995. Back in November the Observer reported Ono filed a lawsuit alleging that the sale of her space was unnecessarily impeded by the building's co-op board who sought to block potential buyers with young families from latching onto the unit. The 5,700-square-foot space has four windowed exposures, plenty of wooden posts and beams, an elevator, library, and greenhouse. Ono's sale leaves her solely as the proprietor of her long lived-in Dakota apartment, which she shared with John Lennon.

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"I'm Not the Beatles: The John & Yoko Interviews" is now on CD, six radio interviews conducted with John Lennon and Yoko Ono from 1969-72. Beatles fans have had an embarrassment of riches competing for their entertainment dollars over the past few months thanks to the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four invading (and conquering) America in 1964

— special magazines (People), a TV concert (“The Night That Changed America”), books (“The Beatles Anthology”), DVDs (“A Hard Day’s Night” reissue) and CDs (“On Air — Live at the BBC, Volume 2”). Not to mention myriad online offerings. It’s hard to believe all of the cultural shifts the Beatles led from the mid-1960s through the end of the decade, a scant six years or so. And then the Beatles were no more. The breakup was announced in April 1970, around the time “Let it Be,” the last official Beatles album, was released. And it’s fair to say that in the ensuing 50 years, Beatlemaniacs (forgive me for using a term as worn out as &ldq details

If there’s one car the people of California will see Sir Paul McCartney in when he’s hanging out Stateside, it’ll be his blue Chevy Corvette convertible. The legendary rocker always drives around in the classic C5 when on the West Coast, and that was no different on Tuesday when he took it for a spin.

He parked the car outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills and judging by the smile on his face, Sir Paul couldn’t wait to get back behind the wheel. The former Beatles member was dressed in casual clothes, opting for trainers and tracksuit bottoms with a white zipped jacket. McCartney has had the convertible since 2005, which was manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors, but the C5 line was discontinued in 2004. Sale prices now range from £17,000 to £30,000. McCartney has announced he will be headlining a concert in Lubbock, Texas in June at the Buddy Holly Center. A fitting stadium for the former Beatles star who credits Buddy Holly and the Crickets f details

Louise Harrison remembers The Beatles as kind and sincere young men who loved their music and their fans. So the late George Harrison's sister tried to find musicians with similar values when she formed the Beatles tribute band Liverpool Legends.

"They would be the guys that (George) would have wanted to hang out with," said Louise, 82, who lives in Branson, Mo. "They were on the same wavelength." The band will bring their two-hour stage show to Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey on April 26. Concert promoter Dave Thomason thinks it will be a big draw, particularly since this year is the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' legendary appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Thomason, 55, of rural Edwardsville, likes the idea that Louise is involved and that band members were nominated for a Grammy Award as part of a spoken word recording called "Fab Fan Memories: A Beatles Bond." "I've read interviews with people in the industry, and they say they're the best Beatles cover band out there, bar none," Thomason said. "They played a big concert in England, and it drew over details

Following an incredible 2013 which saw Paul McCartney’s universally acclaimed 'Out There' tour launch in Brazil and visit 23 cities across South America, Europe, North America and Japan, Paul has confirmed another half dozen dates on the 2014 U.S. Out There tour.

Kicking off next week in Uruguay, and tearing through Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica, as well as Paul's return to Japan and debut in Korea, the upcoming Out There 2014 world tour will now feature an additional show: Paul will open the 2014 U.S. leg of the tour on June 14 with his first ever appearance in the hometown of his beloved Buddy Holly, playing the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock TX. On June 16, Paul will return to Dallas to play the American Airlines Center, his first visit to Dallas since closing his summer 2009 tour with a sold out show at Cowboys Stadium. June 21 will see Paul get back to another city he last played on that 2009 tour, when the Out There extravaganza rolls into Atlanta’s Philips Arena.  details

The BT Rock'n'Roll Liverpool Marathon & ½ Marathon has named the Hard Days Night Hotel at its official hotel headquarters. As a community partner of the Rock 'n' Roll Liverpool Marathon, the Beatles' inspired hotel will offer on-going support to participants of the debut race, via a series of exclusive promotions and competitions.

Expected to welcome approximately 10,000 runners on Sunday, May 25, both the marathon and half marathon will start and finish at the city's Waterfront and will also pass through many iconic Fab Four destinations. Hard Days Night Hotel general manger, Mike Dewey said: "We are delighted to become a partner of the Rock'n'Roll Marathon Series. As well as being the birthplace of the legendary Beatles, Liverpool is highly regarded for its music and sport, which is what makes the event ever so popular. "As the marathon is expected to attract participants from across the globe, we are very much looking forward to welcoming a dive details

Beatles fans, take note: The U.K.-based Cunard Line has announced plans for a Beatles-themed cruise for later this year. Billed as a commemoration of the British band's first crossing of the Atlantic, which took place 50 years ago, the trans-Atlantic sailing on the Queen Mary 2 will feature The Beatles Experience, a tribute band.

Departing from New York on Oct. 28, the seven-night voyage will include a performance by the band in the 2,620-passenger ship's Royal Court Theatre and a Q&A session with the group. The Beatles Experience also performed on Queen Mary 2's April 2 sailing from Hong Kong to Dubai and will perform on upcoming sailings of the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.

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How would you like to appear in Paul McCartney‘s next video?  The ex-Beatles legend is putting together a new promotional clip for “Save Us,” a song from his latest album, NEW, and he’s asking fans to submit photos of themselves that also include one line of lyrics from the tune.

A message on McCartney’s official website explains, “You could write the words on a piece of paper; make something with the words on; do something on your computer — remember, the more creative your photo, the more chance you have of being included!”  Fans also can include the phrases “Guitar Riff,” “Instrumental” and “End” in their pics for use in the portions of the clip that don’t feature lyrics.  Sir Paul and his collaborators then will choose their favorite photos for inclusion in the video. You can post your photos on either Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #whatsnewPaul.  Pics must be submitted by 7 a.m. ET on April 22.  Incide details

The 49ers are in talks with Paul McCartney to perform the opening concert at their new Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara - a move that would effectively yank the rug out from under San Francisco's plans for the music legend to headline a final send-off concert at Candlestick Park.

Mayor Ed Lee personally invited McCartney to close the Stick when the former Beatle played at the Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate Park last year. The idea was to say goodbye to the ballpark where the Beatles played their final paid concert in 1966. McCartney's reps and the city had been talking since Lee made the offer, and City Hall was convinced that the show was all but a done deal. It all changed, however, when McCartney's envoys, including his worldwide concert promoter, Barrie Marshall, toured Candlestick last month and let slip that they had just visited Levi's Stadium as part of negotiations with the Niners for an opening concert there in early August. It was a blindside hit tha details

Photojournalist John Mazziotta wouldn’t take his daughter along to the 1964 Beatles concert in Dallas, so he did the next best thing: He gave her his pictures and negatives. Jan Howes, who was 10 at the time but already deeply in love with The Beatles, did not see the band when it played Dallas on Sept. 18, 1964, but her father did.

It was, after all, his job: John Mazziotta was chief photographer at the Dallas Times Herald, assigned to cover John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr from Love Field arrival to Memorial Auditorium blastoff. Mazziotta thought briefly of taking his daughter to the show, but reconsidered following news that girls, pressed against Cabana Motor Hotel plate-glass windows that eventually shattered, had to be hospitalized. “Dallas was another madness,” Harrison would recall years later, and Mazziotta wanted no part of that for his little girl, not so close to what had happened here just one year earlier. “He felt really bad details

Rock ‘n’ roll as we know it wouldn’t exist without the guitar – particularly the electric guitar. Originally imagined as a way of expanding the sound of contemporary jazz music, the electric guitar helped usher in the rock movement that produced some of the greatest musicians of all time and gave rise to many of the guitar manufacturers we now hold in an almost holy reverence – one of which is The Gretsch Company.

It twangs, cuts, clucks and roars. The sound of Gretsch guitars run deep throughout the history of modern music. From funk, country, R&B, jazz and rock – it’s been there. Whether it was Pete Towshend, Neil Young, Brian Jones, George Harrison or most notably Chet Atkins, the unique properties of a Gretsch allowed players to leave a personal and indelible mark on music. To celebrate one of the greatest guitar companies, we decided to offer up a brand new Electromatic^®CVT III to one lucky member of our community and to mark the occasion – details