Beatles News

John Lennon: the Bermuda Tapes app has been shortlisted for an SXSW Interactive Award. The app was launched late last year and chronicles John Lennon’s trip to Bermuda, where he was inspired to write the Double Fantasy album.

It has been nominated in the Music category which is “projects related to musicians, bands, and the music industry, as well as online radio and other developments that offer streaming audio content”. The other nominees are: ACO VIRTUAL, Just A Reflektor, Marmoset and Rocking the Daisies. In addition, people can vote for the app in the People’s Choice category.  The winning entry in each of the 15 categories will be revealed at the 17th Annual SXSW Interactive Awards Ceremony presented by INNOCEAN on Tuesday, March 11.  

Listen to the Audio Version of this News Story  details

Sotheby’s in Manhattan is holding an auction on June 4 where over 100 items produced by John Lennon will be up for sale, ranging in expected prices from $500 to $70,000.

The most desirable item in the bunch is Lennon’s handwritten manuscript of “The Singularge Experience of Miss Anne Duffield,” a Sherlock Holmes parody that Lennon wrote in 1964 while on vacation in Tahiti, during which he read several Holmes stories. The manuscript is nine pages, in blue and black ink, and includes corrections. Lennon had quite a passion for literature, especially early on with The Beatles. During his elementary school years he made a handmade magazine, “The Daily Howl,” and when his band started to gain traction and fame in Liverpool he wrote several articles for a local music magazine called the “Mersey Bea details

Sir Paul McCartney collected an honorary prize at the NME Awards for his songwriting skills - and admitted he had no idea how he did it. He was being honoured with an award as the "songwriters' songwriter" at the annual awards event in recognition of his half century as a hitmaker.

The former Beatle was given a standing ovation by guests at London's 02 Academy Brixton. Sir Paul said: "The great thing about songwriting is that you don't know how you do it, so you can't talk about it." He was presented with the prize by Blur and Gorillaz star Damon Albarn who said: "What can I say other I love him like millions and millions of other people. He's a lovely spirit and a beautiful human being." Albarn - about to launch his solo career with Everyday Robots, his debut album in his own name - was himself a winner, collecting the "innovation" prize for the continual reinvention of his career.

Listen to the Audio Version of this News Story  details

Mike Love of the Beach Boys was a close friend and colleague of the late George Harrison, and to honor Harrison’s birthday today (February 25) a previously-unheard recording has been premiered.

Said Love in a statement about the song, and Harrison’s birthday: As you all know, February 25th would have been the 71st birthday of George Harrison. George and I had shared many life experiences together, some of my most cherished moments in life especially the time spent with George and his band mates at Maharishi’s Academy in Rishikesh, India. George and I felt that the pursuit of spiritual knowledge more than balanced our lives as musicians. We found that practicing TM provided us with an inner peace that enhanced our music. Once one found inner peace, there was no reason to look to substances for the purpose of reaching an altered state of consciousness.

Listen to the Audio Version of this News Story  details

When Darin Reyes, a 21-year-old graphic designer and artist in Los Angeles, learned that Carter Sexton in Valley Village, California was going to do a show celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America, he chose to do a record sleeve project on their 1968 song "Back in the USSR."

A Beatles fan since high school, Darin loves their music for being timeless and always sounding fresh. "Back in the USSR" was especially intriguing to him since it was a parody about something that never happened: the Beatles did not perform in the USSR while they were together because they were perceived to be too western."'Back in the USSR' is a very interesting song," says Darin. "While the Beach Boys were singing about California girls, the Beatles turned the idea around and sang about a country most westerners wouldn't dream of singing about." Darin approached the puzzle posed by the parody by combining his skills in graphic design and art. His use of the Red October font and 1960s European style of graphic design made a reference to the context and time period of the song. "On details

The Legend that will last a lunch time The Pre - Fab Four The Ruttles have announced a tour of the Uk this May. 

Performing will be Neil Innes AKA Ron Nasty and original Rutles drummer John Halsey also known as Barrington Womble. Halsey would be the only original member of the group taking part in the shows. The tour will begin on May 7th in Exeter and conclude on May 31st in Liverpool.

Listen to the Audio Version of this News Story 

Source: Beatles Exclusive

Photo Credit: Getty

Yoko Ono, in a Q&A with fans, addresses a couple of questions involving recent Beatles-related events she attended, including the 56th annual Grammy awards and the star-flecked 50th anniversary concert filmed a day later.

Ono attended both shows, which found Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reuniting on stage. For Grammy night, they performed “Queenie Eye,” from McCartney’s current solo release New. For the anniversary event, they offered key Beatles songs apart, and then joined together for rousing versions of “Sgt. Pepper’s/With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Hey Jude.” Ono, widow of their late bandmate John Lennon, was surrounded at each performance by a group that included their son Sean, Starr and his wife Barbara, Joe Walsh of the Eagles and his wife (who is Barbara’s sister), and McCartney and his wife Nancy.

Listen to the Audio Version of this News Story  details

Last night, Paul and his family attended the opening reception of the Linda McCartney retrospective photography exhibition in the city of Montpellier, France. The exhibition will run from 21st February – 4th May 2014 at Le Pavillon Populaire, a very special space dedicated to photography.

More than 200 prints and original documents are displayed, reflecting Linda's instinctive ability to capture the beauty of a particular moment. Linda got her first big break as a photographer while working as receptionist at 'Town and Country Magazine'. She used an unwanted invitation to a Rolling Stones promotional event on the SS Sea Panther on the Hudson River in New York to document the event and photograph the band. She became a professional photographer in the mid-sixties. Her pictures during this period chronicled the musical revolution of the decade. Linda's photographic oeuvre contains photographs of the musical scene of the 60s in New York, Californ details

Hey! You! Wanna meet Paul McCartney, only the greatest living songwriter? Well, Charitybuzz's Beatlemania Charity Auction, featuring the chance to meet Sir Paul McCartney, is here! 

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles crashing American shores on The Ed Sullivan Show this month, online charity auction site Charitybuzz has launched The Beatlemania Charity Auction, featuring incredible opportunities to win a piece of Beatles' magic and give back to remarkable causes at the same time. Meet the Legendary Sir Paul McCartney: Sir Paul McCartney is auctioning the opportunity for one lucky bidder and a guest to join him backstage at an upcoming concert of their choice. The fans will have the opportunity to meet the former front man and acclaimed solo artist after any one of his incendiary performances slated for 2014. Proceeds of the experience, valued at $50,000, benefits The MusiCares Foundation, and bidding closes February 28th.

details

The rebirth of Beatlemania and the fourth studio album from country singer Eric Church supplied some much-needed lift to the U.S. album chart last week.

The Beatles’ catalog received an enormous lift in the week following the Feb. 9 CBS special commemorating the 50th anniversary of the group’s U.S. TV debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” No less than 13 Fab Four titles crowded onto SoundScan’s 200-position chart, scanning a total of 65,000 units. Predictably, the top title was the hits compilation “1,” which tracked 18,000 copies, seeing a 90% gain and landing at No. 20; the collection has sold 12.3 million. Other sets that witnessed big leaps included the companion album to the Cirque du Soleil spectacle “Love,” the so-called “red” and “blue” compilations, last year’s “Live at the BBC Vol. 2,” and U.S. and U.K. iterations of the group’s original releases.

details

Comedian Mitch Benn will be returning to Stafford in April with his latest show The 37th Beatle. Here, he talks to us about the show. When you think about it, a Scouse comedian/musician touring with a show about The Beatles makes perfect sense.

But it was by rather unfortunate chance that the idea for ‘The 37th Beatle’ came to Mitch Benn last year after trying to come up with an Edinburgh Fringe show for some time. Upon hearing of the passing of singer-songwriter Tony Sheridan, who was often referred to as the ‘5th Beatle’ on account of his early work with the band, Mitch got to thinking: “I’d heard a lot of people claiming to be the ‘5th Beatle’ and I thought hang on a minute, they can’t all be right. Basic arithmetic alone dictates that. I mean, I must be the 28th or something…” And so the idea of a show listing all of the candidates in ascending order was born. Mitch insists it is very much a ‘homage’ rather than a ‘tribute’ to the band, because “’Beatles tribute&r details

A unique “nonsense” list by former Beatle John Lennon is being sold by its Anglesey owner. Michael Poynter Adams has the original, 1969 printer’s proof of the list, which has 26 letters and nonsensical words alongside each one in Lennon’s handwriting. It’s expected to fetch at least £6,000 at the Colwyn Bay auction on Wednesday.

In what’s known as an abecedarium, the dyslexic and quirky star wrote: “A is for Parrot, B is for glasses, C is for plastic, D is for Doris...” The list later became the introduction to a controversial set of 14 erotic lithographs of him and Yoko Ono called Bag One.  Mr Adams, 69, who met Lennon while browsing for records in Liverpool in his pre-Beatles days, later coincidentally worked at a printers and that’s how he acquired the print.  He said: “I am selling it with great reluctance but it is not on display at home and we are moving to a smaller house, so it has to go. It’s a significant piece of music history and I hope it goes to a good ho details

Fifty years ago this week four boys from Britain took a boat ride in Miami. They had appeared on television the night before, a program called The Ed Sullivan Show, and they wanted to cut loose. So they hopped into the prototype of a new offshore race boat named The Cigarette. The boat's builder, a man whose company would later become synonymous with go-fast boats, fired up the 435-horsepower engine, and hit the throttle.

"I don't think the Beatles knew what they were in for," said Tampa's Bob DiNesco, who now owns the refurbished 233 Formula along with his brother and father. "John, Paul and George got a little seasick. But Ringo, he had the time of his life." The "Fab Four" made their second appearance on the popular variety show on Feb. 16, 1964. The next morning, the Beatles met Don Aronow to check out his 23-foot speedboat that he had named after a legendary style of smuggling craft. "Formula was his first race boat," said DiNesco, 57. "He went on to be associated with so many other famous boats: Magnum, Donzi and, of cours details

Philatelists rejoice: The U.S. Postal Service will unravel several lines of celebrity-adorned stamps over the next two years, with subjects ranging from Apple founder Steve Jobs to gay rights activist Harvey Milk. It will also be offering numerous music-related stamps, including Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix this year and a James Brown stamp next year. 2015 will also see a re-release of Elvis Presley's 29-cent tribute from 1993 — the Postal Service's best-selling stamp ever — according to The Washington Post. A stamp for John Lennon has been planned for an as-yet-unannounced date.

As published in a missive by the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee (via the Post), this year will also see the arrival of stamps honoring NBA champ Wilt Chamberlain, undisclosed celebrity chefs, "America's Most Loved Pets" and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Next year, the Postal Service will release stamps for Johnny Carson, Ingrid Bergman and the gang from  details

A teenager from Metro Detroit won this month the John Lennon Songwriting Contest's "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE" Valentine's Day competition. "LOVE, LOVE LOVE" is part of the annual contest named for The Beatles member and is considered a prestigious international competition.

Olivia Millerschin, 18, of Rochester Hills, is this year's winner and wrote a song called "Screw Valentines Day" that was judges by Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, George Clinton, Prince Royce and others. Following a key selection process, Millerschin's Valentine's Day-themed song was chosen among countless entries based on melody, composition, originality, and lyrics. The winning composition was deemed the Grand Prize winner, with Millerschin receiving an Epiphone John Lennon Casino guitar, Neutrik custom John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Cable, and JamHub BedRoom. In addition, Millerschin received an automatic, inclusive entry into Session I of this year's JLSC that officially began on Feb. 14. An international songwriting contest launched in 1997, the John Lennon Songwriting Contest is open details