Beatles News

BETHEL -- A new electric guitar autographed byPaul McCartney tops the offerings at this year's St. Thomas Episcopal Church benefit auction. The ivory Fender Squier guitar wasn't played by McCartney, but it's similar to those he played when he was a member of The Beatles.

The opening bid is $1,685. "The cachet of owning something with Paul McCartney's signature on it really increases the value," said Dana Treidel, customer service director of the Bethel Music Center. "I would love to have it." McCartney's signature is written in swirling blue ink, in stark contrast to the guitar's white body. "It's from Charity Grow, which helps people who are having auctions," said Dawn Fawcett, who is organizing the May 3 auction with another parishioner, Robin Mitchell. McCartney "was aware that this would be sold for charity. That's why he does it." Along with the guitar, a red boxing glove signed by Sylvester Stallone, who played "Rocky" in a series of movies, is available. Signed photographs of astronaut and form details

When your father was a member of the Beatles and your mother an acclaimed avant-garde/noise artist, you're allowed to take some creative liberties. Just ask Sean Lennon (son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono), who has spent nearly 25 years performing solo and with acts like Cibo Matto, Albert Hammond Jr. and his mother's group, the Plastic Ono Band. 

But in recent years, Lennon has been living an almost modern-day rock'n'roll version of Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson, having formed a romantic and creative partnership with British model/recording artist Charlotte Kemp Muhl, who he has recorded and toured with under the name the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, or as they commonly go by now the GOASTT. Their newest LP, Midnight Sun, arrives April 29 through Lennon and Muhl's own Chimera Music. Until then, stream the album in full on Exclaim.ca. Recorded in the four-year gap following the release of their roughshod  details

The much-maligned Decca Records will forever be known in the annals of rock history as the label that rejected the Beatles — an epic, billion-dollar blunder considered by many to be one of history’s greatest commercial missteps.

And sure, opting for Brian Poole and the Tremeloes ahead of the Fab Four sounds like a gargantuan mistake, but just because hindsight is 20/20, that doesn’t mean that it has good ears. Because if you look closely — and really listen — to a day in the life of the world’s biggest band, you may just decide that it was the Beatles, as much as any Decca exec, who blew their big chance that day.To say the the Liverpudlian band was at a key juncture in late 1961 is an understatement: In the six weeks leading up to their audition at Decca, the Beatles’ somewhat inert fortunes had been handed over to a one-man career accelerator in the form of new manager Brian Epstein. The original Fab Four (Pete Best, not Ringo Starr, was still on drums) had spent much of the past year building up their 10 details

The United Supermarkets “family,” which also includes Amigo’s Supermarket and Market Street, will not be Select-A-Seat outlets when tickets for Paul McCartney’s June 14 concert go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.

Eddie Owens, director of communications and public relations for United Supermarkets, said, “We have not had great success at these big events due to limited availability, and it seems it makes people more frustrated than happy.” The Select-A-Seat ticketing firm was created by Civic Lubbock, Inc. in 1990, according to Lisa Thomason, Select-A-Seat manager. The decision, Owens said, was made by Kris Burdis, center store business manager for United Supermarkets. “Tickets for these high-demand events sell out in a matter of minutes,” Burdis said. “In the past, we have had guests who line up at our stores and, in some instances, the first person in line was not even able to purchase a ticket. “Because of the frustration this can cause for our guests and team members, we have chosen not to open our details

Paul McCartney just kicked off a new Latin American leg of his Out There Tour over the weekend, and the road trip already has hit a speed bump.  The legendary Beatle has postponed the trek’s second show, which had been scheduled to take place at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, on Monday, April 21, because a plane carrying his equipment didn’t arrive in the city on time.

The concert now is scheduled for this Wednesday, April 23.  Sir Paul also has a previously announced show at the same venue on Tuesday. “Though I’m upset that the jumbo jet carrying all my equipment for the show has gone technical and will not arrive in Santiago in time for the show…I will not cancel the concert,” said McCartney in a statement.  “I would hate to disappoint our great Chilean fans so we are moving the Monday show to Wednesday this week and looking forward to having a rocking time in Santiago.” The tour kicked off Saturday at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay.  McCar details

Compared to the multi-million pound super-yachts favoured by the likes of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and F1 presenter Eddie Jordan, this humble fishing vessel may not look like much.However for former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, it hold precious memories of happy days with his first wife Linda before she tragically died on cancer.

Now he has made the heartbreaking decision to sell the vessel after a meeting with his children Stella, Heather and Mary. The boat, named Barnaby Rudge after a Charles Dickens character, is being sold for £60,000 in Rye near McCartney's private recording studio. According to a family friend, the adverts don't mention its connection with the pop star, saying only that the boat has an 'interesting history'. Speaking to the Sunday Express, family friend Eric Green said: 'He has decided to make the break with the past and move on. 'Paul no longer uses the boat because it has memories he does not want to dwell o details

Beyonce and Paul McCartney have apparently been hitting the gym together during their downtime in California. The US pop star and Beatles legend have both been in southern California recently, with Beyonce delivering a surprise performance at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California last weekend.

UK newspaper The Mirror reports the pair started working out together during their stays at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. McCartney, 71, apparently shocked fellow guests when he waltzed in with Beyonce, 32, after a recent sweat session. "They strolled in laughing and joking like old pals and hopped on the treadmill. Paul had a remarkably good pace," a source said. "Beyonce then got off to join her trainer, who was trying to get Paul to join in. "The pair then moved on to the studio where they stretched and did some gentle Pilates. People think it was a coincidence but it isn't the first time details

It’s no coincidence that the quartet’s debut Meet The Vamps – out today – echoes the title of the second album The Beatles released. Singer Bradley Simpson told me: “We realised the Beatles connection. We didn’t want to be insulting or big-headed in any way but being a British band we are massively influenced by them.

“It’s kind of a similar thing in the sense that we are pop and it’s the first thing we are putting out. “People are meeting The Vamps and having their first impression of our music.” Packed full of instantly memorable melodies, the album’s genesis goes back to their childhoods. “There are songs I wrote when I was 15, and songs that James McVey wrote when he was 14, so it’s been brewing three or four years,” the Midlands lad revealed. “Albums are still important in this age of the internet. Online hits are taking over, but we still w details

Businessman Terry Riley  is  behind a  multi -million pound  plan  to transform Southport’s  once legendary Kingsway  Casino site into a landmark  building. The Visiter can now  exclusively reveal that the  Crosby businessman  plans to  build a state-of-the art  apartment complex with  leisure and retail  facilities.

 Mr Riley, who has acquired  the Promenade site through  his Ascot Property Group, is  now on  the cusp of a project  thought to be in the region of  £10m. The old casino was  demolished after a   fire  in  2010.  Although  planning  permission was previously  granted for a hotel, apartment  complex and retail site,  APG  will submit fresh plans to  Sefton.  Stuart Howard, head of  property at APG,  said:“We   intend  to redesign the  previously proposed  scheme and build a  multi million pound  landmark  development,  details

Pandora Media Inc., the biggest Internet radio service, was sued by major record labels for failing to pay for using music recorded before 1972. The companies, including Capitol Records LLC and Sony Music Entertainment, filed the copyright infringement lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan yesterday because federal law doesn’t protect recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972. New York courts have enforced ownership rights stemming from before that date, according to the suit.

The labels accused the Oakland, California-based music streaming service of “massive and continuing unauthorized commercial exploitation” of thousands of recordings including iconic songs such as the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” “This case presents a classic attempt by Pandora to reap where it has not sown,” the companies said. Pandora has been fighting in court over how much it has to pay to stream music. In a details

At the pressconference at JFK airport, on virgin soil, they do their by-now fully developed thing: four mouths in a row, four bobbing heads, four sets of speculative-aggressive eyes. Unnerving polyphonic comedy. The atmosphere in the room is boisterous, the questions fatuous. How much money do you expect to take out of this country?

How many are bald, if you have to wear those wigs? Are you for real? “Come and have a feel.” That could only be John: the spark-jump into rhyme, the louche challenge. George, meanwhile, looking darkly French as he sometimes does, is warding off idiot black magic with a totemic cigarette. Two days later they’re onThe Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles in black and white, glimmering weirdly. Paul and George are sexual stick men; John, bandy-legged rock-and-roll portal, is meatier, bouncing on shit-kicker thighs; Ringo, the absurdist Beatle, syncopates his hair and stirs his drum kit with a distant smile, as if details

A POP art legend will help Mumbles celebrate a four-day festival of art, music and literature next month. Sir Peter Blake, best known for designing the iconic sleeve to the Beatles album Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, is one of the guests appearing at the Mumbles Marvellous Weekend, being held in the grounds of Oystermouth Castle.

The event has been put together by the village's traders' association, who hope it will not only provide a boost for business, but also bring a buzz to Mumbles. Paul Whittaker, chairman of Mumbles Traders' Association, and festival curator, said: "We have been planning this for about 18 months, and you could not get a better venue than Oystermouth Castle. "Traders have been working with other organisations to make this happen, and we have tried hard to keep the price down and make it accessible to all. "We hope it will drive tourism into the village, and build on the successfully jubilee event we held two years ago. But we also hope it will build on the atmosphere and vibe that is unique to Mumbles. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for it details

The Rutles are back with their unique blend of music and humour. The irreverent songwriter and satirist Neil Innes talks to Chris Bond. THE RUTLES have probably had more comebacks than the great Frank Sinatra, although according to the band this really is it. “Last time was just the last time. This time it really is the last time.”

For the uninitiated (where you have been all this time?), The Rutles are an affectionate, and at times hilarious, pastiche of The Beatles conceived by Monty Python star Eric Idle and Neil Innes for Idle’s comedy series Rutland Weekend Television during the mid-1970s. What started life as a one-off sketch turned into an hour long TV special, All You Need Is Cash, and spawned two albums as well as a touring schedule that’s still going strong today. Charting the career of Ron, Dirk, Stig and Barry (Innes, Idle, Ricky Fataar and John Halsey) the 1978 “rockumentary” featured cameos by luminaries like Mick Jagger, George Harrison and Paul Simon. All You Need Is details