Beatles News

When Duffy Power, who has died aged 72, recorded I Saw Her Standing There on 20 February 1963, he was only the second artist to cover Lennon/McCartney on record. At that time Paul McCartney and John Lennon were trying to establish themselves as songwriters for other artists already considered successful and had written the song with him in mind.

Duffy was backed by the Graham Bond Quartet, including John McLaughlin (guitar), Jack Bruce (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums); and the producer was Ron Richards for Parlophone. When word came back that "the boys" found it "too jazzy", it was re-recorded, toned down, a month later. The group, plus Duffy, toured together and guested on the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles. Only three years earlier, under the name the Silver Beatles, John, Paul and George, then without a permanent drummer, had auditioned for the rock'n'roll svengali Larry Parnes, then Duffy's manager, for the chance to back either Duffy or Johnny Gentle (another of Parnes's stable of stars) on Scottish tours. They fell short on the day and details

Turns out, John Lennon was just as mercurially intriguing to those who shared studio time with the late Beatles star as he was to those who simply purchased the music. Lennon remains an enigma, decades after his awful murder: A peace-loving street fighter, a house-husband activist, as inscrutable as he is compulsively listenable.

He’s remembered for his flinty impulse to create (Lennon wanted to write, record and release 1970′s “Instant Karma” in a single day), and his sometimes shocking honesty (not just when he was angry, but also within his lover’s admission on “Jealous Guy.”) He could be strikingly upbeat (releasing a goofball oldies set Rock ‘n’ Roll on this day in 1975, just before quitting the business for five years), and remarkably vindictive (who can forget the biting critique of his former band mate Paul McCartney on “How Do You Sleep?”). Collaborators like guitarist Joey Molland, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Alan White were passengers on this amazing post-Beatles creative j details

In a new interview with Billboard magazine, the outspoken singer and animal rights campaigner says the band's back catalogue contained four 'magnificent' tracks, but no more. "I thought four of their songs were magnificent, and if a band can give you four magnificent songs then that’s good enough for me," he tells the magazine. "But was I ever influenced by the Beatles? No."

He also spoke of the long-discussed Smiths reunion, again stating that it would never happen, saying that reuniting classic bands was nothing short of 'desperate'. "I don’t know a single person who wants a Smiths reunion," he added. "But, no, there aren’t any bands I like to see again because your memory of them is how they were in their prime or at their best or at their most desperate, and you look to them to be someone that they no longer are."

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Movie honcho Harvey Weinstein has revealed plans to turn the remaining Beatles into aliens in a sequel to his hit animation movie, Escape from Planet Earth.

Mr Weinstein, 61, told MailOnline he wants Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Julian Lennon, the son of the late John Lennon, to appear as The Greys. The original flick features The Greys - three aliens - who boast Liverpudlian 'Scouse' accents and aptly vow 'Let's never break up guys'. And the producer said: 'I'm going to speak to Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Julian Lennon, I want them to play The Greys on the next movie. The characters already speak like The Beatles and it would be really fun. Escape from Planet Earth, which was released in the US last year and is released in the UK on March 7, is The Weinstein Company's first animated release. And Mr Weinstein joked: 'It was the first movie where the actors didn't talk back to me!'

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As the genius behind songs like Imagine and Working Class Hero, John Lennon's lyrics are the stuff of legend. Even legends can have their off-days it seems, as a garbled bunch of lyrics by the Scouse singer have failed to sell at auction.

A "nonsense" list written by Lennon failed to raise even £6,000 at auction and given the content it comes as little surprise!Michael Poynter Adams has the original 1969 printer's proof of the list which has 26 letters and nonsensical phrases in the former Beatle's handwriting. It was expected to fetch at least £6,000 at the auction in Colwyn Bay, north Wales but bids failed to reach the £5,000 reserve price. In what is known as an abecedarium, the dyslexic Lennon wrote: "A is for Parrot, B is for glasses, C is for plastic, D is for Doris..." It ends with the rhyme: "This is my story both humble and true. Take it to pieces and mend it with glue." 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, fro details

Collecting his Songwriter's Songwriter award at the NME Awards 2014 with Austin, Texas yesterday (February 26), Sir Paul McCartney confessed on stage to sneaking false stories into NME – including that George Harrison was the cousin of British rocker Billy Fury. 

The admission came during a speech in which McCartney shared his memories of reading NME. Sir Paul McCartney said: "Wow, yeah. Thank you. First of all, let's hear it for the NME. Gotta give it up for the NME, man. Well, the NME for me brings back so many memories. It's been going longer than I have. I saw the very first picture of Elvis in the NME. Back page, it was an advert for 'Heartbreak Hotel'. We'd never seen him. We'd heard him, but we'd never seen him. Buddy Holly, I saw all that, the news coming in that he was visiting England. And it was really inspirational for us all because he sang and he wrote the songs and did the solos as well, so it was very inspirational. And then finally we got down to London and got to meet the people on the NME and that was another details

If you are old enough to remember the 1960s, “Give Peace a Chance” could melt your heart or cause youthful memories to tumble into consciousness. Walking in the gallery door, there’s the stirring sound of John Lennon’s anti-war anthem for the ages.

Then, before that door shuts behind you, we see them: John and Yoko, two hairy hippies hanging out in bed together in flowing white pajamas, like apostles for peace. At the new 12 Pine Street Gallery, 52 photographs transport viewers to May 1969, when the celebrity newlyweds staged their “Bed-in for Peace” in Montreal. For eight days, the former Beatle and his wife, Yoko Ono, camped out in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel as a nonviolent protest against the war raging in Vietnam. Lennon, who was 28, and Ono, 36, did their first bed-in while honeymooning in the Netherlands two months earlier. The second publicity stunt was targeted for New York City, but Lennon was barred from entering the U.S. because of a marijuana arrest. “They basically spent a week in their pajamas details

He's known for being hugely successful as a singer. And at the age of 71 Sir Paul McCartney has been perfecting another one of his many talents by taking to the French Alps with a personal instructor to hone his skiing skills.

Despite Paul's new hobby, his wife Nancy, 53, doesn't appear to be quite as keen as her husband to take to the ice. According to The Sun newspaper, she has been steering clear of the icy conditions by staying in their private lodge when the singer heads out to test his skiing skills. The skiing trip couldn't have come at a better time for Paul, who has been busy in the US for the past month making a special TV show, The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles, to commemorate 50 years since the group first appeared on American television. During the show, Paul and his bandmate Ringo Starr paid tribute to late Beatle John Lennon - who was shot and killed in New York in 1980 - and George Harrison, who died of lung cancer in 2001. Drummer Ringo 73, told the audience during the programme details

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.  

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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