Beatles News

On This Day, July 23, 1989: Ringo Starr launches his first-ever tour with an All-Starr Band - Deltaplex News

Ringo Starr launched his first tour since his days with The Beatles, backed by an All-Starr Band that included Billy Preston, the Eagles’ Joe Walsh and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

Starr has continued to tour with a similar setup, with members of the All-Starr Band revolving over the years.

Each show features Ringo performing both solo and Beatles songs, along with All-Starr Band members performing selections of their hits.

Over the years, All-Starr Band members included such artists as E Street Band’s Nils Lofgren, Todd Rundgren, Bad Company’s Simon Kirke, Peter Frampton, Levon Helm and Randy Bachman.

The next leg of Ringo’s tour with his latest All-Starr Band kicks off Sept. 10 in Chicago, with dates confirmed through Sept. 27 in Las Vegas. It includes a headlining spot at the Bourbon & Beyond festival on Sept. 13 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The current All-Starr Band lineup includes Toto’s Steve Lukather, Men At Work’s Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette and Buck Johnson.

Source: deltaple details

It’s one thing to write a cutting song about your bandmate after you’ve broken up, which the Beatles did a lot of. It’s entirely another to do it right in front of their face. George Harrison once mocked Paul McCartney with a Beatles song, airing his grievances in front of his bandmate. It’s not the most well-known Beatles song, but it does highlight the cracks that were forming between “The Quiet Beatle” and his decisive counterpart.

When Harrison left the band before their breakup, there was no mistaking the cause. His voice was all but forgotten in the studio. No matter how his songwriting shone, it was always eclipsed by the force of the Lennon/McCartney partnership. Though Lennon isn’t absolved from blame, it was McCartney that Harrison was most agrieved with. He found Macca to be a bulldozer, unable to see anything past his creative pursuits.

“At that point in time, Paul couldn’t see beyond himself,” Harrison once said. “He was on a roll, but… in his mind, everything that was going on around him was just there to accompany him. He wasn’t sensitive to stepping on other people’s egos or feelings.”

On one hand, details

By 1971, Paul McCartney had traded Abbey Road for his Scottish farm, swapped Ringo for Linda, and swapped global adulation for domestic bliss and critical confusion. Ram, his only album credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, was a patchwork of pastoral charm, baroque pop, and passive-aggressive digs—an album that baffled critics at the time but later found its flock. The vibes were sun-drenched, the melodies pristine, and the drama delicious. It’s no wonder Ram has grown into one of McCartney’s most beloved solo works. Here are five curious facts you might not know about this gloriously weird masterpiece.

1. The thunder on “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” came from a film reel
Norwegian engineer Eirik Wangberg stitched the thunder sounds together using a monaural movie clip. He doubled it onto two tracks to create a fake stereo effect—and it worked. Paul gave him total freedom to mix and sequence the album as he pleased.

2. Linda wasn’t just on backing vocals—she helped choose the band
Linda McCartney may not have had musical training, but she picked guitarist David Spinozza during attic auditions in New York. She later sang co-lead on “Long Haired Lady details

Sue Mautner left school at 16 in 1962 and, through chutzpah and serendipity, found herself rubbing shoulders with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many more 60s legends while still in her teens. Mautner went from a Ready, Steady Go! TV dancer to an accidental music journalist and then a record company executive, becoming a front-row witness to pop’s first golden age.

Here she talks about her time with the Fab Four...

Oh my God, I’ve never known a group like them. The four of them fed off one another. It was absolutely unique. John was my favourite. I just thought he was my type of person because he had this cynicism and there was a real edge to what he said. He didn’t suffer fools gladly and could cut you down with two words. But sometimes I’d get a bit worried if I knew I was going to see them and I’d be a bit, oh, is he going to be okay? What side of the bed did he wake up on this morning? Is he going to be in a good mood? Or is he going to cut me to the quick? You know, if I say something wrong, or say something that he thinks isn’t very intelligent – he’d only answer intelligent questions. You had to have your wits about you with John. But he could be lovel details

When The Beatles went to India, it was with the purpose of learning Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in his ashram. George Harrison, in particular, was very interested in learning about the discipline, but the other Beatles, while curious, used their time away to write. John Lennon and Paul McCartney went back to writing together and comparing notes as they used to at the beginning of their songwriting partnership, and according to Lennon, “Regardless of what I was supposed to be doing, I did write some of my best songs there.”

One of those songs, many fans would say, was "Dear Prudence," a sweet, innocent, but still groundbreaking ballad dedicated to one of The Beatles' companions in the retreat, actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence Farrow. Among all the Maharishi's disciples, she was one of the most keen on learning about meditation. Because of that, she spent a lot of time locked in her room, sometimes worrying her "course-buddies", as she called them. In his song, Lennon calls for her and urges her to go outside and join the rest of their friends.

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?

Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day

The sun is up, the sky is blue details

Billy Joel has shared his thoughts on The Beatles’ 1968 self-titled ninth studio album, commonly referred to as the White Album, and they aren’t positive.

During his appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Joel and Maher were discussing classic double albums when Maher mentioned The Beatles’ record.

“I’m not a big fan of the White Album, but some people love it,” Joel said. “I hear it as a collection of half-a**** songs they didn’t finish writing because they were too stoned, or they didn’t care anymore.”

He adds, “I think they had fragments and they put them on the album.”

Joel also suggested that John Lennon “was disassociated” during the recording of the record, and Paul McCartney was “carrying the weight.”

While The Beatles officially broke up in 1970, Joel said he has a theory that the Fab Four “almost broke up a couple of times, just like a marriage.” He added, “They had their ups and downs and sometimes they were more prolific and sometimes they weren’t and I hear that in some of those things.”

Source: lakesmedianetwork.com

Paul McCartney Reveals the Billy Joel Song He Wishes He'd Written originally appeared on Parade.

Paul McCartney has penned some pretty iconic songs over the course of his storied career, from "Let It Be" to "All My Loving." But there's one tune that took the music world by storm in 1997 that the legendary Beatle, 83, wishes he'd written: Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are."

"When I first heard Billy, it was like 'Oh, wait a minute. He's good. Who's this?'," McCartney recalled in the new HBO Max documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes. "You know, like you do, your ears prick up. The song that really made me know that that was happening was 'Just the Way You Are.' And where I get asked, 'Is there a song that you wish you'd written?' And I always ... that's the one I always say."

The song almost didn't make it on Joel's album The Stranger, though.

"[Producer] Phil Ramone was the one who was pushing to have that song. But it just didn't feel right to me," the 76-year-old singer admitted in the doc. "It was too mushy."

The band workshopped the song in the recording studio, and Joel started to come around to it.

"I heard the playback and went, 'Okay, it's a nice recording, well-written, details

The Beatles released some of the catchiest, most accessible and melodic songs in the history of music.

In the early days there were hits like 'She Loves You', 'Yesterday' and 'Help!'. Even as they developed, you had songs like 'Revolution', 'Something' and 'Let It Be'.

'Carnival of Light': The mysterious Beatles recording that still hasn't been released. But The Beatles were never afraid to experiment.

With the help of the genius that was Fifth Beatle George Martin, even on their first records they pushed the technology available to its limits, marrying new techniques with their own unique style of songwriting.

But it was after they quit touring in 1966 that they really took advantage of the time and space available in the studio to get a little strange. George Harrison jokingly dismissed some experimental music as... "Avant garde? Avant garde a clue!" , but he certainly got in on the act himself.

'The Inner Light' and 'Within You Without You' were a then-experimental fusion of Indian music with western pop sensibilities. 'It's All Too Much' is a glorious racket of cascading sounds.

For John Lennon and Paul McCartney, after the backwards sounds on 'Rain', there was also details

John Lennon found success during both his time in The Beatles as well as his solo endevors - but it has taken fans over four decades to agree on what was his 'best' album

Its fair to say John Lennon thrived both in a band and by himself and fans have managed to agree on what his most successful solo album was.‌  The late musican, who founded The Beatles in 1960 alongwith Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, ventured out alomg when the band, who found successes world wide, decided to go their separate ways.  ‌

Lennon released several solo albums and also produced the likes of Harry Nilsson after leaving the Fab Four in 1970. Lennon, alongside Yoko Ono, would go on to write the likes of Imagine, Walls and Bridges, and Mind Games after leaving the era-defining group.

A post to the r/JohnLennon subreddit has sparked the debate on what could be Lennon’s most “influential” work after he ventured out on his solo endevors.  John Lennon ventured out into a solo career after The Beatles split(Image: Vinnie Zuffante, Getty Images)

A fan asked, “What is his best solo album?” While responses were mixed, many have agreed that the details

“As a performer,” Paul McCartney says, “you’re often thinking, “Is this any good? Is this rubbish? Is this a cliché?”

You wouldn’t expect someone with Paul McCartney’s catalog of hits to have moments of self-doubt. But the 83-year-old former Beatle says he’s no less critical of himself today than he was in his youth, despite being one of popular music’s most successful songwriters and musicians.

While some artists at his age might decide they’ve done enough, McCartney continues to create music and perform. He just announced his Got Back fall tour of the United States, which kicks off September 29 in Palm Desert, California.

So what keeps him going? As it turns out, it’s the self-doubt. But it’s also having someone in your corner who points out the brilliant thing you didn’t see in your creation.

“Any time you write a song, you’re going, ‘This is crap. This is terrible. Come on,’” he revealed to GQ. “So I kick myself and say, ‘Get it better. If it’s terrible, get it better.’

“And sometimes someone will come along, someone who you respect, an details

It took the band 10 hours to travel to London for the audition.

The Beatles almost fell at the first hurdle on their journey to stardom. Having gained a name for themselves playing the clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg, the band were on the lookout for a record deal at the end of 1961.  ‌

Brian Epstein, their manager, was trying to secure meetings with labels in London but It was not going particularly well. He was rejected by Columbia, HMV, Pye, Philips and Oriole but did manage to book meetings with EMI and Decca.

‌Decca's Mike Smith then came to Liverpool to see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best perform at the Cavern Club in December 1961, after which he invited them to audition in London on New Year's Day 1962.  ‌

It took the band 10 hours to drive down from Liverpool to the capital on New Year's Eve, getting lost in the process.  Mr Smith himself was late to the audition, said to be a little worse for wear after the previous night's celebrations.

The band played and recorded 15 songs, selected by Brian, but they were rejected a month later. ‌

According to Brian's autobiography, the band were told "gu details

 Manson used "Helter Skelter" as an anthem to justify the string of murders that took place in the summer of 1969, with some of the victims being actress Sharon Tate, socialite and coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, horse wrangler Donald Shea, and musician Gary Hinman. According to the cult leader during his trial, the reasoning behind those fatal attacks orchestrated by The Family (how Manson's cult was referred to) was directly tied to The Beatles, particularly the music that they were putting out.
Charles Manson's Odd Interpretation of The Beatles' Hit, "Helter Skelter"

The way Charles Manson lured new adepts to his cult was through playing his guitar and singing both authorial music and that of The Beatles. Although he wasn't the one to commit the murders, his followers did so through his direction and influence. At the trial that took place from 1970-1971, Mason shared that The Family knew what to do through the music they were listening to. In his mind, songs from the White Album, particularly "Helter Skelter", had a subliminal message that persuaded kids to "rise" and "kill".
The Beatles stepping off the plane and arriving in America in Beatles '64.

McCartney intende details

Liverpool residents have chained off the street where the former Beatle George Harrison omce lived in an attempt to stop disruption from day-trippers.

Access to Arnold Grove, the address of Harrison’s childhood home, was blocked on Monday morning as residents complained that Beatles fans would regularly peer through windows and doors on the street.

Chris Bennett, who lives on the street, told BBC Radio Merseyside that “you get people looking through the window, and if you leave your front door open, they look through the door”.

He also complained that his family “don’t get any peace” because of the traffic caused by private tours.

The area is a regular destination for guided Beatles tours of Liverpool, with the Magical Mystery tour run by the Cavern Club – the venue that hosted the first Beatles concerts – frequently stopping at the site.

Mr Bennet said: “Lately, there has been a lot more tours coming – private tours, taxis and minibuses – and unfortunately it is getting very busy down here.”

A spokesman for the Magical Mystery tour told The Telegraph that it had received no previous complaints about an increa details

Paul McCartney isn’t known as the most well-versed of his peers when it comes to drugs. He and his Beatles bandmates did their fair share, but they didn’t end up with the same kind of reputation as their edgier counterparts. Drugs, for the Beatles, were seen as more of an artistic pursuit than an addiction. It completely changed their career trajectory. McCartney was the longest holdout on LSD. Eventually, though, he did join his bandmates in partaking in the hallucinogen. Below, learn more about the first time McCartney took the drug, in particular, how it affected his relationship with John Lennon.  Paul McCartney: “It’s More Than Peer Pressure, It’s Fear Pressure”

Though fans aren’t sure of the exact date when McCartney took LSD for the first time, conversations from the Beatle himself pinpoint it to December of 1965. McCartney was more so into weed. McCartney had been trying to hold out on LSD, but eventually the “peer pressure” from Lennon and his other bandmates got to him.

“I was more ready for the drink or a little bit of pot or something,” McCartney once recalled. “I’d not wanted to do it, I’d held off like a l details

Joseph Quinn has confirmed the screen test for upcoming Beatles film is underway.

Helmed by Sam Mendes, the four separate Beatles biopics, starring Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Harris Dickson as John Lennon and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison is now under development.

The announcement came unexpectedly during Quinn's appearance at the BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast show along Fantastic Four co-star Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

During the radio show, they played a game called "Sitting Down or Standing Up" where the A-lister star phone calls their famous celebrity friend asking them whether they are sitting or standing.

The Stranger Things actor ringed the Saltburn star. Once he attended the call, Quinn asked, "Are you standing up or are you sat down?"

Keoghan nervously replied, "I'm sat down," then quipped, "What's happening? Are you pregnant? What's happening?"

Quinn then explained where he was and the game that they were playing. When he was about to end the call, Keoghan said, "I'm on the radio. I wanna make most of this."

The Gladiator II star then asked The Batman actor if he was in the middle of a screen test.

"I'm doing the screen test," details