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14 years ago
Collecting Beatles Autographs
The most sought-after Beatles memorabilia are their autographs, both individually and as a group. Autographs of all four Beatles together are the most valuable.
But how common are real Beatles autographs? Unfortunately, most knowledgeable collectors will tell you, not very. It's possible that the Beatles are the most commonly forged of all autographs.
Experts believe there were only three occasions when the Beatles sat down together to sign autographs. They are:
October 6, 1962 (one day after "Love Me Do" was released) at Dawson’s Music Shop, in Lancashire, for half an hour at 4:00 pm.
January 24, 1963, at Brian Epstein’s NEMS Record Store (two weeks after "Please, Please Me" was released).
December 14, 1963, at the Beatles London Fan Club Convention. Attendance was around 3,000, but few apparently did more than shake the band members’ hands, and not many autograph requests were reported. This was the only occasion on which their two early albums, Please Please Me and With the Beatles, could have been autographed.
However, Beatles groupies, known as "Apple Scruffs," used to hang around Abbey Road hoping to get an autograph from a Beatle who was coming or going, and eventually get all four signatures on an album. Some of these autograph seekers were successful, and over the years, these artifacts have turned up. In addition, there are other sources for geniune autographs, such as signatures on a letter sent by a Beatle.
One way to tell the authenticy of a Beatles signature is to compare it to a known authentic sample. Here is a picture of all four genuine Beatles autographs:
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
But how common are real Beatles autographs? Unfortunately, most knowledgeable collectors will tell you, not very. It's possible that the Beatles are the most commonly forged of all autographs.
Experts believe there were only three occasions when the Beatles sat down together to sign autographs. They are:
October 6, 1962 (one day after "Love Me Do" was released) at Dawson’s Music Shop, in Lancashire, for half an hour at 4:00 pm.
January 24, 1963, at Brian Epstein’s NEMS Record Store (two weeks after "Please, Please Me" was released).
December 14, 1963, at the Beatles London Fan Club Convention. Attendance was around 3,000, but few apparently did more than shake the band members’ hands, and not many autograph requests were reported. This was the only occasion on which their two early albums, Please Please Me and With the Beatles, could have been autographed.
However, Beatles groupies, known as "Apple Scruffs," used to hang around Abbey Road hoping to get an autograph from a Beatle who was coming or going, and eventually get all four signatures on an album. Some of these autograph seekers were successful, and over the years, these artifacts have turned up. In addition, there are other sources for geniune autographs, such as signatures on a letter sent by a Beatle.
One way to tell the authenticy of a Beatles signature is to compare it to a known authentic sample. Here is a picture of all four genuine Beatles autographs:
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
Sir Paul issues...
Sir Paul says fans should not expect another Strawberry Fields.
Sir Paul McCartney has warned Beatles fans not to expect too much from the band's lost song Carnival of Light. The singer told the Times the tune will not be to everybody's liking and that it is not another Strawberry Fields.
Last month the 66-year-old told Radio 4's Front Row programme the time has come for the mythical track to be made available to the group's legions of followers.
Sir Paul believes the song should now be released but warned them not to expect too much from it. "People are thinking there's another Strawberry Fields somewhere … this is more plinky-plonky. I mean, I like it, but it's not to everyone's taste," he told the newspaper.
Sir Paul talks about meeting Bertrand Russell.
Sir Paul McCartney has claimed it was he who fostered a social conscience within the Beatles and led them into being a political band.
In an interview with Propsect, the bass guitarist said he had a meeting with the philosopher Bertrand Russell in the 1960s and during this encounter he learnt about the atrocities occurring in the Vietnam war.
After enjoying a detailed conversation about the conflict, Sir Paul claims he then took the message to his bandmates and the Beatles' political conscience was born.
"I remember going back in the studio either that evening or the next day and telling the guys, particularly John [Lennon], about this meeting and saying what a bad war this was," he told the news provider.
However, Sir Paul's recollection of the events are inconsistent with those of Tariq Ali, a former leader of Britain's anti-war movement, who claims to know nothing about what the 64-year-old is talking about.
Thanks to Tourdates
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
Sir Paul McCartney has warned Beatles fans not to expect too much from the band's lost song Carnival of Light. The singer told the Times the tune will not be to everybody's liking and that it is not another Strawberry Fields.Last month the 66-year-old told Radio 4's Front Row programme the time has come for the mythical track to be made available to the group's legions of followers.
Sir Paul believes the song should now be released but warned them not to expect too much from it. "People are thinking there's another Strawberry Fields somewhere … this is more plinky-plonky. I mean, I like it, but it's not to everyone's taste," he told the newspaper.
Sir Paul talks about meeting Bertrand Russell.
Sir Paul McCartney has claimed it was he who fostered a social conscience within the Beatles and led them into being a political band.In an interview with Propsect, the bass guitarist said he had a meeting with the philosopher Bertrand Russell in the 1960s and during this encounter he learnt about the atrocities occurring in the Vietnam war.
After enjoying a detailed conversation about the conflict, Sir Paul claims he then took the message to his bandmates and the Beatles' political conscience was born.
"I remember going back in the studio either that evening or the next day and telling the guys, particularly John [Lennon], about this meeting and saying what a bad war this was," he told the news provider.
However, Sir Paul's recollection of the events are inconsistent with those of Tariq Ali, a former leader of Britain's anti-war movement, who claims to know nothing about what the 64-year-old is talking about.
Thanks to Tourdates
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
The Beatles according to EMI
"Words cannot even begin to describe the Impact and the legacy that The Beatles created, and left, in modern culture. The most popular, the most successful, the most loved of all popular music groups"
The Beatles were the most popular and influential rock act of all time, but their significance cannot solely be measured in sales records (as impressive as those are). They synthesized all that was good about early rock and roll, and changed it into something original and even more exciting. They established the prototype for the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed their own material. As composers, their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none, and key to the evolution of rock from its blues/R&B-based forms into a style that was far more eclectic, but equally visceral. As singers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock; the group's harmonies were intricate and exhilarating. As performers, they were (at least until touring had ground them down) exciting and photogenic; when they retreated into the studio, they were instrumental in pioneering advanced techniques and multi-layered arrangements. They were also the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence, launching a British Invasion that made rock truly an international phenomenon.
Guitarist and teenage rebel John Lennon got hooked on rock 'n' roll in the mid-1950s, and formed a band, the Quarrymen, at his Liverpool high school. Around mid-1957, the Quarrymen were joined by another guitarist, Paul McCartney, nearly two years Lennon's junior. A bit later they were joined by another guitarist, George Harrison, a friend of McCartney's. The Quarrymen would change lineups constantly in the late 1950s, eventually reducing to the core trio of guitarists.
The Quarrymen changed their name to the Silver Beatles in 1960, quickly dropping the "Silver" to become just the Beatles. Lennon's art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass, but finding a permanent drummer was a vexing problem until Pete Best joined in the summer of 1960. He successfully auditioned for the combo just before they left for a several-month stint in Hamburg, Germany. When they returned to Liverpool at the end of 1960, the band--formerly also-rans on the exploding Liverpudlian "beat" scene--were suddenly the most exciting act on the local circuit. They consolidated their following in 1961 with constant gigging in the Merseyside area, most often at the legendary Cavern Club.
They also returned for engagements in Hamburg during 1961, although Sutcliffe dropped out of the band that year to concentrate on his art school studies there. McCartney took over on bass, Harrison settled in as lead guitarist, and Lennon had rhythm guitar; everyone sang. In mid-1961 the Beatles (minus Sutcliffe) made their first recordings in Germany, as a backup group to a British rock guitarist-singer based in Hamburg, Tony Sheridan. ( Sutcliffe, tragically, would die of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962).
Near the end of 1961, the Beatles' exploding local popularity caught the attention of local record store manager Brian Epstein, who was soon managing the band as well. He used his contacts to swiftly acquire a January 1, 1962 audition at Decca Records that has been heavily bootlegged (some tracks were officially released in 1995). After weeks of deliberation, Decca turned them down, as did several other British labels. Epstein's perseverance was finally rewarded with an audition for producer George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary; Martin signed the Beatles in mid-1962.
In August 1962, drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the group, a controversial decision that has been the cause of much speculation since. He was replaced with Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), drummer with another popular Merseyside outfit, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Starr had been in the Beatles for a few weeks when they recorded their first single, "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You," in September 1962. Both sides of the 45 were Lennon- McCartney originals, and the songwriting team would be credited with most of the group's material throughout the Beatles' career.
The Beatles phenomenon didn't truly kick in until "Please Please Me," which topped the British charts in early 1963. This was the prototype British Invasion single--an infectious melody, charging guitars, and positively exuberant harmonies. The same traits were evident on their third 45, "From Me to You" (a British #1), and their debut LP, Please Please Me. Although it was mostly recorded in a single day, Please Please Me topped the British charts for an astonishing 30 weeks, establishing the group as the most popular rock 'n' roll act ever seen in the UK.
The Beatles had taken the best elements of the rock and pop they loved and made them their own. Since the Quarrymen days, they had been steeped in the classic early rock of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and the Everly Brothers; they'd also kept an ear open to the early '60s sounds of Motown, Phil Spector, and the girl groups. They added an unmatched songwriting savvy (inspired by Brill Building teams such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King), a brash guitar-oriented attack, wildly enthusiastic vocals, and the embodiment of the youthful flair of their generation, ready to dispense with post-war austerity and claim a culture of their own. They were also unsurpassed in their eclecticism, willing to borrow from blues, popular standards, gospel, folk, or whatever seemed suitable for their musical vision. Producer George Martin was the perfect foil for the group, refining their ideas without tinkering with their essence. During the last half of their career, he was indispensable for his ability to translate their concepts into arrangements that required complex orchestration, innovative applications of recording technology, and an ever-widening array of instruments.
Just as crucially, the Beatles were never ones to stand still and milk formulas. All of their subsequent albums and singles would show remarkable artistic progression (though never at the expense of a damn catchy tune). Even on their second LP, With the Beatles (1963), it was evident that their talents as composers and instrumentalists were expanding furiously, as they devised ever more inventive melodies and harmonies, and boosted the fullness of their arrangements. The 1963 singles "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" established the group not just as a successful pop act, but as a phenomenon never before seen in the British entertainment business, as each single sold over a million copies in the UK. After some celebrated national TV appearances, Beatlemania broke out across the British Isles in late 1963, the group generating screams and hysteria at all of their public appearances, musical or otherwise.
Capitol, which had first refusal of the Beatles' recordings in the United States, had declined to issue the group's first few singles, which ended up appearing on relatively small American independents. Capitol took up its option on "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which stormed to the top of the US charts within weeks of its release on December 26, 1963. The Beatles' television appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February of 1964 launched Beatlemania (and the entire British Invasion) on an even bigger scale than it had reached in Britain. In the first week of April 1964, the Beatles had the top five best-selling singles in the US; they also had the top two slots on the album charts, as well as other entries throughout the Billboard Top 100. No one had ever dominated the market for popular music so heavily; it's doubtful than anyone ever will again. The Beatles themselves would continue to reach #1 with most of their singles and albums until their 1970 breakup.
1964's A Hard Day's Night, a cinema verite-style motion picture comedy/musical, cemented their image as the Fab Four--happy-go-lucky, individualistic, cheeky, funny lads with nonstop energy. The soundtrack was also a triumph, consisting entirely of Lennon- McCartney tunes, including such standards as the title tune, "And I Love Her," "If I Fell," "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Things We Said Today." Between riotous international tours in 1964 and 1965, the Beatles continued to pump out more chart-topping albums and singles. (Until 1967, the group's British albums were often truncated for release in the States; when their catalog was transferred to CD, the albums were released worldwide in their British configurations.) In retrospect, critics have judged Beatles for Sale (late 1964) and Help! (mid-1965) as the band's least impressive efforts. To some degree, that's true. Touring and an insatiable market placed heavy demands upon their songwriting, and some of the originals and covers on these records, while brilliant by many groups' standards, were filler in the context of the Beatles' best work. The best songs from this period, however, show the group continuing to move forward, especially the singles "I Feel Fine," "She's a Woman," "Ticket to Ride," and "Help!," which boast increasingly intricate guitar sounds and clever lyrics.
Although the Beatles' second film, Help!, was a much sillier and less sophisticated affair than their first feature, it too was a huge commercial success. By this time, though, the Beatles had nothing to prove in commercial terms; the remaining frontiers were artistic challenges that could only be met in the studio. They rose to the occasion at the end of 1965 with Rubber Soul, one of the classic folk-rock records. Lyrically, Lennon, McCartney, and even Harrison (who was now writing some tunes on his own) were evolving beyond boy-girl scenarios into complex, personal feelings. They were also pushing the limits of studio rock by devising new guitar and bass textures, experimenting with distortion and multi-tracking, and using unconventional (for rock) instruments like the sitar.
The "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single found the group abandoning romantic themes entirely, boosting the bass to previously unknown levels, and fooling around with psychedelic imagery and backwards tapes on the B-side. Drugs (psychedelic and otherwise) were fueling their already fertile imaginations, but they felt creatively hindered by their touring obligations. Revolver, released in the summer of 1966, proved what the group could be capable of when allotted months of time in the studio. Hazy hard guitars and thicker vocal arrangements formed the bed of these increasingly imagistic, ambitious lyrics; the group's eclecticism now encompassed everything from singalong novelties ("Yellow Submarine") and string quartet-backed character sketches ("Eleanor Rigby") to Indian-influenced swirls of echo and backwards tapes ("Tomorrow Never Knows").
For the past couple of years, live performance had become a rote exercise for the group, tired of competing with thousands of screaming fans that drowned out most of their vocals and instruments. The final concert of their 1966 American tour (in San Francisco on August 29, 1966) would be their last in front of a paying audience, as the group decided to stop playing live in order to concentrate on their studio recordings. This was a radical (indeed, unprecedented) step in 1966, and the media was rife with speculation that the act was breaking up, especially after all four Beatles spent late 1966 engaged in separate personal and artistic pursuits. The appearance of the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" single in February 1967 squelched these concerns. Frequently cited as the strongest double-A-side ever, the Beatles were now pushing forward into unabashedly psychedelic territory in their use of orchestral arrangements and mellotron, without abandoning their grasp of memorable melody and immediately accessible lyrical messages.
Sgt. Pepper, released in June 1967 as the Summer of Love dawned, was the definitive psychedelic soundtrack. Or, at least, so it was perceived at the time: subsequent critics have painted the album as an uneven affair, given a conceptual unity via its brilliant multi-tracked overdubs, singalong melodies, and fairy tale-ish lyrics. Others remain convinced, as millions did at the time, that it represented pop's greatest triumph, or indeed an evolution of pop into art with a capital A. In addition to mining all manner of roots influences, the musicians were also picking up vibes from Indian music, avant-garde electronics, classical, music hall, and more. When the Beatles premiered their hippie anthem "All You Need Is Love" as part of a worldwide TV broadcast, they had been truly anointed as spokespersons for their generation (a role they had not actively sought), and it seemed they could do no wrong.
Musically, that would usually continue to be the case, but the group's strength began to unravel at a surprisingly quick pace. In August 1967, Brian Epstein--prone to suicidal depression over the past year--died of a drug overdose, leaving them without a manager. The group pressed on with their next film project, Magical Mystery Tour, directed by themselves; lacking focus or even basic professionalism, the picture bombed when it was premiered on BBC television in December 1967, giving the media the first real chance it had ever had to roast the Beatles over a flame. (Another film, the animated feature Yellow Submarine, would appear in 1968, although the Beatles had little involvement with the project, either in terms of the movie or the soundtrack.)
Judged solely on musical merit, The White Album, a double LP released in late 1968, was a triumph. While largely abandoning their psychedelic instruments to return to guitar-based rock, they maintained their whimsical eclecticism, proving themselves masters of everything from blues rock to vaudeville. As individual songwriters, too, it contains some of their finest work (as does the brilliant non-LP single from this era, "Hey Jude"/"Revolution").
But by the White Album, it was clear (if only in retrospect) that each member was more concerned with his own expression than that of the collective group. In addition, George Harrison was becoming a more prolific and skilled composer as well, imbuing his own melodies (which were nearly the equal of those of his more celebrated colleagues) with a cosmic lightness. Harrison was beginning to resent his junior status, and the group began to bicker more openly in the studio. Ringo, whose solid drumming and good nature could usually be counted upon (as was evident in his infrequent lead vocals), actually quit for a couple of weeks in the midst of the White Album sessions. Apple Records, started by the group earlier in 1968 as a sort of utopian commercial enterprise, was becoming a financial and organizational nightmare.
These weren't the ideal conditions under which to record a new album in January 1969, especially when McCartney was pushing the group to return to live performing, although none of the others seemed especially keen on the idea. They did agree to try and record a "back-to-basics," live-in-the-studio-type LP, the sessions being filmed for a television special. Harrison enlisted American soul keyboardist Billy Preston as kind of a fifth member on the sessions, both to beef up the arrangements and to alleviate the uncomfortable atmosphere. In order to provide a suitable concert-like experience for the film, the group did climb the roof of their Apple headquarters in London to deliver an impromptu performance on January 30, 1969, before the police stopped it; this was their last live concert of any sort.
Generally dissatisfied with these early 1969 sessions, the album and film--at first titled Get Back, and later to emerge as Let It Be--remained in the can as the group tried to figure out how the projects should be mixed, packaged, and distributed. A couple of the best tracks, "Get Back"/"Don't Let Me Down," were issued as a single in the spring of 1969. By this time, the Beatles' quarrels were intensifying in a dispute over management: McCartney wanted their affairs to be handled by his new father-in-law, Lee Eastman, while the other members of the group favored a tough American businessman, Allen Klein.
It was something of a miracle, then, that the final album recorded by the group, Abbey Road, was one of their most unified efforts (even if, by this time, the musicians were recording many of their parts separately). It certainly boasted some of their most intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumental arrangements. It also heralded the arrival of Harrison as a composer of equal talent to Lennon and McCartney, as George wrote the album's two most popular tunes, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." The Beatles were still progressing, but it turned out to be the end of the road, as their business disputes continued to magnify. Lennon, who had begun releasing solo singles and performing with friends as the Plastic Ono Band, threatened to resign in late 1969, although he was dissuaded from making a public announcement.
Most of the early 1969 tapes remained unreleased, partially because the footage for the planned television broadcast of these sessions was now going to be produced as a documentary movie. For the accompanying soundtrack album, Let It Be, Lennon, Harrison, and Allen Klein decided to have celebrated American producer Phil Spector record some additional instrumentation and do some mixing. By that time it was released, the Beatles were no more.
In fact, there had been no recording done by the group as a four-man unit since August 1969, and each member of the band had begun to pursue serious outside professional interests independently via the Plastic Ono Band, Harrison's tour with Delaney and Bonnie, Starr's starring role in the Magic Christian film, and McCartney's first solo album. The outside world for the most part remained almost wholly unaware of the seriousness of the group's friction, making it a devastating shock for much of the world's youth when McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles on April 10, 1970. At the end of 1970, McCartney sued the rest of the Beatles in order to dissolve their partnership; the battle dragged through the courts for years, scotching any prospects of a group reunion.
In any case, each member of the band quickly established viable solo careers. Within a short time, it became apparent both that the Beatles were not going to settle their differences and reunite, and that their solo work could not compare with what they were capable of creating together. Despite periodic rumors of reunions throughout the 1970s, no group projects came close to materializing. Any hopes of a reunion vanished when Lennon was assassinated in New York City in December 1980. The Beatles continued their solo careers throughout the 1980s, but their releases became less frequent, and their commercial success gradually diminished, as listeners without first-hand memories of the combo created their own idols.
Legal wrangles at Apple prevented the official issue of previously unreleased Beatles material for over two decades (although much of it was frequently bootlegged). The situation finally changed in the 1990s, after McCartney, Harrison, Starr, and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono settled their principal business disagreements. In 1994, this resulted in a double CD of BBC sessions from the early and mid-'60s. The following year, a much more ambitious project was undertaken: a multi-part film documentary, broadcast on network television in 1995, and then released (with double the length) for the home video market in 1996, with the active participation of the surviving Beatles.
To coincide with the Anthology documentary, three double CDs of previously unreleased/rare material were issued in 1995 and 1996. Additionally, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr (with some assistance from Jeff Lynne) embellished a couple of John Lennon demos from the 1970s with overdubs to create two new tracks ("Free as a Bird" and "Real Love") that were billed as actual Beatles recordings. Whether this constitutes the actual long-awaited "reunion" is the subject of much debate. Still, the massive commercial success of outtakes that had, after all, been recorded 25 to 30 years ago, spoke volumes about the unabated appeal and fascination the Beatles continue to exert worldwide.
Courtesy of EMI records
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The Beatles were the most popular and influential rock act of all time, but their significance cannot solely be measured in sales records (as impressive as those are). They synthesized all that was good about early rock and roll, and changed it into something original and even more exciting. They established the prototype for the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed their own material. As composers, their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none, and key to the evolution of rock from its blues/R&B-based forms into a style that was far more eclectic, but equally visceral. As singers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock; the group's harmonies were intricate and exhilarating. As performers, they were (at least until touring had ground them down) exciting and photogenic; when they retreated into the studio, they were instrumental in pioneering advanced techniques and multi-layered arrangements. They were also the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence, launching a British Invasion that made rock truly an international phenomenon.Guitarist and teenage rebel John Lennon got hooked on rock 'n' roll in the mid-1950s, and formed a band, the Quarrymen, at his Liverpool high school. Around mid-1957, the Quarrymen were joined by another guitarist, Paul McCartney, nearly two years Lennon's junior. A bit later they were joined by another guitarist, George Harrison, a friend of McCartney's. The Quarrymen would change lineups constantly in the late 1950s, eventually reducing to the core trio of guitarists.
The Quarrymen changed their name to the Silver Beatles in 1960, quickly dropping the "Silver" to become just the Beatles. Lennon's art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass, but finding a permanent drummer was a vexing problem until Pete Best joined in the summer of 1960. He successfully auditioned for the combo just before they left for a several-month stint in Hamburg, Germany. When they returned to Liverpool at the end of 1960, the band--formerly also-rans on the exploding Liverpudlian "beat" scene--were suddenly the most exciting act on the local circuit. They consolidated their following in 1961 with constant gigging in the Merseyside area, most often at the legendary Cavern Club.
They also returned for engagements in Hamburg during 1961, although Sutcliffe dropped out of the band that year to concentrate on his art school studies there. McCartney took over on bass, Harrison settled in as lead guitarist, and Lennon had rhythm guitar; everyone sang. In mid-1961 the Beatles (minus Sutcliffe) made their first recordings in Germany, as a backup group to a British rock guitarist-singer based in Hamburg, Tony Sheridan. ( Sutcliffe, tragically, would die of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962).
Near the end of 1961, the Beatles' exploding local popularity caught the attention of local record store manager Brian Epstein, who was soon managing the band as well. He used his contacts to swiftly acquire a January 1, 1962 audition at Decca Records that has been heavily bootlegged (some tracks were officially released in 1995). After weeks of deliberation, Decca turned them down, as did several other British labels. Epstein's perseverance was finally rewarded with an audition for producer George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary; Martin signed the Beatles in mid-1962.
In August 1962, drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the group, a controversial decision that has been the cause of much speculation since. He was replaced with Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), drummer with another popular Merseyside outfit, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Starr had been in the Beatles for a few weeks when they recorded their first single, "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You," in September 1962. Both sides of the 45 were Lennon- McCartney originals, and the songwriting team would be credited with most of the group's material throughout the Beatles' career.
The Beatles phenomenon didn't truly kick in until "Please Please Me," which topped the British charts in early 1963. This was the prototype British Invasion single--an infectious melody, charging guitars, and positively exuberant harmonies. The same traits were evident on their third 45, "From Me to You" (a British #1), and their debut LP, Please Please Me. Although it was mostly recorded in a single day, Please Please Me topped the British charts for an astonishing 30 weeks, establishing the group as the most popular rock 'n' roll act ever seen in the UK.
The Beatles had taken the best elements of the rock and pop they loved and made them their own. Since the Quarrymen days, they had been steeped in the classic early rock of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and the Everly Brothers; they'd also kept an ear open to the early '60s sounds of Motown, Phil Spector, and the girl groups. They added an unmatched songwriting savvy (inspired by Brill Building teams such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King), a brash guitar-oriented attack, wildly enthusiastic vocals, and the embodiment of the youthful flair of their generation, ready to dispense with post-war austerity and claim a culture of their own. They were also unsurpassed in their eclecticism, willing to borrow from blues, popular standards, gospel, folk, or whatever seemed suitable for their musical vision. Producer George Martin was the perfect foil for the group, refining their ideas without tinkering with their essence. During the last half of their career, he was indispensable for his ability to translate their concepts into arrangements that required complex orchestration, innovative applications of recording technology, and an ever-widening array of instruments.
Just as crucially, the Beatles were never ones to stand still and milk formulas. All of their subsequent albums and singles would show remarkable artistic progression (though never at the expense of a damn catchy tune). Even on their second LP, With the Beatles (1963), it was evident that their talents as composers and instrumentalists were expanding furiously, as they devised ever more inventive melodies and harmonies, and boosted the fullness of their arrangements. The 1963 singles "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" established the group not just as a successful pop act, but as a phenomenon never before seen in the British entertainment business, as each single sold over a million copies in the UK. After some celebrated national TV appearances, Beatlemania broke out across the British Isles in late 1963, the group generating screams and hysteria at all of their public appearances, musical or otherwise.
Capitol, which had first refusal of the Beatles' recordings in the United States, had declined to issue the group's first few singles, which ended up appearing on relatively small American independents. Capitol took up its option on "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which stormed to the top of the US charts within weeks of its release on December 26, 1963. The Beatles' television appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February of 1964 launched Beatlemania (and the entire British Invasion) on an even bigger scale than it had reached in Britain. In the first week of April 1964, the Beatles had the top five best-selling singles in the US; they also had the top two slots on the album charts, as well as other entries throughout the Billboard Top 100. No one had ever dominated the market for popular music so heavily; it's doubtful than anyone ever will again. The Beatles themselves would continue to reach #1 with most of their singles and albums until their 1970 breakup.
1964's A Hard Day's Night, a cinema verite-style motion picture comedy/musical, cemented their image as the Fab Four--happy-go-lucky, individualistic, cheeky, funny lads with nonstop energy. The soundtrack was also a triumph, consisting entirely of Lennon- McCartney tunes, including such standards as the title tune, "And I Love Her," "If I Fell," "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Things We Said Today." Between riotous international tours in 1964 and 1965, the Beatles continued to pump out more chart-topping albums and singles. (Until 1967, the group's British albums were often truncated for release in the States; when their catalog was transferred to CD, the albums were released worldwide in their British configurations.) In retrospect, critics have judged Beatles for Sale (late 1964) and Help! (mid-1965) as the band's least impressive efforts. To some degree, that's true. Touring and an insatiable market placed heavy demands upon their songwriting, and some of the originals and covers on these records, while brilliant by many groups' standards, were filler in the context of the Beatles' best work. The best songs from this period, however, show the group continuing to move forward, especially the singles "I Feel Fine," "She's a Woman," "Ticket to Ride," and "Help!," which boast increasingly intricate guitar sounds and clever lyrics.
Although the Beatles' second film, Help!, was a much sillier and less sophisticated affair than their first feature, it too was a huge commercial success. By this time, though, the Beatles had nothing to prove in commercial terms; the remaining frontiers were artistic challenges that could only be met in the studio. They rose to the occasion at the end of 1965 with Rubber Soul, one of the classic folk-rock records. Lyrically, Lennon, McCartney, and even Harrison (who was now writing some tunes on his own) were evolving beyond boy-girl scenarios into complex, personal feelings. They were also pushing the limits of studio rock by devising new guitar and bass textures, experimenting with distortion and multi-tracking, and using unconventional (for rock) instruments like the sitar.
The "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single found the group abandoning romantic themes entirely, boosting the bass to previously unknown levels, and fooling around with psychedelic imagery and backwards tapes on the B-side. Drugs (psychedelic and otherwise) were fueling their already fertile imaginations, but they felt creatively hindered by their touring obligations. Revolver, released in the summer of 1966, proved what the group could be capable of when allotted months of time in the studio. Hazy hard guitars and thicker vocal arrangements formed the bed of these increasingly imagistic, ambitious lyrics; the group's eclecticism now encompassed everything from singalong novelties ("Yellow Submarine") and string quartet-backed character sketches ("Eleanor Rigby") to Indian-influenced swirls of echo and backwards tapes ("Tomorrow Never Knows").
For the past couple of years, live performance had become a rote exercise for the group, tired of competing with thousands of screaming fans that drowned out most of their vocals and instruments. The final concert of their 1966 American tour (in San Francisco on August 29, 1966) would be their last in front of a paying audience, as the group decided to stop playing live in order to concentrate on their studio recordings. This was a radical (indeed, unprecedented) step in 1966, and the media was rife with speculation that the act was breaking up, especially after all four Beatles spent late 1966 engaged in separate personal and artistic pursuits. The appearance of the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" single in February 1967 squelched these concerns. Frequently cited as the strongest double-A-side ever, the Beatles were now pushing forward into unabashedly psychedelic territory in their use of orchestral arrangements and mellotron, without abandoning their grasp of memorable melody and immediately accessible lyrical messages.
Sgt. Pepper, released in June 1967 as the Summer of Love dawned, was the definitive psychedelic soundtrack. Or, at least, so it was perceived at the time: subsequent critics have painted the album as an uneven affair, given a conceptual unity via its brilliant multi-tracked overdubs, singalong melodies, and fairy tale-ish lyrics. Others remain convinced, as millions did at the time, that it represented pop's greatest triumph, or indeed an evolution of pop into art with a capital A. In addition to mining all manner of roots influences, the musicians were also picking up vibes from Indian music, avant-garde electronics, classical, music hall, and more. When the Beatles premiered their hippie anthem "All You Need Is Love" as part of a worldwide TV broadcast, they had been truly anointed as spokespersons for their generation (a role they had not actively sought), and it seemed they could do no wrong.
Musically, that would usually continue to be the case, but the group's strength began to unravel at a surprisingly quick pace. In August 1967, Brian Epstein--prone to suicidal depression over the past year--died of a drug overdose, leaving them without a manager. The group pressed on with their next film project, Magical Mystery Tour, directed by themselves; lacking focus or even basic professionalism, the picture bombed when it was premiered on BBC television in December 1967, giving the media the first real chance it had ever had to roast the Beatles over a flame. (Another film, the animated feature Yellow Submarine, would appear in 1968, although the Beatles had little involvement with the project, either in terms of the movie or the soundtrack.)
Judged solely on musical merit, The White Album, a double LP released in late 1968, was a triumph. While largely abandoning their psychedelic instruments to return to guitar-based rock, they maintained their whimsical eclecticism, proving themselves masters of everything from blues rock to vaudeville. As individual songwriters, too, it contains some of their finest work (as does the brilliant non-LP single from this era, "Hey Jude"/"Revolution").
But by the White Album, it was clear (if only in retrospect) that each member was more concerned with his own expression than that of the collective group. In addition, George Harrison was becoming a more prolific and skilled composer as well, imbuing his own melodies (which were nearly the equal of those of his more celebrated colleagues) with a cosmic lightness. Harrison was beginning to resent his junior status, and the group began to bicker more openly in the studio. Ringo, whose solid drumming and good nature could usually be counted upon (as was evident in his infrequent lead vocals), actually quit for a couple of weeks in the midst of the White Album sessions. Apple Records, started by the group earlier in 1968 as a sort of utopian commercial enterprise, was becoming a financial and organizational nightmare.
These weren't the ideal conditions under which to record a new album in January 1969, especially when McCartney was pushing the group to return to live performing, although none of the others seemed especially keen on the idea. They did agree to try and record a "back-to-basics," live-in-the-studio-type LP, the sessions being filmed for a television special. Harrison enlisted American soul keyboardist Billy Preston as kind of a fifth member on the sessions, both to beef up the arrangements and to alleviate the uncomfortable atmosphere. In order to provide a suitable concert-like experience for the film, the group did climb the roof of their Apple headquarters in London to deliver an impromptu performance on January 30, 1969, before the police stopped it; this was their last live concert of any sort.
Generally dissatisfied with these early 1969 sessions, the album and film--at first titled Get Back, and later to emerge as Let It Be--remained in the can as the group tried to figure out how the projects should be mixed, packaged, and distributed. A couple of the best tracks, "Get Back"/"Don't Let Me Down," were issued as a single in the spring of 1969. By this time, the Beatles' quarrels were intensifying in a dispute over management: McCartney wanted their affairs to be handled by his new father-in-law, Lee Eastman, while the other members of the group favored a tough American businessman, Allen Klein.
It was something of a miracle, then, that the final album recorded by the group, Abbey Road, was one of their most unified efforts (even if, by this time, the musicians were recording many of their parts separately). It certainly boasted some of their most intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumental arrangements. It also heralded the arrival of Harrison as a composer of equal talent to Lennon and McCartney, as George wrote the album's two most popular tunes, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." The Beatles were still progressing, but it turned out to be the end of the road, as their business disputes continued to magnify. Lennon, who had begun releasing solo singles and performing with friends as the Plastic Ono Band, threatened to resign in late 1969, although he was dissuaded from making a public announcement.
Most of the early 1969 tapes remained unreleased, partially because the footage for the planned television broadcast of these sessions was now going to be produced as a documentary movie. For the accompanying soundtrack album, Let It Be, Lennon, Harrison, and Allen Klein decided to have celebrated American producer Phil Spector record some additional instrumentation and do some mixing. By that time it was released, the Beatles were no more.
In fact, there had been no recording done by the group as a four-man unit since August 1969, and each member of the band had begun to pursue serious outside professional interests independently via the Plastic Ono Band, Harrison's tour with Delaney and Bonnie, Starr's starring role in the Magic Christian film, and McCartney's first solo album. The outside world for the most part remained almost wholly unaware of the seriousness of the group's friction, making it a devastating shock for much of the world's youth when McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles on April 10, 1970. At the end of 1970, McCartney sued the rest of the Beatles in order to dissolve their partnership; the battle dragged through the courts for years, scotching any prospects of a group reunion.
In any case, each member of the band quickly established viable solo careers. Within a short time, it became apparent both that the Beatles were not going to settle their differences and reunite, and that their solo work could not compare with what they were capable of creating together. Despite periodic rumors of reunions throughout the 1970s, no group projects came close to materializing. Any hopes of a reunion vanished when Lennon was assassinated in New York City in December 1980. The Beatles continued their solo careers throughout the 1980s, but their releases became less frequent, and their commercial success gradually diminished, as listeners without first-hand memories of the combo created their own idols.
Legal wrangles at Apple prevented the official issue of previously unreleased Beatles material for over two decades (although much of it was frequently bootlegged). The situation finally changed in the 1990s, after McCartney, Harrison, Starr, and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono settled their principal business disagreements. In 1994, this resulted in a double CD of BBC sessions from the early and mid-'60s. The following year, a much more ambitious project was undertaken: a multi-part film documentary, broadcast on network television in 1995, and then released (with double the length) for the home video market in 1996, with the active participation of the surviving Beatles.
To coincide with the Anthology documentary, three double CDs of previously unreleased/rare material were issued in 1995 and 1996. Additionally, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr (with some assistance from Jeff Lynne) embellished a couple of John Lennon demos from the 1970s with overdubs to create two new tracks ("Free as a Bird" and "Real Love") that were billed as actual Beatles recordings. Whether this constitutes the actual long-awaited "reunion" is the subject of much debate. Still, the massive commercial success of outtakes that had, after all, been recorded 25 to 30 years ago, spoke volumes about the unabated appeal and fascination the Beatles continue to exert worldwide.
Courtesy of EMI records
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Bootleg Beatles take to London rooftop despite local ban
Bootleg Beatles take to London rooftop
The replica Beatles' rooftop gig in London has been staged January 30, despite the event being banned by police. Members of tribute band The Bootleg Beatles had intended to reenact the infamous gig which the original group played on the roof of the Apple building on Saville Row 40 years ago today.
Police and council officials pulled the plug on the set, citing health and safety fears.
However, gigwise.com reports that two members of the group - David Catlin-Birch, who plays Sir Paul McCartney, and Andre Barreau, who stands in for George Harrison - were able to perform anyway.
Instead of the full set as originally planned, the musicians took to the roof to play an acoustic version of One After 909.
The original 1969 event was The Beatles' last public performance together and was also shut down by the police.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Sir Paul is to perform at a charity fundraiser thrown by director John Landis - to collect funds for transcendental meditation.
Thanks to Tourdates
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
The replica Beatles' rooftop gig in London has been staged January 30, despite the event being banned by police. Members of tribute band The Bootleg Beatles had intended to reenact the infamous gig which the original group played on the roof of the Apple building on Saville Row 40 years ago today.
Police and council officials pulled the plug on the set, citing health and safety fears.
However, gigwise.com reports that two members of the group - David Catlin-Birch, who plays Sir Paul McCartney, and Andre Barreau, who stands in for George Harrison - were able to perform anyway.
Instead of the full set as originally planned, the musicians took to the roof to play an acoustic version of One After 909.
The original 1969 event was The Beatles' last public performance together and was also shut down by the police.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Sir Paul is to perform at a charity fundraiser thrown by director John Landis - to collect funds for transcendental meditation.
Thanks to Tourdates
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
Received - Hey Jude sleeve
Hi
i discovered recently your site(s), nice work indeed.
I got a cambodgian sleeve for Hey Jude ,i didn't find on your site, so i send it to you
Hope you'll enjoy
Cheers from Bordeaux
El Butor
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i discovered recently your site(s), nice work indeed.
I got a cambodgian sleeve for Hey Jude ,i didn't find on your site, so i send it to you
Hope you'll enjoy
Cheers from Bordeaux
El Butor
The Beatles - Hey Jude (Lacsea Disques Cambodge)
Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
A Beatles Timeline and Notes on Beatles Songs - N+O
The Night Before
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Recorded: 17 Feb 65
Released: on "Help!": 6 Aug 65 (UK), 13 Aug 65 (US)
Notes: Paul plays guitar and bass both.
No Reply
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Mostly John
Recorded: 30 Sep 64
Released: on "Beatles for Sale": 4 Dec 64 (UK), on "Beatles 65": 15 Dec 64 (US)
Notes: Inspired by "Sillouettes," by the Rays.
Nobody I Know
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Notes: Jane Asher period.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Mostly John
Recorded: 21 Oct 65
Released: on "Rubber Soul": 3 Dec 65 (UK), 6 Dec 65 (US)
Notes: Norwegian wood was cheap pine paneling. George's first sitar contribution. Dylan copied tune on "4th Time Around." About an affair with a journalist. Part about sleeping in tub is to clean it up. Woman was a journalist.
Not a Second Time
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: John
Recorded: 11 Sep 63
Released: on "Meet the Beatles": 20 Jan 64 (US)
Notes: Inspired by Smokey Robinson.
Nowhere Man
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: John
Recorded: 21, 22 Oct 65
Released: 21 Feb 66 (US); on "Rubber Soul": 3 Dec 65 (UK)
Notes: First Beatle song not about love. John is the Nowhere Man.
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Recorded: 17 Feb 65
Released: on "Help!": 6 Aug 65 (UK), 13 Aug 65 (US)
Notes: Paul plays guitar and bass both.
No Reply
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Mostly John
Recorded: 30 Sep 64
Released: on "Beatles for Sale": 4 Dec 64 (UK), on "Beatles 65": 15 Dec 64 (US)
Notes: Inspired by "Sillouettes," by the Rays.
Nobody I Know
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Notes: Jane Asher period.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Mostly John
Recorded: 21 Oct 65
Released: on "Rubber Soul": 3 Dec 65 (UK), 6 Dec 65 (US)
Notes: Norwegian wood was cheap pine paneling. George's first sitar contribution. Dylan copied tune on "4th Time Around." About an affair with a journalist. Part about sleeping in tub is to clean it up. Woman was a journalist.
Not a Second Time
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: John
Recorded: 11 Sep 63
Released: on "Meet the Beatles": 20 Jan 64 (US)
Notes: Inspired by Smokey Robinson.
Nowhere Man
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: John
Recorded: 21, 22 Oct 65
Released: 21 Feb 66 (US); on "Rubber Soul": 3 Dec 65 (UK)
Notes: First Beatle song not about love. John is the Nowhere Man.
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Mostly Paul
Recorded: 8, 11, 15 Jul 68
Released: on "The Beatles": 22 Nov 68 (UK), 25 Nov 68 (US)
Notes: Title came from Jimmie Scott, who plays conga on the record. It means, "Life goes on" in Yoruban. (Yorba is a tribe in Nigeria.) But Paul's characters are Jamaican. Drove John crazy (like "Maxwell") because they worked on it so hard.
Octopus' Garden
(Starkey)
Real Author: Mostly Ringo
Recorded: 16, 19 Apr, 17, 18 Jul 69
Released: on "Abbey Road": 26 Sept 69 (UK), 1 Oct 69 (US)
Notes: Started on Sardinia after temporarily quitting Beatles. Inspired by a meal of octopus on Peter Seller's yacht and the captain's story about how they pick up stines and shiney objects to make gardens.
Oh! Darling
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Recorded: 20, 26 Apr, 23 Jul, 8, 11 Aug 69
Released: on "Abbey Road": 26 Sept 69 (UK), 1 Oct 69 (US)
Notes: Paul roughened his voice for a week. Inspired by Jackie Wilson.
Old Brown Shoe
(Harrison)
Real Author: George
Recorded: 16, 18 Apr 69
Released: 30 May 69 (UK), 4 Jun 69 (US)
Notes: About opposites
The One After 909
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: John
Recorded: 30 Jan 69
Released: on "Let it Be": 8 May 70 (UK), 18 May 70 (US)
Notes: Written when they were young, about 16 in 1958. He liked nines: born on 9/9, lived at number 9 New Castle oad.
One and One is Two
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Notes: Written in Paris, January 1964. Recorded by The Strangers.
Only a Northern Song
(Harrison)
Real Author: George
Recorded: 13, 14 Feb, 20 Apr 67
Released: on "Yellow Submarine": 13 Jan 69 (US), 17 Jan 69 (UK)
Notes: Written and recorded for Sgt. Pepper. Northern was the publishing company. The deal was bad for John and Paul, but even worse for George.
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Mostly Paul
Recorded: 8, 11, 15 Jul 68
Released: on "The Beatles": 22 Nov 68 (UK), 25 Nov 68 (US)
Notes: Title came from Jimmie Scott, who plays conga on the record. It means, "Life goes on" in Yoruban. (Yorba is a tribe in Nigeria.) But Paul's characters are Jamaican. Drove John crazy (like "Maxwell") because they worked on it so hard.
Octopus' Garden
(Starkey)
Real Author: Mostly Ringo
Recorded: 16, 19 Apr, 17, 18 Jul 69
Released: on "Abbey Road": 26 Sept 69 (UK), 1 Oct 69 (US)
Notes: Started on Sardinia after temporarily quitting Beatles. Inspired by a meal of octopus on Peter Seller's yacht and the captain's story about how they pick up stines and shiney objects to make gardens.
Oh! Darling
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Recorded: 20, 26 Apr, 23 Jul, 8, 11 Aug 69
Released: on "Abbey Road": 26 Sept 69 (UK), 1 Oct 69 (US)
Notes: Paul roughened his voice for a week. Inspired by Jackie Wilson.
Old Brown Shoe
(Harrison)
Real Author: George
Recorded: 16, 18 Apr 69
Released: 30 May 69 (UK), 4 Jun 69 (US)
Notes: About opposites
The One After 909
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: John
Recorded: 30 Jan 69
Released: on "Let it Be": 8 May 70 (UK), 18 May 70 (US)
Notes: Written when they were young, about 16 in 1958. He liked nines: born on 9/9, lived at number 9 New Castle oad.
One and One is Two
(Lennon and McCartney)
Real Author: Paul
Notes: Written in Paris, January 1964. Recorded by The Strangers.
Only a Northern Song
(Harrison)
Real Author: George
Recorded: 13, 14 Feb, 20 Apr 67
Released: on "Yellow Submarine": 13 Jan 69 (US), 17 Jan 69 (UK)
Notes: Written and recorded for Sgt. Pepper. Northern was the publishing company. The deal was bad for John and Paul, but even worse for George.
© Free Rare Mp3 Music Downloads
The Beatles - Only A Northern Song
"Only a Northern Song" is a song written by George Harrison and performed by English rock band The Beatles. It was first featured in the Beatles' 1968 animated movie, Yellow Submarine, and subsequently appeared in that movie's soundtrack early the next year.
The song's basic track was recorded on 13 February 1967, with overdubs added on 14 February and 20 April. The song was originally to appear on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. According to Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, the song was left off the album because the other band members felt it didn't fit in with the rest of the songs. Featuring a self-referential lyric, unconventional musical form, and unusual instrumentation, including distorted trumpets, a reverbed organ, chimes, and a glockenspiel, it is one of the most psychedelic songs the Beatles ever recorded.
Throughout the song, Paul McCartney plays trumpet as the other members play percussion instruments such as a glockenspiel, orchestral chimes, timpani and piano. A mellotron can be heard during parts of the song as well. An edited and slightly sped-up version of the song's basic track without the overdubs added 20 April (organ, bass, drums and vocal only) was released on volume two of the Anthology set in 1996, with a different vocal take containing some lyrical variations. Since the song was made from two separate takes playing in synchronization, the original mix of the song was available in mono only until 1999, when a remixed version of the track was released on the Yellow Submarine Songtrack.
The lyrics feature Harrison's disparagement of the song itself, concluding each verse with the title phrase "It's only a Northern song", which Harrison has explained as referring both to the band's often-disrespected hometown of Liverpool (in northwest England), and to the Northern Songs publishing company. (Harrison had not yet formed his own publishing company; Northern Songs was Lennon/McCartney's publishing company, for whom Harrison was, at the time, essentially a writer-for-hire). The song is sometimes interpreted as a sarcastic jibe at Lennon/McCartney, mocking the overtly psychedelic lyrics and musical style they employed in many songs during this time, and as a reaction to the often-dismissive attitude bandmates John Lennon and McCartney held of Harrison's songwriting contributions, with Harrison listlessly singing "It doesn't really matter what chords I play/What words I say or time of day it is/As it's only a Northern song".
Recorded Abbey Road Studios
13, 14 February, 20 April 1967
If you're listening to this song
You may think the chords are going wrong
But they're not;
I just wrote it like that.
When you're listening late at night
You may think the band are not quite right
But they are, They just play it like that
And it doesn't really matter what chords I play
What words I say or time of day it is
As it's only a Northern song.
It doesn't really matter what clothes I wear
Or how I fare or if my hair is brown
When it's only a Northern song.
If you think the harmony
Is a little off and out of key
You're correct, Is nobody there
and I told you is no one there
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Cover Me Badd celebrates Beatles rooftop anniversary in San Diego
This Friday, forty years later to the minute (minus the eight hour time difference), San Diego legends Cover Me Badd are bringing back their famed Beatles U.S. act to celebrate the anniversary of the Beatles' last semi-public performance. In the spirit of the Fab Four playing a rooftop lunchtime set to an unsuspecting London, the Beatles U.S. will play the same songs that John, Paul, George, Ringo and organist Billy Preston played on January 30, 1969. Though the exact time and location is being kept under wraps, several clues were divulged at a recent secret press conference that no one was invited to.
According to singer Adam Gimbel, "People should head to Horton Plaza and be sure to bring their ice skates. When they see that the ice skating rink has been taken down for the season and look skyward in disappointment, they might just see us." When questioned about what time the set will take place, Gimbel inexplicably yelled out the name of Herman's Hermits singer Peter Noone exactly twelve times. He then bragged about how the Beatles never did encores but they might be doing one at 8pm.
The everchanging Cover Me Badd (above) formed The Beatles U.S. two years ago for a Beatlesque installment of the Tribute! concert series at Safari Sam's in Los Angeles. Though the show was barely attended, two videos from the band's set ended up on Youtube and have been viewed over 35,000 times. Two of the group's main members, Adam Gimbel and Dylan Martinez are no strangers to having thousands of people watch them play the Beatles online. Their "real" band Rookie Card played "Back In The USSR" outside of their album release show several years ago just as a plane flew overhead in a bit of incredible timing. A video of the performance was mentioned in a San Diego Reader coverstory and has become the stuff of legend.
The group vowed to reform when the time was right and the time was right several months ago when they insisted on playing the first event on the roof of the newly re-opened 10th Avenue Theater in San Diego's East Village. Noticing that the 40th anniversary was just a few months away, they vowed to find somewhere right downtown to play on January 30th.
Gimbel inquired with almost every building that has a roof in downtown San Diego about hosting the event but they all had either tented for winter, had never heard of McCartney's pre-Wings material or wanted $15,000. Luckily, the kind folks at Westfield's Horton Plaza stepped forward to give the band a place to play, so that they too could be part of something so historic.
When the Beatles were trying to come up with a place to film their last performance for the film that eventually became Let It Be, they talked about doing it on a boat, at the Royal Albert Hall in London and even in Africa. Strangely enough, there are rumors of an outtake from the movie where John Lennon turns to Yoko Ono and mumbles something about "an MC Esher styled shopping mall that smells like cinnamon buns in San Diego....near Broadway and 3rd Street." Rather than play on a roof where no one could see them, the Beatles US decided to comply with Lennon's wishes and play somewhere a bit more retail oriented. Ever charitable, the band is playing FOR FREE while requesting donations for their friends, local soul/funk outfit The Tightenups, who recently had their rehearsal space robbed of several thousand dollars worth of equipment.
Though world-famous Beatle coverband the Bootleg Beatles played the same famous fifth story roof that the Beatles played at 3 Saville Row in London ten years ago, local council and police have cancelled this year's recreation due to "health and safety reasons". Not surprisingly, all eyes have turned towards a shopping mall in San Diego, California for the next best thing. Those seeking 100% faithful renditions, fake accents, period-perfect costuming or even an actual roof need not attend. Like all Cover Me Badd acts, the Beatles US puts more of a twist (and a shout) on things than most Beatle copycat bands.
An elevated time is guaranteed for all.
Cover Me Badd's Beatles U.S. performs downtown for the 40th anniversary of the beatles' legendary rooftop show
secret location: maybe westfield's horton plaza at broadway circle, downtown san diego
secret date: probably 40 years after january 30, 1969m
secret starting times: rhymes with "moon" (plus 8pm for those who won't ditch work)
secret reason why: because when someone breaks into your friends' rehearsal space and steals thousands of dollars worth of equipment, you learn beatles songs and take to the skies.
According to singer Adam Gimbel, "People should head to Horton Plaza and be sure to bring their ice skates. When they see that the ice skating rink has been taken down for the season and look skyward in disappointment, they might just see us." When questioned about what time the set will take place, Gimbel inexplicably yelled out the name of Herman's Hermits singer Peter Noone exactly twelve times. He then bragged about how the Beatles never did encores but they might be doing one at 8pm.
The everchanging Cover Me Badd (above) formed The Beatles U.S. two years ago for a Beatlesque installment of the Tribute! concert series at Safari Sam's in Los Angeles. Though the show was barely attended, two videos from the band's set ended up on Youtube and have been viewed over 35,000 times. Two of the group's main members, Adam Gimbel and Dylan Martinez are no strangers to having thousands of people watch them play the Beatles online. Their "real" band Rookie Card played "Back In The USSR" outside of their album release show several years ago just as a plane flew overhead in a bit of incredible timing. A video of the performance was mentioned in a San Diego Reader coverstory and has become the stuff of legend.The group vowed to reform when the time was right and the time was right several months ago when they insisted on playing the first event on the roof of the newly re-opened 10th Avenue Theater in San Diego's East Village. Noticing that the 40th anniversary was just a few months away, they vowed to find somewhere right downtown to play on January 30th.
Gimbel inquired with almost every building that has a roof in downtown San Diego about hosting the event but they all had either tented for winter, had never heard of McCartney's pre-Wings material or wanted $15,000. Luckily, the kind folks at Westfield's Horton Plaza stepped forward to give the band a place to play, so that they too could be part of something so historic.
When the Beatles were trying to come up with a place to film their last performance for the film that eventually became Let It Be, they talked about doing it on a boat, at the Royal Albert Hall in London and even in Africa. Strangely enough, there are rumors of an outtake from the movie where John Lennon turns to Yoko Ono and mumbles something about "an MC Esher styled shopping mall that smells like cinnamon buns in San Diego....near Broadway and 3rd Street." Rather than play on a roof where no one could see them, the Beatles US decided to comply with Lennon's wishes and play somewhere a bit more retail oriented. Ever charitable, the band is playing FOR FREE while requesting donations for their friends, local soul/funk outfit The Tightenups, who recently had their rehearsal space robbed of several thousand dollars worth of equipment.
Though world-famous Beatle coverband the Bootleg Beatles played the same famous fifth story roof that the Beatles played at 3 Saville Row in London ten years ago, local council and police have cancelled this year's recreation due to "health and safety reasons". Not surprisingly, all eyes have turned towards a shopping mall in San Diego, California for the next best thing. Those seeking 100% faithful renditions, fake accents, period-perfect costuming or even an actual roof need not attend. Like all Cover Me Badd acts, the Beatles US puts more of a twist (and a shout) on things than most Beatle copycat bands.
An elevated time is guaranteed for all.
Cover Me Badd's Beatles U.S. performs downtown for the 40th anniversary of the beatles' legendary rooftop show
secret location: maybe westfield's horton plaza at broadway circle, downtown san diego
secret date: probably 40 years after january 30, 1969m
secret starting times: rhymes with "moon" (plus 8pm for those who won't ditch work)
secret reason why: because when someone breaks into your friends' rehearsal space and steals thousands of dollars worth of equipment, you learn beatles songs and take to the skies.
Followup: No go for Savile Row
On 30 January 1969 the Beatles walked on to the rooftop on 3 Savile Row and performed live for the last time. For the last 40 years this event has been acknowledged as a landmark event in pop culture. Well, they say history has a habit of repeating itself...
January 30th, 2009 ... 40 years to the day later the band intended to recreate this historic event and pay homage to both it's cultural significance and The Beatles by heading up to the very same roof. This time, however, the performance has been stopped before a note has been played.
Number 3, Savile Row stands empty, awaiting new corporate tenants. The landlords, Kier Group, granted their permission, The Express Group offered to host a party and make a charitable donation to PeaceOneDay, and Westminster Council granted the appropriate temporary license.
The performance itself was to be broadcast live across the nation, enabling millions of fans to enjoy a loving recreation of the original event. But, Westminster had second thoughts. Onerous and extensive demands and conditions were placed upon the band and, with huge disappointment all round, the performance has had to be scrapped.
The Bootleg Beatles (above) office did try to persuade Westminster Council to re-issue a licence but sadly local government bureaucracy won the day. In a strange conversation with Simon Pearce of Westminster Council he insisted that the Council were not 'saying no' and that a new licence had to be applied for. When asked if the band could apply for a new licence Mr Pearce said there was not enough time for a licence to be granted. Bizarre!Mark Cunningham of TPi Magazine sums it up perfectly, "With London 2012 on its way, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a fantastic chance to remind the world of a unique moment in music history that happened not in New York, L.A., Paris or Berlin, but in LONDON. Westminster Council, you could have made this happen...you chose not to...you should be ashamed of yourselves."
Thanks to The Bootleg Beatles Home Page
Bookshelf - Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America
Can't Buy Me Love:
The Beatles, Britain and America by Jonathan Gould
Piatkus, £10.99
Just another Beatles book? Not quite...
Finally, what the world has been crying out for: a book about the Beatles. This is forgivable sarcasm when you consider that there are more than 500 of them already. I must have about a dozen of them myself, and have read a dozen more. These range from the indispensable - Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, Bob Spitz's The Beatles, the Hunter Davies and Philip Norman works and, for my money the most fascinating of them all, Devin McKinney's inspirational, insanely ambitious Magic Circles - to some of the shoddiest and most opportunistic verbiage you will encounter in the course of a reading life. Anyone with any sense of professional pride now writing about the group must feel like a treasure hunter going over ground that has been thoroughly ransacked by hundreds of people, some armed with pretty sophisticated detection equipment.
But still they keep coming out - and we still want to read them. Well, some of us, and some of them. The group still fascinates. A friend of mine, asked whether he liked them, replied that asking him whether he liked the Beatles or not was like asking a priest whether he liked God or not: the question was all but meaningless. They're there, and you can, should you wish, accommodate yourself to the fact by inhaling every available datum of information about them.
Jonathan Gould, who by his account spent some two decades writing this, his first book, might have felt a certain despair when Spitz's near-1,000-page biography of the band came out in 2005; but Gould plodded on, and we can be glad that he did. For it is not so much that he brings anything really new to the party - he says his book concentrates on the music more than the others, but this is true only if you ignore about two dozen of them - as that he manages, almost miraculously, to retell a story that could hardly be called unfamiliar in a way which actually manages to illuminate.
And he does it subtly (compare Henry W Sullivan's The Beatles with Lacan, a title you could be forgiven for thinking was some kind of joke, but isn't). The trick is in an easy fluency of writing combined with a sense of when not to dwell too much on stuff we already know. He is very good on the political backgrounds of both Britain and America - particularly, in fact, on the differing sociologies which accounted for the differing versions of British and American Beatlemania. (Interestingly, it is only when that phenomenon kicks off that the book itself wakes up; it does take a while to get going.) He has a nice line in clear-headed assessments of the group's faults as well as their virtues, and the occasional, never intrusive way with a nice simile. By the time he says that "Tomorrow Never Knows" is "oddly reminiscent" of their version of "Twist and Shout", you know exactly what he's getting at.
It is a measure of the worth of the book that there is so little you could find in it to take issue with. So here are some pettifogging quibbles. The song "A Hard Day's Night" is more like two and a half minutes long than "a full three". Lennon and McCartney's decision not to put Harrison's "Not Guilty" on the White Album was not "churlish" - it was sensible, considering how dire it is. And that's about it. If he skates over McCartney's tomcatting or how close they came to being murdered in the Philippines, then that is probably because he knows full well you can go elsewhere for that. He doesn't even slip up when considering matters of British heritage, culture and politics - quite a feat when you consider that I have read respected American authors dealing with the subject who think that Private Eye is a TV show, or that London still suffers from pea-soupers.
But it is in his descriptions of the songs that Gould really shines. He knows his terminology and is not afraid to use it - but he is not intimidatingly knowledgable, and when he describes a song it really is as if you're hearing it, too. And if you ask: "What's the point of that, then?", maybe this book isn't for you.
Thanks to by Nicholas Lezard @ The Guardian
But still they keep coming out - and we still want to read them. Well, some of us, and some of them. The group still fascinates. A friend of mine, asked whether he liked them, replied that asking him whether he liked the Beatles or not was like asking a priest whether he liked God or not: the question was all but meaningless. They're there, and you can, should you wish, accommodate yourself to the fact by inhaling every available datum of information about them.
Jonathan Gould, who by his account spent some two decades writing this, his first book, might have felt a certain despair when Spitz's near-1,000-page biography of the band came out in 2005; but Gould plodded on, and we can be glad that he did. For it is not so much that he brings anything really new to the party - he says his book concentrates on the music more than the others, but this is true only if you ignore about two dozen of them - as that he manages, almost miraculously, to retell a story that could hardly be called unfamiliar in a way which actually manages to illuminate.
And he does it subtly (compare Henry W Sullivan's The Beatles with Lacan, a title you could be forgiven for thinking was some kind of joke, but isn't). The trick is in an easy fluency of writing combined with a sense of when not to dwell too much on stuff we already know. He is very good on the political backgrounds of both Britain and America - particularly, in fact, on the differing sociologies which accounted for the differing versions of British and American Beatlemania. (Interestingly, it is only when that phenomenon kicks off that the book itself wakes up; it does take a while to get going.) He has a nice line in clear-headed assessments of the group's faults as well as their virtues, and the occasional, never intrusive way with a nice simile. By the time he says that "Tomorrow Never Knows" is "oddly reminiscent" of their version of "Twist and Shout", you know exactly what he's getting at.
It is a measure of the worth of the book that there is so little you could find in it to take issue with. So here are some pettifogging quibbles. The song "A Hard Day's Night" is more like two and a half minutes long than "a full three". Lennon and McCartney's decision not to put Harrison's "Not Guilty" on the White Album was not "churlish" - it was sensible, considering how dire it is. And that's about it. If he skates over McCartney's tomcatting or how close they came to being murdered in the Philippines, then that is probably because he knows full well you can go elsewhere for that. He doesn't even slip up when considering matters of British heritage, culture and politics - quite a feat when you consider that I have read respected American authors dealing with the subject who think that Private Eye is a TV show, or that London still suffers from pea-soupers.
But it is in his descriptions of the songs that Gould really shines. He knows his terminology and is not afraid to use it - but he is not intimidatingly knowledgable, and when he describes a song it really is as if you're hearing it, too. And if you ask: "What's the point of that, then?", maybe this book isn't for you.
Thanks to by Nicholas Lezard @ The Guardian
Cat Stevens teams up with Beatles man for George Harrison tribute
His cover of 'The Day The World Gets 'Round' is released on Monday, January 26
Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, has collaborated with Beatles associate Klaus Voormann on a cover of George Harrison's 1973 song 'The Day The World Gets 'Round'.
Islam revealed that the collaboration came about after Voormann, who played in John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and designed the sleeve for The Beatles' 'Revolver', asked him to contribute to an album he was making to raise money for the American Indians.
"He asked me to contribute and choose one of the songs he had played on over the years. I immediately headed towards George Harrison's galaxy of material," Islam said.
"I'd met George with John Lennon in the early '70s at David Bailey's studio. He was such a great spirit. His eastern outreach inspired me and many others to embark on a great spiritual adventure.
"George was also more responsible than any other artist for initiating pop music's movement to aid people and countries stricken by war and calamities; his 'Concert For Bangladesh' was the first of its kind. I hope this song will help remind people of the immense legacy of love, peace and happiness we can share when we get round to looking at mankind's futile wars and prejudices and start to change our foolish ways."
The song is released with proceeds going to various children's charities (Small Kindness, UNRWA and Save The Children).
Islam also announced that he is returning to Island Records – the label he released his 'Teaser & The Firecat' and 'Tea For The Tillerman' albums on in the '70s.
'The Day The World Gets 'Round' will also appear on Klaus Voormann’s 'A Sideman's Journey' album, which is raising money for an environment and health project in aid of the Oglala Sioux of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton have both contributed to Islam's new album.
Thanks to NME
Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, has collaborated with Beatles associate Klaus Voormann on a cover of George Harrison's 1973 song 'The Day The World Gets 'Round'.
Islam revealed that the collaboration came about after Voormann, who played in John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and designed the sleeve for The Beatles' 'Revolver', asked him to contribute to an album he was making to raise money for the American Indians.
"He asked me to contribute and choose one of the songs he had played on over the years. I immediately headed towards George Harrison's galaxy of material," Islam said.
"I'd met George with John Lennon in the early '70s at David Bailey's studio. He was such a great spirit. His eastern outreach inspired me and many others to embark on a great spiritual adventure.
"George was also more responsible than any other artist for initiating pop music's movement to aid people and countries stricken by war and calamities; his 'Concert For Bangladesh' was the first of its kind. I hope this song will help remind people of the immense legacy of love, peace and happiness we can share when we get round to looking at mankind's futile wars and prejudices and start to change our foolish ways."
The song is released with proceeds going to various children's charities (Small Kindness, UNRWA and Save The Children).
Islam also announced that he is returning to Island Records – the label he released his 'Teaser & The Firecat' and 'Tea For The Tillerman' albums on in the '70s.
'The Day The World Gets 'Round' will also appear on Klaus Voormann’s 'A Sideman's Journey' album, which is raising money for an environment and health project in aid of the Oglala Sioux of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton have both contributed to Islam's new album.
Thanks to NME
Revealed: Unseen footage of The Beatles in Scotland
Unseen film of the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania is set to fetch £12,000 at auction.The 150 seconds of John, Paul, George and Ringo was shot at the Four Seasons Hotel in St Fillans, Perthshire, where they stayed during a 1964 tour.
They're also seen standing next to a "Haste ye Back to Scotland" sign at Gretna.
The band had just topped the charts with A Hard Day's Night and their next No 1, I Feel Fine, was on the way.
The private footage will be auctioned in Reading, Berkshire, on February 2.
Watch 32 seconds here
Their Own Records In Their Own Words - With The Beatles and surroundings
IT WON'T BE LONG
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "'It Wont Be Long' is mine. It was my attempt at writing another single. It never quite made it. That was the one where the guy in the 'London Times' wrote about the 'Aeolian cadences of the chords' which started the whole intellectual bit about the Beatles."
PAUL circa-1994: "We'd spot the double meaning... In 'It won't BE LONG till I BELONG to you' it was that same trip."
ALL I'VE GOT TO DO
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "That's me trying to do Smokey Robinson again."
ALL MY LOVING
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1972: "This was one of his first biggies."
JOHN 1980: "'All My Loving' is Paul, I regret to say. Because it's a damn fine piece of work. But I play a pretty mean guitar in back."
PAUL 1984: "Yeah, I wrote that one. It was the first song I ever wrote where I had the words before the music. I wrote the words on a bus on tour, then we got the tune when I arrived there. The first time I've ever worked upside down."
PAUL 1988: "I think that was the first song where I wrote the words without the tune. I wrote the words on the tour bus during our tour with Roy Orbison. We did alot of writing then."
PAUL circa-1994: "It was a good show song. It worked well live."
DON'T BOTHER ME
(Harrison)
GEORGE 1980: "The first song that I wrote... as an exercise to see if I could write a song. I wrote it in a hotel in Bounemouth, England, where we were playing a summer season in 1963. I was sick in bed... maybe that's why it turned out to be 'Don't Bother Me.' I don't think it's a particularly good song... It mightn't even be a song at all, but at least it showed me that all I needed to do was keep on writing, and then maybe eventually I would write something good."
PAUL 1988: "I think John and I were really concentrating on-- 'We'll do the 'real' records,' but because the other guys had alot of fans we wrote for them too. George eventually came out with his own, 'Don't Bother Me,' but until then he hadn't written one."
LITTLE CHILD
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1972: "Both of us wrote it. This was a knock-off between Paul and me."
JOHN 1980: "'Little Child' was another effort of Paul and I to write a song for somebody else. It was probably Ringo."
PAUL circa-1994: "Certain songs were inspirational and you just followed that. 'Little Child' was a work job."
PLEASE MR. POSTMAN
(Dobbin/Garrett/Garman/Brianbert)
PAUL 1984: "Influenced by the Marvelettes, who did the original version. We got it from our fans, who would write 'Please Mr. Postman' on the back of the envelopes. 'Posty, posty, don't be slow, be like the Beatles and go, man, go!' That sort of stuff."
HOLD ME TIGHT
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "That was Paul's. Maybe I stuck some bits in there... I really don't remember. It was a pretty poor song and I was never really interested in it either way."
PAUL 1988: "I can't remember much about that one. Certain songs were just 'work' songs... you haven't got much of a memory of them. That's one of them. You just knew you had a song that would work, a good melody. 'Hold Me Tight' never really had that much of an effect on me. It was a bit Shirelles."
PAUL circa-1994: "'Hold Me Tight' was a failed attempt at a single which then became acceptable album filler."
I WANNA BE YOUR MAN
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1972: "Both of us wrote it, but mainly Paul. I helped him finish it."
JOHN 1980: "'I Wanna Be Your Man' was a kind of lick Paul had-- 'I wanna be your lover, baby. I wanna be your man.' I think we finished it off for the Stones. We were taken down to meet them at the club where they were playing in Richmond by Brian and some other guy. They wanted a song and we went to see what kind of stuff they did. Mick and Keith heard we had an unfinished song-- Paul just had this bit and we needed another verse or something. We sort of played it roughly to them and they said, 'Yeah, OK, that's our style.' But it was only really a lick, so Paul and I went off in the corner of the room and finished the song off while they were all still sitting there talking. We came back, and that's how Mick and Keith got inspired to write... because, 'Jesus, look at that. They just went in the corner and wrote it and came back!' You know, right in front of their eyes we did it. So we gave it to them. It was a throw-away. The only two versions of the song were Ringo and the Rolling Stones. It shows how much importance we put on them. We weren't going to give them anything great, right? I believe it was the Stones' first record."
PAUL 1984: "I wrote it for Ringo to do on one of the early albums. But we ended up giving it to the Stones. We met Mick and Keith in a taxi one day in Charing Cross Road and Mick said, 'Have you got any songs?' So we said, 'Well, we just happen to have one with us!' I think George had been instrumental in getting them their first record contract. We suggested them to Decca, 'cuz Decca had blown it by refusing us, so they had tried to save face by asking George, 'Know any other groups?' He said, 'Well, there is this group called the Stones.' So that's how they got their first contract. Anyway, John and I gave them maybe not their first record, but I think the first they got on the charts with. They don't tell anybody about it these days; they prefer to be more ethnic. But you and I know the real truth."
NOT A SECOND TIME
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "That's me trying to do something. I don't remember." (laughs)
PAUL 1984: "Influenced by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles."
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
(Lennon/McCartney)
PAUL 1964: "Let's see, we were told we had to get down to it. So we found this house when we were walking along one day. We knew we had to really get this song going, so we got down in the basement of this disused house and there was an old piano. It wasn't really disused, it was rooms to let. We found this old piano and started banging away. There was a little old organ too. So we were having this informal jam and we started banging away. Suddenly a little bit came to us, the catch line. So we started working on it from there. We got our pens and paper out and just wrote down the lyrics. Eventually, we had some sort of a song, so we played it for our recording manager and he seemed to like it. We recorded it the next day."
JOHN 1980: "We wrote alot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in 'I Want To Hold Your Hand,' I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher's house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, 'Oh you-u-u/ got that something...' And Paul hits this chord, and I turn to him and say, 'That's it!' I said, 'Do that again!' In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that-- both playing into each other's noses."
PAUL circa-1994: "'Eyeball to eyeball' is a very good description of it. That's exactly how it was. 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' was very co-written."
THIS BOY
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "Just my attempt at writing one of those three-part harmony Smokey Robinson songs. Nothing in the lyrics... just a sound and a harmony. There was a period when I thought I didn't write melodies... that Paul wrote those and I just wrote straight, shouting rock 'n roll. But of course, when I think of some of my own songs-- 'In My Life,' or some of the early stuff-- 'This Boy,' I was writing melody with the best of them."
PAUL 1988: "Fabulous. And we just loved singing that three-part too. We'd learned that from: (sings) 'To know know know her is to love love love her...' We learned that in my dad's house in Liverpool."
I CALL YOUR NAME
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "That was my song. When there was no Beatles and no group, I just had it around. It was my effort as a kind of blues originally, and then I wrote the middle-eight just to stick it in the album when it came out years later. The first part had been written before Hamburg even. It was one of my 'first' attempts at a song."
PAUL circa-1994: "We worked on it together, but it was John's idea. When I look back at some of these lyrics, I think, 'Wait a minute. What did he mean? 'I call your name but you're not there.' Is it his mother? His father? I must admit I didn't really see that as we wrote it because we were just a couple of young guys writing. You didn't look behind it at the time, it was only later you started analyzing things."
MATCHBOX
(Perkins)
RINGO 1964: "I'm featured on it. Actually it was written by Carl Perkins about six years ago. Carl came to the session. I felt very embarrassed. I did it just two days before I went in the hospital (with tonsilitis) so please forgive my throat."
ON SONGWRITING (DURING THE 'WITH THE BEATLES' PERIOD)
PAUL 1963: "If an idea does pop in your mind, then you do sit down and say, 'Let's do it.' If there are no ideas and say we've been told we've got a recording date in about two days time, then you got to sit down and sort of slug it out. You normally get just a little idea which doesn't seem bad and you go on and it builds up from there. It varies every time."
ON RECORDING (DURING THE 'WITH THE BEATLES' PERIOD)
PAUL 1963: "Lots of people have asked us what we enjoyed best... concerts, television, or recording. We like doing stage shows because it's great to hear an audience enjoying themselves. But the thing we like best is going into the recording studio to make new records. What we like to hear most is one of our songs taking shape in a recording studio, and then listening to the tapes afterwards to hear how it all worked out."
JOHN 1964 "We always record them exactly as we can play them. Even if we do put things on top, the basic thing on a record we do live. We play and sing at the same time on the record, so if we can't do it there, we don't do it."
GEORGE 1977: "It was enjoyable. We'd get into doing harmonies and this and that, because in the early days we were only working on four-track tapes. So what we'd do would be work out most of the basic track on one track, get all the balance and everything set, all the instruments. Then we'd do all the vocals, or overdub. If there was guitar, lines would come in on the second verse and piano in the middle eight with shakers and tambourines. We'd line up and get all the sounds right and do it in a take, and then do all the vocal harmonies over."
Beatles' Memorabilia at British Music Experience
The British Music Experience interactive music exhibition, which is due to open at The O2 in London on March 6, will house £4m worth of memorabilia donated by artists including The Beatles. Tickets to the exhibit will work as "magic wands" enabling visitors to download further info and music once they have left the venue.
Rooftop concert cancelled but Beatles fan anniversary celebration continues
by Dave Haber
Next Friday January 30th is the 40th anniversary of the Beatles playing their last ever live performance, on the roof of 3 Savile Row in London. Beatles tribute band The Bootleg Beatles were due to re-create the concert on the very same roof, but the local council and police have stopped them from doing it.
The orginal event was to be organised by Express Newspapers and OK magazine. The Bootleg Beatles were due to play on the roof of 3 Savile Row 40 years to the minute since the Beatles. Tony Bramwell of Apple was due to attend. However, it was cancelled on "health and safety grounds," by the local council and the police.
Richard Porter, of the British Beatles Fan Club, and The Beatles In London Tours, was surprised by the cancellation of the rooftop event.
"It's a real shame, and rather surprising. I find it rather strange as the Bootleg Beatles were played on the very same roof on the 30th anniversary!"
The Bootleg Beatles performing Get Back live on the roof of the old Apple HQ in Saville Row in London in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of when the Beatles famously did it!
Porter remembers the event 10 years ago, saying, "I was up there with them! You can see me at the start of the clip, to the left of 'Paul', and by the greenhouse, which is one of the few original objects left from 1969. It was very eerie as I was standing right behind the group and they were wearing the same styles clothes as the Beatles in 1969. It was easy to imagine I'd gone back 30 years in time."
Not to be put off by the "Blue Meanies," members of the British Beatles Fan Club, and even some fans from Norway, will be gathering at 3 Savile Row around noon on January 30th to have their own celebration, and they say everyone welcome. If you play a musical instrument, they invite you to bring it along so that they can have a jam in the street.
Porter says, "Even though it looks like the Bootleg Beatles concert has been cancelled we still plan to be in Savile Row around noon, 40 years to the minute since the Beatles played. I will be doing a speical Beatles tour that day, making sure we arrive in Savile Row in good time for noon. The tour will start at 10:45am from outside the Dominion Theatre, which is by the exit of Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. The tour will also visit MPL, the Studios where the Beatles recorded Hey Jude, Abbey Road, and of course 3 Savile Row."
The tour will cost £7 pounds per person (about $9.75). Anyone interested in the tour should e-mail Richard Porter at richard@beatlesinlondon.com. Of course anyone can make their way directly to Savile Row on Friday at noon, without coming on the tour.
Next Friday January 30th is the 40th anniversary of the Beatles playing their last ever live performance, on the roof of 3 Savile Row in London. Beatles tribute band The Bootleg Beatles were due to re-create the concert on the very same roof, but the local council and police have stopped them from doing it.
The orginal event was to be organised by Express Newspapers and OK magazine. The Bootleg Beatles were due to play on the roof of 3 Savile Row 40 years to the minute since the Beatles. Tony Bramwell of Apple was due to attend. However, it was cancelled on "health and safety grounds," by the local council and the police.
Richard Porter, of the British Beatles Fan Club, and The Beatles In London Tours, was surprised by the cancellation of the rooftop event.
"It's a real shame, and rather surprising. I find it rather strange as the Bootleg Beatles were played on the very same roof on the 30th anniversary!"
The Bootleg Beatles performing Get Back live on the roof of the old Apple HQ in Saville Row in London in 1999 on the 30th anniversary of when the Beatles famously did it!
Porter remembers the event 10 years ago, saying, "I was up there with them! You can see me at the start of the clip, to the left of 'Paul', and by the greenhouse, which is one of the few original objects left from 1969. It was very eerie as I was standing right behind the group and they were wearing the same styles clothes as the Beatles in 1969. It was easy to imagine I'd gone back 30 years in time."
Not to be put off by the "Blue Meanies," members of the British Beatles Fan Club, and even some fans from Norway, will be gathering at 3 Savile Row around noon on January 30th to have their own celebration, and they say everyone welcome. If you play a musical instrument, they invite you to bring it along so that they can have a jam in the street.
Porter says, "Even though it looks like the Bootleg Beatles concert has been cancelled we still plan to be in Savile Row around noon, 40 years to the minute since the Beatles played. I will be doing a speical Beatles tour that day, making sure we arrive in Savile Row in good time for noon. The tour will start at 10:45am from outside the Dominion Theatre, which is by the exit of Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. The tour will also visit MPL, the Studios where the Beatles recorded Hey Jude, Abbey Road, and of course 3 Savile Row."
The tour will cost £7 pounds per person (about $9.75). Anyone interested in the tour should e-mail Richard Porter at richard@beatlesinlondon.com. Of course anyone can make their way directly to Savile Row on Friday at noon, without coming on the tour.
The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand
This was taken from "The Beatles Anthology" dvd with a short intro by George Martin ...
The Beatles - She Loves You
The Beatles singing She Loves You on Ready,Steady,Go (with extra chat after)in 1964
She Loves You Gallery
Although not the first Beatles hit in America (that was I Want To Hold Your Hand), and not even the first Beatles record released in America (that was Please Please Me), She Loves You is the Beatles record that most fans associate with Beatlemania in America, with Ringo's exciting drum opening, to the coining of the quintessential Beatles catch phrase, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!"
The Beatles performed She Loves You on their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964, and it is the final song the Beatles perform in the movie A Hard Day's Night.
She Loves You was recorded by the Beatles at EMI Abbey Road Studio 2 on July 1, 1963. Mono mixing and editing was performed on July 4. She Loves You was first released as a single on Parlophone Records in the UK on August 23, 1963, and the next month on Swan Records in the US on September 16.
The label of the first release from September 1963 of She Loves You on Swan Records in Philadelphia. The Beatles were already causing riots in London, but this 45, the third Beatles record in the US, didn't chart.
A counterfiet copy of the original Swan release of She Loves You. Common to these counterfiets are the lack of bright red color. Other clues that this is a counterfeit are the blotchy and off-center label printing.
A typical label of the more familiar second release from January 1964 of She Loves You/I'll Get You on Swan Records, released after I Want To Hold Your Hand finally caused Beatlemania to spread to the US. This release of She Loves You sold over two and a half million copies and was Swan's only number one record.
This is the Capitol of Canada version of She Loves You/I'll Get You, released mid-September, 1963, shortly after it was released on Swan in the US. Capitol of Canada released all of the pre-Capitol singles, including Please Please Me/Ask Me Why, Twist and Shout/There's A Place and Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You.
This is the only US Capitol release on a 45 of She Loves You. It was pressed in red vinyl. These were made in 1992, as part of a series of 45s on colored vinyl labled "For Jukeboxes Only!" but were also sold in record stores.
She Loves You as it was first released on 45 in the UK on Parlophone Records, on August 23, 1963, backed with I'll Get You as it later was in the US.
She Loves You was also released in the UK by Parlophone Records on an EP called "Beatles' Million Sellers" on December 6, 1965, along with I Want To Hold Your Hand, Can't Buy Me Love and I Feel Fine.
Recorded in Paris in late January, 1964, the German language version Sie Liebt Dich, backed by Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand, was released by Odeon Records in West Germany just over one month later on March 5. Nicolas and Montague, added to the writing credits, wrote the German lyrics translation.
On shaky legal ground, but figuring they already had the rights to release She Loves You in the US, to further cash in on the growing Beatlemania, Swan released Sie Liebt Dich backed with I'll Get You (in English) credited to Die Beatles on May 21, 1964. This was the only release of Sie Liebt Dich on a 45 in the US.
The rare Swan promotional (DJ) version of Sie Liebt Dich/I'll Get You. This is identical to the stock copies, except that is printed in black on white, and has two large X's above the title.
Capitol of Canada also released Sie Liebt Dich/I'll Get You just as Swan did, credited to "Die Beatles", in June 1964. Notice how, instead of saying "Recorded In Great Britain", normal for other Capitol Canada Beatles singles, this single correctly has "Recorded In Europe", as Sie Liebt Dich was recorded in Paris. (US Capitol Beatles singles were normally printed with "Recorded In England".)
The Swan Records She Loves You 45 picture sleeve, first issued with the 1964 release on the black Swan label. This is the only picture sleeve ever issued for She Loves You in North America.
This is the cover of "The Beatles' Million Sellers" EP released by Parlophone Records in the UK in December 1965. This EP contained She Loves You, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Can't Buy Me Love and I Feel Fine.
This is the picture sleeve issued with She Loves You in the UK by EMI in 1976, in a set called "The Singles Collection 1962-1970".
This is the picture sleeve issued with Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand/Sie Liebt Dich in Germany by Odeon Records in 1964. This picture is the same shot that was used on the I Want To Hold Your Hand picture sleeve made by Capitol Records in the US.
The Beatles performed She Loves You on their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964, and it is the final song the Beatles perform in the movie A Hard Day's Night.
She Loves You was recorded by the Beatles at EMI Abbey Road Studio 2 on July 1, 1963. Mono mixing and editing was performed on July 4. She Loves You was first released as a single on Parlophone Records in the UK on August 23, 1963, and the next month on Swan Records in the US on September 16.
The label of the first release from September 1963 of She Loves You on Swan Records in Philadelphia. The Beatles were already causing riots in London, but this 45, the third Beatles record in the US, didn't chart.A counterfiet copy of the original Swan release of She Loves You. Common to these counterfiets are the lack of bright red color. Other clues that this is a counterfeit are the blotchy and off-center label printing.A typical label of the more familiar second release from January 1964 of She Loves You/I'll Get You on Swan Records, released after I Want To Hold Your Hand finally caused Beatlemania to spread to the US. This release of She Loves You sold over two and a half million copies and was Swan's only number one record.This is the Capitol of Canada version of She Loves You/I'll Get You, released mid-September, 1963, shortly after it was released on Swan in the US. Capitol of Canada released all of the pre-Capitol singles, including Please Please Me/Ask Me Why, Twist and Shout/There's A Place and Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You.This is the only US Capitol release on a 45 of She Loves You. It was pressed in red vinyl. These were made in 1992, as part of a series of 45s on colored vinyl labled "For Jukeboxes Only!" but were also sold in record stores.She Loves You as it was first released on 45 in the UK on Parlophone Records, on August 23, 1963, backed with I'll Get You as it later was in the US.She Loves You was also released in the UK by Parlophone Records on an EP called "Beatles' Million Sellers" on December 6, 1965, along with I Want To Hold Your Hand, Can't Buy Me Love and I Feel Fine.Recorded in Paris in late January, 1964, the German language version Sie Liebt Dich, backed by Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand, was released by Odeon Records in West Germany just over one month later on March 5. Nicolas and Montague, added to the writing credits, wrote the German lyrics translation.On shaky legal ground, but figuring they already had the rights to release She Loves You in the US, to further cash in on the growing Beatlemania, Swan released Sie Liebt Dich backed with I'll Get You (in English) credited to Die Beatles on May 21, 1964. This was the only release of Sie Liebt Dich on a 45 in the US.The rare Swan promotional (DJ) version of Sie Liebt Dich/I'll Get You. This is identical to the stock copies, except that is printed in black on white, and has two large X's above the title.Capitol of Canada also released Sie Liebt Dich/I'll Get You just as Swan did, credited to "Die Beatles", in June 1964. Notice how, instead of saying "Recorded In Great Britain", normal for other Capitol Canada Beatles singles, this single correctly has "Recorded In Europe", as Sie Liebt Dich was recorded in Paris. (US Capitol Beatles singles were normally printed with "Recorded In England".) The Swan Records She Loves You 45 picture sleeve, first issued with the 1964 release on the black Swan label. This is the only picture sleeve ever issued for She Loves You in North America.This is the cover of "The Beatles' Million Sellers" EP released by Parlophone Records in the UK in December 1965. This EP contained She Loves You, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Can't Buy Me Love and I Feel Fine.This is the picture sleeve issued with She Loves You in the UK by EMI in 1976, in a set called "The Singles Collection 1962-1970".This is the picture sleeve issued with Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand/Sie Liebt Dich in Germany by Odeon Records in 1964. This picture is the same shot that was used on the I Want To Hold Your Hand picture sleeve made by Capitol Records in the US.
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