Meet Paige Patten Kessler

In the last year and a half, it has been my joy to highlight the personal stories of my readers...many of whom I've never even met, but whose amazing tales and experiences have touched me in such a way that I wanted to share those stories with all of you. This month, everything is about to change!!!!!!! I DO know this "Meet the Beatles Fans" celebrity. In fact, I'm her mother (in-law). This month, I celebrate my sweet and talented daughter-in-law, Paige Patten Kessler. Paige, a graduate of Los Angeles' FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) has recently achieved her life-long dream: she has created her own precious line of children's clothing, ROCKERROOS... and has launched her website!!! In fact, the launch is this week! I am so proud of her, and I wanted to share our family's joy with you. As the daughter of a true Beatlemaniac and Beatle author, Paige has devoted one of the t-shirts in her premiere line to The Fab Four, and it is as cute as a proverbial...uh, bug. Check it out at http://www.rockerroos.com. [read more]

Jazz Honors The Beatles

But by the time The Beatles reached the turning point of Rubber Soul (Apple/EMI, 1965), a change was in the air. The Fab Four—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—began to transcend the simple (but undeniably appealing) pop structures of their early hits, incorporating elements from farther afield. They'd already scored a major hit earlier in the year with the surprisingly sophisticated ballad, "Yesterday," from Help! (Apple/EMI, 1965), but with "Norwegian Wood," the beginnings of an interest in Indian music was made manifest by George Harrison's simple but effective sitar work, while "Michelle" represented another move towards richer songwriting.From that point forward, The Beatles' may still have been a pop band at heart, but experimentation was also at its core, a heady combination of the lightening speed growth by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison as writers and producer George Martin's sonic innovations. Revolver (Apple/EMI, 1966) led to a string of seminal albums, all groundbreaking in individual ways. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Apple/EMI, 1967), Magical Mystery Tour (Apple/EMI, 1967), The Beatles (Apple/EMI, 1968) and Abbey Road (Apple/EMI, 1969) were all filled with vividly memorable songs, and remarkable, forward-thinking production. [read more]

The Beatles On Marijuana & LSD (In Their Own Words)

As anyone who is at all familiar with The Beatles knows; all four Beatles smoked marijuana and used LSD and as you can imagine they have been quoted many times on how they feel about these drugs over the years. In this post I attempt to collect as many of those quotes as I can. Some of these quotes are directly about their experiences while using marijuana & LSD, others are about how they feel about these drugs, and others are about how the use of these drugs influenced their music. [read more]

An original Beatlemaniac gives the new Beatles ‘Remasters’ a listen

Let audiophiles debate whether the Beatles albums sound best in the newly remastered, highly touted mono or in the fresh stereo editions. Or, for that matter, on the original vinyl discs. To many of us aged 7 to 17 in 1963, the year the Beatles conquered America, the more exciting thing about the Beatles’ reissues is the deja vu of ecstasy they induce. Like a gazillion other little girls screaming at their TV sets during the band’s U.S. debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” I got caught up in that swoon of prepubescent sexual hysteria triggered by the “lads from Liverpool.” I vividly recall how John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr made shaggy hair and collarless suits cool. And how their cheeky wit and raffish panache suddenly turned dowdy old England into the center of the pop-culture universe. The Fab Four had style to burn. But Beatlemania was first, foremost and forever about their irresistible, irreplaceable music. [read more]

Yoko: 'Sean Never Knew Lennon Was A Beatle'

YOKO ONO and JOHN LENNON kept their celebrity status so far away from family life their son SEAN had no idea his dad was a former member of the BEATLES. Ono has revealed she and her husband were so desperate not to force their son into music, they refused to talk about it at home - and he had to find out about his father's superstardom on his own. Ono explains, "I was prepared that he (Sean) might become an archaeologist or something. John didn't even want to tell him that he was a Beatle. "Sean found out from someone else. One day, he even asked John, 'Were you a Beatle? When Sean was in his twenties, I found out that he knew all of the Beatles' songs, all of John's songs and all my songs - every lyric." SOURCE

John Lennon’s LA home to be listed

John Lennon’s former 5 bedroom, 4 bath West Hollywood, CA home listed for $4,125,000. This approximately 465 square-metre Hollywood Hills hideout is the perfect property to imagine yourself in. The famous abode features a master suite with a step-down living room with dark hardwood floors and fireplace, a formal dining room, and a kitchen. Outside, the home features a pool and spa, a 1250 square metre lot with lush yard, and a patio with exquisite views. During an 18-month period between 1973-1975, which Lennon called the “lost weekend,” the musician spent in this very place. Despite the period’s name, at that time Lennon wrote and produced what became the solo album Walls and Bridges. In March, John Lennon’s former ‘lost weekend” home in West Hollywood, CA was on the market for $4.5 million. Not having attracted any client, that price has been lowered. SOURCE

Hear About How the Beatles Got Their Sound

It has been a banner month for Beatles enthusiasts: The group's entire catalog was remastered and reissued on Sept. 9 and went on to sell some 2.25 million copies in just its first few days, while millions of people have immersed themselves in "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game. While fans and listeners debate the merits of the group's stereo versus mono LPs and the many subtleties and intricacies of the band's sound, Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew - authors of the critically acclaimed "Recording the Beatles" and the two men who know more about the Fab Four's studio work than perhaps anyone - will be in Memphis to give a multimedia lecture on the subject. Presented by the local chapter of the Recording Academy, the event will take place at Malco's Studio on the Square at 7p.m. Tuesday. [read more]

The Beatles Remasters Remastered

Okay, so who has the audacity to try and "remaster" the new Beatles Remastered CDs? Me, sir. (Or madam.) This blog is because I need somewhere to write what has happened and about what I have heard. Why? Because I had already heard the Beatle CDs sound far better than the new remastered EMI releases. They sound muddy, dull and flat to me. But in all fairness, most CDs do to me these days. But wait... let's go back a few years and start at the beginning of the story.[read more/bookmark]

Ono! Company files lawsuit over John Lennon, Yoko Ono film

A Lawrence company that won’t “Let It Be” is demanding a federal judge award it $6.3 million for ceding control of a documentary on John Lennon to Yoko Ono - film the late Beatle’s widow never meant to share with his fans. At a damages hearing tomorrow afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston, attorneys for World Wide Video will argue Anthony Pagola, 54, a Florida broker the company sued last year for allegedly stealing the “3 Days in the Life” footage and selling it to Ono in 2002 for $300,000, needs to make amends. A music-memorabilia expert Friday filed an appraisal of the never-released footage with Judge Rya W. Zobel, placing its worth at between $4 million and $6 million. [read more]

'Lucy in the Sky' dies

The woman who inspired the classic Beatles song 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', has died aged 46, a charity said today. The song featured on the ground-breaking 1967 album 'Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band'. John Lennon’s elder son Julian said it was inspired by a picture he drew of his classmate Lucy O’Donnell when they were at a nursery school in Weybridge, Surrey, in 1966. Julian said he took the picture home and showed it to his father, explaining: “It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.” When Lennon and Paul McCartney’s song was subsequently released, it caused controversy because of its hallucinogenic theme and supposed reference to the drug LSD. [read more]

Early McCartney musings discovered in Liverpool

A discovery in a Liverpool library has revealed that Paul McCartney's talent for writing was winning him prizes when he was just 10 — though for an essay about the queen, rather than a hit song. A British researcher said he found an essay written — in very tidy, curling script — by the future Beatle for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Kevin Roach said Sunday that he found the work in records at Liverpool's Central Library. Roach said the writing is "advanced — you would say it was written by someone who was older than 10 years old, more like 14 or 15." [read more]

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: A Drug Story

Over the years, The Beatles have constantly denied that the song had anything to do with LSD. But Sir Paul McCartney himself noted in a recent interview that although the song was inspired by Julian Lennon’s painting, John Lennon may have written the lyrics during an LSD trip. For many proponents of the theory that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is an LSD reference, the initials of the song itself is proof enough. But those who wish to go further read into the lyrics itself. The song, after all, has vivid and colorful imagery, and it mainly describes a journey through an out-of-this-world place, told in a disjointed manner. [read more]

Hank Marvin: 'We should have taken Harrison's advice and sung'

Marvin encountered the Beatles guitarist in 1965 shortly after The Shadows released Don't Make My Baby Blue, a rarity for them because it featured vocals. He recalled: "I bumped into George Harrison in Abbey Road studios and he told me how much he loved the single. 'Take my advice,' he said, 'forget about being an instrumental group and follow up on the vocals.' "We didn't. We were idiots. Nice boys, but idiots. I remember we talked about it after I'd had that conversation with George - can't remember the substance of the debate but with hindsight we probably didn't apply very sound reasoning." [read more]

George Shuba; Cleveland Ohio's 1st Rock-N-Roll Photographer!

In September of 1964, a young photojournalist named George Shuba was given his first assignment. When given the details, his reaction went something like this, "You want me to cover bugs?" Those bugs turned out to be none other that The Beatles on their 1964 US Tour stop to Cleveland Ohio. For the next 20+ years, George went on to photograph many of the top rock-n-roll musical icons as they performed at Cleveland's most celebrated venues as well as the main photographer for the local Up Beat TV Show. His astute eye captured the magic of music's "A" list; The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Neil Diamond, The Who, and many, many more.

George's photographs had also caught the eye of the world famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland Ohio. That led to an exhibition in October 2008 with 48 prints being acquired and now are part of the Rock Hall's permanent collection. Additionally, several large over sized prints were also on display at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held at Public Hall Auditorium in Cleveland Ohio.

George's latest accomplishment is his photographic inclusion in the new book release Neil Diamond Is Forever: The Illustrated Story of the Man and His Music by Jon Bream. 4 photographs highlighting Diamond's early days appear in this wonderful coffee table style book. A must have for any Neil Diamond fan. Available now through Amazon.com

His work has also appeared on DVD and in many other books on music and particular performers. And throughout the year, you can find George speaking on his experiences and take on Rock music in the Northeast Ohio area.

The entire collection comprises of over 6000+ negatives and all (as of this date) are still hand printed the old fashioned way. A must have for collectors and fans of musical performers. George's gallery, his accomplishments, and appearance schedule can be now be accessed on his new website. All prints are available for purchase and licensing opportunities.

Visit the Website www.georgeshubaphotography.com

Life is What Happens...

“Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”- John Lennon. This quote is enough to make even the most compulsive goal addict stop and think. I must say that I have been guilty of jumping on the train to somewhere and having my ticket to the next place burning a whole in my pocket before I reached the first destination, metaphorically speaking. Most of us (if we are truly honest with ourselves) must admit that much of who we are and feel we must become has been shaped by our external world –family, community, society, and religion. We feel that we must fulfill the many self-imposed and societal expectations to truly be successful. Unfortunately these expectations may in fact distract us from the magic that is available to experience in our everyday lives. This quote makes me question how much of our lives we are truly present for. [read more]

Showbiz Mogul Dick Clark Under Harsh Spotlight In Documentary

As ailing showbiz mogul Dick Clark prepares to celebrate his 80th birthday in November, a new documentary threatens to tarnish his image by recounting his controversial beginnings. "Wages of Spin," a project that took independent filmmaker Shawn Swords almost four years to make, focuses on Clark's early days in the 1950s as the host of "American Bandstand," the iconic TV show in which teenagers danced to songs lip-synced by some of the biggest pop stars of the day. [read more]

Beatle widow wins razor fence row

A razor wire fence around the Oxfordshire home of Beatle George Harrison's widow can be replaced, despite objections from neighbours. South Oxfordshire District Council gave planning permission for Olivia Harrison to replace the 8ft (2.4m) fence in Henley-on-Thames to maintain security. Some neighbours had branded the fence "unnecessary and inappropriate". Actor Rodney Bewes claimed the wire had injured his cat and cost him thousands in vet fees. [read more]

A Magical History Tour

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2009: It’s taken over forty years, but at last Los Angeles and the west coast of America will have a Beatles tour of their own, the brand new A MAGICAL HISTORY TOUR. Launching on September 26, this exclusive 3.5 hour tour of Los Angeles takes visitors in an air-conditioned van to the very places where the Beatles lived, the venues where they performed and the studio where they recorded. The tour also includes extensive historical information and is packed with Beatles trivia and rare information about the Fab Four. The tour starts in Santa Monica and ends at the legendary Hollywood Bowl where the Beatles played to sold out audiences in 1964 and 1965. Along the way passengers will hear popular and rare songs related to the Beatles west coast experiences, and hear stories and anecdotes about the Beatles and their love of America .

The tour has been extensively researched and developed by Beatles expert GILLIAN LOMAX. Gillian is actually from the Liverpool area and is a professional Beatles tour guide and radio personality living in Los Angeles . Gillian is well known and loved by countless Beatles fans as she has been the voice of Beatles news for the past six years, reporting Beatles news with 97.1 KLSX and 95.5 KLOS Breakfast With The Beatles, as senior correspondent on Britsound Radio, and news reporter on Beatlesradio.com. See www.amagicalhistorytour.com

Visually stunning and treats the Beatles story with reverence

The Beatles might be your father’s favourite band, but this is not your father’s Rock Band. By this point, if you’ve played a version of Rock Band or Guitar Hero, you pretty much know what to expect from The Beatles Rock Band. For the uninitiated, gamers use plastic instruments to strum along with songs in time with the music, while notes are represented by cascading lights on the screen. Players earn points by strumming a guitar and hitting the plastic drum skins in time or singing on key with the provided microphone. While The Beatles Rock Band is similar to its predecessors in many ways -- gameplay is largely the same, extra songs can be downloaded through a network, etc. -- never before has the story of a band been treated with such reverence in a game. [read more]

Beatles Still Shattering Record Sales

Nearly 40 years after breaking up, The Beatles are still breaking records for album sales. EMI Group PLC said consumers in North America, Japan and the U.K. bought more than 2.25 million copies of the Fab Four's re-mastered albums in the first five days after their Sept. 9 release. Most of the records were broken for most simultaneous titles in the top-selling charts by a single artist. On Billboard magazine's pop catalog chart, for example, the band had 16 titles in the top 50, including all 14 re-mastered CDs and two box sets. The Beatles' original U.K. studio albums were re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London over four years and released to coincide with the sale of "The Beatles: Rock Band" on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. ~ AP

Q&A: Ralph Nader, Fiction Writer

Ralph Nader has been many things: lawyer, consumer-rights bulldog, political activist, and perennial third-party Presidential candidate. He's now added a new title to his business card: fiction writer. His latest book, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! is a 700-page populist fantasy in which a small group of billionaires and media moguls — led by Warren Buffett and including Ted Turner, George Soros, Bill Cosby, Yoko Ono and Phil Donahue — pool their massive resources to reform America. With the help of a $15 billion war chest and a P.R. campaign starring a talking parrot, the group successfully unionizes Walmart, ends corporate influence on Congress, makes Warren Beatty the Governor of California and legalizes industrial hemp. TIME talked to Nader about the origins of his book, its celebrity characters and America's real-life political battles. [read more]

Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road top Beatles' latest bestsellers

The simultaneous release of 14 Beatles titles has thrown up some interesting insights into music tastes around the world. Record label EMI says Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road have emerged as favourites but that the top album varies from country to country. Figures so far give the following bestsellers for major markets: [read more]

The Beatles Abbey Road remastered

After the hardest studio sessions they’ve ever had to stand (”White Album” and “Get Back/Let It Be“), The Beatles knew the end was coming. So they made the effort of reuniting, despite all their differences and made one of the greatest popular music album ever recorded and listened by the human race. I have said before I prefer “Revolver” because you can get out of it a complete philosophy to your life, and the lyrics and musical experiments were never better than on that album, but I have to recognize that the production and orchestral work made with this CD can be considered as the best music The Beatles made in their whole succesful carrer. [read more]

Remastered Beatles albums sell 2.25m copies

The remastered Beatles albums have broken chart records around the world, selling more than 2.25 million copies within days of release in North America, the UK and Japan. Released as individual albums and box sets on 9 September, the back catalogue that includes such famous titles as Rubber Soul and Abbey Road took four years to remaster. Figures from record company EMI show UK sales of the digitally remastered albums have exceeded 354,000 in 11 days of release. The Fab Four's total UK album sales this decade now stand at 6,755,000. [read more]

CD review: Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band 'Between My Head and the Sky'

At this point, the only music fans who have heard Yoko Ono’s extraordinary 40-year body of work and don’t recognize her as an innovator are pretty easily slotted into two groups: folks who are still fuzzy on women’s suffrage and Beatles loons who still blame her for their inevitable disintegration. Even if you don’t have much use for her often extreme music, Ono was there before most folks, pushing envelopes in art and sound and doing it as a woman whom, for a while there, the entire planet seemed to hate just kind of on spec. [read more]

Mccartney Came Up With Harrelson's Zombie Ruse

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY turned spin doctor for pal WOODY HARRELSON when the actor hit the headlines for attacking paparazzi in New York in April (09) - the BEATLES star was the one who suggested the actor told reporters he thought the snapper was a zombie. The movie star was reported to police after flying into a rage at La Guardia airport when a paparazzi cameraman refused to leave him and his daughter alone. Harrelson was caught on camera attacking the unnamed man and smashing his equipment. Shortly after the incident, the actor released a statement, in which he explained he was confused after spending days shooting new film Zombieland - and thought the cameraman was a member of the undead: "I flew to New York, still very much in character... [read more]

Iconic Abbey Road street sign for sale

An iconic Abbey Road street sign made famous by the Beatles' multi-million selling album is to be auctioned on eBay today along with more than 40 other signs from renowned Westminster streets. The enamelled steel sign, which was installed near the world-famous St John's Wood zebra crossing six years ago, was removed in 2007 because graffiti messages from Beatles' fans could not be scrubbed off. This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' Abbey Road album, which transformed the quiet, residential street into a mecca for music fans after John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and George Harrison posed for the cover photograph walking over the crossing. [read more]

Alec Baldwin Wants Paul McCartney and 30 Rock to Come Together

If Alec Baldwin had the authority of power executive Jack Donaghy, his character on 30 Rock, he'd know exactly what his first decision would be for the Emmy-winning outstanding comedy series. "I want [Paul] McCartney to come on," Baldwin, 51, said backstage at Los Angeles's Nokia Theater during Sunday's Emmy Awards. "We're working on it." Baldwin's daughter, Ireland, 14, has another idea, however: Robert Pattinson. "Well, I'm sure that Robert Pattinson has no shortage of shows that want him to come on, like Desperate Housewives and shows like that," said the elder Baldwin. "I'm sure those women would like to get their hands on Robert Pattinson." [read more]

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [Remastered]

Sgt. Pepper’s is a band pushing itself as far as it could go sonically, alongside a producer who had just the right sense of where to push further and where to pull back. It’s a breathtaking work of art in mono, but when listening in stereo (and true fans may want to hit me for this), the wistful energy is captured and the performances come to the fore. You can hear the double tracked vocals more clearly and more precisely. What amazes me, however, especially when it comes to those double tracked vocals, is that they are by no means perfect. Things stick out here and there, some tiny off-key moments by our favorite Fab Four, but this is exactly what makes this album so endearing. It was the lack of technology, however, that makes the innovation on the record so astounding. Only four tracks. That’s right, four tracks, all you Pro Tools users. [read more]

Why you love the Beatles

I was 12 years old when the Beatles came into my life. I remember watching them perform on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 12, 1964. I was screaming right along with the audience too. Then there was that beautiful close up of Paul McCartney and I rushed up to the TV screen and kissed it (him). My brothers thought I was crazy. I became a Beatles junkie then and there. I bought every Beatles magazine and 16 magazine, and Tiger Beat that had pictures of the Fab Four with my babysitting money. I didn't get the chance to see them in person when they came to Toronto, but I sure wore the grooves on my 45's and LP's. I knew the words to every Beatles song and sang them with gusto. [read more]

Survey Says: Paul Is Still the Cute One

Who is your favorite Beatle? That seems like a question one might have been asked on February 10, 1964, the day after the four lads from Liverpool first performed on The Ed Sullivan Show to more than 70 million viewers across America, officially pulling the trigger on The British Invasion. But with months of multimedia marketing leading up to the 09/09/09 release of The Beatles Rock Band video game along with the release of digitally remastered “boxed sets” of the Fab 4’s historic music catalogue, it seems like just about everyone is climbing aboard the Beatlemania Reloaded bandwagon. [read more]

Proof the Beatles are bigger than Jesus!

It's taken more than four decades for his words to be vindicated. But for a brief moment this month, John Lennon could rest assured that the Beatles were indeed bigger than Jesus. At least that's what's been suggested by the graph above, which compares Google's search traffic for the terms "jesus" and "beatles" over the last 30 days. Admittedly, it's taken a while for the Liverpool band to reach this high point in their career. It was back in March 1966 that the rebellious Beatle first told the Evening Standard: "I do not know what will go first, rock'n'roll or Christianity … we're more popular than Jesus now". [read more]

Adidas celebrates five years with Stella McCartney

Fashion-conscious followers of style, particularly those with Adidas watches, may want to invest in some Stella McCartney-branded clothes after the two have been working together for five years. Stella McCartney is still going strong in her relationship with Adidas after five years of interaction with the German sportswear brand. The famous daughter of Beatles frontman Sir Paul has been organising ranges for different sports which she has a taste for on both hobby and design fronts, most notably tennis, swimming, golf and yoga, with new clothes for other pastimes being exhibited at Somerset House as part of London Fashion Week. [read more]

Ono thinks Beatles game will help create 'world of peace'

Yoko Ono thinks the new Beatles video game will help create "a world of peace". The 76-year-old widow of 'Fab Four' singer John Lennon has praised Beatles Rock Band - which was released earlier this month - because it merges music and art to create amazing "healing vibrations". She explained: "I think game is the second revolution. In the beginning they made a splash with their music; with the video game we're going to create a planet of music and art. "Music and art are both very interesting healing vibrations, and with that vibration we can create the world we've always wanted, a world of peace." [read more]

John Lennon, In My Life

Before I go much further, let me clear up one thing—John did not start out as my favorite Beatle. That was George, from start to finish, at least in the romantic department. George was an amazing person in his own right (to borrow a phrase from John); his music, lyrics, and life truly resonated with me. But this remembrance is about John Lennon, whose death affected me in a way I hadn’t yet imagined. Of course, John wasn’t anyone I knew personally, in the flesh-and-blood sense. However, I grew up with him in a way that made his death personal, even as it was universal in marking the end of an era. [read more/video]

Beatles were the original soundtrack of a generation

There is little of a positive nature about growing old. The body begins to break down, the memory starts to fail. In my case, the ears decide they have heard enough and go on permanent hiatus. But the recent release of the remastered works of the Beatles offers me a chance to look back nearly a half-century at my first decade as an adult, because they were there to provide the original soundtrack. The 1960s are often described as turbulent, largely because of the Vietnam War. My 1960s were filled with both positive and tragic occurrences: Marriage, graduation from college, the birth of a son, a first job (at this newspaper), the death of a brother, divorce, a few work-related successes, the pursuit of a graduate degree. Through most of those years, the Beatles were there in the background, from the album "Meet the Beatles" in March of 1963 to "Let it Be" seven years later. Millions of people own those albums and all those in between, as do I. But for those born after 1960, there can be no personal comprehension of the time that passed between an early Beatles song like "Please Please Me" and a later one such as "Across the Universe." [more]

Tale of the babe of Aquarius

Meet the grooviest groupie of the '60s. She shagged Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger -- all married men -- at the height of their stardom. Starr and George Harrison wrote songs about her, while singer-songwriter Leon Russell penned the tune "Pisces Apple Lady" for her. She snorted coke with Harrison and his wife, Pattie, did a drug run for Keith Richards and tripped on acid with the Hells Angels. Chris O'Dell, 62, lived every baby boomer's fantasy as the sexpot assistant to the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. And now she'll dish on her long and winding road in a tell-all book, "Miss O'Dell," out Oct. 6. [read more]

Elon professor is also Beatles enthusiast

It was 1972. Michael Frontani was 10. A friend’s older brother played the same album over and over. Frontani didn’t like it, until “One day, the light went on.” The album was the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Two years after the band broke up, Frontani was a fervent fan. With rare exceptions, he bought no albums except the Beatles’ for the next few years. It wasn’t a phase: Now 47, Frontani is in his 11th year teaching at Elon University. He focuses heavily on the Beatles in his “Culture of Rock” course. He’s taught about their music during Elon study-abroad courses in London and will do that again in 2010. {read more}

New York Governor Denies Clash With Mccartney's Girlfriend

The governor of New York has denied reports he demanded the resignation of SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's girlfriend amid allegations she abandoned her responsibilities as a state board member to romance the rocker. The ex-Beatle's beau of two years Nancy Shevell is among 16 unpaid members appointed by Governor David Paterson to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the agency that runs subways and buses for New York City's eight million commuters. Shevell sparked outcry earlier this year (09) as city leaders feared she was spending too much time with her boyfriend after she reportedly missed a series of top-level meetings. New reports suggest a rift with Paterson over her dissenting vote on Thursday (17Sep09) to an incoming MTA chief's salary package prompted the politician to call for her to step down from her position. But a spokesperson for Paterson's office has denied the claims, insisting there is "no truth" to the allegations. SOURCE

Fallen Starr?

After his recent exertions on his UK publicity junket, Ringo Starr has been allowing himself the luxury of extended sessions of transcendental meditation to the relaxing strains of his favourite wind chimes at his bougainvillaea-covered Beverly Hills hacienda. Following a leisurely morning of contemplation, he will submit himself to the rigours of a stroll in his lemon grove before firing up his barbecue to cook a virtuous lunch of seared broccoli, carrots and beetroot (like his fellow surviving Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo is a long-time proponent of vegetarianism). His friends, mainly a rag-tag collection of ageing hippies and fading rock stars, are permitted an audience only by prior appointment and he ventures out rarely for occasional dinners at his favourite Hollywood restaurant, Mr Chow, with his wife, Barbara Bach, and close friend, Eagles' guitarist Joe Walsh. [read more]

Rock of Ages: 1963 The Beatles – She Loves You

Paul McCartney and John Lennon were inspired to write She Loves You after a concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle as part of their tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry & The Pacemakers. “There was a Bobby Rydell song out at the time, Forget Him, and, as often happens, you think of one song when you write another,” said Paul. “We were in a van up in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. I’d planned an ‘answering song’ where a couple of us would sing ‘she loves you’ and the other ones would answer ‘yeah yeah’. We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called ‘She Loves You’. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it — John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars.” [read more]

Norwich man gets to drive the Beatles' John Lennon's car

'BABY you can drive my car' is a famous lyric from a Beatles song, but it has proved a prophetic statement for one Norfolk businessman, who is now the proud owner of a limo which once belonged to John Lennon. It was back in the early 1990s that Graham Dacre first clapped eyes on the silky, sleek lines of the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman car and for the Lind Trust trustee it proved to be a case of love at first sight. At more than six metres long it is easy to see why the heavenly white limo, which can seat six or seven and has a privacy screen and drinks cabinet in the rear, made such a lasting impression on Mr Dacre. [read more]

The Beatles - Rubber Soul [Remastered]

Throughout the entirety of the Fab Four’s amazing run of perfectly crafted diamond albums, The Beatles were the kings of the world. Obvious great claims aside, is it necessary to even review a record by The Beatles… let alone Rubber Soul? Given the Liverpool legends’ frenetic timeline from early 1960 to the end in early 1970, The Beatles did in ten years what most bands cannot do in three lifetimes. Going from a lovable pop band writing their own songs and crooning lovely romance, to setting the world on fire with each blazing record chock full of psychedelia and rock and roll spirit, The Beatles conquered it all. However, 1965’s Rubber Soul proved to be the catalyst that tipped the scales in the band’s direction away from traditional pop tunes, to much more complex and sophisticated arrangements. [read more]

Limited Edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 Sells for $17,300 in Online Auction Benefiting Doctors Without Borders

Today Microsoft announced that gamers, Beatles fans, music lovers, and do-gooders across the world are raising tens of thousands of dollars to benefit Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) by downloading the exclusive Xbox LIVE track, “All You Need Is Love,” at a record-setting pace and bidding for a limited edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 console. The rare Xbox 360 console featuring illustrations from the eye-popping cinematic intro to “The Beatles: Rock Band” attracted more than 110 bids from around the globe, finally raising $17,300 for the charity in its 10 day online auction.

With $17,300 raised from the auction of the first limited edition Xbox 360 console, Doctors Without Borders will be able to purchase the equipment needed to carry out 86,500 immunizations using auto-disposable syringes, or purchase enough emergency kits composed of drugs and medical supplies to meet the basic needs of more than 2,800 people for 15 days in the aftermath of a disaster. Only a small number of these numbered, Beatles-themed Xbox 360 consoles will ever be available to the public with all proceeds to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Information on the release of the remaining limited edition consoles in regions worldwide is coming soon to http://www.xbox.com/thebeatlesrockband.

The love doesn’t stop there. Xbox 360 sales of the exclusive “All You Need Is Love” track broke records as the fastest selling downloadable song in “Rock Band” history within two days of its availability, demonstrating the passion and power of more than 20 million Xbox LIVE members to rally behind this social cause while enjoying The Beatles’ iconic anthem of love and peace. It’s not too late to join hands with the Xbox LIVE community to contribute to Doctors Without Borders – Microsoft, Apple Corps Ltd, MTV Games and Harmonix proceeds from ”All You Need Is Love” sales will continue to benefit the charity, which was personally selected by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison.

“We are thrilled over the contributions to us so far from downloads of ‘All You Need Is Love,’ and from the auction of the beautiful, one-of-a-kind Xbox console,” said Dr. Matt Spitzer, president of the board of directors of Doctors Without Borders. “We are incredibly grateful for having been selected as the beneficiary of this promotion. Funds generated from initiatives such as this can go a long way,” he added. “Severely malnourished children will be treated, people displaced by war will receive life-saving medical care, and people living with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other neglected diseases will have access to the medicines they need. On behalf of our patients, Doctors Without Borders says ‘Thank You.’”

As a bonus, continuing through Dec. 9, 2009, players who purchase and download the “All You Need Is Love” track for 160 Microsoft Points for charity will also be registered for the “The Beatles: Rock Band” Download & Win* for a chance to win one of the limited edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 consoles and a Rickenbacker 325 replica guitar controller. Head on over to http://xbox.com/tbrbsweep to find out how you can be eligible to be one of five potential Grand Prize winners.

Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971 working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe.

The Beatles and the End of the Album

Philip Larkin’s poem “Annus Mirabilis” opens with this: “Sexual intercourse began / In 1963 / (which was rather late for me) / Between the end of the Chatterley ban / And the Beatles’ first LP.” Like much of Larkin’s work, he’s speaking about his own sexual experience as a metonymy for culture as a whole, and like much of his work, he’s on to something. The British Invasion, the LP Era, the Golden Sixties, was the birth of sexual intercourse as commodity, marketed to anyone with a record player and TV set—the cameraman began shooting below Elvis’ waistline, so to speak. Anyone, youth especially, could now access the previously elusive sexual act through the exchange of goods in the capitalist marketplace. Sex and metaphor transformed into one another. [read more]

The Beatles - Help! [Remastered]

If there was ever a more obvious personal cry out, 1965’s Help! was it. When released, the record appeared in two different forms. On one hand, it was a fanciful soundtrack, featuring some of the record’s biggest singles, alongside unnecessary spy movie interludes culled from the film of the same name. In its original (and newly remastered) form however, it was The Beatles lashing out as they tried to understand the complicated lives they were then living. Most importantly though, Help! would serve as the first of many segues into what would become the band’s more polarizing and creative outstanding work. Yes, past the adorable, danceable pop, there’s a much deeper side to the Fab Four, and it starts here. [read more]

Miley Cyrus Played Guitar With Paul McCartney

The 16-year-old performer caught up with DoSomething.org on the red carpet to chat about the importance of music education and spilled that she learned to play left-handed guitar with Paul McCartney. Miley shared, “My dad [Billy Ray Cyrus] was one time hanging out with Paul McCartney and he’s left-handed too. The only way you’re going to learn left-handed guitar is from Paul McCartney. I learned right handed (too) so I could borrow guitars.” [read more]

How the Beatles Ruined Liverpool

For the middle-aged pilgrim, the trail is well marked. Stroll west from Liverpool's Central railway station and you're soon in the "Beatles Quarter." There's the site of the Cavern Club, the sweaty dive where the Fab Four wowed their first British fans. For refreshment, try the Abbey Road Pub or the sleek Hard Day's Night Hotel with its submarine-yellow jukebox and Beatles busts in the lobby. Or maybe head straight down to the Mersey waterfront for the Beatles Story, the principal treasure house of Beatles relics, housed in a smartly restored warehouse complete with the memento-filled Fab4Store. Want more? Even the ferry terminal gets in on the act with a "four-dimensional 'Fab4D' show," as well as a new exhibition of previously unseen Lennon family memorabilia. If you squint hard on a clear night, you might even see a girl named Lucy in the sky, with diamonds. Yeah, that one's a joke, but don't be surprised if some Beatlemaniac makes it happen someday. [read more]

John Lennon Autograph Sells For Over $12,000

A 1966 magazine signed by John Lennon containing his remark that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus has sold for $12,713. Dr. Ron Grelsamer, an orthopedic surgeon at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center, had the winning bid Thursday in a 17-day online auction run by RR Auction of Amherst. Lennon signed "John C. Lennon" above his photo in the September 1966 "Datebook," even though his middle initial is W. for Winston. "Christianity will go," Lennon said. "It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first — rock 'n' roll or Christianity." His comment provoked much anti-Beatle sentiment in the United States, where some people burned their Beatle records. AP

Paul McCartney Most Beloved Beatle

Sir Paul McCartney is America's most beloved Beatle, according to a new poll. After surveying over 4,800 American adults, the new Zogby International poll revealed that more than 30 per cent of participants chose McCartney as their favourite Fab Four member. Sixteen per cent opted for John Lennon, who was shot dead in 1980, while the other deceased band member, George Harrison, was third with 10 per cent. Buzz up! Ringo Starr was last in the poll, reports Contactmusic. John Zogby, CEO of Zogby International, says, "Americans over 30 and those over 65 love Paul. It must be the crazy love songs and Yesterday. Interestingly, John is the main answer for people who never go to church." (ANI)

You don’t hate the Beatles

Dear People who Claim to Hate the Beatles, Look, I know this must a rough week for you. With all the mania over the release of both the 14-disc remastered Beatles catalogue and the music video game The Beatles: Rock Band, you’re probably rolling your eyes so hard it’s making you dizzy. But since you’re already peeved at the popular masses for their cheerful philistinism, let me take this opportunity to tell you that I don’t buy it. You hate the Beatles? You hate them? Not loving them is one thing. I can accept the possibility that you’re simply indifferent. That you hate Beatles fans is wholly understandable. But there’s a shortlist of things in this world that cannot be hated. And like grilled cheese sandwiches, Pacific trade winds and orgasms, the Beatles are on that list. [read more]

Interview: Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono was exposed to music early in her life and started performing at "happenings" of various avant-garde kinds in the '50s. She was an early follower of John Cage, figured into the post-Dada '60s art movement known as Fluxus, and started a fruitful relationship with John Lennon after meeting him at a gallery in London in 1966. Ono made much music with Lennon, including experimental Beatles material like the tape-collage piece "Revolution 9" (from The White Album) and various noisy exercises together under the name Plastic Ono Band. Lennon put out a Plastic Ono Band album in 1970, and so did Ono—each with almost identical covers but diverging sounds. [read more]

Yoko Ono’s £260,000 gift to Liverpool John Moores’ students

DISADVANTAGED students will have a chance to study at a city university, thanks to a new John Lennon awards scheme funded by his wife. The Daily Post can reveal the Beatle’s widow, Yoko Ono, is donating £260,000 of her own money so students brought up in care are able to thrive at Liverpool John Moores University. Her cash is funding a new John Lennon Imagine Awards scheme, aimed at students who have been in care or become estranged from their families. Her music legend husband was famously raised in Menlove Avenue, Allerton, from the age of five until his late teens by his aunt Mimi Smith. Last night, Yoko said John would have approved of the fund at the university, where he studied at its art school in 1957. The 76-year-old said: “I am delighted to have been able to set up these awards in John’s name, not only because he was a student at the art school, but also because he genuinely would have wanted to help these students achieve their personal goals.” [read more]

A welcome gift from Yoko Ono

JOHN Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, is a colourful character whose artistic activities haven’t always gone down well in this city. While many have defended her art as being thought-provoking, others have denounced it as being, at best, frivolous. But surely few people would try to claim that Yoko has failed to retain a rich and healthy interest in her late husband’s home city. She has visited Liverpool on many occasions – including for the official opening of Liverpool John Lennon Airport and also the unveiling of John’s childhood home as a National Trust property – and she has always spoken well of it. And now Yoko has again shown her commitment to Liverpool by handing over £260,000 to enable students brought up in care to thrive at a city university. [read more]

The Beatles turn U.S. charts back to 1960s

The Beatles boasted some of the best-selling albums on the U.S. pop chart on Wednesday after nostalgic fans scooped up the Fab Four's much-hyped reissues. In all, the Beatles sold 626,000 albums during the week ended September 13, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. Until last week, they had sold 635,000 copies this year, a low tally by their standards as buyers held out until the 09-09-09 release date. Their best-seller last week was 1969's "Abbey Road," which moved 89,000 copies, making it the third-most-popular album in the United States. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band," the 1967 release that often tops lists of the greatest albums of all time, was No. 5 overall with 74,000 copies. [read more]

Huntsmen 'filmed on McCartney deer sanctuary'

Anti-hunt activists claimed today that they filmed huntsmen trespassing on Sir Paul McCartney's deer sanctuary. The footage was taken by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), which members claim shows the Quantock Staghounds on Sir Paul's estate in St John's Wood, near Bampton in Somerset. The hunters appear to chase a herd of deer across land owned by LACS, and then use two hounds to flush a stag out of St John's Wood. SOURCE

Paul McCartney Says the Beatles Considered Reforming

Sir Paul McCartney has been talking candidly about The Beatles during his promotional duties surrounding their reissued back catalog and video game. Rumors that The Beatles would reform were quashed following John Lennon’s tragic death, but McCartney has indicated that they were open to the idea on several occasions. "We talked about it a lot and we always said that if we did [reunite] it might not be great, whereas the Beatles' career had been great,” he said. “We'd gone from A to Z and it had been a great journey. If now we were going to go to 'Z plus' and it wasn't very good, you'd ruin the whole thing," he said. The interview was conducted by Entertainment Tonight Online and can be viewed here. "Even though the offers were huge, and there were people [saying] 'I'll pay you this to do it!' we talked about it and we sort of said 'nah'. [There was] something not right about it,” McCartney said. [read more]

Sean Lennon Defends His Homage Portrait After Backlash

I definitely understand the argument about role reversals and how the original portrait depicted John’s utter love and vulnerability in an unconventional way while the homage showed a typical sexualized female form. But I don’t agree with the Sean-bashing. The photo was taken in good fun—it wasn’t a publicity stunt. And why shouldn’t Sean want to worship his father? Sean is talented in his own right. Have you guys heard Cibo Matto’s “Stereo Type A”? It’s an amazing record! Sean himself tried to play down his heritage, saying once, “I think I found the only label on the planet who doesn’t care who my parents are and what my name is. It’s a good feeling to know that I wouldn’t have gotten the offer if they wouldn’t have liked my songs. That’s pretty rare in the music business.” [read more]

Why I've turned against Courtney Love

Well, no. Ono has always honoured the memory of her slain husband in what she says and does: There is a Strawberry Fields in Central Park, near Lennon and Yoko's Dakota apartment-mansion where fans may lie in the grass, imagining there's no Mark David Chapman, and so on. Love, on the other hand, almost never speaks about Cobain. Too personal? She still talks about faded star and indifferent paramour-for-a-month Edward Norton. Too cheesy? Would it be wrong for her to curate, carefully, a new CD, in co-operation with Grohl and Novoselic; to comment thoughtfully on his music and art; to say, once in a while – anything? It's really impossible to say whether as Love has argued, Kurt would have hated the avatar. The man who mentioned Freddie Mercury in his suicide note and covered a David Bowie song may have thought his avatar – who can perform hundreds of songs by such artists as John Mellencamp, Elton John and Jon Bon Jovi – funny, or intriguing. A nihilist with a skewed comic sensibility, Cobain may have just loved hollering “Flava-Flaaaave!” [read more]

The top five Beatles secrets

So we finally had a chance to play The Beatles Rock Band on Xbox and while the guitar lines aren't as rifftastic as the AC/DC version, we soon found ourselves singing along, picking intricate guitar and bass lines and re-discovering why Ringo is so underrated in the world of rock drummers. Of course a re-release of the entire Beatles catalog accompanied Rock Band, fattening up the band's 1960s vinyl aura to 2009's sub-woofing range. Now kids who dare compare the Beatles to Spoon or the Shins have real ammo to contend that the Beatles were the best band ever. Period. [read more]

Ono Praises Beatles' 'Special' Songs

JOHN LENNON's widow YOKO ONO barely knows the BEATLES songs - and only realised their music is "special" when she recently revisited the band's back catalogue. Avant-garde artist Ono met Lennon in 1966 - at the height of the Fab Four's fame - and was wed to the rock legend until his death in New York in 1980. But she has confessed she is no expert on the band's music, and gained a new appreciation of the tracks when she helped organise the release of remastered versions of their albums earlier this month (Sep09). She says, "I didn't know the Beatles' songs so well until I started to become responsible for them. Having to check it, listen to it, and make sure everything is alright reminded me how each one has some kind of special energy." Ono is also adamant the new The Beatles: Rock Band video game is a good move - because it will spearhead a second coming for the band. She adds, "It's not about chopping heads. It's going to promote peace and love. It's going to be fantastic. It is like the second Beatles revolution in a sense. It's going to make this planet into an artistic place... I think John would have loved it." SOURCE

Nothing is Real: The Reanimation of the Beatles

In “Love,” the Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas spectacular based on the Beatles’ music, there’s a brief scene as odd as it is affecting: a shadow-play “conversation” between the group members, pieced together from snippets of recording studio banter. Though the moment is fleeting, it’s clear from the shadow projections which Beatle is which – a sign of just how ingrained the images of John, Paul, George and Ringo are in many of us. While touching – it’s the Beatles’ “cameo” in the show they inspired – there’s a certain eeriness and sadness attached even as the audience wants the illusion to go on. Last week’s release of The Beatles: Rock Band and news that “Yellow Submarine” is set to be remade by Disney using 3-D performance capture technology, mark two giant steps in not only the continuing revival of the group, but its reanimation. But for generations that didn’t grow up steeped in Fab Four lore, will the Beatle avatars become the new icons? [read more]

Thirsty interviews John Sinclair

John Sinclair was sentenced to 10 years in prison after offering two joints to an undercover narcotics officer in 1969. The ridiculous sentencing of a known cultural revolutionist sparked a nationwide upheaval, leading renowned left wing fundamentalists to charge to Ann Arbor and form the notorious, “Free John Now Rally.” Above are the lyrics sang by John Lennon at the Crisler Arena in December of 1971 where he stood on a bill with other attendees such as Yoko Ono, Allen Ginsberg, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger and many others. Eventually, the ten year sentence was shortened to three and a half years, and the movement forever now symbolizes the necessity of people to stand against the wrongdoings and persecution by the government, even in these more modern times. But why did a movement form for this specific person? Why did all these “left-wing luminaries” venture to Ann Arbor to protest the sentencing of one man? Who is this, John Sinclair? Well, why don’t we hear the history from the man himself? Jarrod Dicker and John Sinclair...[read more]

Nielsen: Cheap Trick-infused 'I'm Losing You' with Lennon too hot to handle

As Lennon hung out in his home at the Dakota in New York, famously tending to his new son, Sean, and making bread, Cheap Trick vaulted to worldwide fame with the stunning success of the triple-platinum “Cheap Trick at Budokan.” When Lennon dusted off his Rickenbacker and exhumed his legendary songwriting skills, he recruited Douglas to work on “Double Fantasy.” Recording commenced in the summer of 1980 in New York, and soon Douglas told Nielsen the sessions were “too studio musician-ish.” Lennon wanted some real, rough-around-the-edges rockers, and Nielsen was thrilled at the chance to record with a true rock legend. Problem was, his wife, Teresa, was about to give birth to their son, Daxx. “We were actually on tour, in Toronto, going to Japan the next day, when we heard about this, and the day of the session was the due date for Daxx. I asked (Teresa) about it, and she said, ‘C’mon, he’s your hero, you have to do it.' So on Aug. 12, we had a baby boy, and I was in Montreal. I smuggled a bunch of Cuban cigars out of Canada and flew into New York, showed up at The Hit Factory. After about an hour of setting up, in walks John Lennon.” [read more]

Beatles Legend Paul McCartney Fears He could end up Like Princess Diana

Sir Paul McCartney the Beatles Legend is worried he may die like Princess Diana if he tries to out run the Paparazzi. According to the Beatles Star, he know spends time being polite to the Paparazzi who follow him everywhere because when he sees the flashing cameras of the press the image of Princess Diana when she crashed in the tunnel goes through his mind and he does not want to end up like that. He says, "Nobody's learned anything, so you find yourself in a high-speed car chase and you go, 'I shouldn't be doing this'. [read more]

For Beatles Brand, All They Need Is Control

The Beatles broke up almost 40 years ago, but their brand power is almost as strong today as it was when they first played the "Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964. Moreover, the band built that iconic brand -- and continues to promote it, gaining new generations of fans along the way -- without the benefit of advertising agencies or formal relationships with PR firms. Do you want to know their secret? Apple Corps, the Beatles' holding company; the Beatles themselves and their surviving spouses; former Beatles label EMI and Sony/ATV, which owns most of the band's music catalog, jointly make decisions on what projects will be approved, and they do so sparingly. [read more]

The Beatles and iTunes: A complicated history

It’s something that happens every twelve months, but this year’s rumors about the Beatles catalog landing in the iTunes store is taking on a life of its own. The rumors are fueled in part by the fact that Wednesday is not only Apple event day, but also Beatles day with the release of the Beatles Rock Band game, and a completely remastered version of the Fab Four’s entire catalog on compact disc. But Beatles rumors got even hotter Tuesday when Britain’s Sky News ran a story saying that Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon and major shareholder of the Beatles’ musical rights, had confirmed the Beatles catalog was coming to iTunes. “Beatles Tracks To Make Debut on iTunes,” the headline read with the tagline: “The whole of the Beatles back catalogue will be made available to buy on iTunes, Yoko Ono has told Sky News.” At first it seemed like Sky had just scored the ultimate scoop, but the story was quickly pulled from the Sky Web site, and also counterbalanced by an outright denial from EMI, the label that owns the Beatles’ recordings. [read more]

Live fast, die at 27: how Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain joined the 27 Club

It's the age when you realise that the first flush of youth is truly over; the age when you teeter on the cusp of real life; the age when young athletes reach their peak. Hell, it's even the age when you can no longer use your young person's railcard...27, the doorway into adulthood, is a year imbued by history with a tragic resonance, nowhere more so than in the world of rock music where a scarily high number of “legends” have died aged 27, spawning the mythical “27 club”. It came about in 1994 when Kurt Cobain, barely 27, shot himself in the head, his body pumped full of heroin and Valium. Twenty-five years earlier, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones had all died aged 27, the first three apparently from drug overdoses and Jones from an “accidental drowning” that to this day is shrouded in mystery and rumours of murder. There were plenty more too: for example, Robert Johnson, the Delta bluesman, who was poisoned, or Ron McKernan, the alcoholic Grateful Dead bassist. [read more]

Disney to remake Yellow Submarine

A 3D remake of The Beatles' 1968 film Yellow Submarine has been confirmed, Disney Studios has announced. It will incorporate the 16 Beatles songs and recordings from the original animated film. Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said the new film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis using the same motion-capture effects employed in Polar Express. Meanwhile, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has been confirmed as the name of the new film in the series. [read more]

Just how good is The Beatles: Rock Band?

“No video game has ever brought more parents together with their teenage and adult children than The Beatles: Rock Band likely will in the months and years to come,” said The New York Times, pointing out how the game lovingly, gloriously showcases the relatively brief career of the most important rock band of all time. Other reviewers were even more gushing. So I had a gin and tonic (not very rock’n’roll but it’s all I had in) and we had another go. The first time, I’d spent ages faffing around with the menus. This time, I selected Story level. And there we were, in a cartoon version of the Cavern club in Liverpool circa 1962. I was singing, Martin and Matthew were on guitars and Rob, a man with previous form in Rock Band circles, was being Ringo. For a few minutes, I got it. The genius lyrics and melodies we all grew up with, the intensity of those early performances, the screaming girls (there’s a “reality” mode you can activate where the screaming becomes so relentless that you can hardly hear yourself play) — it was all there as we worked through A Hard Day’s Night, All You Need is Love and Back in the USSR. [read more]

Rock Music Menu: Beatles remasters are worth it!

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the remastered Beatles compact discs, which came out this past week. Simply put, it’s the most anticipated collection of CDs released since the format debuted in the early 80s. There isn’t a bigger band in history of music that was not only so influential, but also so poorly represented as technology made strides since the initial output of Fab Four discs 22 years ago. When you finally hear what’s been done to the tracks, how clean they sound, there’s no doubt it’s been worth the wait. [read more]

Fab Four are re-masters of the universe

YOU could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Beatlemania has never gone away. Here, there and everywhere you look the Fab Four's faces in various stages of hirsuitness stare out of the pages of music press and Sunday supplements, while the BBC has taken to running a Beatles season on both telly and radio. It would appear that although the nation's love affair with John, Paul, Ringo and George has never quite faded, we are seemingly set on renewing our vows to them. While their influence is ingrained in the DNA of post-Sixties music, the last time there was such a large-scale resurgence of public interest in the band was during the mid-1990s, with the release of two "new" singles, Real Love and Free as a Bird; a documentary charting their career; and the Anthology series of unheard material. [read more]

Beatles mania

More than 45 years after they first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles have returned to TV. And this time, you get to play "Twist and Shout" alongside the Fab Four. The newest addition to Rock Band's video game lineup, The Beatles: Rock Band blends the music and culture of one generation with the technology of another. "I never listened to (The Beatles) much, but this game has got me into them," said Dylan Knight, 18, a Pensacola Junior College freshman. "I've even downloaded some songs, and I like most of them." The game, which went on sale Wednesday, isn't just for young gamers. Tweens, teens, boomers or anyone in love with the Liverpool lads can come together to play some great music. [read more]

Exclusive: John Lennon, the lost interviews

John Lennon did many brilliant things in his life, but arguably one of his most inspired acts was his deliberate destruction of the Beatles in 1969 — just 40 years ago this month. It didn’t seem that way then, not to tens of millions of devastated Beatles fans around the world, and not to Paul McCartney, who, feeling abandoned, went off to his farm in Scotland and into a deep depression. But if Lennon, who’d started the group that evolved into the Beatles, hadn’t murdered his creation at that moment, if the band had somehow struggled on through their rows into the 1970s, I doubt that you’d be reading this article today. [read more]

Paul McCartney Gives His Take On Rock Band And iTunes

Fans of the Rock Band video game are now pleased that the series has finally released a version based on The Beatles. A recent interview with Billboard.com also revealed that Sir Paul McCartney is satisfied as well. "I think it's great," said McCartney. "It's just the modern world and you either embrace it or you don't. I'm happy to embrace good new ideas-it keeps things exciting. If kids-or anyone-want to play a video game and someone like Harmonix wants to put together a great Beatles project, then it makes sense to me." When it came to developing The Beatles: Rock Band, McCartney explained he was intrigued at first but he wanted to be shown if the video game would be as successful as people projected. [read more]

Want The Beatles In Mono Box Set? Good Luck.

Just how dedicated are local Beatles fans? Well, at least one has already agreed to pay $500 for a rare copy of The Beatles In Mono--about $200 more than the set's $299.99 list price. The mono set is part of the big 9-9-09 marketing blitzkrieg, which also included the release of the band's remastered catalog in stereo (as individual albums and as a box set) and The Beatles: Rock Band video game. Forever Young Records manager Taylor Eckstrom says the store ordered four copies of the mono box set, but only received one. Despite pricing it at $500--an unusually high markup, Eckstrom admits--the store has a found a willing buyer, and is currently holding the box set. [read more]

Back in the U.S. of A.

If McCartney had simply wanted to wallow in nostalgia, his song selection wouldn't have been problematic. But Sir Paul was using the concerts as a platform to recast the Fab Four in his image under the cloak of a McCartney performance. I was disappointed he capitulated to his nagging insecurity of being viewed as a lightweight, which has always been unfair to McCartney. I panned the concert due to McCartney's desperate attempt at rewriting a Beatles legacy that's forever frozen in time rather than offering himself as a still-viable solo artist. Much to my amazement, I discovered most fans didn't care about the distinction; they just wanted to hear Beatles songs performed by an ex-Beatle. Not surprisingly, the nasty letters and phone calls began the moment the review hit the streets. I appeared on a radio talk show to defend my review. The only supportive call was the first one; callers then subjected me to a barrage of verbal abuse. After dozens of letters and calls over the next couple of weeks, my editor finally suggested I lay low. Otherwise, he half-jokingly added, I'd risk having my body parts scattered across Dallas County by enraged Beatles/McCartney fans. The Lennon retrospective that was published months later was a different experience [read more]

I'm a Beatles fanatic. But is this overkill?

But now look. On Wednesday this week, EMI – once among the fustiest of record companies, but now owned by the private equity outfit Terra Firma – released 14 remastered Beatles CDs and two very expensive box sets, and after weeks of rising excitement, the press and broadcast media went bananas. The Fabs were on the front pages of both the Financial Times and the NME, which obligingly saluted them as "The Greatest Band Of All Time". The BBC had got in early with a multi-channel Beatles week, and The Times is still in the midst of an increasingly tiresome Beatles fortnight. Meanwhile, across the planet, perhaps the most remarkable Beatles-based product of all is working its magic. In the officially-licensed Beatles Rock Band game, you can insert yourself into virtual recreations of the Cavern Club, Shea Stadium and Tokyo's Budokan arena, and try to keep pace with the music via pricey plastic "peripheral controllers" (£90 each) in the form of John, Paul and George's guitars, and Ringo's drum kit.
[read more]

Why the Beatles still matter after 40 years

Since their break-up, almost 40 years ago, they have become more than just a pop group, they have become a British institution, become part of our cultural fabric along with Diana, Princess of Wales, Big Ben, warm beer and cricket on the village green. Digitally remastered versions of all the Beatles’ albums were released this week, replacing the anemic CDs currently available. That same day brought the release of the video game The Beatles: Rock Band, which will undoubtedly create yet another generation of fans. With a few exceptions, such as the Marx Brothers, it is rare for groups to enter cultural history, but artistically the Beatles represent Britain as much as Shakespeare and Dickens. Like them, they wrote for a popular audience and like them they conquered the world. The Americans embraced the Beatles even more fully than the British, but they added them to the pantheon of Hollywood stars; they made them into inaccessible, remote gods; a blank canvas on which to play out teenage dreams and fantasies. In Britain the Beatles always had a deeper cultural meaning. In Britain they were real people. [read more]

Photographer Leibovitz Reaches Deal With Lender

Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz reached a deal on Friday with the art finance company behind her $24 million loan, allowing her to buy back control of her photographs, which had been put up as collateral. In a joint statement with Art Capital Group, which made the loan against the value of Leibovitz's entire collection and her two properties, Leibovitz said she had bought back control of her assets. She had taken the loan to pay off debts. As part of the agreement, Art Capital agreed to drop a breach of contract lawsuit filed against Leibovitz in July and extend the deadline for payment. The loan was originally scheduled to be paid back on Tuesday. [read more]

Simon Cowell Cowed? Mr. Mouth Buckles to Beatles Backlash

Some people just can't take a joke. Others just can't tell them. Simon Cowell falls into the latter category. While the American Idol judge apparently can't spare a moment to officially comment on Ellen DeGeneres' replacement of Paula Abdul (unlike everyone else involved), he did take time to go on record today to clarify a joke he made about the Beatles on CBS' Early Show Wednesday morning. Which, as the most cursory of Google searches will tell you, didn't exactly translate well. Cowell was on the show to talk about Susan Boyle's recording future but got slightly off course when his interviewer, his Britain's Got Talent cojudge Amanda Holden, asked the critical Brit, "If the Beatles came on Britain's Got Talent or American Idol, do you think you would have put them through to boot camp?" Unfortunately, Cowell never met a piece of bait he didn't lunge for. [read more]

Alan White from Yes: What The Beatles meant to me

It's not every day a Beatle calls you and changes your life forever. But that's what happened to Alan White in 1969. Before he began his nearly 40-year-career as the drummer for Yes, White received a phone call from a man who said he was John Lennon. He thought it was a prank. Only it wasn't. Lennon had just seen White play in a club and wanted him for a new group he was putting together, The Plastic Ono Band. During the next few years, before he joined Yes, White became Lennon's go-to guy, and when Lennon introduced him to George Harrison, George was so taken by the drummer's immense skills that he used him on his breakthrough smash All Things Must Pass. In the following interview, White recalls those heady days and talks fondly of his memories of performing with two of music's biggest icons. So let's set the picture here, Alan. You're taking a shower, the phone rings and a guy who says he's John Lennon is on the other line. [read more]

Lennon’s tape reveals Macca was most important person to him

A new tape of late singer John Lennon’s interviews has him saying that fellow Beatles member Paul McCartney was the most important person to him apart from his wife. “I only ever asked two people to work with me as a partner,” the New York Post quoted the Times of London as reporting as to what Lennon said in the tape. “One was Paul McCartney and the other Yoko Ono. Paul and me were the Beatles,” Lennon claims in the tape. However, according to the newspaper, their friendship didn’t last long and, when the band broke up, he told Paul: “I want a divorce.” Rock journalist Ray Connelly recorded the tapes, in which Lennon even mentions early death. He said: “[wasting] my life as I have been. I have to learn to do that because I don’t want to die at 40.” He was shot to death at that age in 1980. (ANI)

MCCARTNEY: 'BEATLES TOOK TOO MANY DRUGS'

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY still can't believe he and his fellow BEATLES survived the swinging sixties - because they took so many drugs and often couldn't even think straight.The Yesterday singer admits the Fab Four overused narcotics during their heyday and often fell asleep recording musical masterpieces they composed while high. In an exclusive interview with U.S. news show Entertainment Tonight, he says, "(We were) overdoing substances and really getting crazy, as we all were... (We'd be) falling asleep - the kinda thing when you can hardly get your head off the pillow. You go, 'Woah, I'd better get my head off this pillow.'" But one drug-induced state inspired MCCartney to write Beatles classic Let It Be. He adds, "I had a dream, where my mother, who had been dead, by then, 10 years came to me in the dream and was very sort of helpful and very calming, and it was lovely just to see her... and she said, 'Don't worry about it... Let it be.' "I went, 'OK', and I felt so good... and I woke up and wrote Let It Be. I thought, 'That's a good idea for a song.'" SOURCE

Beatles fans deserve more in the remastering department

What's new? The sound is improved, benefiting from two decades of technological improvements. And the packaging is slightly better, with terse recording notes; extra pictures; and short, infomercial-style videos on the making of each album (accompanying the stereo versions only). Is that enough to justify repurchasing the catalog? I can't say that it does. The sonic improvements in the stereo releases, while welcome and in some instances discernible on even mediocre playback devices, will be appreciated (for the most part) only by the die-hards who are familiar with every Mellotron flourish and French-horn riff. I'm as thrilled as anyone to be able to hear the rolling thunder of "Rain" with greater stereo presence on "Past Masters: Volumes One and Two," but I'm not sure it's worth nearly 19 bucks if you already have the album. [read more]

The Beatles, album-by-album

Not created as an album – like “Pepper” – the first half of the album includes music from the awful TV movie and the second half compiles singles and b-sides from 1967. Most of the first half is second-tier Beatles, saved by the mood-altering “I Am the Walrus” with its nonsense rhymes, melting orchestras and chortling demons. The second half is uniformly great, as McCartney and Lennon follow their memories to take us down to “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Paul’s city scene is a melodic majesty, but John’s psychedelic recollection of being “high or low” might be the band’s finest moment. Trivia: During “Fields” fade-in coda, some fans thought they heard Lennon announcing, “I buried Paul.” It’s actually “cranberry sauce.” [read more]

Beatles' Chart Domination

The Beatles are expected to dominate the UK album chart this week. The 'Fab Four' are predicted to win five places in the top twenty after the re-release of their entire back catalogue in stereo. 'Abbey Road', 'Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band' and 'Revolver' are selling the most copies, and might climb as high as numbers one, two and three on the chart respectively. Digitally remastered versions of all 13 of the Liverpool band's albums were released on Wednesday (09.09.09), nearly 30 years after the group split in 1970. [read more]

A little Beatles history for the next generation

OK, children. Heard about the re-released catalog of music by a band from long ago and far away called the Beatles? No? Here's the ancient saga. The four lads grew in up in the working-class town of Liverpool, England, listening to the records of American artists Elvis Presley and Little Richard. The four paid their dues playing in dive clubs in Hamburg, Germany: three sets a night for 48 nights. I first heard my first Beatle album in 1964, when I was 7 years old. The song "She Loves You," became a national obsession. My sisters had Beatle posters, magazines and trading cards, like baseball cards. They told me John Lennon was the smart one, Paul McCartney the cute one, George Harrison the deep one, and Ringo Starr the funny one. [read more]

Are magazine's Beatles rankings really the 'Best'?

Have you seen the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, the one with the black-and-white photo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, circa 1965? The stories inside plug the recent release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" music-video game, as well as the new remastered stereo versions of the entire Beatles album catalog. But a sidebar to EW's main story is the very definition of a fool's errand. Or perhaps a "Fool on the Hill's" errand. [read more]

Now there’s even more for fans of the Fab Four to love – and covet

For Beatlemaniacs, it’s been a long and winding road. The wait for a remastered catalog and the Beatles-branded "Rock Band" video game came to an end this week, allowing fans of all ages to dive into the rich sounds created by the Fab Four, discovering or reconnecting with these timeless tunes. While the box sets, individual albums and the video game are unquestionably worth the time and money spent (the sets are north of $200 in most cases, while the Rock Band game retails for about $60), one aspect often overlooked is the emotional. Millions of people have a deep, almost primal connection to the songs composed by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. It’s that bond fueling this second British Invasion and what’s sure to be a welcome shot in the arm for the music and video-game industries alike. [read more]

Beatles’ albums dominate top of chart at Amazon

The Beatles’ remastered music shot to the top of the charts at Amazon.com Inc. and fans lined up outside music stores waiting for a chance to buy the reissued collection. Beatles albums occupy 10 of the top 11 spots on Amazon.com’s list of best-selling music. Sales were also heavy in Germany, the U.K. and South Korea, according to Jeanne Meyer, spokeswoman for EMI Group Ltd., the band’s label. “It’s been amazing, we had 100 people in line before we opened,” said Sue Bryan, general manager of the media division of J&R, an electronics store in New York. “We’ve played the Beatles all day. It’s fun.” Early fans are mostly interested in the monophonic boxed set because they consider it a collectible, said Jim Henderson, co-owner of Amoeba Music, which has stores in Hollywood, Berkeley and San Francisco. EMI engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London took four years to remaster the Beatles albums, reworking more than 220 songs. [read more]

Buy Beatles CDs From Amazon Now


.

Living with the light and the dark

Philip Norman’s request to Yoko Ono that he should become her deceased husband’s biographer was based on quiet confidence. His Shout was, according to Norman himself, the “definitive work” on the Beatles of whom John Lennon was the founding member. Norman’s confidence must have served him well during his three years of rigorous research on a man who was certainly the most gifted, and the most controversial, of the quartet that made up the Beatles. While it is generally agreed that these 817 pages, the fruits of Norman’s labour, are certainly an improvement on some of the earlier works on Lennon (Ray Coleman’s and Albert Goldman’s biographies in particular), John Lennon: The Life isn’t quite flawless. Ironically, Norman’s voluminous research that throws light on nearly every aspect and episode of Lennon’s life often threatens to bury the protagonist under the debris of minutiae. [read more]

Sean Lennon Defends His Purple Magazine Shoot

At last night's Paper Magazine 25th Anniversary party at the New York Public Library, we asked Sean Lennon about all the flak he'd caught for re-creating the iconic Annie Leibovitz Rolling Stone cover of a naked John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the pages of Purple Magazine. This is what Lennon, who posed for Terry Richardson with his model girlfriend, Kemp Muhl, had to say: People are saying that that photo of you and your girlfriend in Purple is offensive. I know. I am really shocked. I can't believe that. It's weird. I thought controversial photos were other things than that. It seems that people are a little bit uptight these days, I guess. I thought that it was not a big deal. [read more]

Conan O'Brien Tests His Sobriety With The Beatles: Rock Band

Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien took The Beatles: Rock Band for a spin during last night's episode, showing just what a gifted fake musician he is. Of course, he had a little help from his friends. Dhani Harrison, son of The Beatles' George Harrison and The Beatles: Rock Band consultant, was a guest on last night's show, a rare Tonight Show video game promotional appearance. Rare, but one that may offer some insight into how well Harmonix's new game will fare with the public. It seemed to fare alright with Conan and the boys, as shown in the clip below. [read more/videos/link to show]

The Beatles' 'Shiny' Songs

The Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney says he is thrilled with the band's new ''remastered'' sound because it makes him feel as if he's back in the recording studio. Sir Paul McCartney thinks the remastered The Beatles tracks sound "shiny". The pop legend - who sang with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the iconic British band - says the sound on the new LPs is so clear it transports him back to when the tracks were first recorded. [read more]

John Lennon’s Teenage Years to Feature in London Film Festival

John Lennon’s teenage years will come to life with the world premiere of the movie “Nowhere Boy” at the London Film Festival next month. The first full-length feature by Sam Taylor-Wood stars Kristin Scott Thomas as Lennon’s Aunt Mimi. “Nowhere Boy” will be one of 15 movies making their global debut at the festival, which runs from Oct. 14 to Oct. 29. Opening the two-week jamboree will be “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” the first animation film by director Wes Anderson (“The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Darjeeling Limited,”) with the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray. [read more]

The Beatles: Let It Be

As the 1960s wound down, so did the Beatles. The symmetry was perfect: youthful energy, optimism, and camaraderie had given over to cynicism, discord, and looking out for number one. As the decade's final year began, the White Album was still riding high on the charts and the Yellow Submarine soundtrack was days away from release. But the Beatles were in serious trouble. Nothing about being in the band was enjoyable or easy. The power vacuum left by the death of manager Brian Epstein a year and a half earlier had never been satisfactorily filled; Apple Corps, the multi-media company started by the band a year earlier, was bleeding money; and toughest of all, the once-Fab Four didn't generally enjoy being in the same room together. All were either married or close to it, closing in on 30, and tremendously weary of all they'd been through. [read more]

Simon Cowell: ''Ringo would have ruined The Beatles' 'X Factor' chances''

Simon Cowell says Ringo Starr would have scuppered The Beatles' chances of winning 'The X Factor'. The pop impresario says he would have had no qualms about turning The Fab Four down, because drummer Starr wasn't talented or good looking enough. Asked if he'd have taken The Beatles on if they auditioned for the show, Cowell quipped: "No, we would have said, ‘We'll take those three [John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison] but probably lose the drummer.’ Ringo, I'm afraid, we would have said is ‘bad news’." (The Early Show). SOURCE

Yoko Caused International Incident With Belgium Strip Show

Yoko Ono has revealed that she caused an international incident after she stripped naked on stage in Belgium. Talking to Quietus editor John Doran for this month's issue of Stool Pigeon, she described how Belgium authorities tried to extradite her on charges of obscenity in the 1960's. She said: "That was not my work, that was a fellow Fluxus artist. He was looking for some people to stand on the stage and protest. Nobody was going to do it. And then this guy - a European with a monocle no less - was looking at me like he hated this object, this woman he saw in front of him. "He was thinking ‘She won’t do it.’ He thought I was a very low person, so I said ‘Oh, I’ll do it.’ It was just my rebellion you know. [read more]

Classic and curious Beatles covers

With A Little Help From My Friends was released by The Beatles in 1967 as the second track on their Sgt. Pepper album. Arguably popular music's first concept album, it continued the musical innovations of Revolver and was their eighth studio record. It was performed by Ringo Starr's alter-ego, Billy Shears, who is introduced as a character in the opening track on the album. Ringo Starr's alter-ego Billy Shears performed the track originally Sheffield's gravel-voiced Joe Cocker went to the top spot in the UK charts with a reinvention of the song in 1968. [read more/video clips]

‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ Secrets Revealed

Today is 9/9/09. In case you hadn't heard, "The Beatles: Rock Band" is out. What am I saying? Of course you've heard. The release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" is the biggest thing since... well... since The Beatles! Bigger than Jesus? Hrm... no one's saying that. Not after all the trouble caused the the last time someone said that. The usual bag for "Rock Band" unlockables relates to accessorizing your in-game avatar. It's an approach that just doesn't work in today's new Beatles edition. Since your fake instrument-playing is tied to John, Paul, George and Ringo, and since each video is specifically tailored to the song being played, Harmonix had to come up with another plan for unlockables. [read more]

Apple likely to unveil new version of iTunes

However, despite reports quoting Yoko Ono confirming that The Beatles could be set to take the iTunes stage, EMI has moved to quash those rumours. The music company said it is in talks with Apple, but that no announcement is imminent. Rumours that the event could see the unveiling of the Apple Tablet have also cooled with a January launch now more likely. Instead, it appears that the company will reveal a more humdrum, by its standards, set of upgrades to its range of iPods. Models of the iPod Touch and iPod Nano on show at IFA, the consumer electronics show in Berlin, appeared to have holes in the back of the device that would house a camera lens. [read more]

Beatles Rock Band Debuts to Raves; Remastered Albums Released

The long awaited video game based on the music of the Beatles hit store shelves today (Sept. 9), with sales reported to be brisk. Beatles: Rock Band is capitalizing on the craze over computer band games where players simulate music by pressing keys on simulated guitars and drums. The new computer game coincides with the release of 13 digitally remastered Beatles albums. The Beatles collection, launched worldwide on 09/09/09 and priced at around $300, is expected to dominate the charts in the United States and Britain, bringing a windfall to the group's label EMI Music and the Beatles' company, Apple Corps. [read more/video preview]

Breakfast With the Beatles

The first time I listened to all of the Beatles albums was 1987. Like all humans, I obviously had heard the boys' stuff since I was child, but this was the first time I really dug in and became obsessed. My high school history teacher lent me his collection of cassette tapes. They were all out of order and sounded like they'd been recorded from the LPs from his bathroom... on the second floor. What made them sound "worse," was the crappy boom-box I played them on... or worse, the apparatus that some would call a "car stereo" in my crappy Honda Prelude. And yet... It was the Beatles. Despite the quality, the heavens opened and enlightenment poured over me. I was sixteen and sound quality didn't really matter. What mattered were those harmonies on "You Won't See Me," the killer guitar solos on "The End," the haunting beauty (and a personal foreshadowing) of "She's Leaving Home," the creepy insanity of the "White Album"... and on and on. [read more]

The Beatles get remastered to the nines

Number nine, number nine, number nine. … In the late '60s, the Beatles recorded Revolution 9, an experimental freakfest that screwed with head and headphones. It appeared on the band's ninth British release. It was largely the work of John Lennon, born on Oct. 9. The Beatles would split a year later: 1969. The devil's work? Absolutely. Turns out Satan might be a Beatles fan after all. Today is Sept. 9, 2009 — 9/9/9 … or 6/6/6 upside down! — and it just so happens that full-on Beatlemania is being rebooted with two lush box sets, a total remastering of their catalog, a video game, plus parties, hype and playlists. What's with all those nines? No clue. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out that "Paul is dead" thing. But in keeping with today's numerological vibe, here are Nine Key Elements to Enjoying Beatles Revolution 9/9/9. [read more]

Phantom Yoko Ono-iTunes story untrue

Sky News, the 24-hour British news operation, apparently posted a story that cited Yoko One as saying the Beatles' catalog was coming to iTunes. The story disappeared not long after, but not before someone took a screen shot of the headline and a tease, which said: "The whole of the Beatles back catalog will be made available to buy on iTunes, Yoko Ono has told Sky News." Sky News officials would not comment and has yet to issue a correction. [read more]

Sir Paul McCartney admits: 'We thought The Beatles would last couple of years'

On the day that the new Beatles computer game, The Beatles: Rock Band, is released, Sir Paul writes of his pride at the enduring popularity of the band. Admitting he thought they would only be briefly popular, he said the band was proud that they were "inter-generational". "Once upon a time there were these four boys who were born in Liverpool and were in a band together. In the 1960s they started making their own records and started making records and started writing their own songs," he wrote. "They played concerts in Britain, Germany, and eventually America, where they had huge success. The records became so well known they were sung all over the world. [read more]