Music Review: George Harrison - Electronic Sound

When it comes to hisElectronic Sound album there is little doubt that the music is outside my comprehension on a number of levels. The origins of the album began with a Jackie Lomax recording session where George Harrison became fascinated with the Moog synthesizer. This instrument was in its infancy as Robert Moog had invented and continued to perfect it throughout the sixties. While such groups as The Doors, The Rolling Stones, and even The Monkees had used it early on in its history, it was Walter Carlos’ Switched On Bach,released in 1968, that propelled the instrument into the public eye. It would quickly become an important part of rock music. Read More At Blogcritics

McCartney honors graduates

Sir Paul McCartney honors musician Midge Ure and actor Jonathan Price by making them 'Companions' of the arts institute he helped create in 1996. The former Beatles star hosted graduation day at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). Music producer Alan Moulder and theater designer Christopher Oram were also honored at the ceremony. Ure says, "I would have loved something like this as a kid growing up in the outskirts of Glasgow, someone to nurture whatever drive I had. I am one of the very lucky few, I get to wake up in the morning and fulfill my passions." McCartney, who is LIPA's lead patron, adds, "When anyone asks me what this day is like, I always say I love coming here because the joy, hope and the spirit is so evident. It's very special emotionally to be part of this day." Copyright WENN.com

Mccartney Turned Away At The White House

The Beatles legend arrived at the White House ahead of his scheduled performance for the president, but the rocker and his band were not allowed through the strict security checks. Paul McCartney tells the Associated Press, "Getting through the security of the White House (was memorable). For the rehearsal, we got through fine. But for the actual gig, we were sort of not let in. "At the gate we said, 'We're the entertainment.' He (the security guard) said, 'No, you'll have to walk around the other block.' It was heavy traffic, so we're going, 'Oh geesh. Wouldn't you just know it'."

Little Steven Celebrates Anniversary Of George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh

On today's Little Steven's Underground Garage Little Steven celebrates the legacy of the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, the first rock and roll benefit show. Van Zandt will play tracks from artists who performed at the George Harrison/Ravi Shankar-organized event, including Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Badfinger, and Ringo Starr. [read more]

How cool is Ringo? Here are some reminders

What a baby boomer's nightmare: Ringo Starr just turned 70. But the former drummer for the Beatles, whose persona and musicianship were integral to the success of the world's greatest rock band, is doing us a favor (along with the other surviving Beatle, Paul McCartney) by aging with zest. Ringo is celebrating his 70th with a new CD/DVD, "Live at the Greek Theatre 2008," and a tour that brings him to Chateau Ste. Michelle on Saturday with his ever-changing "All Starr" band that, in this edition, includes classic rockers Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer. [read more]

Time capsules to mark John Lennon's legacy

Three time capsules are being created to mark what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday and will be dedicated at a ceremony in the US. The capsules, which will contain music from his post-Beatles career and fan contributions, are to be stored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They will be reopened in 30 years' time on 9 October 2040, which will mark the centenary of Lennon's birth. [read more BBC

John Lennon Gets 70th Birthday Gift from Weinsteins

John Lennon’s getting a terrific 70th birthday gift from Harvey Weinstein. The Weinstein Company is going to release “Nowhere Boy,” the critically acclaimed film about Lennon’s early life with mom and aunt in Liverpool, on October 8th. That’s the day before Lennon would have become a septugenarian. “Nowhere Boy” is directed by Sam Taylor Wood the 43 year old filmmaker who just two weeks ago gave birth (Sam’s a gal) to a child she’s had with the movie’s star. [read more]

Music Review: George Harrison - Wonderwall Music

Wonderwall Musicis generally considered the first solo Beatles album. Of course that is true only if you discount Paul McCartney’s scoring of the 1966 filmThe Family Waywhich was produced by George Martin. Director John Massot approached George Harrison concerning the soundtrack for his film. He finally agreed to create the music. His Wonderwall Music. Wonderwall Music was the first release on The Beatles Apple Label. My mind has trouble wrapping itself around the music especially since I have never seen the film and thus listens to it outside its original context. Still, at the time it sold relatively well and reached number 49 on the American album charts. Read More At Blogcritics

Obama Gets Down With The Beatle

President Barack Obama joined in with a song with Sir Paul McCartney at the White House after presenting the former member of the Beatles with an award. Sir Paul McCartney was given America's highest musical award which is the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The event was held at the White House in Washington where other performers include Corinne Bailey Rae and Stevie Wonder. [read more]

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Help!

Once again, it’s time for this week’s BROW. On August 18, 1965, three days after the historical Shea Stadium concert that kicked off their 1965 US tour, The Beatles were cooking down in Georgia for their big show at the Atlanta Stadium, where they once again performed on a baseball diamond. Toward the end of the set, Paul has apparently broken a bass string and John takes it upon himself to ad-lib to the frenzied audience while the situation is rectified. [read more/listen to Help (live in Atlanta]

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest 'Maxell Song of the Year' Goes to Canadian...

The Alternative Country duo, Madison Violet, has been announced the winner of the coveted "Maxell Song of the Year" from the 13th annual John Lennon Songwriting Contest for their original composition, "The Ransom." The duo made up of Brenely MacEachern, who sings the lead vocals on the track, and Lisa MacIsaac, who sings the harmony, will be awarded $20,000 courtesy of Maxell, in addition to other prizes. Known for their extensive touring routine, Brenely started writing the song in Australia nearing the end of a 2 month long trip when she was longing for home. Lisa later helped her finish the song in Grenada. The pair recorded the song in Pro Tools with an acoustic guitar, a snare kick and hi-hat, an upright bass, an organ and a lapsteel guitar. [read more]

The Beatles Complete On Ukulele

Many of the songs on The White Album written and recorded quickly but “Ob-La-Di” was so important to Paul that it took over sixty takes to get to the version we all know and love/hate today. John helped write an early version of the song when they were working in India, but it was not long before John turned on his original creation, calling it, "Paul's granny shit". After leaving the studio during the 45th recording of the song, Lennon returned elegantly elevated, stumbled to the piano and played the opening chords considerably louder and faster than before. He forcefully claimed that was how the number should be performed. Read More: The Beatles Complete On Ukulele

When it comes to collectibles, is John Lennon 'bigger than' The Beatles?

In a time of great uncertainty in traditional investment markets, it's sometimes reassuring to know that some things in the collectables market will never lose their value. Whether it's an investment in collecting rare stamps, coins or even The Beatles memorabilia, collectibles won't lose you thousands overnight. In fact, the Fab Four have been making a big impression at auction sales for over twenty years now, thanks in part to the scarcity of John Lennon collectibles, following his death in 1980. [read more]

Cafe where Beatles and Rolling Stones ate to be sold

A roadside 'greasy spoon' cafe in Gloucestershire which was a favourite stop-off in the 1960s for stars such as The Beatles is to be sold at auction. The Silver Fox, at Broadoak, was a favourite break for acts touring between London and Wales in the days before the Severn Bridge was built. David Cooksley bought the cafe in 2004 and is selling it so he can retire. He said: "The Beatles stopped in 1963 on their way to Lydney Town Hall, with the Rolling Stones not far behind." [Click for more at BBC News]

Paul McCartney Delights In His First Ever Nashville Show

A Paul McCartney concert makes up for every bad show you’ve ever seen in your life. Seriously. Before it starts, a McCartney megamix with “Say, Say, Say,” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” plays on the house speakers, as a Beatles montage scrolls down the screen — kind of weird, but then, McCartney is music. Why play anything else? The thought crosses my mind: What if Paul McCartney played only Paul McCartney and Wings songs, then said “All right, goodnight!” What a let down that would be. But that wasn’t the case. McCartney starts out the concert like it’s an encore; he comes out and soaks up the cheers for a good 30 seconds, then launches into an acoustic number, which quickly becomes electric. [read more]

Bed-in for Peace 1969

During their seven-day stay, they invited Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Dick Gregory, and Al Capp and all but Capp sang on the peace anthem Give Peace a Chance, recorded in the hotel room on June 1. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation conducted interviews from the hotel room. The Bed-in performance has since been re-interpreted and re-used in protests by a number of artists since 1969, most notably Marijke van Warmerdam with her gallerist Kees van Gelder at the same Amsterdam Hilton in 1992 and the Centre of Attention in 2005 in Miami. A fictional Bed-In protest was also featured in a 2006 Viva Voce music video. [read more]

‘In My Life’ showcases artwork by John Lennon

An exhibit showcasing John Lennon’s lesserknown talent for visual art, titled “In My Life,” will be displayed at Pier Village in Long Branch the weekend of July 30-Aug 1. According to Legacy Productions, “In My Life,” a look into John’s life through his artwork, celebrates John’s 70th year. The exhibit will feature more than 100 pieces of art created by John Lennon, encompassing the years 1968 through 1980, including a collection of original drawings, rare works from the original “Bag One” suite hand-signed in 1970, and serigraphs, lithographs, copper etchings and aqua tints of John Lennon’s drawings signed by Yoko Ono. [read more]

Memories of The Beatles wanted for documentary

WESTONIANS' recollections of The Beatles are being recorded this weekend for a television documentary. The Fab Four's visit to the resort in July 1963 is the subject of a BBC programme to be shown this autumn. And bosses at the corporation's Bristol studios will be at the Winter Gardens on Saturday to find out what impact it had on the town. The recordings will be made at the Beatles Day event, which will take place at the seafront building all weekend. [read more]

Yoko Ono still against parole for John Lennon's killer

Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by a three-member parole board panel during the week of Aug. 9—his sixth bid for parole. And Ono's lawyer Peter Shukat has said that Crapman''s release has been consistently opposed by Lennon''s widow, who has again sent a letter to the parole board. "Her position has not changed," the New York Daily News quoted Shukat as saying. [read more]

Lord Woodbine: The forgotten sixth Beatle

A homeless black man lived under one of the arches near Waterloo station until about five years ago, when he and his box vanished. His name was Samuel (pronounced to rhyme with Danielle). Most of the time, he talked to himself or slept, but on some summer evenings he would start clapping and sing lines from songs by Marley or The Beatles, or reminisce about Liverpool, where he was born and raised. His deep voice rose from a reservoir of cigarette tar and pain. One story he returned to again and again was that of another Liverpudlian, the calypso singer, songwriter and music promoter Lord Woodbine. [read more]

DVD Review: Parting Ways: An Unauthorized Story on Life After The Beatles

Unlike other Beatles documentaries, Parting Ways: An Unauthorized Story on Life After the Beatles focuses solely on the solo years. While the information presented may be new to casual fans, longtime devotees will find little new material on this DVD. Like other unauthorized documentaries, the program contains no original music. Interviews mainly consist of press conference footage, and familiar photographs (many from the Beatles years) are shown. While each Beatle is profiled individually, many important details are curiously omitted. The John Lennon section barely mentions the Plastic Ono Band, skipping over the 1969 Live Peace in Toronto concert. [read more]

George Harrison's Sister Has Scoop On Fab 4

The Beatles got their first glimpse of the United States in February 1964, or so the story goes. One member of the iconic band had actually been here a year earlier to visit his older sister in downstate Illinois. "When he came to see me in the fall of '63, there was a little garage band I was friends with, and their lead guitar player played with the Grand Ole Opry," said Louise Harrison. "And George was impressed. 'Oh, wow, this guy has been at the Grand Ole Opry.' George was still 20 years old at the time." Louise Harrison was 11 years old when her baby brother George was born. Once he started playing music, she was his cheerleader and song plugger, knocking on radio station doors across the American Midwest.[read more]

KISS Do The Beatles

KISS Do The Beatles was a top story. Here it is again: Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS have made no secret of their love for The Beatles, so this report from the Metal Den (and songs) should come as no surprise. In fact, the biggest surprise is that recordings like these have not surfaced earlier! TMD unearths a rare audio clip from 1990 of legendary rock act KISS doing an interview in a New York City rehearsal studio right before the start of the band's infamous "Hot In The Shade" tour. [read more]

The Rutles - RutleManiacs International Interview with Eric Idle: Archives

I was sitting in the Var writing, this was in 1975, and I wrote a joke about the camera pulling away from someone, and leaving them helplessly running after it. I liked the idea very much, and I knew it was funny. I wasn't sure though what he should be talking about. I was writing a TV show for England called Rutland Weekend Television, which I did with Neil Innes, and Neil had a couple of Beatley songs, and there was one on a Bonzo album, very Beatley, and so I thought that it would be a good idea to combine these two elements, so that the joke would lead into a song, and that's virtually what happened on the show. We shot "A Hard Days Rut" in black and white, and I played the George character. When I first hosted Saturday Night Live we ran this clip from my TV show and it worked really well and everyone seemed to like it (Oct.'76). I had the idea to do it as a TV show, just a one-off and follow the mythical career of the Rutles, and I was going to do it with the BBC, but Lorne Michaels offered me a chance to do it with him as the producer for late night TV on NBC; and the offer of American money--while still filming in England--was too good to miss. [read more]

Paul McCartney on playing the White House

Perhaps only Paul McCartney could call a performance at the White House a little club gig. In June, McCartney was awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, an honor bestowed by the Library of Congress. Accepting it, McCartney performed in the East Room of the White House for President Barack Obama and the first family, who sat front row center. Guests including Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, the Jonas Brothers, Jack White and others taking turns playing Beatles classics. Jerry Seinfeld summarized the choice of McCartney for the Gershwin simply as "duh." [read more]

Beatles' split: All you need is a lawyer

When exactly did the Beatles break up? For many years, conventional wisdom has offered two options: September 1969, when, on the way to his solo set at the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival festival, John Lennon told fellow performers Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann that he was planning to leave the Beatles. And in April 1970, when, shortly before the release of what would become their final album, "Let It Be," Paul McCartney went public with his decision to leave the band. Whichever date you accept, both have an air of the definitive about them. Yet the truth, suggests Peter Doggett in his elegant and deeply researched "You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup;" HarperStudio (390 pages, $24.99), is more difficult to pin down. [read more]

Origin of Song: Bittersweet Tales of “Isn’t It a Pity”

From its humble beginning (“Isn’t it a pity? / Now, isn’t it a shame?”), to its bitter end (“What a pity, what a pity”), “Isn’t It a Pity”, by notorious spiritual seeker and light-bringer George Harrison, offers no hope or relief from bleak truths its narrator comes to speak. The song’s dark matter came to my attention recently when I heard a new version of it by Bettye LaVette, who’s added her voice to the distinguished chorus that’s chosen to interpret the song. Which set me wondering: How is it that a dour little lament—offering no respite from life’s shadow side—became one of Harrison’s most reinterpreted and beloved rock classics? It was 40 years ago this summer that Harrison took to the studio with Phil Spector to cut his solo debut masterwork, All Things Must Pass, on which two versions of “Isn’t It a Pity” appear. [read more]

Paul McCartney’s longtime guitarist talks about his own music and what it’s like to play with the superstar

Since 2001, Rusty Anderson has been a right-hand man to the world’s most famous left-handed bassist. But before he became the guitarist in the Paul McCartney Band, which performs tonight at the Sprint Center, Anderson was a well-established session musician and an accomplished songwriter. On Aug. 3 he will officially release “Born on Earth,” a collection of dynamic, well-crafted modern pop/rock tunes. (It is available now for digital download, and Anderson recommends the single “Where Would We Go.”) Monday evening, he talked to The Star about his own music and career and about being on stage with a knighted legend. [read more/interview]

Beatles remasters guiding Lennon reissue work

The new issue of Rolling Stone has some brief quotes from Abbey Road engineer Paul Hicks and producer Jack Douglas about what improvements will be included in the new John Lennon reissues coming in October. Hicks says, "We applied the same process as on last year's Beatles reissues. ... We brought out a lot of the top end you might not have heard noticed before." [read more]

Biography: Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr, drummer with probably the most famous band in the world, was born Richard Starkey on 7th July 1940, in Liverpool, England. The son of a dock worker and bakery assistant, Ringo was given his first drum when he was six and recuperating from serious complications stemming from a bout of appendicitis which led to him being off school for almost a year. This was just the first in a series of illnesses that would leave him so far behind in school that when he left, at 15, he could barely read or write. [read more by Rachel Ferguson at Helium]

Jerry Garcia Movie Announced

The story of Jerry Garcia's life before he became the heart of the Grateful Dead is heading to the silver screen for the first time. Director Amir Bar-Lev and his team of producers have announced plans to turn Robert Greenfield's Dark Star: An Oral Biography on Jerry Garcia into a big-screen biopic. Like the film Nowhere Boy, which chronicles John Lennon's adolescence prior to joining the Beatles, this movie will focus on Garcia's early life before he became the figurehead of the legendary jam band. "I don't think Jerry is easily understood. I think he's a complex human being," Greenfield tells Rolling Stone. "After a certain point, everyone had their own vision of Jerry. This film is about who he really was before people made him what they wanted him to be. I think a lot of that has been lost in the legend and the myth that has grown since his death." [read more]

ROCK CON: Weekend of 100 Rock Stars One Week Away

What do you get when you put over 100 rock stars in one hotel? That sounds like the set-up for a punch-line to a joke, but it's a question that will get an answer for the first time in history when "ROCK CON: Weekend of 100 Rock Stars" comes together next weekend at the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel and Conference Center in East Rutherford, NJ. The Summer's most anticipated festival for music fans and collectors is expected to draw thousands of attendees who will meet, enjoy concerts by, listen to interviews with, and actually hang out with musicians, singers, pop personalities and rock icons from all eras of rock & roll. Along with the live concert performances, meet & greets, and question & answer sessions, there will be panel discussions, rare film screenings, photo ops, a music & memorabliia marketplace, and much more. The seemingly endless guest list represents 50 years of great music and memories, with such names as Johnny Winter, Little Anthony, Beach Boys Founding Member Al Jardine, Tommy James, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Randy Jones of The Village People, Marty Balin of Jefferson Starship, Gene Cornish of The Rascals, Paul Cotton of Poco, Andy Kim, Billy Hinsche of Dino Desi & Billy, Walter Egan, Phil "Fang" Volk of Paul Revere & The Raiders, Spanky & Our Gang, Paul Petersen, Ron Dante of The Archies and many more.

Although most of the guest artists will be present the entire weekend, there is a different schedule of events planned for all three days. The highlight of each evening is expected to be the last two hours of the event, when all the stars get to sing or play their hits - and jam on the songs of their fellow singers and musicians - in the hotel's Grand Ballroom Main Stage. Additionally, Friday night will feature the National Rock Icon Awards Ceremony Presentations (the RCIA's), which will not only honor the legends, acknowledge music accomplishments, but also recognize fan favorites.

Themes for the Weekend include "LENNON LEGACY," with special guests from The Beatles' history, "ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAMERS," "THE GREAT GIRL GROUPS REUNION," "HORROR ROCKERS REUNION" and the "BUBBLEGUM REUNION." Also, meet radio and TV music personalities like pioneer DJ Pete Fornatale and broadcast legend Clay Cole, the only host to have both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on the same broadcast

A rock event like this is long-overdue. Celebrate 50 years of rock history live. Complete info is online at www.RockFanFest.com, and the complete list of guests is available at: http://www.nationalrockcon.com/Artists.htm. Tickets are $20-$40 with special "Gold," "Silver" and "Platinum" weekend packages available.

Eric Idle on Spamalot & his friendship with Beatles star George Harrison

Ex-Python Eric Idle tells Catherine Jones about his hit show Spamalot and friendship with the Fabs’ quiet one. "THE Liverpool Empire! I know it well,” exclaims Eric Idle from his place, recumbent on a sofa opposite me. Really? I exclaim. “Err, not that well,” he concedes with a smile. “I have played there, the Pythons played there in about ‘74.” 1974. Just about the time Eric, one of the youngest members of the Monty Python team, was knocking around with close friend George Harrison, who was himself a huge Python fan. [read more]

John Lennon Catalog Remastered; Re-Released

All of JOHN LENNON's classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes for a global catalogue initiative commemorating the music legend's 70th birthday, which falls on OCTOBER 9th. Overseen by YOKO ONO, the GIMME SOME TRUTH campaign will launch on OCTOBER 5th in NORTH AMERICA and worldwide a day earlier. Among the titles is a new "stripped-down" version 1980's GRAMMY Award winner for Album of the Year "Double Fantasy," remixed and produced by ONO and JACK DOUGLAS, co-producers of the original mix with LENNON. [read more]

Musician on unreleased song from Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour' recording sessions dies

Shirley Evans, who played accordian in the Beatles' film "Magical Mystery Tour" and on an MMT-era song recorded with three Beatles that remains unreleased, has died at age 78, according to the Liverpool Post. In the film, Evans plays "Toot Toot Tootsie," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "When the Red Red Robin Goes Bob-bob-bobbing Along" and "The Can Can." (See video). As part of her work on the film, she also recorded an unreleased song called "Shirley's Wild Accordian," produced by John Lennon, that featured both Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney playing on it. [read more]

In defense of Paul McCartney

Money may still not be able to buy Paul McCartney love, but it's plain to see he's found something to do with it. Ticket: $72-$276. Seven beers: $63. Parking: $10. Is seeing Paul McCartney really priceless? Nashville has answered with a resounding "yes." Even with face-value prices as high as $410 per ticket (for the "Silver Hot Seat Package") to attend Macca's show at Bridgestone Arena this week — his first ever in Nashville — it still sold out quicker than you can say "Helter Skelter." But for many music fans, the thought of shelling out the Benjamins for a three-hour concert is simply unfathomable. If anything, paying the equivalent of a cable bill to watch a show from the far-flung, nacho-stained enclaves high atop Bridgestone's bleachers is laughably unfeasible. Even for die-hard fans, if you aren't in America's top tax bracket, you're priced out, plain and simple. [read more]

Eric Burdon brings "Animals" classics to Pittsburgh Blues Festival

Most of the major British Invasion bands -- namely, the Beatles, Stones, Who and Kinks -- had a nice stretch of time to forge their sound, pay their dues, break big and then go through a weird phase or two. The history of The Animals, however, is far more condensed into a career that lasted only two or three years and produced a small catalog of mostly cover songs. Nonetheless, The Animals, led by Eric Burdon, who performs at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival on Saturday, managed to make the best of their small output and tumultuous time together with enduring classics such as "House of the Rising Sun," "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life" and a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [read more]

Lennon memorabilia in Prague

John Lennon's worn suede jacket, a silver mouth organ with a monogram he received from The Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Lennon's other belongings were put on display at the ongoing exhibition Beatlemania! at the Czech Museum of Music in Prague Wednesday. The treasured memorabilia were lent by the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain from its collections to the Czech Republic. "Lennon's belongings presented at Beatlemania are unique as they form a comprehensive collection that had been never before put on display jointly," curator Veronika Seidlova said. Seidlova said Lennon's brown suede jacket in which he was photographed for the LP Rubber Soul from 1965 was the most precious artefact. [read more]

As The Sgt Played A Marching Tune

Neil Young takes The Beatles' A Day In The Life into the grunge-o-sphere as only he can. Its an amazing song, a cutural touchstone...almost everyone knows at least some of the lyric. Its been called the Wasteland of Rock & Roll. (An extremely foolish assertion, and yet....). Lennon's main lyric so perfectly captures the utter desolation of the starving intellect in a vapid banal world that it still resounds across time & generations...I think it speaks most eloquently to the late twenty somethings as the sparkle & shine of life is being scuffed & worn from living.... [read more/watch video MOG]

Hits come easy for Ringo Starr and friends at Cleveland Nautica Pavilion

The occasion for this visit was his 11th tour with the ever-changing All-Starr Band. Besides Derringer, the supporting cast included Gary Wright on keyboards, Edgar Winter on keyboards, sax and drums, Wally Palmar of the Romantics on guitar, Mr. Mister’s Richard Page on bass and Gregg Bissonette on drums. Everyone pitched in with vocals. Starr kicked off the evening with his first solo hit, “It Don’t Come Easy,” even if working a near-capacity crowd seemed to come easy enough for him. [read more]

Beatles' Abbey Road Piano Up for Auction

A clapped-out old upright piano used by the Beatles at Abbey Road studios is expected to fetch £150,000 ($229,000) when it goes to auction next month. The keyboard, which comes from Studio Three at the legendary north London studio, was used between 1964 and 1980 and was played by the Beatles on 'Paperback Writer,' though the instrument was cut in the final mix. The Guardian reports that auctioneers at Bonhams say the piano was also used on the band's 1969 song, 'Old Brown Shoe,' as well as by many other acts recording at the St John's Wood complex over the course of its lifetime. Read More At Spinner

Windsor man knew The Beatles

At the holiday camp all those years ago, Peter Cummings remembers Ringo Starr as one of the good guys. But not with The Beatles. The 73-year-old Windsor resident hails from Liverpool, and got to know Ringo while he was a member of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In fact, they shared a stage in the late-1950s, early-1960s at a summer camping resort where Cummings worked by day in the kitchen and played in a rock band at night. "I saw The Beatles many times in those days," said Cummings. "But it was never with Ringo. Pete Best was their drummer." Ringo drummed for rival Rory Storm, real name Alan Caldwell, before joining the Beatles in 1962. "He was simply the best drummer around. Everyone wanted him." Cummings became acquainted with the various Beatles, although never a close friend. [read more]

Box of Vision to publish Bob Dylan album artwork book

Box of Vision is planning to publish a book containing the complete artwork from Bob Dylan's albums. The company has already published an elaborate and critically acclaimed web, and is concurrently working on book on John Lennon's catalog . The idea of these books is to have the opportunity to appreciate the aesthetic quality of album-sized artwork in the age of compact discs (and beyond). According to a blog entry on the Box of Vision website, the Dylan book will not be called "Box of Vision", but will have a special title. Also, It will not include The Bootleg Series, which is expected to be published separately. It will be about 230 pages. [read more]

Documentary: ‘How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin’

His research shows that as the leaders of some of the world’s strongest powers were locked in technological, military and intellectual battles, The Beatles presented a common ground for the youngsters of those countries, who shared a passion for the band which was as strong in Moscow as it was in London and New York. Woodhead’s resultant film, ‘How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin‘, tells the story of perhaps The Beatles’ least known, but most significant contribution to the world, as they showcased a sense of freedom which fired the imagination of a generation which would eventually break free of the shackles of the Iron Curtain when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. [read more/watch the entire film here]

Birth records show boom in Beatles-related names

Popular culture can be seen to influence some of the naming choices throughout history. Between 1964 and 65 - when Beatlemania took off - there were 2,414 Georges, 36,877 Johns and 56,170 Pauls. However, there were only five Ringos. During 1986, the year of Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal at the World Cup, four children were registered with the first name Maradona. Another eight were born between 1999 and 2006 including two called Diego Maradona and two called Ronaldo Maradona. [read more]

Song for “Schmucks”: Beatles Score $1.5 Mil for “Fool on the Hill”

The Beatles rarely if ever give permission for their records to be used in movies. Sometimes they allow the songs to be covered by other artists. But it’s a given that the answer is ‘no’ when a film producer asks for a Beatles record to be part of his or her soundtrack. Well, this week there’s an exception. The Beatles have allowed their classic, “Fool on the Hill,” to be used as the song over the opening credits in Jay Roach’s “Dinner for Schmucks.” I am told by inside sources that Paramount/Dreamworks paid $1.5 million to buy out the rights in perpetuity. That is a staggering amount of money to pay for one song in a film. [read more]

Would the Beatles Have Made It Today?

Here's an interesting question to debate while you're waiting with your mates between bands at your next gig: if the Beatles started today would they still be as big? While this article at MSNBC.com doesn't actually supply an answer it does offer some interesting insight into the changing face of the music industry between the '60s and today. Speaking to a number of former music industry executives the article concludes that ultimately "talent rules" but things would certainly have been a lot tougher had the Fab Four found themselves transported 50 years into the future. [read more]

Stella McCartney Worries Children Will Get Too Posh

Stella McCartney worries her children will get “too posh”. The 38-year-old fashion designer – whose parents, Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Linda sent her and her siblings to a local comprehensive school – has enrolled her eldest children Miller, five, and Bailey, three, in a private educational establishment but admits she would reconsider her decision if she thought their view of the world was being affected. She explained, “It’s one of my biggest internal struggles – the whole schooling system in London and the fact that my kids are going to a posh school. It freaks me out. “But it’s not realistic to live in the country at this stage, I’ve got a business in London. I beat myself up about it all the time. [read more]

For sale: A schoolgirl’s unseen Beatles snaps

Teenage Beatles superfan Sue Tebbutt spent her paper route money to visit Paul, John, George and Ringo in turn at their homes just about every weekend in the mid-’60s. Sometimes, she had her little brother Phillip in tow. Never did she get turned away, not even when John’s stockbroker neighbours hired a security guard. [read more]

The 'Dream Weaver' plays for Ringo

Gary Wright -- best known for his song "Dream Weaver" -- plays keyboards for Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band this summer. Wright has known Starr since they both played on George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" album in the early 1970s, and Starr recently contributed to tracks on Wright's 2010 "Connected" album. Some recording artists find monster hits a mixed blessing — one that puts them on the map, yes, but also can come to narrowly define them in the public’s eyes. But does singer and keyboardist Gary Wright think the success of “Dream Weaver” — that big, breathy, passionate ballad bathed in electronic effects from 1976 — was a mixed blessing? Nope; just a blessing. “I don’t see any drawbacks — it keeps re-inventing itself. It came back with ‘Wayne’s World’ and again with ‘Toy Story 3,’” Wright said. [read more]

McCartney still has that Beatles aura

Paul McCartney is a big Sir and the world's most famous bass player - yet he's also been really quiet for nearly the past three decades. McCartney, who plays Time Warner Cable Arena on July 28, is the only living principle songwriter left from the Beatles. Yet he was also the same man responsible for 10 years of Wings, a band many fans have yet to forgive him for. He's hardly known for the solo work created and released since Wings' demise, yet he'll still move tens of thousands of concert tickets the world over. [read more]

Test how well you know Paul McCartney

The Sprint Center hosts rock ’n’ roll royalty when Paul McCartney performs there on Saturday. Sir Paul, the famously vegetarian former Beatle, comes to town fresh off a moral victory against McDonald’s. It seems that one of the fast-food restaurants in the Fab Four’s hometown of Liverpool, England, had decorated its walls with pictures of McCartney and the Beatles. That offended McCartney, who asked his fans to boycott McDonald’s when the photos came to his attention two years ago. British media reported last week that the restaurant has removed the pictures. So we can assume that Sir Paul — who heads a campaign called “Meat-Free Monday” — will not be enjoying any Kansas City barbecue while he’s here. In the meantime, chew on this: Just how well do you really know this famous Beatle? [read more/take test]

Beatles Revolver Artist The Focus of Inside The Music Premiere

Beatles Revolver Artist The Focus of Inside The Music Premiere was a top story. Here it is again: Beatles fans be sure to tune in next month as Smithsonian Channel gets in tune with Inside The Music, a series of specials that tell stories about the music and musicians that have had an enormous impact on some of the most listened to sounds of our time. From the creative genius who designed the album cover of The Beatles' "Revolver," to the Colombian music festival where Latin America's best known performers congregate, to the invention of the instrument that changed the look, sound and volume of music forever, [read more]

Ringo’s All-Starr Band pulls out the stops to liven up Hard Rock crowd

For the second time this year, South Florida played host to a Beatle. On Thursday night, Ringo Starr brought his eleventh All Starr Band to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. Accompanying Starr onstage was a group of musicians who had made their own marks on music history: Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Edgar Winter (White Trash), Rick Derringer (The McCoys), Wally Palmar (The Romantics), and Gary Wright (Spooky Tooth). [read more]

December 8, 1980

December 8, 1980 was a top story. Here it is again: Backbeat Books will publish December 8, 1980, a new book commemorating the 30th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. The book, by New York Times bestselling author Keith Elliot Greenberg, will be released in November 2010. December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died is a minute-by-minute account of that tragic day, tracking all of the events leading up to the horrible moment when Mark David Chapman calmly fired his Charter Arms .38 into the rock icon—a shocking act of violence the world is still coming to grips with. [read more]

Book Review: Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from Stage to Studio

At first blush, Andy Babiuk's exhaustively researched Beatles Gear might seem like a book with somewhat limited appeal, even to the most diehard Beatles fan. While it is true that in many respects, this detailed study of the musical instruments used by history's most celebrated rock group is geared most towards tech-heads — there is also a lot to like here for those of us who may not know the difference between a Rickenbacker and a Les Paul. For starters, if you love the Beatles at all (and who doesn't?) the pictures in this book will quite simply take your breath away. Beatles Gear is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of beautiful photographs of the Beatles' musical tools of the trade. In addition to what fans would expect — such as McCartney's violin-shaped Hofner bass, [read more]

Ringo Starr

I don’t understand people that say they don’t like The Beatles. That’s like saying I don’t like breathing air or I don’t like presents on my birthday. It borders on blasphemy. It’s OK if The Beatles aren’t your all-time favorite band or even one of them, but if you know anything about music, you have to admit they knew what they were doing. A few years back, a good friend of mine was asking for some advice on songwriting. Besides the fact that I can sing a meanNorah Jones, I have no musical expertise. I guess he figured I put words together for a living and that was enough. He sang me one of his songs. It was littered with complex, cryptic phrases and big words. [read more]

"Just Imagine" Review of Tim Piper

Being the Beatle of wicked humor, John Lennon might have liked the idea of an impersonator flanked by dancing girls in a Vegas tribute 30 years after his death. Who's to say? But this is for sure: You can't watch a John Lennon show and not walk away with a love-thy-impersonator tolerance. So if this must be a year of stand-up comedy and tribute shows, let us not waste good karma protesting the very existence of "Just Imagine" in a big, nice theater at Planet Hollywood worthy of a more ambitious production. [read more]

This week in classic rock: Pink Floyd's Surprising Reunion

Pink Floyd's two creative leaders, bassist-singer-songwriter Roger Waters, who left the group in 1985, and guitarist-singer-songwriter Dave Gilmour, have fought for nearly three decades, putting aside their differences only once during that time for a four-song reunion at Bob Geldolf's worldwide Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park in 2005. This is why the duo's four-song set before only 200 attendees of the Hoping Foundation in Oxfordshire, England, was such a surprise. The foundation raises money for Palestinian refugee children, reports Rolling Stone. Gilmour and Waters were backed by a five-piece band that included noted session drummer and one-time member of Sly & The Family Stone Andy Newmark and bassist Guy Pratt, who, ironically replaced Waters in post-1985 Pink Floyd concerts. [read more]

Upcoming Lennon bio features chapter written from real-life memories of Beatle fan in Cavern days

A part of Jude Southerland Kessler's upcoming "Shivering Inside," out in October, that adds to her multi-volume biography of John Lennon is the chapter contributed to it by Dara Roberts. Roberts, you remember, was the student whom we reported on who had difficulty in getting a seat for the visually impaired and handicapped at Paul McCartney’s Philadelphia concert. Kessler says she met Dara through a Beatles tribute band website and they became fast friends at the Fest for Beatles Fans in the Meadowlands in 2009. Since then, she says, they’ve corresponded via phone and e-mail, sharing their passion for the Fab Four. [read more]

Beatles & American Bandstand

The Beatles became a sensation in the U.K. in 1962-63, about a year or more before anyone in the U. S. knew much about them. However, before that, the Beatles had honed their craft playing in nightclubs and other gigs dating to the late 1950s. Known by earlier names such as The Quarrymen, Johnny & the Moon- dogs, and the Silver Beatles, they played a variety of venues, with some alternating personnel during those early years. [read more]

Bob Geldof's Live Aid Vision Turned Into TV Film

A TV film is being made that dramatises Bob Geldof's relationship with promoter Harvey Goldsmith and how the pair developed the vision for Live Aid. 'When Bob Met Harvey' stars Ian Hart, who played John Lennon in 'Backbeat,' as Goldsmith, while Domhnall Gleeson, son of Irish actor Brendan, takes the role of Geldof. The Boomtown Rats frontman had already been inspired to put out the charity single 'Do They Know it's Christmas?' and came up with the idea for a concert broadcast across the world, but needed professional help to make it happen. [read more]

BETWEEN A DANCE AND A SCREAM: A Q&A with Yoko Ono

To say that Yoko Ono's Voice Piece for Soprano is the most visible artwork in MoMA's recent reinstallation of its contemporary art galleries is both unimpeachably accurate and totally wrong. Wrong in the sense that the piece is not visible at all; right in the sense that you can't possibly miss it. Voice Piece for Soprano is a participatory artwork. Museum visitors are invited to take a microphone in the museum's atrium and follow Ono's instructions, posted a wall, to "Scream. 1. against the wind; 2. against the wall; 3. against the sky." The resulting screams are amplified throughout the galleries. [read more]

Beatles tribute band sues competitor in federal court

Beatlemania has a new venue — the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. That’s where the Beatles tribute band The Fab Four, a Nevada corporation, filed suit last week against its competitor, The Fab 4. Lawsuits between competing musical groups pop up from time to time, but those battles of the bands usually are over which side has the right to use the name of a band after most of its original members have died or retired. Because “the entertainment capital of the world” didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire between dueling bands, for example, or become the target of angry concertgoers, Nevada lawmakers passed legislation in 2007 that prohibits musicians from falsely affiliating themselves with a particular band. [read more]

McCartney wins McDonald's battle

Paul McCartney has claimed a victory over fast food giant McDonald's after bosses removed the singer's photo from one of their restaurants. The Beatles legend, a long-time vegetarian, was furious after learning pictures of him and his Beatles bandmates had been put up in a McDonald's restaurant in the Fab Four's hometown of Liverpool, England. More than a dozen shots of McCartney and the Beatles were said to have been plastered on the walls of the Sefton Street burger joint. They have now been removed, according to Britain's Daily Star newspaper. Representatives at animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claimed the star would never authorise his photo to endorse meat products.

Revealed: photos of a teenage Beatles fan

Although he agreed to meet her, he soon tired of her persistence and jotted down the addresses of the other three on the back of an envelope as a distraction. Consequently she visited them at their suburban Surrey homes. Starr and Lennon lived near one another in Weybridge while Harrison lived in an Esher bungalow covered in psychedelic designs. Mrs Baker, now a 59-year-old grandmother, said the Fab Four were always willing to pose for pictures, with John Lennon once stopping security men escorting her off the property. [read more]

Spirit of Santana

Due out in the fall, Santana feels the new record is an important step in his spiritual and musical evolution. "I feel very grateful today because the more I zero in on being a child of God, transparent, instead of this Santana guy, the easier it is for God to shine through me," he says. His favourite new track is a version of the Beatles tune While My Guitar Gently Weeps, featuring guest performances by cellist Yo Yo Ma and R&B singer India.Arie. To Santana's delight, the song moved Olivia Harrison, the widow of its composer George Harrison. "She said that George would be very proud, and that George loved me very much because we had something in common: We both use music to awaken people to their own light," Santana says. [read more]

Little light in dark play about the early Beatles

Friel has positioned the action mere weeks from the actual deaths of Orton (bludgeoned by his lover) and Epstein (drug overdose). In this fantasy, Orton has pursued Epstein to find out why his screenplay for a Beatles film was rejected out of hand. The coppers are in pursuit of possible homosexual activity (which had just been decriminalized in 1967 England), though we learn that one of the two has her own agenda. [read more]

Rare Beatles recording still headed for October auction

Larry Roberts, who among other places during his career spent stints with WBEX-AM and WCHI-AM radio locally and NBC-4 TV in Columbus, was working in radio when he attended a press conference with the Beatles on Aug. 17, 1966, at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. The recording of that press conference, on which Roberts can be heard asking John Lennon about a controversial statement he had made at an earlier time to reporters about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus, has garnered quite a bit of attention this year. [read more]

Harrison Angry About Fence Protests

GEORGE HARRISON's widow OLIVIA has slammed British actor RODNEY BEWES for protesting about a security fence her late husband erected after he was attacked in his home. Harrison, who passed away in 2001, had surrounded his property with the wire fencing as a precaution after an intruder broke in and stabbed him in 1999. Olivia Harrison had applied for planning permission to replace the razor wire fence around her lavish Oxfordshire, England estate, but came up against complaints from neighbours, including Bewes, who branded the security measure "inappropriate". The Likely Lads star claimed his pet cat was injured by the wire. [read more]

Bigger Than Jesus: Art on Trial in Russia

Monday, June 12th, is judgment day for Yuri Samodurov, former director of Moscow’s Sakharov Museum, and Andrei Yerofeyev, a former curator of the Tretyakov Gallery. They face the possibility of three years of jail time for violating Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code, which prohibits dissemination of racial, national, and religious hatred. When they exhibited in 2006 the show “Forbidden Art,” which presented to the Russian public works banned from Russia’s museums for religious and/or nationalist reasons, they drew the ire of the Russian Orthodox church. [read more]

At 70, Ringo Starr Looks for Peace and Love

What do you get one of the world's most famous musicians for his birthday? Former Beatle Ringo Starr, who celebrated being 70 years-old on Wednesday, wants a little peace and love. Starting in 2008, Starr began asking his fans to say "Peace and Love" at noon on July 7, wherever they were. This year, the drummer was at New York's Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square to continue spreading his message. "We're just trying to keep the promotion going from the '60s," said Starr. "There's a little more peace and love than there was, I think, 40 years ago, and certainly it's a lot more peace and love than 70 years ago, when it was crazy," he said. [read more]

Third annual Beatles Day hits Liverpool and beyond

The third annual BEATLES DAY hit the city yesterday - and this year it went global! For 2010, BEATLES DAY Events were simultaneously being held, not only in Liverpool, but in Hamburg, New York, Shanghai, Sydney and Moscow. BEATLES DAY organiser and promoter of The Summer Pops, Chas Cole said, "We're delighted that cities around the world want to join us to celebrate the legacy of The Beatles. "Over the last three years, Beatles Day has received huge interest internationally, so to go global is a natural progression for the event. It's a fantastic fun day, raising money for some very worthy causes." [read more]

Unseen Rolling Stones, Beatles photos to be unveiled

Previously unseen photographs of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles taken during the 1960s are set to be unveiled at an exhibition in Salford later this year. Mister Sixties: Philip Townsend's Portraits of a Decade is due to run at The Lowry gallery between September 18 and November 7. The exhibition will feature shots of Mick Jagger and co wearing "naff" outfits during a shoot in Birmingham. [read more]

Beatles Celebration mostly shines at the Bowl

The Beatles Celebration, a three-day event at the Hollywood Bowl that began Friday night, sort of had the rug pulled out from under it by someone who really had every right to do so. Paul McCartney played the Hollywood Bowl just this past March, and any McCartney show is indeed a Beatles celebration. Heck, Ringo Starr has a show scheduled early next month just a few miles from the Bowl, at the Greek Theatre. Yet, while McCartney’s and Starr’s appearances this year in some way trump this annual star-studded party, the first portion of the Beatles Celebration was still as joyous as it was interesting. [read more]

Lady Gaga angers Beatles fans by playing John Lennon's piano

Lady Gaga's devoted 'little monsters' would follow her anywhere. But they have someway to go until they can match The Beatles fans for dedication. Forty years after the band went their separate ways, devotees have been attacking John Lennon's son Sean for allowing the modern pop star to play on their heroes piano. Sean had tweeted a photo of the fishnet-clad Gaga seated at the white grand piano. But in response to a barrage of criticism he removed the snap of his friend. Beatles fans raged that Gaga wasn't worthy to play the relic. Sean pointed out: 'Pianos meant are to be played. Why is everyone so uptight? 'What should we do, lock it away in a dusty room? So judgemental...' [read more]

'Dazed and Confused' composer sues Jimmy Page over authoring credit

After 41 years, Jake Holmes, the composer of "Dazed and Confused," a thundering blues number that appeared on Led Zeppelin's January 1969 self-titled debut LP, has sued Zep's guitarist Jimmy Page, who took sole songwriting credit on the album. The suit, a copy of which was obtained by TMZ, alleges plagiarism. In June 1967, folk singer Holmes released his original version of the song on his own LP, "The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes." In August of that year Holmes served as opening act for Page's previous band, The Yardbirds and Page allegedly appropriated the song. Shortly afterward, The Yardbirds began performing their own version of the song in concert that they titled, "I'm Confused,' although the band never got around to recording it in a studio. [read more]

Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' album cover mystery a piece of Japanese history

Who owns the Sony TV that appears on the cover of the Beatles' famous "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album? Tuned in: A small Sony TV appears near the letter "S" in the Beatles' name on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover. The long mystery was recently solved by Yasuharu Muramatsu, 47, curator of Okazaki City Mindscape Museum in Aichi Prefecture. He has an invoice apparently for the TV addressed to Paul McCartney. [read more]

Ringo Starr Gets a Little Help From His Friend Ben Harper for PBS Live Special

As a consolation Ringo-related belated birthday gift to those who were unable to witness the reunion, here is a video clip of Starr performing 'With a Little Help From My Friends,' excerpted from the second-season premiere of the PBS program 'Live From the Artists Den.' Starr's set, during which he is backed by Ben Harper and his band Relentless7, along with Joan Osborne, was taped at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This session can be seen in its entirety starting this week on local PBS stations in the US. [read more]

Barenaked Ladies Headline Old St. Pat's World's Largest Block Party

Has it been one week since anybody looked at you? Are you looking for someone to be your Yoko Ono? Would you rather not spend the night lying in bed… like Brian Wilson did? If you get all those obscure references, you're in for a treat tonight. The Barenaked Ladies are headlining the World's Largest Block Party, an annual event in the West Loop put on by Old St. Pat's Church. The block party is known for being a meeting place for couples who end up getting married. The block party runs from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $40 in advance or $45 at the gate, if they're not sold out. The main entry gate is at Madison and Desplaines streets. [read more]

Ringo Starr at 70: I've beaten drink, drugs and depression

IN 1968, Ringo Starr went on a pilgrimage with his fellow Beatles to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. He took with him a suitcase full of baked beans. Two weeks later he’d finished off the last can and knew it was time to leave the ashram. The most down-to-earth member of the band never did like fancy foreign food. The rest of the band stayed on but Ringo had clearly had his fill of matters spiritual. As he descended from the transcendental Himalayan ashram he famously mused: “It was just like Butlins.” [read more]

Who’s Better: Amazon or iTunes?

Most people just want to listen to the music, but they’ve never known the pain of DRM. DRM, or digital rights management, basically exists to keep you from pirating software. It also happens to keep you from doing things like removing music from your iPod, making CDs, and otherwise trampling your consumer rights, which is not exactly something the music industry has ever been concerned with, but they really got unsubtle with this. Fortunately, the consumer beat the music industry, and all downloads are free of this crap. Well, mostly. Apple has restrictions on CDs and streaming that were probably written by Kafka as a joke: you can only burn the same playlist seven times, but you can burn any song on a disc an unlimited number of times; you can only stream music to five different computers in the space of twenty-four hours; and so on. Amazon’s restrictions? None. Zip, zero, nada, once you buy the track you can do with it as you please. [read more/vote]




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John Lennon Sketches are Phony, Collector Says

A man claims he was bilked for $191,000 for phony John Lennon memorabilia. David Petersen says Hawaii-based Celebrites Galleries sold him 14 sketches and a microphone, claiming Lennon used it to record "Imagine." But Petersen says the microphone was not even made until 6 years after the "Imagine" album, and he says the sketches are bogus too. In his federal complaint, Petersen says he paid more than $191,000 for the microphone and the 14 sketches supposedly drawn by Lennon. Petersen, of Waukesha, says he collects John Lennon memorabilia. [read more]

CAVERN WALKS WORLD BEATLES DAY SCULPTURE UNVEILED

Cavern Walks has been celebrating the musical legacy of the fab four after unveiling a permanent sculpture in the shopping centre to mark World Beatles Day. Liverpool based artist and singer-songwriter, Mike Badger, who is well known by music enthusiasts as a founder member of The La’s, was commissioned by the boutique shopping centre to produce a themed-sculpture to mark the city’s third annual Beatles Day, taking place this Saturday 10th July.

Cavern Walks, which is situated at the heart of the Beatles Quarter in Mathew Street, is built on the sight of the original Cavern Club and already houses the only life-size statue of the Beatles standing together in the UK, which continues to be a popular attraction for visitors and tourists. The sculpture, which is entitled “A Musical Composition”, was unveiled to excited shoppers, Beatles enthusiasts and the press on Thursday 8th July. School children from St John Plessington Catholic College on the Wirral, which was recently named TES School of the Year, also attended the event as part of the school’s week-long art project on icons.

Mike Badger, 48, from Wavertree, who is well known in the art world for his amazing sculpture work using reclaimed materials, also currently runs workshops on recycled materials in schools and galleries. He commented: “I’m delighted with the way the sculpture has turned out. I wanted to portray how the musical legacy of the Beatles still lives on by keeping the sculpture quite contemporary. My own entrance into Liverpool’s music scene happened on the same street as the Cavern so the area signifies a lot of importance to me. The idea was to use a collection of reclaimed musical instruments placed together in an assemblage, reflecting musical composition.”

He added: “I have made many sculptures from reclaimed and recycled materials and I enjoy allowing the objects themselves to inspire and determine the eventual finished piece. The main parody explored in the sculpture is that you can’t touch music but it can touch you and this is what I hope visitors will enjoy about the finished piece.”

The Beatles-themed sculpture features an assemblage of reclaimed musical instruments associated with famous Beatles hits, including a vintage Zenith guitar donated by Mike himself in honour of Paul McCartney who wrote some of his earliest hits on a similar Zenith guitar of the same era. Paula Phillips, Assistant Head Teacher at St John Plessington Catholic College, added: “We were thrilled to be invited by Cavern Walks shopping centre to see the unveiling of the Beatles Day sculpture. The school children are currently working with Mike Badger to produce their own permanent sculpture at the school so seeing him unveiling his own piece of work provided great inspiration for them.”

Derek Millar, Commercial Director at Cavern Walks, which is owned by Warner Estates, added: “We absolutely delighted with the finished sculpture. Mike’s experience of both music and art made him the perfect candidate to commission the piece of work and we hope that shoppers and visitors to Cavern Walks will enjoy viewing the artwork. The sculpture will be displayed permanently suspended in the centre to celebrate not only Beatles Day but the immense musical heritage of Liverpool.”

Other commissions/demonstrations produced by Mike to date include: ‘Tin Planet’ in 1998-1999 by local hit makers, Space, ‘The beat goes on’ Local Music Exhibition at Liverpool Museum in 2008 and the Go Superlambannas and Go Penguins project in 2008-2009. He was also the installation artist for The Mersey River Festival from 2001-2004 and artist in residence for ITV Granada in 2006 to celebrate their 50th year. After leaving The La’s, Mike formed The Onset and is currently concentrating on his solo work as well as a collaboration project with musicians from Nashville. Alongside his own musical career, Mike is also a partner in local record label ‘Viper’ who archive Liverpool music.

Ringo Starr on Stage at Radio City: Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono Surprise Him

What a night for Ringo Starr: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono put aside their usual differences and surprised the ex Beatle on stage at Radio City Music Hall for his 70th birthday on Wednesday night. McCartney was a total surprise to Starr–he appeared at the end of show, strapped on a guitar and launched Ringo’s band into the Beatles’ “Birthday.” It was historic since the Fab Four never played the song live anywhere. Tonight, Ringo played drums and Radio City was like Shea Stadium in 1966. McCartney was spot-on, too. Brilliant. Just before that, Ringo had been celebrated by a raft of stars and musicians at the end of “With A Little Help from My Friends,” [read more]

Ringo Starr celebrates his 70th birthday with a little help from his friends at huge party in Times Square

Ringo Starr celebrated his 70th birthday in New York yesterday with a little help from his friends at a huge party in Times Square. The Beatles legend was joined by wife Barbara Bach, family and fans as he led the crowd in a special 'Peace and Love' salute. With no sign of any grey hair, and a seemingly infinite supply of energy, Ringo looked decades younger than his actual age. At one point, he broke through the barricades and ran across the traffic-filled road to greet fans on the other side. He told the crowd that being in New York was a 'magical moment in 1964, and it's still a magical moment.' 'There's a lot more peace and love than there was,' he said. 'I think, 40 years ago, and certainly it's a lot more peace and love than 70 years ago, when it was crazy.' [read more/pics]

When it comes to songwriting, there's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism

George Harrison had a worldwide hit with "My Sweet Lord" in 1971. It is odd that its producer, Phil Spector, never pointed out the similarity with "He's So Fine" by the New York girl group The Chiffons. After Allen Klein fell out with The Beatles, he bought the publishing rights to "He's So Fine" and sued Harrison in revenge. He won and over £1m changed hands. After the case, the judge remarked, "I actually like both songs", to which Harrison replied, "What do you mean 'both'? You've just ruled they're one and the same." George Harrison had been sued for "unintentional plagiarism", but surely the way his bass line from "Taxman" was copied by the Jam on their No 1 single "Start" was intentional plagiarism. George never sued, perhaps because he regarded it as a compliment and perhaps because he thought he had been unfairly treated over "My Sweet Lord". [read more]

Ringo Starr: Happy 70th birthday!

Let’s all wish a hearty “Happy birthday!” to Ringo Starr, who was born Richard Starkey exactly 70 years ago today. This milestone will no doubt make many people other than the legendary drummer feel old. Easy solution: Throw on a Beatles album, or better yet, find A Hard Day’s Night on DVD. The world has yet to discover a superior source of renewable youthful energy than the twentysomething Starr’s steady drumbeats and silly faces. [read more/video]

Yoko Ono’s Revenge

Yoko Ono stepped up to a microphone in the cavernous atrium of the Museum of Modern Art last week and began to wail. Standing at her own Voice Piece for Soprano, 1961, she inaugurated MoMA's sweeping reinstallation of its contemporary art galleries. "Contemporary Art from the Collection" consciously seeks to right some past art-historical slights-and includes nine Yoko Ono artworks. It's a triumph of sorts for the highly controversial conceptual artist: Thirty-nine years ago, MoMA had turned her away. [read more]

Happy Birthday Ringo!

It was 70 years ago today... that RINGO STARR was born. After fighting a series of childhood illnesses, the young Richard Starkey became an in-demand drummer in his native Liverpool and he replaced Pete Best in the group that was to become the most famous band in the world - the Beatles. Now, as Starr turns 70, we thought we'd take a look back over his life and dig up some of the facts you might not know about the old rocker. Happy Birthday Ringo!

- Ringo will celebrate his 70th with a private party at New York's Hard Rock Cafe and then perform with his All Starr Band at Radio City Music Hall in the evening.

- Ringo has been asking fans to hold up V signs and chant 'peace and love' at noon on his birthday every year since 2008.

- Ringo wasn't a fan of India when the Beatles went there to study meditation in 1968. He didn't like the food and returned to the UK after just 10 days, telling friends the experience was just like British holiday camp Butlins.

- Ringo came up with the title for the first Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night, after a lengthy recording session. Filmmaker Walter Shenson jumped on the phrase as the title for the movie and commissioned John Lennon and Paul MCCartney to write a song matching the title, according to leading Beatles historian Martin Lewis.

- John Lennon once joked that Ringo "isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!" but his three bandmates all used him to play drums on their solo albums.

- Ringo never fell out with any of his bandmates. While they were feuding with each other, Starr remained neutral and kept in touch with each of them.

- Ringo is left-handed but plays a right-handed drum kit.

- Ringo wrote novelty tune Octopus' Garden while holidaying with Peter Sellers on the funnyman's yacht. Starr had walked out on the Beatles, disgusted with the band’s tensions and bored with waiting around to contribute to the White Album.

- Ringo is the only Beatle to have failed to top the U.K. singles and album chart as a solo artist. He has had two number one tunes in the U.S.

- In 1971, Ringo started a furniture company with designer Robin Cruikshank. Starr’s contributions included a doughnut-shaped fireplace.

- In 1975, Ringo founded his own record label, Ring O’Records.

- Ringo was inducted into the Percussive Hall of Fame in 2002, alongside Ella Fitzgerald's drummer Ed Thigpen, who died earlier this year.

- Ringo was the voice of kids show Thomas The Tank Engine in the U.K. in the mid-1980s on the ITV Network in the U.K. He was also the original little conductor on Shining Time Station in the U.S.

- Ringo shares his birthday with designer Pierre Cardin.

- Ringo is the oldest Beatle. He is three months older than John Lennon.

- At 15, Ringo could barely read or write because he had spent so much time in hospital as a child - he fell into a two-month coma after complications from appendicitis at the age of six and he developed pleurisy when he was 13.

- Ringo made an animated appearance as himself on The Simpsons episode Brush with Greatness.

- Ringo was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1965, alongside his Beatles bandmates. He also shared the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Let It Be. Each Beatle received an Oscar statuette.

- The minor planet 4150 Starr, discovered on 31 August 1984 by Brian A. Skiff at the Anderson Mesa Station of the Lowell Observatory, was named in Ringo's honour.

- On 8 February, 2010, Ringo was honoured with the 2,401st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Starr Thrilled With 70Th Birthday Drum Honour

Former BEATLES star RINGO STARR is thrilled with his latest drumming honour - a prized golden snare is to go on show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to mark his 70th birthday on Wednesday (07Jul10). The rocker was presented with the drum as a gift from instrument makers Ludwig back in 1964 to honour his loyalty to Bill Ludwig's company. Now it will be a part of a major drum and percussion exhibit at the museum - and Starr couldn't be prouder. He says, "It's cool... I did a show there (at the museum) in January with Ben Harper, that's how we got friendly with them, and they have an instrument room with a lot of very crazed African drums, old pianos, and so they thought this would be good." [read more]

Apple Records goes digital, but still no Beatles

One of the great mysteries involving Apple Records, the music label created by the Beatles, is why the band's music is still not available online--legally. Perhaps that could change as Apple Records has at least now for the first time made some of the label's catalog available for download. In partnership with EMI Music, Apple Records announced Tuesday that it is releasing 15 remastered albums that it will also make available for download on October 26. [read more]

Ringo at 70: 'I'm not hiding from it, you know'

Ever since Ringo Starr vowed, on a well-known cover of Buck Owens' hit "Act Naturally," that he'd become "the biggest fool to ever hit the big time," the renowned rock 'n' roll drummer has done all right for himself. As a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist Starr has sold more than a few records, won some Grammy Awards and even had a minor planet named for him. But on Wednesday Starr will reach a very special milestone: He turns 70 years old. As you'd expect, he plans to mark the occasion with a little help from his friends, and anyone else he can round up. Finding himself in New York on the big day, he is celebrating with an event in the morning at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square; Hard Rock International is honoring the day at locations around the world. (Go to ringostarr.com for more details.) [read more]

The One Man Beatles

After his band The Merry-Go-Round hit the Top 40 with the Beatles-esque bubblegum classics "Live" and "You're A Very Lovely Woman" -- and his four brilliant solo albums released in rapid succession -- celebrated singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Emitt Rhodes' output halted almost entirely. Inspired by the haunted radiance of Rhodes' work, four young Italian musicians cross the ocean in search of the answer to "where has he been for 35 years?" Once dubbed "The American Paul McCartney," both for his raw talent and strikingly handsome looks, Rhodes is finally discovered on the same street in Hawthorne where he has lived his whole life, and more questions are raised than answered, and The One Man Beatles emerges as a poetic study of an artist who bridged Merseybeat with West Coast melancholy to create some of the most devastatingly beautiful music to ever come out of Southern California. Co-starring Michael Penn, The Bangles' Vicki and Debbie Peterson, filmmaker Allison Anders, and, of course, Emitt Rhodes! [read more]

Paul McCartney Meets John Lennon: Wake-Up Video

As the story goes, McCartney had become a fan of Lennon's first band the Quarrymen, a skiffle group he formed while he was still at school with four other friends. On July 6, 1957, the group had a gig at a festival hosted by St. Peter's Church in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. McCartney was introduced to Lennon by a mutual friend. Eager to impress the confident Lennon, McCartney grabbed a guitar and played a pair of tunes for Lennon (Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" and "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent). McCartney also showed Lennon and fellow Quarrymen guitarist Eric Griffiths how to tune their instruments, which was something they had been relying on other people to take care of for them. [read more/video]

How John Lennon and Paul McCartney met

IT was fate... A summer fete, in fact, that created the most famous band the world has ever known. But that was 1957 – five years earlier, in September, 1953, John Winston Lennon arrived at Quarry Bank High School in Woolton. The respectable, residential location was favoured by his Aunt Mimi, who rejected the possibility of Liverpool Institute as being too far away. If he was daunted by the size of the school, John didn’t show it, preferring instead to assert his natural leadership instincts, either through fighting, or through his developing interest in his music. At least he had a friend from Dovedale Primary School alongside him - Pete Shotton. [read more]