Archive for the ‘ Beatles ’ Category

Dhani Harrison and James McCartney in Las Vegas, 2006

Dhani Harrison and James McCartney in Las Vegas, 2006

Maybe... if you believe  Paul McCartney's son, James.

The 34-year-old guitarist told the BBC that he's interested in creating a second-generation Beatles group. The younger McCartney says John Lennon's son, Sean, and George Harrison's son, Dhani, are also keen on the idea. But Ringo Starr's son, Zak, is not enthusiastic, according to James.  But he raised the possibility that Zak's brother, Jason, might want in.

But is it really a possibility?  "Yeah, hopefully, naturally. I don't know, you'd have to wait and see. The will of God, nature's support, I guess. So yeah, maybe."

While the Beatles trace their beginning back to 1960, it would be two more years before they scored their first hit, “Love Me Do,” in the Fall of 1962.

Their hometown of Liverpool is making plans to mark the occasion with a series of events running through the latter half of this year. It begins in August, the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first show at the Cavern Club. The city’s leading tour operator is organizing International Beatles Week, with bands from more than 20 countries. In addition to concerts, the sponsor plans exhibitions, memorabilia sales, guest speakers, video shows, sightseeing tours and a convention.

The Beatles at the Cavern, late 1962.

The Beatles play the Cavern, late 1962.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic will perform The Two of Us: The Lennon and McCartney Songbook in June, and the city’s Philharmonic Hall hosts a Beatles weekend in December.
In October, the “Love Me Do” weekend at Albert Dock will celebrate the release of the Beatles’ first single.

This is the start of what’s expected to be a wave of events around the world over the next two years, marking the British Invasion’s half century anniversary.

Earlier this month, Paul McCartney revealed the Beatles talked about getting back together while all four members were still living. But McCartney said they ultimately decided against re-forming out of worries they’d destroy their legacy.

McCartney told Rolling Stone magazine magazine that a revival “could have spoiled the whole idea of the Beatles, so wrong that they’d be like, ‘Oh my God, they weren’t any good.’”

Paul and Ringo in Las Vegas, 2009The surviving Beatles are releasing albums within days of one another, but Ringo Starr says it's just a coincidence.

Ringo tells Spinner.com he had dinner with Paul McCartney just after Christmas and hadn't even realized Paul was releasing his own LP:

"No, there’s no rivalry. Paul is Paul, Ringo is Ringo and this is what we do. We don’t phone each other and say, ‘You can’t you bring your record out because I’ve got one!’. We live our lives, we make our music and pick a release date. This was the date we picked and that’s just how it is."

Starr’s new release, Ringo 2012, came out earlier this week. It’s believed McCartney’s new record, titled Kisses on the Bottom, will be released next week.

Ringo’s album features nine tracks, with guest performances from Joe Walsh of the Eagles and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.
Paul’s latest is a collection of standards that he remembers from childhood, in addition to a couple of original songs. The album includes appearances by Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton.

More than 40 years after the Beatles recorded "Here Comes The Sun," they've found the George Harrison guitar solo that never made the final cut.

The Beatles' producer, Sir George Martin, along with his son, Giles, and Harrison's son, Djani, made the discovery at London's Abbey Road studios, where the Beatles recorded the song in the summer of 1969. Harrison recorded the short solo on electric guitar, in contrast to the acoustic guitar tracks on the version that was released.

Here's the video clip:

The video comes from Martin Scorsese's documentary, Living in the Material World, which has just been released on DVD.

Almost 50 years after the Beatles dazzled their first American audience, we're getting to see a batch of concert photographs never before published.

One of the new photos of the Beatles' first U.S. concert

A Mike Mitchell photo from the Beatles first U.S. concert in 1964.

The photos are the work of Mike Mitchell, who was 18 years old when the Beatles performed at the Washington, DC, Coliseum on February 11, 1964. Mitchell -- who worked for a now-defunct DC magazine -- scored a press pass and had unrestricted access to the stage. He took full advantage, snapping scores of black-and-white photographs of John, George, Paul and Ringo, individually and together.

The photos capture the Beatles' energy and appeal. Mitchell -- who'd stored the negatives in his basement and forgotten about them for years -- digitized the images and transferred them back to gelatin silver prints.

Christie's auction house in New York is auctioning the photos at starting prices of between $1,000 and $6,000 each. The auction takes place July 20.

Click here for a peek at the Beatles concert prints and information on the sale.

You Say It’s Your Birthday?

We wonder what John Lennon would have to say about all of the hoopla surrounding the celebration of his 70th birthday on Saturday.

With just a few days to go, here are just a few of the hundreds of events scheduled to remember perhaps the greatest songwriter and performer ever:

    "Imagine" album cover featuring John Lennon's self-portrait

  • John's 70th will be highlighted with a time capsule ceremony which will preserve his post-Beatles recordings until 2040. Organizers asked Lennon fans to contribute birthday wishes and their own thoughts to the three time capsules, which will divided among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and locations in Liverpool and Iceland. The time capsules will also include newly restored prints of his album artwork and an essay on his John's life. Click here for more information.
  • The three surviving members of the Quarrymen, the skiffle group that Lennon co-founded in the late 1950s, will play a special charity concert a few blocks from the late Beatle's Manhattan home. They'll play some of the early rock standards they performed with Lennon, Paul MCCartney, and George Harrison in the years before the Beatles formed. More on the Quarrymen's concert here.
  • Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, wants everyone to join in celebration of his birthday by tweeting peace and birthday wishes to the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland. She'll be there on Oct. 9 to perform with the Plastic Ono Band and attend a lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower to mark the occasion. There will be a live feed of the lighting online at this website. Ono says, "We hope to create a shift in global consciousness for peace in John Lennon's memory. We are gathering all the wishes from Twitter and they are being sent to Imagine Peace Tower."
  • John's first wife, Cynthia, and their son Julian will unveil the John Lennon Peace Monument created by Lauren Voiers at Chevasse Park in Liverpool. Click here for more.
  • Also in Liverpool on Saturday, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will present a special evening of Lennon’s classic songs with Claire Martin, Curtis Stigers and Mark McGann.
  • At Liverpool's Cavern Club, there are special events taking place all month. Click here for details.
  • Let's not forget the product tie-ins: Lennon guitar reissued: Gibson Guitar Co. is out with a limited edition version of the J-160E acoustic model that Lennon played. The guitar is being made available in three different versions: The first, finished in vintage sunburst and limited to 500 pieces, represents the guitar he used from 1963 to 1964. The second is a Custom Shop "Imagine" model. The third has a thin, natural finish and sketches of John and Yoko as was used during the bed-ins in 1969.
  • EMI has released remastered John Lennon CDs, Signature Box and "Gimme Some Truth" sets, and "Double Fantasy Stripped Down."
  • "Nowhere Boy," a film about Lennon's early years, hits U.S. theatres tomorrow; and on Saturday, the documentary "LennonNYC" will be screened in New York, where he was gunned down by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980. The 30th anniversary of his murder is expected to bring a new wave of Lennon tributes in December.

The Abbey Road album cover photo

Great Britain's heritage protection agency, The National Trust, says it may buy and preserve the Abbey Road studios, the Beatles' recording home. The proposal follows an outpouring of concern over its possible demolition.

And now two more potential buyers have emerged: Andrew Lloyd Webber and his longtime lyricist, Tim Rice. In apparently unrelated statements to the British news media, each expressed an interest in purchasing the Abbey Road studios.

Word that cash-strapped record company EMI is putting the studio building up for sale has been greeted by a wave of concern about over its possible demolition. EMI has not confirmed the report.

"It's not often that the public spontaneously suggests that we should acquire a famous building," Trust spokesman John Hewitt said. "However, Abbey Road recording studios appear to be very dear to the nation's heart."

The Beatles and producer George Martin in the Abbey Road studios, late 1960s

The Beatles and producer George Martin in the Abbey Road studios, late 1960s.

The campaign to save the Abbey Road studios — which could be sold and turned into upscale housing in the St. John's Wood neighborhood in North London — was spurred by former Beatle Paul McCartney and prominent disc jockey Chris Evans.

McCartney, who owns a house near the studios, said he would be delighted if the building could be saved. He said some people long associated with the studio are considering an effort to preserve it.

McCartney did not, however, offer to put up the cash himself — the studios are thought to be worth between $16 million and $50 million.

The National Trust already owns the boyhood homes of McCartney and his songwriting partner, John Lennon, which have become major tourist attractions in Liverpool.

Abbey Road has become an important part of Beatles lore, in part because of the 1969 album named after the recording studio. The crosswalk in front of the building was immortalized on the album cover, and many fans visit the site each year.

Since The Beatles' heyday, Abbey Road has been one of the world's most famous rock music studios, used by artists like Pink Floyd, McCartney, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Radiohead and others.

But EMI has been unable to find a buyer for the studio, in part because recording technology now permits many artists to record their own sessions at home using personal computers.

Eight years after his death. George Harrison finally has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hundreds of fans and friends, including bandmate Paul McCartney, turned out for yesterday's ceremony. Also at the unveiling were Harrison's widow Olivia, his son Dhani, Eric Idle, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and actor Tom Hanks.

Here's a video clip:

Olivia Harrison praised her husband at the event.

"We all have deep feelings for George because he was such a deep-feeling person," she told the crowd. "Once you'd met him you couldn’t help but be drawn into his world. And he wanted to be in your world too."

Harrison's Beatles bandmate McCartney called the ceremony "wonderful", while Hanks also paid tribute to Harrison.

"Every record was an event, every cut was an opera, the entire story told ours," he said. "All things must pass, sure, but George is going to live forever."

Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001 at age 58.

The unveiling of the star came on the same day as an announcement that a new collection of some of Harrison's best-loved songs is to be released in June.

'Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison' will feature music from Harrison's solo recording career, including 'My Sweet Lord', 'Isn't It A Pity', 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)' and 'Got My Mind Set On You'.

Three Harrison-penned Beatle tracks, 'Something', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' and 'Here Comes The Sun', recorded live at his 1971 Concert For Bangladesh, will also appear on the album, which will be released on June 16.

Here's the video:

An all-star concert to benefit meditation brought Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr together for their first on-stage performance in seven years.

Link to the story in Rolling Stone.