The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[CaaC (John)+]

Newly uncovered audio of one of the Beatles' final meetings proves they didn't want 'Abbey Road' to be their final album

A newly uncovered audio tape of one of the Beatles' final meetings proves that none of them planned for "Abbey Road" to be their final album. 

Rock historian Mark Lewisohn, the author of "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" who is known as one of the most trusted Beatles experts in the world, gave The Guardian early access to the tape, which was recorded 50 years ago this week, 2 weeks before "Abbey Road" was released.

On September 8, 1969, the Fab Four (with the exception of Ringo Starr, who was in the hospital at the time), met at Apple Records HQ on Savile Row in London for one of the last times before their breakup, and the entire encounter was captured on John Lennon's tape recorder.

According to The Guardian, the audio starts with Lennon saying: "Ringo - you can't be here, but this is so you can hear what we're discussing."

Having just wrapped up the recording of "Abbey Road," their final recorded studio album (though "Let it Be" was the last to be released), the group then go on to talk about their plans to make another album, with Lennon proposing that each of them suggest songs that could be used for the single. 

He also suggests he, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison should get four songs each, with two from Starr "if he wants them."

It has previously been thought that Lennon was integral to the breakup of the Beatles, but the tape suggests that, at least at this point in their history, that was not entirely the case.

Speaking of the tape, Lewisohn told The Guardian: "It's a revelation. The books have always told us that they knew Abbey Road was their last album and they wanted to go out on an artistic high. But no - they're discussing the next album. And you think that John is the one who wanted to break them up but when you hear this, he isn't. Doesn't that rewrite pretty much everything we thought we knew?"

In the recording, McCartney apparently doesn't sound too pleased about the suggestion that Harrison should have equal standing to him and Lennon, saying: "I thought until this album that George's songs weren't that good," to which Harrison replies: "That's a matter of taste. All down the line, people have liked my songs." 

The newly uncovered tape is a part of Lewisohn's upcoming stage show Hornsey Road, which will see him tell the story of "Abbey Road" 50 years on using tape, film, photos, new audio mixes of the music, and his own anecdotes and memorabilia.

In it, the historian will seek to change the perception that the Beatles were at odds throughout 1969.

"They were in an almost entirely positive frame of mind," he said of their time recording "Abbey Road."

"They had this uncanny ability to leave their problems at the studio door - not entirely, but almost."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/newly-uncovered-audio-of-one-of-the-beatles-final-meetings-proves-they-didnt-want-abbey-road-to-be-their-final-album/ar-AAH8xKu

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 18/06/2019 at 01:27, MUFC said:

I want to hold your hand is the gayest song in the history of music.

This song begs to differ

[Harry]

On 07/07/2019 at 22:05, The Artful Dodger said:

Anyone ever go a month or two without really listening to them and then wake up one day hungover to fuck and fall in love all over again? Fucking boss band. There's nobody close. 

Absolutely. It doesn't just need to be a hangover though. Like the Harry Potter novels the Beatles music is something I re-fall in love with every couple of years.

Most recently I caught this clip from Corden with Paul McCartney and very quickly deep dived back into Beatles obsession.... 

 

[Harry]

The thought of being any one of the people in that video, where they're just going about their day and Paul McCartney blazes through on a trip down memory lane gives me goosebumps.

[Dr. Gonzo]

I don’t know how anyone can’t love The Beatles. They’re just so good. The early garbage pop shite is still some of the catchiest shit you will probably ever hear in your lives, the later psychedelic shit is probably some of the most influential music ever written.

The most influential band ever too I’d say. Yet some people will call The Beatles overrated shite and’ll hear some shite like Taylor Swift and say things like “tuuuuuuune” or “this is a banger.” And I’ll tell you what...

I’m not one for judging people’s music taste... I’m sure plenty of people see the music I like and think “what the fuck, how can he listen to that?” And if you like modern pop music, I have absolutely nothing against that at all.

But if you tell me you don’t like The Beatles yet you like fucking Taylor Swift and other shite like that, your musical opinion is worth absolutely nothing nothing to me.

This rant is based on an actual argument I had with my sister. As you can all see, my sister is an idiot 

 

[CaaC (John)+]

All you Beatle lovers remember this? 1968 and the Fab 4 climbed on the roof and started blasting out music, I pissed myself laughing and loving this bit of magic which was the Beatles and what MADE the Beatles the greatest, the people below walking along and hearing the music and thinking "What the fuck..." then just stood looked up and listened, I wished I was there in that bit of Beatles madness but pure magic. 

 

 

[Harry]

4 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I don’t know how anyone can’t love The Beatles. They’re just so good. The early garbage pop shite is still some of the catchiest shit you will probably ever hear in your lives, the later psychedelic shit is probably some of the most influential music ever written.

The most influential band ever too I’d say. Yet some people will call The Beatles overrated shite and’ll hear some shite like Taylor Swift and say things like “tuuuuuuune” or “this is a banger.” And I’ll tell you what...

I’m not one for judging people’s music taste... I’m sure plenty of people see the music I like and think “what the fuck, how can he listen to that?” And if you like modern pop music, I have absolutely nothing against that at all.

But if you tell me you don’t like The Beatles yet you like fucking Taylor Swift and other shite like that, your musical opinion is worth absolutely nothing nothing to me.

This rant is based on an actual argument I had with my sister. As you can all see, my sister is an idiot 

 

The Beatles are one of only a few artists that radically changed almost the entire landscape of popular music.

Taylor Swift probably wouldn't even exist if not for the fab 4. In fact I'll bet she'd pay out on your sister for saying that almost as passionately as you did.

 

[Mel81x+]

This is like the argument I've had with people about how the Beatles make 'easy' music. I tell you what you pick up a song and try singing it or playing it. I guarantee when you're done with a simple tune you'll understand how 'easy' it really is.

[CaaC (John)+]

GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Billboard Cover: Paul McCartney Reveals the Stories Behind The Beatles' No. 1 Hits

The rock legend tells Billboard the origin stories -- some moving, some bawdy -- behind eight of The Beatles' record-breaking 20 No. 1 hits.

More than 50 years after the release of their debut single, "Love Me Do," principally written by a then-16-year-old Paul McCartney, The Beatles remain the Billboard Hot 100's biggest act of all time. Even in 2015, the band's accomplishments still stagger 34 top 10 hits, 50 songs in the top 40 and the most No. 1s in a calendar year (six in 1964 and five in 1965) -- plus, McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are the only artists to take over the Hot 100's top five positions simultaneously. The deluxe reissue of The Beatles' 1 hits collection, released Nov. 6 and features the following eight indelible classics, is expected to make a top 10 debut on the Billboard 200. 

"I Want To Hold Your hand" (REACHED NO. 1 ON FEB. 1, 1964)

In late 1962, The Beatles began to blitz the United Kingdom with effusively energetic songs, but America initially took a skeptical view of their music, as well as their girlish haircuts. "The big story about 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' " recalls McCartney, "I'd said to Brian [Epstein, the band's manager], 'We don't want to go to America until we have a No. 1 record.' A lot of British artists went there and came back with the audience having been slightly underwhelmed by them. I said, 'We don't want to be like that. If we go, we want to go on top.' "

After Epstein convinced Ed Sullivan to book The Beatles on his top-viewed primetime CBS show, Capitol Records U.S. stopped ignoring the band and agreed to put out "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the States, to coincide with its American TV debut -- but then had to rush the release on December 1963 after a Washington, D.C., DJ began to play an import single ahead of schedule. "We were playing in Paris, an engagement at the Olympia Theatre, a famous old theatre Edith Piaf played at, and we got a telegram -- as you did in those days -- saying, 'Congratulations, No. 1 in U.S. charts.' We jumped on each other's backs. It was late at night after a show, and we just partied. That was the record that allowed us to come to America."

FULL STORY

[Spike]

I love the Beatles but can't stand their solo work outside of George Harrison's. I can't imagine the Brits being too fond of them but you guys should definitely listen to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys (really just Brian Wilson). I think it is what the Beatles earlier pop music wanted to be and so much more.

 

[CaaC (John)+]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

I love the Beatles but can't stand their solo work outside of George Harrison's.

Harrison got better as the years rolled on but Lennon & McCartney did not think Geroge was a good songwriter, I loved 'My Sweet Lord' and I am sure he knew he was dying of cancer and wrote the song, the lyrics in the song always made me think that way...

My sweet Lord
Mm, my Lord
Mm, my Lord

I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Lord
But it takes so long, my Lord

Why John Lennon and Paul McCartney Treated George Harrison Like a Lesser Beatle

As the years went by and the No. 1 hits piled up, The Beatles became an awful lot to deal with. John Lennon could be moody and mean; Paul McCartney could be overbearing and condescending; George Harrison might sulk silently, and Ringo would barely speak.

Looking back, that was how many people close to the Fab Four remembered them in the late 1960s. By the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s, the tensions had gotten to George, who only got one song onto that album. (Another George track bumped from Sgt Pepper’s mocked the Beatles publishing contract.)

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-john-lennon-and-paul-mccartney-treated-george-harrison-like-a-lesser-beatle.html/

 

[Spike]

1 hour ago, CaaC (John) said:

Harrison got better as the years rolled on but Lennon & McCartney did not think Geroge was a good songwriter, I loved 'My Sweet Lord' and I am sure he knew he was dying of cancer and wrote the song, the lyrics in the song always made me think that way...

My sweet Lord
Mm, my Lord
Mm, my Lord

I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Lord
But it takes so long, my Lord

Why John Lennon and Paul McCartney Treated George Harrison Like a Lesser Beatle

As the years went by and the No. 1 hits piled up, The Beatles became an awful lot to deal with. John Lennon could be moody and mean; Paul McCartney could be overbearing and condescending; George Harrison might sulk silently, and Ringo would barely speak.

Looking back, that was how many people close to the Fab Four remembered them in the late 1960s. By the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s, the tensions had gotten to George, who only got one song onto that album. (Another George track bumped from Sgt Pepper’s mocked the Beatles publishing contract.)

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-john-lennon-and-paul-mccartney-treated-george-harrison-like-a-lesser-beatle.html/

 

That was written a near 30 years before he was even diagnosed though, and he was sued for plagiarising a Ronnie Mack song. So yeah, I really don't know about your idea of the song, haha.

[CaaC (John)+]

2 hours ago, Spike said:

That was written a near 30 years before he was even diagnosed though, and he was sued for plagiarising a Ronnie Mack song. So yeah, I really don't know about your idea of the song, haha.

still loved the song.  

[Machado]

 

 

Very similar vibes...

[CaaC (John)+]

I got a 100%   

 

100% - You Could Be The Fifth Beatle!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You were able to name every single one of these songs by just a single lyric! Not many people can do that. You've proven that you're a true, dedicated Beatles fan. You must have been a diehard fan ever since Beatlemania began! The Beatles have given you some of the best music in the world, without which your life would have been dull and lacklustre. These are some of the greatest songs in history, so no wonder you recognized them all easily! Way to go!

 

BEATLES QUIZ

[Tommy]

51 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

I got a 100%   

 

100% - You Could Be The Fifth Beatle!!!

 

 

 

Clicked on this topic forgetting what it was and thought this is the introduction to a new Mafia Wars 

[CaaC (John)+]

Beatles classic 'Abbey Road' tops charts again after 50 years

Classic Beatles album "Abbey Road" is back at number one in Britain half a century after its first release, with the band breaking their own record for the longest gap between stints at the top of the charts.

The band's final studio album with its instantly recognisable zebra-crossing cover came out in September 1969, six days after John Lennon told his bandmates he was leaving the group.

It was the UK's best-selling album for 17 weeks, and on Friday a special 50th-anniversary edition featuring unheard material took the top spot once again.

"It's hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years. But then again it's a bloody cool album," tweeted band member Paul McCartney.

With 49 years and 252 days since its last reign, the album has had the longest gap between UK number ones -- a record previously held by the Fab Four's "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

Two years ago the 50th-anniversary edition of "Sgt. Pepper", which Rolling Stone magazine has named the greatest album of all time, topped the charts again after 49 years and 125 days.

Last month, hundreds of Beatles fans mobbed the street outside Abbey Road Studios in northwest London to celebrate five decades since the band were snapped at the pedestrian crossing there.

The photograph of Lennon leading Ringo Starr, McCartney and George Harrison over the road in single file became an all-time classic when it appeared on the "Abbey Road" sleeve, which unusually did not feature the name of the band or the record.

The album, which features songs including "Come Together" and "Here Comes the Sun", was also the week's best-selling vinyl, shifting around 9,000 physical copies.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/beatles-classic-abbey-road-tops-charts-again-after-50-years/ar-AAIjjsN

[carefreeluke]

 

[carefreeluke]

Nice cover version, original by Arthur Alexander.

 

[CaaC (John)+]

6 hours ago, carefreeluke said:

Nice cover version, original by Arthur Alexander.

First LP I got of the Fab Four in Aussie land, I kept blasting it out in my bedroom with my big sis beside me both singing along until my old man came in the room and yelled: "TURN THAT SHIT DOWN!!!!" 

[Panflute]

On 12/09/2019 at 07:14, Dr. Gonzo said:

I don’t know how anyone can’t love The Beatles. They’re just so good. The early garbage pop shite is still some of the catchiest shit you will probably ever hear in your lives, the later psychedelic shit is probably some of the most influential music ever written.

The most influential band ever too I’d say. Yet some people will call The Beatles overrated shite and’ll hear some shite like Taylor Swift and say things like “tuuuuuuune” or “this is a banger.” And I’ll tell you what...

It is a common fate of very influential bands or things: if it's influential, it means that their ideas will have been copied thousands upon thousands of times, re-interpreted, taken into new directions, and ultimately rejected in favor of something else. After all of that, going back to the source of it all can be quite an underwhelming experience.

The Beatles don't do anything for me but I don't feel about them strongly one way or the other.

[CaaC (John)+]

24 minutes ago, Panflute said:

The Beatles don't do anything for me but I don't feel about them strongly one way or the other.

Depends on the individual, how old you were when they hit the scene, I was a 15-year-old who listened  to a lot of songs from the likes of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard etc the hearts of Rock n Roll, then came along the Fab 4 with their long Mod haircuts instead of the swept-back Brylcreem style Rock hair cuts and it was a revolution for me and a lot of others, even my old man (who looked the spitting image of Alf Garnet) and mother would sit on the sofa and look at them on tv or listen to them on the radio, nodding their heads, humming and tapping their feet to their songs, nostalgic times for me.

 

 

[Panflute]

1 minute ago, CaaC (John) said:

Depends on the individual, how old you were when they hit the scene, I was a 15-year-old who listened  to a lot of songs from the likes of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard etc the hearts of Rock n Roll, then came along the Fab 4 with their long Mod haircuts instead of the swept-back Brylcreem style Rock hair cuts and it was a revolution for me and a lot of others, even my old man (who looked the spitting image of Alf Garnet) and mother would sit on the sofa and look at them on tv or listen to them on the radio, nodding their heads, humming and tapping their feet to their songs, nostalgic times for me.

 

 

It always felt to me as a 'you had to be there' kind of thing. My mom loves them, but she's old enough for her strict Catholic parents to have considered it the devil's music.

I was just never fond of pop music in general.

[CaaC (John)+]

Beatle News

 

[Mel81x+]

From John's post.

https://guitar.com/news/music-news/beatles-antiques-roadshow-guitar/

What always makes me sad about this kind of news is that you know someone will buy it for nostalgic value and then the instrument doesn't get played anymore. What a shame, because guitars aren't made to be showpieces they are made for making music.