Sept 25, 1965: Beatles cartoon series debuts

After the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, an animated series was created that, like A Hard Day's Night, would place the band members into humorous situations. 3 years of first-run cartoons running from 1965-1967 were produced. The Beatles themselves were not involved in the cartoon series, which debuted September 25, 1965.



Source: Best Classic Bands

40th Annual Lennon tribute goes online

Like many other events, an annual John Lennon tribute concert that takes place in his adopted city of New York on his Oct. 9 birthday has been forced online because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was no way it was being canceled, not on what would have been Lennon's 80th birthday, not on the tribute's 40th year.



Source: NBC29, Charlottesville

John Lennon glasses up for auction again

An early pair of John Lennon's famous round glasses is now up for auction. Lennon adopted round Windsor eyeglasses in in public in 1966, wearing them first whilst playing Private Gripweed in Richard Lester's film How I Won The War. This pair of Windsor glasses predate the film so may well be the first pair of the glasses that he ever owned.



Source: Sothebys

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Paul McCartney to share never-before-heard Beatles song

Paul McCartney is set to treat Beatles fans next month when he plays a segment of an unheard track by his former band. The release will be tied in with what would have been John Lennon's 80th birthday. The song, called Just Fun, will be played as part of a special radio series airing on the BBC next month.



Source: The Daily Star, UK

John Lennon 80th birthday livestream to feature Peter Gabriel and 10cc

The second annual Dear John concert will stream live on Friday, October 9th, at 3:00 p.m. ET from London's Hard Rock Hotel on YouTube. The virtual show will feature performances from Peter Gabriel, John Ilsley of Dire Straits, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Lawrence Gowan of Styx, Nick Van Eede of Cutting Crew, and more.



Source: Rolling Stone

Beatles manager Brian Epstein's watch to go up for auction

The watch Brian Epstein used to to keep the Beatles on track is to go under the hammer. Although "scratched and worn" the lady's 18-karat white gold Cartier watch will fetch up to £25,000 (about $31,800). It was worn by Epstein on The Beatles' world tour in 1966, a year before he died of an accidental overdose at the age of 32.



Source: Lifesly

Paul McCartney speaks about the first time he met John Lennon

Paul McCartney has spoken about the first time he met John Lennon and reveals how he reflects on the moment "like a fan" and "how lucky" he was to meet him, and revealed how the the pair "complemented each other". McCartney spoke to Sean Ono Lennon for a two-part documentary on BBC Radio 2, to mark John Lennon At 80.



Source: The Daily Mail, UK

Friday, September 18, 2020

Fans notice Ringo made big mistake about John Lennon on social media

Ringo Starr posted a confusing tweet on his Twitter account recently. Attached to a picture of John Lennon, Starr celebrated Lennon's birthday. With his post coming on September 9, many fans pointed out Starr's mistake that the great legend's birthday is actually on October 9 and that Starr was a month early.



Source: Metalhead Zone

Beatles fan to open British-themed pub in Wisconsin

A soon-to-be British-themed pub and eatery named Let It Be, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin, will be without televisions to encourage patrons to talk with each other. The red brick building, formerly a brewery, will be built to look like the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool. The goal is to finish the project by the summer of 2021.



Source: Patch, Wisconsin

Beatles Story voted one of best family friendly experiences in UK & Ireland

One of Liverpool's best loved attractions, The Beatles Story museum, the world's largest permanent exhibition dedicated to the Fab Four, has been voted one of the best family friendly attractions, and among the top 5 destinations in the UK and Ireland. The awards come in the attraction's 30th anniversary year.



Source: The Guide, Liverpool

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Beatles' Get Back book to tell official account of final album

Peter Jackson's Beatles Let It Be documentary is currently scheduled to be released on August 27, 2021. A companion book, who's authors according to Amazon are The Beatles themselves, is now scheduled for August 31, 2021. The book's Amazon listing indicates that The Beatles: Get Back weighs in at 4.6 pounds.



Source: Best Classic Bands

The only Beatles covers that John Lennon actually liked

John Lennon was a famously harsh critic, but on a few occasions, Lennon did surprisingly give cover versions of Beatles songs his seal of approval. Lennon said, "Well, Ray Charles' version of Yesterday, that's beautiful," he said, before adding, "And Eleanor Rigby is a groove. I just dig the strings on that."



Source: Far Out Magazine, UK

Video: Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson perform God Only Knows

Paul McCartney had achieved more than he could ever have imagined but there was still one thing left on his bucket list which he needed to tick off, performing his favorite song of all time, the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", on stage with its creator Brian Wilson. The opportunity arrived for Macca at a benefit gala in Los Angeles in 2002.



Source: Far Out Magazine, UK

Monday, September 14, 2020

New set offers a Magical Mystery Tour of trippy Beatles covers

Even if you listened eight days a week, it would take you almost forever to hear all The Beatles cover versions out there. Called Looking Through a Glass Onion: The Beatles' Psychedelic Songbook 1966–1972, A new anthology, however, narrows the field to ones that will fit on three discs by focusing on a noteworthy subset of this material.



Source: Best Classic Bands

Terry Gilliam credits George Harrison for saving his movie career

George Harrison became an honorary member of Monty Python after the Beatles split, according to Terry Gilliam. George struck up an unlikely friendship with the British comedy troupe, made up of Terry, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones, and even bankrolled their most famous film, 1979's Life of Brian.



Source: Metro, UK

Vinyl records outsell CDs for the first time since the 1980s

In a major turn in the sales of physical music, vinyl records have returned to the top of the pile and, for the first time in 34 years, they have outsold the CD format. While major streaming platforms continue to dominate the distribution of music, vinyl sales have offered a momentary hope for the future of physical music.



Source: Far Out Magazine, UK

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Beatles and Cilla cover up as Covid cases rise

There has been a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Liverpool, particularly among young adults, and there are concerns too many people are not taking enough precautions. Train operator Merseyrail has put branded face masks on well known landmarks including The Beatles and Cilla Black statues to reinforce its "cover up" message.



Source: Liverpool Business News

60 years since the Fab Four first performed in Hamburg

Hamburg is all about The Beatles for UK visitors, it's where the Fab Four played in their early days. Almost 60 years ago to the day, they backed a singer/guitarist called Tony Sheridan at the Indra Club. The Beatles' Hamburg tour will take you to famous sites including Kaiserkeller, where the band met Ringo.



Source: The Daily Mail, UK

New book reveals untold stories of women who shaped John Lennon

John Lennon was the chippy, clever, quick-witted Beatle, a snarl of contradictions. More than any other artist, he has come to be regarded as the symbol and the conscience of his age. But who, or what, was the real John Lennon? For all the fierce, influential, indomitable men in John's life, it was the women who dominated it.



Source: The Daily Mail, UK

Friday, September 4, 2020

McCartney shares childhood pic with George Harrison and Ivan Vaughan

Before The Beatles, John Lennon formed The Quarrymen in 1956. A year later Paul McCartney joined, before George Harrison in 1958. Lennon's childhood friend Ivan Vaughan introduced him to McCartney on July 6, 1957. Now Sir Paul McCartney has shared a touching childhood photograph with Ivan Vaughan and George Harrison in 1958.



Source: True Hollywood Talk

Beatles cartoon pop art show featuring animator Ron Campbell

Ron Campbell, director of the 1960's Saturday morning cartoon series and one of the animators of the Beatles film Yellow Submarine will make a rare return appearance at the Ann Jackson Gallery in Roswell, Georgia, on October 2nd and October 4th. This appearance is in celebration of John Lennon's 80th birthday.



Source: Broadway World

Paul McCartney comes clean about encoded words in Sun King

Paul McCartney says the one of the seemingly nonsensical lyrics used the The Beatles' Sun King track on Abbey Road is actually a naughty bit '50s slang from Liverpool. Back in 1969, John Lennon said the term "chicka ferdy" was a reference to childhood teasing back home. Paul said, "We were thinking that nobody would know what it meant."



Source: iHeart Radio

Monday, August 31, 2020

Listen: Idles perform Beatles cover at Abbey Road Studios

Idles have performed a handful of original tracks and covers as part of a live-streamed performance over the weekend. The livestream was shot at Abbey Road Studios in London. Their concert featured the Beatles track Helter Skelter, and the currently unreleased track "Kill Them With Kindness", a song from their forthcoming LP.



Source: NME, UK

Church collection box linked to Beatles sells for $2,270

A collection box at the church where Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon played together for the first time has sold for £1,700 (about $2,270) at auction. McCartney joined Lennon's first band The Quarrymen, which later became The Beatles, in a session at St Peter's Church, Liverpool, in 1957. It was previously thought the box could sell for £500.



Source: BBC News

Friday, August 28, 2020