In the earliest days of The Beatles, most people knew not to mess with John Lennon whenever he started playing. He may have been one of the more charming members of the band once they hit it big, but when looking at their early days struggling to make ends meet, he was the kind of […]
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By summer 1966, The Beatles were a spent force. Beatlemania’s dizzying whirlwind had fatigued the band; a bad cloud hung in the air of their Japanese, Philippines, and US Bible Belt dates in light of royal snubs and ‘Bigger than Jesus’ quips, and the Fab Four’s growing creative ambitions were outrunning their basic live set-up. […]
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Most of The Beatles’ greatest songs have been held up as untouchable in the rock field. For every pop marvel like ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ or ‘Hey Jude’, there are more experimental tracks like ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ that saw them pushing the boundaries for what rock and roll could […]
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Hollywood Bowl, August 15, 1965. The sun slipped behind the white arches as evening settled into anticipation. More than 18,000 voices filled the air, waiting for The Beatles to begin. Soundcheck was underway, routine and focused, until it stopped without warning. Instruments fell silent. Conversations dissolved. Something unexpected had entered the space. From the wings, […]
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We can argue all day long about what the best decade for music was, but in this writer’s opinion, it was the 1970s. The 1960s were also great, but they felt like a benchmark-setting year, one where the public got to witness just how impactful music could be and therefore devotion to artists, styles and […]
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There’s no way of accurately describing the kind of relationship that John Lennon and Paul McCartney had throughout The Beatles. Every great partnership in music has descended from what they did, and when looking at the broad scope of music, they deserve a spot next to people like Gilbert and Sullivan for the melodies they […]
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Skepticism filled the room before a single note was played. On September 4, 1962, inside the controlled calm of Abbey Road Studios, expectations were carefully guarded. George Martin had seen talented musicians come and go, and the arrival of a new drummer was not something he treated lightly. This was not a rehearsal. It was […]
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It is difficult to imagine it now, in the age of music streaming, when we all have virtually every song ever recorded at our beck and call, but for over 40 years, the prevailing method of music consumption in the United Kingdom was Top of the Pops – at its prime, this televisual cultural institution […]
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On August 20th, 1969, the four members of The Beatles gathered in Studio 2 of Abbey Road with producer George Martin. They were putting the finishing touches to a song as they often did, overdubbing harmonised backing vocals and instrumental takes the same way they’d done since their early singles. At the time, though some […]
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From day one, The Beatles never intended to be the best band in the world. While they probably had their eyes set on being big enough to rival their idols like Elvis Presley and Little Richard, none of the Fab Four could have predicted their music being revered as one of the most perfect bodies […]
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