The Beatles trivia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about The Beatles, as it provides information - with numerous links to other pages - about the people who incorporated aspects of The Beatles music into their own work, worked with them, or who wanted to be associated with them.

The articles are listed alphabetically in their relevant sections.

 

Business

Apple versus Apple

Apple computer's earliest court action dates to 1978 when Apple Records, The Beatles-founded record label, filed a suit against Apple Computer for trademark infringement.

The suit settled in 1981, with an amount of US$80,000 being paid by Apple computer to The Beatles´ Apple Corps. As a condition of the settlement, Apple Computer agreed to stay out of the music business. The case arose in 1989, again when Apple Corps sued over the Apple IIGS, which included a professional synthesizer chip, claiming violation of the 1981 settlement agreement.

In 1991, another settlement of around US$26.5 million was reached. In September 2003, Apple Computer was sued by Apple Corps again, this time for introducing the iTunes Music Store and the iPod, which Apple Corps believed was a violation of the previous agreement by Apple Computer not to distribute music.

The trial began on March 27, 2006 in the UK and ended on May 8, 2006 with victory for Apple Computer. The judge ruled the company's iTunes Music Store did not infringe on the trademark of Apple Corps.

At the present time The Beatles' songs are not available for download from any legal music download sites, including the iTunes Music Store.

Apple versus EMI

The surviving Beatles and relatives of the band's late members will sue EMI for unpaid royalties.^[1]

The argument between The Beatles, EMI and its sister company Capitol Records goes back three decades. The Beatles alleged - in a 1979 suit - that the two companies underpaid the band by more than $20m (£10.5m). A settlement was reached in that case in 1989, which granted the band an increased royalty rate and required EMI and Capitol to follow more stringent auditing requirements.

Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the relations of George Harrison and John Lennon now claim that EMI should have paid them record royalties for albums that were supposedly given away, but were sold to the public. They claim that EMI and Capitol wrongly classified copies of Beatles recordings as destroyed or damaged, and secretly sold them for $19m, pocketing the proceeds.

Apple Corp chief Neil Aspinall said: "We have tried to reach a settlement through good faith negotiations and regret that our efforts have been in vain. Despite very clear provisions in our contracts, EMI persist in ignoring their obligations and duty to account fairly and with transparency. Apple and The Beatles are, once again, left with no choice but to sue EMI."

BEA

British European Airways, or BEA, was formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament.

In late 1963, Brian Sommerville ^[2] arranged a publicity deal with British European Airways. The Beatles would carry BEA(tles) flight bags and were often photographed holding them as part of the deal. They and their companions then received three weeks of unlimited air travel between Paris and London.

BEA ceased operations in 1974, when it was merged with the British Overseas Airways Corporation to form British Airways.

Dick James

Dick James was the singer of the Robin Hood theme, which was a series on British television in the 1950s. He entered the music publishing business as his singing career ^[3] tapered off.

In 1963, Dick James established Northern Songs Ltd., with Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to publish Lennon and McCartney's original songs. (Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr were also signed to Northern Songs as writers, but did not renew their contracts.) James's company - DJM - administered Northern Songs.

James was well-known for his meanness with money; The Beatles always gave expensive presents to friends and colleagues at Christmas, but James would only give a monogrammed pack of "DJM" playing cards.

The income derived from The Beatles allowed James to build up his own record label: DJM Records. He signed Elton John to a record contract, and was also the publisher of many of John´s classic songs, such as "Your Song". ^[4] Elton later worked with John Lennon.

In 1982, Elton John was involved in a long court case with Dick James about royalties.^[5]

The National Trust

"The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty", usually known as The National Trust, is a preservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Lennon sang about The National Trust in "Happiness Is a Warm Gun".

"A soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to The National Trust".

In recent years the Trust has sought to broaden its activities and appeal by acquiring properties such as former mills (early factories), workhouses, as well as Paul McCartney's ^[6] and John Lennon's ^[7]childhood homes.

Films

Backbeat

Backbeat is a 1994 film/movie that chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany, and Liverpool. ^[8]

It focuses primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe (played by Stephen Dorff) and John Lennon (played by Ian Hart), and also with Sutcliffe's German girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (played by Sheryl Lee).

The movie is generally more accurate, both about Sutcliffe's life and the early Beatles history, than the 1979 TV movie Birth of the Beatles, which covers the same period. It also has a darker, more detailed storyline, and Beatles history is a background to the main story.

Rather than use original Beatles songs, popular musicians were recruited to play on the soundtrack, which was "covers" of other artists' songs that The Beatles used to play.

The musicians were all members of young, and well-known, American rock bands: Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) vocals — Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs) vocals — Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) guitar — Don Fleming (Gumball) guitar — Mike Mills (R.E.M.) bass guitar — Dave Grohl (Nirvana) drums.

Ian Hart also played Lennon in the film The Hours and Times.

My Dinner With Jimi

The film My Dinner With Jimi (released in 2003) deals with the events that led up to the night - in 1967 - when Howard Kaylan (and The Turtles) encountered The Beatles in London, England. [1]

Kaylan's autobiographical film received the best screenplay award at the 2003 Slamdunk Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and was well-received when it was shown as part of the Santa Monica Film Festival.

Up against it

Joe Orton (born John Kingsley Orton 1 January 1933, Leicester, England – 9 August 1967, Islington, London) was a successful English writer who was asked to write a film screenplay for The Beatles which Orton called Up Against It (ISBN 0-306-80836-6). Orton received a $12,000 advance from Walter Shenson and was told by McCartney to "Do whatever you want" - so he did.

Orton: "by page 25 they had committed adultery , murder, dressed in drag, been in prison, seduced the daughter of a Priest, I mean the niece of a Priest, blown up a war memorial and all sorts of things like that."

The screenplay was not accepted by Epstein or the band.^[9]

Yellow Submarine

Although The Beatles added their own vocals to the songs of Yellow Submarine, the real voices behind the animated characters are relatively unknown.

Peter Batten is probably best known as the voice of George Harrison in the 1968 movie Yellow Submarine. The cast later found out that he was a deserter from the British Army when he was arrested during recording, so George´s voice had to be finished by Geoffrey Hughes.

Geoffrey Hughes (born February 2, 1944 in Wallasey, Cheshire, England) is an English actor, best known to UK TV viewers of a certain age, for his portrayal of Eddie Yeats, Hilda Ogden's scallywag lodger in Granada Television's soap opera Coronation Street, a role he played from 1974 to 1983, and in Keeping Up Appearances. He was the voice of Paul McCartney in Yellow Submarine, but recorded the rest of George’s voice after the untimely exit of Peter Batten

John Clive (born 6 January 1938 London, England, UK) recorded John´s voice.

Paul Angelis recorded Ringo´s voice.

Lance Percival (born July 26, 1933) is a British actor, comedian and noted after dinner speaker born in Sevenoaks, Kent. Percival first became well known for performing topical calypsos on television satire shows such as That Was The Week That Was. He appeared in the Carry On film Carry On Cruising (1962). He provided the voice of central character "Young Fred" in Yellow Submarine.

Dick Emery (February 19, 1919 - January 2, 1983) was a British comedian and actor, particularly popular during the 1960s and 1970s. He recorded the voice of the Lord Mayor and Nowhere Man (Jeremy Hillary Boob Phd).

On the Anthology DVDs, Ringo said that each of The Beatles was happy with the other three actors´ voices but were not happy with their own. Ringo also said that he has often been asked by children from all over the world why he "pushed the button?" (When he was ejected from the submarine.)

General

Cher

Cher´s first solo recording was the novelty single "Ringo, I Love You", which was released under the pseudonym of "Bonnie-Jo Mason", and was produced by Phil Spector. [2]

Inspired by

A “Beatles buff”, and radio host - Spencer Lee, from Liverpool - has made claims that The Beatles song, Yesterday, was inspired by a song called “Answer me, my love”, which was made famous by Nat King Cole.

"Answer Me, My Love" is a popular song, originally written (with German lyrics, under the title "Mutterlein") by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Ravich. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman in 1953.

Sigman first wrote the song as a religious-themed song, "Answer Me," (in which the first line reads "Answer me, Lord above") as a question to God about why the singer has lost his lover, which became a #1 hit for Frankie Laine in the United Kingdom in 1953. He then rewrote the lyrics to address the lost lover directly, under the title "Answer Me, My Love." [3]

It was banned by BBC radio because their policy was not to play any song that could be construed as offensive to the Church of England.

A spokesman for Paul McCartney said that “The two songs are about as similar as Get Back, and God save the Queen.”

Popularity contest winners

The Beatles were recently voted Britain's most iconic image, and are more popular than The Queen, Harry Potter and the BBC. [4]

Pop legends, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were named by more than a third (34 per cent) of those surveyed as the "Best of British" - leaving The Queen (18%), Harry Potter (14%) and the BBC (14%) trailing a long way behind.

In second place - after The Beatles - came the local English public house - 32% - which was followed by the British countryside - 27%. Shakespeare was named as the "Best of British" by only 13 per cent.

"Posh and Becks" (David Beckham and Victoria Beckham) got the thumbs-down from the public after being chosen as the "Worst of British"; even less popular than "a rainy day" - in second place. A more recent poll placed James Blunt in the most unpopular place - one place ahead of British Traffic Wardens.

Postage Stamps

The Beatles will be (in 2007) on Royal Mail Postage stamps for the very first time, which is more than 40 years after they became famous.

A set of six stamps will show some of The Beatles album covers. The collection features Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, Revolver, Let It Be, Help and With the Beatles. The designs show records on top of each other with the uppermost showing one of the six album covers. [5]

The last photo and meeting

The last known photograph of John Lennon and Paul McCartney together was auctioned on the internet in December, 2004 [6].

The black and white photo was part of a collection of the late Who drummer Keith Moon´s memorabilia. The photograph, which was taken with some colour Polaroids, was taken in 1974, during the recording of US singer Harry Nillson's album Pussycats, which Lennon was producing.

The last reported meeting of McCartney and Lennon was on April 25, 1976. Paul McCartney reportedly showed up unannounced at Lennon's apartment in New York with a guitar. Lennon was busy and/or annoyed and turned him away.

Musicians

Billy Preston

Billy Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) played on their 1970 Let It Be album and on the songs "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "Something", from 1969's Abbey Road.

After being signed to the Apple label in 1969, Preston released the album That's the Way God Planned It and a single of the same name, which was produced by George Harrison.

On the bootlegged "Let It Be" session tapes, one can hear several heated arguments between John Lennon and Paul McCartney about making Preston a group member (Lennon was all for it). McCartney disagreed. It would have made Preston officially "the fifth Beatle," a title he used repeatadly over the next three decades.

Perhaps as consolation, "Get Back," the only Beatles single (depending on which chart you believe) to enter the British charts at No.1, was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston" -- the first and only time the band shared the spotlight with a sideman. Preston also played with The Beatles during their famous rooftop gig in London, the Beatles' last public performance.

Preston later played keyboards for The Rolling Stones, and he appeared as Sgt. Pepper in the film version of The Beatles album.

James Taylor

James Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts.

In 1968, Taylor moved to London. He was signed to Apple Records after sending a demo tape to Peter Asher (of Peter & Gordon) and released his debut album, James Taylor. Despite The Beatles connection (and the presence of Paul McCartney and George Harrison on one track), the album did not sell very well and Taylor's addiction to heroin worsened.

The Beatles wanted to tear up Taylor´s contract when he said he wanted to "move on", but Allen Klein wanted to hold Taylor to his obligation to Apple records. The Beatles won the argument and Taylor was released.

Kurt Cobain and Nirvana

Kurt Cobain expressed his love for The Beatles in many interviews. According to his Journals, his song "About a Girl," was written while listening to "Meet the Beatles!" (one of his favorite records) on a loop for a day. In 1991, Cobain wanted to hide the experimental track "Endless, Nameless" in various pressings of the Nirvana breakthrough album Nevermind because he liked the way "Her Majesty" was hidden at the end of Abbey Road[7].

In March 1994, before his death, Cobain was fleshing-out ideas for a new Nirvana release, the concept having been described as similar to that of The White Album[8]. Dave Grohl, ex-Nirvana drummer, has said that his life would be complete if he could write a song like "Julia,"[9] and, according to record producer Butch Vig, the song was sometimes played by Cobain at Nirvana recording sessions in 1991[10].

Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin was born in Wales on the 3rd of May, 1950, in Pontardawe, which is just north of Swansea. Mary found stardom following her successful appearances on the ITV (Thames Television) talent show called, "Opportunity Knocks" - which was hosted by Hughie Green - which she won for ten consecutive weeks.

Twiggy recommended her to Paul McCartney, who met her and agreed to record some songs.

Her single Those Were the Days (produced by Paul McCartney) was released in the UK on August 30, 1968 (catalogue number APPLE 2). Despite competition from a well-established star, Sandie Shaw, who released her version of the same song as a single that same year, Hopkin's version became a #1 hit in the UK singles chart, and reached #2 in the US.

The next single was Goodbye, written by Paul McCartney (but credited to Lennon-McCartney), released on 28 March 1969 (APPLE 10); it reached #2 in the UK singles chart. It was kept off the top of the charts by the Beatles' single Get Back.

Pet Sounds

The catalyst for the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album was The Beatles' LP, Rubber Soul — the US version and not the UK version — which was released in December 1965. Brian Wilson later recalled his first impressions of The Beatles' ground-breaking album:

"I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together. Rubber Soul was a collection of songs ... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album."

Ironically, Wilson was referring to the American release of Rubber Soul which omitted and changed several tracks from the version released in the U.K.

Paul McCartney spoke often about Pet Sounds' influence on The Beatles, and called it one of his favourite albums, with "God Only Knows" as his favorite song. He also said that it was a major influence on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, which completed the circle of influence between the two bands.

It was reported that after Wilson had given everything to emulate — or even better — Rubber Soul (by writing the songs for Pet Sounds), The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper, which totally deflated him, and he went to bed for two months.

Phil Spector

Harvey Phillip Spector "Phil Spector" (born December 26, 1940) is an American record producer who produced some of the best-known popular music of the 1960s and 1970s. As the originator of the "Wall of Sound" production technique, Spector first rose to prominence as the mastermind behind the 1960s girl-group sound.

The Beatles themselves had recorded the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is to Love Him" - Spector's first hit - with an obvious change of gender, for their failed Decca Records audition.

In 1970, Allen Klein, manager to three of The Beatles, brought Spector to England to possibly record with the group, or to produce for Apple Records. (Spector first met The Beatles on their historic first visit to the USA in 1964.)

After successfully completing "Instant Karma!" in a single session for the John Lennon solo release, Spector was invited by Lennon and George Harrison to take on the task of turning the tapes from the abandoned "Get Back" recording sessions into a releasable album.

Spector added sweeping choir and orchestral arrangements to Lennon's "Across the Universe" and Harrison's "I Me Mine". Most contentious was his alteration of "The Long and Winding Road", which infuriated Paul McCartney, especially since the work had been done without his knowledge, or the opportunity to listen to the finished results.

This angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in court for breaking up The Beatles as a legal entity, he cited the treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons for doing so.

Spector returned to public prominence when he was indicted for murder.

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (more often the Bonzo Dog Band or to fans simply the "Bonzos") were the brainchild of a British art-school set of the 1960s. Part jazz band, part psychedelic rockers, the Bonzos came to the attention of a broader British public through a children's television programme, Do Not Adjust Your Set.

Roger Ruskin Spear (former member of Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band) remembers meeting The Beatles;

“We were asked to play at the wrap up party (for MMT) and John Lennon personally invited us. We were up north doing some wretched gig when our management rang up and said we'd been invited to The Beatles' party and "by the way they want you to perform. Unfortunately you can't go because you're due in Washington!" So complete explosions went on and so Brian Sommerville^[10] (our publicist) said, "Oh you guys have got to do it. I could never get together a publicity party like this." So we moved heaven and earth and it cost us a fortune. We went down and did it, but in the end it really didn't do us any good at all. It was just a big booze-up with John Lennon throwing up in the toilet and all that sort of thing. But from then on, I suppose, we knew The Beatles. ^[11]

The Bonzo Dog Band (with Neil Innes) had a hit single in 1968, with "I'm the Urban Spaceman"^[12] which was produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym "Apollo C. Vermouth". The Beatles were great fans of the group and they featured them performing the "Death Cab for Cutie" song in the Magical Mystery Tour.

The Rolling Stones

Released in December, 1967, Their Satanic Majesties Request was not well-received, and was seen as an attempt to copy The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It has influences which are based on music-hall, which The Beatles often used.

The band collected the props, and clothes that they were photographed in, but also put photos of The Beatles in various places. John is above a camel, at the bottom right, and George is on the left, near Keith Richards´ elbow. Paul and Ringo are harder to spot.

The response of the record-buying public and the growing rejection of the flower-power scene by Jagger and Richards would mean a turning point for the Stones, because in 1968 the Stones returned to the hard, driving blues that earned them fame early in their career.

The connections between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are numerous — from John and Paul writing their first hit: "I Wanna Be Your Man", to Mick Jagger being present — in the audience — during the live TV recording of "All You Need Is Love".

Places

Portmeirion

Parts of Portmeirion, and buildings, were used for some of The Beatles Anthology interviews.

Patrick McGoohan made Portmeirion famous in the 1960s TV series, The Prisoner, and the producers of the series used "All you need is love" in the last episode of the programme series.

Portmeirion was the vision of the architect Clough Williams-Ellis, who wanted to create a Mediterranean atmosphere in north-west Wales. He designed every house in a different way, so as to create a collage of architectural styles.

The so-called "village" is in fact a large hotel, and is probably the only hotel that admits thousands of visitors every year who just want to walk around its grounds, and not stay overnight.

Portmeirion has been used for numerous music videos, because of the plethora of locations that can be found there, as well as them all being close together. Siouxsie & the Banshees filmed their version of "Dear Prudence" there, and Supergrass videoed their hit "Alright" at Portmeirion. XTC also used it as a film location.

Various TV shows have used Portmerion as a location, including: Doctor Who, Citizen Smith, Brideshead Revisited, The Tripods, and Bread.

Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium is the long-time home of the baseball team known as the New York Mets, and the historic site of the world's first stadium concert. "Stadium Rock" was born here in August 1965, when The Beatles opened their North American tour on August 15, 1965, at Shea Stadium to a record audience of 56,000.

John displayed his usual brand of humour when a reporter asked him:

"Does it bother you that you can't hear what you sing during concerts?"

John: "No, we don't mind. We've got the records at home."

Shea Stadium has been used for varying events over the years: Pope John Paul II was also among those who appeared there, for a large gathering in 1979, and the stadium has hosted numerous concerts. The most recent was a three-night engagement by Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band in early October 2003.

Musicians think of playing in Shea Stadium as the pinnacle of success, if only because The Beatles played there.

Politics and Police

Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson exhibited his populist touch in 1965, when he decided to have The Beatles honoured with the MBE award. (Such awards are officially bestowed by The Queen but in actuality are always nominated by the Prime Minister of the day.) The award was enormously popular with young people and contributed to a sense that the Prime Minister was "in touch" with the younger generation.

There were some protests against the award by conservatives and elderly members of the military who were earlier recipients of the award, but such protesters were in the minority.

Critics claimed that Wilson decided on the award to solicit votes for the next general election (which took place less than a year later) but defenders noted that since the mimimum voting age at that time was 21 this was hardly likely to impact many of The Beatles' fans who at that time were predominantly teenagers.

It cemented Wilson's image as a modernistic leader and it linked him to the burgeoning pride in the 'New Britain' typified by The Beatles. This style of leadership was later copied by Tony Blair. Blair used to play guitar with a Rock band called Ugly Rumours, and has a guitar in his toilet. [11]

Imelda Marcos

Imelda Romuáldez Marcos - Imelda Marcos - (born July 2, 1929 in Manila City) is the former First Lady and a political figure in the Philippines. She moved to Palo, Leyte - about 10 kilometers from Tacloban - when she was seven years old.

She is known as the "Steel Butterfly", and remains a very controversial figure in her home country. She is renowned - or notorious - for her excessively large collection of shoes. She is reported to have owned more than 1,000 pairs of very expensive footwear items.

She is known for the famous incident when The Beatles were brutally thrown out of the Philippines, because they did not turn up for a breakfast party that she had organized. The Beatles claimed that they had not heard about it, and that they would have been too tired to go anyway.

The incident was widely circulated throughout the Philippines, and the story was slanted to make it look as if The Beatles had deliberately "snubbed" Imelda, as a personal insult to her and the whole country.

Crowds booed and kicked The Beatles on the way to the airport, and the money they had earned whilst they had been there was taken off them by Marcos´ security guards.

Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Archer, [12]Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, when a student in Oxford, took part in organising a charity fund-raising drive for OXFAM.

During a concert that The Beatles played at the college he was told that The Beatles "Don’t get involved with charities", but he coerced them into having a photograph taken with him.

Archer proudly held up an OXFAM collection tin for the camera (as did Ringo and Paul, whilst Lennon put some coins into Archer´s collection tin) and George held a "WANTED - 1,000,000 pounds" poster, in the Senior Common Room at Oxford's Brasenose College. [13].

Having his picture taken with The Beatles (apparently) endorsing his OXFAM appeal certainly did it no harm (he collected £500,000) and was later accused of having taken a much larger percentage of the money collected - for his own expenses - which was deemed by OXFAM to be much more than "usual". He bought a house in Weston-super-Mare for £5,000 after he had collected the money, and when he was still a student at Oxford. [14].

He later played a large part in Margaret Thatcher´s years as Prime Minister [15]. On July 19, 2001, Lord Archer was found guilty and sentenced to a total of four years imprisonment for perjury.

Norman Pilcher

Detective Sgt. Norman Pilcher (born 1936) was a British police detective.

He became infamous for arresting a number of celebrities during the 1960s on drug charges, such as Mick Jagger, Donovan, and also two members of The Beatles: George Harrison and John Lennon. He used an ordinate amount of policemen and "sniffer dogs", when raiding the houses of the rich and famous. He raided Harrison´s house on the same day as Paul McCartney was getting married to the then Linda Eastman (later Linda McCartney).

He targeted the most popular people in London - who were known users of drugs - and Pilcher was an integral part of the "last gasp" of the establishment to stamp out the use of illegal drugs in London society.

The celebrities that Pilcher arrested for drug use complained that Detective Sergeant Pilcher framed them or was only carrying out raids and arrests to satisfy the tabloid newspapers. It was often reported that journalists and photographers arrived very shortly after Pilcher started his raids.[16]

Lennon's conviction later triggered a deportation order from the United States in 1971.

On November 8, 1972, Pilcher was extradited from Australia and arrested for "conspiracy to pervert the course of justice" after it was alleged he had committed perjury. This meant the planting of evidence, and tampering with the scene of a crime. He was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment.

Webcam arrest

The British Police have reported that an American citizen stopped a burglary in northern England, during the time he was watching a Beatles-related webcam on the Internet.

The man from Dallas was using a live camera link to look at Mathew Street, which is a street in Liverpool where the Cavern Club is located, and where The Beatles used to play in the early sixties. He saw burglars apparently breaking into a near-by sports store and alerted Merseyside police by telephone.

"We did get a call from someone in Dallas who was watching on a webcam that looks at the tourist areas, of which Mathew Street is one because of all The Beatles stuff, and he called directly through to police here", said a spokesperson. Officers were sent to the scene and three suspects were arrested. [17]

Radio

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris was formally trained in the UK, (although born in Australia) and attended the City and Guilds Arts School, in Kennington, in the early 1950s.

Rolf soon began making a name for himself on his own television series when he effortlessly produced huge paintings in a short space of time. His catch-phrase was, “Can you tell what it is yet?”

He recorded a song called, “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport”, and sang it (with The Beatles singing backing vocals) in the first edition of the “From Us To You” BBC radio shows, in December, 1963 ISBN 1-85686-675-0.

Harris completely customized the original lyrics to a version that was especially written for The Beatles:

"Cut yer hair once a year boys

Don’t ill-treat me pet dingo, Ringo

George’s guitar is on the blink, I think

Prop me up by the wall, Paul

Keep the hits coming on, John" [18]

As a vocalist his hits have included “Sun Arise”, “Two Little Boys” and, more recently, "Stairway to Heaven"; the song by Led Zeppelin.

Religion

Maharishi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is believed to have been born near Jabalpur, India in 1917, and graduated from Allahabad University with a degree in physics.

The Beatles first met the Maharishi on Thursday, 24 August 1967, at the Hilton Hotel, London, in 1967. They later visited Bangor University, North Wales, to attend a meditation seminar, held by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was here that they heard of the death of their manager Brian Epstein.

They decided - after the seminar - that they would publicly renounce drugs, as they claimed that they no longer needed them.

They later visited Maharishi Mahesh Yogi´s ashram and several other artists - including Mike Love of The Beach Boys, and Donovan - also visited the site at the same time to contemplate and meditate. Ringo Starr took two suitcases: one of clothes and the other full of tins of baked beans, because he was allergic to lots of foodstuffs, and he thought Indian curries would only aggravate his problem.

Paul McCartney (Anthology) said that the Maharishi offered only one of The Beatles a chance to take a helicopter ride with him; there being only enough room for two passengers and the pilot. John was adamant that he would be the first, and when he came back McCartney asked Lennon why he had been so keen to go. Lennon answered: “I thought he would slip me the answer”.

There are two theories about why Lennon and Harrison chose to leave the ashram (Starr and McCartney had left earlier). One is that Lennon heard that the Maharishi had made a pass (a sexual proposition) at Mia Farrow but the other [19] is that the Maharishi had scolded them for taking drugs and had then asked them to leave. Lennon later wrote Sexy Sadie about the Maharishi, although Harrison was later reconciled with the Maharishi. In her autobiography, What Falls Away, Mia Farrow admits she probably misunderstood the Maharishi's embrace. It is an honor and a tradition to be touched by a Holy Man after meditation, and Mia later recounts "at my level of consciousness, if Jesus Christ himself had embraced me, I would have misinterpreted it."

The ashram has recently been of interest to celebrities including Hollywood star Kate Winslet, who stayed in Peasant's Cottage.

Bangor University bosses recently unveiled a plaque at its Hugh Owen Hall to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the trip [20].

Maureen Cleave

The London Evening Standard employed the journalist Maureen Cleave [21] to interview The Beatles on many occasions,[22] but this interview [23] (March 4, 1966) was the one where Lennon talked about Christianity, as well as many other subjects. (See the Playboy article below)

She also interviewed Lennon and Yoko when they were campaigning for World Peace, but disagreed with them about their ideals: Cleave remembers Lennon

Reunions

Live

The Concert for Bangladesh was two benefit concerts held on the afternoon and evening of August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York. It reunited Ringo Starr with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman, Bob Dylan, and Billy Preston. Clapton and Preston had both played on Beatles´ recordings. [24] [25] Pete Ham (from Badfinger) played acoustic guitar with George on "Here comes the sun". [26] Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were asked to perform as well. Paul declined, deciding it was to soon after the break-up for some cliched reunion. John agreed to perform, but got into an argument with his girlfriend, Yoko Ono, days before the show. She wanted to be a substantial part of his act, but, in a rare instance of John disagreeing with Yoko on the subject, he felt that she should be content to sit onstage. The disagreement was serious enough for Lennon to drop out of the concert.

George Harrison and Ringo Starr play “While my guitar gently weeps” (live) with Eric Clapton, Elton John, Mark King, and Phil Collins. [27]

Video

George´s video for “When We Was Fab“, with Ringo, and a left-handed bass player in a Walrus mask. [28]

Paul, George, and Ringo reunited to overdub onto John's demos, Free as a bird, and Real Love for the Anthology project.

Scientific

Minor Planets (Asteroids)

As a tribute to The Beatles, four asteroids were named after each member:

The "Minor Planet Circular" announced its approval of the naming of four new asteroids discovered by astronomer B. A. Skiff after the four Beatles. [29]

The names of the asteroids are: (4147) Lennon, discovered on 01/12/83; (4148) McCartney, discovered on 07/11/83; (4149) Harrison, discovered on 03/09/84; and (4150) Starr, discovered on 08/31/84.

In addition, the minor planet 8749, discovered April 3, 1998 by J. Broughton at Reedy Creek Observatory, was named after The Beatles. ^[13]

To name an asteroid, the discoverer can only suggest a name of 16 characters or less. The suggested name is then sent to the International Astronomical Union's Small Bodies Names Committee, along with a brief explanation as to why that name is appropriate. If an asteroid has not been named after ten years of its discovery, then anyone can propose a name.

Paleontology

In 1993, a pair of paleontologists, Edgecombe & Chatterton, named a series of fossil trilobite species Avalanchurus lennoni, Avalanchurus starri, and Struszia mccartneyi, but there are many organisms named after The Beatles and related people, including: Struszia petebesti, Struszia epsteini, Struszia martini, Struszia onoae, Struszia mccartneyi, Struszia harrisoni, Bushiella (Jugaria) beatlesi, Greeffiella beatlei. See [30] and [31], among others.

"Lucy" - a famous fossilized hominid of the species Australopithecus afarensis - was named after The Beatles' song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Australopithecus afarensis is a hominid which lived between 3.9 to 3 million years ago belonging to the genus Australopithecus, of which the first skeleton was discovered on November 24, 1974 by Donald Johanson, Yves Coppens and Tim White in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.

TV

Ed Sullivan

In 1964, their first live American TV appearance was on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Beatles first appearance, on February 9, 1964, was the most-watched program in TV history to that point. An estimated 73 million people watched The Beatles that night. [32] and it remains one of the most-watched TV programs of all time.

John Lennon was so nervous before the show that he taped the song lyrics to the back of his guitar, and George Harrison threw-up before their appearance.

This coup by Sullivan swiftly raised the ratings of his show, although he had showcased Elvis Presley before The Beatles, when he famously denied the cameras to film Presley below the waist. This was because of Elvis's famous hip movements, that were deemed to be too suggestive by Sullivan.

The Beatles appeared - either in person or on video tape - nine times on the Sullivan Show. For their first visit, and the next two, The Beatles received $10,000, plus their expenses.

The Beatles appeared on February 16, 1964. This was a live performance from their hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In preparation for this appearance, The Beatles played to a live audience during the afternoon at the hotel, and then at 8 p.m., they performed live for the Sullivan Show via satellite. The Beatles sang six songs: "She Loves You", "This Boy", "All My Loving", "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me To You", and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

The next performance was on February 23, 1964. This was (technically) their first performance, because The Beatles recorded this performance on February 9, 1964, before their historic "first" appearance. That program was taped that afternoon for broadcast three Sundays after. The Beatles played three songs: "Twist and Shout", "Please Please Me", and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Ed Sullivan thanked The Beatles for being "four of the nicest youngsters."

On Sunday, May 24, 1964, The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast an interview with The Beatles where they talked about their new movie, A Hard Day's Night. Combined with this interview was a tape of The Beatles singing, "You Can't Do That", from the movie. Although seen that night, this video section did not make it into the final film cut. When The Beatles went back to America, in 1965 (and also whilst preparing for their famous concert at Shea Stadium in New York) they taped six songs on August 14, to be aired on the Sullivan Show on September 12, 1965. The Beatles played six songs: "I Feel Fine", "I'm Down", "Act Naturally", "Ticket To Ride", "Yesterday" and "Help!" Although taped, this would be the last "live" performance The Beatles did for The Ed Sullivan Show.

The Beatles appeared a few more times, via tape. On June 5, 1966, the show aired two music "videos." They were: "Rain" and "Paperback Writer".

More than a year later, The Beatles appeared again on video. On November 26, 1967, The Beatles sent a video of The Beatles performing "Hello Goodbye". The Beatles had two more appearances on the Sullivan Show via music videos. The next came on February 12, 1967 with "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", and the final performance was on February 15, 1970. In this they played "Two Of Us", and "Let It Be" [33].

Sullivan's show was not a music programme, but was based on a cabaret format, which meant that not only musicians performed on it, but clowns, dancers, comedians, jugglers, and even Britain's Pinky and Perky (two pig puppets) had a chance to be seen by American audiences.

William Shakespeare and The Beatles

A short TV clip exists of The Beatles performing a short excerpt from Shakespeare´s "A Midsummer-Night's Dream", with John dressed as a woman, and Ringo as a lion: [34]. Long John Baldry is is a heckler in the audience.

 

Theatre

LOVE - Cirque du Soleil

LOVE (performed by the Canadian acrobatic and theatrical troupe Cirque du Soleil - at the Mirage Hotel - which combines the music of The Beatles with athletic and artistic feats of an international cast of 60 performers. A joint venture between Cirque and The Beatles' company, Apple Corps Ltd, it is the first production that Apple Corps Ltd. has partnered in. A press release states:

"LOVE will bring the magic of Cirque du Soleil together with the spirit and passion behind the most beloved rock group of all time to create a vivid, intimate and powerful entertainment experience."

The whole Beatles "family" were present on the opening night, in July of 2006, including:

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison’s widow Olivia Harrison, and son Dhani Harrison. Also there was John Lennon’s first wife Cynthia Lennon and her son Julian Lennon, as well as Yoko Ono, and her son Sean Lennon. [35]

Video and media

Free as a Bird video

The Beatles "Free as a Bird" video: The video deliberately included many references to Beatles songs, such as:

John, Paul, George, and Ringo in the "rain" outside the Liverpool docks with people coming from a "hard day's night" of work, and people waiting to see The Beatles play in the Cavern. It's followed by a shot of "Strawberry Field" with a "Nowhere Man" wandering around. Then an empty tree is shown ("No-one I think is in my tree"). There is a very quick shot of a "Silver Hammer" hardware store and then an 'Egg & Co' van, whom the owner of was (presumably) known as "The egg man".

On the left of the next shot you can see a "barrow in the marketplace", and, on the right, a barber’s shop, which is in "Penny Lane". There is a sign in a shop window that says, "Help". The camera then pans across a car showing two people making love "in the road", followed by showing a cake shop window which has a "birthday" cake behind it. The numbers on the cake are "64" ("When I´m 64").

As George walks up to the door of the Apple office the brass sign was changed — on the left — to read "Dr. Robert".

The car accident that John is looking at was obviously just part of "a day in the life" of the firemen who have a "very clean machine". The policemen standing nearby are all "standing in a row". The camera moves from a "Helter Skelter" to a view of a kite, which was for "the benefit of Mr. Kite".

In the back alley, you can see a step ladder leading up to a bathroom window, probably because "she came in through the bathroom window", whilst in the back garden/yard some sunflowers are growing "so incredibly high". A group of small children run down the alley wearing masks that make them look like little "piggies". As the camera pans up and into a room, on the windowpane you can glimpse the sight of a "lizard on a window pane". Inside the room a "paperback writer" is typing near a clock which reads 10:10, which is, logically, "one after 9.09".

Outside, a "blue meanie" pops up from "a hole" in the roof, which a man is "fixing". Then, down in the street, a "newspaper taxi" pulls up as a girl walks out of a door. Maybe she is "leaving home". Two people are carrying a large portrait of "Chairman Mao" in the background, which is obviously part of the "revolution". In the foreground, John Lennon is "happy just to dance" with Yoko, and far away, you can see a coach passing that is possibly going on a "magical mystery tour"...

The scene changes, and we see "Bungalow Bill" with his gun, and, "in case of accidents, he always took his Mum", who is behind him. The camera moves through the crowd — past an Indian playing a sitar — and we see Brian Epstein putting his scarf on to leave because he "doesn't want to spoil the party". The camera pans over to a bass drum with "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" painted on it.

The graveyard: "Mother Mary" — a statue — turns her head to face the camera. "Eleanor Rigby's" gravestone is in full shot, and then "Martha" the dog runs across the graveyard, with "Father McKenzie" in the background. Paul is seen dancing like "the fool on the hill", with a girl who is "leaving home", on the road. A "long and winding road" can be seen in the distance.

The shot before last is the "Abbey Road" zebra crossing.

At "the end", an actor, playing George Formby, is finishing a song playing the ukelele on a stage in front of an audience, and Lennon (played backwards) says, “It´s turned out nice again”, which was Formby´s catch-phrase.

Mersey Beat

Mersey Beat was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper had news about local Liverpool bands, and also about stars who came to Liverpool to perform.

The phrase Mersey Beat was also used to describe local music of the time, sometimes also called Mersey Sound.

Playboy

Playboy is an American adult entertainment magazine, founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner.

The Beatles first interview for Playboy was in February, 1965, [36], and was before the Maureen Cleave article on March 4, 1966 (see above).

John: "We're not quite sure what we are, but I know that we're more agnostic than atheistic."

Playboy: Are you speaking for the group or just for yourself?

John: "For the group."

George: "John's our official religious spokesman."

Paul: "But believe it or not, we're not anti-Christ."

Ringo: "Just anti-Pope and anti-Christian."

Paul: "But you know, in America..."

George: "They were more shocked by us saying we were agnostics."

Lennon (with Yoko Ono) and McCartney (with Linda McCartney) both gave separate, but in-depth and revealing interviews to Playboy. Lennon gave his in 1980, [37] which was shortly before his murder – and McCartney gave his in 1984, [38] which reveals McCartney’s innermost feelings about Lennon and The Beatles. [39]

Notes and references

1. ^ EMI court case
2. ^ Beatles 64
3. ^ singing career
4. ^ Your Song
5. ^ Royalties
6. ^ McCartney's home
7. ^ John Lennon's home
8. ^ Backbeat
9. ^ Orton and his script
10. ^ Brian Sommerville
11. ^ Beatles' Money and The Bonzo Dog Band
12. ^ Urban Spaceman promo
13. ^ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/special/rocknroll/0008749.html

See also

• Category:The Beatles
• The Beatles' influence on popular culture

External links

Up-to-date Beatles trivia:

• What goes on
• The Beatles reference library