On Nov. 11, 1965, the Beatles convened to finish recording their sixth album, 'Rubber Soul.' Entering the studio at around 6PM, they realized they were a couple songs short of the 14 tracks slotted for the new record. Believe it or not, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were having trouble writing enough material for the album. So they "tossed off" a few new songs and resurrected a cast-off from the 'Help!' sessions.
With the release of 'Wonderwall Music' in November 1968, George Harrison was the first Beatle to step into the spotlight on his own. Recording sessions actually began a year earlier -- when the Beatles were recording their annual Christmas message -- with 'India' and 'Swordfencing,' both working titles that would be changed before release.
When the Beatles took the stage fifty years ago today (Oct. 13 -- ignore the date on this video) to appear on the variety show 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium,' they were four lads armed with the simple tools of their early classics--a bass, two guitars, drum kit.
The psychedelia, the massive studio productions, the brilliance and adoration, suspicion and disintegration -- those were years away. In this moment, cited widely as the birth of Beatlemania, it was simply John, Paul, George and Ringo, setting their homeland on fire.
It's another busy week for Paul McCartney. As the onetime Cute Beatle ramps up to the release of his new album -- um, 'New' -- next week, he's shown up online with a new song, at a high school with some instruments and earlier today in Times Square, where he performed four songs.
Paul McCartney is alive and well, but a well-placed rumor in 1969 had some thinking otherwise. On September 23, 1969, the Northern Star newspaper of Northern Illinois University published a story claiming that McCartney had been killed in a car crash a few years earlier and had been replaced by a look-alike. A radio station in Detroit picked up on the story and ran with it. Within a month, the story had gone global and Beatles fans worldwide were collectively scratching their heads.
Listening to the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life' has proved a crucial musical experience for many rock fans, but former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward might have a story that trumps them all.
On Aug. 22, 1968, Ringo Starr had enough of his bandmates' constant bickering. So he packed up his drumsticks and walked out of the Beatles' chaotic recording sessions for their upcoming double album, 'The Beatles' (better known as 'The White Album'). And he planned to stay away for good.
Strawberry Fields may be forever, but a mystery vandal apparently believes that the paint on the park's distinctive red gates should be far less permanent.
August 27, 2013 Today in 1992, John Lennon’s original handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ “A Day In the Life” fetched $87,000 at a Sotheby’s auction.
On Aug. 26, 1968, the Beatles launched their Apple Records label with their new single, John Lennon's politically minded 'Revolution.'