www.dailymail.co.uk Come Together! Paul McCartney reunites with former Beatles band-mate Ringo Starr and pal Tom Hanks for night out in Santa Monica By Jabeen Waheed For Mailonline PUBLISHED: 16 February 2017 They are some of the most talented and well-known men in the entertainment business. And on Wednesday, former Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited for a night out with pals Tom Hanks and Joe Walsh, as well as their respective wives. The iconic band's drummer, 76, looked in high spirits as he emerged from the lavish Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica with the Eagles singer, with the rest of their A-list party hot on their heels. Letting loose! Sir Paul McCartney, 74, reunited with his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr for a night out at the Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica on Wednesday Come together: Ringo, 76, was joined by beautiful former Bond girl wife Barbara Bach (R), her sister Marjorie (L) and her husband - Eagles frontman Joe Walsh True to his name, Ringo donned an all-black ensemble which boasted a white star on it. He flashed a peace sign as he kept his beautiful former Bond girl wife Barbara Bach close by. Joe was also dressed to impress in a chic great coat as he put a protective hand around his other half - Barbara's sister Marjorie Bach. Sir Paul was spotted without his wife Nancy Shevell as he quickly headed to his car and was chauffeured away. A-list pal: A very suave looking Tom Hanks, 60, also enjoyed the A-list night out Statement Starr: True to his name, Ringo donned an all-black ensemble which boasted a white star on it Having fun: He seemed in high spirits as he flashed a peace sign while exiting the restaurant Joining the impressive line-up of pals was actor Tom who was suited and booted and added an element of geek chic with his specs. He seemed to have enjoyed his night as he sped off with stunning wife Rita. The Sully: Miracle On The Hudson actor has long been friends with the former Beatles bandmates and is seen with them on various occasions over the years. Meanwhile Tom is set to star in the The Circle, a new thriller featuring Emma Watson and is focused on Silicon Valley. Stylish: Ringo kept it comfortable in a pair of black and white trainers and a leather jacket Making a statement: He continued to call for peace The film, which is adapted from author Dave Eggers' 2013 novel, tells the story of Mae Holland (Watson), who goes to work for a behemoth tech company whose eccentric founder Eamon Bailey is played by the multiple Oscar-winner Hanks. The Circle, also starring Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt and Bill Paxton, hits theaters April 28. Meanwhile, in December Paul filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday against Sony/ATV over copyright ownership of the many hit songs he wrote with John Lennon as part of The Beatles. Fashionistas: The Bach sisters oozed eternal glamour in their chic night out ensembles Silver fox: Joe was also dressed to impress in a chic great coat as he put a protective hand around his other half Looking good: Joining the impressive line-up of pals was actor Tom who was suited and booted and added an element of geek chic with his specs Leaving in style: The Sully: Miracle On The Hudson star seemed to have enjoyed his night as he sped off with stunning wife Rita Same circles: The award-winning actor has long been friends with the former Beatles bandmates and is seen with them on various occasions over the years The copyrights were famously bought by Michael Jackson in 1985 and then fully sold over to Sony/ATV following his death. Paul has long wanted the copyrights, and the filing says he has sent notice to Sony/ATV saying that he will claim them back under a provision of U.S. copyright law that makes that possible after a certain time. The first song eligible to be claimed back is Love Me Do, in October 2018. The rest of the catalog would follow in years after, ending in 2026. Claiming what's his: In December Paul filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday against Sony/ATV over copyright ownership of the many hit songs he wrote with John Lennon as part of The Beatles
The legends Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, and Tom Hanks came together with their wives at restaurant Giorgio Baldi for what has to be the most hall of fameiest meal ever. TMZ
beatlesblogger.com On Valentines Day – A Beatles “Love” Find by beatlesblogger Posted on February 14, 2017 What more could you want on Valentines Day than to find a bit of Beatle Love treasure? Rummaging through some old theatre programs at our local St Vincent de Paul Society thrift shop (the equivalent of Goodwill stores in the US), what should we come across than a thick, lavishly illustrated program from the Beatles/Cirque du Soleil production Love, which is still showing at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. This is a beautifully produced book, about the same size and shape as an LP record, and it’s filled with photographs, drawings, cast details and information about this long-running success story – which last year celebrated its tenth year in production. Inside there are fantastic drawings, illustrations, and photographs from the stage show – like these: Impressively laid out, with some four page fold-out sections included, this particular theatre program seems to date from around February, 2008 as inside on the credits page in small print it says “Love.02.08”. The photograph of co-Music Director, Giles Martin is a decidedly youthful one: Right in the very centre of the book there are two pages of Beatle Love stickers. In the copy we found the previous owners have only removed two – the rest are perfectly intact: Here’s that full credit page in more detail: And the rear cover: A nice Valentines Day find…
www.rollingstone.com Flashback: Paul McCartney Jams With Chevy Chase on 'Spies Like Us' Theme song to the goofy 1985 Cold War spoof gave Macca his last Top Ten hit and got Siskel and Ebert lusting over Vanessa Angel By Andy Greene Feb 14 2017
The 1985 Cold War spoof Spies Like Us doesn't get a lot of love these days. The film united director John Landis with original Saturday Night Live stars Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd at the height of their box office powers, shortly after the huge success of Ghostbusters and National Lampoon's Vacation. Chase and Aykroyd play two low-level Pentagon employees that get sent to the USSR as unwitting decoys so a real team of spies has a better chance of surviving undetected. Wackiness ensues. It grossed $60 million, enough to make it the 10th biggest movie of the entire year, just a smudge behind Goonies, yet nowadays you rarely see it anywhere. Much like Live and Let Die 12 years earlier, Paul McCartney was given the title of the movie, the basic premise and tasked with writing a theme song. The result doesn't exactly match the majesty of the suite on side two of Abbey Road. "We get there by hook or by crook," he sings. "We don't do a thing by the book/ Never needed special clothes/ How we did it no one knows/ I guess we must have had what it took." John Landis directed the "Spies Like Us" video which features McCartney on every instrument until Chevy Chase rips off a mask and begins playing keyboards while Dan Aykroyd sits behind the mixing desk. By the end Donna Dixon and Vanessa Angel are on background vocals. Hard as it may be to believe, the song reached Number Seven on the Hot 100. It's the last Top Ten song of McCartney's career unless you count his 2015 Rihanna and Kanye West collaboration "FourFiveSeconds." Vanessa Angel (best known for her later roles in Kingpin and the Weird Science TV series) was just 18 when she appeared in Spies Like Us. It launched her entire career, and had a big impact on Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Their back-and-forth about her is so amazing we're going to run the whole thing right here: Ebert: I want you to give me permission to be kind of human for a second, which would be a novelty. Siskel: You took the words right out of my mouth. Ebert: What did you think about Vanessa Angel? Siskel: She's the well-developed one at the end? Ebert: She's one of the Russians at the end of the movie. That face, that figure, I'm telling you, I don't know who she is, but sometimes this is one of the reasons we go to the movies, not just to appreciate great cinematic art, but occasionally to… Siskel: To leer. Ebert: To feel great cinematic lust. She's a very attractive woman.
www.chroniclelive.co.uk From The Beatles to a low-key gig at Newcastle University with his new band Wings 45 years ago, Paul McCartney swapped life in the world's biggest band for touring UK universities in the back of a van BY DAVID MORTON 13 FEB 2017 Paul McCartney and Wings, Newcastle University, February 13, 1972 (Photo: Newcastle Chronicle) “Wings? They’re only the band The Beatles could have been!” Television comedy character Alan Partridge, in his inimitable style, summed up the problem Paul McCartney would always face. How do you follow being in the biggest, most famous, most influential pop group of all time? If you’d been in Newcastle on this night 45 years ago, you’d have found out. Nearly two years after the Fab For dissolved in acrimony, McCartney rolled into the city’s university, asking (literally) if his new band could play a gig there. Having turned his back on the excesses of life with The Beatles, McCartney had loaded his wife Linda, his eight-year-old step-daughter, assorted pets, and a group of musicians and their instruments into a van and hit the road looking to play music at whichever university venue took their fancy. Paul McCartney and Wings, Newcastle University, February 13, 1972 (Photo: Newcastle Chronicle) Their first port of call was Nottingham University, then York, then Hull, then Newcastle. They would play 11 impromptu uni gigs in all. Steve Dresser, chairman of Newcastle University’s entertainment committee, said: “I couldn’t believe my luck. “Paul asked if a spot could be found for his new band, Wings , in the Sunday folk night at the hall. “They just turned up out of the blue in a big van full of equipment. We were only too happy to oblige.” Luckily, someone at the university tipped off the Chronicle and we sent along a photographer to record the occasion. Wings in 1972: Denny Seiwell, Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney, Denny Laine, Henry McCullough In the event, this was only fourth proper gig McCartney had played since The Beatles’ last ever show at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park back in August 1966. If 25,000 fans had seen that momentous outdoor concert, this was a rather smaller affair. Admission to the show was 50p with proceeds being split equally among band members. With Linda on keyboards and kicking off with a version of Little Richard’s Lucille, the set was a mix of cover versions and new self-penned numbers. The show was noticeable for its total absence of Beatles’ songs.
ultimateclassicrock.com David Bowie, Beatles and Bob Dylan Among Early Grammy Winners By Ultimate Classic Rock Staff February 12, 2017 Hulton Archive / Jo Hale, Getty Images David Bowie, the Beatles and Bob Dylan were all winners during today’s Grammy premiere ceremony, with Bowie ultimately claiming wins in all five categories in which his 2016 farewell album Blackstar was nominated. The majority of this year’s 84 Grammy awards were handed out during this pre-telecast event, which was streamed live on the web before the evening show on CBS. Bowie’s Blackstar won in three album-focused categories: Best Alternative Album, Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical), and Best Recording Package. The album’s title track won for Best Rock Performance – defeating Disturbed‘s cover of Simon and Garfunkel‘s “The Sound of Silence,” among others – before taking Best Rock Song during the national broadcast. The Beatles documentary Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years was named Best Music Film. It is the third Beatles-related film to win in this category – which was previously known as best music video-long form. They also claimed a Grammy for The Beatles Anthology in 1996 and The Beatles Love: All Together Now in 2009. Bob Dylan’s The Cutting Edge 1965-66, the 12th edition in his Bootleg Series, was triumphant in the Best Historical Album category. His 2016 album Fallen Angels was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, but lost out to Willie Nelson‘s Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin. Megadeth was victorious in the Best Metal Performance category for “Dystopia,” the title track from their 12th studio album – though there was a notable mishap during their acceptance. Paul McCartney lost out in both of the categories he was nominated for as a solo artist. The deluxe reissue of his 1982 album Tug Of War lost to Edith Piaf 1915-2015 for best box set, and the Timo Maas & James Teej Remix of Wings‘ “Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five” lost in the best remixed recording category to “Tearing Me Up (RAC Remix) by Bob Moses. Peter Gabriel‘s “The Veil” was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media, but was defeated by Justin Timberlake‘s “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” Patti Smith (M Train) and Elvis Costello (Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink) were both vying for recognition in the Best Spoken Word Album category, but the winner was comedy legend Carol Burnett, for In Such Good Company: Eleven Years Of Laughter, Mayhem, And Fun In The Sandbox. The Velvet Underground were among those receiving the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award. www.latimes.com Ron Howard wins best music film Grammy for 'The Beatles: Eight Days a Week -- the Touring Years' Randall Roberts FEB. 12, 2017 Ron Howard, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney (MJ Kim) Ron Howard, Grammy winner. The director and former child actor earned the Grammy for music film for "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years," his detailed ode to the band's early years. Also earning trophies for the film are producers Brian Grazer, Scott Pascucci and Nigel Sinclair. “I jumped into it as a kind of irresistible life experience and creative opportunity," Howard told the Times' Randy Lewis after the film got nominated. "But as soon as [the news] hit the Internet, I started realizing how seismic anything having to do with the Beatles can be. I thought, ‘It’s always a high-wire act, but this one is really up there.’ So I took it very seriously, of course, as I always do." Other nominees included "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," about EDM superstar Steve Aoki; "Lemonade," featuring Beyonce; "The Music Of Strangers," about Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble; and "American Saturday Night: Live From The Grand Ole Opry."
www.donaldsonvillechief.com More Than a Pop Group: Beatles lecturer speaks in Vernon Parish Posted Feb 9, 2017 DonaldsonvilleChief Posted Feb 9, 2017 The Beatles were much more than just a pop group. Aaron Krerowicz, a 30-year professional Beatles scholar, spoke recently about the British group at the Vernon Parish Library. The Beatles were much more than just a pop group. "They are a major landmark in music history." So said Aaron Krerowics, a 30-year-old professional Beatles scholar, when he spoke Jan. 31 at the Vernon Parish Public Library. His lecture, "The Beatles — The Band of the 60s," discussed the growth of the band as a whole, changes within the individual members, and their musical and political influences within the context of the decade. Krerowics said emergence of the Beatles, and their eventual break up, fits cleanly within the decade. Their first concert at the famed Cavern Club was Feb. 9, 1961, and the day when Paul McCartney announced the band was breaking up was April 10, 1970. "The 60s began in black-and-white, and ended in color," he said. This applies to many aspects of the decade — literally the move from black-and-white to color television — or more symbolically. The decade started with Dwight D. Eisenhower, the last U.S. president born in the 19th century, and moved on to Camelot, the Vietnam War, the war protests, the culturally colorful hippy rebellion and Woodstock. The Beatles, too, moved from black and white to color. Their first album released in the United States, "Meet the Beatles," had a stark, high-contrast black and white cover, and their first movie, "A Hard Day's Night," was also black and white. Only three years later, the colorful and elaborate album cover for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," helped usher in the psychedelic era, followed by the animated film "Yellow Submarine," with its bright Peter Max-influenced visuals, and its soundtrack. The film is credited with bringing more interest in animation as a serious art form. Krerowics' backround Krerowics' fascination with the Beatles began when he was growing up in the 90s, he said. His dad would play Beatles music for him. In 2009, the remastered CDs were released, and he listened to their music again, but this time with musically educated and experienced ears. That gave him a new appreciation for the band and their achievements, he said. Krerowics' favorite song by the Beatles is "I Am the Walrus." "It's pure Lennon fantasy," he said. He vividly remembers the moment when he realized the profundity of the Beatles' music. He was living in Revere, Massachusetts in 2010, commuting to Boston University on the blue line subway, listening to "I Am The Walrus." It was at that moment when he realized the impact of the Beatles. Krerowics won a research grant through the University of Hartford in 2011 to study the band. Since then he has presented his findings in over 300 presentations throughout the United States and England. Among Beatles experts, most authors focus on the band's history. But the musical analysis of Beatles' songs remains largely unexplored, Krerowics said. "While history is both fascinating and important, the Beatles were first and foremost musicians," he said."Since my background and academic education is extensive, I have the analytical techniques and a thorough understanding of music theory to conduct exhaustive and rigorous analysis of this music," he said. He has developed this presentation in order to explain this extremely sophisticated musical analysis in ways that an audience doesn't need a bachelor's degree in music theory to understand. Their impact Krerowics explained that during the Beatle's residencies in Hamburg, Germany, from 1960 through 1962, they learned a lot about stage presence. "They couldn't play timidly if they wanted loud drunk German crowds to actually listen to their music," he said. They wrote their own songs, which was rare for that era. Even so, they rarely strayed from sweet love songs with a rock-and-roll beat. That changed — dramatically — due to the influence of Bob Dylan. At the start of his music career, John Lennon wrote songs mostly about puppy love. He gradually moved into writing about the pain of broken relationships. It was not until Lennon met, and was influenced by, Dylan that his lyrics became an expression of his emotions, vulnerability, and insecurity. His music became a vehicle for personal expression, Krerowics said. Dylan influenced Paul McCartney, not in lyrics, but in songwriting. McCartney's work started off jazzy and poppy. McCartney's growth, as affected by Dylan's style, first became evident in "I'll Follow the Sun," which was more mature-sounding; slower, softer, mellower, he said. By 1966, the Beatles had to cease touring and move strictly to studio recording. Beatlemania was out of hand, and the Beatles could not hear themselves playing during concerts. As Ringo Star put it, "People came to see, not hear us." This inhibited their growth and development as a band. The studio afforded them time and space for experimentation. In 1968, following the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, the Beatles flew to India to study meditation. This was a creatively fertile time for them and led to the diverse musical styles on "The Beatles," more commonly known as "The White Album." Ironically, John Lennon said "The White Album" was the beginning of the end, because every track was an individual track. It was "John and the band, Paul and the band, George and the band," Krerowics said. It was also at this time that Yoko Ono became increasingly important in Lennon's thoughts and life — so much so that she was a distraction for the other three Beatles. So much has been speculated about how much she contributed to the demise of the band. Krerowics shared his opinion. "I think the Beatles were already coming to an end, and she just accelerated what was already going to happen," he said. Another irony surrounds the Beatles' album, "Abbey Road," which was not the last Beatles album released but consisted of the last tracks the Beatles recorded together. These showed the Beatles as stronger than ever, and Krerowics believes this represents George Harrison's pinnacle as a songwriter during his time with the Beatles. As Harrison became more sophisticated, he became more prevalent, and Krerowics pointed to the song "Something" as a standout. Very few events fit so nicely into a single decade the way the Beatles fit into the 60s. Paul McCartney believes the Beatles weren't the leaders of their generation but the spokesmen for their generation. Krerowics thinks the Beatles truly were the leaders. Audience reaction Audience members enjoyed the lecture. Isabella Cortez, fourth grade West Leesville Elemetary, was excited when she heard a Beatles scholar was coming to the library. With her social studies project on the Beatles, she has recently won school, parish, and regional competitions, and is moving on to the state level. "I learned a lot from his lecture," she said. She added that she particularly liked the movie "Yellow Submarine." "Animation wasn't that big until the Beatles got into it," she said. Alan King Betterton said he enjoyed Krerowics' presentation. "He gave the program from a different perspective. I read a lot about the Beatles, so I knew a lot of the facts, but I never really thought about some of the things he brought up, like his analysis of the music," Betterton said.
www.chron.com 8 things to know about the Beatles' debut on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' By Kyrie O'Connor, Houston Chronicle Published Thursday, February 9, 2017 The Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on Feb. 9, 1964 to a live audience of 73 million, or about three-quarters of the total adult audience in the U.S. It was the highest live audience ever at the time. Photo: STF On, Feb. 9, 1964, the Beatles made their first appearance on the "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS. By that date, what was known as Beatlemania was well under way. The fours guys from Liverpool would go on to change American music in the 20th century. Here are some things to know about that appearance. After honing their craft in Germany and Liverpool, the group became a hit in England. Photo: Keystone-France/Gamma Keystone Sullivan, who had an eye for talent, had twice seen airport crowds in England greeting the Beatles. Photo: Getty Images Sullivan gets all the credit, but "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar had had a tape of the group a month earlier, and they had appeared on a CBS news report in late 1963. Photo: AP After seeing the CBS news report, a young fan asked a Washington, D.C. radio station to play "I Want To Hold Your Hand." The station flew a copy over from England and soon many stations were playing the song, weeks before the record company had intended. Photo: Album Art The first song the group sang was "All My Loving," followed by Paul McCartney singing the utterly mainstream "Till There Was You" from the musical "The Music Man." Their second set was "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There." Photo: Uncredited, HONS As they performed, the words under John Lennon's name said "Sorry Girls, He's Married." Photo: Uncredited, STF Lennon and McCartney became the most successful songwriting pair in history. The success of the Beatles paved the way for the so-called British Invasion, an influx of British rock into the U.S. that included the Rolling Stones, the Who and many flash-in-the-pan acts as well. The band broke up in 1970, but not before changing popular music around the world. Photo: ALFREDO ESTRELLA, AFP/Getty Images
