The Great Rock n Roll Swindler has died. Allen Klein, who once managed both the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, died in New York on Saturday, aged 77, after battling Alzheimer's disease. [more inside]
posted by punkfloyd on Jul 7, 2009 - 26 comments

It's Seurat by me. Iconic album covers by the Beatles and the Clash. Mixed media (a metric buttload of Rubik's cubes shown in Dailymotion video). (via)
posted by maudlin on Jul 3, 2009 - 11 comments

If you thought The Beatles' incredible success had something to do with talent, hard work, good luck or a combination of the three, you'd be wrong. It was all Satan's work.
posted by aldurtregi on Jun 22, 2009 - 127 comments

LOL together, right now, OMG.
posted by divabat on Jun 10, 2009 - 53 comments

Passion Pictures has just released Pete Candeland’s gorgeous cinematic for the forthcoming game The Beatles: Rock Band. [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan on Jun 4, 2009 - 62 comments

13,500 people singing Hey Jude in London's Trafalgar Square. Thanks T-Mobile! (previously)
posted by The Devil Tesla on May 3, 2009 - 99 comments

Yoko Ono's flickr page has a ton of gems, some of which combine illustrations from the John Lennon Anthology with first-hand accounts of their relationship by Yoko: Introduction, Ascot, New York City, The Lost Weekend, Dakota. [via].
posted by lunit on Mar 26, 2009 - 27 comments

Ringo's Dada Japanese TV songs/ ads 197? For those of us who have consumed everything else. On the Internet this is the last subway stop. (and will cheer u up) #2
#1
(there are more)
posted by celerystick on Mar 16, 2009 - 17 comments

"America's Lost Band"...1964...The Remains. Opening act for The Beatles first US tour. One of the great what-might-have-been (but didn't) stories of American music of the 60’s.
posted by ecorrocio on Mar 13, 2009 - 23 comments

A Day in the Life of Abbey Road; (sorry for the prosaic lead-in link - at least I didn't use the word "iconic!") Enjoy watching Beatles' fans and locals negotiate London's famous Abbey Road crosswalk. I miss album covers; I'm of the generation of high school kids who spent a zillion hours flipping through them in record stores. The best of them - like Abbey Road - could be high-impact and sometimes accompanied their records like a kind of graphic mini-novel. What were some of your favorites and why?
posted by Dex Quire on Mar 10, 2009 - 42 comments

"Take 20" of the Beatles'"Revolution 1" has found its way online. Although the authenticity of the online leak is still to be officially confirmed, the 10 minute recording has been previously documented by Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn and appears to be the gap between the White Album's "Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9".
posted by gfrobe on Feb 25, 2009 - 56 comments

He couldn't sing, dance, or tell jokes, but he was television's greatest impresario. He was a stone-faced puritan -- America's arbiter of status quo -- but had a sly sense of humor , and in the segregation-tainted 1950's, welcomed blacks to his stage, and in the 1960's showcased rock n' roll's most anti-establishment acts. His show, the longest-running variety show in history, ran from 1948 to 1971. [more inside]
posted by terranova on Feb 7, 2009 - 46 comments

185. "Revolution 9"

Shortly after recording "Revolution 9", John Lennon allegedly went around telling friends that his new song was the music of the future. Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs. [...] [more inside]
posted by swift on Jan 20, 2009 - 116 comments

The Oriental Nightfish. A Chanukah/Christmas gift of sorts. "Listening to Linda proceed tunelessly through "Endless Days" (she "sings" the "song" the way that Ken Lay "protected employees" or Ryan Leaf "quarterbacked") is an experience to be treasured, if by treasured you mean buried in a chest by pirates."
posted by Xurando on Dec 24, 2008 - 10 comments

The White album turns 40.
posted by sleepy pete on Nov 21, 2008 - 112 comments

A lost Beatles track called Carnival of Light does exist and could be released. Sir Paul McCartney has a master tape of the piece, adding: "The time has come for it to get its moment."
posted by chuckdarwin on Nov 16, 2008 - 34 comments

Mathematician Cracks Mystery Beatles Chord. Not to be confused with the Hendrix chord or the sacred chord.
posted by twoleftfeet on Oct 31, 2008 - 44 comments

These Beatles clips from a 1965 NME show are straight off the mixing desk, so the voices are way up front. Man, those vocals are so loud you can hardly hear Ringo! But let's back it up just a year, to Holland in 1964, and catch one of the rare performances without Ringo. Aside from his brief stint as a Beatle, session drummer Jimmy Nicol also played with zany Swedish instrumental surf rock band The Spotnicks. So, there you have it: Jimmy Nicol, a lucky fella who got to play with two of the greatest bands in the world! [NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 27, 2008 - 22 comments

I Met the Walrus In 1969, 14-year-old Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. This is the whimsically animated film that Jerry has produced about the interview.
posted by milestogo on Jul 6, 2008 - 26 comments

They were Britain's pop culture pioneers, bringing back American music and fashions to a nation still starved by post-war rationing and austerity. They paved the way for The Beatles. Meet the Liverpool Merchant Seamen known as the Cunard Yanks.
posted by PeterMcDermott on Jul 1, 2008 - 20 comments

1964 means the Beatles. But listen to the other #1 hits that year! No wonder Douglas Adams broke into the matron's room. Via my second favorite music blog.
posted by Tlogmer on Jun 14, 2008 - 55 comments

the Prince "Come Together" bootleg ... from Coachella 2008 that's popping up suddenly on many indie mp3 blogs now . ..Incidentally.. the Beatles wrote this as an unofficial Presidential campaign song for Timothy Leary (incarcerated at the time) . A progressively intense audience engagning performance ... if they ever do a career spanning Prince box set they'll put this on.
posted by celerystick on May 26, 2008 - 37 comments

Best Beatles cover ever.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 29, 2008 - 127 comments

Gravelter Skelter [video, WTF content].
posted by digaman on Apr 1, 2008 - 20 comments

Lennon and McCartney's Studio Reunion. On March 28, 1974, John Lennon was in a Burbank studio producing Harry Nilsson's "Pussy Cats" album when Paul McCartney dropped in. The room froze and remained silent until John said, "Valiant Paul McCartney, I presume?" Paul responded: "Sir Jasper Lennon, I presume?" The tension broken, a jam session [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] ensued featuring Lennon on guitar and vocals, McCartney on drums and vocals, Stevie Wonder on electric piano and vocals, Harry Nilsson on vocals, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar and Bobby Keys on saxophone. A bootleg of the session has circulated under the title "A Toot and a Snore in '74".
posted by New Frontier on Mar 30, 2008 - 25 comments

Former Beatles roadie Neil Aspinall has died of lung cancer. He was the head of the Beatles’ Apple Corporation until about a year ago, when he resigned after the settlement of a long running dispute with Apple Computer. [more inside]
posted by Nick Verstayne on Mar 26, 2008 - 26 comments

Sooooo... Macca finds himself £24m ($50m) worse off after his acrimonious divorce from strong woman / mentalist* Heather Mills. Mills also loses her appeal against keeping the text of the ruling private (read it here - PDF), maybe because of her 10 minute diatribe on the steps of the court yesterday, or because of her numerous TV appearances, but probably not because she threw a glass of water over Macca's lawyer, er, alledgedly. But the main point, of course (and thank you Dallas), was - what the heck was she wearing?
(*delete as approporiate depending upon your POV)
posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar on Mar 18, 2008 - 84 comments

Fears that malevolent aliens will tune into this week's broadcast of The Beatles' song "Across the Universe" have been voiced by scientists.
posted by monospace on Feb 7, 2008 - 68 comments

Mahrishi Mahesh Yogi: 1917-2008
posted by Xurando on Feb 5, 2008 - 61 comments

I Wanna Hold Your Stairway The Beatnix perform Stairway to Heaven... as the Beatles might have done it. Probably not much different than the Rutles might have done it.
posted by psmealey on Dec 19, 2007 - 44 comments

The Now Sound of the Sixties is what's groovy, baby! Even Big Bands and Canadians are getting warm, wild, wonderful with the crazy sounds of that love generation. Check out Ella Fitzgerald singing Sunshine of Your Love and Lord Sitar's I Can See for Miles. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 do Wichita Lineman and Day Tripper, while lounge act Jackie & Roy do a rare cover version of the Beatles' The Word. The Alan Copeland Singers can't stop Goin' Out of My Head, but the Back Porch Majority looks like an outtake from A Mighty Wind with the hippie anthem, Get Together. But the hippest hep daddy of them all is Bing Crosby, who has both a Beatles medley and another medley of hit '60s tunes.
posted by jonp72 on Dec 5, 2007 - 20 comments

Twist and Shout. Twist and Shout. Twist. Twist and Shout. Twist. Shout. Twist and Shout. Twist. Twist and Shout. Shout. Twist. Shout. Twist and Shout. Twist. Twist and Shout. Twist. Twist. Twist. Shout. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 15, 2007 - 34 comments

"God is a concept by which we measure our pain. I'll say it again: God is a concept by which we measure our pain" - A production reel by animation house Amoeba Proteus. Another of their productions: The site for The Fountain. Song by Lennon. (Via)
posted by growabrain on Sep 19, 2007 - 21 comments

Christs, Communists, & Rock 'n' Roll is an excellent introduction to a tradition of anti-rock writings and recordings by the Religious Right. In the 1960s, there was David Noebel who wrote Communism, Hypnotism, & the Beatles and The Marxist Minstrels. In the early 1970s, Reverend Riblett constructs a seven-foot cross out of rock music records and sets it aflame with gasoline. Michael Mills finds hidden Satanic messages in Bow Wow Wow and the Grateful Dead, while Bob Larson valiantly debates Mandy, a 13-year-old fan of the Cure. The motherlode is probably the cassettes of John Todd, who traveled the fundamentalist circuit in the 1970s claiming to be a former witch and a member of the Illuminati, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. (more inside)
posted by jonp72 on Aug 20, 2007 - 31 comments

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash may be the most elaborate parody of the Beatles ever constructed, including satirical tributes to the appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Yellow Submarine, and the rooftop concert at Apple Records. Check out some other fine parodies who picked up where the Rutles left off: The Mosquitoes on Gilligan's Island, Chris and the Alphabeats on Sesame Street, Letter B and Hey Food by the Beetles, the Be Sharps on the Simpsons, A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead by the Zombeatles, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore's L.S. Bumble Bee, the Powerpuff Girls Meet the Beat Alls (parts 1 and 2 with commentary by Mojo Jojo), Beatles spoofs in a Polish sitcom and a Bollywood musical, Beatallica sings A Garage Dayz Nite, the Chasers' I Am Thesaurus, and the Beatles go bar mitzvah.
posted by jonp72 on Aug 6, 2007 - 45 comments

Cracked Pepper by ccc and ill chemist is a mash-up of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and an amazing array of songs you know. While not quite on par with the focus and sheer audacity of DangerMouse's Grey Album, Cracked Pepper is a smart, rich, and rewarding listen. Available track by track or as a torrent. See inside for tracks sampled.
posted by saguaro on Jul 30, 2007 - 35 comments

The author of the excellent (and previously mentioned) 60s/70s soul music blog Funky 16 Corners has put together an awesome compilation album available for free download, called Rubber Souled, featuring soul covers of Beatles classics; the results are intriguing, from Stevie Wonder's funked out version of We Can Work It Out to a nightmare inducing Bill Cosby cover of Sgt Peppers.
posted by jonson on Jul 25, 2007 - 31 comments

Birth of the Beatles On July 6, 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at The Woolton Church Parish Fete where The Quarry Men were appearing. John Lennon was impressed that Paul McCartney could tune a guitar and his knowledge of rock & roll lyrics.
posted by psmealey on Jul 6, 2007 - 56 comments

All This and World War II [trailer; IMDB] is a 1976 musical documentary that mixes World War II newsreels and movie clips with Beatles covers. Looks like Hitler disapproved. [lots more inside]
posted by kirkaracha on Jun 29, 2007 - 6 comments

I thought I'd seen pretty much every bit of performance footage (whether live or lip-synched) featuring the Beatles, but lately I discovered some clips on YouKnowWhere that I hadn't seen before, and I'd wager there's more than a few folks out in MefiLand who've also missed these: a proto-psychedelic promo clip for Rain, and another promo clip for Hey Bulldog, and finally, this rarity, an alternate take of the promo clip for Hello Goodbye. Just for good measure, here's the more familiar (but still somewhat obscure) version.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 7, 2007 - 43 comments

It was 40 years ago next Friday (June 1) that the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, becoming one of the most influential releases in rock history. It is the number one favorite album of the British public and has been ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as No. 1 of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. "When Sgt. Pepper's came out, it was an album that surprised people on every single level. The vast majority of the millions who bought it had never seen a gatefold sleeve, they’d never seen lyrics on the cover, they’d never seen a cover like that—a real piece of art—and they never heard music (side A | side B) like this. The combination was so dynamic that it’s still being talked about 40 years later."^* John, Paul, Ringo and George talk about the tracks.
posted by ericb on May 25, 2007 - 51 comments

Moptops in suits. Not necessarily the ones you were thinking of.
posted by oneirodynia on May 9, 2007 - 32 comments

Introduced to Western culture by the Beatles in their single Norwegian Wood, the sitar has featured prominently in North Indian classical music for centuries. Princeton-based computer scientist Ajay Kapur updates the instrument with his ESitar, an audio and video controller that uses gesture input (PDF) and machine learning algorithms to facilitate joining the computer with Ajay in his sitar performance. Undergraduate engineering students at the University of Pennsylvania work from the other direction, building RAVI-bot, an award-winning, self-playing robotic sitar (YouTube) programmed to generate music from classical Raga scales and melodies all on its own. For those in the Philadelphia area, be sure to check out a live performance of RAVI-bot at the local Klein Art Gallery.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Apr 19, 2007 - 32 comments

Sgt. Pepper's 2.0 . fourty years later, BBC 2 is preparing a recording session (with the original recording instrumentation and Geoff Emerick) to be aired on 2 June. Oasis, The Killers, Razorlight, James Morrison, The Fratellis, Travis and the Kaiser Chiefs are the artists currently announced. Not the first time someone covers the Beatles (there's even a mashup, previously covered on Mefi).
[via]
posted by darkripper on Apr 6, 2007 - 56 comments

The Beatles are Bigger than Jesus. It was 41 years ago today, that the Evening Standard published a Maureen Cleave interview with John Lennon, in which he declared the Beatles “more popular than Jesus”. Later in July, DATEbook, an American teen mag, printed only the Jesus statement and nothing else from the interview. The firestorm of reaction in the US was immediate. Radio stations nationwide, but particularly in the South and in the Midwest, banned the playing of Beatles records [Real Audio]. Death threats against all of the Fab Four poured in. In Cleveland, a preacher threatened to excommunicate any member of his congregation who listened to the Beatles, and in the South, the Ku Klux Klan burned the Beatles in effigy and nailed Beatles albums to burning crosses. On August 11, Lennon held a press conference in Chicago, where he apologized, sort of [Real Audio]. The press conference was on the eve of the Beatles’ last tour of their career. Many say this epsiode, as well as the riots that accompanied their tour of the Philippines (also in July), as well as the accumulated stress of being on top of the world for nearly four years at that point, precipitated the beginning of the end of the Beatles.
Is it true though? Are the Beatles bigger than Jesus? Though this was unanswerable in 1966, thanks to the magic of the web, we do know the answer today: according to Google, the answer is no. Still, other views persist.
posted by psmealey on Mar 4, 2007 - 71 comments

On this day (February 7) in 1964, the Beatles arrived in America for the first time.. Two days later they made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (YouTube, approx. 9 mins.). Read a transcript of their first American press conference, snippets from other 1964 interviews, and a fictional 1963-64 blog written from the point of view of a 15-year-old fan in New York.
posted by amyms on Feb 7, 2007 - 68 comments

♫ Get Back ♫ - It was 38 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper and the band last played.
[Previously parodied on The Simpsons. Other notable appearances in Springfield.]

Bonus Track - 10mm B&W dailies from the 'Get Back' studio sessions.
posted by pruner on Jan 30, 2007 - 58 comments

How come we can't get these? On Feb 9th there are two sets of Beatles stamps being released in the UK. Jealous? I am.
posted by mannythedog on Jan 26, 2007 - 34 comments

Meet the Smithereens. [warning: streaming Flash audio]
Nine years after their last album and 43 years after the original was released, The Smithereens cover the Beatles' Meet the Beatles album [review; this article has more background].
posted by kirkaracha on Jan 25, 2007 - 51 comments

...He expressed regret that he had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and enclosed a gift for the Oral Roberts University. After quoting the line "money can't buy me love" from "Can't Buy Me Love" he said, "It's true. The point is this, I want happiness. I don't want to keep on with drugs. Paul told me once, 'You made fun of me for taking drugs, but you will regret it in the end.' Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of hell."

John Lennon's Born-Again Phase
posted by y2karl on Jan 4, 2007 - 79 comments