Tag Archives: the Beatles
John Lennon letter to aspiring folk singer received nearly four decades later
Posted on 17. Aug, 2010 by JD.
John Lennon letter to aspiring folk singer received nearly four decades later
A little-known folk singer who once complained that success was threatening to ruin his career has finally received a letter of reassurance sent to him by John Lennon nearly 40 years ago.
The former Beatle wrote to Steve Tilston in 1971 after reading an interview with him in a music magazine.
In a note now revealed in public for the first time Lennon told the young musician not to worry about accumulating wealth because it wouldn’t change the important things in life.
Lennon signed the letter from him and Yoko Ono just months after The Beatles split up in December 1970.
He sent it to the offices of now-defunct ZigZag magazine but never reached Tilston until a collector seeking to verify the letter first contacted him five years ago.
Lennon, then 30, had read an article in which Tilston, then 21, had claimed that becoming wealthy might damage his ability to write powerful songs.
Addressing the songwriter and the journalist who interviewed him, Richard Howell, he wrote: “Being rich doesn’t change your experiences in the way you think.
“The only difference, basically, is that you don’t have you worry about money – food – roof etc. But all other experiences – emotions – relationships – are the same as anybodies.
“I know, I have been rich and poor and so has Yoko, (rich – poor – rich). So, whadya think of that. Love John and Yoko.”
He even included his home telephone number.
Yoko Ono, 77, confirmed that she remembered Lennon, who was assassinated aged 40 in 1980, writing the letter.
She said: “‘John reflected his moods of that moment in his writing.
“This one is very special because he was writing to another musician, didn’t want to sound preachy, so made his handwriting oddly rough and artistic, calligraphically. It’s nice to see this one after all these years. I love it.”
Lennon included a message of support for the co-editors of Oz magazine who were on trial at the time facing charges of conspiracy to corrupt public morals. They were acquitted later that year.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono helped write the song God Save Us by the Elastic Oz Band to raise funds and gain publicity.
Tilston, meanwhile, has gone on to record more than twenty albums during his career and counts Rod Stewart among his fans.
The 60 year-old has just published a novel and will mark 40 years in the music business with a concert at St George’s hall in Bristol next month.
He said: “I feel it was a rather brotherly letter really. Not antagonistic, just offering words of advice. If I had received it all those years ago my young self would definitely have rung him. I felt rather angry to start with to think that someone had just sold the letter rather than passing it on to me but you have to let these things go.”
The letter, which is estimated to be worth around £7,000, is currently in the hands of an American collector.
Tilston believes it was sold on after Lennon sent it to ZigZag’s offices in London.
He said: “I didn’t hear about it at all until out of the blue about five years ago, when an American chap got in touch with me and said; “Are you the Steve Tilston that John Lennon wrote to?
“That’s when I finally saw it – 34 years after it was written.”
Tilston admitted that, in the end, he has never had to worry about whether extreme wealth would hamper his creativity.
“I said something about how becoming rich beyond the dreams of avarice might have a detrimental affect on my songwriting,” he said. “Sadly I was never really able to test this theory out, but Lennon, who clearly had, put me right.”
John Lennon letter to aspiring folk singer received nearly four decades later – Telegraph.
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The Crossing – Abbey Road Studios
Posted on 11. Aug, 2010 by JD.
Here is the famous crossing to Abbey Road Studios that the Beatles made famous on the cover of their Abbey Road album.
Hit This Link to go directly to the Abbey Road Studios website to view a live shot of the Crossing.
From the Abbey Road Studios website – One of our most famous clients, The Beatles, recorded 90% of their recordings at Abbey Road studios. In April 1969, they came together to record their final album as a group and titled it ‘Abbey Road.’ This album became their best selling work and featured the now iconic image of the zebra crossing outside the studios on the front cover.
Beatles fans are causing constant traffic chaos on the famous Abbey Road crossing where the Fab Four were shot their classic album cover, a new webcam has revealed.
A new HD webcam installed at Abbey Road Studios is now streaming live footage showing the dangerous lengths Beatles fans go to, in a bid to imitate the 1969 album cover.
Tourists and fans can be seen infuriating London cabbies and other drivers by posing as John, Paul, Ringo and George in the middle of the busy road.
Many fans (most of them Day Trippers) even keep dashing across the road and back again in a bid to get their picture just right. The Beatles recorded 90 per cent of their albums at the now legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, and even now nearly 41 years on from their final album as a group, the ordinary looking crossing in Westminster remains as popular as ever.
A spokesperson for Abbey Road Studios said: “Some 41 years after the photograph of The Beatles on the zebra crossing outside the studios was taken, the zebra crossing continues to be a London must see destination, attracting thousands of music fans from all over the world.
“We’re really pleased with the new camera, it has lots of exciting features, you can save stills from the camera, send them by email and post them to our wall of fame and Facebook site.”
LINKS
Abbey Road Webcam
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The Crossing – Abbey Road Studios.
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Paul McCartney Triumphs in Return to San Francisco
Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by JD.
Saturday night, during his concert at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, Paul McCartney remembered the Beatles’ final public concert on August 29, 1966, which happened at nearby Candlestick Park: “We have great memories from playing here a long, long time ago. But we couldn’t hear a damn thing from all the screaming girls.”
Those girls have grown up, and they came with their children, and in some cases grandchildren, to McCartney’s “Up and Coming Tour” stop for a three hour, 38-song event that transcended generations and nostalgia with obscure Fireman tunes, elongated Wings jams, deep solo cuts, and plenty of inspired Beatles tracks.
PHOTOS:
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Photos by Casey Flanigan
McCartney frontloaded the show with Wings material. “Jet” and “Letting Go” came off well, but it wasn’t until he picked up the six-string for a smoking “Foxy Lady” tribute to Jimi Hendrix at the tail end of “Let Me Roll It” that the night hit its first peak.
Hendrix wasn’t the only legend to get a dedication. McCartney performed “Here Today” in honor of John Lennon, and “Something” for George Harrison. Throughout the night Sir Paul not only played songs covering his entire career, he also played a number of different instruments including his signature Hofner bass, electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, ukulele and two different pianos.
McCartney knows how to work a crowd, and he paced the concert perfectly. Coming out of the mellower, mostly-acoustic portion of the night featuring “Two Of Us,” “Blackbird,” and “Eleanor Rigby,” a little more than halfway through the show McCartney and his stellar five-piece band cranked up the energy with Wings’ “Band On The Run” and never looked back.
From there it was one mega hit after another, starting with a pair of White Album favorites, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “Back In The U.S.S.R.,” and a loose “I’ve Got a Feeling” that brought on a fierce guitar jam with McCartney and Rusty Anderson trading blues licks during an extended outro.
McCartney and crew pushed the dynamic “A Day in the Life” seamlessly into Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance,” before highlighting the range of McCartney’s material with the introspective ballad “Let It Be” and a super-charged “Live and Let Die” set against a huge pyrotechnics display.
Any one of the seven Beatles classics that comprised the double encore would have sufficed, but it was the frantic “Helter Skelter” and ripping “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” that stood out.
McCartney proved decades ago that his music is timeless and capable of bringing people together in unprecedented ways. With marathon concerts of this caliber the man appears to also be ageless.
Setlist:
1. Venus and Mars/Rock Show
2. Jet
3. All My Loving
4. Letting Go
5. Got To Get You Into My Life
6. Highway
7. Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady Jam
8. The Long and Winding Road
9. Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty Five
10. Let ‘Em In
11. My Love
12. I’m Looking Through You
13. Two Of Us
14. Blackbird
15. Here Today
16. Dance Tonight
17. Mrs. Vanderbilt
18. San Francisco Bay Blues
19. Eleanor Rigby
20. Something
21. Sing the Changes
22. Band on the Run
23. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
24. Back in the U.S.S.R.
25. I’ve Got a Feeling
26. Paperback Writer
27. A Day in the Life
28. Give Peace a Chance
29. Let It Be
30. Live and Let Die
31. Hey Jude
Encore 1:
32. Day Tripper
33. Lady Madonna
34. Get Back
Encore 2:
35. Yesterday
36. Helter Skelter
37. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
38. The End
Paul McCartney Triumphs in Return to San Francisco | Spin Magazine Online.
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All Together Now – Andre 3000
Posted on 01. Jul, 2010 by JD.
If you are a Beatles fan or a Andre 3000 fan you should check this out. You have probably heard it on that NIKE commercial. Andre 3000 from Outkast does a cover of the Beatles song All Together Now. And he does a pretty good job. I was just taking a look at Soul Assassins while on lunch and saw this download for it. listen…..
Listen HERE
Download HERE
Buy on iTunes HERE
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