Beatles FAQ

None of The Beatles were keen linguists. Though they did learn some very basic, functional German while in Hamburg, they were resolutely English in their approach to pronunciation, intonation and attempting to mimic accent.  

Four years after his recording debut, David Bowie had still made little progress. Despite a name change and several changes of musical style he remained a fringe figure. Convinced that Deram (Decca) was mismanaging his career, Bowie was looking for a new label. In the spring of  1968 The Beatles returned from India and and announced the formation of Apple Records, a new label for ‘creatives’. Bowie immediately instructed his then manager, Kenneth Pitt, to submit an audition tape. As a signed artist with a major label, he might have expected his offering to advance to the top of the pile. Unfortunately, however Apple's offer had backfired. The new label was besieged by aspiring musicians, managers, agents, artists, and hucksters. All were clamouring for an audition.    A further complication was that the new label would only recruit new talent with the agreement of all four (endlessly squabbling) Beatles. The office filled with a  mountain of demo tapes. From ...

When he was thirteen, George was admitted to hospital with what turned out to be a minor kidney problem. As with Ringo, a spell on the children’s ward was the catalyst for obtaining his first musical instrument.  To cheer up his sick son, Harry Harrison agreed to buy a classmate’s Dutch Egmond flat-top acoustic guitar. Dutch Egmond Acoustic — George Harrison’s first guitar What George would later describe as a ‘cheapo, a horrible little guitar’ had a selling price of £3 ($4). This was a large sum for a poorly paid bus driver, though it would prove an inspired long-term investment.  In 2003 it was sold for $800,000 at auction. Progression The 'cheapo' Egmond proved very difficult to master. Louise Harrison observed her son's painful struggle with it. George tried to teach himself [the guitar]. But he wasn’t making much headway. ‘I’ll never learn this,’ he used to say. I said, ‘You will, son, you will. Just keep at it.’ Early progress was also hampered by an ill advised exper...

  A special Christmas present

I wrote that in my front parlour in Forthlin Road. I was about 16. 

 The Beatles' record sales dwarfed those of Bob Dylan. In terms of musical influence the relationship was inverse. Paul McCartney has descrbeded the guru master relationship:  “He was our idol... I could feel myself climbing a spiral walkway as I was talking to Dylan. I felt like  I was figuring it all out, the meaning of life.” Despite this adulation, Paul was clear-sighted about incorporating elements of Dylan's approach into his own songwriting. These included  expanding the guitar band template.   the invention of different personas to narrate songs (e.g Sergeant Pepper, She's Leaving Hom)  combining musical styles (country rock etc) ambiguous narration (Hey Jude, She's Leaving Home) inventing new folk tales (Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane) expanding the range of vocabulary McCartney did not, however, abandon his general adherence to the American songbook AABA format. Nor did he adopt the more acerbic tone associated with songs like Positively Fourth St...

  In Glass Onion John Lennon writes 'Here's another clue for you all/The Walrus was Paul'. What did he mean?

By the late summer of 1964, the Lennon & McCartney song factory was running low on stock for the new album due before Christmas. Trapped in an exhausting touring and recording schedule, they lacked the time and the energy to create high quality new material.

Of all the women who married a Beatle, Maureen Starkey came closest to fulfilling the job description as seen my the average fan. Not mildly posh (Cynthia, Patty) or intimidatingly foreign (Linda and Yoko) she seemed to have risen from the ranks of the fans.  While the future Mrs Ono-Lennon claimed to have somehow missed Beatlemania, Maureen had been there from the outset - and had the bruised shins from rivals to prove it. If the dream was to to be serenaded by a Fab -then she was living it. Only that was never the deal Chez Starkey. Though well suited in fundamental respects, their record collections were mutually exclusive. Ringo was rock and roll man - with a long standing sideline in country and western. Maureen was much more old school - a lover of crooners  swept both her homeland and her adopted one. Her story is that she arrived in  It is true that her modernist musical set - John Cage and company - were not believed to be first first in line at Shea Stadium. It'...

Designer Robin Cruikshank was doing work for Apple in 1969 at a time when the Starkeys were abandoning the suburbs for north London. Ringo was impressed by Cruikshank's steel and glass work and invited him to designing some pieces for hiss new Hampstead/Highgate home.  The two men got on so well that they formed a company ROH — with Starr/Starkey owning 51% to Cruickshank’s 49%. Admittedly, Ringo’s investment was in relative terms small change dropped down his soon to be discarded old school sofa but it was another indication of the depth of his new interest. Blue Peter Ringo’s design contribution is unclear — he had no formal training but seems to have provided conceptual ideas — one being inspired by a visit to his local car showroom. Why not set the grille of a Rolls Royce into a stainless steel table? In addition to his investment and ideas, Ringo was an enthusiastic front man for the company in its early years. In 1971 he made a famous appearance on Blue Peter, in an unlikely ...