Tag Archives: the Beatles

Music Monday: March 13, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

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James Vernon Taylor turned 75 yesterday. Born March 12, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts he was one of the first artists signed to The Beatles label, Apple Records. He recorded his self-titled debut album in London in 1968 but it was his second album released in 1970, Sweet Baby James, that would put him on the map. He followed that up with Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, which contained the 1971 #1 hit written by Carol King, “You’ve Got A Friend”.

Five decades later, Taylor remains a beloved upper statesman in music after his reign as one of the first definitive singer-songwriters of the 1970’s. His list of honors and awards are vast and his songs have been beloved by multiple generations and audiences for over 50 years.

Happy birthday, JT.

“Now the first of December was covered with snow
So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Though the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on account of that frostin’
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go”.

JT 1970

James Taylor circa 1970 (top) and in 2022 (bottom). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

James Taylor: “Sweet Baby James” (1970, written by James Taylor).

Stay safe and well.

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Music Monday: February 27, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

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Saturday marked the 80th birth anniversary for George Harrison. The Quiet Beatle was born born February 25, 1943 in the London city he & his fellow Beatles would make famous, Liverpool. He was the first from the group to have a solo #1 song (“My Sweet Lord” in December 1970-January 1971) and the first artist to host a benefit concert to raise money & bring awareness to a cause he believed in (The Concert For Bangladesh held on August 1, 1971). And as if his years with The Beatles and his solo work were not enough, in 1988 he became a Traveling Wilbury with four other musical superstars: Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

The year 2001 was already horrible due to 9/11, but unimaginably it became even worse two months later when we lost Harrison to cancer at age 58 on November 29, 2001. It was a terrible blow to music and to me personally as George was always my favorite Beatle. His song, “Something”, is my favorite by the band despite the preponderance of Lennon and McCartney tunes.

Today’s track is the one that started my own music collection. It was released 50 years ago in May 1973 and it was the first single-yes, a 45-I ever bought for myself. It was Harrison’s second #1 single, hitting the top spot for one week on June 30, 1973. It also dethroned Paul McCartney & Wings’s song, “My Love” from the #1 spot after four conseciutive weeks.

Happy birthday, George. You are missed. Every. Single. Day.

“Give me hope
Help me cope with this heavy load
Trying to touch and reach you with
Heart and soul“.

Beatles Mag Mystery Tour era

George 1970

Traveling Wilburys

Top: The Beatles circa 1967 (L-R: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon). Middle: Harrison circa 1970. Bottom: The Traveling Wilburys circa 1988 (L-R: Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Harrison and Tom Petty). (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

George Harrison: “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” (1973, written by George Harrison).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: February 6, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

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February 7, 1964: The Beatles arrive in America for the first time. It changes their world.

February 9, 1964: The group appears on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. It changes our world.

January 30, 1969: The band holds an impromptu concert on the roof of Apple studios.

April 10, 1970: The Fab Four officially break up.

The six years between the first and last date might as well have been 60 years. In basically half a decade, The Beatles changed everything: music, culture, history, their own lives-past, present & future-and the lives of those around them. Thank you John, Paul, George & Ringo, for everything.

Beatles 1964

Beatles Hey Jude photo shoot

Top: The Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on February 9, 1964. Bottom: The Beatles in 1969. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “I Saw Her Standing There” (1963, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: October 10, 2022

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Yesterday marked the 82nd birth anniversary for John Winston Ono Lennon. Born October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England his short 40 years on this earth were marked by incredibly low lows (the death of his mother when he was 15, the death of his friend & bandmate Stuart Sutcliff who died from a brain anuerysm at age 21 in 1962, the death of The Beatles manager Brian Epstein from an overdose in 1967) and the highest of highs (his remarkable gift & talent helped him change music, culture and the world, he remains one of the top songwriters of all time, he found his great love, he had two sons).

Lennon used his celebrity for causes he believed in, most notably his quest to bring love and peace to the world being ravaged by war in the late 1960’s. He challenged the standards set by society in 1975 when he decided to put his carereer on hold to be a stay at home father & husband. And he knew when it was time to bring his musical talent back to the masses five years later.

Sending “limitless undying love” across the universe today and always to John Lennon.

“I was trying to catch your eyes
Thought that you was trying to hide
I was swallowing my pain
I was swallowing my pain“.

Lennon

John Lennon circa 1974. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

John Lennon: “Jealous Guy” (1971, written by John Lennon).

Stay safe and well.

Music Monday: August 15, 2022

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It was 57 years ago today that The Beatles made history in New York for the second time in two years. On August 15, 1965 the band played their now famous concert at Shea Stadium. It was the first time a musical group held a show in that type of venue in the United States. The Fab Four performed 12 songs-eight originals, four covers-during their 30 minute set in front of a sold out crowd of nearly 56,000 fans. Most of that crowd were young girls screaming so hysterically they drowned out the music, including today’s song.

I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to witness the kind of history The Beatles made on their first trip to America in February 1964, let alone the monumental concert nearly six decades ago. But I relived it vicariously through Sally Draper when she screamed & jumped for joy after her father, Don, told her he was taking her to the concert. That episode of “Mad Men” (S4 E10) aired 45 years after “The First Play At Shea”, but what a way to let those of us who missed Beatlemania experience a piece of that magic.

Thank you John, Paul, George & Ringo for EVERYTHING.

“You tell lies
Thinking I can’t see
You can’t cry
‘Cause you’re laughing at me“.

Beatles Shea

The Fab Four on stage in Shea Stadium in 1965 (L-R): Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “I’m Down” (1965, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

Stay safe and well.

Music Monday: June 20, 2022

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Sir James Paul McCartney celebrated his 80th birthday over the weekend. Born June 18, 1942 in Liverpool, England, the man who would become one fourth of the band that changed music forever & one-half of one of the greatest songwriting teams ever has spent six decades making music. There is not much for me to add to a legacy like that.

Today’s song has been my #1 favorite of McCartney’s since I first heard it during one of my most beloved scenes from the “Let It Be” movie. But once I discovered the “naked” version of this song, it took the top spot on that list.

“The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day“.

Paul 1964

Paul and Linda

Paul M

Top: McCartney in his Beatles days circa 1964. Middle Paul & his first wife, Linda, in the 1970’s. McCartney (L) on stage in NJ last week with one of that state’s favorite sons, Bruce Springsteen (R). (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Beatles: “The Long & Winding Road” (1970 original, 2003 reissue, written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney).

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Music Monday: April 18, 2022

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On April 18, 1970 today’s song hit the #1 spot in the country for the second week in a row. It is the title song from The Beatles last album which remains my favorite of theirs to this day. I was lucky enough to see the movie by the same name dozens of time one summer when it was on a loop on a movie channel. I was too young to realize The Fab Four were fighting but not to realize I was witnessing the greatest band of all time rehearsing some of their final songs in a studio together. And that rooftop scene needs no further accolades from me. The performance speaks for itself over five decades later.

I still have yet to see Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary released nearly six months ago for a more in-depth take on that movie. That is not because I do not think it will be a great watch. I have no doubt it is stunning. It is about The Beatles, after all. I am procrastinating because I am worried it might take away some of the magic from my first look at that moment in time. It was such a turning point in my life to see the band that changed everything so up close & personal, sharing their process with the world. It left an indelible mark on my life & the direction of my musical choices every day since.

As the band’s final album was growing in popularity in the world, the news that The Beatles broke up the same month also altered the landscape of the universe. The phenomenal ride those four lads from Liverpool took us on had ended. That devastating news in early 1970 changed the world as much as their first appearance did on that glorious Sunday night just six years earlier on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February 1964.

“And when the brokenhearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer
Let it be“.

Beatles

 

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “Let It Be” (1970, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: February 21, 2022

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February 25th will mark the 79th birth anniversary of my favorite Beatle, George Harrison. Born in 1943 in Liverpool, England, he was the youngest of the group and quietly honed his skills as a songwriter and musician. By the time the band broke up in 1970, he was the first member to have a number one single when “My Sweet Lord” hit the top spot on the singles chart at the end of that year.

Harrison followed his spiritual conscience in both his music & his heart. That led to him organizing the first benefit show in 1971, “The Concert For Bangladesh”. After a successful solo career he became one fifth of the supergroup, “The Traveling Wilburys”, in 1988.

I love so much of Harrison’s music, but I have always felt that today’s pick is his most beautiful composition. He was inspired to write it after hearing James Taylor’s song, “Something In The Way She Moves”. Harrison borrowed the first line & the rest is history. Even Frank Sinatra, who supposedly was not a fan of the Beatles, called today’s track “the greatest love song of the past 50 years” when it was released in 1969. He also recorded his own version in 1970. But even The Chairman Of The Board’s rendition comes second to the original for me.

“Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how“.

George

George Harrison circa 1969. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “Something” (1969, written by George Harrison).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: February 7, 2022

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On February 7. 1964 The Beatles arrived in America for the very first time. Two days later they made their historic appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. After their first song that night, as I have written before, the world changed into a brand new color called John, Paul, George & Ringo. The rest of the hues, along with music, life & Sunday nights from that point on, would never be the same ever again. And for this I and the 73 million viewers who tuned in that night are eternally grateful. Today’s song is from The Fab Four’s first movie, released five months after that landmark evening.

“It’s been a hard day’s night
And I’ve been workin’ like a dog
It’s been a hard day’s night
I should be sleepin’ like a log“.

Feb 7

The Beatles arriving in New York during their first trip to America on February 7, 1964. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

Stay safe and well.

Music Monday: January 10, 2022

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A new video for today’s song premiered last month. When the track was originally released in November 1970, it hit the #1 spot in the country by the end of that year where it stayed for four consecutive weeks. The groundbreaking album that song was on became #1 in America on January 2, 1971. All Things Must Pass was George Harrison’s masterpiece and proved he was so much more than The Quiet Beatle. Over 50 years later we are still celebrating the brilliance of this album and its first hit.

“I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Lord
But it takes so long, my Lord“.

All_Things_Must_Pass_BW

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

George Harrison: “My Sweet Lord” (1970, written by George Harrison).

Stay safe & well.